2013.02.24 Brighton Beach

I had a nice chance to sleep in, but still only slept until 9 am; somehow I wasn't jetlagged!  I spent the morning finding a hardware store, getting a power adapter for my laptop, checking in my parents, etc.  At 1:30 I met up with some other students - Tania from Mexico City, Julia Leonie and Dennis from Germany, and headed to the train.  Our destination was Brighton Beach, a popular and close beach location for Melbourne residents.

It was only 40 minutes of travel time total by train, including waiting for a line transfer.  But it didn't seem to take that long at all, the entire ride was filled with really interesting views.

Throughout the ride we got to know each other better and even exchanged travel aspirations we each had, including renting a car for a Sydney trip, renting a jeep for a day and night in the outback, and flying over to New Zealand to backpack and bungee jump for spring break!  But before we knew it we were there, and were looking for other students from Mexico, Philadelphia (another student from Drexel, who knew) and more that I can't recall.

We immediately set up and jumped into the water for well over an hour, talking about other countries that we've been to, what we're studying and more.  Dennis is a scuba diver as well, so we exchanged dive stories including his dives off the coasts of Egypt and Greece.  We then went in dried off and laid down where each of us fell asleep - I have a light pink burn as a reminder.

After a full day at the beach we headed back to campus in search of a good place for food.  We found a food type none of us have had much, if ever, before - Malaysian - and went in without hesitation.  Don't ask me what I ate or what was in it, because I honestly have no idea, but it was delicious.

With still a few hours in the evening to spare, we headed to the store, grabbed a couple of six packs, and met more students for some drinking card games.  This is when I met Lyda and Adam from Boston, Rachel from Australia (i seem to meet less Australians than other nationalities), and even more students from Germany (they must be multiplying).

Eventually we decided to say our goodbyes to shower, relax, and get ready for orientation the next day.  Which brings me to where I am right this moment - dirty and sandy from the beach, in need of some moisturizer for my burns, and ready for sleep again.