Studying in Australia: A Friend's Perspective

I've been in Australia for less than two weeks, and my school semester hasn't officially started. All I do the whole day long is to stare at the computer screen and 'Appear Offline' on MSN .

Orientation starts tomorrow and a few days back, I went to have a look at my school campus. The exteriors of the building are fugly, I think they are either trying to re-construct or preserve the old heritage look of the building. smartyypants' school, which is just a stone's throw away from where I live, looks so much way better than mine.

I'm planning on getting a job here soon, but there is one criteria though, students are only allowed to work for 20 hours per week.

In Australia, the various conglomerates such as FairPrice, Cold Storage and Harvey Norman mail discount coupons over to respective houses. The folks over here fork out that precious consumer dollar for discounted items. And, you thought Singaporeans were the only bunch of kiasu fellows to have laid their footprints on Planet Earth.

Because daily consumption goods like bread and donuts cannot be kept for a day beyond, such items are heavily discounted towards the end of the day. My guardian only buys groceries after 7pm because the prices go down by 75% when dusk falls. I think she is such a cheapskate thrifty person.

Because there is a time disparity of 2 hours, 8.30pm in Singapore is equivalent to 10.30pm in Australia. Once, I was chatting with smartyypants on MSN when I asked her to go and have her dinner. To my awed surprise, she duely informed me that it was only 5.30pm and in Singapore, no one eats dinner at 5.30pm, except morons like myself . It then dawned on my forgetful self that SG's time is two hours lagging behind Australia.

When I first came to the hostel, I thought it was alright for me to sleep-in. You know, like what I'm so used to back in SG? I used to chat with smartyypants on the phone till 2am in the morning and it has become my nocturnal creature habit to call smartyypants past 12 midnight. I do that all the time. Sometimes, smartyypants get so fed up with me for disturbing her sleep that when she picks up the phone, I hear her yelling at the other end.

So, back to the topic at hand. When I first came here, I slept in till 11.30am. Before I came to this hostel, everyone would wake up punctually at 9.30am for breakfast. Hence, I cast my negative demonstration, and soon, everyone started following suit. You see, the whole bunch of us sleep together in the same room. They would wake up at 9.30am, see the lazy pig (read: myself) still sleeping in and promptly place their heads back on the comfort sanctuaries of their pillows. And, very soon, nobody wakes up. The bastards.

Well, one day, my guardian comes in and see the whole bunch of us lazy asses still sleeping, and well, you know, the rest is history. Therefore, I usually bid adieu to smartyypants at 8.30pm so I can get my ass on the bed.

Also, as anyone who is close to me can testify to: I am such a lazy pig when it comes to typing and sms-ing. It is as though I am an old woman suffering from arthirtis, and have problems getting my fingers to do some keyboard-exercising.

Hence, I like to call smartyypants all the way from Australia because I'm so damn lazy to even type I think it is more personal that way, and then I yell at smartyypants when she doesn't pick up the phone because she just wasted my moo-lah. Yes, you heard it right, even if the other party doesn't pick up the call, I still have to fork out that extra money when it comes to phone-billing time.

Another thing so amazing about this scenic, beautiful country is how independent the disabled people are. I was taking public transport the other day when a wheelchair-bound dude boarded the bus and this other guy kinda tripped upon him, which in turn kinda incurred the wrath of the dude. Until, that is, he found that the guy who had tripped over him was a blind person. Then, they started chatting with each other. Amazing how bonds are forged so quickly.

If you ask me, I don't see such behaviour taking place anytime in SG. The uptight people here would probably just bundle their facial features up into a scowl, and walk away quickly. But, that's not really their fault, it's because this is such a fast-paced society.

Over here, everything is so laid-back. You can just sit back and smell the flowers.

smartyypants asked me a very strange question just now. 'Did anyone throw orange juice or water bottles at you?' Really. I wonder how her brillant brain came up with such a disarming question.

And, so I answered her dumb question with, 'No, never, and I've never seen anyone being thrown at with water bottles or orange juice before.'

Well, then smartyypants got all excited and started hopping around the room in exhilaration when I duely informed her that they have bubble tea over here in Melbourne. But, it is like mind-blowing expensive, it costs AUS$3.50/cup (S$4.27), and I know for sure bubble-tea addict smartyypants will blow a large hole in her dad's pocket with her hapless addiction.

Alright, enough ranting. I shall leave all you dear readers with a picture I took from Port Melbourne. I've never seen so many starfish in my life, it totally took my breath away.

(Studying in Australia: A Friend's Perspective; As told by friend to smartyypants, fictional excepts not included)