Behind school there is a town centre area that is very quaint and full of shops, markets, and restaurants. Last night the school was holding a "Tight n Bright" party at the tavern on campus- the premise was to dress in brightly colored clothing...kind of an 80s deal. None of us were interested in that, so yesterday instead of shopping for neon things, we went back to Surfer's Paradise, tanned a little, and scoped out more of the shops. It was a splendid, but tiring (the heat!) time. When we returned to campus we decided we wanted to explore the town next to campus and find somewhere classy and cute to eat. We ended up at this place called Terikayimate. A nice little Japanese restaurant, very adorably fancy with an outdoor patio. We checked out the menu and were very excited with the new dishes. They sat us outside on nice, brown wicker chairs and we ordered. It's pretty cool the way they do things here. It's all about your own privacy and taking your time. When we went to eat in Sydney, we would sit ourselves and order when we pleased. Here, we ordered and the only time they came over to us was when they delivered our food. Any other time we needed our waitress we simply had to ask. There was no one hounding us about drinks or anything else we needed. We were...just left alone, and it was a nice change. Also, before we got dinner, Lindsey and I bought some wine. The restaurant was BYO so we got to have a few glasses. I ordered Yaki Udon, which is a thick noodle dish with beef, chicken, and vegetables (FANTASTIC). I tried the whole chopsticks thing, but ended up failing and everyone laughed at me when I had to ask for a fork. Next time I will practice more...and maybe with rice.

I absolutely love the area we are in, it feels safe, its clean, beautiful and everyone treats you with genuine kindness. Sometimes at home when you go places, you can clearly tell when someone is being forced into treating you well. Here, you KNOW that they mean it. The women who worked at the restaurant were whole heartedly kind women and wanted to make sure we were having a nice meal. It's such a strange difference that I have to start getting used to.

Today, we hopped on a bus and went shopping at Pac Fair. Linds, Sam and Kyra got unbelievably adorable dresses (I am sooo jealous of Sam's...it's black, orange and white silk...sigh!). I also got another bathing suit since we will be at the beach almost constantly. Total: $20. Hell yeah. Getting deals all over the place. I was pleased. The shop where Kyra bought her dress, there was a lady helping her who was so excited that we were studying here from America. She goes "Oh! What a beautiful country...from what I have seen in the movies" and I just giggled and was like...Yeah stick to the movies...since most movies are filmed in Hollywood. When she said that, it made me miss home finally. Dan facebooked me to tell me he missed me, I almost started crying and the idea of 4 months actually hit. It wasn't an overwhelming feeling of depressing or anything of the sorts...but just, a loneliness. A longing perhaps. To be able to compare the two countries. The differences between the roads (the fact that here, there are areas for the buses to pull over so cars don't have to go around), the money, the people, the brand names, the prices, the lifestyles. I try to remember everything I notice throughout the day, but sadly, I am just not that amazing. Hopefully, overtime I will remember to jot down the really important differences to tell everyone.

Tomorrow school is holding a Broadbeach Day, with buses leaving from campus at 10am. There is a mall and large strip of coastline for us to enjoy. Sunday we are going to explore the University Centre to find our classrooms, and then good ol' Monday it starts.

Schedule:

Monday- 12pm-2pm Drugs and Behavior, 2pm-3pm Drugs and Behavior Tutorial

Tuesday- 9am-11am Love, Sex and Relationships Lecture

Wednesday- 10am-11am Love, Sex and Relationships Tutorial, 11am-1pm Sensation and Perception Lecture, 3pm-4pm Sensation and Perception Computer Lab

Hell yeah four day weekends and still getting 12 credits. Muahaha.