Macquarie Orientation

I was wide awake at 6:30 this morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep for the life of me, so I got up and watched the Jane by Design episode that I had downloaded in Fiji. My orientation this morning started at 10am, so I decided to walk around campus and get my bearings until then. I found the campus store, which doesn’t actually have that much of a selection. I also walked through the campus hub, which is like a student center, but mainly consists of food places and the campus bar.

Random stream on campus

Orientation was kind of overwhelming. Our morning session had a variety of speakers come in and talk to us about various elements of the university as well as aspects of safety. I was particularly incensed by the Global Leadership Program, which consists of seminars and a meet and greet with “global citizens.” If you complete 5 of the seminars and go to the meet and greet, you receive a certificate. I think I’m going to sign up to participate because it sounds relatively interesting.

I’m also kind of excited about the clubs offered on this campus. Being at a big university (Macquarie has about 30,000 students) is very new to me. They have a chocolate appreciation club, among other things. I’m hoping to join a few at the club fair – MacFest – next week so that I can meet people. I already feel kind of left out from the AIFS group and it doesn’t help that I’m living alone. I always miss out on the information and invites to go out and this is only day two in Sydney.

They gave us lunch before the afternoon session started. Our afternoon was filled with scheduling and registration. Apparently, the university took it upon themselves to enroll us in classes so I was only scheduled for two of the ones that I wanted out of four. I’m going to try and drop the two and add the two I wanted, but it might be difficult because the class I was most excited about is only offered at one time. The timetable (schedule) they drew up for me also sucks. I end up with class every day of the week and most of them are early days. I really have to do something about it tomorrow when they’re in their office.

The rest of the session instructed us on how to set-up our e-mail address with Macquarie and use their online webpages. I can’t figure out how to set-up my e-mail forwarding though, so I guess I’m just going to have to remember to check both accounts every day.

One exciting thing though is that I found out anyone can attend class lectures, so I might pick a few courses that I’m interested in and just sit in on their weekly lectures. I might as well, if I have time, especially with all the gaps in my schedule as of right now.

After the orientation sessions, Sarah, Christine, and I looked around the school store for a little bit before heading back over to the shopping center to pick up groceries and browse some of the stores. I found a really cheap cookie sheet, so I’m going to make some cookies. I also picked up the fixings for tacos and made them for dinner. As I was cooking in my new apartment, one of my housemates walked by and introduced himself before quickly ducking out the door. It happened so fast that I don’t even remember his name. That’s when it really set in though that I’m going to be here for awhile. I was wondering what it would take.

The tacos were rather different because the grocery store didn’t have any of the normal cheeses I would use. In fact, a lot of the packages didn’t specify what kind of cheese they were. I also had to get a different kind of seasoning because they don’t have Mrs. Dash over here. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t what I’m used to. Another item missing from the grocery store was applesauce, so I’ll have to make plain chocolate chip cookies too. I don’t understand how Australia doesn’t have applesauce. When I asked a staff member, she asked me if it was a juice.

After dinner, I figured out the laundry situation. It’s $4 per load of laundry and $1 for the dryer. You have to pay in $1 coins though and there isn’t a change machine in the laundry room. It’s a good idea I had the foresight to stop into the recreation building on my way to class this morning or I wouldn’t have had anywhere near enough change. I luckily live right by the laundry building though, so it wasn’t difficult to drag my suitcase of dirty clothes over there and stuff them in the washers. I wanted to dry all of my clothes in my room, but drying racks were in the $50 range when I looked at them today, so that isn’t really feasible.

I want to get a job while I’m here now that I’m realizing how expensive things really are. I spent $80 on groceries today and that didn’t even cover the other toiletries and cooking supplies that I bought. I don’t know how I’m going to manage to eat much more than pasta for the next couple of months.

I need to buy some sweatshirts too. It’s absolutely freezing here. I don’t think it helps that we went from a tropical environment to the Australian winter. It’s not as bad as the Midwest by far, but our townhouses don’t have heat, so I’m glad I have the extra blankets to curl up under otherwise I might freeze.

