Nathan and I (at the cookout)

Rhys, Jenn, and I (the cookout)

Cirque du Soleil (I couldn't take pics once we were inside)

Divya, Me, Jenn, Livia, Matt, Sean, and Ashley (at my bday dinner)

Im sorry it has been over a week since I have written! I have lots to share :) Last Sunday I went to church with Divya. I really liked Diyva’s church, it is more like what I am used to back home. It was actually an evening service, and a man shared his incredible testimony about dying for 55 minutes and then being brought back to life. The man was only 39 years old and he had a heart attack. The doctors tried everything, but they couldn’t revive him. His wife arrived, and she prayed a simple prayer, and he was brought back to life! I wish I could share more of the details because it really was an incredible experience.

Monday we went out dinner for my birthday dinner. Through the international program, we are allowed to take five friends out to dinner, and the program pays for each of our meals (although we were on our own for appetizers and drinks). I invited Jenn, Livia, Komal, Matt, and Divya. My advisor (Sean) also came and so did our senior student advisor (Ashley). I really wanted to go to an Italian restaurant, so Ashley knew of a good Italian place called Bella Rosa. Dinner was delicious, and the best food I’ve had in a long time. Unfortunately, after dinner I had to work on an assignment. I know it probably seems like I NEVER do any school work in Australia, but I actually spent most of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday working on my first assignments.

On Tuesday, Nasir cooked dinner for a group of us. I met Nasir through my friend Komal. He has quite a big crush on Komal, and he really enjoys cooking, so he cooks for all of us about once a week. He is originally from Pakistan, like Komal, and he is really good at making Curry dishes. Divya also joined us for dinner this week. After dinner we went across campus for dessert at Jenn’s house. By the end of the night, were racing shopping carts in the Vickery House parking lot.

Wednesday I went to the Cirque du Soleil with Komal, Jenn, and Livia. The circus was in downtown Perth, so we took a bus into the city. It was incredible! Unfortunately, photography was not allowed. The things that the acrobats did seemed humanly impossible. As the show continued, we were more and more amazed by the talent of the performers. After the circus we went for a walk along Swan River as we slowly headed to the bus stop It was such a beautiful night.

On Thursday we went on our second field trip in my Australian Studies class. This week we went to Fremantle. Now I can actually say I had class on the beach! We walked along the beach, and we also went to a few historical places. Then, because my friend Livia wants to get a tattoo on her birthday, we went to a tattoo parlor so she could make an appointment. Going to a tattoo place was definitely a new experience for me! Later that night, I went over to a friend’s house to hang out, and we also watched the movie “Transformers.”

This weekend has been quite enjoyable as well. On Friday, I went to my weekly bible study, and enjoyed a home cooked meal at Du Vihn’s house afterwards. I also look forward to those home cooked meals! Saturday I went to the local shopping mall with Komal and Nasir. I was really excited to use the Target gift card my parents gave me for my birthday; however, I found out that the Target in Australia is not related or owned by the Target in the U.S. The three of us had quite a fun time shopping together. Once we got back to campus, I got ready for a Saturday night cook out/camping trip. It is kind of complicated, but we went to Matt’s (my friend) roomate’s boyfriend’s house near Fremantle for the cookout. A few of my friends brought tents for camping out in the backyard; however, a few of us came home around midnight. It was a lot of fun, and it was actually a little chilly outside, so it was quite nice to have a fire going. It seems that there is never a dull moment around here. I am beginning to realize how difficult it will be for me to leave all of my friends in a few short months.

This morning I woke up to go to church, without realizing that the time had changed. I arrived at church an hour early and no one was there! It took me a while to realize what was going on. So now there is only a time difference of 12 hours between here and back home. This coming week is midterm week, and then I have two weeks of break! I am excited about my upcoming trip along the west coast of Australia.

My 21st!

