We had a 4-day, 5-night orientation called the Melbourne welcome at Ormond College (pictured) that was put on entirely by students. They took us to places like the zoo, the museum, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG...or "G" as they call it. Apparently "G" does NOT mean "gangster" in Australia...I asked).





Emus are my new favorite animal. I think this expression explains why.











Cricket is the most stunningly boring sport in the universe. Now you may ask, "Is that man stretching in the middle of the game?" Indeed he is. While the ball is being thrown, as a matter of fact. Yes. It's THAT boring. The most exciting part for me was when the players left the field and two men had to come out to pack down the loose dirt with a steam roller thing. This particular game was in its 3rd day, and we were there for the first 2 hours of it. They can last up to 5 days, starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. with a 40-minute lunch break and a 30-minute tea break. How British of them.

Two days after we'd gone surfing near Anglesea as part of the IES orientation, the Melbourne Welcome program took us to Ocean Grove in Geelong - minutes from Anglesea. We basically did nothing on the beach for 4 hours, unless you count getting up to eat and going for the occasional wade in the water. This was also when I decided it would be a good idea to NOT put sunscreen on my back, and now I am suffering greatly for it.