Gold Coast-Day One

Back at the Gold Coast Airport, we walked across the highway to catch a bus back to Justin’s house. Lindsey and Lauren took a bus back to Lismore because they had other obligations to get to, and the other five of us were spending the weekend in the Gold Coast. Justin seemed to know the bus routine like the back of his hand and where each stop is and leads to. I was thinking about them visiting me in Eau Claire and how I wouldn’t have a clue about the bus schedule. When we got on the bus we paid our $3.00 in gold coins and took a sit. Every time the bus stopped I noticed a little kid would get on by his or herself and their skateboard like they were just as adult as anyone else. Most of them looked under ten years old and I asked Justin if that’s normal around here. He said every kid knows the bus system so they can hang out by the beach after school and come home on the bus afterwards. Different lifestyle, for sure.

We got off a few stops early to walk around the neighborhoods, and it felt like I was right back in Long Beach, California. The homes were close together and had the beachy-laid back vibe, with palm trees scattered across the median and perfectly cut grass where people’s yards and the sidewalk met up. We passed by Justin’s old schools and day care center where he seemed to have the same childhood stories as the rest of us. An hour later, we arrived at his house and this time we could actually see it because it was late afternoon. We unpacked and watching footie (rugby league) for the rest of the afternoon. I’m finally getting the rules down and am starting to like watching professional rugby more than NFL. This is because in rugby, the ball is always moving and when they are “tackled” they just pass it to a team mate and keep running. Therefore, most of the game is actually the sport, and not a start, stop, start, stop as in American football. Justin’s dad asked if footie is mental back home with the blokes and I just sat there and stared for a while. His parents are the first Australians I had trouble understanding. Partially because they use lingo that I haven’t heard from people at uni, and partially because they have thick accents. It was Good Friday and his dad made us a delicious fish dinner where we chatted about classes and new friends. It felt like I was in a host family, and it felt good. It was nice to have adults around that care about our studies and safety and adventures. Sometimes at school, I feel like its only us kids and there’s really no parental figures or other adults to talk to. Professors seem more focused on teaching and less on the students extracurricular needs, compared to at Eau Claire. After a while of catching up, we decided to go for a (very cold) night swim in Justin’s pool then headed in for another good night’s sleep.