Pics up

I put pics up on facebook but more of them are on http://karensb.myphotoalbum.com So check it out!

Tim Tams

Tim Tams are Australia's signature awesome chocolate cookie. We discovered them on Contiki trip and have had them so many times since. I actually have a box at home! And I just ate one 2 seconds ago. Look it up : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Tam Wikipedia really does have everything! It tastes like something I'm sure I've had before but I don't remember where. SO good!

Cmonnnn who knows what I'm talking about???

Weekend and thoughts

Hey Everyone!

Today is the first day of school. I didn't have access to the internet last night so I couldn't figure out when my classes were today. I only managed to find my classes this morning at 8 am and it turns out that I had a class from 8am so I was already late. I live 15 to 20 minutes away from the uni (you can't say school because that means high school, and university is too long to say) so I had to run and I finally found my class at 8h30 am. I met 2 guys in the hallways that were also trying to find that same class. It's a class of about 150 students, only about 10 of which are girls!!! Shit... sausage fest... It's Mechanics of Solids 3, which is equivalent to Deformables I think, so maybe some of you will be able to help me out if i have problems haha! well no, it would be kind of hard to ask you questions from this far away...

I keep thinking that since summer just ended here that i'm actually starting a new school year and when people ask me for example in what grade is my sister, i tend to say that she's starting her 2nd year, but that's not true at all. It's just confusing.

I went to Narrabeen Lakes last weekend. It's a trip organized by the international student services. It was really fun. We were about 115 people and really that's just too much because I didn't know at least half of the people there. We had nametags on the whole weekend, and usually I'm really good at names, but the name tag thing made it very lazy and I didn't really try at all. I made a couple of friends so that's good. There was another Karen from Canada!! hehe That place is kind of like a camp you go to when you're a kid. I haven't actually been to camp but I know that's what it is. It's got sports fields (we played soccer, volleyball and touch rugby) and a pool (but we didnt go) and a lake (we went kayaking), had a campfire (made "dampers" which are a kind of sweet bread on a stick), played boardgames (that was fun) had a party on the first night etc. We had a couple of presentations about random australia stuff (aboriginal culture, job search, aussie lingo, etc) but they tried making group activities, which made it easier to sit through. We were like little kids that just wanted to go out and play. The bedrooms were bunks and there were cockroaches everywhere. Australia is mostly populated with cockroaches (called cockies for short).

Australians are so lazy because words are always shortened. Also there is a whole new set of expressions so weird.
Arvo = afternoon
sarvo = this afternoon
sanger= sandwiches
sunnies = sunglasses
surfie = surfer
cossie = bathing costume
Chrissy = Christmas
grog = booze
doonbag = box wine
cark it = die (croak)
dub someone in = tell on someone
g'day = hello
tada = bye
ta = thanks
thongs = flip flops

and more

No Bagels!?!!?!? What am I going to do???

Oh dear. I really want bagels. They don't seem to know what bagels are, here. Well... that's not entirely true but it's so not like it is back home (everywhere). It's only been a week and I already miss bagels :(

Life in Sydney so far

How are you doing? I'm doing pretty well! I've settled into my apartment on Monday evening (it's Saturday now). It's a 5-bedroom unit but so far I only have one flat-mate. Her name is Nitya from India i think, and she's very nice and very helpful. I just noticed today that my room has the same setup as my sister's room, concerning desk, bed, window, closet and door. However my room is smaller so I dont have room for a bookshelf, plus if I wanted any extra furniture in there, I would have to buy it myself. I went yesterday to buy some hangers, a wastebasket, a small face towel and a calendar to pretty up my room. I've brought pictures from back home and I stuck them to my wall in the shape of a house. I like it a lot. We have a shared kitchen, living/dining area and bathroom with 2 of each (toilet, sink, shower) plus a heavy duty sink. The kitchen has dishes and utensils and pots and pans left over from people who lived there before and left their stuff. We don't have a microwave or a toaster or a blender. Well, the blender I don't really mind that much, but living without a microwave or toaster is pretty difficult to get used to.

I went grocery shopping a few times already. At first I thought it was pretty cool to be around a whole bunch of new brands, but then I spend about 10 minutes in from of each food section trying to figure out which brand/size/type I should get. Do i get the cheapest one or the one that has the best rebate or the one with the prettiest label?? Also, I have to remember I'm just cooking for one, for 6 months. So I have no idea what amounts to get. And since I don't have a microwave either, I can't really reheat things very efficiently. Also, living at home, I don't have to ever worry about the basic ingredients like flour or oil or sugar because we just always have some, but how much flour am I even going to need if not just a tablespoon every now and then.


It's also hard but not that hard to live without a TV, I have no idea what's been going on in Grey's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives! hahaha, but that's ok. The bigger problem is the internet. Hopefully I'll get another roommate to split the cost of internet, but until then I have to walk 20 minutes to get to school and the only place on campus to use computers in at the library. And it closes pretty early until school starts so it's been a pain. At McGill we have 24 hour labs and it's all accessible by the magnetic strip on the card. Also, computers in the library, you can only use them for 1 hour at a time. It doesn't bug me now, but i'm sure it will when I'll have to do assignments etc.

