I just got back from the functions department meeting. It started at 9 am and only lasted about 45 minutes. They are weekly meetings, and they consist of going over the functions for the next week or so. Those present were Yvette (head of functions), Nina (works in functions), two chefs (one being the head operations chef), Head of maintenance, Daneill and Tim (event supervisors), and Sandra (I wasn't quite sure what department she was from). Basically, Yvette ran the meeting and went through the packet of events throughout the next week, who was running them, how much food, and reminding everyone of the details. This next Tuesday is going to be really busy with two different events, one of the first and one on the second floor - both have bands but they have made it very clear that they don't want to hear outside noise... that'll be tough to manage! Also, one of those events on Tuesday has "singing waiters" where they dress up like ICMS staff for the beginning of the event, and then break out into song later on. Overall, it was really interesting to see the other side of the event, how they are planned and who is behind everything.
A side note: I have a balcony outside of my window. My first question when my RA showed me my room at the beginning of the semester was "Can I go out there?" The answer is no - it is out of bounds and we will get "infringed" if we go out there. Well, fine, but then why do the tourists get to go out there? I sit at my desk working and skyping and I look up and see the backs of many people all taking pictures off of my balcony. Occasionally they turn and look at me - it's quite a caged animal feeling! The first time that it happened a couple people took pictures. Caption "girl hard at work?" or maybe "girl talking to herself" since I was skyping my mom at the time.
Working for the weekend today by writing my sport management paper!! :) more soon, as always!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
"no worries"
tuesday.
I am looking at my window right now, and I can see the beautiful city lights of Manly while enjoying a glass of wine. I can see all of this because my blinds broke and will not come down. I reported the problem today to reception, and I was told that the problem will be fixed "straight away", but I wonder how quick it will be here since everything seems slower due to the "no worries" motto.
Today I had my first graded assessment. It was a group reading presentation for my Service Management class. Originally the group consisted of five students, but somehow it ended up only being three of us presenting on an article about internal and external customer theory (very thrilling.) It is interesting working with people from other countries. One girl in my group is from Sweden, and she was very persistent about getting the project done. The boy is from Australia, and he seemed very serious about the presentation, but then he showed up to class 45 minutes late stating that he was tired. Luckily this week the group presentation was in the middle of the tutorial. At least our powerpoint looked pretty, because its obvious that students here have not had near the amount of public speaking experience that we have from Albion. That's fine though - the presentation was only 10% of my overall grade.
Tonight a group of US students ate in the Grand Dining Room which is right on our campus. I've eaten there once before, so I knew what to expect. All on campus students are allowed to eat in there for free. We get a choice of entre, main course, and dessert. I had the asparagus and tomato salad, rosemary chicken with grilled zucchini, and chocolate mousse for dessert. The food is so delicious! We are served by term 1 hospitality students who are being watched by their professors, so they are all pretty nervous at first. There was a group of 7 of us, and the bill came to around $330. Luckily it's free for us!!
wednesday.
I decided to not work at any more events for the functions department. I liked most of the people that I worked with and learned a lot from the experience, but it doesn't really pertain to work that I want to do later in my life. It doesn't help that I didn't get paid for the work that I did, and that most events are on the weekends when my friends are having fun! However, I do want to get experience in the functions department office, so I will be shadowing in there occasionally to see how the office is run and see how functions are planned from behind the scenes. Tomorrow morning I will be shadowing at a functions department meeting, something that they have once a week.
My Intro to Sport Management class has been interesting. Not really the topics, but the change of lecturers. The very first day of class we had Elizabeth, who we thought was our lecturer and she told us Stuart would be with us for tutorial. Then, we had Stuart for the next few classes and no Elizabeth. We saw Elizabeth once last week for class, and then this Monday she came in with a different man and said that Stuart got a job on some island and John will be our new lecturer. First, Mary and I are still confused if Elizabeth is really our lecturer at all. Second, we go from Stuart, who was very calm, told good stories, but was overall not too exciting of a lecturer, to John, who could potentially be on uppers. John is incredibly energized and wants us all to be empowered people (probably through his technique of thinking which is a combination of buddhism and western psychology.) And you think I am kidding? No, he really has developed his own way of thinking over the past 20 years apparently, and he has three degrees and a PhD or something like that. He is a bit too peppy for me, but at least I will be awake throughout the class!
