"The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful"

So I finally arrived in beautiful Melbourne!! I've been here for a week and it just feels like a dream so far. It's more of a vacation that anything else right about now. I have been really busy and without internet for a little so sorry for not e-mailing. Ok, so here's the scoop:
The plane ride was awful! I got to see Nashville and LA from the airports (not so impressive). I got minimal sleep and my butt has never felt so uncomfortable from sitting for so long. But it was completely worth it.
The first day Katherine and I were suprised about how good we felt and claimed not to be jetlagged. We later found out that we were completely wrong! Upon arriving in the apartment, we realized that we did not even have a roll of toilet paper so we had to do some shopping. We traveled downtown which is only about a 15 minute walk into the Melbourne Central Business District (basically NYC) and wandered around trying to find our way, which on the first day we did not find much. The next day we realized that we didn't even go deep enough into the city to reach all of the stores. Afterwards, we came home and decided to take just an hour long nap or so and then wake up refreshed for the evening. An hour long nap turned into 6 hours, we layed down at 3:30 and didn't wake up until 10:30, oops! I woke up and realized that I was not going to get anything done, so instead I unpacked my bags and showered so that I could just go back to sleep again. So the first day was pretty uneventful!
The next day we realized that we really needed to purchase some goods, so we wandered back into the business district and actually found a ton of stores! We bought phones (my number is 0416633088 if you are interested in calling me, but I think you would have to dial +61 and do not dial the first 0) Feel free to text me!! Katherine and I definately looked like quite the tourists because we were not afraid to pull out of maps because we had no idea where we were going. After a shopping trip, we had to carry wayyy too many bags back to our apartment about 20 minutes (stupid idea, we are still figuring out how to ride the trams). We had a nice dinner and went to bed pretty early again. That plane ride really messes with your body.
On Saturday we started the Melbourne Welcome, which is where I have been for the past 5 days. It was a blast! The week was packed with activities, it almost felt like an overnight summer camp because they herded around so many of us. We stayed at the residential college, which is basically Hogwarts! It was so beautiful. The welcome included laser tag, which was really fun since I have not played since Play Plaza in 5th grade. We also learned an organized dance that one of the moves is "Do the emu" haha, I'll have to show you the dance when I get back, if I still remember.
The next day we went to the beach and had surfing lessons! I am not that good but I stood up on a couple waves so I was pretty proud of myself. The sun down under is powerful! There is a hole in the ozone and stupid me did not properly apply sun cream so I ended up with a pretty goofy/painful burn.
We also went to the Melbourne Museum which was really interesting and the Melbourne Zoo where I found some really silly looking monkeys and even some roos! They had a butterfly room, where butterflies just flew all around there must have been a million, so pretty. That night we had an Australian themed party (these Aussies are really into costume parties apparently) so I bought an apron, some tongs, and a spatula and just went around saying "Throw anotha shrimp on tha barbie" all night. It was alot of fun.
On Tuesday we were supposed to go see a cricket match, but I ended up sleeping through it and did not wake up until noon, oopsies, typical Katie. That day we had a barbie out on the lawn and later on that night we had a formal dinner. It was cocktail attire and a catered 3 course meal, it was a nice change from the "interesting" dining hall food we ate all week. After the dinner we went out to the pub and met up with the other Melbourne Welcome students staying at another residential college (they were not as fun as my group though). After that, we went to a karoake bar and made fools of ourselves, I sang Mambo No. 5! We had a really fun night which ended with one of the welcome leaders, an aussie, making me run through the entire campus because she had to pee so bad, this was after she was yelling at the cab driver to run red lights because no one else was on the roads. She was a funny one!
This morning we packed up our stuff and left the residential college. It's nice to be back to my apartment so that I have internet and less responsibilities. Today, we had no obligations except to go food shopping. So we went to the grocery store and took it easy. I finally got to use skype today. My name on there is Kathryn Jiunta (not Katie) so if you have skype find me and talk to me! For dinner we decided to go to the Queen Victoria Market (a local farmers market during the day) because on Wednesdays they have live music, vendors and food, like a fair. It was great. I am glad we discovered it, but next week is the last week which stinks because it was so much fun, but it's only open for summer. We are pretty exhausted though from a busy welcome week. So tonight we are just hanging out, getting a good night sleep finally.
Overall, I have decided that I LOVE AUSTRALIA! I am having such a great time. I am still adjusting, but it's not too hard. Come visit me! You won't regret it, haha! Wishful thinking, I know. On Friday, I finally have orientation for the Uni and I will schedule some classes, etc. I'll keep you all posted on how I am doing. Also, I would love to hear from you! Leave me messages, facebook, e-mails, whatever.