The last few weeks have been a random array of work, school, and everything in between. I have had so many ups and downs and rounds and rounds I feel like I feel off the side of the earth! Let’s start where we left off and move our way forward. That’s really the only good way to do it.
A few Thursday’s ago was a great night at work. It was slow and simple and Duncan was in a good mood. So good in fact that he made me crepes! YUM! He made these fantastic lemon honey crepes with vanilla ice cream on the side. I was seriously astonished by how amazing they were. He didn’t think I would be able to finish all of mine, but as most of you know, I am not one to be outdone by food. It was a lovely night all together. I just came home, popped in a movie, and chilled out.
The weekend was extremely slow. Nothing happened. I didn’t do anything. Life was boring.
So besides having a REALLY slow weekend, my body decided to let a cold in to run amuck all throughout my body. I thought Monday was bad and I didn’t go to school. I felt awful. Then Tuesday I woke up and felt 10 times as bad. I went to my tutorial for my one class and then nearly collapsed as I tried to make it home. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, drinking water, sleeping, eating, drinking water, and sleeping some more. It was no dice.
Wednesday was an interesting day. Karlie and Mindy and I went to the library to work on our Rock Art final project together. It was hilarious. We are making a Rock Art Activity / Coloring book for kids. We decided to do things like crosswords, word searches, mazes, and puzzles. We even tested out our connect-the-dot on some random kid in the library. It was really funny. I still felt sick, but I needed to go to class. Afterwards I came home and slept until I had to go to work. Work was slow, as usual, but fine.
The next day after work we went to the Tav. Student night at the tavern is always a fun one. There are so many people there that I know now. It is fun to see my friends that live on campus or I met in class. The absolute highlight of my night goes as follows: Libby and I are standing together. Some guy comes up and starts spitting game at both of us. We make multiple attempts to walk away but he was REALLY insistent that he got one of our numbers. So, me being the buzzed genius I am, looked in my phone and gave him Austin’s number instead of either of ours! HA! The best part about this little shenanigan is that the guy called Austin 3 times and sent him a bunch of texts before noon the next day. CREEPER! I am SO glad I gave him Austin’s number instead of mine!
So Friday was an ok day for me. I didn’t do much. Thank God I didn’t have to work because I was slightly hung over from Thursday night. I spent the day doing nothing and then watched Garden state with Austin. I was SO surprised at how amazing it was. Zach Braff really blew me away. I loved the whole dynamic. The filming and the story and the theme were beautifully interwoven to create such a moving and emotional story. Coming into yourself never looked so good. Austin and I talked about the movie and about a ton of stuff until we were both exhausted and had to sleep. It was nice to have a meaningful conversation with someone I didn’t know that well. It makes me feel good to know people in a new way.
Saturday was a slow day as well. I waited out the day at the pool and such until work. I only worked for 2 hours, but it was so slow that Duncan sent me home. It was a good thing though because Brittney and all the girls were going to an Egyptian themed party at the Surfers Paradise Footy Club. I was home just in time to get dressed up and head out with them. It was such a fun night! We got tons of free drinks and I met a lot of new people. Michael was SO drunk, he was an absolute riot. Dancing is a big thing here, so everyone was bustin’ a move on the floor. I had a good time observing people and talking to the girls, but I was really happy to get home and go to sleep.
Sunday was homework day, but it didn’t work out exactly as planned. It was pouring rain all day so we thought it would be a good idea to go play football. A group f us headed out to the park next to our house and started playing a game. It was the funniest thing I have seen in real life. It was like the three stooges multiplied and were playing football against each other. Everyone was slipping and falling over and running into one another. Everyone was soaked from head to toe and muddy to boot. Louis, the French guy, was really excited because he had never played American football before. He kept diving into the end zone and doing touchdown dance. It was honestly gut wrenching. We were all out of breath, no because we were running hard, but because we were all cracking up the whole time. And on top of all of that fun, I scored a touchdown. Yay!
Monday was pretty lame. I went to school, came home, and slept. Somehow the cold I got a week and a half ago isn’t gone yet. Maybe it’s swine flu or something. I think it’s a sinus infection. Anyway, Tom and I watched “I’m Not There”, the Bob Dylan movie. I’ll tell you what, if you have time and a good, solid, awake state of mind, watch this movie. It’s a little hard to follow but once you get into the groove of it, it is fantastic to watch. Cate Blanchet is amazing. I was completely flabbergasted by how much she looked and sounded like Bob Dylan. It was quite the interesting touch having her play him.
Tuesday was long for a couple of reasons. A) I was still sick as a dog. I was feeling groggy and I had a lot to do. B) I got a bad grade (not bad, just lower than expected) on my big Psyc paper. I was SO mad! I worked really hard at something I had never done before and thought it was pretty darn good and then ended up with a mediocre grade. Damn you Australia third year classes and your ridiculous grading criteria…
Wednesday was not a pick me up kind of day either. Mindy, Karlie, and I went to the library to work on our project again. It went well. It seems like we might be doing a really cool thing. It feels lame considering we are making a kids activity book for our final, but there is a lot of information and it is turning into something really creative. I am just glad we didn’t have to write a 4000 word paper on rock art. That would have been impossible and ridiculous and just plain stressful. As we were wrapping up our work for the day I started to get a monumental headache. I knew it was the beginning of a migraine so I decided to head home and sleep it off. I am not kidding; I was so out of it I got on the wrong bus and ended up at the train station. Oh my gosh, I was pissed. I had to get on 2 more busses just to get home and instead of taking me 10 minutes, it took me an hour. My head was killing and I was angry and frustrated, so I just plopped down in bed. I thought about the fact that Jordan was coming in exactly a week. Things had better get better here sometime soon.
I just kept telling myself: Don’t cry, you'll rust again...
6/10/2009
5/13/2009
There's no place like home
Goodness gracious, time sure does fly! We’re already two weeks into May and I haven’t felt a thing! I have done a fair bit of stuff over the last few weeks and I apologize for not writing about it. I have been unbelievably busy. I had 2 midterms and 2 projects dues in the last few weeks and another research report due today. It has been quite the academic roller coaster if I don’t say so myself.
There have been some amazing things going on here. I mean, amazing in comparison to 8 hours of Friends DVD’s on weekends. I have been working a lot. It’s been really nice. It gives me something to do in the evenings. I am getting pretty good at being a hostess and waitress. Duncan, my manager, is still edgy when he’s stressed, but he’s stressed a lot less lately, so I don’t get told to fuck off as often while we’re working together. Plus, I’ll put up with anyone’s bull shit if I get money and free pizza every night. Thank god for that. Don’t know what I’d be eating if it weren’t for the pizza!
I went to the Brisbane Seafood and Wine Festival with Brittney and Karlie a week ago. It was a lot of fun. It is basically a day long street party where there is great fresh seafood being served and so much alcohol you could drown in it. Needless to say, it was a very fun day. I haven’t really been into the city of Brisbane, so it was really cool to wander the street and check out all the clubs and bars down there. I’m pretty sure we had a drink in every bar on the street and then some. We listened to this awesome band at the end of the day called Dukes of Windsor. If you like Muse and the Killers, check them out. Those are the only bands I can think of to compare them to. They put on a great live show. But after 9 hours of ridiculousness, I was pretty keen on coming home and going to bed.
The Tuesday after that, I went to band practice with a friend of mine from my Lifespan Development class. He said they were in need of a singer for back up or other and I was more than happy to check out the situation. We went to his friend’s house and just jammed for a few hours. They are AMAZING guitar players. I was blown away. I haven’t heard music like that since I left Jordan’s living room. It was a bummer we couldn’t get too loud because his friends adorable 2 year old daughter was sleeping. While I wasn’t singing, I was talking to his friend’s wife about being pregnant. She’s 7 ½ months and pretty much bursting at the seams. It’s funny, I mentioned to her that I have learned all about pregnancy and child development in the womb and stuff, but I have never really seen a pregnant woman’s stomach up close. It was mesmerizing. You could literally see the baby squirming around. He was kicking like a champ she said. She let me feel and I swear to god he was aiming to burst out like Alien. I can’t even comprehend what it is going to feel like to have something like that growing inside of you. It was really fun to talk about, mainly because it wasn’t me who was pregnant!
This past Thursday was a great night. We went to the Study Abroad get together at Melba’s, a really cool bar in Surfers Paradise. We got all dressed up and took a cab down there around 8:30. We got free drinks for being Study Abroad students and got in for free as well. It was fantastic. I didn’t drink too much, but I did have my first taste of absinthe. It’s pretty delicious actually! Libby, our friend from our apartment complex, was absolutely pissed and was dancing on stage for her boy friend. It was unbelievably hilarious. This girl is the cutest little thing. She’s 4’11” with heels and a total goofball, so you can imagine her up on stage getting all risqué. It was like watching the end scene of Little Miss Sunshine. Priceless.
Austin and Brandon were pretty intent on having me take pictures of them long boarding, so we went out one evening and did a really relaxed little shoot. It was nice just sitting in the middle of the road with my camera waiting for them to cruise by so I could take a picture or two. It’s the first time I used my camera for something inherently artistic since I went to the rock pools. I was happy to use their shenanigans as an outlet for my inner creativity. I even tried long boarding at one point, but I almost ate shit and decided not to try it again until I have someone to hold on to (*cough-cough, JORDAN!*).
Last Saturday I went with Karlie and Brittney to watch Michael play footy. Footy is like rugby only a little different and everyone just calls it AFL. It stands for Australian Football League. Look it up sometime, it’s a pretty brutal game. Anyway, we went to the field and talked crap to the opposing team and took pictures and had a really great day all around. Kar and Brit somehow had the strength to go out afterwards, but I was in bed pretty quick. I love waking up and feeling great and walking into Brit’s room at 11:30am to find she has JUST woken up completely hung over. Reminds me a little bit of home!
This week has been pretty calm. I finished a research report 2 days early. I am really happy about that. I don’t have any school work due now for 2 weeks. I don’t have plans for this weekend either though, so I am not sure what I’m going to do. I don’t have any money so that makes it hard. I’ve taken to renting movies on dollar rental day and partitioning people to watch them with me. I must have watched 100 movies so far this semester. I’m on a roll! Oh, if you haven’t seen the movie Hurley Burly, GO RENT IT. It’s this fantastic Sean Penn / Kevin Spacey film that centers on his addiction to coke and weed and preoccupation with the inconsistencies of life when he’s high. It’s a really fantastic movie. Real, raw, and extremely entertaining.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing Jordan so much lately. It is the one thought that has completely enveloped and preoccupied my mind. 19 days from now he’ll be getting off a plane and giving me the best hug ever. I absolutely can’t wait. I really miss home at this point. I’ve settled in, I love it here, and I appreciate everything I have done and seen so far, but there is a very large part of me that is just so ready to come back and have everything back to normal. I want to live near my best friends and volunteer at CAVE and work at Zumiez and just have everything back the way it was. I can’t wait to share all my amazing stories with everyone when I get home.
Because really, there's no place like home...
4/29/2009
The Poppy Field
As it was so graciously pointed out to me, it has been a fair amount of time since I have written in my blog. I sincerely apologize for that, just let me explain why.
There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING going on here. I hate to admit it, but it is SO true. It’s not that I am not having a good time, or even that I’m not doing some stuff, but really, it hasn’t struck me as anything writeable. I guess that in a way it has been settling in. Everything here is amazing and wonderful and fantastic and I have every reason to sit back, relax, and enjoy it. I like the fact that I am so comfortable here. It has been a very busy few weeks at school. I have had paper after midterm after project thrown at me but I think I am doing ok! I got a good grade on my psychology of the health sciences test last week, I turned in a 12 page paper on academic achievement levels of children in foster care for my lifespan development class, and I just took a photography midterm. Oh! And yesterday, I had a Lifespan midterm as well! Yay for school! NOT. Ugh… what a weak week.