The awaited moment: I had my dentist appointment this afternoon. Mary walked down into Manly with me. The dentist's office was located across from where you pick up the ferry. It was a very clean office and Natalie, the receptionist/dental hygienist had me fill out paperwork. While waiting, Mary and I discovered an Australian music artist, Jessica Mauboy on TV. Soon, I was sitting in the dental chair and Dr. Danny Kim was taking a look at my tooth. He was very kind and thorough in all of his explanations, and after taking a couple of x-rays (22 dollars each) he determined the problem was an even bigger cavity than what had been filled in my tooth. Within a half an hour he put in a temporary filling and was incredibly gentle, especially with the numbing shot which I barely felt. While Dr. Kim and Natalie were fixing me up, I was able to watch a TV that was placed overhead of me. It was a show like ER though, so it wasn't really that comforting to see lots of blood while they worked on my mouth. Afterwards, Dr. Kim explained that I will come back in a week to either get a more permanent filling if the tooth has calmed down, or begin a root canal like procedure if it hasn't. I obviously am hoping it will have calmed down, not only because who wants a root canal in Australia, but also because dental care over here is incredibly expensive! Overall I'm glad I went to get it checked out and that I found a very caring dentist.
In better news: For St. Patty's Day, I'm going to see Lady Gaga in concert with Mary and Olivia! I'm really excited because I hear her concerts are pretty crazy. I can't believe it's only a week away!!
Until next time.. Cheers!
I am looking at my window right now, and I can see the beautiful city lights of Manly while enjoying a glass of wine. I can see all of this because my blinds broke and will not come down. I reported the problem today to reception, and I was told that the problem will be fixed "straight away", but I wonder how quick it will be here since everything seems slower due to the "no worries" motto.
Today I had my first graded assessment. It was a group reading presentation for my Service Management class. Originally the group consisted of five students, but somehow it ended up only being three of us presenting on an article about internal and external customer theory (very thrilling.) It is interesting working with people from other countries. One girl in my group is from Sweden, and she was very persistent about getting the project done. The boy is from Australia, and he seemed very serious about the presentation, but then he showed up to class 45 minutes late stating that he was tired. Luckily this week the group presentation was in the middle of the tutorial. At least our powerpoint looked pretty, because its obvious that students here have not had near the amount of public speaking experience that we have from Albion. That's fine though - the presentation was only 10% of my overall grade.
Tonight a group of US students ate in the Grand Dining Room which is right on our campus. I've eaten there once before, so I knew what to expect. All on campus students are allowed to eat in there for free. We get a choice of entre, main course, and dessert. I had the asparagus and tomato salad, rosemary chicken with grilled zucchini, and chocolate mousse for dessert. The food is so delicious! We are served by term 1 hospitality students who are being watched by their professors, so they are all pretty nervous at first. There was a group of 7 of us, and the bill came to around $330. Luckily it's free for us!!
wednesday.
I decided to not work at any more events for the functions department. I liked most of the people that I worked with and learned a lot from the experience, but it doesn't really pertain to work that I want to do later in my life. It doesn't help that I didn't get paid for the work that I did, and that most events are on the weekends when my friends are having fun! However, I do want to get experience in the functions department office, so I will be shadowing in there occasionally to see how the office is run and see how functions are planned from behind the scenes. Tomorrow morning I will be shadowing at a functions department meeting, something that they have once a week.
