Basketball in the bush and driving Rusty

Aussie phrase of the day: Bloody oath! = Damn straight!, Seriously!, I swear!, or It's the truth! There sure are a lot of expressions for convincing someone of the truth.

I went to a basketball game last weekend. A NBA sort of basketball game between the Perth Wildcats and the Wollongong somethings... This was a very interesting event that began by parking in the bush outside the arena. This involved walking through tall grass, weeds and trees on a sand track that opened into a grassy parking area. Only in Australia! Just before halftime I helped myself to a dinner of nachos which were actually very nice, they were a little more like restaurant nachos than the fake liquid cheese ones we have at our sporting events. They actually had meat, sour cream, cheese, salsa and ... peas? Yes, peas. I don't exactly know why they were in the mix, but Australians obviously think Mexican's make nachos with peas or that for some reason they are really good on nachos or maybe they just needed to round out the four food groups by adding something green to the mix. Anyway, different... in a good way!

The basketball game was an experience that sadly resembled more of a college level of basketball. It was held in a small gym that was only a little bigger than my high school gym and was joined with a regular fitness facility where people were pumping weights while a pro-basketball game was going on essentially in the other room. The dancers I would admit were pretty good and had all the makings of L.A. Lakers girls, but there were no cheerleaders on the sidelines, hell, there was no room on the sidelines for cheerleaders! There was an MC/ commentator guy that also served as the cheerleader, waving his arms up and down periodically while chanting a cheer to get the crowd pumped up. Amazingly it worked! Every so often they would play a tiger-like growl over the loudspeaker, the very same tiger growl played at my high school sporting events, and the same "Eye of the Tiger" anthem so commonly used at high school and college sporting events whose mascot is a wild cat. It makes me happy to think these people have no idea how we do it in the States, otherwise, they might be all but a little disappointed that their beloved sport doesn't have quite the showy makings of a pro basketball game in the States in our giant sized sports arenas. I was humored and touched at the same time by the quaintness of it. Of course, I am told the basketball was much more popular up until the 1990's as it was nearly the only professional sport in Western Australia. Then with the introduction of other more popular sports, such as Aussie rules football came the demise of the once popular sport of basketball. They even had to change season's from winter to summer because they couldn't compete with the popularity of the AFL.



I also had the opportunity to drive again last weekend. I haven't driven in months and didn't realize how much I missed it until I got behind the wheel of my friend's '84 Ford. It was a $400 car and showing every bit of it's age, including some major rust going on all over it! Thus, the car has been dubbed Rusty... also named after the popular brand of surf apparel. Rusty has no power stearing and sometimes she doesn't go into gear like she should, but Rusty and I became friends quickly and we took to the streets of Perth without a hitch. I was a natural at driving on the "wrong" side of the road. I couldn't believe how well I did considering how badly I had attempted driving in Oz in previous years. Anyway, it really made me want a Rusty of my own when I get back to Australia in January.



Now I must go study for my exam tomorrow and I will be seeing some of you very soon!

Perfectly Busy

Aussie phrase of the day: spat the dummy = yelled, "He spat the dummy."

I must have so much energy to write lately because I am free! Free of the odious tasks of writing uni papers. Not so much free in terms of time, though. So what have I been doing since returning from my trip last weekend, since I have talked of little else since I have been back. Besides uploading photos and blogging every night, I'm actually quite busy with work. Everyone seems to be really interested in my job, so I will try to elaborate. I work about 20 hours a week (the max I am allowed on my student visa) over a period of three days as a receptionist at Ford & Doonan Air Conditioning, a fairly large company with various branches around Perth. I work in the back office of a showroom with several cheery salesmen. The showroom consists of several models of ducted air conditioning systems. The air-cons in Australia are a little different to those we have at home. The don't just have a large box with a fan outside their houses, but they also consist of a wall-mounted unit inside the house as well. At this point it all gets a little complicated to explain why there is an indoor unit as well as the outdoor unit, but it has something to do with recycling of air. The job is pretty unglamorous and consists mainly of clerical duties such as answering and directing phone calls, collecting and sorting the mail, ordering office supplies, and entering data.


As mundane as it sounds, I actually really enjoy what I am doing and the people I work with. Maybe it's merely the fact that I am making money and it feels good to know that I am going to be able to stave off my mounting debts, but I look forward to going to work and I always feel good when I am there. Every time I go in it is busier than the time before and the spirits are high among my colleagues. There's a happy comraderie that I miss from the early days at Baby Banz. I am perfectly busy.



I am also beginning to pack up my room. It's only two weeks until I am home! I can't believe how fast these few months have gone. This weekend I went to the beach and got my first sunburn, but only a little here and there and on my eyelids. Never in my life have I gotten sunburned on my eyelids! It's been around 100 degrees the last few days and I'm trying to get by without a fan until I get back in January. I don't know how I'm going to bear this kind of heat for the next few months! I hope the next place I live has an A/C! I'm going to be really happy to get back to some cooler weather.

Monkey Mia take 3 and 4

Aussie phrase of the day: stuff it up = screw it up, "I hope she doesn't stuff it up," or on a not-so-nice note you could tell someone to "get stuffed."

The morning of the third day was much anticipated by everyone. Monkey Mia was the ultimate part of the trip, the climax of the story, the reason for coming in the first place. It was all about the dolphins! The famous dolphin feeding was done several times each morning at Monkey Mia, the first one at 7:30am. You can't touch or swim with the dolphins and much to the dismay and disappointment of several people, especially one little girl who cried and cried when the dolphins swam away after the feeding, only a select few people, chosen at random from the crowd, were allowed to feed one of the five dolphins. I was NOT one of the chosen ones, but being so close to them was pretty special in itself. The dolphins were very friendly and playful and had names like Nicky, Shock, and Piccolo. They were identifiable by the markings on their fins, which weren't so easy to find if you didn't know what to look for. One of them was noticeably pregnant and looking quite bulgey. For a half an hour you stand up to your knees in the water hoping that you will be lucky enough to get brushed by a curious swimming dolphin or will be one of the chosen ones to feed them. It was a good 30 minutes that I am very happy to have had despite the fact that I didn't get to feed the dolphin. When else in my life would I get the chance to get so close to a dolphin?

We had a few hours to burn before heading off for another day of adventure in the outback, so I joined my Swiss German friends and my favorite Frenchmen to share some scones with cream and jam and a cappuccino at the seaside restuarant. We finally packed into the Beach Bus again and were off to Ocean Park of Shark Bay where we saw some fantastic marine life up close and personal. We toured a series of aquatic tanks where Loggerhead sea turtles, sting rays, crayfish (rock lobster) and other varieties of fish swam. Of course, the highlight of the tour was the shark lagoon, which was really an inground pool/ pond that is built to resemble a natural ocean setting containing ocean water that is pumped in by a windmill from the nearby bay. The sharks were small, reasonably harmless reef sharks. The largest and most dangerous shark in the tank was the Tiger Shark, given it's name for the dark stripes along it's gray body. Despite the sign warning of danger as you enter the lagoon area, the tour guide calmly assured us if you fell into the water, the sharks would cower in a corner of the lagoon until you had made it safely out of their environment. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time imagining a shark cowering in a corner. That's like saying a lion would hide behind a rock if you were standing in the desert of Africa. I think not. Well, I wouldn't want to try it anyway and why would you post a danger sign if there wasn't really any danger? Hmmm.

