Went to Adelaide on Sunday and Monday with TY. It was good fun. It was a really nice town with very nice people and good shopping. A pity we couldn't stay longer cause we didn't finish looking at everything. We rented a car and it was so easy to get around - the roads were just so easy to drive on. We explored a bit - went to Port Adelaide to see dolphins (apparently it's a breeding ground for dolphins), but didn't get a chance to see any. We were actually quite late in getting there and the last boat was in about 10 minutes, but we also wanted to check out the markets. So it was a decision between the markets and the boat cruise. We finally decided to check out the markets... unfortunately there wasn't a lot to look at. The food at the markets were really good though. After the markets, we drove to a few dolphin hot spots, but couldn't see any dolphins. =( All was not lost though... It was certainly interesting to see people driving their boats to the hot spots and loading their kayaks/boats out to the river to fish. Even heard the locals checking out each other's boats and talking about fish. Maybe there weren't many dolphins because of the hot weather - it was a burning 38 degrees, but there was a little breeze. And the scenary was so comforting and beautiful that we sat under a tree for about an hour.
Our hotel was really nice and very central. The city was just nice to walk in - even on a weekday. It was comforting and very welcoming, unlike other cities that you have to get used to after a few days.
On Monday, checked out of the hotel and went to my interview. When we got there, the first impression of Flinders University was, it is so big. The interview by the way was held at the Flinders Public Medical Hospital. There was the Flinders Private Hospital next to it as well and it was huge. We actually had to walk quite a distance to get to the interview venue. It was an experience. You saw lots of doctors, ER medical staff, real patients... and you could definitely smell the hospital smell.
Ah yes, the interview - the big issue that you guys are probably dying to know how I went. Well, for starters, my interviewers were running 5 mins late. The correspondent who had been emailing me throughout met me first and told me that they were probably having coffee as they had about 5-6 interviews one after the other and mine was the first one for the day. The interview was supposed to be on the 6th floor, but they changed the venue and brought me down to the 4th floor. At the start of the interview, I think I got a bit excited that before they could mention much, I got straight into it trying to explain why I want to do the course. They then said hang on, we'll let you know how we're going to ask the questions and how it's gonna be like. Haha... They were very nice people and professional speech pathologists who have doctor titles. Anyway, when they viewed my application, they said "Oh wow! Another Victorian..." It seems that a lot of Melburnians in particular are going for the interview and want to do the course in Adelaide. Probably because it isn't offered in Melbourne next year, let alone Victoria. So it was nice to know that others are considering the same thing. The interviewers did advice against part-time or casual work though, but they say it's entirely up to us. They said the course is quite intensive and we shouldn't try to work while doing it. Fair enough.. but I'll prob want to work casually for rent. I have to say the questions asked were really tough. Some were "How do you handle difficult people?" "Name a scenario where you were compassionate" "What is your best strategy for working?" etc etc... I got stuck at some.. but hopefully I cleared them all. The only thing that I got really stuck on was at the end where I think I could have done so much better. At the end, they said "OK, now is your chance to give us 10 minutes of selling yourself and asking questions." I could ask questions - a lot of them, but couldn't really sell myself - well, nothing additional that I could provide at that point that I hadn't already mentioned in my other answers. It's actually so much better thinking and writing down stuff - like now... All those questions, I now have answers for. Maybe after some thought... Oh well, I did good, so now it's wait, wait, wait. They said they'll let me know as soon as they can whether I got into the course of not. I guess if I don't get in, it's kinda telling me, I am not really ready for it yet.
After my interview, we went to the Adelaide Zoo. It was really nice being at the zoo because seeing the animals kinda took my mind off the interview. And we saw quite a few animals. When we got to the Children's Zoo where we could go in and pet the animals, a goat got hungry and chomped at the map TY was holding. Good thing that it chomped off the part we had already seen. But major oops! I thought it was quite funny though because TY was just standing there and we had no idea the goat was eyeing that piece of paper. The only downfall at the zoo was it was really hot and we got there late - we only had about an hour to see everything and by 4:30pm the zoo keepers were taking in all the animals. Also, because it was getting hotter, they had to shade the animals earlier... The very good thing was that because we went late, the admission fee was children's price. How good was that?
After the zoo, we headed back into the city, but almost all the shops were closed. It seemed that the only fashion shop open was Cotton On Body. We stayed there for a bit and started chatting to the shop gals who were originally from Melbourne. It was also cool in the shop especially with the air conditioner blasting near the change rooms. And you guessed right! It was TY's favourite spot in the shop. Hee! But it was really really hot.
Despite the heat, overall, it was a lovable city and we'd definitely love to head back.
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