Blonde at heart

July 20, 2011

This morning, since I had a feeling internet would be hard to come by once I moved into my dorm, I applied for my tax file number so I can hopefully work part time while I’m going to school at JCU. I heard that minimum wage is at least 1.5 times higher than it is in the States, and especially since everything is more expensive to match, it just seems like I should try to get a job. I’m also considering opening a bank account here and transferring money because the interest rate is substantially higher and I wouldn't get charged any international fees. Besides, my debit card still doesn’t work, and it seems like a better use of my time and money to just get an Australian one rather than make a super long distance phone call to my bank in the U.S. to ask about about a problem they may or may not be able to fix.

Jane's mom packed me some pasta that she had made and vegan sausage rolls that Clair had made for me along with some garlic and onion since she already knew how much I loved them. Then she drove me to Rotary with Jane and they helped me carry all my stuff to my room, hugged me good bye, and left.

Getting my ID was the least eventful part of my day.

Being the genius that I am, I locked my key in my room right before I needed to leave for the tour I had signed up for the day before. I decided to worry about it later because even though I had wanted to get my camera and water bottle, I figured going on the tour without them was better than not going at all, since I didn’t really have enough time to track someone down who could help me and get to the bus before it left. I’m really glad that’s what I did, because they let me go without my ticket. We stopped at what I assume was a park for lunch (pizza again), then went to a hill that I think is called Castle Rock where they let us get off and I really regretted not having my camera. Finally we drove past the Strand, which is the nearest beach to JCU, between five and ten miles away.

When we returned, I ended up in Security to ask about locking my key in my room. The fellow who helped me was incredibly nice, and once he realized I didn’t have my phone with me he called around until he found someone who could let me in, then had another person give me a ride to Rotary so I didn’t have to walk there in the heat. Start to finish I was back in my room within 15 minutes, and not one person made any remark about how I had managed to do such a thing before school even started. I was quite pleased with how the situation was handled, especially in comparison to WSU where you have to fill out a form and show ID and pay if you do it more than twice. 

Around 4:30 I found my iPod and took a walk around the campus, which isn't nearly as big as it seemed yesterday, and when it got cool enough I jogged another 40 minutes. It was very refreshing to be active again, and the shower wasn't bad once the water stopped scalding me, I was tempted to put off unpacking my stuff after that, but I knew it would never happen if I didn’t buckle down and do it, so I put on my iTunes and got it out of the way before I went to bed.

My room is now ready to be lived in!