Last weekend was supposed to be productive. Unfortunately (or luckily) for me it was not productive at all. I pretty much missed 4 days of study time by lying out at the beach and sleeping in. I thought I was going to be working, but that fell through a little bit. I watched a great movie about Charlie Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr. He’s a pretty talented actor as far as bipolar, drug addict, psycho’s go. I’m glad he got his shit together and did Iron Man. I am ready for a Downey Jr. revolution.
I read a book over the weekend. Yeah, a whole book. It was ok. Not the best I’ve ever read, but defiantly engaging. It was about a little girl whose mother loses her mind and this girl has to fend for both of them alone until one day her mother drops her on the side of the road and drives away. Simultaneously it’s a story about this woman who works in a Café and meets a man she totally falls for and wants to be with. Low and behold, this kid is this guy’s daughter and smack, bang, boom! We have a plot. So, turns out the guy doesn’t really know how to be a dad and the woman is trying her best to help the girl and ends up despising the dad for how he is with the girl. And THEN when everything seems to be running along smoothly for once, her real mom shows back up and tears up the scene and they have to work it all out. Don’t worry, in the end, everyone is fine. Except the dad who dies. It was pretty interesting to read. It wasn’t particularly well written but it made a lot of references to old movies and actors/actresses and I liked that. This woman collected antiques and stuff. Cool things, like clothing and hats. I could see myself doing that.
I have been thinking lately that I want to go to Italy. Obviously there are a lot of reasons (Alex, Alex, Alex, umm… Alex) but I think the culture there is going to be very my style. I can’t wait to graduate and take a year off to do stuff. I can’t wait to be done with school for a little while. I am ready for a serious break in this educational shenanigan.
So, all in all, life has been pretty simple lately. I am glad it is the weekend now. I am done with my midterms and I don’t have another project due until two weeks from now. Plus, I have Monday off of school. Yay! 5 day weekends are as good as it gets! Anyway, I think I’m going to go lay down now. I’m awfully tired.
I just… I just can’t run anymore….
There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING going on here. I hate to admit it, but it is SO true. It’s not that I am not having a good time, or even that I’m not doing some stuff, but really, it hasn’t struck me as anything writeable. I guess that in a way it has been settling in. Everything here is amazing and wonderful and fantastic and I have every reason to sit back, relax, and enjoy it. I like the fact that I am so comfortable here. It has been a very busy few weeks at school. I have had paper after midterm after project thrown at me but I think I am doing ok! I got a good grade on my psychology of the health sciences test last week, I turned in a 12 page paper on academic achievement levels of children in foster care for my lifespan development class, and I just took a photography midterm. Oh! And yesterday, I had a Lifespan midterm as well! Yay for school! NOT. Ugh… what a weak week.
Last weekend was supposed to be productive. Unfortunately (or luckily) for me it was not productive at all. I pretty much missed 4 days of study time by lying out at the beach and sleeping in. I thought I was going to be working, but that fell through a little bit. I watched a great movie about Charlie Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr. He’s a pretty talented actor as far as bipolar, drug addict, psycho’s go. I’m glad he got his shit together and did Iron Man. I am ready for a Downey Jr. revolution.
I read a book over the weekend. Yeah, a whole book. It was ok. Not the best I’ve ever read, but defiantly engaging. It was about a little girl whose mother loses her mind and this girl has to fend for both of them alone until one day her mother drops her on the side of the road and drives away. Simultaneously it’s a story about this woman who works in a Café and meets a man she totally falls for and wants to be with. Low and behold, this kid is this guy’s daughter and smack, bang, boom! We have a plot. So, turns out the guy doesn’t really know how to be a dad and the woman is trying her best to help the girl and ends up despising the dad for how he is with the girl. And THEN when everything seems to be running along smoothly for once, her real mom shows back up and tears up the scene and they have to work it all out. Don’t worry, in the end, everyone is fine. Except the dad who dies. It was pretty interesting to read. It wasn’t particularly well written but it made a lot of references to old movies and actors/actresses and I liked that. This woman collected antiques and stuff. Cool things, like clothing and hats. I could see myself doing that.
I have been thinking lately that I want to go to Italy. Obviously there are a lot of reasons (Alex, Alex, Alex, umm… Alex) but I think the culture there is going to be very my style. I can’t wait to graduate and take a year off to do stuff. I can’t wait to be done with school for a little while. I am ready for a serious break in this educational shenanigan.
So, all in all, life has been pretty simple lately. I am glad it is the weekend now. I am done with my midterms and I don’t have another project due until two weeks from now. Plus, I have Monday off of school. Yay! 5 day weekends are as good as it gets! Anyway, I think I’m going to go lay down now. I’m awfully tired.
I just… I just can’t run anymore….
4/15/2009
A Horse of a Different Color
My God it’s been quite the week. School is school, which has repeatedly been established. There is nothing new or interesting to talk about in that regard. But once I was out of school Wednesday, it was my spring break! Yay! Or, I guess it isn’t Spring break, it’s Fall break. It doesn’t look very Springy out here about now. It pours down rain most nights and a lot of the days, but we’ve been lucky enough to have some clear weather over the Easter holidays. Wednesday I got out of school and went to work. Came home, watched a movie, and went to bed. I had to rest up for the big days of doing nothing I had before me. Let’s just start at the beginning, shall we?
Thursday was the absolute nuttiest day I have ever had here. Everyone was getting ready to leave on their Easter trips so we wanted to all hang out before. All of the bars closed at midnight because it was going to be good Friday and God forbid we drink booze on the Lords day (didn’t Jesus turn water into wine??). Anyway, Karlie and I went to work together. I am really excited because both Karlie and Brittney got a job at the place I am working. He needed a few extra people to help out cleaning in the kitchen during hours and do deliveries. Karlie was so funny when she got her first delivery. She made it and everything went fine, but she had to drive on the left side of the road and she was totally freaked she might hit someone. We got off around 8 and started walking home together and thought about what we were going to do. We realized that there was a Toga party at the Uni bar and thought it would be awesome to go. We snagged some good looking leaves off someone’s tree and bought a plain white sheet we were going to share for toga fabric. Little did we know that everything was sold out and that we just wasted ten bucks on a sheet neither of us was going to use. Regardless of the toga issue, we decided to go to the tavern across the street for student night because everyone seemed to be going there after the toga party anyway. So, we bought 3 bottles of terrible champagne (for $12 no less!) and settled up in Karlie’s room so she could get ready. We barely got through one bottle before Pip, Libby, and Mike called to get us on the free bus. SO, off we went. We finished the first bottle quickly after and, since we were waiting, I went back to get the second one. We all shared and talked and hung out, waiting for the bus, and soon the second bottle was drained. Naturally, Karlie went back to get the third one. It was funny, because we waited for 30 minutes for a bus that was supposed to come right when we called, but none of us cared. Once on the bus, it was off to the tavern.
The rest of the night goes as follows:
· Get rained on in line
· Get in and get a drink
· Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance, Bathroom
· Come out of the bathroom and see a guy hit his girl friend. Push the guy, yell at him, push him again, get pushed. He’s kicked out.
· Find that chick that just got hit. Talk to her, calm her down, tell her she can stick with us.
· Drinks.
· Somehow, that asshole got let back in, he throws a drink on this girl when she tries to tell him to fuck off, and she gets upset and leaves. He is kicked out. Again.
· It’s getting late but all our friends are here. Drink, laugh, talk, drink, talk, laugh, dance.
· Home to Karlie’s room. The fire alarm goes off for 45 minutes. We call Michael and Charlie (the landlords) they are at the hospital with their kids. We feel bad.
· Back into Karlie’s room. We drew with pastels and listened to music for 3 hours. AMAZING.
· Wait, this is boring now, let’s go skinny dipping!
· Hop the fence, jump in the pool, freak out because we don’t want to get caught, jump out, run back to our rooms.
· Wake up Hilda (soaking wet in the dining room) to tell her I’ll miss her for the week she'll be gone.
· Go to my room, call Jordan, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
· Goodnight.
Basically it was a total shit show. I’m stoked I am alive. Haha! I thought I broke my ankle, but I just had huge gnarly bruises all over it from eating shit climbing over the fence. Way to go me…
Anyway, Friday was good. I slept a lot, chilled out, did nothing. It was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I didn’t even have to go to work because it was so slow!
Saturday was also nice. I didn’t do anything beside hang out with Karlie until she left for New Zealand and take a nap before work. I went to work, got paid (yes!), and came home to wine and a movie and to talk to Pooya about going to Byron Bay. I was SO stoked to go. Everyone went there at the beginning of the semester and I was dying to go too! We decided to head out early in the morning, so I went to bed and get ready to rock!
Sunday we were off and running before ten. It was pretty crappy weather outside, but we were hoping for some good stuff once we got there. We went through Coolangata and Pooya drove us past a place where you can look back and see the entire Gold Coast across the beach. It was beautiful. Once we got into Byron the roads were at a standstill. Blues Fest was going on and there were thousands of people there to watch. Ben Harper and John Butler Trio were both playing Sunday, so it was crazy busy. Once we finally got into the city we stopped at a great burger joint (kind of like the Bear!) and had lunch. The food here is SO amazing. The burgers have this great taste… I can’t explain! They toast the bun and put special stuff on it and it is just so damn delicious! Anyway, we had lunch, bought Pooya a swim suit, and headed towards the beach.
On the way we saw signs for a lighthouse and decided to detour to go see that. I am so happy we did! It was amazing! It was the lighthouse of “The Most Easterly Point of Mainland Australia”. It was beautiful. We walked a fair way, up over the beach and onto the lighthouse platform. It was the best view I have ever seen. We walked as far as we could (or... as far as we wanted to!) and stopped where we could see the most easterly point. It was a LONG walk down to it and there were a lot of very menacing looking stairs, so we decided that looking at it was good enough. After the lighthouse it was time for the beach. We found a little place to park and walked down. It was so nice. The sun was just getting low and there weren’t too many people on the beach. I lay on my towel and took pictures while Pooya went for a swim. He came back and we had fun talking and writing stuff in the sand. I am really lucky to have such great room mates. They’re good people and wonderful friends. After the beach we got some ice cream and headed back home. I was exhausted and fell asleep in the car. When we got home I made dinner and decided to watch a movie. It was the perfectly calm end to a wonderful day.
Monday was a good day as well. I met up with my friend Jayde at the Australia Faire Mall and did some shopping. I got groceries and some stuff for the house that I desperately needed. It was nice to have some cash to pay for all of it for once. On the drive home she started talking about her Easter weekend and all of the church stuff she had going on. She asked me a lot of questions about why I’m not religious and what I believe and why. She was honestly freaked out when I said I didn’t really believe in anything and I wasn’t too worried about it. She said she would pray for me and that was nice. I felt bad for being so nonchalant about it. She was honestly worried about the sanctity of my soul. I didn’t quite know how to tell her that no matter what she said, I wasn’t going to start believing in God. It was a nice conversation but I feel like she left a little down hearted. The rest of Monday was lazy. What else is there to do when it’s raining out?
Tuesday was also a rainy day. I took advantage of that, sat around at home, and talked to Jordan a lot. I love days like that. I returned all my movies and rented a few new ones. The newest Futurama movie was hilarious! It made me sad though that I couldn’t watch it with Jordan. It’s kind of our thing. J Anyway, after that I decided to watch ‘Reign Over Me’ because I had wanted to see it since it was in theatres and it was only about 8pm. BAD IDEA. I sat on the couch for two hours getting sadder and sadder and feeling so bad for this guy. The worst part is that the movie doesn’t really come to a clear and decisive happy ending. It just ends with a little bit of hope that things might turn out ok. I was really bummed out! So, I came into my room, listened to music, and went to bed.
