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.