HELLO! i'm am so bad at this blogging thing. remember when i was good at it? that was short-lived.
i hate this. everyday at least 3 times a day, i have the thought 'yes, i need to blog about that'. (sad as it may be....) and then when i get here... i've forgotten it all. it's so sad. and the level of insanity the australian show in their pronunciation needs to be told.
so..... i took 4 classes this semester.. and i'm done with 2 of them. i have 5 days to write 2 papers. each at 3,000 words. 5 days to write 6,000 words. i actually, technically have 8 days... but next wednesday i'm going camping with 6 other friends... so i have to finish by wednesday.
BUT! this monday is cowboys-giants. gonna be a good game. i thought the cowboys-eagles game was gonna be big... but the cowboys just threw down! i hope they can do something like that this week! did you know? i watch the nfl. every monday here. and it's amazing. well... getting to watch it. i was thinking how great it would be to throw back a beer during this cowboys-giants game on monday... but it starts at 8:15 am here... so i dont' think drinking at 8am will be approved of... so i might have to hold back.
did i tell you they call Jell-o, jelly? it's so weird. 'let's take a jelly shot'. no. that does not work. i am sorry.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! i have HUGE plans for this upcoming year.... i hope at least some of them happen...
ok.. let's just see what i have in mind..
i get back to america in 1 week. nov 19th.
then t-give.
then a stars game.
then the cowboys-packers game.
then rhode island.
then austin.
THEN! in january: i'm supposed to have a friend visit.. and we'll drive around.
THEN! in the rest of january, i take an even bigger road trip out to LA where i have about 8 friends to visit.
then feb. back here to australia.
then my april break: ROAD TRIP TO ULURU! (ayer's rock!) and other outback tourist sights.
then school.
then june (i think!): DANIELLE'S GETTING MARRIED!
then july: my b-day.. and a rich australian friends wants me to visit her at her HOUSE in FRANCE! then travel to italy and spain with her. oh man.. i really want that one to happen.
then my september break: new zealand.
dang man. WHO WANTS TO COME WITH ME????!!!
i need to go sleep off this excitement
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
She needs to dye her roots...
wow. two months. i haven't written. remember the good ole days when i wrote almost every day? yeah... i didn't have any friends back then. awww....
but here i am! two months. two months. a lot has happened, as i'm sure it has in your life.
let's see, well, i went to ireland with my parents and sister. and it was amazing. my sister and i didn't fight once. I KNOW! it was a miracle. we did sing a lot in the back seat, which i'm sure drove my parents a little nutty. but my dad was too busy concentrating on not driving on the wrong side of the road. and i must say, he only slipped up about a handful of times. however, one of those times was entering a circle/roundabout, while a motorcycle was trying to exit, therefor heading right as us, while 2 new parents and their child in the stroller were walking on the sidewalk, right where i'm sure my father wanted to swerve... but luckily we went left, the motorcycle stayed to our right, and everyone lived.
but ireland was truly amazing. we saw a castle when we wanted. we walked where we wanted. we drove when we wanted. we stopped to lots of archaeological sites. one of which came with its own female german tourist who insisted all other paying toursits must get out of her shot when she was posing for a picture for her husband. my sister does a fantabulous bitch-german-tourist impression now.
we said 'dingle dingle' and 'tweedle dee tweedle dee' a lot.
OH! we also went to the small, and i mean like 1 road, 2 block long town/city/place one of my great-grandfather's left when he was about 16 to come to america to start a life... which led to me. it was really amazing, i wish i could describe it.. oh, but don't think i won't try...
so my father knew his grandfather grew up by this lake, which happened to be the named after the town/city/place he grew up.. the town/city/place we were looking for... that is no longer on any map. before the trip, my mother kept trying to prepare my father for the family luck we have, where not everything turns out well, and this place could be completely gone with no remaining original dwellers. (considering it's not even on the map... as i said). so.... i forget what 2 cities we were making our days journey between, but we left this like ancestral outing to one of our last days, and one of our days with lots of driving we had to get done before the sun went down (because trust me, you did not want us driving on the roads of ireland in the dark.. let alone in perfect sunlight). so, on the map of ireland, the lake (which we think my great-grandfather grew up by) is still drawn on. hooray! our plan: go to the lake.. drive around it... see what is there. so, on our way up, we stopped at the last big city before we hit the small roads to take us to the lake. our plan was to ask a local if they knew of this town/city/place. however, every person i asked was a tourist. so we stopped at this lowly pub on the way to the lake and my sister and i went in.. because surely, itw as about 3pm, and if anyone was going to be in there, it had to be old local men who know all about all. so we found 2 elderly men, probably on about their 8th beer each... we asked if they had heard of it.. and oh man. what a mistake... we stood there for about 8-12 minutes (yes.. 8-12) while they pondered, threw around city names, family names, beer names, sheep names, until i finally thought we could give our thanks and leave.. and then no.. they kept talking. but FINALLY we got out. and the only help the drunk men offered was 'well, if it was there, it's there now'. ok!
