Week 2: Twenty Two (oo-oo-oo)

I cannot believe I've already been in Aus for two weeks. The time is flying by.

On Monday, I decided to treat myself last minute. I bought some super discounted tickets to Leon Bridges' show at the Palais Theatre. If you haven't heard of Leon Bridges please stop reading this blog for a moment and listen here. I went to the show right after work and it was amazing. I came for Leon's voice and left with an immense appreciation for his groovy dance moves.

The next day, was my birthday!!!! The big old 22. I listened to Taylor Swift all day. I woke up to some birthday decorations and gifts from my homestay family on the table. Since I haven't been living at home for at least 4 years, it was so comforting and special to wake up to such a special surprise! I got to work and the office girls had a happy birthday sign taped onto my computer. For lunch time, they threw me a little tea with tonnes of food. I tried shapes for the first time, which are the tastiest snack crackers e v e r. It was so nice of the office to come together.

The most special part of my birthday was being welcomed to the country by N'Arweet Carolyn, a resident Elder at RMIT. An an Indigenous person, I try to be conscious about the custodians of the land that I am on and Auntie Carolyn taught me a lot about reciprocity with the land and the Boon-wurrung and Woiwurrung peoples. I am so grateful to have been welcomed to the country in such a special way that I will never forget.

After work on my birthday, my host mom made me homemade pizza and we went to an awesome bakery called Brunetti's. WOW. I got the mango cheesecake and an espresso and it was amazing. That evening, I went to Holy Moly Golf with some new friends where I got a tasty birthday drink.

It was cool to have my birthday in Australia this year because I got to celebrate my birthday for more than a day due to the time change. Lucky girl, right?

On Wednesday I went out to a Northern suburb called Bundoora and explored another RMIT campus. I saw my first spider! It wasn't as big as I feared. An Uber driver once told me that I'd be lucky to see a Huntsman... He's got a weird concept of luck lol.

On Thursday I began studying for the LSAT, which surprisingly hasn't been to daunting. If anyone has any tips or tricks for the big day please let me know. I am using The LSAT Trainer Guide.

By Friday I was absolutely exhausted from the week. I took it easy, got lost in the abyss of Youtube, and caught up on Shameless. Man, I'm going to miss Emmy Rossum when she leaves that show...

On Saturday, I went to a coffee shop and found COFFEE. Now this might not seem exciting but it is. In Australia if you order a "coffee" you will get espresso. Probably a long black or an americano. I totally appreciate espresso and would never want to hurt Melbourne's feelings. Melbourne prides itself in having the best coffee... but honestly I'm sitting here wishing there was a gosh darn Tim Horton's. If anyone wants to start a business out here, go for it! Anyway, I got a nice cold brew at a coffee shop called Top Notch Coffee in Moonee Ponds. After that, I bought a few tops from K-Mart and went grocery shopping at Coles.

Another thing that I've noticed is that hot sauce isn't really a staple condiment here. I finally found some Frank's hot sauce in the international isle of the grocery store!!! Yeeee hawww! I am saved. I also had a fumble this week when I could not find tampons for the life of me- only to realize there are no tampons with applicators here and the packaging is very poorly labeled so you kind of have to just guess that you're getting the right thing. The more you know!

Anyway! This week was jam packed. I have a feeling that the next 10 weeks are going to fly by. Talk to you next week.

xoxo

Lisa