Wednesday was my working day. I have a literature review due on Monday that I hadn’t started until yesterday. I found 14 sources and read all of the journal articles. It was exhausting. I didn’t even write part of my paper! I just found and read all of the articles! I hate papers like this. It is so boring! Anyway, I found all the sources and had a massive headache so I decided to lay down for a bit. I chilled, talked to Jordan, and then got ready for a work. Work was really fun. He hired another girl to work with us. Her name is Katie. He keeps hiring girls named Kate to work there. Wierdo… She was really sweet and we worked well together. It was busy for a Wednesday and I was pretty tired by the time I got home at 8. I watched two episodes of ‘Criminal Minds’ and then it was off to bed for me.
This morning I woke up, had some breakfast, and now here I am. It’s a beautiful day. I think I am either going to go to the beach or do a photo shoot with a friend of mine. Either way, it’s going to be a good day. I miss everyone so much! You’re all wonderful and I wish you were here. It makes me so sad to think about being so far away from you all.
But that’s a horse of a different color. It’s a beautiful day, I’m off to see the wizard!
Thursday was the absolute nuttiest day I have ever had here. Everyone was getting ready to leave on their Easter trips so we wanted to all hang out before. All of the bars closed at midnight because it was going to be good Friday and God forbid we drink booze on the Lords day (didn’t Jesus turn water into wine??). Anyway, Karlie and I went to work together. I am really excited because both Karlie and Brittney got a job at the place I am working. He needed a few extra people to help out cleaning in the kitchen during hours and do deliveries. Karlie was so funny when she got her first delivery. She made it and everything went fine, but she had to drive on the left side of the road and she was totally freaked she might hit someone. We got off around 8 and started walking home together and thought about what we were going to do. We realized that there was a Toga party at the Uni bar and thought it would be awesome to go. We snagged some good looking leaves off someone’s tree and bought a plain white sheet we were going to share for toga fabric. Little did we know that everything was sold out and that we just wasted ten bucks on a sheet neither of us was going to use. Regardless of the toga issue, we decided to go to the tavern across the street for student night because everyone seemed to be going there after the toga party anyway. So, we bought 3 bottles of terrible champagne (for $12 no less!) and settled up in Karlie’s room so she could get ready. We barely got through one bottle before Pip, Libby, and Mike called to get us on the free bus. SO, off we went. We finished the first bottle quickly after and, since we were waiting, I went back to get the second one. We all shared and talked and hung out, waiting for the bus, and soon the second bottle was drained. Naturally, Karlie went back to get the third one. It was funny, because we waited for 30 minutes for a bus that was supposed to come right when we called, but none of us cared. Once on the bus, it was off to the tavern.
The rest of the night goes as follows:
· Get rained on in line
· Get in and get a drink
· Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance, Bathroom
· Come out of the bathroom and see a guy hit his girl friend. Push the guy, yell at him, push him again, get pushed. He’s kicked out.
· Find that chick that just got hit. Talk to her, calm her down, tell her she can stick with us.
· Drinks.
· Somehow, that asshole got let back in, he throws a drink on this girl when she tries to tell him to fuck off, and she gets upset and leaves. He is kicked out. Again.
· It’s getting late but all our friends are here. Drink, laugh, talk, drink, talk, laugh, dance.
· Home to Karlie’s room. The fire alarm goes off for 45 minutes. We call Michael and Charlie (the landlords) they are at the hospital with their kids. We feel bad.
· Back into Karlie’s room. We drew with pastels and listened to music for 3 hours. AMAZING.
· Wait, this is boring now, let’s go skinny dipping!
· Hop the fence, jump in the pool, freak out because we don’t want to get caught, jump out, run back to our rooms.
· Wake up Hilda (soaking wet in the dining room) to tell her I’ll miss her for the week she'll be gone.
· Go to my room, call Jordan, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
· Goodnight.
Basically it was a total shit show. I’m stoked I am alive. Haha! I thought I broke my ankle, but I just had huge gnarly bruises all over it from eating shit climbing over the fence. Way to go me…
Anyway, Friday was good. I slept a lot, chilled out, did nothing. It was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I didn’t even have to go to work because it was so slow!
Saturday was also nice. I didn’t do anything beside hang out with Karlie until she left for New Zealand and take a nap before work. I went to work, got paid (yes!), and came home to wine and a movie and to talk to Pooya about going to Byron Bay. I was SO stoked to go. Everyone went there at the beginning of the semester and I was dying to go too! We decided to head out early in the morning, so I went to bed and get ready to rock!
Sunday we were off and running before ten. It was pretty crappy weather outside, but we were hoping for some good stuff once we got there. We went through Coolangata and Pooya drove us past a place where you can look back and see the entire Gold Coast across the beach. It was beautiful. Once we got into Byron the roads were at a standstill. Blues Fest was going on and there were thousands of people there to watch. Ben Harper and John Butler Trio were both playing Sunday, so it was crazy busy. Once we finally got into the city we stopped at a great burger joint (kind of like the Bear!) and had lunch. The food here is SO amazing. The burgers have this great taste… I can’t explain! They toast the bun and put special stuff on it and it is just so damn delicious! Anyway, we had lunch, bought Pooya a swim suit, and headed towards the beach.
On the way we saw signs for a lighthouse and decided to detour to go see that. I am so happy we did! It was amazing! It was the lighthouse of “The Most Easterly Point of Mainland Australia”. It was beautiful. We walked a fair way, up over the beach and onto the lighthouse platform. It was the best view I have ever seen. We walked as far as we could (or... as far as we wanted to!) and stopped where we could see the most easterly point. It was a LONG walk down to it and there were a lot of very menacing looking stairs, so we decided that looking at it was good enough. After the lighthouse it was time for the beach. We found a little place to park and walked down. It was so nice. The sun was just getting low and there weren’t too many people on the beach. I lay on my towel and took pictures while Pooya went for a swim. He came back and we had fun talking and writing stuff in the sand. I am really lucky to have such great room mates. They’re good people and wonderful friends. After the beach we got some ice cream and headed back home. I was exhausted and fell asleep in the car. When we got home I made dinner and decided to watch a movie. It was the perfectly calm end to a wonderful day.
Monday was a good day as well. I met up with my friend Jayde at the Australia Faire Mall and did some shopping. I got groceries and some stuff for the house that I desperately needed. It was nice to have some cash to pay for all of it for once. On the drive home she started talking about her Easter weekend and all of the church stuff she had going on. She asked me a lot of questions about why I’m not religious and what I believe and why. She was honestly freaked out when I said I didn’t really believe in anything and I wasn’t too worried about it. She said she would pray for me and that was nice. I felt bad for being so nonchalant about it. She was honestly worried about the sanctity of my soul. I didn’t quite know how to tell her that no matter what she said, I wasn’t going to start believing in God. It was a nice conversation but I feel like she left a little down hearted. The rest of Monday was lazy. What else is there to do when it’s raining out?
Tuesday was also a rainy day. I took advantage of that, sat around at home, and talked to Jordan a lot. I love days like that. I returned all my movies and rented a few new ones. The newest Futurama movie was hilarious! It made me sad though that I couldn’t watch it with Jordan. It’s kind of our thing. J Anyway, after that I decided to watch ‘Reign Over Me’ because I had wanted to see it since it was in theatres and it was only about 8pm. BAD IDEA. I sat on the couch for two hours getting sadder and sadder and feeling so bad for this guy. The worst part is that the movie doesn’t really come to a clear and decisive happy ending. It just ends with a little bit of hope that things might turn out ok. I was really bummed out! So, I came into my room, listened to music, and went to bed.
Wednesday was my working day. I have a literature review due on Monday that I hadn’t started until yesterday. I found 14 sources and read all of the journal articles. It was exhausting. I didn’t even write part of my paper! I just found and read all of the articles! I hate papers like this. It is so boring! Anyway, I found all the sources and had a massive headache so I decided to lay down for a bit. I chilled, talked to Jordan, and then got ready for a work. Work was really fun. He hired another girl to work with us. Her name is Katie. He keeps hiring girls named Kate to work there. Wierdo… She was really sweet and we worked well together. It was busy for a Wednesday and I was pretty tired by the time I got home at 8. I watched two episodes of ‘Criminal Minds’ and then it was off to bed for me.
This morning I woke up, had some breakfast, and now here I am. It’s a beautiful day. I think I am either going to go to the beach or do a photo shoot with a friend of mine. Either way, it’s going to be a good day. I miss everyone so much! You’re all wonderful and I wish you were here. It makes me so sad to think about being so far away from you all.
But that’s a horse of a different color. It’s a beautiful day, I’m off to see the wizard!
4/06/2009
What a World, What a World...
School, school, school! It is SO hard to continue going to school when I have to walk half a mile in the pouring rain just to get to the bus stop! It has been such a crazy week! School was school. I was preparing for a test and a paper so I spent a lot of time in the library. The coolest thing happened this week though! I GOT A JOB! I am so excited! I got a job making pizzas at this cute little pizza place a few blocks down from my house! I am so excited about it! Making money is going to be great! I get paid AUD$15 and I am going to be working 20-30 hours a week! Its fantastic!
The guy that owns the place is pretty cool. He is a younger guy and really driven. The only thing is, when he's stressed out, he gets SUPER wicked. And not in a good way. If there was anyone on this earth that is more of a wicked witch, I could not think of them. He yells, he cusses, he goes crazy. It's pretty frightening actually. But ultimately, he's a nice guy that just gets stressed super quickly. He doesn't really have a girl friend or too many friends because he works all the time, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. My saving grace was the other girl that works there, Kat. Unfortunately she is moving to Melbourne today and I am going to be left alone. The only good thing about this is that he trained me in the front as well as the back and told me that when he hires a new kid, I am going to be in charge and there will even be nights he leaves us alone in the store. I am excited to be able to slap some more managerial experience on my resume.
Other than that, this was a VERY uneventful week. I am having a tough time right now. Getting over this half way kind of area is hard. I have Easter break next week, which is great. I am taking a mini trip with my room mate and some of his friends to Frasier Island. It should be a great photo opportunity as well as an awesome time. I am excited to work more, go places, and just DO something. I miss do miss you all though. It is hard to be here in such a wonderful and lovely place without you. Maybe you should all just come here. :)
There's no place like home...
The guy that owns the place is pretty cool. He is a younger guy and really driven. The only thing is, when he's stressed out, he gets SUPER wicked. And not in a good way. If there was anyone on this earth that is more of a wicked witch, I could not think of them. He yells, he cusses, he goes crazy. It's pretty frightening actually. But ultimately, he's a nice guy that just gets stressed super quickly. He doesn't really have a girl friend or too many friends because he works all the time, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. My saving grace was the other girl that works there, Kat. Unfortunately she is moving to Melbourne today and I am going to be left alone. The only good thing about this is that he trained me in the front as well as the back and told me that when he hires a new kid, I am going to be in charge and there will even be nights he leaves us alone in the store. I am excited to be able to slap some more managerial experience on my resume.
Other than that, this was a VERY uneventful week. I am having a tough time right now. Getting over this half way kind of area is hard. I have Easter break next week, which is great. I am taking a mini trip with my room mate and some of his friends to Frasier Island. It should be a great photo opportunity as well as an awesome time. I am excited to work more, go places, and just DO something. I miss do miss you all though. It is hard to be here in such a wonderful and lovely place without you. Maybe you should all just come here. :)
There's no place like home...
3/28/2009
With a Grrrrufff! And a Grrrr-UFFF!!