off we go to the lake. we find the lake. we turn down a road. a small small road. we come to a fork. we don't know where to go. it's not like this is NYC. there aren't any street signs, no businesses. this is, farm country ireland headquarters. with small irish cottages, and nothing, and i mean NOTHING else. we decide to turn back at the fork in the road, back to the main road, to see if we can start again... and AHHHHHHHH! LOOK! there it was. an erected stone with the place/city/town's name etched into it. we had found it. our roots.
so we immediately jumped out, and took a timed picture of our family with the stone with our digital camera while a car full of old irish ladies drove by us.
anyway, there's much more to this. we went to a pub, who knew of the family line my great-grandfather left behind, we went to the church where we think they were born?, we found a great cemetary in the city over with a lot of tombstones with the family name on it. it was awesome.
so that was one part of ireland.
theeeeeeeennnn... i returned to school. had a 2 week break. and for the first work my good friend N from home came to visit. we spent 4 days in sydney, a few at my university, then he had to leave, but i still had a week left before classes started up again. and N, don't think i'm just breezing over your visit. there were so many stories, i'm just sure the readers are still trying to calm their nerves from my ireland story, i want to give you a chance to catch your breath. for another blog my friends, another blog.
so yes, N came, went, school started back up. i joined my dorm's soccer team, i've had LOTS of assignments, i got sick :( , i've done laundry, painted my nails, lost sunglasses, oh.. and my newest tradition... watching NFL live at 3am with 2 other americans. it's fabulous. sunday nites/early monday mornings, from 3am to about 2pm we watch football, and it's sooo nice. none of htis cricket or australian rules football, or rugby... regular american football.
the first time we put a football game on... all the austrlians kept asking 'is it the superbowl already?'. that is their only exposure to nfl. the superbowl. so everygame they saw, they thought it was the superbowl. also, they can't believe it's called football when you hardly ever use your foot on the ball. well i can't believe they don't pronounce potato and tomato the same way. so i think we're even.
for a while tho, there was a certain cricket tournament, the Twenty20 World Cup or something. and it was very very exciting. i like cricket. the final game came down to India and Pakistan. and boy, were there lots of people watching in the common room. but it was so exciting, because they were all so exciting, and every hit or catch or run people were screaming and the final match was soooooooooooooo close, it literally came down to the last bowl (throw/pitch). it was awesome. india won. it was good stuff.
ok, well my laundry was done in its cycle about 8 minutes ago, and this ended up being fairly long. so i hope you enjoyed and i'll post with more stories from ireland, N's visit, and from my life here at university.
by the way, i only have a month left of classes. a whole school year here is nearly done. then i'll be returning to the states for about 3 months... but then that means i have to start my thesis soon...
i'm thinking of doing a cladistic analysis of the homo habilis specimens. it's very contraversial. what do you think???
but here i am! two months. two months. a lot has happened, as i'm sure it has in your life.
let's see, well, i went to ireland with my parents and sister. and it was amazing. my sister and i didn't fight once. I KNOW! it was a miracle. we did sing a lot in the back seat, which i'm sure drove my parents a little nutty. but my dad was too busy concentrating on not driving on the wrong side of the road. and i must say, he only slipped up about a handful of times. however, one of those times was entering a circle/roundabout, while a motorcycle was trying to exit, therefor heading right as us, while 2 new parents and their child in the stroller were walking on the sidewalk, right where i'm sure my father wanted to swerve... but luckily we went left, the motorcycle stayed to our right, and everyone lived.
but ireland was truly amazing. we saw a castle when we wanted. we walked where we wanted. we drove when we wanted. we stopped to lots of archaeological sites. one of which came with its own female german tourist who insisted all other paying toursits must get out of her shot when she was posing for a picture for her husband. my sister does a fantabulous bitch-german-tourist impression now.
we said 'dingle dingle' and 'tweedle dee tweedle dee' a lot.
