culture – Jaclyn Grace

Cricket World Cup

Tonight, about a mile away from where we are staying, the Cricket World Cup was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

We had been following the sport for a few days on the news and were excited that Australia made it to the finals vs. New Zealand!

This morning we went to Queen Victoria Market and the boys all picked up their gear for the game tonight – including 8 matching Australia jerseys.

After the market, we spent our day at the beach, then came back around 5pm for the second inning of the game. For those of you who don’t know, cricket games consist of two innings and can last around eight hours! I would never want to sit through the entire game.

We watched for a few hours from our apartment, but once the end got closer we headed down to the stadium. There were people and jumbo-trons everywhere showing the last few minutes.

When Australia won we were expecting a huge celebration… like when the Pats win a Super bowl! It was nothing like that. Our group was the most excited, decked out group there. The guys were actually interviewed by 7-8 news stations!

It was really funny because they acted like die-hard fans even though I’m pretty sure we all watched out first game of cricket less than 48 hours ago.

The best part of the night were the fireworks set off after Australia won. They were the best fireworks that I have ever seen!

The whole night was a great way to really get immersed in Australian culture. We were lucky to be here for this, especially so close to our apartment!

xo,

Jaclyn

Friday Favorites – Australia Style!

Here are a few of the things that I am loving most about Australia:

1. Greek Food

I neverhad true Greek Food before, and I am in love! One of my group partners was born in Greece, so we have had quite a few meals. One restaurant is right next to our work and we have made our way over twice. The first time I had “The Greek Burger.” It was a burger with eggplant, veggies, cheese, and an egg on it. It also had a Greek sauce called tzatziki on it, which is sort of like a mayo/sour cream mix.

This past Wednesday we went there and I had the “Open Souvlaki.”

It was chicken that came with pita bread, tzatziki, and a delicious Greek salad. I loved it. I am going to have to find a Greek restaurant back at home!

2. The night market

I talked about this before, but every Wednesday in the summer there is a night market full of food, music, and entertainment. We went again this week and I loved it just as much. Of course, I had another strawberry, nutella, and coconut crepe…

3. Artwork

The graffiti here is incredible.

We came upon these walking to dinner with one of our advisors the other night. I can’t imagine being able to paint something like this on such a large scale.

4. Tim Tams

I should probably be ashamed that three of my last four favorite things this week are related to food… But I’m not! These are delicious. Everyone who comes back to school from Australia raves about these and now I know why. They are chocolate dipped cookies with a chocolate filling inside. There are so many other flavors too- salted caramel, peanut butter, white chocolate, and so on. I am definitely bringing some of these home for my family to try.

5. Skyping with my best friend!

Victoria is in Santa Fe, NM studying abroad right now as well and we finally got to Skype on Tuesday! I’m so glad we picked the same term to go away and that we are going on another cruise together when we get back.. only 64 days until that vacation! I’m so glad you’re having a blast and I miss you tons!

I don’t know if this qualifies as a favorite per say, but tonight I went to an internet cafe down the road to catch up on some work and schedule my classes for next year. I ordered an iced coffee and a small pizza for dinner so that I could use their internet. This is what I received…

It had ice cream in it! I felt like I was drinking a root beer float rather than a coffee. You definitely couldn’t get one of these at Dunkin Donuts!

xo,

Jaclyn

Meeting Our Sponsor

Today we went to the company that we will be working with for the next 7 weeks and it was awesome. It was about a 35 minute commute by tram, train, and then walking. It wasn’t too bad though since it is beautiful outside. It will probably also be quicker when we actually know where we are going.

We got some nice little perks upon our arrival – including our own locker and the use of a full gym onsite! We also have access to the showers there. My group plans on taking full advantage of the facility since there are no other cheap gyms in the area. It may be a little strange though just because it is used mainly by firefighters…

We also got fitted for our firefighting gear just incase there is an incident while we are here.

After work my group had a light lunch at a little outdoor cafe. All the boys had beer, but I had a vanilla caramel latte instead. It was delicious. Everyone keeps telling us that Melbourne is known for the coffee, and now I believe it. There was also a live street performer singing right by our table who was very talented. I almost bought his CD I enjoyed it so much.

After lunch we wondered around the city a bit more and picked up some groceries. Along the way we came across the cutest area. It was a little alleyway filled with small restaurants, bakeries, cafes, etc. There was a band playing and the whole atmosphere was awesome. I took a picture but unfortunately the internet at our apartment complex isn’t great and I can’t upload it from my phone. 🙁 I am going to try to put it on here soon though.

xo,

Jaclyn

Around Melbourne

Yesterday, we ended up walking all around the area that we will be living for the next 7 weeks. It is so clean, modern, and beautiful! It feels strange that we are going to be here for so long and it isn’t just a weekend long trip.

Here are a few photos of the area that we are staying in…

One thing that makes it so different from home is the greenery everywhere! There are huge parks all over the area. They would be perfect for running or biking in.

After we walked around for a bit, we decided to stop for lunch at a waterfront restaurant. They were having a deal of a personal pizza and a pint of beer for only $11 in American currency. I had a pizza loaded with spinach, beets, and goat cheese. It was delicious.

I did not like the beer – but even that combo was cheaper than a pizza alone. We all really enjoyed our lunch!

Here are a few more highlights of the area…

This church was absolutely stunning, especially surrounded by so many gardens.

They also have a lock of love bridge. I wish Cfab were here so that we could add to it! Maybe someday 🙂

After walking around in the sun all day, we were exhausted. We came home and passed out for a good 3.5 hours – almost missing dinner with our advisor! We luckily woke up just in time and made it to the gentleman’s apartment that we were visiting. He was a professor at my college for 30 years and then moved down here. He had a lot of insight on the area – especially in terms of safety.

Now we are moving to the apartment complex that we will be staying in for the next 7 weeks!

xo,

Jaclyn

Landed in Melbourne!

After over 24 long hours of traveling, I am finally in Melbourne! I am sitting out on a bench in a little garden next to my hotel wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I couldn’t be happier. The locals keep telling us that it is a chilly day – but it’s almost 80 degrees.

My first flight from Boston to LA was horrible. I have never felt so sick, so suddenly. My mom and grandma both had a terrible cold before I left, and sure enough I must have caught it. I was afraid that I was going to have to stay the night in LA and wouldn’t be able to make it another 16 hours on a plane. My face was burning, but I was so cold that I couldn’t stop shivering – it was miserable. I bought some medicine at LAX, chugged two Powerades, and boarded my next long flight with hopes that I would feel better soon.

Luckily, I slept almost 12 hours straight on the leg of our flight from LAX to Melbourne and it really helped me feel better. I also got extremely lucky that I was in an aisle seat and the two seats next to me were completely empty! I was able to spread out and lay down a bit.

Right now I am waiting for two of my friends to finish showering, and then we are going to head down to the beach. We are also meeting our advisors for dinner tonight since we are the first students here. 🙂

I will try to post some pictures later tonight.

xo,

Jaclyn