My Intro to Sport Management class has been interesting. Not really the topics, but the change of lecturers. The very first day of class we had Elizabeth, who we thought was our lecturer and she told us Stuart would be with us for tutorial. Then, we had Stuart for the next few classes and no Elizabeth. We saw Elizabeth once last week for class, and then this Monday she came in with a different man and said that Stuart got a job on some island and John will be our new lecturer. First, Mary and I are still confused if Elizabeth is really our lecturer at all. Second, we go from Stuart, who was very calm, told good stories, but was overall not too exciting of a lecturer, to John, who could potentially be on uppers. John is incredibly energized and wants us all to be empowered people (probably through his technique of thinking which is a combination of buddhism and western psychology.) And you think I am kidding? No, he really has developed his own way of thinking over the past 20 years apparently, and he has three degrees and a PhD or something like that. He is a bit too peppy for me, but at least I will be awake throughout the class!
The awaited moment: I had my dentist appointment this afternoon. Mary walked down into Manly with me. The dentist's office was located across from where you pick up the ferry. It was a very clean office and Natalie, the receptionist/dental hygienist had me fill out paperwork. While waiting, Mary and I discovered an Australian music artist, Jessica Mauboy on TV. Soon, I was sitting in the dental chair and Dr. Danny Kim was taking a look at my tooth. He was very kind and thorough in all of his explanations, and after taking a couple of x-rays (22 dollars each) he determined the problem was an even bigger cavity than what had been filled in my tooth. Within a half an hour he put in a temporary filling and was incredibly gentle, especially with the numbing shot which I barely felt. While Dr. Kim and Natalie were fixing me up, I was able to watch a TV that was placed overhead of me. It was a show like ER though, so it wasn't really that comforting to see lots of blood while they worked on my mouth. Afterwards, Dr. Kim explained that I will come back in a week to either get a more permanent filling if the tooth has calmed down, or begin a root canal like procedure if it hasn't. I obviously am hoping it will have calmed down, not only because who wants a root canal in Australia, but also because dental care over here is incredibly expensive! Overall I'm glad I went to get it checked out and that I found a very caring dentist.
In better news: For St. Patty's Day, I'm going to see Lady Gaga in concert with Mary and Olivia! I'm really excited because I hear her concerts are pretty crazy. I can't believe it's only a week away!!
Until next time.. Cheers!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A day in Manly
Yesterday Mike and I went into Manly for the afternoon. Our first stop was Oceanworld, the local Manly aquarium. It's a lot smaller than the one in Sydney, and the top level was under construction. The first room is full of 8 tanks with different fish in each one, and one of the tanks holds a crocodile. I included a picture of a sea turtle. Her name is Sea Biscuit, and she was washed ashore during stormy weather. Oceanworld rescued her, but sadly she lost one of her front fins so they have helped her adapt to swimming with three! Like the Sydney Aquarium, the lower level is a tunnel that you walk through and see different sea life. The manta ray that is above Mike in the picture is the size of a queen mattress!! Also, they have eight grey nurse sharks in the tank. These sharks are endangered because of their scary appearance made them a big hunting target. In fact, they are not dangerous to humans. Overall, Oceanworld was really fun because it was not very crowded except for a lot of little kids running around with their families!
After Oceanworld, we found the "Manly scenic walkway." This trail goes along the harbour, and you can see a lot from it. There are a few different beaches along the way as well. We only walked a little way because I was tired with my cold. I'd like to walk the whole thing at one point because it had awesome views!
For an hour or so we walked along the Corso. I needed to find cold medicine, but at the first pharmacy they didn't have any out... very strange. At the next one a worker helped me pick out something. I'm glad he helped because I really didn't know which Australian medicine would work best, although I did see Benadryl. I also bought a hoodie that I had seen a couple of times and really liked. I figured I should at least have one in case I get cold here!! At one point there was a Brazilian drum and dance show which was interesting. One of the dancers tried to get Mike to dance, and he pretty much freaked out - hilarious!
