Day 24, 25. 26... Man, I'm getting slack.

Now this is the weather I’m talking about. Thank you Melbourne.

Today was nice for once, with clear skies and sunshine the whole day. I even took my jacket off. I know, crazy.

So, I figured I would give a quick update on the past few days.



Aussie notebooks.

Monday came and went with little to nothing to report. I bought two notebooks with cute and fluffy animals on the front for my classes because I was running out of paper. I also attended my new Writing for Theatre workshop (the one I’ll actually be staying in). It’s funny how subjects can be taught in such different styles depending on who is teaching them. The first theatre teacher was aloof and encouraging, wanting to string along the creative spirits she knew we all possessed. The teacher I have now is more straight forward with a direct approach on script writing. He’s intense and intent on us learning what he’s laid out for us, yet still eager to see us develop our writing abilities. I’m not sure why, but with this teacher I feel like the theatre class will be more manageable. Maybe it’s because I need structure to be effective. Who knows.

Anyway, I walked up to the classroom a few minutes early and began casually talking to the girl who was waiting for the class. She was from Melbourne and for the first time did not ask me if I was from Europe! No. Instead, she thought I was Australian. Go figure.

Once in the class, our first assignment was to choose a character in our minds and then write a monologue nonstop for around ten minutes. Whenever we were stuck, we had to choose from a list of words on the board. It was just an activity to jog our minds and get our creativity flowing. I was surprised when I ended up with a few lines that were keepers.

Part of the class included divvying up people into presentation groups. I met two Aussies who are both Creative Writing Majors. Now, keep in mind, I’m only a Creative Writing minor, I couldn’t imagine having it as my major. Can you imagine the frustration? The literary world is so subjective; to have your creative works as all you rely on for your livelihood is a bold move indeed. They must be good. I will let you know when I get a chance to read their work. But then again, whether you believe me or not will be based on how much faith you put in my judgment on works of fiction.

Finally, the theatre class included our teacher randomly pointing at a student walking past our window.

“Now see that guy? The one in the white shirt with a Pepsi? You are going to make up his back story right now.” He then pointed to the guy sitting closest to him. “You! Where is he going?”

Once this was determined, the teacher asked the next person why he was going and who he was going to see. It was all improv  and by the time we were finished, this random guy had a whole back story he will never know about. But I guess he can count himself fortunate. I never knew obsessions with Pepsi could lead to some much turmoil.

Basically, Monday evening, I caught up with my work and with my parents then went to bed early. But we have to catch up sometime, ya?

Tuesday was packed with fun filled adventure. Again, the majority of the cool stuff wasn’t planned, but came through knowing awesome people.

I went to my biology tutorial for the first time and met another Aussie girl. We actually ended up having a lot in common, and before I know it, she’s invited me to go clubbing with her friends because it someone’s birthday. I thought it was a really kind offer, so I told her I would text her if nothing came up. Anyway, the tutorial wasn’t as stimulating as the lecture, but it does have some perks. Two weeks from now we will be able to walk around campus and our instructor will point out all of the endemic flora. Yes, I will be that exchange student with her camera out. Don’t judge.

After the tute (Aussie shortening for tutorial, of course), I trucked it to South Lawn to buy a ticket for the Paint n Glow event. It was a 40 minute wait, but I came out with a ticket. Haha. Favorite part of the wait: there is a girl dressed as a lion with neon splattered shoes jumping around and dancing trying to draw attention to the event (like it needed anymore). Anyway, she struts over to the guy in front of me in line and says,

“Hey, there’s no pushing in the line right? Because that’s why I’m here, to make sure no one pushes. I’m the pushing lion. Haha get it? It’s a pun.”

Then she laughs like she’s made the best joke in the world and moon dances away.

To her, I say kudos. At least she’s not afraid to be herself, even if herself is dressed in a lion outfit.



A quiet place on campus.

I then ran and made it in time for my first Christian Union Club meeting. Now, you have to understand, up until this point I’ve had a hard time trying to make time for the same spiritual commitments as I did back home. As a result, I’ve found myself feeling spent at the end of the day, both physically and spiritually. But I think the think that was bothering me most was that I hadn’t found a church to go to, and I’ve already been here for more than three weeks. Naturally, feeling a bit overwhelmed with the situation, I prayed Monday night that something would open up soon and promised to commit myself to finding a church before this Sunday.

Well, as it’s been said, “Ask, and you’ll receive.” The first person I talked to at the club not only introduced herself, but invited me to a bible study, gave me a free ticket to a women’s conference this weekend and invited me to go to her church ,Planet Shaker’s, this weekend. I was overcome with relief and could not help but be humbled. So much offered in so little time. I was grateful for the outreach of everyone in CU and for answered prayers.

After meeting some really cool people and eating free pancakes smeared with nutella, I made it back to Unilodge to do some homework. Of course, after finishing little to none, there was a knock on my door. I was invited to see one of the Unilodge members singing with his band in public for the first time at The Order of Melbourne (one of the pubs we went to during the Week of Welcome).

Of course, I took him up on the offer. We have to be supportive, right?

It was well worth it. We ended up going with a lot of Unilodge people from our floor and others. I’m finally able to put names with faces. We all took up a good part of the pub and cheered on You Me & Her (the name of the band) after every song. The band was awesome and Shenal had no reason to worry. His voice was really good. The best part of the night was when we all rallied for them to encore. I think it caught them by surprise since it was their first public appearance together as a band. They did really well on the spot and had fun with it, which is most important. Afterwards, we all walked back together and talked about the band and ourselves and all the random stuff in between. It was such a great bonding experience.



You Me & Her performing on stage.

I think our floor is one of the most social, if not the most talented because later that night we all piled in our tiny kitchen and listened as one of the residents played guitar. The guy is so talented and hit so many chords that it’s hard to believe he was only playing with two hands. Everyone sat with heads in hands, lulled by sweet melody. It was a moment where time slowed, and everyone drifted from chord to chord, staring out as the lights of Melbourne filtered in through the window.

Then David (who’s an animator) began drawing with a small light illuminating his sketchpad. It was an odd feeling being surrounded by so much talent. I appreciated it. What others can do. At first, I had the tendency to feel inadequate, as if somehow missing out by not being able to express myself through art or music. But then, as more soft notes reached my ears, I began to think about it differently. Everyone has different talents, though some are more visible and therefore more appreciated. But some talents are meant to inspire even greater talents from others. The arts and music provide inspiration to fuel the greatest minds of the century. Scientists, mathematicians, humanitarians—they are all inspired by someone or something. And we all contribute to make the world a bit more familiar.

So I’m glad there are people out there who are so talented at what they do. Because I know I can’t do what they can. And hopefully, I’ll become that talented at what I do so someone else can say the same.

Today was filled with more plans. I stopped by Woolworths for the first time and picked up the remaining groceries I couldn’t find at Aldi’s. I then went to Bio and was able to hunt down a chocolate place with a friend. Afterwards, I cooked my first meal in Melbourne. TACOS!!

Don’t laugh. It required using the stove top AND I chopped stuff. It’s totally cooking.

Besides that I checked out a bible study tonight, met some really awesome people, learned a little more about faith and came back to enjoy a few rounds of fake poker with Tom, Flow and Shayna in which I lost all of my fake money.

Trust me, I wasn’t too worried.

HAHA. I have now successfully caught up with the past few days. At least, with the details that were important.

Farewell and good night/morning!