Sunshine and Fairy Floss (Johanna)

I am hoping that this will not turn into a bland recitation of ‘what I did on O-week’, so I feel I should introduce myself! My story will be much more interesting if you know where it’s coming from. My name is Johanna and I’m 18 years old, hailing from good ol’ Geelong (just over an hour from Melbourne). Having come from a regional city and an all-girl school, uni is a bit of a shock. I’ve also had to move out, which adds even more spice! You can probably read more about me in my profile, so read away!

Orientation was unlike anything I expected of university. Everything I knew told me that university would be some kind of forum for stuffy grey-suited, bespectacled professors dithering over any number of subjects so fascinating. Orientation, I thought, would be some kind of shockingly awkward ploy to make friends whether we wanted to or not.

However, I was very suprised.

One thing that really struck me was that everybody here was.. well, just like me. We were all similar ages, interested in similar things and similarly scared/excited. We all ran around campus, eating fairy floss and snowcones, pretending to be Commerce students to score free noodles – things like that. Alas, I didn’t really make any friends. I chatted with various people, but there weren’t any people who I had that incredible click with, which is a pity. I only know three people coming to the University of Melbourne, all of them in different faculties to me. Mental note – must.. make.. friends!

Another thing I’ve had to deal with is moving out. After packing all of my worldly possessions into a ridiculous number of fruit boxes, we loaded up the car and set off for beauteous Brunswick. Matthew, my boyfriend, came along to ‘help carry boxes’, but wasn’t actually much help at all. But I was surprised at how little time it all took – within two hours of arriving, my room was completely set up – bed made, ornaments arranged, books stacked and clothes hung neatly in the wardrobe. I didn’t expect that my Mum would help me do all that, but I was so grateful for it.

Then my family and Matthew left. They got back in the car, and it suddenly hit me that I couldn’t go back with them. It was a rather casual goodbye – I was so afraid that I was going to cry, but I didn’t. Going back up to my lonely room, I was quite miserable. Luckily, there was a lovely young man to be my friend. His name is Shaun and he lives across the hall from me (we live in like.. a dormitory above a karate school). He befriended me and made dinner for me and generally gave lots of hugs. It was nice to have someone to distract me when I felt so lonely. The feeling is continuing, but becoming less as I now have lots of uni-related things to do! However it is still a struggle for me, every single night when I realise that not only do I have to decide what to have for dinner, but I have to make it and clean up after myself. Yes, I was a slovenly teenager, and this house-training will be good for me, but it’s bloody hard in the beginning.

Lectures started on Monday – going to my first one was like shaking off the dust and cobwebs from an ancient relic in an undiscovered tomb. It was ridiculous. Now, I can’t believe I was ever considering taking a gap year – the three (maybe four) month break between high school and university was enough to forget how to listen and pay attention. I’m quite certain another year of doing nothing would have rendered me a vegetable.

My subjects – Modern Literature, Reason, Responsibility and Religion, Chinese 1A, and Pyramids and Princes: Egypt and the Near East. It’s so exciting – I’m interested in each one just as much as the last, and they’re all areas of study that I adore. So far, I’ve had my two lectures for the week for Modern Literature with Stephanie Trigg. Everybody has at least one teacher that stands out from the rest as somebody who inspires, rather than just pumping your head full of knowledge. I have a feeling that Ms. Trigg might end up as one of those people – she is so passionate about everything she says, speaking at a million miles an hour as if the words, feelings, ideas and imaginings can’t come out quickly enough. It’s brilliant!

I’m also having fun discovering places around campus – I know where most of my lecture theatres are, except one that is in the medical building for some unknown reason. I’ve discovered where the nice lawns are to sit and read and now, I’ve discovered where I can use a computer at uni (fourth floor, Union House!). It’s a pity though that there aren’t such detailed maps for everything else – I spent forty minutes yesterday walking around a block that said “Safeway” on the side of it, trying to figure out where the entrance was (in Sydney Road, duhh..). As for discovering the finer things in Melbourne, alas! I am too poor currently – I’m hoping that I can talk about some of my adventures in beautiful restaurants, scintillating boutiques and unique speciality shops soon, but I can’t afford anything right now (my Dad can though… *smiles evilly*). Hopefully he will be able to fund some adventures for me to talk about in the next installment! Until then…. !

Love from Johanna