Living Arrangements Down Under

Today I got a Facebook message from one of my sorority sisters Haley. She is planning on studying abroad in Australia next spring. How exciting to have another KKG Down Under! She asked a very important question about where to live when she is abroad.

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Q. I'm trying to figure out what my housing situation would look like in terms of costs and everything. Can you tell me what kind of place you're living in right now and how much it costs?

A. I would definitely try to live on-campus or college as Aussies call it. It's the best way to make Australian and other international friends. College life is way more relaxed than dorm life at South Carolina.

I live in Evatt House and it is the best! I do a lot of activities with my block. Also Evatt competes against the other two houses on college, Teds {booo!} and IH {our friends at the International House}. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the coveted Collegiate Shield. It's a little like Harry Potter and the House Cup.

I loved the fact that I knew exactly where I was staying before I got to Australia. It's scary enough going to a foreign country but having no idea where you are staying just adds anxiety. Plus you don't have to worry about leasing an apartment in a different country.

 I am not on a meal plan at Newcastle though at Ted's you are required. So it just depends on what college dorm you end up living on. I spend about $30-$40 on groceries a week and my accommodation for the semester is $3,170.

My one fear about living on-campus was that I would be with all freshmen students. Evatt has just as many if not more returners than first year students.

I believe. Let me know if anyone has questions about studying abroad in Australia; I'd love to help. Click on the Evatt label at the bottom to see how much fun I have living on college.

Cheers for now,
Kim

D Block Love

On Monday night, my block did a room crawl. Omg what a fun night! Our theme was "The Yellow Pages." So the premise of the room crawl was a top floor person was paired with a bottom floor person. Each pair was given a page out of the Yellow pages and had to choose an occupation and make a drink/game that coordinated. Max was my partner and we got building contractors.

D Block Room Crawl: Me, Anna & Caitlyn

Other room themes were Weddings, Camping, Lifesavers {a.k.a. beach patrol} and Vets. Overall we had a great time and continued to bond as a block.

Evatt has a lot of mixers where each block has to dress up. The first week I was here, there was a "When I Grow Up" theme. I chose Daisy Duke because I really wanted to wear my cowboy boots! I went to an op shop and bought a pair of jeans to make into jorts {jean shorts}. It's so funny that in Australia people wear them regularly; I've started to put them in my clothing rotation {more on that later}.

D First all "Grown Up"

Daisy Duke

In March, we had a karaoke party where all the blocks had to dress up as something that started with their block letter. My floor, D First, dressed up as death. It was so much fun putting on all the fake blood.

Look how scary my block looks.

I'm so lucky that I get along with the people in my block. We are becoming such a family and it's going to be really sad leaving at the end of this semester. On a happier note, I can't wait for our next themes party.

Cheers for now,

Kim

{Oh & today is my two month mark of being in Australia}

Cabs are here!

One thing I'm getting good at here in Newcastle is taking public transport. Maybe not what you were expecting but when you don't have a car (and they drive on the opposite side of the road so that's tricky), you have to improvise. Luckily for me, I've made friends with people who have cars so if I ever need to make a grocery run to Woolys or go to the beach, I can just hitch a ride. 

But for travelling beyond Uni, mastering the train system is vital. It's only a quick 15 minute ride into downtown Newcastle for times when the Evatt gang is going out. Or a 2.5 hour ride down to Sydney. I've been using that one a lot, especially when the train takes you right to the airport.

Unfortunately, I don't have the student travel concession sticker which would make traveling half off. Only Australian students are eligible, but at $3 I can't really complain.

Another great Aussie travel treat is the maxi taxi. Find up to 11 of your closest Evatt friends and you can head to anywhere for $5. Perfect for coming back from a night out when the train only runs every hour.

No matter where you are in Australia, there is some kind of transportation option that will get you from adventure A to adventure B or just home.

Cheers for now,

Kim

All Smiles at Coogee Beach

Wow this week has been hectic, but thankfully it's Wednesday which means it's over. I had THREE papers Tuesday and Monday; one of which was a personal essay I had critiqued by my classmates! Ahh it's nerve-wrecking to have someone give you feedback on your writing. So after the heaps of work I had to do this week, I can finally tell you about my weekend. I decided to give myself a little R&R and head to the beach. I know my life is rough, right?

The cliffs of Coogee Beach

So Saturday morning, Katie and I boarded a train heading south to Sydney. We arrived at the beautiful Coogee Beach (prounced Could-GEE not COO-GEE like I was saying) around noon. My roommate Brad's brother was in town and their step dad had bought us a few hotel rooms right on the beach. How nice was that! It was overcast by the time we met up with the boys, so we headed to the cliffs that are right along the water. Sounds scary but these are baby rocks. The view was gorgeous; Brad told me there was a wedding the day before.

Looking out over the rocks

We lazed around the rest of the day with plans of going to King's Cross, Sydney's biggest party area. Of course, we never made it past the bar next door. Plus we had a couple other Evatt people join up with us. After schooling the boys in a few rounds of pool, Katie and I called it a night. 

