Day 1 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia

I'M FINALLY HERE! After flying 12,622 miles, driving 95 miles, a 6 day "in country orientation" (aka vacay), I successfully made it to my home for the next five months. I'm pooped. I unpacked my four t-shirts, three pairs of khakis, two pairs of jeans, a hoodie, swim suit, blanket, and few other odds and ends. I'm living in Scott Annex, and my first impression is that I like it. I really enjoy the set-up: there are 30 rooms that line the outside walls, all the rooms empty into a common area with couches, chairs, one common area has a single desktop computer with printer with the other common area having a TV with 5 channels. So when I open my door I'm in the common room, pretty easy to create community that way. There are two bathroom areas with two toilets and four showers in each. As of now my building doesn't have a RA because not enough people applied...I know what you're thinking and I jokingly suggested that I was up for hire. You may be wondering why they don't get enough people to apply for the RA position when at Central there's a surplus. I think one of the reasons may be that here the RAs don't get free room and board, just 25% off, losing a huge incentive. But RAs here at LaTrobe don't do all the wonderful tasks of programming, bulletin boards, or intense duty rounds like Central's RAs do. Here, there are "Student Leaders" consisting of RAs, Social Club People (I'm not 100% sure that's their title), and a RAM (Resident Academic Mentor). The social people basically do the "programming" and the scheduling of events n' such, while RAs provide the friendships/connections, guidance, and keepers of the peace when people get drunk.

Switching topics, I've heard in school about how the there's this "Western Influence" across the world, and that America's media impacts other countries, but I guess I never fully understood what that meant until tonight. I was talking with Lil, my RA, and another RA, while watching American television shows. I realized that that's how Australian's know so much about America - because of the American TV shows that air here. The shows do air really late though. Fraternities and Sororities do not exist here at LaTrobe, and quite possibly in Australia. The Greek System is shown on TV though, but as you know sometime in an unrealistic sense. So they asked me about them and I had to explain that Fraternities and Sororities aren't the same (at Central anyway) than as how TV shows portray them - they're much, much worse…just kidding! I also had to explain Thanksgiving, which was strange because you don't get that question often. Halloween was another topic that I got asked about. They really did not believe that kids got dressed up and went to stranger's houses to get candy. I realized how much American TV shows shape others perception about America, for real.