I was working as waitress in a cocktail bar, that much is true.

Oh boy. It’s only 5 in the afternoon and I’m exhausted. I guess I’m allowed to be because I’ve had such a busy day up until now!

I woke up at about 6:30 on my own, thinking it was closer to 9. When I met up with Paul, our program director he asked if I had woken up closer to 4. After getting up, I decided to spend 3 hours watching “Avatar” on my computer, since I couldn’t really do anything until 9:30 anyway (because people weren’t up and open yet). I left the flat around 10, 10:30 and passed in my flat room condition card (Clarkies: RCC) down at the residential office, where I was given very poor directions to the CIEE office (my program office). I was told to go to this courtyard area where I knew the credit union was, so I went ahead, thinking I could hit 2 birds with 1 stone.

I found the courtyard even though at one point I was sure I wasn’t headed in the right direction (on the way, I got my first “good day!” from a Christian kid standing next to his stupid Christian tent, trying to attract members to their stupid imaginary friend worshiping cult). I didn’t find the CIEE office, but I did find the credit union very easily. I walked in to hear Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” playing which made me very happy because one, it reminds me of Alicia, and two, it’s an 80’s classic! The woman at the credit union was very helpful, and I got my affairs in order there. Looks like I’ll get an ATM card in a few days or so. Which reminds me, I need to figure out where I get my post! (My post address is like… 6? lines long. It’s ridiculous. I’ll post it up later (no pun intended).

I asked the woman if she knew where Paul’s office was, because he came up in conversation (since CIEE students get special deals with the credit union) and thankfully he happened to be real close by so he came and picked me up. Turns out his office is much further away from the courtyard than I thought, and much closer to the village. We stopped off at the office and talked for a while, before going back and getting my student ID card and my SmartRider card (for buses and trains).

At this point, I was feeling pretty good about myself for figuring most of this stuff out, but I still hadn’t gone food shopping yet. After stopping off at my room (and taking care of a few things online, like adding credit to my track phone—yeah, I figured that one out too!), I finally ventured out to go food shopping.

The supermarket I’m mostly likely to shop at the most, Coles, it about a 15 minute walk. I found it easily which made me very excited. I ended up winding in and out of the aisles, doubling back quite often to get everything I needed. Unfortunately, I purposely left behind a lot of things, like shampoo and body wash, so I ended up needing a lot ($159 AUD in all!). I only had $170 AUD on me at the time too, so I lucked out. I got almost everything I had on my list (which is impressive, because I thought I was going to have to go to a store like Kmart, which is right next door) and then some. The next week or so looks like grilled cheese and pasta (which oddly enough is all I eat at Clark, haha!). I was able to get a few things for breakfast (which I rarely eat) too. There were a lot of things I wanted but didn’t get, but will be sure to get the next time I go. I hope to make the food I got to stretch for a while, but I also know I won’t be buying as much my next shop. (The girl who ended up checking me out was really cute too—probably too young for me—and had a really thick Australian accent.) I ended up sticking to as many Coles generic products as possible. Their packaging makes me laugh:

It looks a lot like the Dharma Initiative food products from the TV show LOST (especially the cereal!). Oh, and guess which song I heard on the radio at Coles? "Don't You Want Me" by Human League (which is really cool since I was listening to my iPod for most of my shop which is kinda lame, I know).

Going back to the mentioning of being greeted “good day!”, I’ve decided to stick to my usual American greetings for now. I feel like if I used “good day” all the time, I’d sound stupid saying it. If I say “hello” in my slightly unusual accent, Australians will probably notice I’m American and be like “WOAH!” Yeah, cool dude.

After shopping and feeling very happy with myself, I went for a run. Then I became unhappy with myself. I guess spending 30 hours on planes and sleeping on a VERY firm bed (which I don’t like) made my back VERY, VERY sore. When my back hurts, there’s no way I’m running very far. I’d rather have sore legs than a sore back. So, until I stretch out my back and get used to my bed, I won’t be running for a while, which really bites.

Oh, Paul told me what that obnoxious dying-cat-bird is: a raven (or so he believes). Um, that’s not what they sound like in the states, right?

I’ve decided to come up with a list of cool differences between America and Australia, which I will display through out my blogs. I’m calling them “Distinguished Youthful Listings of Australian Nuances” or DYLANs. They will look like this:

DYLAN #1 – Australians by and large are much more friendly than Americans.

DYLAN #2 – Australians think it’s alright to drive contemporary versions of the El Camino. Not cool. (Everyone in the Perth area drive them: they’re one of the most popular car models I’ve seen so far. A maker I’m not familiar with and Ford make them. The Ford Falcon Ute is below.)

Most of my fellow CIEE students will be arriving tomorrow. I told Paul I’d be willing to go the airport with him and just chill because I have nothing else to do. We’ll see if I end up going, because it’s not something Paul thought would be very fun for me. I’m pretty lonely with nothing to do, so I’m looking forward to everyone’s arrival! Oh boy.

Well, I’m gonna go figure out something to do. It’s almost 5:30 now, so I might go make an early dinner. We shall see. Hugs & kisses & high fives!
Today: 7.5