My New Digs

Most students at the University of Melbourne are commuters—they are from the area so they just live at home.  (Does this ever happen in the U.S.?)  As a result, there aren’t many living options around the uni.  There are a few student apartment complexes, but mostly international students live in those and I really wanted the experience of being around Australians (what’s the point of studying abroad if I’m just gonna live with other Americans?).  That’s why I chose to live in a college.

I made this because I was bored.

There are 12 residential colleges affiliated with the uni, each with 100-300 students.  I chose Ormond, which turned out to be the biggest and the best.  College life is pretty sweet.  Every couple weeks there’s a huge all-Ormond party called a Smoko (no idea why) where the booze flows and the dance floor’s hoppin.

Main Building. I don't live here.

I get three meals a day at the dining hall, and I literally gasped the first time I saw it.  I’ve been told that it’s based on the dining hall in England that they based the dining hall in Hogwarts on.  I can believe it.  Shit’s old too.  Apparently each of the chairs is insured for $3,000 and the tables for $6,000.  That’s over a million dollars in furniture.

Where's the starry sky?

Makes you wonder why they have this tradition called “getting spooned in” where if a sports team does particularly well the members will line up outside the hall, and when they enter at dinner everyone bangs on the tables with their spoons as hard as they can to create a big ruckus.  But I guess it's because they're Australian.