Evening in St. Kilda (Part 2), Australian Footy, Melbourne Museum

One Thursday evening Ayla and I journeyed to St. Kilda, which I have developed a certain fondness for (along with the birds). We met up with Bas, Mark, Nigel, and Reuben to celebrate Bas' birthday on Fitzroy St. The evening was pleasant and as a result, passed quickly. So quickly that we missed our tram and had no choice but to take the one that arrived at 5:40AM. The trams stop running at 12:07AM Sun-Thurs making city trips on those days nearly impossible at night. We took the tram, bleary eyed from lack of sleep and arrived at Flinders St. Station at 5:56AM. We made it to Box Hill South by 7AM. I came into my sunlit room around that time, slept for two hours, and headed back to the city with Jackie.

Jackie and I were going to search for art galleries, but instead we started a self-guided architecture walking tour and ended up spending a long time at the Melbourne Museum. The Human Body & Mind exhibit was fantastic! In addition to the human mind and body portion, there was a forest exhibit, which included some important information about the Australian bush, namely that gum trees depend on fire to propagate their seeds and after the fires new growth sprouts from the ground (which is a really neat image). I think I'll go back one day soon. It's free for students (hooray!) and museums are always relaxing environments.

I prefer to imagine my organs to be a bit more pink.

Makes me think "Walnut Whale"

This nifty display has a photo of every cell type. I could have really used this wonderful creation for General Biology Freshman year.

Flinders St. Station

After the Melbourne Museum, we purchased tickets to an Australian Footy Game (Australian Rules Football) at the MCG. The game was between Geelong and Hawthorn. I don't have an allegiance to a team, but it was fun to go to the game. It's kind of a combination of soccer, American football, and rugby. It has its origins as a "convict sport" according to my Australian culture professor and I suppose it justifies the aggressive nature of the game. The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) is a huge stadium that seats about 100,000 people. Approximately 65,000 people attended the game that evening. The last quarter of the game is definitely the most exciting and Australians certainly love their footy, but I really cannot gauge their love of and enthusiasm for sports (they are identified as having a large 'sporting culture') in comparison to other countries, sports and teams. This is primarily because I do not follow sports. Although I was very sleepy by time we got to the MCG, the game was a lot of fun to watch and also served as a reminder that I desperately need to go see a rugby game!

Markets, Botanical Gardens, and St. Kilda

Amy, Ayla and I went to the city on the day after the Phillip Island trip and explored the markets, the free city tour, and the Botanical gardens. Along St. Kilda road, just past Flinders St. Station toward the National Gallery of Victoria, there are a bunch of little stands at which people sell their homemade goods. There was one man selling old books converted into journals, a woman selling small framed "flower bouquets" which consisted of real flower petals cut out and arranged to look like flower baskets (I will have to photograph this next time), and some people were selling little knitted koalas and animals.

Mr. Chimes


National Gallery of Victoria




War Memorial

The Botanical Gardens are beautiful and fun to photograph - s0 many beautiful flowers. I can never remember their names and I wish I wrote down what these were called, but I didn't. None of these flowers are necessarily native to Australia though and they are modelled after English gardens. There is a whole other garden dedicated to flowers and plants native to Australia. I am going to try to visit all of the gardens in the city, so I'm sure there will be an excess of flower photographs in the end including those native to Australia.

Pickle Cactus








Purple Windmills




Octopus' Garden





Reminiscent of Artichokes

After we visited the Botanical Gardens, we headed to St. Kilda. This clock is one of my favourites and I enjoy seeing it on every trip through St. Kilda junction. We walked around Fitzroy St, ate the most delicious dinner (after I asked a series of questions regarding the contents of my salad and was told that if I ever have an allergic reaction I should just hop on a tram because the ambulance will never arrive, great piece of comforting advice), and then met up with the Dutch guys we met from the Phillip Island tour. They do have names: Bas, Mark, Nigel and Reuben. We went to a bar called the Espy on Fitzroy St. and then to a gelato shop. Please note the discrepancy of height and size of cones in the photograph below. The evening was fun: we met them at their apartment and they live with a seventy-seven year old man from the Netherlands who was very sweet, funny, and youthful. He thought that I was from Mexico (and looking at the photo below this sort of makes sense), which reminds me: I am so infrequently assumed to be from the States. I am most often mistaken to be from Mexico, Spain, or just "European." For some reason, it makes me happy that I can visually (although falsely) cross ethnic boundaries. Aside from contemplating my ethnic identity, the evening was thought-provoking and I again recognized my appreciation of conversations with non-native English speakers. I really enjoy being surrounded by people from all over the world constantly. It's so interesting to just listen to different voices, accents, languages, and try to better understand other cultures and societies.

