College Part 2

Since I have gotten to Australia, I have been struck by how similar this experience is to being back in college. It started with orientation, where they told us a lot of information and then tried to sell us stuff. The hostel was a lot like living in the dorms: a whole floor sharing one bathroom, roommates you didn't know, and everyone trying to be nice to each other because nobody had any friends. And just like in college, the first question you ask someone when you meet them is "Where are you from?"

Now I seem to have moved on to sophomore year by getting out of the dorms and into a house. And man is this house just like one you'd find on U of M's campus, starting with the sketchy (here they'd say "dodgy") landlord and overpriced rent. I am sharing a room with two other girls, and am back to sleeping in a twin bed. The house is pretty unclean, no matter how much you mop or scrub, and worst of all there is only one bathroom for all 11 people. Like any good college house, the main attraction is the great location. I am really close to downtown, within walking distance of pretty much everything (looking at this map, you can find my house in the Ultimo neighborhood at the corner of Harris and MacArthur, right by the Powerhouse Museum).

Also like in college, no matter how gross it is, you make the most of it. I am still showering in flip flops, but at least I have a place to unpack my things. And most importantly, my roommates are all very nice. They are all working travellers themselves, and none of them knew each other before moving into the house. Most are from England, and there are also two kids from Ireland, a German girl, a French Canadian, and a Prince Edward Island Canadian (she said she hated Anne of Green Gables. What?!). All except one British girl have lived there for a couple of months, and they have all become great friends. Fortunately they have welcomed me into the house and I now have a de facto set of friends. The only problem is that I am having a lot of trouble understanding their British accents. Didn't see that one coming. The girl from Prince Edward Island seems to have picked up a bit of an accent herself, so get ready for me to come home speaking a wierd form of Australian/British/American English. Don't worry, I'm trying to hold on to my roots by saying "awesome" a lot and pronouncing it "to-may-to" instead of "to-mah-to."