We made our way out of Shark Bay and back to the Great Northern Highway, which isn't so great as it is only two lanes most of the way and surrounded by bush and desert. However, we were headed toward a truly amazing sight; the oldest living organism on the planet, the reason for life - literally. I had a great appreciation for this creation because if it weren't for the stromatolites, as they are called, the world, essentially, would never have existed. They don't look too spectacular, but again I couldn't help but feel grateful for these bulbous gray forms that were growing in clumps along the shore. The stromatolites formed 3.5 billions years ago and for 2 billions years they were the only sign of life on earth; these large, lumpy, asphalt-looking rocks. During their first 2 billions years on earth the stomatolites created lots of oxygen via algaelike microorganisms that live on their surface and raised the oxygen level by 20 percent, allowing for the creation of other lifeforms, such as you and me! Pretty major stuff for such mediocre looking things and pretty amazing that they still exist today!

After the stromatolite experience we walked down a sandy path to an old telegraph station and museum. I read about this place in my Bill Bryson book, In a Sunburned Country, and was eager to explore it. I didn't actually get to go into the telegraph station, but it bears a legendary story of a linesman who once fixed a telegraph line naked... and there's a picture to prove it in the museum. Instead, I opted to visit the neighboring cafe/ gift shop, which boasted, on a rustic sign hanging outside, that it was air-conditioned and that appealled to me more at that moment than a photo of a naked linesman. But I was lucky enough to enjoy the photo anyway, in postcard form. Several slots in the postcard rack inside the gift shop were reserved for the image of the naked linesman standing at the top of his ladder. It's only a discreet shot of his backside, but very exciting to see what Bryson described in his book. I had to buy one.

We were on the road again after a quick lunch at a picnic area near the telegraph station. We travelled back toward the coast to find our humble abode for the evening. The scenery had changed slightly as we drove further south toward Perth. It was oddly reminiscent of... home. It was America's midwest! It was almost like I had gone to sleep and woken up back in Missouri during a dry season. There were rolling hillsides, tree-lined wheat fields and grazing cattle. There were windmills and country homes every couple of miles. WA or MO, I wasn't sure anymore. Then we reached the coast. Oh, no... we're definitely not in Kansas anymore. We were staying at a hostel overlooking the ocean. Another dip in the ocean, another glorious sunset, even better than the last. Then stargazing!

Cleggy took us down to the beach after dinner to show us some constellations. He explained the star signs or zodiacs and where they were in the sky. Scorpio sits just on the horizon as it is the sign for October to November, thus the sun sets into Scorpio until mid-November when the star sign changes to Sagittarius. Cleggy pointed out Capricorn - that's me! - Aries and Pisces, the Milky Way, and two much smaller galaxies that looked like little smudges in the clear night sky. It was a very fun and memorable astronomy lesson.

The next day started with the usual bowl of corn flakes, toast with jam, and cup of coffee. We didn't linger long before we were back on the road to Perth. The last day and it would be bound to go just as fast as the other three had. It was a fairly uneventful rest of the way home, with short stops for lunch in Geraldton and a leg stretch and ice cream at the Billabong roadhouse again. We pulled into Perth with daylight to spare. You can see by my many musings over the 4 Day Monkey Mia Safari - as it was called in the brochure - it was a relaxing, yet... colorful trip. From the sunsets and sandy beaches to the personalities of the people I met, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope you enjoyed the ride, via my blog, as well. This small bit of travel has left me with the travel itch to see more of Australia. I can't wait for Sydney in December!

Monkey Mia Part 2

Aussie phrase of the day: pulling the piss = teasing or giving a hard time, "I'm just pulling the piss, mate."

Every day begins with a healthy slathering of sunblock to all exposed areas of the body. Surprisingly everyone on the tour was very conscientious of wearing ample amounts of the gooey white stuff, thus encouraging me to do the same. Even if we were going to be cooped up for the better part of the day in the tour bus, everyone put it on, first thing in the morning. And so that was how we started day numero dos to Monkey Mia. I'm sure by now you are wondering if and when we are going to actually get to this desert oasis with the funny name. All in good time, my friends, all in good time. As our tour guide liked to remind us throughout this mini adventure, we were now on Western Australian time, that is that WA also stands for Wait Awhile.

First stop on this day's drive was the picturesque rocky coastline of WA and Nature's Bridge, another rock formed bridge similar to the one I saw in Albany, but not as close up or spectacular. Then it was on to Kalbarri National Park's Murchison Gorge, where we visited Nature's Window. We drove for miles across a rutted, sandy, washboard road before coming to our destination. The flies were out in force again, but this time everyone was protected with fly nets... except for two Chinese girls who complained the most out of everyone about the flies, but didn't want the fly nets because it would mess up their pictures. "Stupeed, girls!" The Belgian guy exclaimed in the best French accent I've ever heard. The Belgian managed to complain about most things, yet I liked him right away. He was everything you would expect of a typical Frenchmen, whiney and arrogant, always looking smug and displeased with a furrowed brow and curled lip, like he just smelled something really bad. He was always ready and willing to let you know what he thought, even if it was only to say, "Speak English, you Swiss Germans. So f-ing rude!" He would even tell off inanimate objects, like the window screen that fell out at the beach resort. Even his laugh was on the maniacal side and the way he pronounced kangaroo sounded like he was saying Congo. For a whole day I kept wondering why he was so excited about eating Congo meat... and what the hell was Congo meat anyway?

We arrived to the Nature's Window area, which reminded me of a much shallower version of the Grand Canyon, and trekked through the dusty, rocky terrain in flip flops and fly nets to see yet another natural rock wonder. As you can see in the photo, Nature's Window is a rock formation carefully situated on a clifftop overlooking a dried up river bed. Pretty exciting stuff, eh? It's pretty enough to take a picture, but as to whether anyone really cared how it got there, I doubt. It was a whole 10 minutes to walk to the rock structure, take a photo, and walk back to the picnic area on the summit where we started. Lunch was sandwiches which were to be prepared expeditiously before the flies could eat all the lunch meat, lettuce and tomatoes. Cleggy cleverly and strategically placed a piece of ham at the end of the picnic table to divert the flies away from the rest of the food for ease of the sandwich making process. Sure enough, within seconds, sixty or so flies had covered the piece of ham in a crawling black mass. As soon as your sandwich was made, you wrapped it in a brown paper bag - TO GO.

From there we drove for several more hours until we reached Shell Beach, which is exactly that, a beach made up of millions of tiny white shells, not a drop of sand could be found. The most amazing part of it was how far the beach extended. There was probably two-thirds of a mile of beach spreading out into the water. After a stroll across the shallow shell shorline and a few photos, we were on our way again. Finally, we arrived at the cozy and welcoming Monkey Mia Beach Resort just hours before a sunset that would be too beautiful to miss. We settled into the charming resort with hours to spare. We enjoyed a swim in the ocean, then watched as the sun settled over Shark Bay (photo). It was the first sunset we got to watch, but it wouldn't be the last. As evening quickly wrapped us in it's blanket of stars everyone was reluctant to leave the peacful beach. There are more stars in the southern skies over Australia than I have ever seen in any sky before. I could've fallen asleep right there on the beach watching the shooting stars while the warm ocean breeze blew over me, b t eventually I crept off to bed because the best part was yet to come...

Monkey Mia Day 1

Aussie word of the day: bickie, short for biscuit = cookie, "Eating bickie's for brekky can make you sick."

As you may be catching on, Aussie slang is one of a kind. I've never known anything quite like it and before you know it, you end up with sentences like this one: "In the arvo last Chrissy the relos rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the chockies, bickies and lollies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo." Ask me to interpret and it may take a few minutes, but the whole point is, Aussie slang is clearly it's own language and the poor folks learning to speak English in this country... well, good luck to 'em is all I can say. It's a bit of a mystery even for us native English speakers. I actually had lengthy conversations with some Swiss Germans, a Spaniard, and a Belgian last weekend on my tour to Monkey Mia about how hard they are finding it to learn English in Australia. I told them they should have learned English in America, at least we speak slower than Australians. But then again, I am biased.

