Welcome to the land Down Under

Hey mate! How you going?*

Welcome to my travel blog! I know it is long over due – I’ve been in Australia for six weeks now. I’m here in Melbourne on exchange for my final semester of law school. Once school finishes in November, I’ll be traveling for six months around Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. This is the adventure of my lifetime, so far!

Okay, let’s start at the beginning: I landed in Sydney in mid-July, just one day before the Pope arrived for World Youth Day 2008. My flight was full of priests and pilgrims so I felt pretty sure that God was watching over our airplane. Within hours of landing Down Under, I was sitting on the beach with Noah and Maria, fellow Montrealers and law students, sipping Australian wine and eating pad thai. Not a bad beginning! Later, we did the coastal walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. I was in love with Sydney at first sight. The next day I met up with Andrew, a PEI boy and good friend of my brother’s, who introduced me to the backpacker life in downtown Sydney. I found myself suddenly struggling to comprehend rapid-fire English conversations between people with various accents: Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, Aussie and Kiwi.

After those two whirlwind days in Sydney, I flew to Melbourne to attend the Welcome Program for exchange students. For the next four days, we stayed in residence at Uni, explored Melbourne with tours and scavengers hunts, went to the footy (aka Aussie-rules football), sampled wine in the Yarra Valley and saw lots of native animals at an animal sanctuary. Interestingly, many of the unofficial activities involved lots of drinking; them Aussies can certainly hold their liquor. Of course, being a virtuous girl, I abstained.**

Once the Welcome Program ended, I moved into my cozy room at Graduate House. About 60 graduate students live at this on-campus residence. My set-up is pretty luxurious: I have my own room with private bathroom and two meals a day at the cafeteria. Once a week, housekeeping cleans my room and replaces the linens. Plus, I’m right across the quad from the law faculty – it really is quite a treat to have a two-minute commute to class.

So I’ve been settling into school pretty well – except that it is hard to get motivated to study in August. My classes are undergraduate level so not too challenging. There isn’t much of a community at the law faculty but I’ve still met some good people. My favorites are Matt and Kelly, two Texan law students from the University of Austin. I suddenly find myself saying y’all a lot more. “Do y’all have class today?” or “Do y’all wanna meet at Unicafe for noodles?”

Melbourne is a funky city – it reminds me of Montreal. The architecture is rich and Victorian from the days following the Aussie gold rush. I leave close to downtown so most neighborhoods are accessible on foot or by tram. The trams run constantly, lumbering through the streets at a relaxed pace. I’ve discovered nearby Fitzroy, the artsy neighborhood with funky restos and clothing stores. Another favourite is St. Kilda: down by the beach, there’s a gorgeous pier and saltwater sea baths (they pump in the water, filter it and heat it – the result is heaven) with palm trees all around. I bought the Cheap Eats guide and I’ve been sampling the amazing food on offer. Since Melbourne is the Aussie cultural capital, I’ve also been taking in art, music and theatre – there’s just so much to do!

I’ve also been lured back to Sydney twice: the weather and beaches are so gorgeous there. While in Sydney, I’ve been enjoying the company of Eve-Anadel and Rachel, more fellow McGill law students, exploring the iconic Sydney Harbour and continue sampling the backpacker lifestyle with Andrew. Really though, I don’t need that many excuses to go on a holiday long-weekend to Sydney! But I really should start studying very soon. Luckily, I only need to pass to get my credits and the passing grade here is 30%. Does that make anyone else nervous about the quality of lawyering in Australia?

Well, that’s your brief introduction to my Australian adventure. I will write again soon about my activities and upcoming trips. Lots of love to everyone back home!


* That's Australian for "Hi! How are you?"
** NB: This blog has been formatted to be suitable for all audiences, including children, grandparents and former/current/prospective employers.