Welcome to Brisbane

I have been in Brisbane for a week now, and while it has not been quite as eventful as the four days spent in Sydney, there has been so much to do to get settled in.  We have a great flat with a balcony that is only a 10-15 minute walk from campus.  

Our balcony is second from the top on the right!

There are Bowls fields behind our apartment that we still need to check out.  Bowls is kind of like Bocce Ball and is pretty popular over here.  Bowls clubs will sometimes have barefoot tournaments which consist of people gathering to play Bowls, taking off their shoes, and proceeding to drink (sometimes a lot).  Check out this video to learn more about Bowls…this is pretty much the extent of my knowledge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PonGXrse4MU

I am pretty sure the city that boasts 300 days of sunshine each year is just trying to spite us Americans being here…because it has rained nearly every day since we arrived in Brisbane.  But when it is clear and sunny it is absolutely beautiful.  See?

This past week was orientation week at UQ, which is about as exciting as it sounds… But actually it was fun to get on campus and meet people.  I of course got lost multiple times.  It is a huge campus and completely different from the city-like layout at Pitt that I am used to.  Armed with my handy campus map, I am and easily picked out as “the new girl,” but am finally getting my bearings.  As long as I can find someone who is not one of the other 11,299 international students, people are happy to point me in the right direction.

Also part of orientation was the Marketplace event, which is the huge student activities fair.  Unaware of the plethora of free things we were going to receive, my roommate Jess and I moseyed on over to campus with our little bags and ended up with more than we could carry.  No complaints though!  I managed to sign up for the Beer and Rum club and the Wine and Cheese club.  What else does a girl need in life?  CHOCOLATE.  But I couldn’t find the Chocolate Appreciation Society (I’m still on the hunt for any more info about this MIA club, don’t worry), so I opted for field hockey, beach volleyball, and QUEST, which is the study abroad/exchange student organization that plans a bunch of fun events and trips for student friendly prices throughout the semester.  Our first trip with them is to Byron Bay in two weeks…more on that to come!

Speaking of student friendly prices…those are far and few between in Australia.  Everything here is so darn expensive!  Gone are the days of Subway’s $5 footlongs…they are $7 here.  It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.  Interestingly enough, there seems to be more Subways here than in America.  But anyway, the cost of living is quite high and my credit card is not too happy about it.

Last Saturday we were supposed to head to the Gold Coast for surfing lessons, which we were all quite excited for.  But Mother Nature had other plans, as storms and huge waves slammed the Gold Coast beaches.  Needless to say, that event had to be postponed, but lucky for us, this happened to be the one day without rain in Brisbane.  So instead we made the trek to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which started off quite eventfully…

The ferry to Lone Pine left from downtown at 10:00 am and by the time Jess and I got ourselves out the door it was 9:36.  Knowing it is about a 20-30 minute trek to get downtown we were slightly worried but comforted knowing we looked presentable from the extra few minutes spent getting ready.  Our other friends who live downtown were already at the ferry, getting a play by play of our every move as they held the entire ferry full of people until we got there.  Once Jess and I got off the CityCat (which is the boat version of Brisbane’s public transportation) we broke into a sprint up the river bank to get to the ferry.  We were greeted, sweaty and out of breath, by the ferry crew who were actually very nice and pretended not to mind that they waited for two little American girls.  No wonder Americans have the reputation we do…

But it was worth it.  Even though the ferry ride was quite hot, it was cool to see other parts of the Brisbane River and learn a little more about it.  There are gorgeous, multi-million dollar homes situated all along the banks of the river and it made me miss all the summer days spent tubing and kayaking at the lake house (shout out to the Indy Matteis!).  We finally arrived at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and excitedly ran off the ferry with a kind yet stern reminder of the ferry departure time and advice to not be late this time.  Whoops. 

Fun fact: Queensland is one of the only states in the world where you can actually cuddle a koala! Knowing there were koalas waiting to be held, we made our way into the park on the lookout for koalas.  And they were everywhere!  Look who I found!

