Settling in

When organising to come out to Australia to study, I gave myself 2 weeks before university orientation in order to allow myself time to settle and get to grips with where i am living. I was coming quite literally from the other side of the world after all, and it has been the best decision. It has allowed me time to explore the area, sus out the groceries situation and head into the city a couple of times without having anything else to worry about.

I have been living in my shared house in a suburb just out of the city for a little over a week now and i can say whole-heartedly it has been one the easiest places to settle into. Luckily i moved in with people who have been here for a trimester already so they have taking me under their wing a little bit, from taking me food shopping on my first day to festivals and nights out in the city, and with the added bonus of their amazing Indian cooking.

One of the events they took me to was the St Kilda festival where we met up with more people went for a drink, enjoyed a variety of the local artists preforming – check out The Preatures – got overexcited at beach Zumba and proceeded to relax in a park before heading to a nearby club. The whole evening had a brilliantly chilled, sunset vibe about it, even though the beer was expensive (a common inconvenience around here it seems). Honestly the mere facts of not having to take a coat out with me and the sun not setting until 9pm every night is bring so much joy to my life right now.

I have surprisingly found myself enjoying my own company as my housemates have had exams so i have taken myself off the explore the city solo. There is a certain liberation to being comfortable by yourself, it is the freedom of not having to ‘plan’ anything, if i want to walk the length of the city (RIP my feet) and just roam about and take everything in i can without feeling like i am boring anyone else, and quite frankly the streets are so beautiful there is no need to do anything else. This is also aided by how safe and beautiful the city centre is or at least felt. I was thoroughly surprised how open-aired everything was and i don’t know whether the clear blue sky had any impact on it but i have never been in a UK city that felt so spacious and light.

One thing about this city is that you are guaranteed to never go hungry, especially if you like Asian cuisine! I don’t think if i lived in the city for my entire life i would be able to complete all the eateries packed in and i can vouch for its reputation of serving brilliant coffee -Max Brenner’s New Yorker is some next level iced coffee FYI. I can also vouch for the friendliness, even if rather forwardness, of the Australians (well that of who i have met), as seeing a girl seemingly travelling by herself seems to draw a bit of attention and curiosity wherever you go.

One of the crucial parts of my settling is the joining of a gym. Although it may not seem like it would be near the top of the list of things to do, the gym brings a certain structure to my life (along with the fear of loosing strength if i leave it too long) which i needed. And i can tell you, i have hit the jackpot with this gym, Training Day has some of the best facilities i have seen with separate rooms for every style of training you could think of. Between that and reading my book in the morning sun with my coffee, i have managed to get into a bit of a routine every morning, something that without i would feel very restless.

So yes, i can say i am well and truly settled, i can see why people come out here and never leave, the next couple of weeks have surfing camp, orientation week and new housemates in store so its all rather exciting right now. The Facetime calls off my family and friends (shoutout to mumma bear and Duresha) most mornings and nights have really bought comfort and helped with me feeling like i haven’t completely left my whole life behind and that i always have support, which i couldn’t be more thankful for.

So that’s me done for this week, thanks for reading xx