The boundary between 'stranger' and 'friend' has become almost non-existent and in this environment friendships develop rapidly (it's kind of like sleepaway summer camp) and seemingly out of nowhere. I am finding that it's quite easy to strike up a meaningful conversation - about religion, politics, relationships, life, etc. with someone that I have only known for a few minutes and it becomes a mutual learning experience. In fact, that's the best part: every single conversation leads to a better understanding of human behaviour, primarily how humans outside of the U.S. (and also within the U.S.) carry on their lives and relationships. And in the end, you end up learning a great deal about yourself: your language, beliefs, and knowledge of the world. Everything is constantly being challenged or suspended to look at in the light. It's really fantastic. Ultimately, I need to find a way to make traveling a part of my occupation or perhaps I can become a professional backpacker? I have never had such a genuine and pure desire to wholly understand geography, culture, language, and human beaviour. I have always been curious, interested, and willing to listen to people tell me about these matters, but it's much different and much more exciting to experience them first hand.

Gloomy view of Melbourne from St. Kilda

Conclusion: Everyone in the Netherlands is taller than me.

Heart Bursts With Happiness (Part 2)!

About two weeks ago, I experienced what can be identified as a turning point in my study abroad experience. Amy Wheeler came to visit Melbourne and on our adventures to the city, Philip Island, and the Botanical Gardens, I came to realize that I was not exploring my surroundings nearly enough due to a host of reasons including temporary illness and re-adjustment to academic life; however, I came all this way and those matters should not interfere with my experience. I am fine and healthy and I have been trying to see more of Melbourne and to go on a few more adventures (Thank you, Amy for unintentionally motivating me!).

The night that Amy arrived we sat along the Yarra River and talked for quite a while. It was refreshing to have a conversation with someone that shares friends and experiences after two months of trying to describe friends from home and school and convey their importance in my life to people I just met here in Australia. While sitting along the river, we were quite startled by the fire that burst from those pillars. Apparently, this "fire show" happens every hour in the evening. It's cool once you get over the fact that the wind is blowing, the trees are nearby, and you are sitting below all of this. I didn't quite get over it and for some reason, was not very amused by this "show" (see: fear of fires in Melbourne post-bush fires). The fires just seemed a little out of place to me, but I'm sure that bush fire risk in an urban environment is not very high so I was needlessly worrying.

Afterward, Amy and I walked around for a while in search of a restaurant and decided to eat Indian food. Veganism and a tree-nut allergy (not peanuts, they grow in the grounds and they are "legumes") interfere with my dining options frequently, to the point where I don't even enjoy eating food at restaurants anymore; however, I consider Indian food to be my "safe" food because it is generally vegan and tree-nut free. Generally. I ordered vegetable curry and was quite happy about it, but I poked around the dish and saw tiny bits of what could be garlic or nuts (and I always assume nuts) so I asked the woman at the counter if there were cashews, walnuts, etc. in the curry. She said no (with a bit of uncertainty in her voice) and so I took a few bites until the cook came out and asked, "You don't like nuts?" and I told him I was allergic and he said something along the lines of how he felt like putting cashews in so he did! On a creative whim! I spent the next two hours thinking I was going to have an allergic reaction. Average stores don't sell anti-histamines so I went on an unproductive search and eventually we just went home. I vowed to never eat food out again. The following day, I ordered a baked potato with nothing on it and it was the most stress-free and as a result, delicious meal that I have had in Australia. Allergies are just not fun.

The following day, Amy went on a tour of the Great Ocean Road and on Sunday we both went to Phillip Island. The tour consisted of a wine tasting, a visit to the animal sanctuary, a trip to the beach and the Nobbies, and the penguin parade at night. The weather was beautiful, I held hands with an adorable kangaroo, survived a crazy bus ride with the funniest bunch of tourists and an unsafe and talkative driver, saw a thousand stars in a clear night sky, watched the smallest penguins in the world travel from the sea to their nest boxes, and acquired kind Dutch friends.

The Nobbies:

Little Penguin:

This species of penguin is the smallest in the world, measuring about one foot tall. Once the sky darkens, all of the little penguins emerge from the sea in groups and arrive on shore. We were supposed to see about 800+ but it was hard to tell how many actually came out of the water. We probably saw about 300. Maybe. The event was too commercialized and bright. It felt unnatural. I'm not sure if the penguins were disturbed by all of the lights and commotion, but I imagine they were. They seemed pleased to get to their nest boxes though!

I am pretty certain that on the way home we hit a kangaroo. The man next to me, upon hearing the bump against the van, said "kangaroo killer" under his breath and it was so well timed. I hope we didn't hit a kangaroo, but the way he said it was hilarious. I must reiterate the craziness of our driver though. The Dutch guys got the best view of all - right up front - and their reactions to the potential accidents, etc. were amusing to say the least. I should also note that one of the women on the bus had an umbrella and opened it in the shuttle to protect herself from the sun and a number of people mistook surfing humans for surfing penguins. Overall, quite a silly bunch and a good day.