Into the Wild

Back we are :-) : Australia at its best: Mission to Coral Bay was successful!

After a quite difficult running-up period in which we spent a lot of time deciding, changing our decisions just in order to in the end re-take them, we actually made it and were able to do our roadtrip. The final group comprised 6 people (Jonas, Simon, Sebastian, Dylan, Malin & me) and in a van in which we theoretically could have fit in 8 people (can't believe our luck that we were only 6 in the end.. quite enough for about 3000 km in 6 days!) and we had one mission: North - Up into WA's beautiful north westcoast, into the wild.

The trip was simply amazing. We started off in Perth early on Monday, trying to escape the rain that was pouring down that day. Unfortunately it seemed to accompany us throughout the first two days now and then again, but at least we knew that it wasn't going to rain very far up in the north. With our very diverse and entertaining group (Gosh, will I ever forget Jonas "unbelievable!" or his "good-sleep stories": :-D ) we had quite a lot of fun right from the start onwards. Due to the insurance we had only 3 drivers, but since they were alright with it, it was pretty nice for the rest 3 of us. Thus, the first row of the van was always very busy figuring our way out (Yes. It is possible to get lost - even only for a short time - in the middle of nowhere with  only max 3 roads crossing in hours), the second row was usually asleep, and the last row (the only stable one with Malin and me - the guys kept switching their positions) was of course the party row. Dancing and singing we made sure our drivers would not fall asleep! (In fact.. that was only in the beginning... after having heard the same CDs over and over again, we also spent more time sleeping, talking, or simply staring out of our windows seeing the nothingness-landscapes of the outback passing by).

We stopped at a lot of look-out points and were able to have some truly amazing views on amazing landscapes, we saw the most beautiful beaches and the clearest water and we tried every way of travel-sleeping (sleeping in the van - only 3 of us though, sleeping in the hostel, sleeping in tents). Personal highlight of our trip: Meeting the wild dolphins in the sea of Monkey Mia. I actually got to feed one! :-) Our final destination was Coral Bay, where we were able to spend a whole day and two nights. It just felt sooo good to stay at one place for an entire day and relax! So we did long beach walks, a little bit of beach-jogging, a great deal of lying on the beach and enjoying the sun we had been craving for and of course we went on a snorkeling trip on a glass-boat to discover Coral Bay at its best. Truly beautiful and after that day we all agreed that it really felt like holidays and we all could stay longer - which we couldn't of course, due to uni ;-)

So back we went, this time with the major highlight being Cervantes where we went into the desert to see the Pinnacles, which are some weird statues of sand created by weather conditions, wind and sea. This really was worth seeing and we had quite a lot of fun walking through those. Again, I'd rather have some of my pictures speak for me... for some of those moments, there simply are no words.

Tuition-free Week it is! 3,2,1... ROADTRIP!

Der Vollstaendigkeit halber nun auch Pt 2 in Deutsch :)

Es ist wieder einmal spaet abends am Sonntag aber ich befinde mich in unserer ersten freien Woche und geniesse somit die Vorfreude, weil es morgen auf einen Roadtrip hoch in den Norden der australischen Westkueste geht. Auf den Trip geht es mit meinem Housemate Dylan, einer schwedischen Freundin Malin, sowie drei deutschen Freunden Simon, Jonas & Sebastian und kann es wirklich schon kaum mehr erwarten. Mit ein wenig Glueck haben wir auch richtig schoenes Wetter dort und duerfen ein wenig Sommerluft schnuppern :-)

Bei meinem letzten Eintrag habe ich ein paar Infos zu den interessanten Dingen des Lebens versprochen. Und voila, die wichtigste Information zuerst: Ich bin wieder online und habe mein Mac Book Pro :) Grosse grosse Freude wieder in staendigem Kontakt mit dem Rest der Welt sein zu koennen!

Zum Thema Uni will ich mich insbesondere eigentlich nur zu einem Kurs aussern: Australian Studies, der logischerweise ausschliesslich an internationale Studenten gerichtet ist. Jeden Donnerstag gibt es entweder 1,5 Stunden Diskussion ueber australische Issues wie Aborigines, Politik hier, Lifestyle, Kunst etc mit anschliessendem Screening eines australischen Films, oder eine Exkursion. Bis jetzt sind wir in den Genuss des Besuchs der Art Gallery of Western Australia gekommen, die mit der richtigen Insiderinfo von Seiten der Profs wirklich sehr, sehr interessant war sowie einiger Diskussionen zur Politik hier (tja wer haette sich gedacht dass sich das oesterreichische Backstabbing-Prinzip wenn es zum Thema Wahlen und Wahlstimmen kommt auch in Australien bewaehrt?!), zu den Leuten und ihrer Auffassung vom Leben, sowie ihrer Sprache (G'day mate! Howya doin? --> Wenn man auf so eine Frage tatsaechlich antwortet erntet man oft ueberraschte Blicke ;)... und wir haben uns Crocodile Dundee angesehen. Und tatsaechlich: Man sieht den Film anders, wenn man mal ein wenig Zeit hier verbracht hat :-)

Ich moechte mich kurz halten, da ich morgen ausgeschlafen in unseren Roadtrip starten muss ;-) Daher nur ein paar Impressionen der letzten Wochen und mal ein erster Eindruck der vorlaufigen Protagonisten meiner Australia-Experience :-)

Footy Game in Subiaco: Fremantle VS Sydney

Marianne's 21 Birthday - pink, pink, pink... ;)

Perfect Beach to Surf!