We headed off on the first day of our little jaunt up the coast of Western Australia into the northern countryside and then the outback in a little blue bus called the Beach Bus. Fourteen foreigners, mostly Swiss German, and myself, the only American and native English speaker other than the tour guide, would be smushed together in this cozy little bus for four days. We were guided by the amiable, but sometimes strange tour guide, Cleggy, who turned out to be as equally knowledgable about astronomy as he was about the bush country of WA. His knowledge of astronomy lead to a wonderful lesson in stargazing on the final night of the trip, but more on that later. Cleggy is a self-proclaimed free-spirited nomad who simply loves to travel. He has been working as a tour guide for 8 years, but admitted that coming on 32 it's getting time to settle down a bit and plant some roots. Yeah, right, is all I could think. Hasn't anyone told him free birds don't like to be caged?

We were off to the Pinnacles to get lost in the desert. After a few hours of driving we stopped at a roadhouse called Billabong to stretch our legs and grab some nibbly's for the road. Stepping outside the bus, you could already feel the temperature had risen 10 or more degrees in only a few short hours. This was the same thing that happened driving south to Albany in September. Only a few hours outside the city and the temps had drastically changed. Soon we would be baking in the sweltering sun of the Pinnacles desert and infested with black flies.

We didn't actually get lost in the desert, but that's kind of how you feel when you turn off the highway onto a vast, sandy track that you can barely tell is supposed to be a path for tourists to drive on. It was definitely off-roading in the most literal sense and a dune buggy would have been more appropriate. The Pinnacles, as you can see in the photo above, are a natural wonder. Their creation began like all things natural and wonderful; during prehistoric times. Also, like many natural wonders they were formed by an aging process involving layers of stone being built up over time then eroded by water until you have the limestone pillars you see today. Some are pointy like mountains and others a little more phallic looking, but all are astonishing to look at.

After the Pinnacles, we took a brief lunch break at Jurien Bay (photo), where the black flies were aggressive, as one tour member described and relentless. It gives me goose bumps just thinking of the way they swarmed us, landing anywhere and everywhere on a person's body. The tour guide tried persuading everyone to take a dip in the beautiful blue waters of the bay, but, unfortunately, everyone was so miserable and distracted by the flies that they just wanted to get back in the protection of the bus and go. By day two, nearly everyone had purchased fly nets before going insane. Having your face protected from the flies seemed to make them landing on the rest of your body okay and the tour was a little more enjoyable. We loaded onto the bus and continued travelling on to a farm where we would be staying for the night in a 6 bedroom bungalow. We were fed a hearty homestyle meal and settled into the relaxing evening.

At some point in the middle of the night I woke up to go to the bathroom, which meant I had to go outside... in the dark... on an unfamiliar farm in bush country where wild things like giant poisonous snakes and rabid dingoes are hunting for stray animals and whatever else might be lurking around.. like me! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! This was all of a sudden reminiscent of a time at girl scout camp when I had the same fear of walking to the latrine in the middle of the night by myself. However, I'm pretty sure the dangers in the woods of Missouri aren't quite comprable to those of the outback in Australia. But I had no choice, it was risk my life or wet myself. I'm glad I decided to go with the first option. As I opened the door to walk into the dark abyss what to my wondering eyes should appear peeking just above the horizon directly in front of me was the Southern Cross, the star formation found on the Australian flag. Until this very trip I didn't even know it was an actual constellation in the sky, so I was, at once, astounded and thrilled and feeling quite lucky to witness this, especially because I am no expert in astronomy and it is usually not so easy to discern one star configuration from another. But there it was, a magical moment indeed. That magical moment was short-lived, however, as my astonishment quickly dissolved into fear because the Southern Cross actually sits upside down in the sky at this time of year and you know upside down crosses usually equate with evil, boogeymen, demons and such. Here I go again. So I quickly turned and scurried toward the toilets and then back to bed without so much as a hoot owl beckoning in the dark.

Restless

Aussie phrase of the day: Spot on = exactly right, "You're spot on!"

I just finished a bowl of really unenjoyable ramen noodles and some toast with peanut butter... remind you of college? I was trying to watch a movie I downloaded on iTunes yesterday, but I wasn't really into it so I checked my fave blogs on Glamour.com and decided that's what I should do... instead of writing the feature article that's due in class tomorrow. No worries, I got an extension. I've written myself nearly to death. Every day I've been staring at my computer screen for hours on end, typing away til my fingers nearly bleed, my butt and back ache and my eyes are blurry. I'm sorry I haven't had more interesting things going on in my life and in Oz and that I've been so damn whiney in my recent blogs. The bottom line is I'm here to get my Master's degree and eventually that was going to start taking over. The first month or so I felt like I was walking around with a heady glow, like I was in a fairy tale and life was finally getting started for me. There was so much to do and see and friends to make. It was all very exciting and fast. That's what they (school counsellors) call the 'honeymoon' period. That honeymoon seems like ages ago now.

This weekend will be new and exciting and will have a few pics to go along with it! I'm going to a place called Monkey Mia. It's several miles north of Perth and I've wanted to go there since my first visit to Australia... mostly to feed the dolphins, which I hope to do this weekend! It will be nice to get away again and couldn't come at a better time... the end of my semester! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

The end

Aussie word of the day: rubbish bin = trash can, it's pretty self-explanatory, instead of trash can you just say rubbish bin.

Except for daylight savings starting this weekend here in Perth and the beginning of summer, everything else is coming to an end. It is the end of October and almost the end of the year. The end of the semester is in sight (just two more weeks!), the end of my scuba certification course, the end of the 30's for one friend! Happy BIG 4-0, by the way! The end sounds so sad, so tragic, but why should it? The end is also the beginning for new things and sometimes brings a little relief and freedom with it, like quitting my job and coming to Perth. The end means the beginning of something else, something new. It is the sound of hope and renewal, like springtime or fall. The trees must shed their leaves in the fall to welcome the vibrant new green ones in the spring and everyone forgets that those trees were so stark and bare for the last few months. It is the end of being single for my friend Sarah who got engaged in Niagara Falls last weekend and also the end of being pregnant for my friend Teagan who welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world last week. But most people would look at Sarah and Teagan and only see the beginning of something new, a new marriage and, in both cases, a new life. And right about now it is starting to look like the end of our nice weather as the clouds roll in over Perth.

The thing I am most excited about ending aside from the semester, is my scuba course which has taken me over a month to complete with all the bad weather and crazy scheduling. Today, was my first ocean dive! I really enjoyed it and saw some really great things. We visited a dive trail in Rockingham, 30 minutes south of Perth. The dive trail consisted of a string of sunken boats and airplanes connected by a rope. The boats and planes are not side by side, but spread out over a few metres of ocean floor about 20-30 feet apart. The sunken boats and planes are covered in all forms of sealife, from marine plants and coral to various types of fish. We mostly saw smaller fish today. I petted a real life seahorse, which was pregnant, held sand dollars and touched star fish and other interesting things. It was really amazing seeing those things alive in the ocean instead of dried up and dead. I could've stayed down there all day. Of course, that may have had more to do with my inability to get out of the water without falling down and once you are down, there isn't much hope for getting back up. In the shallower water along the shoreline, my legs were like jelly and I couldn't catch my balance to bring myself back up with the weight of the scuba gear holding me down and all the waves crashing against me. It was pretty embaressing, but luckily I did make it back to my feet before the guys had to drag me to the beach. I also had trouble getting my fins on in the water, but by the end of the day I was a natural *cough*. So now that it is nearly the end of my scuba certification, I will have the freedom of scuba diving anywhere in the world! Next stop, The Great Barrier Reef! See how good The End can be?!?! The underwater world is my oyster.. haha!