Livia, Komal, Me (At the Club)

The Bus on the way to North Bridge

The Costume Party

Me, Rhys, Matt, Komal, Nathan

About to make a bday wish

Me and Divya

At the Waterford on Weds

Well I am officially 21 now…and I had an amazing Australian birthday! The celebration began Wednesday at Karaoke night at the Waterford Bar. It wasn’t even my birthday yet, but somebody told the D.J. it was my birthday so everyone sang happy birthday to me. I had my first real drink since I’ve been here that night at the bar, and it was of course a girly fruity drink. And a few hours later I had a Yager bomb…quite the experience. The bar closed at midnight (as everything in perth closes early) and my friends and I went to catch the courtesy bus back to our residence, but somehow even though we were the first ones waiting at the bus stop and It was MY birthday, everyone else rushed to the bus before Jenn and me, and we couldn’t get on. So we decided to go back to my friend Komal’s house which is right by the bus stop to wait for the next bus. So we hung out there for a while, but Jenn, Benedikt and I were really hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything since dinner, so we walked to Rhys’ house because he had lots of Chinese leftovers. Finally we headed home, but along the way we had to dodge all the sprinklers as we walked back across campus. It was a pretty adventurous first few hours of my birthday.

The next morning (Thursday), I woke up and opened all my packages and cards. Thank you all for all the birthdays wishes and cards! After class I came back home to get ready from my birthday party. We decided to have a Disney/Pixar Costume party. Earlier that week a few of my friends and I went to salvation army thrift store to get items for our costumes. I decided to be Tinkerbell (with Drea’s help of course). It was interesting afternoon because for some strange reason my cell phone wasn’t working properly, so I had no idea what was going on. I found out that none of my text messages were getting sent to my friends. It was kind of more interesting that way though, because everything was more of a surprise. I finally arrived at Komal’s house a little late, and the whole common room was decorated and Jenn had made a casserole, fruit salad, and a chocolate cake. It was also really exciting because my friend Divya was able to come as well, and this was the first time she has gotten to meet my other friends. Everyone did a great job with the costumes as well. We had Genie and Rajaj from Aladdin, Pocahontas, Cards from Alice in Wonderland, an Emperor, and few random costumes. A little later in the night we turned the common room into a dance floor.

And, for some reason, my birthday continued on Friday as well. I went to my small group as usual, and then we had an international dinner afterward at Michelle’s house. Almost everyone (and by everyone I mean about 10 of us) brought a dish from their country. All the food was quite delicious. Then, I got a ride home so I could get ready for Northbridge, which is the downtown area of Perth where all the night clubs are. Friday was my first time going to Northbridge, and it’s the first time I have gone out to a club. We took a bus into the city at around 10:30. There were about twenty of us all going together and we took up the whole back of the bus, and my friends decided the bus ride was an appropriate time to sing happy birthday even though it was no longer my birthday. Once we got off the bus, it had started misting and we had quite a long walk, but we finally arrived at a club called “The Deen”. We danced so much that night, and I was pretty tired when we left around 2am. I had a lot of fun, and of course there was some drama. I’ll probably go again sometime but it isn’t exactly somewhere I want to go every weekend :)

(Jenn, Me, Livia, Toni)

(Livia, Victoria, Jaymes, Me)

(Renae, Victoria, Livia, Me)

(top: Victoria, Benedikt Jaymes, Jenn, Matt

Bottom: me, Livia, Rahoul)

(Me, Komal, Jenn)

Just thought I would share a few pictures! The top two are from beach bash last weekend. The third picture from the top is one taken at Cottesloe beach. The fourth picture was taken at the Waterford, which is a restaurant/bar that has Karoke night every wednesday. This was our first wednesday night Karoke. And, finally, the last picture was taken at the zoo, which seems like ages ago!