Welcome to Sydney

Today has been really overwhelming. We got to the airport in Nadi at 6am to check-in. I went with the first group on the bus to the airport because I was nervous about my bags. It turns out that I had a definite right to be. Air Pacific decided to charge by the kilogram instead of by the amount of bags, so since I could only check 23kg for free, I ended up having to pay for 12 extra at the rate of $15FJD per bag. That’s $180FJD! I was so ready to get out of Fiji though that I just took it in stride and went off to spend the rest of my Fijian money in the airport. I was able to find a magnet, granted it’s a little chintzy, for the rest of my collection and grab a muffin for breakfast.

When I went back to join the group, I found out that two of the girls in our group – Audrey and Nicole – hadn’t made it on the plane. Apparently, the girls in the front of them got the last tickets on our overbooked plane and they were placed on standby. It was decided that flying to New Zealand and then catching a flight to Sydney would be a better option for them. But still, that had to suck. They spent the whole day in airports only to have to wait around to get picked up in Sydney because no one knew when they were getting in.

Anyways, back to my trip, the muffin didn’t do much for filling me up though, so it’s a good thing that they gave us yogurt, fruit, and another tiny muffin on the plane. I took the complimentary drink too. I needed it after the whole check-in ordeal. The flight was supposed to last 4 hours and 20 minutes, but when we got to Sydney we had to fly around in the air for a little bit because there wasn’t a spot for us to land. When we finally got down on the ground, I realized how truly excited I am to finally be in Australia. It’s sort of surreal. I’ve been wanting to step foot on this continent since I was twelve and now I’m finally here, for four whole months no less.

We hit the ground running and pulled a team effort to get through customs, grab our checked bags and make it out to the arrivals terminal. We actually beat the bus driver. Once all of our bags were finally loaded into the bus, we started the 40 minute journey into town. It was nice to drive through Sydney even though it was kind of rainy and dreary. Everyone got really excited when we drove over the actual Sydney bridge and saw the Sydney Opera House.

At Macquarie, we were welcomed into the recreation building of the Village and provided with Pizza Hut pizzas and the Australian version of a hotdog (we’re still not quite sure what was different – someone thought lamb and someone else sausage, regardless, I liked it). We were starving, so it was much appreciating. After all of the food had vanished into our stomachs, the resident advisors handed out packets with our room keys, house keys, and free internet vouchers. I’m living with four other people. None of which I have met. They’re most likely international students, but they seem to no t be home much. They don’t even have anything in our common rooms, just the provided furniture and some food in the kitchen.

Amanda, our AIFS coordinator on campus, also gave us a little speech about drugs and alcohol before handing over our debit cards from AIFS. It turns out that we’ll be getting a $240 monthly stipend for food and transportation, which doesn’t look like much at all in this country.

After signing all of the papers to check-in, we were guided to the very back of the part of the village furthest from campus, where they had found residence for us. Luckily, a van helped with some of our bags because it’s a fairly large hill that we have to walk up to get to our buildings. It’ll be nice training when I go for a run.

My room has some issues with it, like a leaky faucet and a very dirty desk chair, but I’m so glad to be in the same place for a few months that I was relieved when I walked in. It could definitely be worse anyways. I really only had time to set my bags down and put my sheets (also provided by AIFS, even though they said they wouldn’t be) on my bed before rushing off to the shopping mall across campus. It closed at 5:30, so we had to hurry there. I’m glad we did though because I was able to purchase an Australian mobile for $59 with a $30 monthly plan that gives me unlimited texting, 8 hours of talk, and a limited amount of data. It’s nice to have a phone that works again, even if I can’t call home with it.

While everyone else was picking out phones, I ran around the mall picking up the things I deemed most important and weren’t too heavy to carry all of the way back to the village (it’s about a 30 minute walk, or at least it is the way we went). I was able to find a fresh fruit store for apples and bananas as well as a bakery to pick up some bread. Then I stopped in a grocery store for detergent, pasta, olive oil, and toilet paper before running to Target (which carries quite a bit less here) for hangers and toiletries. I had five bags in total when I was done, but I managed to carry all of them back without breaking. I did have a little assistance though. Halfway back, we found an abandoned grocery cart and commandeered it for the remainder of the walk. It was a little too late though because one of the handles on Sarah’s bags ripped and her olive oil bottle broke and leaked all over her groceries.

I was so happy to unpack when I got home though. A few of the girls had talked about going out earlier, but I have no idea where they manage to get the energy from. I’m excited to pick out my classes tomorrow though. I hope I get what I want.

