First Week of School!

Last week was my first week of school in about 2 months so I was ready to get back to school and the rhythm of everything. I am taking courses that go towards my Anthropology degree since I only have upper level classes left for Integrative Physiology. This semester I will be taking units in the Aboriginal Indigenous Studies major. I am taking Indigenous Spirituality, Indigenous Families, and Indigenous Sustainability. Two of my classes are taught by an indigenous women so it's really interesting to here her perspective on where she is from/the community and at the same time her uni perspective. My other class discusses how it isn't environmentally friendly to live in Perth or anywhere in Australia since everything has to be flown or driven out of the cities; including recycled materials. The largest difference between the CU campus and the Murdoch campus is the size. In Boulder if I see one person walking to class that I know its a good day since there are 26,000 undergrads. While Murdoch Uni has 15,000 undergrads so I see a lot of people that I know every time that I go to class.

Here are a few random pictures of the campus. I don't think that its as pretty visually as CU but I do like how its all outdoors with tons of tropical plants.

There are a lot of these outdoor seating areas to hang out at in between classes

This is the center of the campus at Bush Court. The area in the back are the main walkways which can be scene in the next picture. This is also where the market takes place on Thursday.

This is a fun place to sit and do homework next to the waterfall

This is the flower thats on the Murdoch Uni logo, the Banksia flower is located throughout the campus

Last week there was also the beginning of an art festival in Perth. Here is a clip of the didgeridoo. But other than that it was kind of boring and I left early.

I also went to my first cricket match. It was interesting to watch for about 15 minutes since its kind of like baseball. The games can last 5 days depending on the type of league the team is in. There weren't many people there, so you can get the idea that it was pretty uninteresting to watch.

Over the weekend I headed to the beach again finally since I had healed from my last sunburn. I did get burned again but this time not as bad. So I think that I am finally adjusting to the sun/heat here. While walking around in Freo I found the Round House which is the oldest building in the city dating back to the early 1800s.

Here is also a picture at the Freo Jail. Which was used for one-hundred years until the late 1980s. Hopefully one night I'll be able to go on the ghost tour there!

I'll post another update next week after my trip to Albany!

Love,
Emily

Daily Life

Here are a few pictures of things that are different or interesting about school and Perth City.

Every Wednesday and Thursday there is a market on campus that has fresh fruit and really cheap prices. There are also other stalls that sell bikes, jewelry, ect.

One thing that I thought was really different was the shopping center. K-Mart and Coles is where I do most of my shopping. But they aren't free standing stores but rather in a shopping mall with lots of other random stores. You also can push your shopping cart, trolley, back to the university and at night they come and pick all of them up.

The light switches are turned on by a switch. But there is also this weird one that you have to push a button and flick the switch. (Here to turn on the light you flick it down and up for off).

Another thing that has really tripped me up is since they drive on the other side of the road that applies in a lot of other situations. For example the aisle in the grocery store, walking to class, and walking in stairwells. That has confused me a lot because I always want to walk on the right side but that's wrong.

After being asked many times about if the toilets flush the other way here is a picture to prove that they do...I think. Now I can't remember which way they go in the US but I think that this is the opposite way.

For the short time that I've been here I've been able to try lots of different food. I ate kangaroo but it just tasted like tough beef. I also tried Vegemite on toast with butter and really liked it! Today I also tried a lychee berry/fruit I did not like it at all. Its exciting to try all these different things because it makes me feel like I'm on Bizarre Foods :)

Lychee

Something that I found surprising was the comfort that coffee brings me. Even though its been around 93 everyday having a coffee really reminds me of home. I'm used to getting one with my parents before work or studying at little coffee shops in Boulder. So getting a coffee is a treat when I feel a little homesick!

Also its been nice talking to all of my family and friends on skype so that it doesn't feel quite so far away here! Thank you!!

This weekend I am going on a trip to the Southwest down to Albany. There will be more exciting pictures from that trip that I'm excited to share with you guys.

Love,
Emily

Orientation Week!

Hi everyone! Thanks for following my blog and I hope you like all the pics! Since I've last talked to you I went sand-boarding and learned to surf at a beach called Lancelin. Surfing was so much fun! I wasn't very good at it but I did stand up a lot but just not for very long haha. That same afternoon we went sand-boarding at the sand dunes that were near the beach. That was also really fun but soooo hot! I bet it was at least 90. I was surprised that it wasn't more like snowboarding.

We also learned about the Northwest trip that we are going to take on our first study break. It sounds really exciting. It will be all of the international students traveling by bus up the north coast to Coral Bay and then heading inland and back down to Perth.

Maybe I should explain where I am actually staying. The University of Murdoch is located between Perth and Fremantle (closer to the beach and much smaller). So I can take the train to Perth and that takes about 20 mins to get to the city center. To get to Freo (thats what all the locals call Fremantle) it takes about 15 minutes by bus. I am getting used to public transportation and not having a car; but I am excited for that when I get back to HR.

There is a market in Freo on the weekends. I explored that over the weekend and it kind of reminded me of a larger Pearl Street which is in Boulder. I usually head back to my room during the afternoon because it is so hot. Everyday that I have been here has been hot and clear. I'm not complaining since I've heard most of the States is cold and snowy haha. For example its 5:00 pm right now and 99 degrees. I think this is the hottest day that we have had thus far.

On Saturday we went to the Caversham Wildlife Park which was so much fun!!! I got to pet a koala, kangaroo, and wombat!! There were a lot of other animals and birds that are native to Australia that we saw such as: emu, dingo, crow (they wake me up every morning at 5 with the most annoying call ever!), and some really huge spiders.

I hope that all of you are doing well! Here is my address if you want to send me any mail or whatever:
Flat 143 Room 1
Murdoch University Village
PO Box 1055
Canning Vale DC WA 6970

If I think of anything else I have done I will update here :)  Enjoy!

Emily :)

First Week In Perth

I left Denver on last Tuesday when it was -15 degrees. And looked like this... 

Its 9:20pm in Perth right now and its still 80 degrees. 

Its been a very busy first week here with orientation and meeting all the new study abroad students. I left from Denver on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Perth on Thursday afternoon so it was a really long flight/trip over here. I first moved into my room at University Village located next to Murdoch Uni. Its kinda like the dorms but there are more international and upperclassman students that live in it. 

Here are a few pictures of my room and the surrounding buildings/environment

On Sunday we went to Cottesloe Beach which is outside the city of Perth. It had clear waters and lots of people out tanning since it was the weekend. 

Then on Sunday we went to King's Park which is a park (duh) in the metropolitan area of Perth. Its larger than Central Park and has lots of species of plants that are only native to Australia. I got really sun burned the day before so I have a great farmers tan in these pictures

Today we went to Lancelin Beach which is an hour and a half north of Perth. We had surfing lessons and went sandboarding. Both of which were so much fun!! I got burned again, I just can't seem to apply enough sunscreen. I'm having a great time in Perth so far and have heaps (a word they use in Australia a lot) of great friends! This is my first blog so I hope that you enjoy the pictures and can kinda see what I'll be doing for the next five months. Talk to you soon!

Love, 

Emily :)

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello Everyone! I thought that this would be an easy way to keep everyone updated on everything that I'm doing in Perth. I'll post pictures, videos, and little blurbs about what I'm doing each week. Hope you enjoy it!