OH! we also went to the small, and i mean like 1 road, 2 block long town/city/place one of my great-grandfather's left when he was about 16 to come to america to start a life... which led to me. it was really amazing, i wish i could describe it.. oh, but don't think i won't try...
so my father knew his grandfather grew up by this lake, which happened to be the named after the town/city/place he grew up.. the town/city/place we were looking for... that is no longer on any map. before the trip, my mother kept trying to prepare my father for the family luck we have, where not everything turns out well, and this place could be completely gone with no remaining original dwellers. (considering it's not even on the map... as i said). so.... i forget what 2 cities we were making our days journey between, but we left this like ancestral outing to one of our last days, and one of our days with lots of driving we had to get done before the sun went down (because trust me, you did not want us driving on the roads of ireland in the dark.. let alone in perfect sunlight). so, on the map of ireland, the lake (which we think my great-grandfather grew up by) is still drawn on. hooray! our plan: go to the lake.. drive around it... see what is there. so, on our way up, we stopped at the last big city before we hit the small roads to take us to the lake. our plan was to ask a local if they knew of this town/city/place. however, every person i asked was a tourist. so we stopped at this lowly pub on the way to the lake and my sister and i went in.. because surely, itw as about 3pm, and if anyone was going to be in there, it had to be old local men who know all about all. so we found 2 elderly men, probably on about their 8th beer each... we asked if they had heard of it.. and oh man. what a mistake... we stood there for about 8-12 minutes (yes.. 8-12) while they pondered, threw around city names, family names, beer names, sheep names, until i finally thought we could give our thanks and leave.. and then no.. they kept talking. but FINALLY we got out. and the only help the drunk men offered was 'well, if it was there, it's there now'. ok!
off we go to the lake. we find the lake. we turn down a road. a small small road. we come to a fork. we don't know where to go. it's not like this is NYC. there aren't any street signs, no businesses. this is, farm country ireland headquarters. with small irish cottages, and nothing, and i mean NOTHING else. we decide to turn back at the fork in the road, back to the main road, to see if we can start again... and AHHHHHHHH! LOOK! there it was. an erected stone with the place/city/town's name etched into it. we had found it. our roots.
so we immediately jumped out, and took a timed picture of our family with the stone with our digital camera while a car full of old irish ladies drove by us.
anyway, there's much more to this. we went to a pub, who knew of the family line my great-grandfather left behind, we went to the church where we think they were born?, we found a great cemetary in the city over with a lot of tombstones with the family name on it. it was awesome.
so that was one part of ireland.
theeeeeeeennnn... i returned to school. had a 2 week break. and for the first work my good friend N from home came to visit. we spent 4 days in sydney, a few at my university, then he had to leave, but i still had a week left before classes started up again. and N, don't think i'm just breezing over your visit. there were so many stories, i'm just sure the readers are still trying to calm their nerves from my ireland story, i want to give you a chance to catch your breath. for another blog my friends, another blog.
so yes, N came, went, school started back up. i joined my dorm's soccer team, i've had LOTS of assignments, i got sick :( , i've done laundry, painted my nails, lost sunglasses, oh.. and my newest tradition... watching NFL live at 3am with 2 other americans. it's fabulous. sunday nites/early monday mornings, from 3am to about 2pm we watch football, and it's sooo nice. none of htis cricket or australian rules football, or rugby... regular american football.
the first time we put a football game on... all the austrlians kept asking 'is it the superbowl already?'. that is their only exposure to nfl. the superbowl. so everygame they saw, they thought it was the superbowl. also, they can't believe it's called football when you hardly ever use your foot on the ball. well i can't believe they don't pronounce potato and tomato the same way. so i think we're even.
for a while tho, there was a certain cricket tournament, the Twenty20 World Cup or something. and it was very very exciting. i like cricket. the final game came down to India and Pakistan. and boy, were there lots of people watching in the common room. but it was so exciting, because they were all so exciting, and every hit or catch or run people were screaming and the final match was soooooooooooooo close, it literally came down to the last bowl (throw/pitch). it was awesome. india won. it was good stuff.
ok, well my laundry was done in its cycle about 8 minutes ago, and this ended up being fairly long. so i hope you enjoyed and i'll post with more stories from ireland, N's visit, and from my life here at university.
by the way, i only have a month left of classes. a whole school year here is nearly done. then i'll be returning to the states for about 3 months... but then that means i have to start my thesis soon...
i'm thinking of doing a cladistic analysis of the homo habilis specimens. it's very contraversial. what do you think???
Friday, August 10, 2007
Kiss Me...