Maximus the koala

 Koalas actually live a pretty good life.  They spend 4 hours a day eating eucalyptus, but since it doesn’t have much nutritional value, all the have energy to do for the remaining 20 hours is sleep.

Since it was so beautiful out, I spent the rest of the day exploring and taking pictures of the city and South Bank area.  South Bank is located right on the river and is home to restaurants, markets, running paths, and Brisbane’s man made beach.  Since Brisbane is about an hour from the coast, someone had the bright idea to bring a taste of the beach to the city and this has become a hot spot for sunbathers and children looking to cool off and play in the water.  It really is a very nice place.  The only thing missing is the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  But hey, no complaints!

Australian firsts

Obviously this trip is full of many firsts for me.  And I usually learn something from these firsts, so there is a moral to each of these stories.  So just like a mom documents her baby’s firsts with tacky yet adorable pictures that will be used years down the road for embarrassment, you will be able to read about some awesome and not so awesome moments I have here in Australia.  If you are lucky, you might even get the chance to lay your eyes upon some priceless pictures catching me at my best or my worst, knowing full well that the pictures I post may come back to haunt me if any of you want revenge.  I can only hope I’ve chosen sympathetic friends.  And family, well….I’m kind of stuck with you all.

All right.  So here it goes.

I got my first police escort.  So if anyone wants to wire bail money over here that would be superb.  Australian jails are pretty nice, I mean, they let me update my blog! 

Okay that is all completely false.  Except for the police escort.

Some friends and I decided to head to The Rocks and scope out a place to have a nice dinner as a celebration of our first Friday night in Australia.  The Rocks is an area right by the Sydney Harbour Bridge full of chill restaurants and pubs and was highly recommended by one of the workers at the Bridge Climb.  After a full day of walking and city exploration, this sounded perfect.  So we headed out and soon realized we had no idea what Australian cuisine actually is (the Wikipedia site didn’t even help us figure it out).  After much deliberation about which people roaming the streets could be knowledgeable locals, we found a group of very friendly looking cops and asked where we could get the best authentic Australian dinner.  They immediately thought of a place, and get this….they not only showed us to the restaurant, but walked right in the front doors as if they ran the place and led us to the very back.  Guys, we hit the jackpot.  Before us was a case full of meat.  And outdoor grills.  And outdoor seating.  It was awesome.  So we picked our cuts of meat, went outside, and BARBEQUED OUR OWN DINNER.  Look!

This was topped off with some delicious local Aussie beer.  Though we still don’t exactly know what Australian cuisine consists of, the meal was delicious.  So moral of the story…Australian cops are much cooler than American cops.

As if that wasn’t enough, I can now say that I have taken part in a famous Australian pastime.  This thing has been voted by the Aussies themselves as the number one icon that represents their beloved country.  I tried Vegemite.

Now let me back up a bit and set the stage.  Our last day in Sydney consisted of the ultimate test to see if we actually learned anything about Australia’s largest city.  We had our very own Amazing Race.  Our team of four showed up bright and early Saturday morning, armed with a map and bus pass (gone are the days of smart phones and cars), and sprinted off on our mission, bound and determined to win this thing.  With sweat dripping down our faces (literally) we navigated through the streets of Sydney, asking locals to help us figure out cryptic clues and take our picture with various objects.  They were all extremely nice and helpful despite our accents and frazzled appearance.

And then it happened.  The heavens opened and showed us what Sydney’s clouds are capable of.  Knowing a soaking was inevitable, we resumed the sprinting.  Needless to say, we were quite the sight.  Even the lady working in Aveda had a horrified look on her face as we stopped to collect our bearings.  Guys, it was quite the experience.

But it didn’t end there.  I haven’t even gotten to the best part.

An hour or so later, water still sloshing in our shoes, the sun finally came out as the clues led us to Sydney Harbour.  Knowing the light at the end of the tunnel was near (aka lunch at the Opera House), we ran up to one of the final checkpoints.  The challenge: two team members must eat a piece of bread smeared with Vegemite.  My friend Jess and I gladly stepped up to the plate.  Challenge accepted.  This was like a win-win; we both wanted to try this thing that most Australians have come to love and eat on a regular basis, and it would get us one step closer to the finish line.  This was going to be LEGEN….WAIT FOR IT…..

