Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear

Today started off with breakfast at 8:00 sharp followed by hours and hours of outdoor games at "the oval," (the uni's footie/cricket field). No one realized how long we would be outside and, by the time we came back for lunch around 12:30, we were all VERY sunburned. The lower half of the fresh tattoos on my arm got burned, so I have that to look forward to in days to come. After a few hours in the dorms (when our internet thankfully began to work) we all showered up and I tracked down the iron so we could "suit up" to go to dinner.

Now, don't get me wrong, I looked good--shirt, tie, shoes, the works--but some of these Aussie guys know how to dress! I was struggling to keep up in some cases. We walked down to the uni's main theater and listened to several more speeches about Res life and all got our picture taken with our units. From there, we headed to "tea" which took far too long for my taste. It was pretty fun, though. Throughout the dinner, different songs would play and when your Res section's song came on (Bella-Greuin, North, South, and City are the different Res areas), you had to get up and do a specific dance. There were other songs that required all the guys to get up and find a girl to use a cheesy pick up line on, and a song for girls to do the same. It kept things interesting. However, somehow, no one in my dorm is good at making conversation, so we spent most of the evening sitting at the table in awkward silence. Maybe it's just because we don't know each other very well yet.

Tomorrow should be fun and interesting. We have to be up for breakfast at seven (which no one is excited about) and then will head into town for a day of indoor soccer, go-carts, laser tag, and movies. The thing I'm wondering about is that international students are supposed to go to the zoo in the afternoon and I don't think any of the RA's have taken that into account. On the other hand, I'm not sure I still want to go to the zoo or if I would rather spend my day in town. Time will tell, but if I head to the zoo you can expect pictures.

Pictures. I HAVE actually taken pictures. It's just...I'm not a girl and I'm not conditioned to take pictures of every little thing. So I probably have about...6 pictures on my camera. But when I get some worthwhile photos, I'll figure out how to post them here.

I Skyped my parents for the first time today and got to see them and my dog (who could've cared less) which was nice. I tried to call my brother today but his phone is fried. I was bummed not to get to talk to him. I also talked to my friend in Tasmania, briefly. It was nice to have some contact with someone else going through the same things as me.

Aside from the sunburn, I'm doing well and have been looking up kangaroo recipes! Watch out now.

~Daniel