I'm going to need recipes that have really basic necessary ingredients, the kind that I'm going to use for a bunch of different recipes and that I will finish in 6 months. It's hard to resist buying sweets!! Oh and is Dijonnaise a substitute for both mayonnaise and Dijon mustard, or should I get each separately. Dijon mustard with oil and vinegar makes good salad dressing. And mayo is good in sandwiches.

Here, chips are called crisps and fries are called chips. They also have wedges, which are baked seasoned potatoes cut in wedges (yum). Also, there's "slice" which is just normal cake but instead of putting it in a circular pan, it's spread onto a cookie sheet and cut into squares. "Cheesecake Slice" for example. That was confusing at first because when Sophie my Aussie Mate said she made slice, I thought "slice of.....????what???". But I get it now, and I want some.

Paul the Firefighter and a hot Aussie

Went to Bundeena beach on the 15th of Feb, saw some aboriginal scultings in rock, and then had lunch and went swimming with my new friends:
Sophie my Aussie Mate
Samarah her aussie friend originally from Switzerland
Mel another Aussie friend
Brooke from UBC, Mel's exchange mate
Lara, from Spain
Teresa, from Spain

I also made other friends:
Lindsay from England
Erik C from McGill Eng (ha!)

Then after we went to Cronulla before catching the train back, got a 15$ summer dress and some yummy ice cream (well it was a hot day and samarah convinced us all it was desperately needed - it's not the first time this happens... the day before at Coogee, we went for gelato! But it was soooo worth it). On the way back at Central Station, we ran into Paul the firefighter from Contiki! Yay, I already miss Contiki! I said I'd email him with plans for tonight but when I eventually figured out my plans I didn't have access to the internet (no internet in my apt) and plus it was a pub crawl so it's not like we were staying in the same bar anyways. Plus the bar I was told to go to, by the time we got to Kings Cross they were already in another location. And Paul didn't have a phone so... in the end, it wouldn't have worked out anyways.

You know I haven't met any Aussies other than Aussie Mates (which are like in the Buddy program at McGill), and they aren't like blond hair blue eyed aussies anyways (origins from all over the world). I met another Aussie Mate there, his name is Lincoln and he's really hot and tall!!! His exchange mate were equally hot swedish civil engineering girls... He's in environmental engineering. The university tries to pair up people that are going on exchange to eachothers universities. My Aussie Mate Sophie is actually going to McGill next semester. So Lincoln (odd name) is going to Sweden then. That's an idea... I've actually met a lot of swedish people so far. Mostly at UNSW but also there was Annika from Contiki tour.

That was Lincoln in the photo.

Ya so I went home at like 12h30 because i was just too tired.. I only went to 2 bars. one of which was Empire (**wink wink Catherine!!!!!!!!***)
xxoox
hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day really doesn't seem like it. It's nice and sunny today. I went with my Aussie Mate Sophie to Coogee Beach and a couple of other people for lunch. it was really nice. Unfortunately I didn't bring my bathing suit because I didn't realize we were actually going to the beach , but it was fun anyways. I brought a lunch from the little amount of food I have at home, and we went for gelato after (sooooo good!).

I was going to pay my rent today but the bank closed at 4 and it's now 4h30 so i hope i dont get into trouble. especially since tomorrow we also have another day trip with our Aussie Mates.

I really miss the Contiki crowd already. we had so much fun!!! Today during orientation they talked a lot about places to go around australia, and a lot of the time i said "I went there!". I didnt realize how many things I've already done! Time went by so quickly!

Yesterday, after dinner with Cath and my new friend Salima, they left - Cath to Melbourne and Salima to Wollongong, I just went home. What I should have done was go to Sydney Harbour and see Contiki people, Ethan and Keith (*) climb the Harbour Bridge then gone to party afterwards with them two and Anthony and Ron.

(*) To know why Keith has an asterisk, you must contact me.

Miss you
Karen

A bit more settled...

Hi

Yesterday, I got into Sydney around 11 am, and straight away I got on the bus and went to the University. I was lugging around my luggage, but really it wasn't such a big deal because it's actually a smaller luggage. My big luggage is locked up in storage which I really should get out but i dont think they'll charge me that much for an extra day... I hope not. Another thing is that I have to open a bank account, I have to pay my rent today (but I'll do it tomorrow) but at least I got a cell phone. I need to register my phone number before using it but i'll do that tomorrow then i'll let people know my number. I have an apartment now. it's a 5-bedroom unit with a common living/dining room, kitchen and shared bathroom. My room has a single bed, a closet space, a desk and a window. I have to set up internet and I have no idea how.... I'm, going to have to use university comp labs in the meantime. I made a friend or 2 today. I also met up with the contiki tour I left behind. We did a group photo in front of the harbour bridge and opera house and thats' about it. I really am going to miss that crowd. Nice people!

Got to Sydney

I ditched the tour early, not because I wanted to but because i have to. either way I lose money. So now I'm in sydney, all alone and confused... but with a new blog! yay and free internet. I now have a student number at UNSW. wow. ok bye