It was also the end of my loss of appetite from the stress I've been having over the last week and a half. So what could be better when you feel like eating again than KFC! Good ole American Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is actually the first time since I arrived here to eat American fast food, but it was damn good! Tomorrow is another ocean dive, this time off a boat. Today was a shore dive where you walk into and out of the water. Then tomorrow night there is an American style Halloween party on campus... Saturday is a day of exploring Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth, followed by... the gay pride parade. It wasn't my idea, but who knows.. it might be fun! That's why gay people are called gay right.. because they are always happy and fun! Besides that, my gay American pal, Charlie, is hosting the Halloween party Friday night. It's a weekend of gaydom!

The End

To stay or to go?

Aussie phrase of the day: Rocked up to = got to (like walked up to), "My friends and I rocked up to the party about 7 o'clock." or "I rocked up to work late."

That is the question. I just found out today that two of my good friends that are here on exchange might be staying at ECU to get their masters degrees as well. They are German and the education system in Germany sounds like shit from what they have told me. I am really excited to hear that they might stay because then our circle of friends won't be broken after all! Not that I am against making new friends, but it's so nice when you can keep your friends around a while once you have made such a good connection with them. The only problem is that it is a lot of money for them to stay and go to school here and Germany doesn't offer federal school loans.

As you all know, I am coming back to the States for a month over the holidays. I am ready to go home and run away from my assignments and the stresses of my life here in Oz. I am excited to see everyone again, especially Teagan's new baby girl, Danna Kate, and my long lost pal, Sarah, who moved to Ohio two months before I left for Australia. But as ready and excited as I am to go home, I am also starting to remember why I left the beloved 'burg in the first place. I was purely bored having never experienced much life outside of the great midwest state of Missouri. Everyone I meet here asks me where I am from in the States. They probably expect something really exciting like a well-known city like New York or LA, or at least a state they have heard of, like Texas or Florida. Alas, they always wait with a look of anticipation for an explanation when I say Missouri. I just say, "it's right in the middle.. lots of fields and cows." I guess I should tell them I live near the B-2 bomber.

So I'm not really sure what I should do with all my time in Missouri. One particular friend here keeps asking me if I am still going home and what I am going to do there for a month. Of course, my family and friends are there and who better to celebrate the holidays with than your loved ones. Do you have a better suggestion, my friend? But recently it has occurred to me that maybe my friend is right to wonder what I will be doing at home for a month because I have started wondering myself. I can do most of my catching up with friends and get my fill of American home-cooking within a few weeks. I can talk to family on the phone at normal hours of the day where we are on the same day on a phone instead of the computer, but I don't have a car to drive, a cell phone number, or a job in Warrensburg. That is when fear strikes my heart.. and it occurs to me that when you leave home for any significant amount of time, returning to the place you used to call home will never be the same. It will never be the place it was when you were growing up or going to college, where you had friends to hang out with and keep you entertained. Returning will always be pleasureable but only temporary. Having a taste of another place leaves me forever changed and with a knowledge that I will never return home to stay. I am already restless to come back to the city and my life here in Perth.

Hellfire and damnation

Aussie phrase of the day: chuck a sickie = to call in sick to work, "I am thinking of chucking a sickie on Monday."

The weeks are growing progressively busier as I attempt to juggle my new schedule of work and school. I finally got a job last week as a receptionist for an air conditioning company. I need new work clothes and a foot massage (ideas for X-mas presents!) and a fan for my room. Today was about 94 degrees, a huge jump from the mild 70 degree weather we've been having. I'm hot and I can't concentrate and I've had the worst day! For one thing I would have loved to have gone to the beach, but I have two assignments due Tuesday. So I tried to focus on my studies... but then I had two panic attacks in a row. I realized that I have work on Monday, but have already scheduled two meetings that day for school, one in the morning and one in the afternoon that can't be rescheduled. I tried to think of how I could cram it all in, but I just don't think I can do it. I'm going to have to call my new boss and tell him that I can't come to work on Monday now, but hopefully he will understand. Then when I started getting down to the business of my homework, I realized I've lost my USB! It had a lot of important stuff on it, including the info for one of my assignments due Tuesday. So I spent a good part of my afternoon trying to track it down with no luck. I finally had one of the girls from my class send the info to me because I had luckily saved it to her USB as well and now I am ready to begin studying again... at 5pm :(

Last night was a lot better than today. The Dutchies, another American girl and I went to the Perth Glory soccer match (is that better mom?!). We had free tickets so we went for the helluva it. It got pretty cool when the sun went down so we decided we needed to find some hot chocolate to warm us up after the game. You might be wondering how we could be drinking hot chocolate one minute and dying of heat the next, but that's the weather here in Perth - screaming hot during the day, cold at night. We went to a new place in Northbridge called The Moon Cafe. Off the beaten path of the other bars in Northbridge, The Moon Cafe offers a tranquil, bohemian/ 50's diner theme and serves meals until early morning. Always good for those after bar munchies. We shared nachos and a delicious strawberry dessert pizza and tried every kind of flavored hot drink they served, from caramel white hot chocolate to a frangelico flavored latte and went home with very full tummies. We even made friends with a cabbie who let 6 of us cram into his cab, then told us if we were stopped by the cops that we had to tell them we forced him to take all of us, then he gave us his number and told us to call him next time we were out.

I hope everyone is enjoying their comfortably cool fall weather and is having a wonderful weekend!

When it rains it pours

Aussie phrase of the day: "How ya going?" = "How are you? " or "What's up?"

I feel like the week should be over already, but there's still one more day.. for me that is. Well, if I was a little bit bored last week, the last two days have certainly made up for it. I am volunteering with the Multicultural week activities at "uni", which, unfortunately are mainly enjoyed only by the international students. I'm sure it was much the same when I was an undergrad in the States. The multicultural week was not something the non-international students got involved with even though it is open for everyone to attend. Now I am wishing I was more into it when I was an undergrad - international student or not. It's a lot of fun!

Yesterday was a viewing of a documentary by a fellow ECU student on Kenya, followed by a sausage sizzle, a very popular type of BBQ here in Australia. Basically, a sausage sizzle consists of grilling up a bunch of sausages, usually beef sausages, but ours were chicken and lamb. You eat them in a "roll" (bun) sometimes with grilled onions and/ or tomato sauce (ketchup), BBQ or sweet chilli sauce. However, I am told that sauces are not highly regarded here in Oz, thus the reason they charge 40-60 cents a packet! And free refills on drinks.. forget about it! Sausages in Oz are the equivalent of hot dogs in the States - better tasting, but just as bad for you. So if you are having a friend over to your house you might say to them, "we'll just have a sausage sizzle at my place."

Today the multicultural activity consisted of a festival with various booths for trying int'l cuisine and other cultural wares such as my new Henna tattoo in the photo. The black part is the Henna, which is a mixture of crushed henna herb and oil that is painted on with a tiny brush. The Henna dries then flakes off leaving an orangey-golden stain that lasts 6-10 days, which is longer than my spray painted kangaroo lasted! Spray paint and Henna tattoo's.. what next? A real one? Only time will tell.. (ooo, mom is not going to like that one.) There was also dancing and music performances from all over the world. My favorites were the African dancing, Irish music, aaannd I played the drum in a Brazilian drum band - think Rio de Janeiro meets Mardi Gras with whistles and crazy beats! I rocked!

Tomorrow and the next day will be filled with more multicultural events and by Sunday I will be ready for a big nap! At some point I have to catch up with my friends this weekend, especially my friend, Ina, who lost an uncle and a close friend last weekend, one to cancer, the other in a car accident in Italy. One of my biggest fears of being so far away from home is that something terrible will happen to my loved ones and I won't be there or can't get back to the States. So everyone BE SAFE.. for me.. and everyone else in your life!