We went to dinner at the Manly Phoenix, a Chinese restaurant on the Wharf. I had heard that the restaurant had good service, but that is not what I thought! We had a reservation at 5:30, and we showed up at 5:15 and asked if we could sit down. They told us they were closed at the moment so we would have to come back - but there were other people sitting down, and in their open hours it says 11 am until late! That seemed strange, and when we showed up at 5:30 they seated us, but asked if we could be done by 7. We had a table at the front which had a great view of the harbor, but right as we sat down, they begun to put down the black screens. An older Australian couple at the table next to us began complaining. They didn't want the screen down; they wanted to see the view and the sun was not a problem for them. They even talked to the manager and he still had the screen put down, so the couple left! It took them awhile to take our order, I tried duck for the first time - deep fried duck with sweet and sour sauce, and Mike ordered chicken with shallots and black beans pot. Both meals were really good! It was strange, they charge 3 dollars a person for steamed rice! We had to wait about 20 minutes after we were done eating to get our check (which put us close to not being done by 7! gasp.) I think they had forgotten about us. Overall, great food, but poor service.
For dessert we went to Max Brenner's chocolate shop. It is a little pricey, but it was delicious! We got a chocolate frappe which was basically a chocolate milk shake and the chocolate dip - strawberries with chocolate to dip in. So good!! I'll definitely be stopping there again for any of my chocolate needs.
Overall, it was a great day, and I was incredibly tired so I had no problem sleeping last night. Today it looks beautiful out, even though rain was forecasted... typical! Time to do work. Why do Sundays sneak up so quickly??
Cheers!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"right and wrong"
Last night I helped with the functions department. We set up for a wedding of 85 people in the Great Hall. Tim was the supervisor, and I worked with a girl named Pia for the majority of the night. She was really nice and taught me a lot even though she didn't have to. Most of the night we spent polishing all kinds of cutlery, water glasses, and wine glasses. We talked about our home countries and school - she is from Sweden and one of the things she misses most is the changing of seasons since she has been here about two years! I didn't really think about that since I think it is so nice here, getting away from the winter weather of the midwest. Emre helped us polish after awhile because there were so many glasses to get done, and he constantly was saying "right and wrong!' We asked him why, and he said his uncle would always say that, and we needed to compliment ourselves. He was quite funny and then continually told us what a great job we were doing. I vacuumed the dancefloor as well, which was a nice change from the three and a half hours of polishing. Because we finished within four and a half hours, we each got a bottle of wine - except each worker gets that as a "bonus" except for me, that is my only payment! Oh well, at least it's something.
Yesterday afternoon I went to the coordinator of USA students, Amy, to find a dentist I could go to. I walk to her office, and no one was to be found. As I walked away, I ran into her. I said "Oh I was just looking for you!" And she said "Oh, you didn't look for me this morning did you? I had an emergency dental appointment." I told her that's why I was coming to find her. She then told me that the day before she had "bitten into a spring roll and part of her tooth broke off." I didn't know spring rolls were that hard, but whatever. So she told me how the dentist had temporarily fixed it, but a permanent fix would cost her 2000 dollars and she didn't have the money, etc. How lovely. So I told her that I needed a dentist for my tooth, and we looked up the insurance that covers the US students. The list of what it does NOT cover is about 2 -3 times as long as what it does cover, typical. And of course, it does not cover dental. She called a few different offices in our school to find who the dentist is that the school recommends, but of course no one answers. Soon, she got a call back from Tony, a very nice man who runs Student Services. They talked for a minute and Amy wrote down the name of the dentist. Once she was off the phone, she told me that Tony's tooth had fallen out while he was eating lunch, and he was holding it in his hand. At this point, their dental care really sounds promising to me, but nonetheless, I was able to make an appointment at a dentist in Manly for Wednesday at 2. I'm kind of nervous to go to a different dentist, especially in a different country, but it will be worth it if the pain stops!
Today, I woke up with a cold. I'm not too excited about that either! Mike and I are going to Oceanworld, and aquarium in Manly, and then shopping for cold medicine and going out to eat. Hopefully the medicine helps!!
Cheers!
