Arriving in Brisbane

My time in New Zealand went by so fast, but overall I felt like I got to see so much in the time I had and if anything, I now know what places I would love to go back to and what places I would like to visit that I didn't already visit. It is impossible to see everything in one visit, but I am happy with what I did see and am excited to go back one day!

Finally getting to Brisbane was kind of surreal. I didn't feel really anxious or really excited on the flight over- I just felt like this was the next thing, the thing that I had been planning for so long, and now it was finally happening. Kinda hard to explain. Upon arriving, an older man from UQ was there to pick me up. UQ picks up international students from the airport which is so helpful! He was really nice and talkative. He pretty much talked the whole way to school. It was dark already, so I couldn't really see that much, but we drove along the river and through the city. When we arrived at Emmanuel, the residential college where I am living, the hall porter was waiting for me. He took me to my room, gave me my welcome packet and told me that I could come and see him if I had any questions. I heard some loud music and students cheering so I went to check it out. All the new students were "bush dancing," which is pretty similar to square or line dancing in the States. They all had colorful pinwheel hats on and looked like they were having a good time. Check in was actually earlier that morning, so I missed the first day of orientation, but it wasn't a big deal. The president of the college happened to be standing next to me. He introduced himself and the residential adviser who was next to him. They were very friendly. They went to find my "wind leader," which is like an RA in the States. Her name is Karin and she is actually from Singapore. She was very friendly as well. She told me a few things about the schedule and then let me call my parents to let them know that I had arrived safely. I pretty much just went to bed soon after that because it was already late and New Zealand is 3 hours ahead. It was weird and overwhelming being in a new place and being in the "dorms" again, but kinda exciting as well because there was still so much unknown.

This past week was "O week" or orientation. There are about 200 new students at Emmanuel and about 350 students all together. The way it works here at UQ is that there are 10 different residential colleges. All the colleges have their own mascot and motto and sports teams and all that. It's kinda like the Greek system because we all have college pride and loyalty to where we live and we all compete against each other and have mixers together and stuff like that, but we also all go to the same university, UQ. Oh and by the way they call it "Uni" here. They also call freshman, "freshers." It has been different here for me because I am 4 or five years older than some of the students, considering some have just graduated from high school and are only 17. But, it is still cool to meet new people and I know that once classes start and all the older students return and sports start there will be more people my age. There are quite a few international/study abroad students here from the States which is kinda funny, and they are older, so that has actually been good. All in all it's not the age that matters, just the maturity level. :)

This week has consisted of lots of informative meetings, both at Emmanuel and at UQ, as well as a lot of activities, like going to a water park, having a Toga party, and visiting the city. UQ is huge and way different from Pepperdine, so I know it will take me a bit to get used to, but I also know that I came here to have a different experience, meet new people from around the world and just experience Australia in general. I trust that the Lord has great plans for me down here and I am excited to see what He is going to do through me and what He is going to teach me.

So far, it is really hot and humid here. Classes start next week and sports teams start in a couple weeks. I am planning to play soccer for Emmanuel and hopefully for the club team at UQ. By the way, our mascot is the Blue Dog. (Like the bull dog, just blue). I also signed up to play this touch football type sport that apparently is super fun and our school is really good at, so we'll see about that. I have my own room here, but live on a hall with about 14 other girls and there are about 14 guys on the bottom floor. The name of my hall is Gibson. There are about 10 other halls and we all make up Emmanuel. There are common rooms, a tiny little computer room, a tiny little gym, some big conference type rooms, a chapel, and some open courtyards within Emmanuel. Our college borders the river. We get three meals a day, they do our laundry and clean our bathrooms here as well which is so nice. I guess we are paying for it though, so don't think I'm too spoiled. :)

Whelp, I guess that is the gist of it for now. I will post pictures of Brisbane and UQ and all that soon!