I am also posting a pic of me and Gail, my American friend from Maryland/ Delaware. This was taken on Monday from a bridge in King's Park that overlooks the Swan River. Now I am going to go chow down on some sushi with my housemate and neighbors who are always eating at ridiculously late hours of the day. Ciao!

Back to the grind

Aussie word of the day: capsicum = bell pepper, "I'm going to put some red capsicum in my salad."

It's back to school this week, which I am a little grateful for. I wasn't really that busy last week, but I hit up King's Park Friday and Monday for the wildflower festival. There is a yummy little cafe there that serves the best carmel latte and scones with cream and jam and offers a spectacular view of the city and Swan River. Friday night I went on a river cruise with Gail's field hockey team, which was a lot of fun. We had drinks and a barbie on the boat. Saturday I went to the beach and the ballet, then relaxed again on Sunday. I also downloaded the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy on iTunes. Looks like another good season for the Grey's doctors.

There are only a few more weeks of school. One of my classes ends at the end of October and I will be finished with all my classes in mid-November, just in time for Thanksgiving! I am undecided about coming home a week earlier than planned to get an extra holiday into the break. I guess it depends on my job status. Well, that's all for now. Sorry I don't have more exciting news, more next time!

The boredom blues

Aussie phrase of the day: full-on = busy, intense, "My weekend was full-on" or "that girl is really full-on."

My weekend may have been full-on and Tuesday when I had three interviews, but the rest of this week has been a wash. I couldn't plan anything because the forecast was grim and rainy, but then the days would turn out fine. Today was supposed to be nice, but instead it has rained. You think the weathermen in the States are bad!!! I don't even think the weathermen/ women are meterologists. The people who give you the forecast on TV are there to look cute and read the forecast to you.. that's it! No training in weather whatsoever, just broadcast journalists. Trust me, I had one as a guest lecturer in one of my journalism classes.. she's just a pretty face, with nice hair, and cute clothes and half the guys want to date her.

So I got a few job offers this week, which I've declined. I was so desperate a few weeks ago and now that the calls are coming in I'm being picky. I have two more interviews next week, one of which I'm sure I will get. One of which I REALLY want because it is a non-profit housing organization. I've been interested in non-profit agencies since I was an undergrad getting my PR degree. It's something I think I can put my whole heart into since I also like helping people and have worked with Habitat for Humanity before. Maybe it will open the doors to where I really want to end up. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm posting some photos of some wonderful things that I received this week from home. One is a card from my mom and the other is a beautiful picture frame from my friend Sarah that I just received today. Both the card and picture frame were handmade... just for me! How lucky am I? I have such loving and devoted friends and family that I had to share their handcrafted gifts with everyone! Sarah's frame also came beautifully wrapped in layers of colorful tissue, gift wrap, and bubble wrap.. it was like opening one of those Russian dolls! It also had a musical card with it. I felt like it was my birthday. Thank you mom and Sarah for your thoughtfulness. Your card and frame were true pick-me-ups this week!

On a final note: Everyone should read In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. It is a funny book about Australia that is written not only to entertain, but also talks about the different cities, regions and culture in Australia. I haven't read it yet, but it has been recommended to me by several people from around the world. My mom is reading it right now and says it makes you laugh out loud.

Among the fields of gold

Aussie word of the day: nappi = diaper, "The baby's nappi is wet."

There was no ocean diving last week due to inclimate weather that wasn't so inclimate, that was just the instructor's excuse not to go out. The weather last week was beautiful and perfect for diving, but oh well. Perhaps this weekend! Instead, Gail and I visited the zoo. It was much the same as any zoo and I've already petted the roo's and koala's, so was not nearly as enamored by them as I was before. The ferry ride across the Swan River to get to the zoo in South Perth was much more entertaining with a spectacular view of the city (see photo) and relaxing as well.

Spring has literally sprung south of the equator. There are wildflowers galore spreading their colorful glory across WA. As I rode the tour bus south of Perth this weekend to Albany the fields were blanketed in a bounty of golden spring wildflowers... I'm not sure Sting was talking about WA's golden fields of canola flowers when he wrote the song Fields of Gold, but it definately applies. Between the fields of gold were fields of sheep grazing in the morning sun, some wearing a full coat of wool and some newly shorn. The fields were reminiscent of home divided by tree lines and dusty (out)backroads. Only 2 hours south of the city and the weather was already cooler with a brisk sea breeze blowing inland from the Southern Ocean. The air was fresh and crisp like a perfect autumn day. There are also wild calla lillies, their leafy bushes growing along creekbeds and in the local gardens. This is a true delight for someone from America who has to pay a lot for a bouquet of the elegent white flowers.

On our way to Albany we stopped at a beach for lunch, then travelled up the hilly region to a lookout point for a panoramic view of Albany and the bay. Next stop was the Natural bridge and The Gap, a rocky area where millions of years ago Australia was once connected to Antarctica and is now somewhat reminiscent of the coast of Ireland (according to my Irish friend, Rory), with its rocky and green cliffs. We stayed the night in a hostel in Albany. It was my first experience in a hostel and will not be my last. It was pleasant enough, with shared rooms, toilets and showers. They even fed us dinner, which is unusual, according to my hostelling friends. There were 4 beds or 2 bunkbeds to a room. I shared a room with Debbie and Rory and a Pakistani guy named Rafik (Rafeek). At first I joked that Rafik would cut my throat in the night because I was American, but before the night was over we had made friends with him as we enjoyed a few microbrews at the local pub with the other people on our tour.

The next day we headed back to Perth with a stop at the Tree Top Walk. The Tree Top Walk involves a metal semi-suspended bridge that climbs and weaves among the tall Tingle trees. The highest point on the bridge was 40 metres or 132 feet high. Despite the fact that the bridge was made of metal and only semi-suspended it was still swaying and the boys were purposely rocking it more. I carefully braced myself on the narrow bridge while trying to hurry along as I struggled with a sudden fear of heights and an uncomfortable case of vertigo. I made it safely back to the bottom without throwing up or crashing hundreds of feet to the forest floor.

This week is semester break, but many people are putting in extra study time or working on projects that are due next week. The weather is also rainy again, so I may not do much this week aside from continuing my job search. I will email more photos to everyone as there were too many to post on the blog.

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Aussie word of the day: Tea = dinner, "What would you like for tea?"

Hello again, my faithful friends... it's been an extremely busy few weeks and I am finally getting some time to relax and write a little. Springtime in Oz is not impressing me much, there has still been little sunshine since I got here 2 months ago. Yesterday and today we were a little lucky and got to glimpse some sunshine, but the rain came back today.

I finally got some money last week so I could afford to enjoy the weekend catching up with friends and going to a bar in Subi. That's me and Debbie in the photo. Also pictured is me in my wet suit at scuba diving training this weekend. The safety training we went through yesterday in the pool nearly killed me, not to mention I was diving with a hangover from the night before - not recommended. I kept getting severe leg cramps in my calves and was a little freaked out at first.. it felt really unnatural and clausterphobic breathing entirely on a regulator. After we got adjusted to the gear and breathing aparatus, we equalized the pressure in our ears and went through a variety of safety procedures. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the day. I'm looking forward to the regular diving we will do this week.. if the weather holds out.

I'm still looking for a job and honestly can't believe I haven't gotten one yet! I've applied to over 10 places, mostly admin. I'm going to start hitting up the cafes this week. The semester break is nearly here and I am more than ready for it! Just me, the sun, sand and ocean!

This weekend I am going south to the historic coastal town of Albany, where the trees grow tall and Western Australia's roots run deep. According to the Albany tourism Web site Albany is the site of the first European settlement in Western Australia and is steeped in early Western Australian maritime history. I know there is a ship wreck there that divers can explore, but I will not be diving it this weekend. So look for the Albany blog to come!