I'm Irish.
and soon i'll not only just be irish... but i'll be IN ireland.
so since i'll be leaving for a week, i thought i would leave a little love. a little irish love.
i have a t-shirt that says Kiss Me, I'm an Irish Texan and oh yeah, i'm packing it and wearing it in ireland. god i love american tourists.
in a classroom, there was a message written "To Whoever repeatedly uses the grotty red marker, please clean because it stains"
Grotty.... grotty.... huh.
aussies say toe-MAH-toe (tomato) but they say poe-TAY-toe (potato). if words are spelled the same, shouldn't they rhyme?
i just read an article on an adaptive evolutionist theory on why babies cry at nite. so with natural selection and evolution, the babies that cried the most at nite survived more than the babies that didn't because when crying at nite they keep their mother up to suckle and so she can't make another baby.. thus extending the interbirth interval. so they get all the attention and have a better chance of living instead of another baby coming along and being forgotten. interesting, no? so like upright ancestors outlived the quadrupedal ancestords, the whiny babies have outlived the quiet sleeping babies because they kept their mom from having another baby. far-fetched, but interesting.
i bought a murder mystery book that takes place in ireland to read in ireland. i'll probably regret it, but i'm excited.
i just visited the 'hello my future girlfriend' site (not the original, but it still works) man, that'll never get old.
http://www.xsunderground.com/thechilde/
and wikipedia said he made another site to explain his original site. i don't want to read it tho. i want him to forever be in 6th grade. and forever think he's my future boyfriend.
AND
my friend I. just showed me this awesome site
http://www.geocities.com/asianprince_213/
please have a look around.
well, as little as this entry was, it was out of love.
and now i'm off to take the trash out, clean the dishes, and make sure i have everything ready for ireland.
love and hugs!
and soon i'll not only just be irish... but i'll be IN ireland.
so since i'll be leaving for a week, i thought i would leave a little love. a little irish love.
i have a t-shirt that says Kiss Me, I'm an Irish Texan and oh yeah, i'm packing it and wearing it in ireland. god i love american tourists.
in a classroom, there was a message written "To Whoever repeatedly uses the grotty red marker, please clean because it stains"
Grotty.... grotty.... huh.
aussies say toe-MAH-toe (tomato) but they say poe-TAY-toe (potato). if words are spelled the same, shouldn't they rhyme?
i just read an article on an adaptive evolutionist theory on why babies cry at nite. so with natural selection and evolution, the babies that cried the most at nite survived more than the babies that didn't because when crying at nite they keep their mother up to suckle and so she can't make another baby.. thus extending the interbirth interval. so they get all the attention and have a better chance of living instead of another baby coming along and being forgotten. interesting, no? so like upright ancestors outlived the quadrupedal ancestords, the whiny babies have outlived the quiet sleeping babies because they kept their mom from having another baby. far-fetched, but interesting.
i bought a murder mystery book that takes place in ireland to read in ireland. i'll probably regret it, but i'm excited.
i just visited the 'hello my future girlfriend' site (not the original, but it still works) man, that'll never get old.
http://www.xsunderground.com/thechilde/
and wikipedia said he made another site to explain his original site. i don't want to read it tho. i want him to forever be in 6th grade. and forever think he's my future boyfriend.
AND
my friend I. just showed me this awesome site
http://www.geocities.com/asianprince_213/
please have a look around.
well, as little as this entry was, it was out of love.
and now i'm off to take the trash out, clean the dishes, and make sure i have everything ready for ireland.
love and hugs!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Everybody Loves Spider Pig
ok, so this is not my fiji or tasmania post. obvy... i just thought that even tho i haven't gotten around to writing up my winter adventures, i should at least tell y'all what's been going on anyway!
today i was thinking about how bad i am about blogging, and that i'm glad it's not my job. because people out there do get to be paid to be bloggers! and then i started thinking about how in highschool we all took a job assessment test... answer questions and it tells you what you would be good at. i was wondering if 'blogger' has been added to that list. but then i recalled that the test said i should be a school counselor, and no joke, told my friend she should be a bus driver.
in other news, i spent an hour last nite on webmd.com. so i've been running outside about 3-4 times a week (there is a huge botanical garden that is right behind the campus, so it's really nice to jog through there!) and i thought i pulled my right quadricep muscle cause i had this weird sharp pain the next day whenever i walked. so i tried to walk with it for a few days, and then it moved into a lower back sharp pain, and a few days later, it has now settled itself on my right side near my back, like above my hip... aren't kidneys located there?? so i kept trying to look up appendicitis and kidney failure... but nothing gives a symptom of sharp pain when walking in your lower back on your side. so i'm just gonna stick with the idea that i pulled my quadricep muscle but my thigh got pissed it was in pain so it punched my kidney.
i made chocolate covered strawberries last nite! mmmm........
you know what they show late at nite here when no one is watching tv? everybody loves raymond. just like at home.
i made the BEST vegetarian enchiladas in the MICROWAVE the other nite. and i then made sweet potato and pumpkin mash. i have a new found love for pumpkin. it's really darn delicious!
so my life... i'm taking 3.5 classes. yes... i'm talking a half class... lectures don't start until after our 2 week september break. my classes are as follows:
forensic anthropology and archaeology: learning about how bodies decay postmortem. i've only had a few lectures... today's which consisted of a forensic entomologist guest speaker and lots of pictures of maggots eating a dead pig. i now know a lot more about maggots than i ever have, or have wanted to know. how my cousin went through med school, i have no idea. dead bodies are gross. i just want bones. nice, clean, flesh-free bones.