On Friday, I went to my small group as usual. Each week there are new faces, which is always exciting. No one else from the U.S. has shown up, so I just keep meeting lots of international students! After small group, we usually go over to Du Vihn's house for dinner; however, this week he had to go out of town after the meeting. So we decided to go out to dinner in the city. Michelle, who is actually from Australia and helps out with the bible study, had a place in mind for dinner. We parked at South Perth and then took a ferry across Swan River to get to Perth city. We went to a vegetarian Indian restaurant, which is buffet style, and you eat at much as you want, and then pay what you feel you should! The chefs and people who work there are volunteers and the donations go toward some really great causes. After dinner we took the ferry back and then went on a long walk together. It was so beautiful to see the downtown all lit up at night, and the moon was full and seemed to have an orangish glow.

Saturday, Diyva and I went to Carosel (one of the malls near campus) for lunch and a little shopping. Her mom was flying in later that day, so she was really excited about that. After shopping I showed Diyva around my flat (even though there is not much to see) because she hadn't ever been to Vickery. Later that night, Livia (my flatmate) cooked lasagna for me, Matt, Amber, and Jenn at our place. Matt and Jenn are both from Elon as well, but I didn't really know them before. This was the first time we've had friends over for dinner at our place. After dinner we went over to Matt's place to watch a movie. We ended up watching "Baseketball" and "Clockwork Orange."

Compared to the rest of the weekend, Sunday was quite uneventful. I went to Curtin Community Church again this week. After church I did a lot of cleaning because we have an inspection every two weeks, and Monday is our inspection day. They are pretty strict here about keeping our flat very clean. The RA's even do random inspections sometimes, and we get fined if we don't keep up with our chore for the week. Most of the girls I live with are relatively neat, but most don't really keep up with their chores until inspection comes around. The rest of my Sunday was dedicated to my FIRST math assignment. We have ten days to complete it, but it is going to be very difficult. Once the assignment is due, it will already be time for my midterm in that class!

Wow...I haven't posted anything in over a week, and I have so much to share! Maybe I should work on posting twice a week, so my posts aren't so long. This past weekend, on Friday, I went to the same Bible study group again. I was quite surprised to see one of my friend’s roommates there. It was nice having someone there that I already knew and it was good to see familiar faces from last week as well. After the bible study, I went to “Beach Bash”, which is basically a huge party at the on-campus bar, known as The Tav. For the event, the school brought in hot tubs, a lot of sand, a foam machine, and inflatable games. The night also involved a lot of music and dancing!

On Saturday, my friend Divya (who I met last weekend at the picnic) came and picked me up and we went into Perth City. She showed me around the city a bit as we walked around, and we also did some shopping. Then, we took the train to Fremantle, which is a city next to Perth. This was my second time in “Freo”, and we enjoyed a snack at one of the many cafes along the café strip. Fremantle is a really cool place to walk around, and it is also well known for its markets…which have all kinds of clothes, food, and souvenirs you can imagine. Later that night I went over to my friend’s place across campus (like a 20 minute trek) to watch a movie… The Little Mermaid. One thing about Curtin that I really don’t like is that you can’t or shouldn’t walk anywhere by yourself at night, especially across campus. During the week there is a courtesy bus that runs during the night from residence to residence, but it doesn’t run on the weekend, which is probably a time when it is needed most.

On Sunday, I went to Curtin Community Church, which is the church I was trying to find last week. As it turned out, the church met in a totally different part of campus from what I was told last week, but I managed to find it this week. It was very small, only about 50 people, which was so different from the church I attended last Sunday. The message was very good and the people there were very friendly, but it was a lot different from Life Fellowship back at Elon. It was very conservative and we sang a few hymns. It really made me miss the worship at Life Fellowship. Later on Sunday, I went into town with Livia (my roommate) and Jenn(also a student from Elon). They did a lot of shopping, but I was mostly just looking, and I didn’t buy anything. I bet each of them spent over $100 in just the two hours we were there…haha.

