Many Firsts

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

23 

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness."

-Lamentations 3:22-23

So many firsts these past few days! It’s my first time…

… in Brisbane! My home (?) for the next 4+ months.

Brisbane City (view from South Bank)

… experiencing winter in July. It still blows my mind that it’s winter here when it’s 23° C (73° F) and SUNNY and the sky is blue! 

… moving in! I’ve always commuted to uni (university), so this was a first! But taking pictures of everything that was wrong with my room (chipped paint, stains, dents) was such a hassle. But to avoid fines, Gizmo said, “be anal about everything, and you’ll be fine” (no pun intended).

My Room

… having sushi train dinner since years ago. It’s my favourite! The sushi sits on a conveyor belt that slowly winds through the entire restaurant. You can take whatever plate you wish like a buffet, then pay for what you eat at the end. We met Cat, the Arcadia staff in Brisbane, and she treated us to dinner. Sushi here is cheap, but she still capped us at $15/person. If she hadn’t, I would’ve eaten more sushi…

Sushi Train!

… sleeping in a room by myself. I’ve always shared a room with someone back home and bunked when I’m away at camps.

… eating Macadamia nut butter. This weekend, South Bank (the area that I’m living in) had a Regional Food Festival, and  lots of shops came and displayed their food, kind of like a farmer’s market, except bigger, more crowded, and more extravagant. Macadamia butter was one of the many things I sampled on my way to meet up with my second cousin, Viv. It was really refreshing hanging out with her and having convo (conversation) that didn’t involve alcohol, parties, or swearing in every sentence.

… sitting in the front left side of a car but not driving! (If you haven’t realised, Australia drives on the other side of the street, like the UK and Japan)

… shopping with my grandaunt. 3E Ma (sounds like “san yi ma” in my head - she’s my mom’s mom’s sister) took me to Asian supermarkets and paid for all my groceries! She also nagged me about not bringing a jacket when we went out to dinner later that night, asked if I wanted to get a facial, and bought me a 車輪餅 (google if you don’t know what this is. It’s DELICIOUS) even though I didn’t explicitly say I wanted one (I just got really excited when I saw them being sold for $1. Still expensive compared to Taiwan, but $1!), just like my grandma would. She also lent me so much kitchenware; I felt like her granddaughter (she has 6 real ones). When I grow up, I want to be as caring and generous as her. #goals

… drinking real coffee. After church today, I hung out with Jackie (Viv’s sister) and her church friends. They went to a café and told me that Australian coffee is way better than American coffee, so I got a flat white (a cappuccino? It had milk). It tasted fine, but I had no comparison because I don’t usually drink coffee. It was really pretty, though!

Australian Coffee

I’m also glad that my flatmate from SCU is a neat freak and Middle Eastern! We cleaned the kitchen together and are sharing things like a rice cooker, rice, and cutting boards. She also bought a toaster for $7.50 so that was awesome. Now we can eat the bread I bought at the bakery today :)

It’s O-week (orientation week) starting tomorrow at QUT! I walked to school (my dream come true, actually) this afternoon to look around, and I’m excited about crossing the river every day to go to classes. There are free pancakes tomorrow at 8am, but I’m more excited to eat toast than pancakes. Nevertheless, it's time for bed. More about school coming up in the next post!

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