Late Night Show with Malin and me ;-)

Girls' Night: Fruit salad, ice cream and chocolate cake.. xD

Sarah and me :-)

The Norwegian Surfing Clique

Showering our surf boards after the first session :-D

The most beautiful view: Perth at night

In diesem Sinne bis bald - und dann mit den News vom Roadtrip!

Austria meets Australia. Love it!

-DARY. Absolutely.

Sehr gut. Mittlerweile ist ein Monat vergangen und nun finde ich endlich zeit mich wieder zu melden und um die deutschsprachige Meute zu besaenftigen kommt das Wort des Monats diesmal in Deutsch zu euch :)

Es ist inzwischen sehr viel passiert. Zu viel fast, um das hier jetzt irgendwie festzuhalten... deswegen bin ich wohl so blogfaul - es passiert zu viel und das ist ja das beste Zeichen dass es mir an sich gut geht. So sollte es ja sein :)

Ich muss gleich einmal vorweg nehmen dass das hier ein kurzer Blogentry wird weil ich 1) in der bibliothek sitze und 2) noch etwas wichtiges vorhabe. Der Grund warum ich meine Zeit hier im Computerlab fristen muss ist ja leider ein trauriger denn nach dem Breakdown von Timmy (nie wieder Dell, meine lieben Leute - nie wieder Dell!) muss ich mich jetzt wohl an den Gedanken gewoehnen dass meine ganzen Daten verloren sind und ich seit 1 Woche und somit einem gefeuhlten Jahr Laptoplos herumlaufe. Klar dass die Gegenmassnahme bereits ergriffen worden ist und so werde ich ab naechster Woche mein Glueck mit einem Mac Book versuchen - das sollte mein Leben hier einfacher machen. Einerseits kann ich so hoffentlich endlich skypen ohne Wutanfaelle zu bekommen (es kann einen zur Weissglut treiben wenn das Mikro einfach nicht funktionieren will und man jedes Wort schreien muss... und NEIN das lag nicht an der Verbindung ;) und andererseits wird es hoechste Zeit dass ich in den Vorlesungen wieder am Laptop mitschreiben kann... also das mal zur allgemeinen Lage.

An grossen Dingen ist in den letzten Wochen nicht viel passiert. Ich finde inzwischen problemlos meine Klassen, die workload wird bestaendig mehr und anspruchsvoller (was an sich durchaus positiv zu bewerten ist) und ich habe mich auch fuer meine endgueltigen Klassen entschieden. Ein Milestone! Das spannenste der letzten Wochen war vermutlich ein AFL -game (naeheres dazu im naechsten Blogentry) sowie ein spontaner Surfausflug zum Meer. Waehrend die ganzen echten Australier dort mit ihren Wetsuits rumgepaddelt sind, hatte ich natuerlich nicht mehr als einen Bikini und ein Lycra zu bieten. Mir war schon kalt bevor ich ueberhaupt im Bikini am Strand gestanden bin (und auf dem Weg zum Strand hat es auch noch geregnet) und jeder der mich annaehernd kennt und um meine Meinung zur Kaelte weiss versteht an dieser Stelle wohl nicht warum ich tatsaechlich ins Meer bin. Ich auch nicht. Gruppendruck, ganz einfach peer pressure. Konnte ja schlecht am Strand stehen bleiben. ;) Die Kombination aus Kaelte, hohen Wellen, viel Salzwasser (das hier interessanterweise gar nicht so salzig ist..?!) und Schmerzen aufgrund wiederholten Kollidierens mit meinem Surfbrett haben mich jedoch nach einer guten Stunde wieder aus dem Wasser getrieben wo ich dann unerfolgreich versucht habe mich zu waermen. Natuerlich ist nach einer heissen Dusche dann alles vergessen (alles, was nicht sofort durch Anblick der blauen Flecken die ueber meinen Korper verstreut sieht, wieder auftaucht), aber bis zur Dusche war es sehr sehr kalt. Am Heimweg wurde dann der Tod durch einen Hai wenige Tage zuvor an einem Strand suedlich diskutiert... so ist halt das australische Leben.... Durch das Surfen weiss ich jetzt natuerlich auch warum man sich auch als Maedel durchaus Surfshorts zulegen sollte - um sich dann auch aufs Surfen und nicht aufs Hoschen-Hochhalten konzentrieren kann ! ;)

In Kuerze folgt dann hoffentlich ein intensives Newsupdate (zum Thema Uni, CrocodileDundee-Screenings in Vorlesungen, Aborigines, Kultur, Partys, anstehende Reisen und geplante Zukunft...) inklusive ein paar weniger Fotos (der Rest wurde ja durch Timmys Tod vernichtet), nur muss ich mich leider fuer heute verabschieden...

