Before we begin today, I'd like to offer a brief weather update. Though it was sunny and perfect yesterday, it is actually raining as I write. Yes, it does rain even in Australia. It was fortunately quite beautiful all day until about two hours ago, neatly coinciding with the time I chose to come inside for the afternoon.
Tons has happened since my last post (1.5 weeks, 1.5 orientations) so I'll try to give a rough overview.
Caloundra remainders:
The surf & beach safety lesson was fabulous. One of the Kings Beach lifeguards showed us a brief video on surf safety filmed at Bondi (bon-dai) Beach, the popular Australian beach with the most rescues each year. We learned how to spot a rip tide and what to do if caught in a rip. We then got to see the standard equipment the guards use at Kings Beach (including jet-ski-like rescue craft) and go up in the lifeguard tower. The tower is actually a small building with a glass-fronted second floor from which two guards look down at the beach. Their primary responsibility is the area between the two red-and-yellow flags that mark the swimming zone (rule 1: always swim between the flags), but they also watch further down the beach for surfers, who need to stay away from the swim zone (a blue flag marks the beginning of the designated surfing area). I got a good sense of the effectiveness of raising your hand if you get caught in a rip upon seeing the view from the tower. It seems much more sensible when you realize how effectively it would help the guards notice you from that angle.
After our on-land safety lesson, it was time to plunge into the Pacific! The water was a bit chilly, but it IS the middle of winter. For the Atlantic, it would have been a warm late-June day. We practiced dolphin dives to go under waves and running with high knees to get through the shallows quickly. After pairing up to rescue a buddy with a tube, we learned how to body surf. Three words: so much fun!
I was a bit nervous at first, but legitimately so. The basic idea is that you pick a wave, time your movement so you push off the bottom towards shore to just catch the front of it, then hold a tight streamline as the wave carries you in. After providing this explanation, one of the two instructing lifeguards showed us his neck scars from having broken his neck engaged in similar activities when he was younger. I believe this was supposed to stress the importance of keeping your hands out above your head. It also served to remind us to avoid choosing a wave that would crest as we pushed off, because then you can get dumped straight down rather than surfing in towards shore.
One attempt later, I discovered that a healthy fear is good to have but any other nervousness was completely unwarranted. Body-surfing is so great! As you hold tight and kick as hard as you can, the wave carries you into shore. Suddenly, you're ten metres (more Aussie-ism) from where you started having just rushed through water faster than Ian Thorpe. Okay, maybe not QUITE as fast as Ian Thorpe, but faster than Johnny Weissmuller, at least. (JW of course being both the original Tarzan and an Olympic champion freestyler in the 1930s.) I love how orientation combined information and cultural exposure with interactive fun at every twist and turn.
At the airport:
The next morning (Tuesday 14 July - 8 days ago), we headed to the airport for our flights to Sydney (UNSW - University of New South Wales - kids) and Melbourne (us Melbourne Uni-ers). We got through security incredibly quickly since it's the most chill process ever. You get your carry-ons scanned and walk right in, no ticket check or anything. Since we hadn't had lunch, we enjoyed some delicious Aussie food before boarding our flight to Melbourne. The flight was smooth and 2.5 hours later we were touching down in our new home city!
An air travel anecdote:
During orientation, we had split up into Melbourne and Sydney groups to learn a bit about our respective cities and unis (that's universities for those of you across the Pacific). Lyndon, our student coordinator here in Melbourne, told our group to call him 24/7 in the event of an emergency or anytime during the day with whatever issues come up. Emergencies, he noted, include broken bones and such but not finding a Huntsman spider in your room. He explained this while showing us a slide of a Huntsman, which is apparently non-venomous but also about the size of a light switch cover, directly after explaining that this was the type of creepy crawly we might find in our room during the semester if we didn't clean up enough. We all, of course, felt that an in-room Huntsman sighting really should constitute an emergency, even at 3 AM. The moral, regardless, was that Lyndon is our person to call for help.
Andrew, who is studying at Melbourne but has one music class down the hill at RMIT (the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which has lots of art and design classes, among other things), had to fly down early because RMIT classes start two weeks before Melbourne ones. (Our first day of the semester is next Monday.) While our flight was shortly after noon on Tuesday, he had to leave for the airport around 4:15 AM. He overslept a bit, but was out with Stewart (another Arcadia person, whom we endlessly quote in his use of the word 'sauna' - Stewart's pronunciation: sah-OOOO-nuh, with the OOOO being louder and higher pitched) by about 4:30.
In spite of a smooth arrival to the airport, Andrew unfortunately ended up missing his flight. He had already checked his bags so had a couple of Australian dollars and little else. He used some of his money to call Lyndon from a pay phone, since none of us had Australian cell phones yet. Lyndon, our reach-me-anytime contact, did not pick up. Andrew ended up reaching Vera, who works in the Melbourne Arcadia office, and getting on a later flight, ultimately barely making it to the last part of his class.
Yesterday, we had an enrolment session for classes - all 433 study abroad & exchange students here this semester - after which all of us Arcadia kids were hanging out chatting. As he'd said he might, Lyndon showed up! (Exclamation point because we hadn't seen him in a week as he was orienting another group of 80 Arcadians heading elsewhere while we had our first round of Melbourne orientations.) In the course of the conversation, Andrew asked, "Lyndon, I missed my flight and called you from the airport. Why didn't you pick up?" Lyndon's response: "Sorry mate, I was out surfing."
I like the Aussie attitude this story hopefully shares with you. Everything will, people figure, work out. Go surf, party, have fun and get your work done in the interim. As they say here, "No worries, she'll be right."
Next time: into the city!
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