“Vast subtropical gardens, a laid-back attitude, an outdoor lifestyle, cuisine from around the planet, iconic heritage buildings…” [Brisbane, pg 71, Lonely Planet]

As I said in my last entry, I moved into my apartment at Urbanest in South Bank two days ago. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about living in my own dorm room (I'm used to living with roommates), and I was a little concerned. However, I absolutely love my room, and guess what Mom and Dad I am even keeping it neat! I'm living with 5 other girls and we each get our own bathroom and room; we only have to share the kitchen and a small living room. My roommates seem nice enough and all I can hope for is that we treat each other with respect.

Today, I went exploring around South Bank, which is where I will be living for the next 5 months. I quickly discovered the Lifestyle market, which happens every Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday during the day. There was a lot of very cool art and jewelry, and I had a great time just browsing it.




I stopped to get ice cream because it was so hot. (Its very humid here!) I tried various flavours before picking mine -- a kiwi, a macadamia nut, and toffee. The flavour I had was "spotty dog" - which I think is a kiddie-downed term for spotted dick, an actual dessert over here! It was vanilla and chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips. Yum!

After that, I ventured some more. I ran into the South Bank Visitor's Centre (of course after going there once I couldn't find it again but I'm sure I'll be able to), where I was given a map of Brisbane, and I was informed about QPAC.

This is the Brisbane Wheel

QPAC is the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, and it is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment! They have various shows and ballets. Currently Wicked the musical is going on until the 2nd of April. I'm determined to go see it; I couldn't make it when it was in Boston and I didn't win lottery tickets when I tried to go with Laura in the City. They are also having a funny parody one-man show of Lord of the Rings in April, where a guy does all of the trilogies by himself. Depending how much it is (Wicked is pretty pricey), I might go see that as well.

Exploring South Bank today was really nice. I got to know where I am living a little bit, and I also had some really great food as well. Besides the ice cream (always delish), I had corn on the cob with loads of butter, salt and pepper. I spent an hour reading my book outside under the shade of a tree, and I discovered that the State Library isn't that far (I have yet to figure out where that is). I'm going to do some more exploring tomorrow; my goal is to get to the West End, which is supposed to be a nice area of clubs, bars and restaurants.

 Besides sweating in the sun (per usual here), I also just managed to set my schedule for school. I signed up for tutorials (discussion sessions), and I made sure a few were an hour or two after my lecture, giving me time to A) figure out where the heck the building is, as it is not in the same one as the lectures and B) have time to eat and relax and mentally get myself ready to ask questions. My latest class (a lecture) runs until 6:20 pm and everything besides that ends before 4 pm! It is great not to have a 3 hour class that ends at 9 pm like my previous semester at Lesley. :-)


It's almost 11 PM here; I'm off to bed! xo