Has it been a week already?

Wow what a week. So much for the vacation part though because classes start tomorrow morning. Although it should still be quite a vacation from what I've gotten used to in South Bend. Here's a recap of the first week:

So the orientation here was quite an overload. They jam-packed everything you need to know about living in Perth and attending UWA in a massive one day talk-a-thon. Then they left the rest of week 1 for events with your college or registering for classes. The plus side of orientation was the opportunity to meet many of the international students who were studying abroad at UWA just like me. At the orientation breakfast, they called out each country who had sent a student and had those from that country stand up. The list was quite extensive. One from Switzerland, another from Japan, and one more from China, a few from Germany, a small group from France (you could spot the French guys in the group by their scarves), a good sized group representing England (including one chap who stood up and jubilantly yelled "YEEAAHH" upon hearing his country's name), some Swedes, a couple of Italians, and a few Germans. At this point the speaker announced the United Kingdom and then realized he had mistakenly announced England separately so he asked the English to stand up again as well (to which the same excited chap exclaimed "YEEAAHH!"). Were there other countries named? Of course, but I don't remember them because at some point in this presentation the speaker announced the United States of America, to which half the room stood up and was greeted by murmurs of shock and distress from their inferior counterparts. We, the 30 Domers and a bunch of fellow Americans from various universities across the States, were the dominant party. Or so we thought. Norway was the last country to be called and, to my surprise, a large contingent rose from the back corner of the room. Not larger than the American party but large enough to say "your not the only show in town". The woman were blond, the men blonder, and big too. Think Team Iceland from D2: The Mighty Ducks.

Anyways, the whole thing was pretty neat sitting in a room with all these different people. I have gotten to meet many of them too. I met a guy from South Africa, who actually goes to UPenn, and another guy from Italy who has been to Cedar Point and had to describe Top Thrill Dragster in Italian to his friend standing next to him. I met a girl from England, and a group of four from France who didn't understand where I said I was from the first time but understood completely when I switched the pronunciation to "Day Twah" (that's Detroit for those who didn't take a semester of French). And of course I met some girls from Norway. One of them told me Heroes was her favorite show. I've found it very interesting how big American entertainment is around the world. It seems like everyone watches the same shows and movies, and listens to the same music as Americans do despite being from all over the world. We were at a bar last night and the band only played American rock songs, such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "You Shook Me All Night Long." I'm pretty sure the Aussies knew more American songs than I did.

So anyways, I've done plenty of stuff this week. I took a bus tour of Kings Park, Perth, and Fremantle. Kings Park is a huge park area (1,000 acres) between downtown Perth and the UWA campus. It actually starts right behind Tommy More College. Fremantle is the port town near Perth. It has three different restaurants claiming the best fish and chips in Western Australia. We ate at one of them. I can't remember ever having fish and chips before, so I'm really able to validate the restaurant's claim. We also took a bus ride to the Mundaring Weir, which I already talked about, and a wildlife reserve, which I didn't talk about. The wildlife reserve tour happened at night because that's when the animals are most active. The problem was it was also chilly and raining so many of the animals most have had the sense to stay warm cause we saw very little. There were some kangaroos in the distance and then we also saw various smaller kangaroo-type animals of which I can't recall their names. There wasn't much to see with just the guide's flashlight, despite his uncanny ability to spot anything moving within 100 yards in all directions. There was a UWA professor taking us on this trip to teach us about how Australians think and act. He's responsible for taking us on three field trips throughout the semester so we can earn one anthropology credit (YAY!). Anyway, the most interesting part of the wildlife tour was listening to the guide complain about how the cat population is destroying the delicate ecosystem, while the UWA professor undermined him from the back of the group, accusing the guide of falsifying the facts to promote an ideal ecosystem which never really existed. Other than that, I've been to the beach a few times. Although the weather hasn't been very good at the beach, but hey at least there is a beach.

Well anyways, it has been a great first week here in Australia. And also, the bathrooms are indeed co-ed. And it is very weird. And I've got class in the morning so I'd better get some sleep.