So far it has been a hectic day. Late last night, I realized I had signed up for the wrong course and it wouldn't help me when transferred back to UW. Therefore, on my first day of class here, I have been working frantically to rearrange my schedule and get into courses that will transfer back home and not set me back. On the bright side, they have a better system than UW over here for signing up for classes. First you enroll in a lecture, then the professor sets a date and time when everyone then signs up for tutorials (discussions,) practicals (labs,) etc.
I've attended two lectures today: Fluid Mechanics and Introductory Philosophy. I will definitely be taking Fluids, but might end up dropping Philosophy. They were both really big lectures, probably 125 and 200 people, respectively. Fluids seems like a typical engineering course and may be difficult, whereas Philosophy had a lot of reading and discussions, which will be somewhat new to me. At least I only have to pass...
As of right now, my schedule is somewhat worked out, and I think I will be taking Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Environmental Issues Monitoring & Assessment, and World Religions.
So droughts are a pretty big deal here and water conservation is a large effort. All around my house are a bunch of "water warrior" stickers teaching you how to conserve water. They are pretty funny but for a good cause.
We also don't have a dryer, so doing laundry here is weather dependent, which is pretty tough since it's their rainy season right now. At least I can say I'm being environmentally friendly.
Ahhh… it feels good to finally be settled in. After four nights in a couple hostels in downtown Brisbane, it’s nice to not be living out of suitcases. I guess I could get used to it, but it’s hard to imagine how all the people I’ve met who are traveling around the world can live out of a backpack for months on end.
Brisbane is a really sweet city- it’s not too big but there are still tons of things to do. It was cool to stay downtown for a while and get a glimpse of the nightlife. Last night I moved into a room I’m sharing with another UW student in a house with two Aussie guys and a girl from South Africa. So far everyone is super friendly and easy going. I’m excited for classes to start and to meet new people.
Yesterday was the annual Market Day, which was like a giant student organization fair with sponsors and tons of free stuff. I signed up for an international student social club, some Australian engineering association, and a beach volleyball club. There is so much to do on campus, I don’t see myself having any trouble keeping busy.
Fiji was amazing. It was absolutely beautiful there and the Fijians were so friendly. We stayed on four islands in the Yasawas: Kuata, Korovou, Long Beach, and Beachcomber. Each island had a different feel to it and different things to offer. During the trip, we met a ton of interesting people from around the world including people from England, Norway, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Brazil, France, Italy, Holland, and other places I’m sure I have forgotten about.
Kuata is a smaller island where we stayed for our first two nights. The staff / locals there treated us like family and spent a lot of time with us. One of my favorite experiences while there was playing rugby with some of the local guys. At night, we took part in the local tradition and drank Kava. It didn’t really do much; it just gave me a slightly numb tongue and mouth. On our second day at Kuata, we climbed to the top of a small mountain that had incredible views of Kuata and the neighboring islands.
The next two nights, we stayed at Korovou. It is one of three “resorts” on a stretch of beach on the island of Naviti. It had nicer accommodations and food than Kuata, but the staff and locals were a little more formal and the main beach wasn’t as picturesque. During our second day at Korovou, we hiked to a nicer and more secluded beach. It had some sweet coral reefs that we swam around with goggles.
From there, we went to Long Beach. The scenery there was amazing, but it was also very hot. We spent a good amount of time there avoiding the sun, trying not to worsen our sunburns. We only had one night there, and the day we had to leave I took a trip to the local village. It was a great experience to see how some people live in Fiji. The highlight of the village trip was visiting the school and that was a lot of fun. The kids were a combination of excited and shy, but enjoyed spending some time with us.
We spent our last night in the Yasawas at the Beachcomber Island. It is probably one of the more well known resort islands and has a party atmosphere, in contrast to the laid back styles of the other islands. The island was very small, and I could walk the entire perimeter of it in just about five minutes.
I'm leaving tomorrow for my long trip to Fiji with a group of fellow UW-Madison engineers. We land in Nadi on the 13th, after having been non-existent for a day (thanks to the international date line.) From there, we will take a ferry to the Yasawa Islands. I might not have internet access in Fiji, so my next update may take a while.
In 4 days, I'll be leaving for the Fiji islands! I decided to use a blog to save time and update everyone with some of the cool things I'll be doing. But in the meantime, I need to pack and do a little bit of research...
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