It’s been a busy past few weeks finalising spring break plans and finishing assignments. Highlights include the Psychology Ball! It was Gatsby themed and a lot of people went all out in flapper dresses, head bands, boas – it was in a hotel not far from Urbanest and there was free finger food and an open bar. There was lots of sushi so I was happy, and with a photobooth, we got some cute pictures as a group. Chatted to some Australians (slowly making local friends…!) and just had a great night.
A big group of us went on an ESN (Exchange Student Network) organised wine tour around Barossa Valley which was lovely; got to try a range of wines, had pizza for lunch, and didn’t spend the day working on campus not seeing daylight…! Wine tours seem so popular here because of the huge quantity of wineries in South Australia, and specifically an hour from where we live. We also watched the Urbanest football team play and win the final 7-1, clearly because they had the girls’ support and cheering…!
As a flat we’re taking it in turns to make food from our culture and so we’ve had crepes from Pauline and the other weekend Grai and I made a full sunday roast (it was a saturday…) for 8 of us! We bought 3 chickens from the market (pre-stuffed with vegi stuffing!), had roast potatoes, gravy, green beans, honey roasted carrots…was very tasty! Almost set the fire alarm as it turns out chicken fat burns…woops…
We also decided to watch the sunset at Glenelg Beach one Wednesday afternoon, and so a group of us happily ventured there on the tram, got ice creams (I got a coconut iced Coffee) and took our seats to watch the sunset… however, rather quickly we regressed about 15 years and started cartwheeling, looking for shells, chasing the tide and running from it… We probably ruined everyone’s pictures of the sunset, but heyho, we had fun!
Assignments so far are sorted, submitted two the other day, did an online quiz and started research for another assignment. The only work that’s a bit behind schedule is lit review research, but I planned to spend many a day over these two weeks sitting in a café with a coffee and my laptop watching the world go by, and doing work.
Speaking of the break, most people have taken the opportunity to spend these two weeks seeing more of Australia (and Bali!) to be a tourist outside of our bubble in Adelaide. Given I’ve been a tourist on previous holidays I decided to spend this break visiting family and family friends. So I flew to Sydney on the Thursday of the last week of term (no lectures on a Friday), and have spent the last few days spending well needed relaxation time with my aunt, uncle and cousins.
On Saturday we went to an AFL game which is (in my opinion) the best parts of football and rugby in one game. It was Sydney Swans versus Adelaide Crows…and was reminded by my Sydney family of who was hosting me so I rightly chose to support the Swans and they won 118-82! We went onto the pitch afterwards, which I didn’t know was a thing, and had to avoid many a footie and friendly tackles going on around us.
I’m now at Sydney airport waiting to board a plane to the Gold Coast to visit family friends I’ve known my whole life and who I basically count as family. Should be a good few days strolling the beach, working, relaxing and catching up. I will then catch a train to Brisbane to stay with another family friend who I’m very much looking forward to seeing! I have also booked to go skydiving whilst in Brisbane…which is terrifying and exciting! I’ll then spend a week in Sydney again before heading back to the last four weeks of term in Adelaide.
Time flies… I feel like I’ve done a lot out here, but the fact that I only have 4 weeks of lectures, then two weeks of exams before I’ve got some weeks to travel…then I return to the UK… I am looking forward to being back in England, but I do love it out here and has solidified by previous plans to move out here one day.
I also got some fantastic news that my cousin, Rik and Rudi have had a beautiful baby boy: Arthur Peter Lewis! The first baby in my generation of cousins on both sides of the family – can’t wait to meet the little bub when I’m back!
I know I’ve said this in previous blog posts, but I’m going to say it again – If there’s even a tiny part of you that wants to go abroad, just do it! Just go! The worst that’ll happen is that you miss home on occasion but some of the positives are;
- make a tonne of new friends from all over the world that you can visit
- experience a new culture
- force yourself out of your comfort zone to help you grow up
- try topics that may not be available at soton (I would never have the chance to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Psychology in England)
- travel the country you’re studying in
Seems very boring to make a list, but I do love lists… so there’s a list only scratching the surface of studying abroad.
Anyway, I’ll write another blog soon about the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Happy reading,
P x