Well, it's been another long and lovely week in the land of Oz. School was school. This week was a very laid back, but very business focused week. All of the tutorial classes spoke about the papers we have to right and the ways to research a certain topic. It scared me a little considering I hadn't started anything. But it kicked me into gear and I wrote a pretty good outline for a few of them on Thursday.
I rented more movies on Tuesday. I don't know if I have mentioned, but all movies are only $1 at blockbuster on Tuesday here. So I usually go in and get 4 or 5 to last me the week. Last week the theme was children's movies, this week it was comedy. I snagged 'The Darwin Awards', 'Adaptation', 'The Darjeeling Unlimited', and 'Casanova'. I have since watched 'The Darwin Awards' and 'Adaptation'. 'The Darwin Awards' was pretty good. I remember hearing about a lot of the stupid stories they recreated. It was funny, but I think that with humor like that, it could have been WAY funnier. The way the movie was plotted though was very good. I loved the way everything was presented and set up. It gets a 3 out of 5 from me.
Movie number two was 'Adaptation'. Now, I have never seen Nicolas Cage in a comedy, so was really surprised to see his face on the cover. I was intrigued, you could say. Anyway, I am left here wondering why that movie was put in the comedy section. Arguably there is one funny character, but the movie was NOT the kind of comedy you laugh out loud at. It was the kind of Cohen Brothers-esque movie that leaves you with a sad kind of frightened laugh on your lips because it makes you re-evaluate your own life. Explanation is futile. If you want, go rent it. Favorite line: "You are what you love, not what loves you. I started telling myself that a long time ago."
My weekend was pretty typical up until Saturday. I slept, I wrote, I worked out, and went out. Saturday though was the absolute epitome of fun. I woke up and was soon called by Karlie. "Get up! Michael's coming! We're going to watch a footy game!" Ten (very rushed) minutes later I was in the truck with Karlie, Hannah, and Michael on my way to my first footy game. Now footy, or AFL, is a really cool sport. It's basically rugby with less rules, so the brutality level is WAY up. Michael is on the team, but unfortunately he didn't play. We watched the 2nd string team first, and then the first stirngs. It was absolutely fantastic. I was screaming and yelling the whole time. I was almost as into it is I am with soccer. These guys are tough too. There were a few injuries and a really awesome fight involving most of the players from both teams. It was epic.
We FINALLY got home at 6:00 and rushed to get ready to go to their weekly awards dinner with Michael. It was around this point that I realized how tired I was, but I figured I would wake up as the night went on. Boy was I wrong! We went to the footy club, saw the awards get handed out, and went to a club called 'East'. This place was the coolest club I have been to here. I don't much like going to the clubs here because raging techno music all night is not something that intrigues me. This club was very much the same, but it was a lot more upper class. The reason I thought it was so cool is that they had a show kind of aspect to their entertainment. They had hanging dancers dangling from the ceiling on those big draping ribbons and on big gymnastic stlye rings. They had live music a few different times. It was honestly really cool. But around eleven I started to fade fast and so did Karlie. So, after a fabulous day or footy and dancing we snagged a cab and headed home.
It was lovely waking up this morning and reflecting on my week. It was seemingly uneventful, but I actually did a lot of neat new things. That club was really really cool. I want to go back again. I watched some great movies I hadn't seen before. The thing I loved most was the footy though. I can not believe how much I loved that sport. I haven't been that fired up since I played soccer, which is quite the feat. I was happy to amerce myself in the biggest sport in Aussie culture. And I love it. Maybe I should find a girls team to play on? Maybe not though. I think I might get fully pummeled.
I could show my prowess, be a lion not a mou-ess, if I only had the nerve...
I rented more movies on Tuesday. I don't know if I have mentioned, but all movies are only $1 at blockbuster on Tuesday here. So I usually go in and get 4 or 5 to last me the week. Last week the theme was children's movies, this week it was comedy. I snagged 'The Darwin Awards', 'Adaptation', 'The Darjeeling Unlimited', and 'Casanova'. I have since watched 'The Darwin Awards' and 'Adaptation'. 'The Darwin Awards' was pretty good. I remember hearing about a lot of the stupid stories they recreated. It was funny, but I think that with humor like that, it could have been WAY funnier. The way the movie was plotted though was very good. I loved the way everything was presented and set up. It gets a 3 out of 5 from me.
Movie number two was 'Adaptation'. Now, I have never seen Nicolas Cage in a comedy, so was really surprised to see his face on the cover. I was intrigued, you could say. Anyway, I am left here wondering why that movie was put in the comedy section. Arguably there is one funny character, but the movie was NOT the kind of comedy you laugh out loud at. It was the kind of Cohen Brothers-esque movie that leaves you with a sad kind of frightened laugh on your lips because it makes you re-evaluate your own life. Explanation is futile. If you want, go rent it. Favorite line: "You are what you love, not what loves you. I started telling myself that a long time ago."
My weekend was pretty typical up until Saturday. I slept, I wrote, I worked out, and went out. Saturday though was the absolute epitome of fun. I woke up and was soon called by Karlie. "Get up! Michael's coming! We're going to watch a footy game!" Ten (very rushed) minutes later I was in the truck with Karlie, Hannah, and Michael on my way to my first footy game. Now footy, or AFL, is a really cool sport. It's basically rugby with less rules, so the brutality level is WAY up. Michael is on the team, but unfortunately he didn't play. We watched the 2nd string team first, and then the first stirngs. It was absolutely fantastic. I was screaming and yelling the whole time. I was almost as into it is I am with soccer. These guys are tough too. There were a few injuries and a really awesome fight involving most of the players from both teams. It was epic.
We FINALLY got home at 6:00 and rushed to get ready to go to their weekly awards dinner with Michael. It was around this point that I realized how tired I was, but I figured I would wake up as the night went on. Boy was I wrong! We went to the footy club, saw the awards get handed out, and went to a club called 'East'. This place was the coolest club I have been to here. I don't much like going to the clubs here because raging techno music all night is not something that intrigues me. This club was very much the same, but it was a lot more upper class. The reason I thought it was so cool is that they had a show kind of aspect to their entertainment. They had hanging dancers dangling from the ceiling on those big draping ribbons and on big gymnastic stlye rings. They had live music a few different times. It was honestly really cool. But around eleven I started to fade fast and so did Karlie. So, after a fabulous day or footy and dancing we snagged a cab and headed home.
It was lovely waking up this morning and reflecting on my week. It was seemingly uneventful, but I actually did a lot of neat new things. That club was really really cool. I want to go back again. I watched some great movies I hadn't seen before. The thing I loved most was the footy though. I can not believe how much I loved that sport. I haven't been that fired up since I played soccer, which is quite the feat. I was happy to amerce myself in the biggest sport in Aussie culture. And I love it. Maybe I should find a girls team to play on? Maybe not though. I think I might get fully pummeled.
I could show my prowess, be a lion not a mou-ess, if I only had the nerve...
3/23/2009
If I Only Had a Heart
It’s been a few days since the last write up, but nothing too interesting has happened so don’t worry. School has been going pretty well. I am really starting to love my health science class as well as my photography class. They are the most interesting in regards to new information being presented to me. I feel good learning so much about the history of photography. I feel that as an aspiring amateur photographer it is really helpful to know where the process of photographing came from as well as the philosophical debates behind its different methods and practices. Along with that, I get to view an assess some of the most beautiful and famous pictures ever taken. It’s very fun to discuss the meaning or interpretation of a photo within the class. The difference in culture between Americans, Australians, French, and many more ethnicities is astounding. I am completely soaking up all of the beautiful cultures I am presented with and surrounded by.
Class seemed to end quickly, as usual, and I was ready to start a lazy weekend. And that is EXACTLY what it was. Wednesday night was quite relaxing. Hannah and I watched “The Emperor’s New Groove” and ate some ice cream. (It was very reminiscent of many of the nights Jordan and I had spent together watching children’s movies and eating junk together!)
Thursday was a lovely, sleepy, nappy day. Jayde, my photography class friend, came over to watch a movie and we landed on Chicken Run. Kid’s movies seemed to be the theme this week and it was a lot of fun laughing out loud to such a silly childish movie. After making fun of Mel Brooks’s silly voice and watching ALL of the extras on the DVD, we somehow meandered back into my room to look at pictured from our long lost high school days. I cannot believe the things that Hannah has done. She lives in Idaho and owns the only push boat in the state. She moved to Alaska after high school to be a snow dog musher with her aunt. She was community leader of her towns stilt club. This girl is NUTS! The funniest (and kind of saddest) part was that she didn’t have any baby pictures because her parents didn’t take any. They just used pictures of her older sister and told them it was her because they looked extremely similar as kids. She laughed about that, so I think it is ok to say that it is at least a tiny bit entertaining.
Friday was a very chill day. I hung out around d the house, worked out, talked to Jordan a bit, and planned out a photo shoot to do with Hannah and her friend Liam. I am really excited to get to my first photo shoot in Australia. Friday night was also very calm and cool. I went to Liam’s house with Hannah and watched “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” with him and his roommates. It was nice to go to someone ELSES house to do something. He has a really cute puppy dog that ran around all hyper all night and sat on my lap through the whole movie. I was so happy to get out of the house and do something more like back home. After the movie we came home and went to bed. Saturday was also lazy. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel like doing anything. I was in a very despondent mood and was really missing my friends and family. I sat at home and looked at pictures and talked to Jordan until her had to go to sleep. Brittney called a little later and asked if I wanted to go to Surfers to hang out with her friend Michael and his footy pals. I wasn’t really in the mood, but considering I hadn’t done ANYTHING all weekend, I said yes. I was out for about 2 hours and then abruptly came home amongst a storm of drama. I just stayed up watching TV for a little and then went to sleep unsettled.
Sunday was a fantastic day! Hannah, Liam, and I went up to Tambourine in Nerang to see the rock pools again and this time I remembered my camera! I had such a great day following them around and taking pictures of the beautiful landscape. After our hike around we stopped in the little mountain town and had lunch. It was a pleasant little Sunday market and we stopped across the street from the German cuckoo clock store. It was such a wonderful end to a fun day. Once I got home, I spoke to Jordan, took a nap, and made myself a big dinner. Overall, the last week was a very up and down affair. My emotions were tested and twisted until I didn’t think there was much more I could go through. But I have a fabulous support system keeping me going, and I am eternally thankful for their help. I don’t even feel as though I’m here on my own. I completely live off of the energy and love that my friends back home send me.
I'd be friends with the sparrows and the boys who shoots the arrows, if I only had a heart...
Class seemed to end quickly, as usual, and I was ready to start a lazy weekend. And that is EXACTLY what it was. Wednesday night was quite relaxing. Hannah and I watched “The Emperor’s New Groove” and ate some ice cream. (It was very reminiscent of many of the nights Jordan and I had spent together watching children’s movies and eating junk together!)
Thursday was a lovely, sleepy, nappy day. Jayde, my photography class friend, came over to watch a movie and we landed on Chicken Run. Kid’s movies seemed to be the theme this week and it was a lot of fun laughing out loud to such a silly childish movie. After making fun of Mel Brooks’s silly voice and watching ALL of the extras on the DVD, we somehow meandered back into my room to look at pictured from our long lost high school days. I cannot believe the things that Hannah has done. She lives in Idaho and owns the only push boat in the state. She moved to Alaska after high school to be a snow dog musher with her aunt. She was community leader of her towns stilt club. This girl is NUTS! The funniest (and kind of saddest) part was that she didn’t have any baby pictures because her parents didn’t take any. They just used pictures of her older sister and told them it was her because they looked extremely similar as kids. She laughed about that, so I think it is ok to say that it is at least a tiny bit entertaining.
