I'm here!

I've been getting a lot of requests for an update post!! My life has been quite a whirlwind ever since I arrived here Monday morning. Tons has gone on, but nothing too earth shattering just yet. Let me start by saying this: I didn't realize how big of a shock 40-50 degree weather would be. Really. I only packed one pair of boots, and left my frye boots and uggs at home! I'm having my mom ship them down to me (fingers crossed it doesn't cost an arm and a leg). But the atmosphere down here is just perfect. The people seem to always be happy and eager to help out in any way. I was able to go to KMart today to furnish my dorm (just one example of how VERY similar Australia is to the U.S.), and when I was carrying all of my bags into my building there were so many people asking if they could help. These people are just a breath of fresh air.
The campus has been pretty deserted all week due to the fact that all of the Monash students are on a semester break. Classes begin on July 19th, so the campus should become more lively closer to then. For now, the only people around are the international and exchange students. Yup, you guessed it- this place is FILLED with asians! Although there are around 70 americans here between Loyola and the other American colleges, we still seemed to be outnumbered by the Asian invasion. Orientation sessions have been taking up most of my time, as the Monash staff wants us to have a comfortable transition into our semester here. However, this orientation is unlike ANY orientation session you could find at Loyola, let alone most U.S. colleges. A majority of the discussions lead by Monash staff, with the exception of class enrollment, have involved nightlife in Melbourne and partying! Since the drinking age here is 18, we are allowed to drink and go to bars legally. This is a huge treat for us 20 year olds who have been sporting fake ids for the past few years. Alcohol is served at most school events, and we are allowed to openly drink in the dorm buildings and anywhere on campus.
Tuesday night was my first night out. There was a pub crawl organized by the school, lead by a few grad students. We took the train into the city and hit three fun bars: Riverland, The Carlton Club, and Madame Brussels. I figured we would be going to random college dive bars, but I coudlnt have been more wrong. The three stops of the night were sophisticated and fun. First stop: Riverland. The ambiance of Riverland is comparable to a bar in South Street Sea Port of NYC...it was right on the water. Its wooden picnic tables were set up outside overlooking the water, and heatlamps kept everyone toasty on the chilly evening. The popular drink choice here was mulled wine... for $8 a pop, we were served a cozy, warm mug of a spiced wine... it tasted like heated up sangria. I liked the red better than the white. One of Riverland's many gimmicks is that it has a gourmet sausage stand right in the middle of the outdoor seating. Words can't describe how delicious it smelt there. Our student tourguides lead us to our next stop: The Carlton Club. We walked a few blocks through the bustling city and arrived at the bar. A deep red velvet carpet covered the rich looking stairwell that took us up into a lounge area that was adorned with lifesize giraffes and ostriches and neon chandeliers. It seemed like something out of Saturday Night Fever. The outside part of the bar was set up with high tables and more bamboo than I've ever seen in once space. I wasn't too impressed by this bar but it was definitely fun to go to because of the outrageous decor. Our last stop on the crawl was Madame Brussels. This bar, described as "a rather fancy terrace and public house", was my favorite bar of the evening. A few flights of stairs brought us into a room decked out with a lawn, flowers, hammocks and lawn furniture. The down side was that the drinks were pricey, and the bartenders were stingy with the alcohol they put in the mixed drinks. For this reason, I stuck to mulled wine which was only $6.50 a glass (cheaper than Riverbend's). I had a wonderful night and learned a lot about nightlife in Melbourne! Just an FYI to all my fellow Americans- I didn't see ANY fosters down here yet! The popular beers I've seen are carlton draught, james squire, and tooheys. Hard alcohol isn't too popular since it's so expensive... about $10 for a cocktail and $30 for a liter bottle at the liquor store! For pregaming, almost everyone drinks boxed wine. But this is nothing like franzia... it's called "goon" down here and tastes delicious mixed with orange juice. Beer is obviously also acceptable and a popular pregame libation. I stayed in tonight, but tomorrow is Thursday night... the biggest night of the week! I'm looking forward to it.
Check out the bars I went to!
Riverland
The Carlton Club
Madame Brussels