Yesterday afternoon I went to the coordinator of USA students, Amy, to find a dentist I could go to. I walk to her office, and no one was to be found. As I walked away, I ran into her. I said "Oh I was just looking for you!" And she said "Oh, you didn't look for me this morning did you? I had an emergency dental appointment." I told her that's why I was coming to find her. She then told me that the day before she had "bitten into a spring roll and part of her tooth broke off." I didn't know spring rolls were that hard, but whatever. So she told me how the dentist had temporarily fixed it, but a permanent fix would cost her 2000 dollars and she didn't have the money, etc. How lovely. So I told her that I needed a dentist for my tooth, and we looked up the insurance that covers the US students. The list of what it does NOT cover is about 2 -3 times as long as what it does cover, typical. And of course, it does not cover dental. She called a few different offices in our school to find who the dentist is that the school recommends, but of course no one answers. Soon, she got a call back from Tony, a very nice man who runs Student Services. They talked for a minute and Amy wrote down the name of the dentist. Once she was off the phone, she told me that Tony's tooth had fallen out while he was eating lunch, and he was holding it in his hand. At this point, their dental care really sounds promising to me, but nonetheless, I was able to make an appointment at a dentist in Manly for Wednesday at 2. I'm kind of nervous to go to a different dentist, especially in a different country, but it will be worth it if the pain stops!
Today, I woke up with a cold. I'm not too excited about that either! Mike and I are going to Oceanworld, and aquarium in Manly, and then shopping for cold medicine and going out to eat. Hopefully the medicine helps!!
Cheers!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
when it's low tide you can see dead fish.
went on a photo shoot tonight and here are some pictures! :)
"halfway around the world, it's the one thing that you want"
Yes, I'm quoting the Fray. No, I'm not your normal homesick. What I miss most at the moment? My dentist.
I am being blessed with toothaches here in Australia. Lovely! I've had problems with one tooth for the past few years, and it has decided to act up once again! At first, I thought - hoped - that it would just kind of.. disappear. It has not. I bought some medicine to put on the tooth, but that only numbs it for about half an hour. The best fix is advil. So I've given in, and tomorrow I am asking my coordinator about dentists in the area. Only another adventure for me in the land of Australia! Wish me luck!
However, my tooth is not keeping me from enjoying ice cream! (Must be all of the advil I'm taking!) Today I went to the beach with the girls - I just can't stay away when the weather is nice. My favorite beach treat is a chocolate paddle pop, and it is pretty much an Australian version of the fudgsicle, and quite a bargain at $1.80. There is a little stand near the beach that sells pies, coffee, and ice cream that I stop at occasionally.
Outside of my room is a balcony that I cannot go out on. Otherwise I get "infringed." That really means nothing to study abroad students, but to other students, it is kind of a big deal - it basically just means you are in trouble, and most infringements are about the uniform. The balcony is very pretty, and they take tourists out there. That is very nice and all, but one day I was sitting at my desk, skyping my mom and then all of the sudden there were tourists outside of my window taking pictures of the scenery! Soon, they had turned around and began waving at me... even taking photos of me at my computer. I didn't know I was an attraction, but I should be getting paid!
Speaking of getting paid, most people haven't had any luck with finding jobs here, so I haven't really looked for one. I have started editing all photos from Australia on iPhoto. They look so pretty, I should just start selling them at markets as a source of income. This reminds me of my mother - those who know her knows that she is big into photo editing!! I can't wait to show her my new photo skills when I go home!!
Rain is predicted for this weekend, and my goal is to get two rough draft papers done. Tomorrow night I am working at a wedding set-up for the functions department, and I do not have plans yet for the rest of the weekend, except a potential trip to Oceanworld in Manly!
More to come, as always!! :)
I am being blessed with toothaches here in Australia. Lovely! I've had problems with one tooth for the past few years, and it has decided to act up once again! At first, I thought - hoped - that it would just kind of.. disappear. It has not. I bought some medicine to put on the tooth, but that only numbs it for about half an hour. The best fix is advil. So I've given in, and tomorrow I am asking my coordinator about dentists in the area. Only another adventure for me in the land of Australia! Wish me luck!