Friday was a very chill day. I hung out around d the house, worked out, talked to Jordan a bit, and planned out a photo shoot to do with Hannah and her friend Liam. I am really excited to get to my first photo shoot in Australia. Friday night was also very calm and cool. I went to Liam’s house with Hannah and watched “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” with him and his roommates. It was nice to go to someone ELSES house to do something. He has a really cute puppy dog that ran around all hyper all night and sat on my lap through the whole movie. I was so happy to get out of the house and do something more like back home. After the movie we came home and went to bed. Saturday was also lazy. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel like doing anything. I was in a very despondent mood and was really missing my friends and family. I sat at home and looked at pictures and talked to Jordan until her had to go to sleep. Brittney called a little later and asked if I wanted to go to Surfers to hang out with her friend Michael and his footy pals. I wasn’t really in the mood, but considering I hadn’t done ANYTHING all weekend, I said yes. I was out for about 2 hours and then abruptly came home amongst a storm of drama. I just stayed up watching TV for a little and then went to sleep unsettled.
Sunday was a fantastic day! Hannah, Liam, and I went up to Tambourine in Nerang to see the rock pools again and this time I remembered my camera! I had such a great day following them around and taking pictures of the beautiful landscape. After our hike around we stopped in the little mountain town and had lunch. It was a pleasant little Sunday market and we stopped across the street from the German cuckoo clock store. It was such a wonderful end to a fun day. Once I got home, I spoke to Jordan, took a nap, and made myself a big dinner. Overall, the last week was a very up and down affair. My emotions were tested and twisted until I didn’t think there was much more I could go through. But I have a fabulous support system keeping me going, and I am eternally thankful for their help. I don’t even feel as though I’m here on my own. I completely live off of the energy and love that my friends back home send me.
I'd be friends with the sparrows and the boys who shoots the arrows, if I only had a heart...
3/15/2009
I Could While Away The Hours
Well, it has been quite the week since I last wrote things down. I had another few days of school, things really started to pick up, and it worried me a little how different classes are here. I have a new professor in nearly every class every week. They switch them out based on their credential subject knowledge to give specific lectures about different various topics. It is difficult for me to get used to. We go from week one having the hard core class convener, to week two with Fancy Pants McGee and his lecture of loveliness. I don't know how I am going to get used to the switching, but I guess I don't have a choice.
Class always seems to end quickly and it was soon time for another 4 day weekend. It is SO nice having all those days to do things. Wednesday was a relax day after class. I have been extremely tired lately and I don't know why. I am a little sick, but I didn't think it would affect me this much. Anyway! After a nice relaxing night in it was time to go out. Sort of... on Thursday during the day Hannah, Hilda, and I went to the Australia Faire mall to shop around. It was a very awesome day just taking it easy doing the one thing girls love most. :) That night, we got an invitation to go to the Parkwood Tavern with a bunch of people from our complex. I was a little shopped out, but I decided not to stress it and to go out anyway. What a shit show it was! First off, everyone but me and Hannah was drunk before we even left. THEN, once we got there at 11pm, there was a line out the door and around the corner. We thought, "hey, maybe it'll go quick", and hopped out of the car. Instantly it began to rain. Awesome. We stood in line for 15 minutes before I said that maybe we should go somewhere else. A resounding NOOO!!! For some reason we HAD to go to Parkwood. After another 15 minutes we got out of line. People were cutting us left and right and there was no way we were getting in any time soon. So, they decided to go to Melbas in Surfers Paradise. Not I, I exclaimed, I am going home to bed away from you hooligans. So Hannah and I headed back to Metro wet, tired, and with nothing to show but sore feet.
Friday came quickly after those escapades. I woke up and went to campus and got a lot done. I printed out nearly 150 pages of reading for the semester that we are required to bring to my photo and rock art classes. I felt like an eco-terrorist carrying out my huge stack of readings and resumes. After getting home I talked to Jordan for a few hours, as usual, and really got home sick. It is getting harder every day to be away from my friends and family. I miss my Chico buddies more than they know and my family as well. Jordan is a whole other story that I won't go into for lack of space and time. Anyway, after our long conversation I decided to take a little nap before venturing out with Brittney and Hilda that night.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. I was excited to go out and have a night out on the town with my friends. We went to our friend Adrian's apartment that is 14 stories up overlooking the Circle on Cavil in the middle of down town Surfers. It was a phenomenal view. We hung out there with the Finnish kids, chit chatting and drinking, until Melbas Bar got going. Honestly, it was kind of a disaster once we left the apartment, but any night that ends with great room mates and terrible food is a night to cherish.
When I got home I called Jordan. It was 2am here so it was rounding the corner of 9am in the states. Surprisingly enough he answered and we ended up having another very long and lovely conversation. I was up until 5am and somehow, after passing out on bed contact, woke up at 10 and felt fit as a fiddle. Well, up until around 3pm. It was all down hill from there. From then on it was lazy Saturday to the max. Movies, snacks, computer. I was SO lame all day. But I was resting because Sunday was the big day we were going to the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo!!
I was so excited when I woke up this morning! I LOVE zoo's and this one is the biggest in the world! We had a heck of a time getting there but we finally made it! My day was fantastic! We saw a ton of crocodiles, alligators, koalas, echidnas, tigers, kangaroos (of course), wombats, wallabies, multitudes of birds and snakes, camels, tortoises, and SO much more! It was unbelievable! We spent the entire day trekking around. My favorite part was either hanging out with the kangaroos (which are SUPER friendly little guys) or touching an echidna on its wee little snout and having it niffle me. :) It was by far the coolest thing I have done on my trip to date. I wil post pictures shortly to show you how amazing it was.
So now I'm at home, reflecting on my day and editing pictures. I had a great weekend and I hope this week will see me through to a fabulous next one. As for tonight, I've got to study up and get some sleep before class tomorrow. I feel like having 3 days in class and 4 days out is not the best for my intelligence level. Things are just so care free here. It's hard to get smarter through books when there so much to learn from the world around me. I guess I'll just have to keep stuffing things inside my head and see what spills out in the end.
I would dance and be merry, life would be a ding-a-derry,If I only had a brain....
Class always seems to end quickly and it was soon time for another 4 day weekend. It is SO nice having all those days to do things. Wednesday was a relax day after class. I have been extremely tired lately and I don't know why. I am a little sick, but I didn't think it would affect me this much. Anyway! After a nice relaxing night in it was time to go out. Sort of... on Thursday during the day Hannah, Hilda, and I went to the Australia Faire mall to shop around. It was a very awesome day just taking it easy doing the one thing girls love most. :) That night, we got an invitation to go to the Parkwood Tavern with a bunch of people from our complex. I was a little shopped out, but I decided not to stress it and to go out anyway. What a shit show it was! First off, everyone but me and Hannah was drunk before we even left. THEN, once we got there at 11pm, there was a line out the door and around the corner. We thought, "hey, maybe it'll go quick", and hopped out of the car. Instantly it began to rain. Awesome. We stood in line for 15 minutes before I said that maybe we should go somewhere else. A resounding NOOO!!! For some reason we HAD to go to Parkwood. After another 15 minutes we got out of line. People were cutting us left and right and there was no way we were getting in any time soon. So, they decided to go to Melbas in Surfers Paradise. Not I, I exclaimed, I am going home to bed away from you hooligans. So Hannah and I headed back to Metro wet, tired, and with nothing to show but sore feet.
Friday came quickly after those escapades. I woke up and went to campus and got a lot done. I printed out nearly 150 pages of reading for the semester that we are required to bring to my photo and rock art classes. I felt like an eco-terrorist carrying out my huge stack of readings and resumes. After getting home I talked to Jordan for a few hours, as usual, and really got home sick. It is getting harder every day to be away from my friends and family. I miss my Chico buddies more than they know and my family as well. Jordan is a whole other story that I won't go into for lack of space and time. Anyway, after our long conversation I decided to take a little nap before venturing out with Brittney and Hilda that night.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. I was excited to go out and have a night out on the town with my friends. We went to our friend Adrian's apartment that is 14 stories up overlooking the Circle on Cavil in the middle of down town Surfers. It was a phenomenal view. We hung out there with the Finnish kids, chit chatting and drinking, until Melbas Bar got going. Honestly, it was kind of a disaster once we left the apartment, but any night that ends with great room mates and terrible food is a night to cherish.
When I got home I called Jordan. It was 2am here so it was rounding the corner of 9am in the states. Surprisingly enough he answered and we ended up having another very long and lovely conversation. I was up until 5am and somehow, after passing out on bed contact, woke up at 10 and felt fit as a fiddle. Well, up until around 3pm. It was all down hill from there. From then on it was lazy Saturday to the max. Movies, snacks, computer. I was SO lame all day. But I was resting because Sunday was the big day we were going to the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo!!
I was so excited when I woke up this morning! I LOVE zoo's and this one is the biggest in the world! We had a heck of a time getting there but we finally made it! My day was fantastic! We saw a ton of crocodiles, alligators, koalas, echidnas, tigers, kangaroos (of course), wombats, wallabies, multitudes of birds and snakes, camels, tortoises, and SO much more! It was unbelievable! We spent the entire day trekking around. My favorite part was either hanging out with the kangaroos (which are SUPER friendly little guys) or touching an echidna on its wee little snout and having it niffle me. :) It was by far the coolest thing I have done on my trip to date. I wil post pictures shortly to show you how amazing it was.
So now I'm at home, reflecting on my day and editing pictures. I had a great weekend and I hope this week will see me through to a fabulous next one. As for tonight, I've got to study up and get some sleep before class tomorrow. I feel like having 3 days in class and 4 days out is not the best for my intelligence level. Things are just so care free here. It's hard to get smarter through books when there so much to learn from the world around me. I guess I'll just have to keep stuffing things inside my head and see what spills out in the end.
I would dance and be merry, life would be a ding-a-derry,If I only had a brain....
3/08/2009
The Merry Old Land of OZ
Here are a few of the pictures I have taken over the past fortnight. Not too many, but there will be more. :)
This is the top of the rock pools in Tambourine, Nerang. A multitude of waterfalls and pools form beneath this starting point for miles on end into the rain forest.
This is Surfers Paradise at night. I was on the beach around 1am and this is what it was like.
Surfers Paradise again, but a little earlier in the evening and a little higher off the ground. :)
This is the Australia Fair shopping center in the mid afternoon!
And this is where I live. The view from my front porch back into the complex.
This is the top of the rock pools in Tambourine, Nerang. A multitude of waterfalls and pools form beneath this starting point for miles on end into the rain forest.
This is Surfers Paradise at night. I was on the beach around 1am and this is what it was like.
Surfers Paradise again, but a little earlier in the evening and a little higher off the ground. :)
This is the Australia Fair shopping center in the mid afternoon!
And this is where I live. The view from my front porch back into the complex. This is how I spend the day away in the merry old land of Oz...
3/07/2009
Ease On Down The Road
Wednesday was the first day I felt sick. My throat hurt, my nose was stuffed up, and I had a monumental headache. I knew I was getting sick, so I sat around and watched movies all day after class. It was relaxing, simple, and actually very fun. Near the end of the day, Hilda asked me and Pooya if we wanted to go out with her and her friends. I wasn't feeling too great, but after being inside all day, I figured I should go to something fun. We went to Surfers Paradise and walked around for a while before we settled on a nice Irish Pub for a drink. Hannah, Pooya, and I sat around talking about where we grew up and our families back home. I can not believe the things I learned about Pooya, my room mate. He is from Iran and was explaining how different everything in Iran is in comparison to anywhere else he has ever been. We were talking about drinking and he said that in Iran, it is illegal because of the Islam religion. One time he was caught drinking and had to go to jail. Not only did he go to jail, he also got 40 lashes upon arrival. I could not believe it. ACTUAL lashes. He said he still has scars on his back from them. It was such an amazing story and it inspired a lot of very interesting conversation while we worked through our drinks.