Test Time

Women can drive here! For a second, we weren’t sure. But they definitely can.

Today was our exam day. We were given the questions ahead of time and instructed to write about 2 pages or 400 words for each of the four questions. It wasn’t actually that bad because they were all sort of opinionated and I read the articles they were on, so I didn’t actually have to study. I was one of the few people who took the exam seriously, which is ironic because I’m one of the few who won’t be getting credit for it. I just figured I had nothing else to do, so I might as well apply myself. I found some of the material interesting anyways.

After the exam, I wandered around campus by myself for a bit. It was nice to be alone and not feel like I needed to be a part of the group – the same feeling I got from running yesterday. Some might think it’s weird that I’m so independent and need so much alone time, but I definitely do. It’s just natural to me. And traveling in groups can overwhelm. That’s why New Zealand will be exciting. I’m going to be completely on my own.

We were picked up shortly after my wandering. In fact, I ran into our host father on my way to the pick-up spot. Biscuits and rolls were waiting for us when we got home. They were so good. I really do love their biscuits here. We filled up on them though so when dinner was ready about ninety minutes later, we barely had room for pasta with lamb sauce and chicken curry.

Fiji Facts

This morning we had peanut butter sandwiches! I was so excited. I’ve been eating so much bread the last few days too because I feel like it’s been lacking since we’ve been here. It doesn’t hurt that Sanjita’s rolls are amazing and she’s been serving them at every meal since she found out we like them so much.

Our bus was over an hour late this morning to take us to a museum in town. I thought it was ridiculous, but everyone said it was running on “Fijian time,” which sounds like the biggest crock ever. When we finally got to the museum, we realized it was ridiculously small. It took us like ten minutes to wander through and the rest of our time was spent in the small gift shop. I bought a souvenir bottle opener, which I realize I probably should have brought with me because even things like wine coolers in other countries aren’t twist-offs.

View outside the history museum

A traditional boat in the history museum

After the history museum, we went to the other side of town to visit the prison. Apparently, Fijian prisoners who have served most of their sentence are encouraged to develop a talent while in jail. They are put in a separate area with house-like structures where they are able to roam free. They said not many try to escape, which sounds bizarre to me. There wasn’t even a barbed-wire fence keeping them in the area, just the open road. But that’s beside the point, these men are encouraged to try artistic pursuits. And they’re amazing! There was a bunch of beautiful paintings and mosaics in the small art gallery attached to the prison. We were encouraged to purchase something (the money goes to the families of the prisoners), but there was no way I would be able to get any of the mosaics I liked home. They were super heavy.

On the way back to campus, we stopped at the town theater so that a couple of our group members could purchase tickets to the late showing (8:30 is their latest!) of the new Batman or Superman, whichever, movie. Someone told me it isn’t even out in the states yet. Tickets were only $5 Fijian though, so that’s a really good deal.

The town cinema

View of Suva

Freighters on the coast

We had lunch on campus, nothing notable, after returning and were left to our own devices for the afternoon to “study” for our exam tomorrow. I wandered around campus with two girls for a little while before we went to McDonald’s to use the internet. Even though we were promised internet access on campus, we haven’t been able to get the wifi to work, so McDonald’s (which has no plugs) was our last resort. Anyways, not much studying got done. I went for a run up a pretty big hill after my laptop died. I only ran for 24 minutes, but I was impressed with myself because it’s much hillier and muggier here than I’m used to.

Litter Please :)

Dinner was more rolls :) and lamb stew with some kind of baked potato concoction. It was alright. We spent the rest of our night trying to figure out who the random people were that kept wandering in and out of our host families house. It’s possibly the equivalent of Thursday poker night, with kava? We’re not quite clear. There was a man from New Zealand here though that tried to bring up some uncomfortable controversial subjects with us though.