However, my tooth is not keeping me from enjoying ice cream! (Must be all of the advil I'm taking!) Today I went to the beach with the girls - I just can't stay away when the weather is nice. My favorite beach treat is a chocolate paddle pop, and it is pretty much an Australian version of the fudgsicle, and quite a bargain at $1.80. There is a little stand near the beach that sells pies, coffee, and ice cream that I stop at occasionally.
Outside of my room is a balcony that I cannot go out on. Otherwise I get "infringed." That really means nothing to study abroad students, but to other students, it is kind of a big deal - it basically just means you are in trouble, and most infringements are about the uniform. The balcony is very pretty, and they take tourists out there. That is very nice and all, but one day I was sitting at my desk, skyping my mom and then all of the sudden there were tourists outside of my window taking pictures of the scenery! Soon, they had turned around and began waving at me... even taking photos of me at my computer. I didn't know I was an attraction, but I should be getting paid!
Speaking of getting paid, most people haven't had any luck with finding jobs here, so I haven't really looked for one. I have started editing all photos from Australia on iPhoto. They look so pretty, I should just start selling them at markets as a source of income. This reminds me of my mother - those who know her knows that she is big into photo editing!! I can't wait to show her my new photo skills when I go home!!
Rain is predicted for this weekend, and my goal is to get two rough draft papers done. Tomorrow night I am working at a wedding set-up for the functions department, and I do not have plans yet for the rest of the weekend, except a potential trip to Oceanworld in Manly!
More to come, as always!! :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
the little things
Yesterday I sat through the most boring class since I have gotten here. The topic of this particular Intro to Sport class was "professional sports broadcasting" which was all about rights to broadcasting and other things that put me to sleep. Instead of sleeping, I wrote out a list of 15 American restaurants that I really miss including Lou Malnati's, Portillo's, Olive Garden, Sullivan's, Chili's, and Noodles and Co. (to name a few.) My first dinner at home is already planned - deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's!
Obviously, I am still having the time of my life, but now that I've been here for around six weeks, I start to think of the little things from home. Actually, food is a big part of my life! But anyway, I've taken note of many things here in Australia that are different from home.
1) the date. Today is March 2nd, 2010. Except they write it 02/03/2010. Not really a huge deal, except when I am half asleep in my first class of the day and really can't tell if it is February or March for a good twenty seconds.
2) driving on the left side of the road. It is still hard to get used to looking the correct way to cross the street. Normally I just look both ways about five times before stepping foot onto the road - they don't really yield that well here! Except at crosswalks they stop for you, but us Americans get scared to cross and then we have a stand off to see who goes first, and always - it's us.
3) no pennies. Australian currency does not include pennies, and sometimes things are still $19.99 for example. (There is no tax added onto goods here.) So you just pay $20. They will either round up or down, considering what the price is marked. I really haven't looked into this at all, but it does seem kind of silly. However, even without the penny, I still carry a big chunk of change around because not only do that have 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, but they also have 1 and 2 dollar coins. It's a big deal to drop your change over here!! It's not hard to have a pocketful of change over here that is worth 12 bucks.
4) no tipping at restaurants. There is no need to figure out the tip when dining here. At first, I thought this was a good idea. "Oh, yay! Just paying for the meal." But really, in America, waiters and waitresses work for their money! And the majority of the time, they give you great attention so you give them a good tip. Over here in Australia they do not need to give you that extra attention for a tip. Sometimes, it's hard to get their attention. For example: a group of us went out for breakfast in Sydney last Satuday. The waitress only came to our table three times. Once to take our order, once to bring our food, and one time in between to check on the water. Very different from service in the states.
