Welcome to the good life

I've been here a bit over a month now. Crazy. On the one hand, I feel like I’ve been here forever. I’ve more or less settled into a sort of routine here, as much as I can be with all the traveling I’m doing. It is also speeding by rather fast, which scares me because I never want to leave. I’m in this paradise where I’m so happy all the time and life is too good, and I don’t want to go back. However, one of the most important things I’ve learned with this study abroad experience is to really, fully live in the moment – not to look too far forward or back, but just appreciate the present and the now.

And I really do feel, truly, like I’m living. Back home at school (George Washington aka GW) I go through the daily motions in some sort of sleep deprived zombie state, constantly stressed, always tired. I get maybe 3 to 5 hours of sleep a night, I take sleeping pills, wake up really groggy and stumble through the day. I spend most nights at the library and I study constantly. I don’t always eat well, I can’t exercise everyday. I stress and worry about grades and the future to no end, and at times get really overwhelmed.

Here at Bond, life couldn’t be more different. I haven’t been stressed at all, not once. Even when my wallet got stolen, I sort of just went through the process of filing a police report and going to various banks to get cards back. It didn’t upset me though, the way I would have freaked out at home – and that made things a lot easier. It’s got to be this atmosphere – you don’t see anyone stressed, really, ever. I mean, how can you be, when the beach is 30 minutes walk away, there’s a pool and hot tub outside your room, and the weather is beautiful and people are friendly? Nope, the motto here is “no worries”, and I gotta say, I’m loving it. I prefer this kind of lifestyle.  

School isn’t particularly stressful either, at least not yet, but so far things have been pretty manageable. I haven’t spent any time in the library yet, for one thing. Nor have I bought a book – conveniently a lot of my friends are in my classes so we take turns checking them out of the library or split the cost. It’s much more affordable, and my priorities are not really about the books anyway, lets be honest. However, we are on a trimester system here, which means that the work is piling up pretty fast. It’s the end of week 4, and we have 12 weeks and then 2 weeks of exams, so I’m already 1/3 of the way through. Unlike classes back home, there are usually two forms of assignments per class, rather than various assignments spread out. My lit classes for example, are an essay and a final test and my other classes are a midterm and final. That’s it. So it’s more pressure to do well, but less work in between, which is nice. Overall way less work than what I’m used to.

Additionally, I have found that I prefer the way classes work here. Part of that might have to do with the fact that I’m in class a lot less, and I’m even earning more credits! WIN. Most classes are divided into two-hour lectures and an hour tutorial, so 3 hours total per class per week. I actually really love the tutorials, or tuts, as they call them here. They are small, group based discussion classes, which means that even if you are in a 30 or 40 person lecture class, you still get the one on one attention during your tut, which at most has 8 to 10 people. I haven’t had that kind of small class atmosphere since high school, and I forgot how much I love it. It means too that you get to discuss the material you learned in lecture, which helps me learn it a lot easier and become more engaged in it.

I also find that I am more alert in class, although after 2 hours I tend to zone out – but they usually give you a break. This is probably because I’m getting about 9 to 11 hours of sleep a night. It’s amazing. I’m not having trouble sleeping either – I brought sleeping pills with me but have yet to take them. I did a research project for one of my psych classes about how stress and sleep go hand in hand, lack of sleep causes stress and stress causes poor sleep quality – and being here is a true validation of that.

I’m also exercising quite regularly. I wear athletic shorts and a tee shirt to class most days, which I love. It’s refreshing to see other people doing this too, rather than the groups of sorority girls and frat boys wearing their letters. Granted, I’m in both a frat (honors) and a sorority (community service) and I wear letters too so I can’t really talk, but I enjoy the fact that Greek life is nonexistent here. I’m running a lot, almost every day, and then I’ll usually do some other work out in addition, whether that means beach volleyball or group fitness classes. The classes here are free, which is awesome, and so far I’ve done cycling and a strength class, after which I was sore for days but it felt so good. And I can really feel myself getting stronger too. I love feeling fit and in shape, not to mention that everyone here is fit and in shape, so you sort of stand out if you aren’t. Two of my friends and I signed up to play “social” beach volleyball every Wednesday, which is actually more competitive than social and kinda hard but great fun! Although I am again reminded why I don’t play contact sports, since my hand eye coordination is a bit off and I continue to aim towards hitting people rather than over the net…oops. 