human evolution: this isn't a proper class. it's not technically offered this semester, so my fellow grad student G (the one who i visisted in tasmania) and i meet weekly with our professor and we 'discuss' the lectures he gave last year. we've only met once so far... so i'm not yet sure how informative this class will be...
human society and animal society: learning how animals have a socity and culture and how it has influenced humans. i got to watch a documentary on seagulls pulling out each other's feathers and eating each other's young. so far this semester has been gross.
then my half class is: scientific dating techniques. we will actually get tours of different labs to see people applying the dating technigues... argon/argon dating, radiocarbon, and some like resonance spin? no idea yet. gotta wait til september!
in other news... a great friend from highschool, D got engaged a few days ago and she also got her masters!! she's way ahead of me in the game of life.
socially life is same old same old. playing pool, watching DOOL, hanging out, it's quite lovely.
in class the forensic entomologist pronounced renaissance as 'rah NAY saunce'. weirdies.
this weekend I. asked me to The Law Ball. they don't have dances here, they have balls. so i have to go buy gold shoes tomorrow to go with my green dress!! i hope it's not all lawyer talk. maybe my sister can give me big words or famous cases i can throw out there. or maybe i'll amaze them all with my maggot knowledge
i watched a documentary the other day about the creation/evolution struggle. and in one segment a catholic explained dinosaurs WERE on noah's ark, but they all fell off and drowned. and when they drowned, the fell on top of the water living dinosaurs and pinned them to the ground.
my highschool mentor and favorite teacher just turned himself in for having a sexual relation with a 17 year old student. so that's pretty awesome.
the number 23 is a horrible movie. but... my birthday does add up to 23. so maybe i'm apart of the conspiracy.
the simpson's movie was surprisingly funny! SPIDER PIG! SPIDER PIG!
today i was thinking about how bad i am about blogging, and that i'm glad it's not my job. because people out there do get to be paid to be bloggers! and then i started thinking about how in highschool we all took a job assessment test... answer questions and it tells you what you would be good at. i was wondering if 'blogger' has been added to that list. but then i recalled that the test said i should be a school counselor, and no joke, told my friend she should be a bus driver.
in other news, i spent an hour last nite on webmd.com. so i've been running outside about 3-4 times a week (there is a huge botanical garden that is right behind the campus, so it's really nice to jog through there!) and i thought i pulled my right quadricep muscle cause i had this weird sharp pain the next day whenever i walked. so i tried to walk with it for a few days, and then it moved into a lower back sharp pain, and a few days later, it has now settled itself on my right side near my back, like above my hip... aren't kidneys located there?? so i kept trying to look up appendicitis and kidney failure... but nothing gives a symptom of sharp pain when walking in your lower back on your side. so i'm just gonna stick with the idea that i pulled my quadricep muscle but my thigh got pissed it was in pain so it punched my kidney.
i made chocolate covered strawberries last nite! mmmm........
you know what they show late at nite here when no one is watching tv? everybody loves raymond. just like at home.
i made the BEST vegetarian enchiladas in the MICROWAVE the other nite. and i then made sweet potato and pumpkin mash. i have a new found love for pumpkin. it's really darn delicious!
so my life... i'm taking 3.5 classes. yes... i'm talking a half class... lectures don't start until after our 2 week september break. my classes are as follows:
forensic anthropology and archaeology: learning about how bodies decay postmortem. i've only had a few lectures... today's which consisted of a forensic entomologist guest speaker and lots of pictures of maggots eating a dead pig. i now know a lot more about maggots than i ever have, or have wanted to know. how my cousin went through med school, i have no idea. dead bodies are gross. i just want bones. nice, clean, flesh-free bones.
human evolution: this isn't a proper class. it's not technically offered this semester, so my fellow grad student G (the one who i visisted in tasmania) and i meet weekly with our professor and we 'discuss' the lectures he gave last year. we've only met once so far... so i'm not yet sure how informative this class will be...
human society and animal society: learning how animals have a socity and culture and how it has influenced humans. i got to watch a documentary on seagulls pulling out each other's feathers and eating each other's young. so far this semester has been gross.
then my half class is: scientific dating techniques. we will actually get tours of different labs to see people applying the dating technigues... argon/argon dating, radiocarbon, and some like resonance spin? no idea yet. gotta wait til september!
in other news... a great friend from highschool, D got engaged a few days ago and she also got her masters!! she's way ahead of me in the game of life.
socially life is same old same old. playing pool, watching DOOL, hanging out, it's quite lovely.