I can’t even finish that phrase.  Our looks say it all.  And this was even before we took a bite.

Sorry to all you Vegemite lovers out there, but this was the most vile thing I have ever tasted.  It was all kinds of terrible.  It took about four slices of bread each to get this stuff down and that still wasn’t enough.  I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  The Vegemite kind of looked like Nutella, but was super salty and had a flavor that still makes me cringe.

After this trauma and a few mix ups with the next clues, we finally made it to the finish line, completely exhausted and salivating over the thought of this lunch at the Opera House.  Between the day’s events and amazing atmosphere, it was one of the best burgers I have ever had.

So.  Moral of this story: just because it looks like Nutella doesn’t mean it tastes anything like it.

Well hello there Sydney!

So after three days in Sydney I finally had my moment.  The one I’ve been waiting for for what seems like an eternity.  Guys, I have finally realized that I am ACTUALLY IN AUSTRALIA.  

So what made me have this revelation?  Not this:

 View from our apartment in Sydney!

or this:

 Hand feeding a kangaroo!

Or this:

 Beach walk to Bondi Beach with my roomie Jess!

BUT THIS:

 The Opera House in Sydney Harbour!

Today we climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was the most amazing thing I have done here so far.  Like seriously, words and pictures cannot capture the magnificence of the views.  As I first walked out onto the slatted metal walkway, knowing that it and a harness were the only things separating me from a several hundred foot fall to the Harbour, I looked up and to my right and saw the Sydney Opera House in all its glory.  And that is when it hit me.  STEPH, YOU ARE ACTUALLY LIVING YOUR DREAM RIGHT NOW.  YOU ARE LIVING IN AUSTRALIA.  After I composed myself, I continued the 440 foot climb to the top of the bridge (that is over 1,400 stairs…puts the hike to upper campus to shame).  The whole 2 ½ hour shebang was filled with awesome fun facts about the bridge and city of Sydney which I won’t bore you with now (c’mon guys there’s a thing called Google, it’ll tell you all you ever wanted to know and more) and some awesome roomie bonding.  So basically Sydney has been beyond amazing, from the kangaroo dinner feast in Darling Harbor, to feeding some kangaroos out of my bare hands, a coastline hike to Bondi Beach, and meeting some amazing people that I cannot wait to spend the next four months with! 

Blog! Blog! Blog!

Listen up y'all, it's happening.  I, Stephanie Mattei, am going to do something completely new that I have never ever ever done before.  I have decided to enter uncharted territories and START A BLOG!  Oh, and I'm also spending the semester in Australia, no big.  Wait, did I mention I'm starting a blog?!

Aight mates, starting Monday February 11th, 2013, tune in as I set off on my five month adventure in the Land Down Under.  As the snow piles up outside, you can relax in your comfy recliner with a hot beverage while I swelter in the southern hemisphere summer and face the land of terrifying creatures (spiders and snakes and sharks, oh crikey!...Shout out to my Pitt friends for pointing these things out), Vegemite, and quite possibly one of the most awesome accents on this earth.  But enough about Australia, did you hear I'm going to start an abroad blog?!

So for all of you wondering what I will be doing for five months besides sitting on the beach sipping a fruity beverage (complete with a festive umbrella of course), pretending to be the crocodile hunter, or trying to develop an accent, listen up. **Mom and Dad, this means you**  I am incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to study at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, which is one of the top ranked universities in the world.  I will be taking health science classes for my Rehabilitation Science major at Pitt as well as an Australian culture class.  AWESOME, right??  It's going to be rough calling this place home:

Yep, this is UQ's campus. Located right on the Brisbane River.  With Brisbane's central business district (CBD) just a river ferry ride away.

I will also be searching for koalas to hug and kangaroos to pet.  Come on, they're just so cute.  Check it out!

 

Don't worry, I will be avoiding the ones that look like this:

(Thanks Karla for this particularly terrifying picture)

Stay tuned for more and check out my Facebook page for pictures throughout the semester! Cheers!