I will blog again this week after my under water adventures Thursday and Friday just to let you know that I didn't get eaten by a shark.

Almost home..

Aussie word of the day: Brekky = short for breakfast. A tv ad for Hungry Jack's (Burger King) the other day advertised "Brekky starting at 6 a.m."

G'day my warm weathered friends! Six weeks in and mid-term is nearly here (sigh). I'm busting to do some more travelling although I won't be if I don't get some money fast! This is the quest of the week.. I know you've all heard it before, but I swear this will be my last week without a job. I'm finally feeling the strain of no income and it isn't pretty... especially for my friends who have been kind enough to take pity on my (literally) poor soul.

Where did my money go? See above photo. A nice big piece of mud cake warmed up with ice cream and a capuccino, $10. My favorite Australian beer, Crown Lager (with the gold label), $7. Being a poor uni student who pretends she has more money than she does, priceless :) You can best tell this by the humongous, yet incredibly fake cz cocktail ring on the right hand. The photo was taken by my one and only American friend, Gail, last Friday when we were dining at The Brass Monkey, a favorite pub'n grub spot in Northbridge. I felt like having one last hoorah before I officially couldn't afford to eat this way anymore. We then hit up a hip and trendy new nightclub called The Saint in Scarborough (Scar-brah) Beach. More pix to follow. I couldn't afford the cab ride home so I stayed with Gail so she could give me a ride back in the morning. I will be repaying her with an all-you-can-eat sushi night in the city.

Saturday was my friend, Debbie's birthday where I stuffed myself silly with appetizers and snacks in anticipation of running out of food at home... you know, like animals that hibernate and eat shitloads in the off season. Don't worry, I'm not ballooning up.. yet. I'm still going to the gym and when I do run out of food, I can live off all the fat I stored up for days! Yesterday, was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm.. you know what that means! Hit the beach! I still didn't think the water would be warm enough, but it probably was and next time I will get in.

I can't believe I've been here nearly 2 months now and the reality of the end of term is bittersweet. Although, I will get to go home to see all my loved ones at the end of November - the weekend after Thanksgiving to be exact and will stay through Christmas and my b-day, some of my good friends who are only here on exchange will be gone when I get back and I will be left to seek out the company of new friends. I will also miss half the Australian summer, the better half, while I'm back in the States and will return when the temps are well above 100 degrees Farenheit.

Upon returning to Australia Dec. 30 with my dear friends Gina and her boyfriend Jolly (Chris), we will tour the eastern States (east coast by American terminology), and dive the Great Barrier Reef before I officially return to Perth to commence.. another 6 weeks of school holidays.. yeah!!! That's 3 months off between semesters! When I return to Perth in January there will be plenty to do before classes begin again. I will be settling into a new abode, preferrably a flat with new roommates.. not that I don't like the ones I have now. Maybe I will get a better job or at least some "work experience" to get into the field of journalism. Perhaps I will buy a car, a much desired entity amongst those of us who are just plain fed up on spending half their lives waiting on buses, trains, and cabs or subjecting ourselves to riding a bike to the liquor store to pick up some beer for the weekend and putting it in the cute little basket on the back. My friend, Debbie, who will be here the same duration as I am, bought an '84 Ford hatchback for AUD$400, which is like $300 American.. HA! It's a little rust-spotted, but it runs and that's all us poor uni students care about!

So I will see most of you wonderful readers in a few short months. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day!

Environmental tip of the week

Aussie word of the day: feral = wild, unruly person, sometimes used to describe children, "Look at the little ferals playing."

Hello everyone! Just enjoying a little cold spell here in Perth at the moment before the springtime settles in over the next few weeks bringing lots of hot weather with it.

As Australia is a VERY environmentally conscious country and America is becoming more so each year, I thought it would be relevant to heed the advice of those who know what it's all about. My new Australian environmental contributor is bringing us a most useful green tip this week.

1. Buy a box of the glad zip lock bags

2. When you buy meat from the supermarket it nearly always needs to be repackaged for freezing so split the meat into appropriate zip lock bags and freeze.

3. When you want to have the meat for dinner remove the meat from the bag and place in fridge on a plate.

4. Promptly put the bag straight back into the freezer. This bag can then be used over and over again.

I have been using the same bunch of zip lock bags for over a year and all is good. Saves you money and the environment…

How's that guys? Four simple steps and you are off to a greener planet! Cheers!

Malvern Star

Aussie word of the day: mince = ground beef, a la the mince meat pie, which are very popular to eat in Oz.

I have attached a picture of the original Malvern Star bicycle circa 1970's. This photo was found on eBay as these original Malvern Star bikes are now vintage collector's items. This is the same brand as the bike I now own. The following is a little bit about this Australian invented bicycle brought to you courtesy of my Australian contributor, The Prock.

In 1902 Tom Finnigan began Malvern Star in Glenferrie Road, Malvern, a leafy inner east suburb of Melbourne, Australia. From it's early beginnings Malvern Star set about delivering a range of bicycles built to the highest standards. Malvern Star has created its' own history with the first ever Australian to ride the Tour de France, Sir Hubert Opperman, doing so aboard a Malvern Star, and later going on to win the famous Paris-Brest-Paris race in France and in doing so setting a new record time for the event. Many years later at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics the Australian Team Pursuit aboard what were considered standard track bicycles beat the much favoured USA Team riding the latest in bicycle technology, carbon fibre.

In addition to the Malvern Star, some of Australia's better known inventions include such things as the Hills Hoist, a square rotating clothesline with a crank for "hoisting" the laundry up; boxed wine, technically referred to as a wine cask; latex gloves and the notepad.

Such is Life

Aussie word of the day: push bike or pushy = bicycle, "I rode my pushy to work."

The title of this blog, Such is Life, was originally coined by notorious Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly right before he was hung. He was the Australian Jesse James.

FINALLY! a moment to write, but only a stolen moment. As a few of my dedicated readers pointed out to me, I haven't posted a blog in a while, so I am taking some time out of my very full week to let you all know that I am still alive, but just. My brain is overwhelmed and overworked with reading textbooks and handouts and preparing assignments and writing academic blogs. I like being back at school, but no one said the fun would last forever. The nitty gritty part of school life has commenced.

My big achievement in the last week, however, was not school related. I bought a bike last weekend (see photo). The task of shopping for a used bike I quickly learned to loathe, but was finally blessed in finding one with gears that didn't slip and handle bars that didn't melt to your hand as you gripped them. After I bought my girly purple bike I celebrated by going to the beach with my friends. That's me (above) at Cottesloe beach. People flocked to the beach Saturday for a chance to get some sun and enjoy the "unusually" warm weather.. 80 degrees, unusual for this time of year. Sunday the weather was back to shit again, but I braved the rains and ventured to the Subiaco markets for some cheap, but delicious fresh produce and buttery croissants. Despite the rainy weather, half of Perth decided to go to the markets that day as well. It was nearly impossible to squeeze through the throngs of market-goers, all vying for the best and cheapest produce around.

After my bike purchase, I decided I should forgo my weekly pub/ club visit as my money is quickly dwindling. The purse strings get a little tighter as each week passes without a job under my belt. Getting a job will be my next major achievement, although I've heard and witnessed it is not hard to get one. There's currently an employee shortage in Perth due to the mining boom in the northern part of the state. I found out this morning at my aqua aerobics class that they pay $45 per hour for aerobics instructors! I'm considering getting certified for aqua aerobics as well as lifeguard certification.. lifeguards make $25 an hour. What kind of job do you think I should get? Something casual like a waitress or sales associate at a clothing store? Or should I look for something more suited to my career, like entry level or clerical for a newspaper/ magazine?

