Day 33 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia I'm sick. And it sucks. One can imagine how hard it is to be sick while at college, but being sick at college in a foreign country is worse. I'll stop being overdramatic, I'm not THAT sick. Just the usual common cold: sore throat, stuffy nose, sinus pressure, runny nose. This is an issue because I'm going on my first trip in a few hours and I'll be carrying this sickness with me. I'm already bringing a ...

Day 30 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia I'm trying to not have a panic attack right now. It would be easier if I was able to go on the intro, one night trip for first years, which preps one who has never been on a trip before - a gradual step to outdoor trips. Not me, I'm going on a two night, three day river safety trip with second years. Very little is being provided for me, and not having any knowledge or previous experience with outdoor t...

Day 29 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia I feel so lazy because there hasn't been a lot of homework, but the one assignment I do have is taking me ages to do (that actually came out naturally, without thinking, using the word "ages," which is used a lot here instead of saying "long time" - I'm picking up on the lingo!). I need to buckle down. I'm not in the academia mindset; it might be this foreign country thing. I think I...

Day 28 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia It's been three months, and I couldn't wait any longer, I had to do it. I PUT ON MY FIRST PROGRAM! You can take the RA out of the Res Hall, but you can't take the RA mentality out of Brad Bender…Okay, that sounded better in my head…I started with something basic, a spaghetti dinner, aka "spag bol" as they call it here. We did run into a few barriers, like not having enough, or big enough, ...

Day 26 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia What I'm Craving: Having a normal dinner in the Merrill Res Res with friends, where we sit for an hour taking our time eating and socializing, gossiping, being stupid, causing drama, all the above. Eating here is very "get it and go," and I don't like it. Dinner here, or tea, reminds me of camp. We get two choices of a hot main meal, there are three options of vegetables - always carrots, bro...