University Life

This should probably have been one of the first things I wrote about but I'm just getting around to it now... while an unexpected and ominous looking set of black clouds has forced me to resume studying indoors and I'm feeling pretty burned out.

Everyday this semester I have made the 20 minute walk to and from campus for class (well, most days..) and realized I haven't written about it or even campus in general.  Over the semester I've accumulated a few pictures from my favorite places on campus and my walk there.

The front of our condo complex (and our kitchen window in the background) on the way to campus

These flowers (and lots of other really tropical-looking ones!) bloom all over in people's yards.

The first street I turn onto off of my own..
Notice the "Refuge Island" sign, a personal favorite that just means there is a boulevard in the road

My favorite tree on the walk to campus; sort of marks the half-way point,
but is also oddly the tree I'm usually under when it decides to downpour 

The main road that takes me up to campus; Coogee Bay Road. Closer to the water are the majority of the shops in our suburb; our grocery store, a few pubs, boutiques, and lots of Thai restaurants.  I have loved walking home from campus and being able to see the ocean. It's especially great when the moon is full or the sun is setting.

My home for the last few weeks; the library.  This front lawn has been a great place to nap, study and hang out between classes...except for the creepy white birds with really long black beaks that are the Australian equivalent of squirrels and are always around, trying to steal your lunch.

The ever-coveted bean bag chairs of the 3rd and 4th floor levels of the library.  I haven't seen one unoccupied since before classes started in February.

I like the irony of the sundial in the quad on campus; everything else is so modern and then there's this ancient form of timekeeping right in the middle of it all. On the other hand though, it really sucks when you're late, your phone is dead and it's cloudy...

UNSW's lower campus at sunset.  Awkwardly, my favorite bathrooms are the ones at the top levels of the biology building because they have huge windows that overlook all of campus, or the city on the other side.