“Everyone seems to know each other’s exes.”

I'm a Toronto girl living on Australia's Gold Coast, where I write about sex, love, sports, pop culture, and everything in between—all while somehow surviving law school.

Dating within friendship groups seems to be the norm here, and everyone appears to know each other's exes.

Shout out to my bestie Parnian!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know what I'd do without her here. <33333 

It's also really hard to find cold brews in Australia. I guess it's not really a thing here.

Influencer culture is huge here. They get treated like celebrities. It's very interesting.

Drake is loved around here. The people who know every lyric seem to understand me just a little bit better.

This is AFL. I've never heard of it before coming to Australia.

This is Rugby. It's so intense, and the players are HUGE.

I don't know if it's just me, but my compliments never seem to land the way I intend them to. I once told someone I liked their hat, and I'm convinced they thought I was hitting on them. Then I complimented a friend's hair, and she genuinely believed I was trying to "destiny swap" with her. I wish I were joking.

I'm salivating just looking at this picture.

I've also been told I make a lot of facial expressions, which my Australian friends seem to find endlessly entertaining.

A lot of bars refuse to serve shooters/shots for some reason.

Australia has a huge drinking culture, which is funny considering many bars close around midnight.

Skip the spray sunscreen and go for the lotion instead. I learned the hard way that the lotion worked much better for me under the Australian sun.