Disaster Strikes

Yesterday, disaster struck. My debit card, my only access to any sort of money, was eaten by an ATM machine outside Hungry Jacks. My first reaction to this was not a positive one. I’d describe it as.. well.. panic. All I could think about what that I was in Australia with no money. I talked to a few of my buddies about it and they were all helpful and gave me some good advice. They told me to open a bank account the next day here in Adelaide and my parents would be able to transfer the money into my account much faster.

Today I woke up around 9am, got ready, and headed to Uni to find my way out of the terrible situation I’d ended up in. My first stop was the Welcome Center, which is kind of the office/meeting spot for the international students and University staff members there to help any way they can. I met Jane there, an adorable, motherly woman who was horrified to hear about my circumstance. She immediately told me everything would be okay and assured me we would get it all taken care of. After a few phone calls, she found out I could potentially get an emergency loan of $100 for students who find themselves in my exact position. $100 was enough for me to get by before my parents could get more money to me, but I still had to open a bank account with BankSA before I could do this. So I rushed off to BankSA to open my free student account. Maria, my bank teller, was also extremely helpful and kind to me upon hearing of my situation and she was very patient with me. Opening a bank account was very easy and before I left she gave me a list of information I needed to give my parents for transfers and her personal business card to call if I had any questions or needed any more help.

I then returned to campus and went to visit Terri, the woman in charge of student care/welfare services. As she got the paper work together I needed to get the emergency loan, she chatted with me about where I was from and what I was in school for. We spent the first ten minutes chatting about good books we’d read and about her son doing a study abroad program in South Carolina in 2 weeks. She then gave me all I needed and wished me good luck and a good visit in Australia! I went back to the bank and was easily able to cash the check. I emailed Jane and told her everything had gone smoothly and thanked her again.

What had began as a terrible, stressful situation had become something easily solved thanks to the immensely helpful University staff and the kind people of Adelaide. I’ve never been taken care of by strangers so well in my life. I went ahead and emailed my parents the info they need and hopefully in a few days time all will be just fine and I will no longer be a broke student in a foreign country! Such a scary situation ended up working out just fine.

Anyhow, starting to get the hang of things here.. learning how to walk on the left side of the sidewalk and where to get cheap good food. I’m having so much fun in this diverse, beautiful city and love meeting all these new, interesting, kind people! This really is just the adventure and challenge I needed right now in my life. Each hour has something new to offer.. something brand new to see, smell, taste, or experience! Tonight I am going out with all the other international students to a bar called the Austral on Rundle Street. I’m greatly looking forward to it.

Beautiful city of Adelaide