The food isn’t bad either. I’m on a meal plan, which is quite new to me because at GW we don’t have such a thing and just have money on a card to use where you want, when you want. While this is certainly more convenient, I have to say I’ve enjoyed having a cafeteria, mainly because you can always find someone you know there. It’s nice to have meals together and it’s where everyone reconvenes after the day. There’s a community sort of feel to it, and I like it.

Similarly, Thursday nights are really big here. Everyone goes to this bar on campus, called Don’s, and then we all get on a bus to one of the local nightclubs in the area. Back home, I hate clubbing. You won’t find me in a club, ever. I refuse to go, and when I do, I am miserable the whole time and no fun to be around. Here, however, it’s a bit different. For one thing, the entire school is together practically, which makes it a lot more fun. The atmosphere too is a lot better – just overall a better experience. I’ve also been to a few different pubs/bars, which is more my scene, but I’ve generally had a much more fun going out – being legal probably adds to this too.

I’ve spent other week nights with one of my Australian friends, Ben, who picks me up and we’ll go for a driving lesson, or a walk on the beach or by the lake, or to dinner or something. He’s been teaching me how to drive stick shift, which I am SLOWLY getting the hang of – it’s much trickier than I expected, especially with the gear being on the left side and driving on the left side. Fortunately he’s very patient and does not panic when I stall his car or go on the right side…which has happened frequently. I’m getting more used to it, but boy do I have appreciation now for automatic cars.

Last weekend, Ben and I went camping at this hippie beach town called Byron Bay, which is a blast from the 60’s basically. There are hippie vans, colors everywhere, guys with dreadlocks playing guitar on the beach, Rastafarian hats. Wearing a suit or a fancy dress would make you stick out like a sore thumb – like that time I wore a bright orange dress to an emo concert (thanks tori). You get the sense too, that time sort of stops in Byron. People, if possible, are even more laid back – the first night we camped illegally (we didn’t know this at the time) and around 10 am when we were packing up, a guy came up to us and explained that it was private property. For a second I thought he might fine us or call the police, but all he said was “you should have left earlier”. Ben showed me around and we climbed up to a lighthouse, where the most easterly point of Australia’s mainland is located. It was a pretty sweet view – the lighthouse gave us a 360-degree view of the surrounding ocean, beach, and backdrop of mountains on one side. Absolutely beautiful, even for rainy weather. We also managed to see some whales! Ben brought his binoculars so we got to see a mom and baby whale (we guessed) swimming side by side, in full detail as they flipped over on their stomachs or flapped their tails. And oh my gosh the stars – so many, so amazing, so beautiful. I never get to see stars like that back in Jersey suburbs and in the city of DC. Ben and I made a campfire and just watched the sky for a few hours and it was incredible.

I’ve also explored the Gold Coast area and done some things locally, like going to the Curimbin Wildlife Sanctuary, where I learned that getting to hold a Koala and pet a Kangaroo is the best possible way to cure a hangover. Also, Koala’s are smelly but oh so so cute. All they do is sleep, eat, and hang in trees all day – pretty sweet life. Otherwise, there are numerous shopping areas and beach towns. The Gold Coast is technically a city, but it doesn’t have that urban feel to it at all – it’s more divided into different beach towns along the coast. You’ve got Surfer’s Paradise, where all the nightclubs are and it’s a bit tackier but has a lot more shops. Then Broadbeach, which is like Surfer’s but more upscale. Finally, you have my favorite – Burleigh Heads – which is more like a national park sort of, with trails along the beach and a lot of rocks to climb. I like that the Gold Coast is more spread out and Bond itself is located in its own area, which is nice because you still have access to everything via bus but its closed off too. It’s a nice break from being in DC, and I don’t miss it much to be honest. I needed a break away from the city.

I feel like I am being very critical of GW right now, and that’s not what I’m trying to do. I love love love my friends at school and miss them terribly. I love the things I’m involved in and the opportunities I’ve had. I may hate the bureaucracy of the school itself (ahem certain offices), but generally I’ve had a good experience there. The point I’m trying to make is that Bond is everything I wanted that GW isn’t – it’s been the break I needed desperately and so much more than that. And truly, I couldn’t be happier.

Now I’m off to a sailing adventure in the Whitsunday Islands! Welcome to the good life.

Cheers,

Emily