“No mom, I was crying because I wanted a sandwich not because it was a long walk.” This is just a short quote from a skype call that I had with my mother earlier this evening. The topic of conversation was the pas three days that I’ve spent living at the University of Newcastle in my dorm. Three days ago I got off a plane in Sydney and took a three hour long bus ride to Callaghan, Newcastle where I would be staying for the next five months. Vacation week was officially over and now it was time to get ready for my studies.
Now, all the traveling that I have had to do to get here sounds painful, but the most painful part of this process was settling into my dorm room here on campus. Before I arrived, I was told not to worry, that everything would be covered and that I would walk into a fully furnished dorm complete with pots and pans and bedsheets. So naturally I didn’t pack any of these things, especially since I already had so much to bring from home. However, I was soon faced with the reality of my situation shortly after I arrived.
First of all, the dorm room that I was living in was absent of any pots or pans or bedsheets. Instead of being welcomed to a move in ready new home, I was welcomed to a bare bones apartment room with the only extra thing being a tote bag with a hat, water bottle, paper pamphlets, and a condom. I grew mildly distraught as I realized that the kitchen was a similar situation, only containing the necessary appliances. Although the room situation was quickly resolved, the kitchen situation left me panicked as I sat there pondering on when, where, and how to get my next meal.
This problem seemed easily solvable – go to a grocery store or to a café and grab what you need. But where do I go? Do I need to take a bus? What’s open? this turned out to be an event that took multiple hours and consisted of several miles of trekking until I finally found a source for food. I searched every main building on campus looking for a market or simple sandwich stand but every place where I went was closed. It still surprises me how early everything closes here as most places here are closed by 5:30 or 6 pm versus until 9 pm back home.
Not to worry! Eventually I returned to my residence hall where they gifted me with a small free meal of taco casserole made with doritos. After we ate we all sat around talking and getting to know each other which was really nice and made me feel less isolated. Then this morning I was able to manage going into town to grab a heap ton of food from Coles.
Anyway, my apologies for the poorly written blog!
Until Next Time…