Monday, I don’t have classes, and I found out the Divya doesn’t either. She invited me to come over to her house just to hang out. So we ran a few errands and then headed to her place. She lives in a very nice house with her sister and a family friend. We watched a little TV (but there is hardly anything on in the middle of the day in Australia), and We actually got out the Atlas and I was telling her about different parts of the U.S. and she told me about places to visit in Australia. She even made me dinner…minced meat (like ground beef) in a tortilla with cheese, lettuce, etc. Then, because her neighborhood is situated right next to a large park, we went on an evening walk around a park trail. It was quite a nice way to spend a Monday, at least in my opinion.

My third week of classes has gone by so fast. Today, Thursday, we went on an excursion to the Western Australia Art Gallery in my Australian Studies class. Our professor gave us a brief tour of some of the aboriginal art exhibitions. It was very interesting to see the differences between traditional and contemporary aboriginal art. I also found out that Aboriginees do not consider these paintings art; instead, they consider these paintings/drawings an everyday part of life.

Tonight I actually had a babysitting job! I went over to Du Vihn and Robyn’s (my bible study leader and his wife) house for dinner, and then I watched their daughter Sophie for a couple of hours while they went to the circus. They told me the circus was really good, and I am excited because I have tickets to go in 2 weeks!

So, I thought maybe I should share some fun Aussie sayings that I have learned. The key thing to remember is that Aussie’s tend to abbreviate words and that sometimes makes it difficult to understand what they are actually talking about.

Mate… widely used but generally means friend

How are you going?...Basically a combination of how are you and how is it going?

No Worries… My pleasure or You’re welcome

Dodgy…unreliable or sketchy

Rellies…. Relatives (So if an Australian says, “I have to get Chrissie prezzy for my rellie… that means I have to get Christmas present for my relative)

Macca’s … McDonalds

Brekkie… Breakfast

Cheers… Thanks

I had quite an interesting weekend after my first week of classes. I found out about a Christian organization for overseas students during orientation week, so, on Friday afternoon I went to their bible study. I expected this to be big group, however when I got there I was the only one there other than the staff advisor who runs the program. Du Vihn (the staff advisor) was really nice and I got to chat with him about churches, etc. until a few other students arrived. The three other students that showed up were all from Hong Kong. At the very end of the study, Michelle, an Australian who is helping Du Vihn arrived. I had the opportunity to talk to her and she told me about another Christian organization on campus, and she invited me to a picnic the organization was having the next day. After the Bible Study, Du Vihn invited us all over to his house for dinner. His wife made us delicious pasta and a curry dish. We even played Rummikube! It was really great to have a home cooked meal, and It was the first time I have been in an Australian home thus far!

Saturday, I went to the picnic with Michelle and she introduced me to a lot of people involved in CCU (Curtin Christian Union). I met an Australian girl named Divya, who actually studied abroad at Purdue last semester. It was really cool to talk to her about her experience while studying in the U.S. We are actually going to meet up this weekend to hang out.

Sunday, I went to church for the first time, which turned out to be quite an experience. Du Vihn told me about a community church that meets on campus, so I figured that would be the perfect place to start. Well, as I was walking to the church service (keep in mind I did not know exactly where I was going) I heard familiar worship music, so I followed the music. Thinking that I had to have been at the right service I walked up to the doors and I was immediately ushered in to a seat before I realized that I was at a completely different church. I have never felt so out of place. There I was in a church service surrounded by hundreds of people of Asian descent. There might have been five other non-Asians. I stayed for the entire service, and it was quite good. Now I have a better Idea of what it is like to be in the minority. After church I joined a few friends and we went into the city to catch the train to Scarborough Beach. So we spent a relaxing Sunday afternoon at the beach.

I can’t believe I am already halfway done with my second week of class. I dropped one of my classes, so now I don’t have class on Monday or Wednesday! All of my classes are going well so far. The math class I am taking is a bit over my head, so I am going to have to work extra hard in that class and get help from the professor. I went to see the professor yesterday for help, and, while he did end up helping me, he kept talking about random topics in math that had nothing to do with what I needed help on…