We moved on from that bar after a little and decided to just take a walk around. We had been wandering for a while when we came upon a bar with live music. It was just one guy with a guitar and a microphone, but he was playing Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" and I couldn't resist listening on. He then proceeded to play Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, and M. Ward. I was super excited. During his little intermission I told him that he was very talented and that we had similar taste in music. I told him that "I'm Yours" is one of my favorite songs to sing. He said that if he had time, he would play it again, and that I would have to come up and sing it again. I told him I would and I didn't give it another thought until 30 minutes later when he began to play it again. He called me up on stage and we sang the entire song together in front of everyone. I don't really know how to describe it. I haven't been on stage for a very long time. It was somewhat liberating. It made me miss Jordan extremely bad because whenever I hear that song I think of him. I wish he could have been there to hear me sing it to him.
Thursday I woke up feeling bad again and decided to sleep, eat, and watch movies for the second day in a row. I don't know what it is about being sick in the summer. The sickness always seems to be a lot worse during the day. Anyway, Thursday was my day in and I didn't do a damn thing. Brittney went to Brisbane and told me that she would have an adventure for me.
Friday was a fairly productive day. I got to campus, printed out a multitude of class items, went grocery shopping, and bought my books for classes. Around 4pm I went to the pizza shop near our apartments to give them a resume. They had a 'Now Hiring' sign up for a female employee wanting 15 to 20 hours a week on the weekends in the evenings. I thought it was perfect because it was so close to where I live and perfect schedule/hours. But when I went to turn in the application that guy said that he had had problems in the past with the students who lived at Metro and also that he didn't really want to hire an American. Let me reiterate: he told me he wouldn't even accept my application because I lived at the apartment complex behind the store and that I was from America. I was dumbfounded. Here I am trying to get a job, wanting to do honest work as a great employee, and he wouldn't even take my application from me. It was unbelievable. I can't say I am mad, because I am not, I am just SO amazed at how it feels to be denied a job because of an odd discrimination. It really made me think.
After this, I just came home to get ready because I had been planning on going out with Brittney to see our Finnish friends down in Surfers Paradise if I wasn't feeling too sick. We left around 7:30 and got to Surfers about 8pm. It was really nice to see the guys again and meet their cool new girl room mates. We hung out at their 11th floor balcony apartment and I got some great pictures of the city. Then we went out. We went to a club called 'Cocktails and Dreams' first and there was this awesome dude (most likely on ecstasy) dancing his heart out on the dance floor alone. It was a crack up. Then we went to 'The Bedroom'. It was PACKED. It was smelly and hot and uncomfortable so Rufio and I left to get a kabob and hang out outside. (Rufio is one of the guys from Finland. He looks JUST like Rufio from 'Hook'.) I don't know how to explain, but the kabobs here are different then anything I have ever eaten. They aren't shish-kabobs on a stick, they're basically a burrito/pita that's cooked on both sides once you have everything you want inside of it. They are AMAZING. We sat around and talked about life and the difference between countries and how bad I missed Jordan despite all the amazing things in Australia. I figured he would be like everyone else and tell me to let it go because this is a once in a life time thing, but he was actually really understanding. Apparently it just made it more understandable that I wasn't big into going out. He said he wasn't a big partier at home either, but that he did it here to please his friends. The people that relate best are always people in the similar situations as you. We talked for about 30 minutes before we met back up with Brittney and headed back home. I called Jordan when I got back and told him how much I loved him and missed him and he told me the same. It was a perfect way to end my night.
Today was a pretty bad day as far as days go. I woke up really late because I got in really late with the girls and I felt awful when I woke up. My head felt like it was going to explode and I was exhausted despite my 1o hours of sleep. I called Jordan and nearly fell asleep on Skype talking. I took a nap and decided to do something with my life so I asked Hilda and Pooya if they wanted to go to a movie with me. We decided to go see Watchmen and I got really excited on the way to the theatres. I can not accurately explain the magnitude of this movie. In my humble opinion, it was absolutely fantastic. Unbelievable. The mix of visual and auditory aesthetics were in complete perfect synchronization. The sound track is glorious on its own, but in context with the movie it was intriguing and unique. The story pulls you in, the characters are well developed, and the realistic fantasy of it all is utterly flawless. (Needless to say, I really loved it.) Hilda and I spent a fair amount of time on the way home discussing our takes and clearing up some of the things she had trouble with. In an American movie like that, they speak English so quickly that it is hard sometimes for her to understand everything they are saying. Especially when two of the very important characters had accents to their voice. We talked it all out and by the time we got home realized that we were completely exhausted, and now here I am. I'm going to sleep now, and I am happy. I had a very good end to my day, which is a nice feeling.
I don't carry nothing that might be a load, I just ease on down, ease on down the road...
We moved on from that bar after a little and decided to just take a walk around. We had been wandering for a while when we came upon a bar with live music. It was just one guy with a guitar and a microphone, but he was playing Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" and I couldn't resist listening on. He then proceeded to play Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, and M. Ward. I was super excited. During his little intermission I told him that he was very talented and that we had similar taste in music. I told him that "I'm Yours" is one of my favorite songs to sing. He said that if he had time, he would play it again, and that I would have to come up and sing it again. I told him I would and I didn't give it another thought until 30 minutes later when he began to play it again. He called me up on stage and we sang the entire song together in front of everyone. I don't really know how to describe it. I haven't been on stage for a very long time. It was somewhat liberating. It made me miss Jordan extremely bad because whenever I hear that song I think of him. I wish he could have been there to hear me sing it to him.
Thursday I woke up feeling bad again and decided to sleep, eat, and watch movies for the second day in a row. I don't know what it is about being sick in the summer. The sickness always seems to be a lot worse during the day. Anyway, Thursday was my day in and I didn't do a damn thing. Brittney went to Brisbane and told me that she would have an adventure for me.
Friday was a fairly productive day. I got to campus, printed out a multitude of class items, went grocery shopping, and bought my books for classes. Around 4pm I went to the pizza shop near our apartments to give them a resume. They had a 'Now Hiring' sign up for a female employee wanting 15 to 20 hours a week on the weekends in the evenings. I thought it was perfect because it was so close to where I live and perfect schedule/hours. But when I went to turn in the application that guy said that he had had problems in the past with the students who lived at Metro and also that he didn't really want to hire an American. Let me reiterate: he told me he wouldn't even accept my application because I lived at the apartment complex behind the store and that I was from America. I was dumbfounded. Here I am trying to get a job, wanting to do honest work as a great employee, and he wouldn't even take my application from me. It was unbelievable. I can't say I am mad, because I am not, I am just SO amazed at how it feels to be denied a job because of an odd discrimination. It really made me think.
After this, I just came home to get ready because I had been planning on going out with Brittney to see our Finnish friends down in Surfers Paradise if I wasn't feeling too sick. We left around 7:30 and got to Surfers about 8pm. It was really nice to see the guys again and meet their cool new girl room mates. We hung out at their 11th floor balcony apartment and I got some great pictures of the city. Then we went out. We went to a club called 'Cocktails and Dreams' first and there was this awesome dude (most likely on ecstasy) dancing his heart out on the dance floor alone. It was a crack up. Then we went to 'The Bedroom'. It was PACKED. It was smelly and hot and uncomfortable so Rufio and I left to get a kabob and hang out outside. (Rufio is one of the guys from Finland. He looks JUST like Rufio from 'Hook'.) I don't know how to explain, but the kabobs here are different then anything I have ever eaten. They aren't shish-kabobs on a stick, they're basically a burrito/pita that's cooked on both sides once you have everything you want inside of it. They are AMAZING. We sat around and talked about life and the difference between countries and how bad I missed Jordan despite all the amazing things in Australia. I figured he would be like everyone else and tell me to let it go because this is a once in a life time thing, but he was actually really understanding. Apparently it just made it more understandable that I wasn't big into going out. He said he wasn't a big partier at home either, but that he did it here to please his friends. The people that relate best are always people in the similar situations as you. We talked for about 30 minutes before we met back up with Brittney and headed back home. I called Jordan when I got back and told him how much I loved him and missed him and he told me the same. It was a perfect way to end my night.
Today was a pretty bad day as far as days go. I woke up really late because I got in really late with the girls and I felt awful when I woke up. My head felt like it was going to explode and I was exhausted despite my 1o hours of sleep. I called Jordan and nearly fell asleep on Skype talking. I took a nap and decided to do something with my life so I asked Hilda and Pooya if they wanted to go to a movie with me. We decided to go see Watchmen and I got really excited on the way to the theatres. I can not accurately explain the magnitude of this movie. In my humble opinion, it was absolutely fantastic. Unbelievable. The mix of visual and auditory aesthetics were in complete perfect synchronization. The sound track is glorious on its own, but in context with the movie it was intriguing and unique. The story pulls you in, the characters are well developed, and the realistic fantasy of it all is utterly flawless. (Needless to say, I really loved it.) Hilda and I spent a fair amount of time on the way home discussing our takes and clearing up some of the things she had trouble with. In an American movie like that, they speak English so quickly that it is hard sometimes for her to understand everything they are saying. Especially when two of the very important characters had accents to their voice. We talked it all out and by the time we got home realized that we were completely exhausted, and now here I am. I'm going to sleep now, and I am happy. I had a very good end to my day, which is a nice feeling.
I don't carry nothing that might be a load, I just ease on down, ease on down the road...
3/04/2009
If I Only Had A Brain
Well, its official, school has started. My classes seem fantastic. I have a separate burning passion for each one of them that I find excitingly stimulating.
Class Number 1: Issues In Photo History
Class Number 1: Issues In Photo History
- This is the one class that I was not sure what to expect from. The course description was dense and mindless but I really wanted to take a photography class so, here I am. There are two of my really good friends from my apartment complex that are in the class as well. Hannah is a really amazing little blond girl from Idaho and Austin is... well, he's Austin and he's from Chico too. We all sat together in the front and somehow there was a girl brave enough to sit in the last seat at our table with us. Hey name is Jayde and she is from the Gold Coast originally. She was super nice to talk to! She is really into photography and is currently majoring in media arts. She says that she is trying to get into surf photography, which sounds totally awesome. We talked for 15 or 20 minutes and realized that it was WAY past the time class should have started. We decided to wait until a half hour past before we left. Right as we went to get up, our teacher bounded into the room. Let me explain this guy to you... think, Gene Wilder (from Willy Wonka) in appearance and Michael Cera in awkwardness. This guy is AWESOME. He stumbled over a few sentences trying to redeem himself for being late and THEN sent us away for another half hour so he could get his stuff! It was awesome! I was laughing about it the whole half hour before we actually had class. So, we got coffee and headed back to see what was going on and he was another 15 minutes late! I couldn't believe it. He handed out the class syllabus, we went over a bunch of admin. stuff, and then got a little into the course content. It turns out this class is basically a History of Photography class! I am so excited! It is going to be really amazing to learn more about where cameras come from and how the technology has changed as well as the themes of photography over time. Combine that with this quirky professor and BAM! Awesome class.