Liebe Gruesse aus Down Under an alle Freunde die in der Welt verstreut sind, an alle die zur Zeit noch die besseren Temperaturen als ich hier daheim in Oesterreich geniessen koennen (haha schon bald wird es hier HEISS und dann muss ich euch nicht mehr beneiden ;) , meiner ganzen vielbeschaeftigten Familie inklusive Zweitfamilie :) und vor allem meinem Schatz!

Cheers
Verena

Uni & Life

So this has been my first real uni week. After two preparation weeks before that, it was an interesting experience to be back to uni again and give up on the holiday life I had been leading so far.

It's been quite an intense week and since I overenrolled (thus, I took too many units) I was trying to visit as many classes as possible in order to find out which courses I can drop afterwards. The bad thing though is that I kind of ended up liking all of my classes, since they pretty much come down to what I picture me doing after uni - advertising, marketing, event management, pr, international management... I guess I will have a pretty hard time figuring out which units to keep and which ones to drop, but I will have to decide on that very soon and drop out of the other courses by the end of next week.

So what has been going on?

Apart from my classes and the ultimate challenge of actually locating and finding them IN TIME I was pretty busy trying out the group fitness classes offered by the university and I really enjoy them so far. The range is quite noteworthy and it is a lot of fun to go to the stadium and just work out a little. Most of all, I like zumba which is a kind of dance workout. It's just incredible fun and you don't even realize that you're working out (well... at least not until after the class, when you become aware of your muscles ;) ). I will definitely keep that up :) Also, this week was the first big night at the tav which is a good location to grab something to eat during the days and the ultimate party location on wednesday nights. Awesome. Even though I could not stay long since I had to be up for my morning lecture on International Management on Thursday at 8 am I really enjoyed the evening as you simply meet so many people. You can't even get around having fun.

Maybe at this point I should bring up my classes again. Apart from the fact that quite a look of very expensive books are required (I was lucky to find all of them in the library, so far and thus got around the buying) I really like the lectures here. No matter which class I really feel that the professors are putting a lot of effort into the teaching, that they really identify with the subject and they WANT you to be part of it and get involved. And that's a great thing even though it does also mean a considerable amount of work (which I am going to start working on TOMORROW... :) ). Also, with all the clubs and possibilities on campus people just stay on campus all-day chilling and reading in the sun, grabbing some coffee or simply wandering about and I love that Aussie lifestyle. Very social! The class I will probably I have the most fun with is called Australian Studies, aiming at familiarising us international students with the Aussie life and culture.

Two more things before I get going and enjoy my day at the Scarborough beach:

1) I really do seem to attract bad luck - my laptop seems to die very slowly here and I just found out 10 min ago that it doesn't let me recharge the battery anymore so I might actually have to buy a new one here :X

2) We finally managed to come up with a group of people (8 so far) and a list of places to see for our first roadtrip up north in the tuition free week. IT'S GONNA BE LEGEN... - wait for it - ...

02.08.2010

Having had troubles deciding whether to go for English or for German I finally decided now for English and apologize to anyone who may not be satisfied with this option.

Well it's been two weeks since I first arrived here in Perth and a lot has happened. Actually way too much for one single blog entry which is probably why I should have started this earlier, but to use a Austrian saying: Lieber spät, als nie! (= better late than never).

Today is my first day at uni and while having signed up for too many units now I will be able to check them out this week and eventually drop those which I will find least interesting, which is quite a good option for me. So what has happened so far?

After some seriously rushy and stressful lasts moments back at home I had eventually managed to come up with two suitcases with 20 kg each which was quite a challenge in itself. However, I was just about out what challenge means when my my mom, my boyfriend and me finally arrived in München as it was there that I was told that I could only bring one suitcase with 20 kg. Yeah - thanks for the wrong information, Lufthansa! Anyway, that's what you have to put up with and I managed to cut my belongings down to 20 kg, followed by a pretty hard and sad farewell. The two flights from Munich to Singapore and from there to Perth were smooth, but when I arrived at 1am in the morning in Perth and found out that somehow the airport reception service of uni was not picking me up I felt pretty discouraged. Nevertheless I was quite lucky to have met a Dutch guy living in Perth at the Singapore airport who saved my first night in Perth as he did not only take me to my hotel where I had to find out that it was overbooked, but he even took me back to his place after that information and let me sleep on his couch for the first night. Thanks soooo much, Ruud.

Already the next day I found my permanent accomodation here in Perth. It was the fourth choice me and a guy from the US were offered by housing services and we both accepted right away. Home, sweet home :) Since then I've met quite a bunge of people, most of them being international students, and I have already made some good friends. Instead of rambling on about all those BEAUTIFUL things I've seen and experienced I would rather have my photos speak for me. For some of it, there's just no words that would fit: Winter in Perth - First Impressions

 By the way: Today me and Malin, a girl from Sweden, signed up for group fitness classes at the stadium and already fought our way through an exhausting hour of Body-Combat. More to come soon :)