I bought a notebook today so I could record some of the random Fijian things that I’ve learned:

·         Fiji is ruled by a strict military regime with limited freedom of speech and jail as a repercussion

·         Only men appear to drive here

·         It’s illegal for women to run away with a man (without permission) before 21

·         Illegal for students and those under 18 to smoke (marijuana is completely illegal)

·         21 is the voting age, but this is switching to 18 in the next election

·         You are to remove your shoes before entering one’s house

·         Clubs are open until 5am and do not admit native students

·         Girls must wear their hair up and cannot wear fingernail polish to school

·         Citizens are not always able to get visas to travel due to some citizens staying past their allotted stay

·         Peanut butter is common :)

·         All apples are imported (and hard to find)

·         Motorcycles are uncommon except amongst Europeans on the North Island (we’re on the South)

·         There is only one national park in the whole country

·         Many stores and products suffer from heavy inflation due to the popularity of imported goods

·         Television subscribers have only about 13 channel options

·         Following primary school (the equivalent of elementary), there is a semester fee of about $50-70 to attend grammar school and an additional fee for year-end exams

·         Kava, the national drink, is made from a natural muscle relaxing root and tastes like dirt-filled water

·         Bugs are out constantly! (which explains my many bug bites)

·         Fiji water is much cheaper in Fiji

·         Animals are rarely kept in homes

The Way The Natives Live

We arrived on campus before everyone else this morning, so we went to the school store and I bought some cheap toothpaste and my first Fiji apple! I haven’t had an apple since the U.S. so even though this 60 cent, imported apple was small, it was amazing. Very sweet and much needed.

We spent today at an authentic Fijian village. I believe it was Waikete, or something like that. They welcomed us to their village with a ceremony that included a lot of chanting and clapping, which I didn’t understand. We were then offered kava, which is a native root drink used in ceremonies. Apparently, the root is a natural muscle relaxant. A mere sip of kava with cause your tongue to tingle and possibly go numb for a few moments. I wasn’t a huge fan of the drink though. It basically just tasted like murky, dirt water (which is also how it looked). I’m proud of myself for trying it though.

Kava ceremony

Walkway in the village

After the welcome ceremony, we were allowed to collect our shoes, which had been left at the door to the community center as a sign of respect, and wander around the village. Our guide showed us how to lay mud traps for the delicacy of crab, follow the call to either the village Catholic or Methodist churches, cook in an underground oven pit, and climb a tree to collect coconuts. The villages in Fiji are mainly self-sufficient, but we were able to see their slight reliance on tourism when they sold us handmade (possibly, we saw some pretty similar items in stores) jewelry and purses.

To me, the village just looked like poverty. There were people living on top of people and the animals appeared malnourished and flea-bitten. However, I can see their appeal. They stray away from commercial goods and allow people to stay close with their families and live off the land. Also, the villages are all most the villagers have ever known. They may be able to go into town now or then and get bused to the surrounding schools, but they still don’t know what it’s like to pay bills and live apart from one’s extended family. So, while I could never live the life of a villager, I understand why they exist.

Following our tour, we were provided with a traditional lunch. I actually ate the crab that they had cooked. It was similar to the crab we caught in the mud traps, but since they had already caught and cooked this, not quite the same. The meal also included taro root (a native vegetable) and possibly a lobster dish. I stuck with the chicken. I also had some shortbread-like cookies that I picked up when we had stopped at a grocery store on our way to the village.

Making our lunch

The villagers danced for us after lunch. The dances were traditional, but appeared quite strange to our American eyes because Fijians do not move their hips much while dancing. It was quite the change. We were invited to join in on some of the dances as well.

Social time took place after the dance and we gathered around the kava bowls with some of the younger villagers. A boy named James tried to befriend me by asking for my telephone number, but since I don’t have one, it didn’t really get him anywhere. We exchanged e-mails instead, but the entire conversation was rather strange because it only lasted about two seconds. I know nothing about him other than his name and the village he lives in. He knows only that I am from America. I’m not really sure where he was going with the exchange of information, but it seems that, as Americans, we attract friends everywhere. Everyone wishes to know more about the American girls (the two guys in our group get to miss out mostly on this wonderment). It’s like they’re attracted to the striking difference between our blonde and red hair compared to theirs.

At the conclusion of the day, we came back to our host family’s home and Nina took us for a walk again around downtown Suva. We were able to see one of the local malls and walk around a few of the stores before it closed. I know we will be returning again on Saturday when we spend our free day shopping. When we came back from the walk, dinner was ready. Our family noticed our appreciation of the bread and made more with dinner tonight as well as roast chicken, mashed potatoes, white rice, and fish curry. All of the carbs and the kava today left us exhausted though, so we called it an early night.