Class Number 2: Psychology of the Health Sciences
- This class was probably my most interestingly stimulating of the 4 I am taking, for a few different reason. First of all, it is a first year class, so everyone there is about 18 and just entered Uni. It's their first semester right now, so a lot of them looked extremely nervous but were very friendly and I think happy to talk to and relate with the people next to them. Second, this class is in a HUGE auditorium. Way bigger than any of the ones at Chico. There have got to be 300 people in this class. The third thing I found particularly interesting is the emphasis the teacher has made on how disgusting it is that the US is #1 in wealth and #24 in health care. The ENTIRE lecture was about how that is even possible or why that may be and let me tell you, they had NO shame in their answers. "They're fat!' "Bad lifestyle choices!" "Money means everything!" "Stress from greedy!" I don't think any of them new there was an American around! haha! It was all very true and very honest, but it all seemed a bit harsh and premeditated. I was surprised in a way, but it didn't phase me. :) The class itself sounds very cool. We are talking about how psychology plays a role in the medical world, further than just clinical depression and such. Topics include why people will sometimes be paralyzed but have no physical cause and how people die of a 'broken heart'. It seems really interesting and really relevant to a lot of other fields. I am excited to learn and continue being hated by this class.
Class Number 3: Lifespan Development in Psychology
- This class is definatly going to be the most challenging. We got to class, did 15 minutes of admin. stuff, and then dove right into a HUGE lecture. It is a third year class, which is where I am currently at technically, but the way they run things is a lot different here than in the US. As a third year, I am fully responsible for knowing everything I have learned over the past 2 years and to not ask about them in lectures. If I have a question, I make a note and go back later to figure it out on my own. We have a research report paper due in 6 weeks that has to be 2500 words to 3000 words in a format I have never even heard of as well as multiple chapter readings a week and online quizzes. This is more American styled, but a lot harder than the Chico State classes I have taken so far. I am really excited because instead of just child development chapters, there are chapters on development as an adult all the way up until we die. I have never learned anything about that so it is going to be really enlightening, just very hard to get through with a great grade.
Class Number 4: Rock Art in the 21st Century
- Unfortunately, this class has nothing to do with art posters or rock and roll. But what it is about seems just as amazing. We are going to be studying Rock Art of the aborigine tribes from around the world. We will learn how to analyze it, label it, read into it, and even make some of our own. We don't have any tests, just some really fantastic assignments. The class also holds an emphasis on the progression of art over time (from caves to the Louvre). The teacher is AWESOME. He's an older guy that reminds me of my 7th grade science teacher Mr. Fox. He has got a lot of really quirky Rock Art jokes, which are hilarious in their own right. He is always traveling around in helicopters and climbing rock faces and going in and out of different countries to explore their rocky areas in search of art. To me, he's like a modern day Indiana Jones. I kid you not, he showed a picture of him repelling from a helicopter onto a rock shelf over a thousand foot drop into the rain forest. And he's like, 60 year old. He is a total bad ass. He was very very nice as well. He said our final project is a creative arts assignment because he believes that art is under appreciated on all levels and that writing assessments don't do people justice to their true potential. He has a great mind set and the class is really unique to anything I have ever taken before so I am really stoked on it.
That's basically it so far. I have some fun plans for the weekend I hope but I am not feeling too hot. I want to take a lot of pictures this weekend. I may be going to Brisbane tonight and spending the night there with Brittney and Tiffany. That would be wildly fun I think. They like to have me around because as many of you know, I have a motherly tendency that usually keeps everyone safe in face of social dangers (they let me know how mommy-ish I can be). Besides that, I hope I can do something really awesome this weekend. I am craving a mini adventure.
So, I've got my brains. Now all I need is a heart, the nerve, a home...
3/01/2009
The Yellow Brick Road
Well, after a couple of days of random nothingness we finally got to have a beautiful adventure here! Today we went to the rock pools in Tambourine, Nerang. I can not even begin to describe the beauty and magnificence of this place. It's a trek into the Australian rain forest, but we somehow made our way to where we needed to be. We first walked down a long path with huge rain forest trees on either side of us. There were signs saying to be careful because there might be koalas around but unfortunatly, we didnt see any.
Then it opened up and we could see a beautiful river flowing over these huge rock faces. There was a waterfall and a pool for swimming that was riddled with people. There was a part of this first pool that had been smoothed out over time and all of the kids were sliding down it into the pool. It was so cool. Brittney and Tiffany couldn't help themselves and they had a go together down the slide while all the little kids watched. It was really funny to see all the kids so confused at why adults would be sliding down THEIR slide.
After they got their kiddie-ness out we went down past the next waterfall to another pool. This was no easy feat, mind you. We were literally rock climbing to get down to the water. I'll tell you what, rock climbing in sandals is not the best. Once we made it down without dying, we enjoyed a sun bathe and a dip in the open water. The waterfall flattened out into little shelves at the bottom near the pool and we were sitting in the water like a shower. It was the most beautiful and relaxing feeling I have ever felt. The sound of the water and the sensation of being drenched in cool running water on a 90 degree day in the middle of the rain forest was magnificent. Once we had our fill (which was a LONG time after) we took another dip and then headed up the hill to leave.
Getting up the hill was a LOT harder than getting down. I mean, it took us a LONG time to trek up those rock faces. I thought a few times I was going to lose my balance, but I managed to get up in one piece. We made it to the cars and decided to stop at a little cafe on the way out for lunch since none of us had eaten anything all day. The food was good, but they messed up EVERYONE'S order. There was even a girl who paid and then didn't get food. Despite that though, we had a great time sitting around and talking about what we had planned for the near future and what we had been doing so far. I think we are going to drive up the coast over spring brek for some sight seeing and beach time. I need to get a surf board before then so I can just go everywhere. I guess we'll see how that pans out.
When we left the cafe we decided to take the scenic route home. We drove through some wine country and up onto a hill the you can see the entire Gold Coast from. It was brilliant. The whole city where we live was stretched out before us. The view looked more like a picture than the actual pictures. It was really stunning.
Now I am exhausted. We came back and went for a dip in the pool real quick to rinse off and cool down from the drive home and all our hiking. I didn't realize it, but the pool here is a saltwater pool. It's really nice. I seriously sweat my eye balls out today, so it was a good thing the pool was already salt water.
In the morning I start school and I am not sure what to expect. I am really excited to meet more people in class that have similar interests and are from other countries. There are a ton of American people here. It's starting to feel a little like Chico, but not in a good way.
Tomorrow I delve deeper into the forest, further along this yellow brick road into the dark...
Then it opened up and we could see a beautiful river flowing over these huge rock faces. There was a waterfall and a pool for swimming that was riddled with people. There was a part of this first pool that had been smoothed out over time and all of the kids were sliding down it into the pool. It was so cool. Brittney and Tiffany couldn't help themselves and they had a go together down the slide while all the little kids watched. It was really funny to see all the kids so confused at why adults would be sliding down THEIR slide.
After they got their kiddie-ness out we went down past the next waterfall to another pool. This was no easy feat, mind you. We were literally rock climbing to get down to the water. I'll tell you what, rock climbing in sandals is not the best. Once we made it down without dying, we enjoyed a sun bathe and a dip in the open water. The waterfall flattened out into little shelves at the bottom near the pool and we were sitting in the water like a shower. It was the most beautiful and relaxing feeling I have ever felt. The sound of the water and the sensation of being drenched in cool running water on a 90 degree day in the middle of the rain forest was magnificent. Once we had our fill (which was a LONG time after) we took another dip and then headed up the hill to leave.
Getting up the hill was a LOT harder than getting down. I mean, it took us a LONG time to trek up those rock faces. I thought a few times I was going to lose my balance, but I managed to get up in one piece. We made it to the cars and decided to stop at a little cafe on the way out for lunch since none of us had eaten anything all day. The food was good, but they messed up EVERYONE'S order. There was even a girl who paid and then didn't get food. Despite that though, we had a great time sitting around and talking about what we had planned for the near future and what we had been doing so far. I think we are going to drive up the coast over spring brek for some sight seeing and beach time. I need to get a surf board before then so I can just go everywhere. I guess we'll see how that pans out.
When we left the cafe we decided to take the scenic route home. We drove through some wine country and up onto a hill the you can see the entire Gold Coast from. It was brilliant. The whole city where we live was stretched out before us. The view looked more like a picture than the actual pictures. It was really stunning.
Now I am exhausted. We came back and went for a dip in the pool real quick to rinse off and cool down from the drive home and all our hiking. I didn't realize it, but the pool here is a saltwater pool. It's really nice. I seriously sweat my eye balls out today, so it was a good thing the pool was already salt water.
In the morning I start school and I am not sure what to expect. I am really excited to meet more people in class that have similar interests and are from other countries. There are a ton of American people here. It's starting to feel a little like Chico, but not in a good way.
Tomorrow I delve deeper into the forest, further along this yellow brick road into the dark...
2/23/2009
The Land of Aus
Enter AUS, a world of color and sunlit brilliance. The beaches never end and the water is sparkling blue. Flowers of magnificent shape and color line the roads and the walkways. Car's drive on the opposite side. Bats are 3 feet long. Spiders the size of mice with legs like bent wires spin webs in every garden. It truly is a wonder.
I have never seen a place like this. The weather is different. The atmosphere is different. The way people treat each other is different. As far as the weather goes, it is pretty unpredictable right now. Most every day has been about 35 degrees (Celsius that is!) from the hours of 11-3 and then faded off to a pleasant 25 or so. The funniest thing is, we've had more rain in the last few days than we did in California before I left. It dumps down like a shower. 2 seconds outside in that is the most liberating, wet, refreshing feeling of your life. 75 degrees and raining on the beach mid day. It doesn't get any better.
The atmosphere is relaxed. I think that is the best way to describe it. No one cares. About anything. Want to go to the beach? Oh sure. How about shopping? Why not. There is no sense of urgency or a strict time schedule at all. Even stores close at different times of night every night because they feel like it. You may get in one night at 7:30 and then see that their closed the next day at 6 for no other reason than because. It's very cool.
I can not even explain all the wonderful people I have met. Everyone is extremely friendly, even when I tell them I am from the US. So far I have only had one person really resent me for being American. It's interesting how some people really blame you personally for the last 8 years of the Bush regime. There is nothing you can do, they just don't want anything to do with you.
I was in a hostel for a few days here. I didn't have a room, like I said, so I slept on floors and open beds when people were passed out drunk in their friends rooms. All of the room mates that came through Brittney's flat were very nice. There were a few Canadian boys, a Norwegian guy, and some Korean girls all in the last few days. Also, our friend Austin's room mates were these really nice guys from down south in Australia who offered to show us around Surfers Paradise where we were staying. It was so fun walking around the streets and going into all the cool shops. There are a lot of interesting styles and such around here.
One of the nights in the hostel I thought we might go out but I passed out early and ended up missing it. The next night we were also going to go out but it started dumping rain and I wasn't really in the mood for a wet outing. The NEXT night we decided to stay in and drink with some Finnish kids who we had met in the lobby. We grilled Kangaroo (which is extremely chewy) and made shish-kabobs with some bell peppers and pineapple. They were delicious. It was pretty fun except for the American-hating Canadian girl sitting a table down from us. She went a little crazy and started telling us how we were closed minded Americans and disrespectful and rude and loud when we hadn't even said anything to her OR made any loud noises on the deck. It was fairly ironic how she was calling us closed minded JUST because were were Americans. Needless to say it was an interesting night.
Yesterday we FINALLY found a place to live. Me, Brittney, Austin, and Brandon (all Chico State students) came to the Metro on Central and got separate rooms so that we could try and meet as many new people as possible. I got a room with a really laid back Dutch girl and a really funny Iranian guy. He jokingly gave me crap about being American ("you aren't going to shoot me, right?") and then made us dinner. It was a very relaxing night for all of us.