Yum-O!

Aussie word of the day: Chook = chicken, "I bought a large chook at the shop." Not used as "I had a chook sandwich."

Mmm..mmm. Tonight was the perfect ending to a pretty good weekend. My roommates and I cooked up a damn good meal of dishes spanning the globe (see photos). From sauteed Chinese broccoli to African mushrooms and super spicy vegetarian Curry, we were six very stuffed and happy people when all was finished.

My weekend got started with a trip to the opera last night to see Rigoletto. My friend had scored two tickets to the dress rehearsal show, and since I've never been to the opera, I went out of curiosity. I was happy to see that they had the lyrics in English on screens on either side of the stage and the setting was very modern, not the old fashioned type of opera with the big flouncy victorian dresses and wigs. The stage rotated to each scene revealing elaborate two-story sets and there was a song in the opera that everyone knows, but obviously I can't sing it for you in writing. After finishing at the opera, we went for drinks at a few nearby bars and before I knew it the night turned into morning and I rolled into my apartment at nearly 6am.

Needless to say, I didn't get up until noon today and did the usual Sunday stuff, mostly laundry, cleaning (inspection tomorrow) and cooking for tonights meal. Life is good...

One of those days

Aussie word for the day: Poofter = homosexual male, "He's cute, but he's a poofter."

We've all had 'em, bad days.. this is the first week when things are starting to not seem so good. I even cried a little. I looked for bikes on Monday and came up with nothing. Three bikes and none of them were good... frustration! It was so easy to buy a used TV, but a used bike, noooo! Monday night was good! I let off a little frustration by partying with my roommates for my roommate Frankie's birthday. We had 20 or so people over to our unit for drinks and nibbly's (snacks). Alcohol, food, and friends makes it all better.

Today, however, is another story. I couldn't get into the bathroom this morning because one of my roommates was in there every time I went to use it, I missed my fitness workshop at the gym, which I had to make an appointment for, because I forgot to turn my alarm clock on, then sat in an empty classroom for 20 minutes for my class to start and realized when I looked at my watch that my alarm clock had been reset an hour ahead of time, so I was an hour early for my class and could've made it to the fitness workshop afterall. I left the classroom and came back an hour later at the correct time only to find out that I shouldn't be enrolled in that class at all because it is a thesis prep course that only 2nd semester students should be taking. Aaaargh!!! So I spent the next 2 hours sorting out which class to add in it's place and then withdrawing from the thesis course.

After my day, I was in desperate need of a drink, instead I just ate some really fattening food. Everyone here says they've gained weight when they've travelled here before. I think that's the way it is anywhere you go, so look forward to some really fat photos of me to come. Just joking, I'm really hoping the gym will prevent that from happening.

Here comes the Sun!!!

Aussie word of the day: Trackies or tracky dacks = track pants, sweatpants, "I'm going to wear my trackies to the gym." (that one's for you, B)

You all know that song in the blog title, right? It's an oldie. That was my motto yesterday because we actually had a full day of sun! For those of you at home in the States who are enjoying the thrill of long sunny summer days may not understand the joy I felt having a warm sunny day. Although, it's kind of like coming into spring after a long hard winter. So what else would you do but go to the beach! Even if the water is still too cold to swim in you can walk around by the beach, enjoy a nice healthy lunch with an ocean view while the sun warms you and the breeze blows in your hair, which is exactly what I did. This is what I love about Australia. Day's like yesterday and today, which is also turning out quite nicely, cloudless and perfect. So I just asked myself, "Why the hell am I still inside, not even out of my pajamas?"

It's been a lazy start to my Saturday. I got out of bed around 11am, fixed myself some coffee and Sultana Bran and started reading my emails, which always turns into hours of reading and responding. I do love hearing from everyone, so keep them coming! It's been keeping me from getting too homesick. Then I got caught up on a month's worth of my favorite Glamour blogs, Storked! (this one is especially good for my prego friends, Katie, Teg or new mums, Maria) and Alyssacentric (this one is actually written by a hot guy in Cali about dating). I highly recommend them to all who like a light, fun read. They give me inspiration for blogging. I also updated my iTunes so I can download the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy in the fall. Although they have Grey's here, American TV shows are a season behind.

So back to life in Oz.. I spent the day watching the brave surfers at Scarborough Beach, anticipating my own surfing ambition. Hopefully, when it's warmer I won't have to wear the silly wet suit that makes you look like a Sea Lion to the sharks that swarm the vast waters of the Indian Ocean. I'm so sorry I didn't get a beach pic, but there will be many more beach photo ops to come! Then I took a trip by train with some of the other ECU international students to Fremantle (Freo), a port an hour south of Perth, where we walked around the markets, ate a yummy pizza dinner (oh, the smell was divine!) and journeyed to the Fremantle Prison for a late-night tour (see photo). The tour is a bit haunted-house-esque. They provide you with tiny torches/ torchlights (flashlights) and guide you through darkened hallways, chambers, and prison yards, while giving you the history of the infamous prison and it's devilish inmates.. some stories funny, some a bit eerie, and a bit of haunting lore mixed in for fun. My favorite part of the tour was the gallows, where 40 men and one woman had been hung from a heavy beam for severe crimes, the last one hung in 1964. The prison officers were nice enough to give those sentenced to the gallows some brandy 30 minutes before hanging to sooth their nerves.

Tonight I am going "south of the river" to a cocktail party in St. James. Everyone have a great weekend, bottoms up!

Minneapolis mayhem

I heard the news this morning in my Radio Journalism class about the Minneapolis bridge collapsing. I'm so out of touch with the US news right now, it's like I'm living in a bubble. I have to start watching and reading more news as a requirement for many of my journalism classes, but it's pretty bad when an Australian knows about a devastating event in my home country before I do. So I got online tonight and watched the segments on MSNBC and became pretty emotional about the whole thing. They kept mentioning the kids on the school buses and it really broke my heart. I hope there are very few fatalities. It was strange being so moved by this event b/c I think if I heard about this in the states I would have taken it more lightly, sad to say. I think being so far removed from the states changes the way you perceive a major event/ catastrophe in your homeland such as this.. even though it wasn't my city/ town, it might as well have been and it could have been my brother, cousin, parent coming home from work or a shopping trip.

Blog, blog, blog

Aussie word of the day: Mark = grade, "I hope to get good marks this semester at uni (short for university.)"

Hi guys! Gonna keep it semi-short and sweet tonight as I still have to write a blog as a part of my class assignment for Media Law and it is due by midnight tonight. I'm going to be the blogging queen, since we have to blog about our text readings every week for the whole semester.

Obviously, classes have commenced this week and I am surprised at how busy I have been. At first I thought my course load was pretty light.. class only 3 days a week with Mondays and Fridays off, but I am finding out quickly that those classes take up a great amount of time, not only in class but on assignments as well. Also, I have some classes with exams and some without, but as you may have guessed the ones without exams involve A LOT of homework.

So I couldn't post a blog without the fun stuff, right? As you can tell by the cute and cuddly picture of me and the kangaroo, I have been experiencing some of the wildlife here in Oz and some of the "wild life" as well, refer to the first picture of me and some friends at the Mustang on the weekend. We visited Caversham Wildlife Park last Saturday where we got to pet the koala's and kangaroos. Then Saturday night a bunch of ECU students got together to hang out at my friend Grethe's penthouse apartment in one of the nicer suburbs in Perth, followed by a nice, looong walk to Northbridge where we stood in line for 30 minutes to get into the Mustang. I had a better time at the beginning of the night than towards the end, but all in all, a good bit of fun!

In closing, does anyone have any good ideas for a graduate thesis topic? If so, please advise asap! Ciao!

From fires to footy

Aussie word of the day: Crook = to feel ill, sick; "He's been crook all week."