in class the forensic entomologist pronounced renaissance as 'rah NAY saunce'. weirdies.
this weekend I. asked me to The Law Ball. they don't have dances here, they have balls. so i have to go buy gold shoes tomorrow to go with my green dress!! i hope it's not all lawyer talk. maybe my sister can give me big words or famous cases i can throw out there. or maybe i'll amaze them all with my maggot knowledge
i watched a documentary the other day about the creation/evolution struggle. and in one segment a catholic explained dinosaurs WERE on noah's ark, but they all fell off and drowned. and when they drowned, the fell on top of the water living dinosaurs and pinned them to the ground.
my highschool mentor and favorite teacher just turned himself in for having a sexual relation with a 17 year old student. so that's pretty awesome.
the number 23 is a horrible movie. but... my birthday does add up to 23. so maybe i'm apart of the conspiracy.
the simpson's movie was surprisingly funny! SPIDER PIG! SPIDER PIG!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
To Be Continued
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwow. i haven't posted in a while and a lot of of shizstuff has been a'happenin'. as you can visually see by the length of this post, i won't be contributing much today. today is harry potter day. i'm rereading all the harry potters to prepare myself for the release of the 7th hp book. i'm almost done with the second book. i might cheat and watch the 3rd movie instead of reading the 3rd book, but i'm definitely reading the 4th. it's my fave bona nave.
anyway, this holiday break was awesome. i spent a week in fiji, then i was in canberra for my birthday, then i spent a week in tasmania, and now it's the last day before the next semester begins.
i'll be posting summaries of my trips, i can't believe i haven't already, but frankly, i am just that lazy. but to keep you few readers who still come back and check my blog, i'll leave you with a few things i found out over the break
after steve irwin was killed by the sting ray, there was a backlash against all sting rays. apparently, like when americans after 9/11 set arab owned stores aflame, australians took out their anger and frustration on the innocent creatures that just happened to be genetically similar to the original culprit. sting rays were being caught and killed in the name of irwin. students would go to the beach, catch them a sting ray, then beat it up on shore to teach those good-for-nothing stingrays a lesson. while the rest of australia frankly didn't care irwin died, some actually thought it was funny. i don't think much of australia liked him... givin' australia a CRIKEY reputation
my friend G offered me a chocy biscy. after minutes of my laughter she handed me a chocolate biscuit.
if you want to buy someone a drink at a bar, like as a friend, they will 'shout' it for you. 'oh don't worry, i'll shout u' then they come back with a drink for me.
they call fanny packs bum bags.
while talking to G about lassie... me just barking and saying 'what was that girl? timmy fell down the well?' she was reminded about a show from her childhood: Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. they didn't have lassie, they had skippy. then she squeeked and said 'what was that skippy? sally's in trouble?'
the pick-up trucks here... the one they calls U's or utes... all look like el caminos. the lamest pick-up trucks i've ever seen.
i drove I's car again yesterday. i didn't kill anyone. i've yet to tackle a roundabout, but one day, one day.....
i also took I. to a vegetarian restaurant. it's where they have beef dishes, lamb, pork, chicken... but it's all tofu mushed with mushrooms and whatnot. it looks like beef, but it tastes cruelty-free. i was so proud I. was brave enough to eat there with me, but i don't think he'll be going back. i however, will be returning for the vegetarian hot and sour soup and their "beef" in bean sauce.
i really do have a lots of stories from fiji and tasmania. so please stay tuned. and it might take a bit, cause i was enjoying my break too much, i sorta forgot that i start school again tomorrow. i haven't bought my books, any school supplies, i'm not even sure where my classes are. and i may or may not have class tomorrow... it's hard to tell from my 'timetable' i was given. but don't worry, i'll sort it all out.... at least i didn't fail last semester :)
however, i did see wallabies, peacocks, multiple beaches, turned 24, got a fijian boyfriend (noooot really), called a chilean girl a whore, got a slight tan, read the worst book of all time "Prep", saw a man whose head was nibbled on by a tiger shark, saw a baby shark, went scuba diving, went on a ghost tour, saw dozens of little penguins... and much more
anyway, this holiday break was awesome. i spent a week in fiji, then i was in canberra for my birthday, then i spent a week in tasmania, and now it's the last day before the next semester begins.
i'll be posting summaries of my trips, i can't believe i haven't already, but frankly, i am just that lazy. but to keep you few readers who still come back and check my blog, i'll leave you with a few things i found out over the break
after steve irwin was killed by the sting ray, there was a backlash against all sting rays. apparently, like when americans after 9/11 set arab owned stores aflame, australians took out their anger and frustration on the innocent creatures that just happened to be genetically similar to the original culprit. sting rays were being caught and killed in the name of irwin. students would go to the beach, catch them a sting ray, then beat it up on shore to teach those good-for-nothing stingrays a lesson. while the rest of australia frankly didn't care irwin died, some actually thought it was funny. i don't think much of australia liked him... givin' australia a CRIKEY reputation
my friend G offered me a chocy biscy. after minutes of my laughter she handed me a chocolate biscuit.
