One week officially completed

At this time exactly one week ago we were just coming into the lab for the very first time! It has been a long week indeed, although I know the days are going to start flying by soon. I am almost ready to start my research now, nearly everything is set up! Which is good, because all the grid usernames, passwords, accounts, etc can be a bit of a pain.

We had a fun first weekend here in Melbourne! On Friday night we went bowling at a place called "Strike." It was a lot of fun- and it was pretty much cosmic bowling, with sweet velcro shoes!

Me after bowling probably a gutter ball. "Why won't the ball just go straight!" Haha. I bowled over 50 though!

Our awesome shoesAfter bowling, we ate at a 50's diner called "Soda Rock" and we fooled the machine by putting in an American quarter (which fit perfectly into the juke box since it was made for the US) although the machine asked for an Australian dollar coin. Hehe, so we got 2 songs for only 25 cents!
On Saturday, we went downtown into Melbourne and walked around one of the huge parks here. It was really pretty, and pretty good weather for most of it. There weren't too many flowers due to it being winter and all, but the ones that were out were beautiful.
Flowers at the Botanical GardensMe and Michelle in the park
The Flower Clock in the park
The Shrine of Remembrance- dedicated to all Australian soldiers lost in battle.
We got stuck in the rain during our walk, so we ran inside the Shrine of Remembrance to wait it out.
The Botanical Gardens in the park.
The Yarra River
Eureka Tower! The tallest building in Melbourne. 88 stories- we went up to the top for a great view. Here Michelle is doing her best tall building impression.
All of us at a shopping center right on the Yarra River
Me and Liz in Federation Square.
The view of Melbourne from Eureka Tower.
On Sunday morning, Liz, Stephany, and I went to South Yarra Presbyterian Church just a couple blocks down the road from our hotel. We got there early, because we didn't know what time the service was, so we played around at the park for a bit. The park is huge, and very pretty. Everyone in Melbourne owns a dog it seems like, so there were a lot of people there walking their dogs. They even allow you to take them off their leashes in the park.

After church we went downtown to check out the Queen Victoria Market, which was essentially this huuuge swap meet type place that's open almost everyday and has a ton of vendors selling all types of things. There were at least 15 places trying to sell UGG boots, and I'm not sure if even one of them were actually selling authentic UGGS lol. But it was a lot of fun just to look around. We grabbed some dinner and then headed home.

On Monday, it was back to the old grind... except it's not really a grind and it hasn't gotten old yet... Haha, but I really do enjoy working in David's lab. We finished our first cryptic crossword puzzle at lunch! Yaaay! *cheering* When we got back home, around 7, we just relaxed and made dinner at the hotel. We made friends with some other people who are staying at our hotel, The Claremont, so we were talking to them for a while. They are actually from Colombia, so we are helping them learn English.