I'm hibernating in my room tonight after a full morning of housing orientation. I know that doesn't sound like a very thrilling experience, but let me tell you, I will never die in a fire after the fire safety seminar we had. I even got to put out a small controlled fire with an ABE extinguisher (that's powder form) which are typically used to put out 4 classes of fires; wood/ paper, combustible liquids, flammable gases, and electrical. The classes of fires are identified by letters A-F and there are 6 types of extinguishers, but I won't go into that. If you really want to know just ask me in an email and I'll be happy to share my new fire safety wisdom with you.

After the enthralling fire safety demonstration, the housing office provided us with a "sausage sizzle" basically a cookout where they cook skinny bratwurst-like hotdogs, very yummy! This afternoon the rains came in with a vengence, which makes for the perfect night of watching some good old, classic Aussie rules football on TV. I'm still not a committed sports watcher, but it is interesting watching a sport that is so different from anything in the States. Actually, I would like to know what my sports-nut brother would make of it. From what I can tell Aussie rules is pretty similar to rugby, but I could be wrong. Justin, start looking at flights for next year's rugby season.. that's this time next year!

I watched some of the funniest television ever last night, a show called The Footy Show, footy being short for football (they shorten everything here). I honestly didn't think I would like it because it's a show based on a sport and the humor is different to Americans, but SOOO FUNNY!!! It's somewhere between Dave Letterman and a football pre-game show. And some of the stuff they allow on TV here would make Americans blush. They just don't care! When I was watching a morning television show yesterday, one of the hosts made a reference to balls.. those kind of balls. It's a family show! And TV commercials for Jim Beam with lipstick lezzos (lesbians).. all I could say was WOW! Bevan tells me they have an FCC here, but I'm not sure what those commissioners do all day.

Knackered, but officially enroled (with one 'L')

Aussie word of the day: Knackered = tired, "I'm feeling a bit knackered from staying out late last night."

Hi all! I have been a bit slack on the blogging the last few days due to shear laziness. Unfortunately, there hasn't been anything amazing to write about as the orientation activities have died down and campus has been pretty quiet.

Yesterday, I officially enroled (that's the way they spell it here) in my courses for the semester and am pleasantly suprised at how light the load seems. I am only attending classes Tuesday-Thursday and only have morning class on Thursday. Even so, there will be little down time once I get a part-time job and use my mornings to work.

Last night, I got to enjoy a little off-campus time with some new friends at the Grapeskin, a trendy little cocktail bar in Northbridge and then a comedy show at The Brass Monkey, where I got to hear the Australian perspective of Americans from one comedienne. It's always interesting to see it from the other side. After meeting some other American students last Saturday at the student welcome party, I can definately see it from the other side. The Americans at the party were the ass-slapping, hooping and hollering ones.. except me:) You definately notice it more when you aren't in America with other loud, ass-slapping people.

So you may be wondering why I posted a picture of cereal on the blog. Well, I saw this at the shop (store) and thought it was funny because I instantly recognized the Raisin Bran box, but what is this, Sultana? In Australia raisins are called sultanas. Betcha couldn't live another day without knowing that. But I do think the raisins are bigger and tastier than the raisins in Raisin Bran, so maybe Sultana's are better.

Brrr, shiver

Aussie word of the day: Cuddle = hug, usage: "May I have a kiss and a cuddle?" or "May I have a hug and kiss?"

Saturday the Great Race was postponed due to the weather.. it's been nothing but cold and miserable and rainy. It rains for about 10-15 minutes every hour every day. So instead of the Great Race we had a "cultural" tour in downtown Perth. This included the State Library which is 4 stories tall and contains resource materials only, nothing can be checked out; the art gallery, where they are currently featuring an Egyptian exhibit from the Louvre; and the Western Australian History Museum, where we had a fascinating whirlwind tour of the early years of Australian settlers. All were really good, but it gives me something to go back and see since we really sped through everything. We had lunch at a local community center, then took a train to Subiaco (Subee for short) where we visited the markets. I think the Fremantle markets are much better myself. Subiaco is also where the two local football teams play. We then returned to campus tired and cold. I took a nap, then hung out at my neighbors flat until it was time to leave for the bar in Northbridge. I made it home unscathed at around 1:30am, but was left with a massive headache/ hangover yesterday. I think I underestimated the strength of their beer.. Ouch! Thus, I did not get out of bed until noon yesterday. Took a quick walk around the campus, sat in a park eating my lunch of cheeseballs and Vanilla Coke, then returned to my room and surfed the internet and made my blog, which I hope you are enjoying.

I am planning on buying a TV this week. I think I've about had it with the dead quiet of my flat and my antisocial flatmates, so I found a used TV in the Quokka, also known as the classifieds. For you Warrensburgian's this is eqivalent to The Star Advertiser that comes out on Wednesday's, except the Quokka comes out on Thursdays. Another goal this week is to get a bike. It's a 20 minute walk into the city, which isn't bad and I could use the excercise, so I might venture that way tomorrow, but a bike will definately come in handy too.

Hello from Oz!

When Dorothy proclaimed to Toto, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto" she definately wasn't speaking of this Oz.. and I think it's a little hard to get here by tornado.. and I haven't killed any witches - yet. Actually, I have been trying to aclimate to the weather much to my dismay as I was convinced there would be no problems adjusting to 50 degree weather when our winters are usually in the 30s. But low and behold, I'm FREEZING! Among many things Australians are weird about, they are weird about their heating and cooling systems. Luckily, I have such an oddity as a heater in my tiny, institutional shell of a bedroom, which I have used every day that I have been here.

I live in a 6 bedroom "flat" (see photo, mine is the upper right) with 3 guys and 2 other girls. Think MTV's The Real World only no one really talks to one another because we're all foreign and by foreign I mean not Australian. We all kind of slink around the apartment, quietly avoiding much interaction with each other. Titus is from So. Africa and listens to Afrian tribal music that sounds much like "In the Jungle", maybe I should try out my best "aweemaway" for him. Andrea (Awn-dray-ah) is on exchange from Chile and is the only one I've really talked to much. I forgot what is was like living with other people and it's kind of annoying hearing almost everything that goes on in the apartment.

We've been in orientation for a draining 2 days, but I've met a lot of people. The ones I am most astonished by are the Norwegians and Swedes because they sound like Americans when they speak. I met Joakim (Ya-kim). With his natty dreads pushed back by a head band and a tattoo of his idol Bob Marley on his ankle, I was sure he would tell me he was from Seattle or San Francisco, but his response given in perfect American English was Stockhom, Sweden! The concensus from these internationals are that they watch a lot of American TV, thus the near perfect American speech. They also have names like Kristen (from Norway) and Debbie (from Holland). Shouldn't they be Helga or Svetlana?

I am learning very quickly that lecturers and tutors are your teachers and professors rarely teach, but spend most of their time doing research! Classes/ lectures are given in a lecture theatre. The grading scale is also different with an HD (high distinction) as your highest grade and N (not very good) as your lowest grade. You also call your teachers by their first names instead of their last unless otherwise noted. And by today's experience during orientation, it's ok to have your cell phone on and with you during class. Not only were there several student cell phones ringing during the orientation lecture, but the one doing the most ringing, and I mean every 5 or 10 minutes, was the lecturers phone! For god's sake woman, put it on silent or vibrate! Something.. so that the rest of us can concentrate on the importance of the lecture. Call me old fashioned, but when the teacher's phone is going off more than the students' phones, there's a problem.

I'm off tomorrow on the Great Race, a spin off the Amazing Race, but around Perth City. Then there is a Welcome Week party at a bar in a nearby suburb and hopefully I will get a little bit of R & R on Sunday. I'm also looking into taking a diving course and surfing lessons! More on that later.