5) water conservation. They said that we should try to conserve water here during orientation week, and even mentioned 4 minute shower timers in the showers. Also, they mentioned this right before our "professional performance program" in which a lady basically tried to sell us beauty products and how to shower properly, which includes rinsing your hair for a good minute after washing and another minute after conditioning. (This lady REALLY bothered me.) Well, there are no timers. And, I haven't been timing my showers in the least. Take that Lizzie Wagner and your tips on how to bathe!
6) "First Years." This is not really different from America, but something I have forgotten about. First years here at school are equivalent to our college freshmen. Considering I am in all 100 level classes, I am surrounded by "first years." I find this both amusing and annoying. They are all very full of energy, but you can tell they are the age still where boys are very immature and girls really care about what boys think. Also, in class, a few of their girls were referring to their "12th year formal" which is equivalent to our senior prom. I haven't thought about that in years!
7) spelling. They call the letter "z" "zed." This is fine except they never use the letter z in any of their words. "Organise," "utilise," "organisation," etc. This is something I have to get used to for my four papers that are each 50% percent of my grades!
Mostly clouds, rain, and thunderstorms forecasted for this week... that means it is time to be productive!! I hope.
Cheers!
Obviously, I am still having the time of my life, but now that I've been here for around six weeks, I start to think of the little things from home. Actually, food is a big part of my life! But anyway, I've taken note of many things here in Australia that are different from home.
1) the date. Today is March 2nd, 2010. Except they write it 02/03/2010. Not really a huge deal, except when I am half asleep in my first class of the day and really can't tell if it is February or March for a good twenty seconds.
2) driving on the left side of the road. It is still hard to get used to looking the correct way to cross the street. Normally I just look both ways about five times before stepping foot onto the road - they don't really yield that well here! Except at crosswalks they stop for you, but us Americans get scared to cross and then we have a stand off to see who goes first, and always - it's us.
3) no pennies. Australian currency does not include pennies, and sometimes things are still $19.99 for example. (There is no tax added onto goods here.) So you just pay $20. They will either round up or down, considering what the price is marked. I really haven't looked into this at all, but it does seem kind of silly. However, even without the penny, I still carry a big chunk of change around because not only do that have 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, but they also have 1 and 2 dollar coins. It's a big deal to drop your change over here!! It's not hard to have a pocketful of change over here that is worth 12 bucks.
4) no tipping at restaurants. There is no need to figure out the tip when dining here. At first, I thought this was a good idea. "Oh, yay! Just paying for the meal." But really, in America, waiters and waitresses work for their money! And the majority of the time, they give you great attention so you give them a good tip. Over here in Australia they do not need to give you that extra attention for a tip. Sometimes, it's hard to get their attention. For example: a group of us went out for breakfast in Sydney last Satuday. The waitress only came to our table three times. Once to take our order, once to bring our food, and one time in between to check on the water. Very different from service in the states.
5) water conservation. They said that we should try to conserve water here during orientation week, and even mentioned 4 minute shower timers in the showers. Also, they mentioned this right before our "professional performance program" in which a lady basically tried to sell us beauty products and how to shower properly, which includes rinsing your hair for a good minute after washing and another minute after conditioning. (This lady REALLY bothered me.) Well, there are no timers. And, I haven't been timing my showers in the least. Take that Lizzie Wagner and your tips on how to bathe!
6) "First Years." This is not really different from America, but something I have forgotten about. First years here at school are equivalent to our college freshmen. Considering I am in all 100 level classes, I am surrounded by "first years." I find this both amusing and annoying. They are all very full of energy, but you can tell they are the age still where boys are very immature and girls really care about what boys think. Also, in class, a few of their girls were referring to their "12th year formal" which is equivalent to our senior prom. I haven't thought about that in years!
7) spelling. They call the letter "z" "zed." This is fine except they never use the letter z in any of their words. "Organise," "utilise," "organisation," etc. This is something I have to get used to for my four papers that are each 50% percent of my grades!
Mostly clouds, rain, and thunderstorms forecasted for this week... that means it is time to be productive!! I hope.
Cheers!
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