if you want to buy someone a drink at a bar, like as a friend, they will 'shout' it for you. 'oh don't worry, i'll shout u' then they come back with a drink for me.
they call fanny packs bum bags.
while talking to G about lassie... me just barking and saying 'what was that girl? timmy fell down the well?' she was reminded about a show from her childhood: Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. they didn't have lassie, they had skippy. then she squeeked and said 'what was that skippy? sally's in trouble?'
the pick-up trucks here... the one they calls U's or utes... all look like el caminos. the lamest pick-up trucks i've ever seen.
i drove I's car again yesterday. i didn't kill anyone. i've yet to tackle a roundabout, but one day, one day.....
i also took I. to a vegetarian restaurant. it's where they have beef dishes, lamb, pork, chicken... but it's all tofu mushed with mushrooms and whatnot. it looks like beef, but it tastes cruelty-free. i was so proud I. was brave enough to eat there with me, but i don't think he'll be going back. i however, will be returning for the vegetarian hot and sour soup and their "beef" in bean sauce.
i really do have a lots of stories from fiji and tasmania. so please stay tuned. and it might take a bit, cause i was enjoying my break too much, i sorta forgot that i start school again tomorrow. i haven't bought my books, any school supplies, i'm not even sure where my classes are. and i may or may not have class tomorrow... it's hard to tell from my 'timetable' i was given. but don't worry, i'll sort it all out.... at least i didn't fail last semester :)
however, i did see wallabies, peacocks, multiple beaches, turned 24, got a fijian boyfriend (noooot really), called a chilean girl a whore, got a slight tan, read the worst book of all time "Prep", saw a man whose head was nibbled on by a tiger shark, saw a baby shark, went scuba diving, went on a ghost tour, saw dozens of little penguins... and much more
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
not as easy as it seems
it only took me 4 months and 13 days... but i finally saw a kangaroo! 2 in fact!
driving back from the mall... waiting at a light... there across the intersection... were 2 kangaroos munching away on some grass. just hanging out, watching all the cars go by.
finally.
driving back from the mall... waiting at a light... there across the intersection... were 2 kangaroos munching away on some grass. just hanging out, watching all the cars go by.
finally.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I'll take that holiday now, please.
omg, i'm done with my first semester. all my laziness during the year pretty much caught up with me at finals time.. oh sorry... that's too american. they aren't 'finals' they are 'exams'.
BUT i took all my exams, handed in all my essays... and now i've been... sleeping.
i got an HD (high distinction... highest grade you can get.. aussies go crazy for HD's) on one of my exams that was 70% of my grade for that class (human skeletal) so it's pretty safe to say i got an HD in the class. so i might not be able to write a paper, but gosh darnit, i can memorize bones.
and... i smashed my australian phone. i dropped it. not even far. just from my waist... and it broke the screen. sooo... i can't read or write text messages... i can still talk on it tho. i'll be asking vodafone for a new one tomorrow... maybe i did get insurance? how can i remember that long ago. BUT the worst part is... that i write little notes on my phone when something strikes me as funny or australian (1 in the same really) so that i can open up the 'note' and read it when i write my blog. but folks... i can no longer read it. so the last few notes i typed up on my phone are gone. so.... i don't have much to say here.
my mother sent me a care package tho!
it included:
1. bday present from my sister. the best bday present. it's an autographed t-shirt from a grown-up childhood actor from our favorite childhood movie NEWSIES. i'm in love with it.
2. graham crackers. we're having s'mores tonite, kids!!!
3. giant plastic texas cups. where and when these were bought? no idea... mom. but they are huge. and i'll be drinking out of them tonite while eating my s'mores.
4. a monkey card.
my undergrad friends all still have exams. this is the last week for them tho. 2 friends, S and K leave this thursday when they finish, going back to melbourne. i can't believe they are leaving so soon for a month!
i leave for fiji this saturday! the weather is supposed to be in the 80's and sunny! even tho there is a coup on the other side of the island... tourists should be juuuuuust fine.
i think i'll have about 5-7 friends still around for my birthday in july. so perhaps some partying can go down... no fireworks tho :( ALTHOUGH the country did just celebrate the queen's birthday last week and there were 3 nites of fireworks. i was asked if we celebrated the queen's birthday in america... i didn't respond.
i told my friend i had to 'run errands' today
'air it?'
no... errands
what are you airing out?
umm.. ok.. i have to... go to different places and buy things.
ohh... you have things to do.
errands i guess is not a popular word around here.
and my friend I. let me drive his car the other day!! it was only like 2 blocks down the road... but it was soooo weird. making a left hand turn as if it was a right hand turn.... i can't believe i didn't kill us.