Today I had orientation at the campus. It was SOOOOOOO long. There was a lot of talk about being safe. Apparently people get mugged a lot and girls get their drinks spiked with numerous different things on a fairly regular basis. There were a lot of basic safety tips and emergency numbers to call. It was kind of scary to be honest. After they freaked us out, there was a presentation about traveling around the country. I think I am going to book a trip to Sydney and see an opera if it isn't too expensive. I want to go to a lot of different places. Apparently it's not too expensive if you take the bus and stay at hostels or book flights early. I want to go to Melbourne to see my friend Anna and her son as well. It would be nice to see a familiar face.
Basically it's been fun. I am really tired from trying to get everything organized before school starts. I don't know where to go to get food and other supplies for my room. I am definitely going to have to figure that out before I starve. I miss everyone very much. I have been talking to Jordan a lot on Skype, which is great, but it is hard to see him right there and not be able to give him a big hug. I have also spoken to my parents and some other friends as well. I really appreciate how loving and supportive everyone is being.
I think that through all of this, I'll be able to make my way down this yellow brick road with the help of my wonderful friends onward into Aus. :)
I have never seen a place like this. The weather is different. The atmosphere is different. The way people treat each other is different. As far as the weather goes, it is pretty unpredictable right now. Most every day has been about 35 degrees (Celsius that is!) from the hours of 11-3 and then faded off to a pleasant 25 or so. The funniest thing is, we've had more rain in the last few days than we did in California before I left. It dumps down like a shower. 2 seconds outside in that is the most liberating, wet, refreshing feeling of your life. 75 degrees and raining on the beach mid day. It doesn't get any better.
The atmosphere is relaxed. I think that is the best way to describe it. No one cares. About anything. Want to go to the beach? Oh sure. How about shopping? Why not. There is no sense of urgency or a strict time schedule at all. Even stores close at different times of night every night because they feel like it. You may get in one night at 7:30 and then see that their closed the next day at 6 for no other reason than because. It's very cool.
I can not even explain all the wonderful people I have met. Everyone is extremely friendly, even when I tell them I am from the US. So far I have only had one person really resent me for being American. It's interesting how some people really blame you personally for the last 8 years of the Bush regime. There is nothing you can do, they just don't want anything to do with you.
I was in a hostel for a few days here. I didn't have a room, like I said, so I slept on floors and open beds when people were passed out drunk in their friends rooms. All of the room mates that came through Brittney's flat were very nice. There were a few Canadian boys, a Norwegian guy, and some Korean girls all in the last few days. Also, our friend Austin's room mates were these really nice guys from down south in Australia who offered to show us around Surfers Paradise where we were staying. It was so fun walking around the streets and going into all the cool shops. There are a lot of interesting styles and such around here.
One of the nights in the hostel I thought we might go out but I passed out early and ended up missing it. The next night we were also going to go out but it started dumping rain and I wasn't really in the mood for a wet outing. The NEXT night we decided to stay in and drink with some Finnish kids who we had met in the lobby. We grilled Kangaroo (which is extremely chewy) and made shish-kabobs with some bell peppers and pineapple. They were delicious. It was pretty fun except for the American-hating Canadian girl sitting a table down from us. She went a little crazy and started telling us how we were closed minded Americans and disrespectful and rude and loud when we hadn't even said anything to her OR made any loud noises on the deck. It was fairly ironic how she was calling us closed minded JUST because were were Americans. Needless to say it was an interesting night.
Yesterday we FINALLY found a place to live. Me, Brittney, Austin, and Brandon (all Chico State students) came to the Metro on Central and got separate rooms so that we could try and meet as many new people as possible. I got a room with a really laid back Dutch girl and a really funny Iranian guy. He jokingly gave me crap about being American ("you aren't going to shoot me, right?") and then made us dinner. It was a very relaxing night for all of us.
Today I had orientation at the campus. It was SOOOOOOO long. There was a lot of talk about being safe. Apparently people get mugged a lot and girls get their drinks spiked with numerous different things on a fairly regular basis. There were a lot of basic safety tips and emergency numbers to call. It was kind of scary to be honest. After they freaked us out, there was a presentation about traveling around the country. I think I am going to book a trip to Sydney and see an opera if it isn't too expensive. I want to go to a lot of different places. Apparently it's not too expensive if you take the bus and stay at hostels or book flights early. I want to go to Melbourne to see my friend Anna and her son as well. It would be nice to see a familiar face.
Basically it's been fun. I am really tired from trying to get everything organized before school starts. I don't know where to go to get food and other supplies for my room. I am definitely going to have to figure that out before I starve. I miss everyone very much. I have been talking to Jordan a lot on Skype, which is great, but it is hard to see him right there and not be able to give him a big hug. I have also spoken to my parents and some other friends as well. I really appreciate how loving and supportive everyone is being.
I think that through all of this, I'll be able to make my way down this yellow brick road with the help of my wonderful friends onward into Aus. :)
A Crash Landing
If you have ever traveled, you will understand my frustration with how my transportation turned out. I was sad, mad, loved, hurt, afraid, excited, anxious, sleepy, quirky, and cranky all within 24 hours.
Backtrack here:
It was Wednesday the 18th and I had spent the whole morning crying, the whole afternoon running around to see my family, and the early evening stressing out about how heavy my bags were and how incredibly late I was to the airport. Let me chronicle my trip for you using bullets so I don't get riled up at the details.
Backtrack here:
It was Wednesday the 18th and I had spent the whole morning crying, the whole afternoon running around to see my family, and the early evening stressing out about how heavy my bags were and how incredibly late I was to the airport. Let me chronicle my trip for you using bullets so I don't get riled up at the details.
- I get to the airport at 5:40pm, my flight leaves at 6:05pm. Awesome.
- My bags are too heavy even though I had frantically taken half the stuff out of them 20 minutes earlier. Also awesome.
- I barely get to the gate in time and I am so happy to be there that I actually enjoy my flight from Sacramento to LA.
- In LA, I am supposed to transfer to Quantas through the international terminal and head to my gate to meet up with some other students. I have NO idea where my gate is and after 2 or 3 "lost in translation" moments I finally find out where I am going.
- On the way to my gate with my stuff I run into Tiffany. Tiffany is a blond, sorority loving, booze hound with a great sense of humor and attitude to spare. Let's be friends. :)
- We end up having martini's and talking about where we're from and why we're going to Australia. It was so nice to make a friend to travel with.
- We board the plane around midnight, but it's really late arriving. I'm exhausted (physically and mentally) and just want to sit down and sleep.
- I don't sleep on the plane. I went on a 14 hour flight to Sydney in the middle of the night, next to a very odd woman, running on 6 hours of sleep, getting none on the plane, only to end up missing my connecting flight out of Sydney and into Brisbane.
- Like I said, I missed my flight, and instead of going on the 10:45am flight to Brisbane I ended up on the 3pm flight in the airport by myself until a group of us girls gravitated towards each other again.
- On the way to Brisbane I thought we were going to drop out of the air. There was mad turbulence. At one point, I ended up jumping really hard and grabbing the arm of the 40-something businessman sitting next to me. It was awkwardly hilarious to say the least and he made fun of me the rest of the way down.
- Once on the ground, we sat for about 20 minutes waiting for a storm to pass because they couldn't pull out the loading dock for fear of lightening strikes.
- We got off the plane and got our luggage only to find that it was completely soaked through with rain water from the storm outside. Mildewed luggage is a pain in the butt. (It could have been worse though, our friend Brittney didn't even get her bags.)
- We got out bags and waited another half an hour for Keith, the nicest little Aussie man, to pick us up and take us to the Gold Coast.
- It took 2 hours in rush hour traffic to get to where we needed to go 40 miles away.
- Once at our hostel, I found out that my reservations had been somehow revoked (they claimed I did it) and that I didn't have a room. Hello Brittney's floor...
So, now here I am a few days later looking back on what could possibly be the most stressful experience of my entire life. I can't believe I am here. A rocky landing like that could crush you. I am happy to be here though. I just needed a lot of support (thanks Jordan) and a lot of time in the sun. Now that I've crashed here, it's time to enter the Wonderful World of Aus....
2/10/2009
Up in the Air
Well, I'm still here. Trying to figure out what is going on. I am having a lot of trouble getting out of this country and into the next. All of my plans are kind of swirling out of control. My original leave date was February 18th. Now it may be pushed back to the 27th. I feel like all of my expectations are flying past an open window and all I can do is watch. I am having such a stressful experience. But I know that one day I'll be able to look back and realize that the stress and the state I am currently experiencing was a large part of how much more I appreciated my actual trip. It is actually kind of funny to me that I am going though so much before I even come close to my departure. It's complete and utter insanity.
I have been craving to go lately. I get very excited about it a lot more often and I have been having dreams about my trip. I sometimes have dreams about going in an apartment overlooking the beach. Sometimes I am at school. I've even had dreams about surfing. There are two defining qualities about these dreams that are present every time.
My colorful landing in AUS awaits...
I have been craving to go lately. I get very excited about it a lot more often and I have been having dreams about my trip. I sometimes have dreams about going in an apartment overlooking the beach. Sometimes I am at school. I've even had dreams about surfing. There are two defining qualities about these dreams that are present every time.
- One is that the campus or apartment or beach is always the same. My mind has created a place based on internal foresight and expectations. I don't know what the campus looks like, I have no idea where I'll live, and I haven't seen the beach I'll be living near. It's odd how the mind moves ahead of itself. Ahead of everything that's even going on at the promise of what's ahead.
- The second feature of these dreams is that Jordan is always there with me. I think that is part of the reason I get so excited. My mind has created a world where Jordan will be sharing, first hand, my experience in Australia along with me. Unfortunately, that's not true, as he is in school here and will be studying the entire time I am away. I feel that tells me a lot about what I want and what I expect. I guess communication will be high and emotions will be raging. I will miss him dearly as I go and create a real and true representation of Australia as it is, and not as my mind expects. My perception will be corrected and my trip will take hold in a way I can only imagine. Excitement, compassion, and fear suck the air from my lungs as I hold out for the next chapter in my trip.
My colorful landing in AUS awaits...
2/03/2009
The Tornado
In a matter of weeks I am leaving for Australia. It's pretty far away from California. More than a swim, I'd say. I decided to write a blog because my best friend Alex has one from Italy and I get really really excited every time she makes a new post. Hopefully there will be a few of you who get just as excited about my trip. As a matter of fact, I stole her idea for a blog. I am supported through the same blog site AND I used a fairy tale as the preface for my blog theme. Damn, I am such a copy cat... But, it was a good idea, and good ideas are meant to be stolen. Thanks Alex. ;)
Anyway, like I said, I haven't left yet, so there isn't too much to say. I just figured I needed a place to start and today felt like a good day to sit down and get some thoughts down in writing. Here's a list of thoughts that are going through my head:
Anyway, like I said, I haven't left yet, so there isn't too much to say. I just figured I needed a place to start and today felt like a good day to sit down and get some thoughts down in writing. Here's a list of thoughts that are going through my head:
- I can NOT wait to get to Australia and see the ocean. It's going to be beautiful.
- I do NOT want to leave my friends behind. If you would, please pack yourselves away and send yourselves to me. Thanks.
- I am so afraid of the 18 hour flight ahead of me. I HATE flying and I get really panicky when I think about being up in the air that long above water.
- I wonder what kangaroo burgers taste like?
- Jordan isn't staying here. I'll find a way to bring him with me.
- I hope by the end I don't want to come back, because that will mean I had an excellent time.
- I hope I can get a job when I get there. I need the money BAD.
- Leaving the people I love is the hardest thing I have ever done. I don't like to think about because it makes me want to cry.
- Let's do this....
As you can see, it's quite the mess inside my head. There is a raging tornado of thoughts that I just can't gain control over. But I guess that's how it should be. If I wasn't excited, then why would I go? If I weren't scared, then why not just leave forever?
This is gonna be one hell of a trip...
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