Roos and Gators South of the Equator: Let's do the Timewarp Again

Have you ever looked back on those first few weeks of freshman year and wished you could do it all again, now that you finally have a handle on college life? You know, getting to meet a whole lot of people jumping at the bit to be your friend, stuff yourself silly with free food and drink, and stay up till dawn at crazy dress-up parties without the lingering fear that people won't like you, you'll get lost on your first day to class, or you'll accidentally dye all of your clothes red because you've never done your own laundry before? Well, let me tell you friends, this past week I have done just that, and it was FANTASTIC. Being the only 20 year old (almost 21!) amongst a bunch of nervous 17/18 year old Aussies made me realize how much more self-confident I have become since my own "fresher" year two and a half years ago. The past week I have met a fantastic bunch of friends, who love to try to imitate my accent (it usually sounds pretty hick) and with whom I celebrated the end of O-week yesterday with shopping, a movie, ice cream, another movie, and Friends episodes until 1 in the morning. Sweet.

As for the week itself, here are some highlights of Duchesne's "crazy" parties:

"Ugly" Party (don't judge please)

"Beauty and the Beast" party (we dressed up, the guys looked like, well, their beastly selves)

"Tropicana" party (not "Hawaiian," as I incorrectly called it numerous times)

Toga Party (yes, that is my only bedsheet)

You might be wondering, perhaps, what is this "Doo chez nee" place Emily keeps talking about? Well, first off, it's pronounced "Doo shayne", and it's a residential college on campus, but much more self-inclusive than Wash U res colleges - think Harry Potter, but no magic, no boys...and no air conditioning (yikes). It's not too bad as the climate's temperate, but there are lizards in the bathroom which can scare you in the middle of the night, 'cause they leave the windows open. Here's some pictures of my room:

An interesting aspect of Duchesne that I wasn't expecting is that most students here are from rural areas. Most urban/local people commute to campus, so for many of them it's their first time in a big Aussie city too!

My favorite thing about the past week was the fascinating conversations I've had with the Aussies I've met, which along with being mesmerized by my accent (I've worked on toning it down a bit - I've even managed to get a few people to guess I'm Canadian before American, for what that's worth) love to discuss US/Australia differences such as:

- why we have silly $1 bills - 1 and 2 dollar coins are the way of the future, mate

- why the heck we don't use the metric system (I told them I have no idea either)

- why we call people who are anti-abortion and big government "conservative," while they call them "liberals" (our "liberal" = their "labor" party, just a bit confusing if you're daring enough to initiate a political discussion)

- how amusing it is (apparently) to imagine Mexicans literally "jumping" over our southern border fence

- if frat parties are really as wild as what they show on GREEK

In fact, apparently 90% of what Aussies know about the U.S. comes from what they see on our TV shows. "Oh, you're from Chicago mate?" A toga-clad fresher inquired to my friend Friday night, "Oi yeah, I know the place. It's where ER takes place, right?"

But speaking of frat parties, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike Americans who merely grind with their more-or-less-significant-other all night on the dance floor, Aussies (for the most part) actually dance. Radical concept, I know. Though they do share our problem with underage drinking - the drinking age is 18 here, which is kind of a problem with 1/4 of the freshers being only 17...

I've got to go to dinner, but I'll leave you with a few pics from the Lone Pine Koala Park, the highlight of which being I CUDDLED A KOALA, yep yep yep. Good times.