Just chilling at the Baths

 The next morning was a dream day. We woke up early and made our way to the beach, scoring prime positions near the water. This was my first major beach day since being in Australia and did I take advantage of it. I took a walk along the water and over to the ocean baths. Pretty much every beach has a little ocean pool to play in. After a delicious lunch of burritos and gelato (I was in heaven) and watching the last four minutes of the UK game (such a heartbreaker), us girls bid ado and headed back to Newcastle.

How colorful are the walls in town?

I love the fact that catching the train to Sydney is so easy. It makes going on weekend adventures so conveient. Hope everyone had a great weekend too!

Cheers for now,

Kim 



March Recap in Pictures

It's the last day of March and I only have two and half months left in Australia! Good thing I've been spending my time wisely.

Five girls that became best friends and have WAY too much fun



Too many pictures at Sydney Harbour



Mossman's Gorge- Wishing I had taken more than four months of ballet

Deep in the Rainforest

Commencement- Getting dressed up with 200 of your closest friends

The money shot- Jack & I

One AMAZING day snorkeling and diving the Great Barrier Reef

Even if you hit a couple of bumps like I did this month, just look to the good times to realize how much you really have! I hope March was just as wonderful for you as it was me! Let me know what you did.

Cheers for now,
Kim

[SDU Note: Going through all my pictures, I realized I forgot to blog about my week in Cairns. Shame on me! I'm getting on that right away; stay tuned.]

Home Sweet Home

It occured to me the other day when I was Skyping my parents that I haven't showed what my room looks like. So you already know that I live in Evatt (which I love), but here is the low down on my block. We share a huge common room and kitchen. There are two wings that split off with five rooms and a bathroom each. We are the closest block to the laundry and mailroom; plus we're one of the few blocks with wireless (score)! Basically D Block is where it's at. Plus even when I'm in my room, I'm still part of the action because the Cat (aka the Evatt rec slash party room) is right next to my window. Nice until about 1 a.m.

Here are some pictures of my room. It's only this clean because I just did laundry always this clean :)





Look how organized that closet is!

Cheers for now,

Kim

Commencement: Any Reason to Dress Up

An Evatt tradition, Commencement is the formal event of the semester. So glad that I packed a cocktail dress, just in case. You can't go wrong with a LBD. I paired it with my Nine West pumps and Lilly earrings for a touch of color. I felt very classic and totally loved it.

Cutest Couple Award

Since Ryan was here, he got special permission to attend. He was the only non-Evatter in attendance; how VIP did he feel. I was thrilled to take pictures with him since we missed both Semi Formal and Formal this year. He was so cute ironing his clothes before the evening.

Everyone at Evatt goes out for a nice dinner. I loved taking pictures with my block because it was the first time we actually had everyone in D Block in one picture.

D Block Love

Dee First

We held an after party downtown at Customs. Evatt rented out the top floor and we had a huge dance party. Most of the songs were American, but I loved hearing my new Aussie favs like Calvin Harris. The party continued with the last tradition of the night-a midnight swim in the ocean baths. A procession of about 200 Uni students walked over the baths which is basically a swimming pool connecting to the sea i.e. salt water and sandy bottom. Everyone had a blast splashing in the water and playing sholder wars (Aussie term for chicken fight).

Overall the night was fabulous-lots of pictures, drinks and memories. 

Cheers for now,

Kim

The lovely ladies of Dee

Aussie Inspiration

My first impression of my room at Evatt was 'Brick walls?!'. How incredibly boring having brick walls in your room. Nothing could be more bland than walking into this 10 by 10 living space.

Luckily I came up with a quick solution. I turned to the magazines I had with me for some sort of pick-me-up. Ripped from the pages of the latest fashion magazine came campaigns from Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. The 'Your Spring Hot List' spread from the March edition of Seventeen (guilty pleasure at the age of 21) added the pop of color that my Aussie room so desperately needed. The mismatched bikini and tribal necklaces are so colorful and inspire me everytime I enter my room.
 The bright colors and fun jewelry is perfect for the Aussie culture. It reminds me to step outside my comfort zone and try something eccentric-something that I normally would never wear back in South Carolina. I think about how designers must be constantly inspired in order to stay in business. They aren't looking to be like everyone else; they are the trend setters. For me, this new surrounding is bringing me inspiration and a new  wardrobe outlook.
What inspires you?  Cheers for now,Kim

Cheers I'm here!

It has been a long week since arriving in Newcastle on Monday, but I've finally unpacked all my stuff and am settling in. I'm staying on campus at the Uni in Evatt House.

There are eight blocks with ten students upstairs and downstairs. They refer to the blocks in terms of ground and first so I'm living in D-First. Also there is common rec room in the middle of the quad that is called the Caddy. Everyone here is heaps keen (Aussie for very excited; basically they say heaps anything) on making new friends. I can't wait to get involved in all the Evatt House and Block D bonding that is planned for the semester.

Cheers for now,
Kim

P.S. After over 24 hours of traveling, I was exhausted and pushing around my 130+ pounds (or about 60 kilograms) of luggage really was taking it out of me. I had to put on my game face in order to make it :)