So it's been a month now. I've given a two week update in a previous post, so this one will be about what's been going on since then. Read on.
Amazingly surreal. That could be the end of this post describing my first month in Australia, but I don't think that will satisfy the people nor my future self reading this. Thus far, it has been a great adventure into a new culture and I can sense that I'm growing as a person. That's one of the one reasons why I wanted to study abroad.
Being "own your own" and meeting new challenges and situations does make you groW.
I'm sure no one's interested in my psychological state at the moment, so moving on....
Two more fellow Gamecocks (Emily and Landon) arrived in Brisbane a bit over a week ago. Landon moved in with me until he finds a place, and Emily moved in with a friend of her sisters' but has already found her own place now. Every day since Feb 7th we've all hung out for the most part. The first day they got here we went and explored the city by picking up their student ids, go cards and cell phones at the massive Queen St. Mall. That place is a great spot for window shopping, actual shopping, people watching and eating food (cheap and expensive). 
Although I don't like sports that much at all, I did attend my first cricket game with the group. As Aussies would say, "We went to the cricket". (intentionally not adding game at the end) It was an interesting event. The game was odd at first, but after being walked through the basics from the other patrons that sat around us I understood.
Apparently T20s is a new form of the game that is supposed to be more entertaining as opposed to the traditional five day long games. That explained the excessive flames and the lackluster dances cheering on the teams. The two teams that played were Australia vs West Indies. Unfortunately, West Indies won. To Aussie's defense the WI team was number one the previous year I think. The actual game would have been a bore if the section that we sat in wasn't so hyped. People were getting arrested, bogans were drinking and spilling moonshine, beer "skulling/chugging" chants were being shouted and numerous attempts at the wave were being instigated. It was great.
It took about a month for me to actually go out with folks my age and have a typical 20 y/o time. As I'm not legal to drink in the states, I don't do it (often). Also, I'm rather cheap and don't find drinking all that intriguing. Nonetheless, I went out with everyone on Thursday night which was Valentines Day to the Exchange Hotel. There were about 15 of us and it was a crazzzy evening of dancing and having a good time. You know how that goes. The next evening was a bit classier, as it was a work outing for two cool coworkers at PPP who are leaving. Then on Saturday we headed near the Gold Coast to Coolangatta for the weekend.
Coolangatta was really nice and close. It is a comfortable one hour train ride from South Bank to where we needed to be for about $6 each way. For me it was free because after you reach 9 trips in a week all the rest are FREE on public transport! Our friend Josh who attended USC the previous semester at USC from QUT (opposite of what we're doing) had a really nice room where we had a good time. The weather wasn't the best, but we made the most of it. The waters were clear enough to see your feet below you and cold enough to make your junk shrink (sorry I'm not sorry if you find that inappropriate language).
In a few hours, I have orientation at uni. There's sure to be some cool new people that I meet there, and I'm looking forward to that. Wish me luck and check out the next post about how that all went.
Want more info of what I've been up to? Feel free to check out my mate Landon's blog at: http://queenslandon.blogspot.com.au/
Kind regards,
Kyron S. Whitfield