I. and i also watched Independence Day.... man, we americans love ourselves.
when Bill Pullman as acting president plans an attack on the aliens and sends out messages to the rest of the armies worldwide.. the british go "It's about bloody time".
also in Bill Pullman's final war speech he claims that Independence Day is no longer an american holiday, but now the day the whole world can celebrate its independence, I. laughed and laughed and laughed. he read a critique by a british writer claiming it was the most 'pompous egotistical soliloquy in film history'.
i had to keep reassuring I. that as americans today, we don't live and die by the script of Independence Day.
although, bruce willis is coming out with another die hard: Live Free or Die Hard... and i'm so excited, just because of the title.
i still haven't seen a kangaroo. my friends keep promising me we are going to go Roo Huntin'... but we just haven't gotten around to it yet. now that i have a month off from school tho, i'm taking no excuses.
that's pretty much it around here.
for today i am going to:
eat lunch
watch DOOL (days of our lives)
clean
work out
shower
maybe nap
make s'mores and celebrate the end of exams with my friends.
it's a hard life down under.
BUT i took all my exams, handed in all my essays... and now i've been... sleeping.
i got an HD (high distinction... highest grade you can get.. aussies go crazy for HD's) on one of my exams that was 70% of my grade for that class (human skeletal) so it's pretty safe to say i got an HD in the class. so i might not be able to write a paper, but gosh darnit, i can memorize bones.
and... i smashed my australian phone. i dropped it. not even far. just from my waist... and it broke the screen. sooo... i can't read or write text messages... i can still talk on it tho. i'll be asking vodafone for a new one tomorrow... maybe i did get insurance? how can i remember that long ago. BUT the worst part is... that i write little notes on my phone when something strikes me as funny or australian (1 in the same really) so that i can open up the 'note' and read it when i write my blog. but folks... i can no longer read it. so the last few notes i typed up on my phone are gone. so.... i don't have much to say here.
my mother sent me a care package tho!
it included:
1. bday present from my sister. the best bday present. it's an autographed t-shirt from a grown-up childhood actor from our favorite childhood movie NEWSIES. i'm in love with it.
2. graham crackers. we're having s'mores tonite, kids!!!
3. giant plastic texas cups. where and when these were bought? no idea... mom. but they are huge. and i'll be drinking out of them tonite while eating my s'mores.
4. a monkey card.
my undergrad friends all still have exams. this is the last week for them tho. 2 friends, S and K leave this thursday when they finish, going back to melbourne. i can't believe they are leaving so soon for a month!
i leave for fiji this saturday! the weather is supposed to be in the 80's and sunny! even tho there is a coup on the other side of the island... tourists should be juuuuuust fine.
i think i'll have about 5-7 friends still around for my birthday in july. so perhaps some partying can go down... no fireworks tho :( ALTHOUGH the country did just celebrate the queen's birthday last week and there were 3 nites of fireworks. i was asked if we celebrated the queen's birthday in america... i didn't respond.
i told my friend i had to 'run errands' today
'air it?'
no... errands
what are you airing out?
umm.. ok.. i have to... go to different places and buy things.
ohh... you have things to do.
errands i guess is not a popular word around here.
and my friend I. let me drive his car the other day!! it was only like 2 blocks down the road... but it was soooo weird. making a left hand turn as if it was a right hand turn.... i can't believe i didn't kill us.
I. and i also watched Independence Day.... man, we americans love ourselves.
when Bill Pullman as acting president plans an attack on the aliens and sends out messages to the rest of the armies worldwide.. the british go "It's about bloody time".
also in Bill Pullman's final war speech he claims that Independence Day is no longer an american holiday, but now the day the whole world can celebrate its independence, I. laughed and laughed and laughed. he read a critique by a british writer claiming it was the most 'pompous egotistical soliloquy in film history'.
i had to keep reassuring I. that as americans today, we don't live and die by the script of Independence Day.
although, bruce willis is coming out with another die hard: Live Free or Die Hard... and i'm so excited, just because of the title.
i still haven't seen a kangaroo. my friends keep promising me we are going to go Roo Huntin'... but we just haven't gotten around to it yet. now that i have a month off from school tho, i'm taking no excuses.
that's pretty much it around here.
for today i am going to:
eat lunch
watch DOOL (days of our lives)
clean
work out
shower
maybe nap
make s'mores and celebrate the end of exams with my friends.
it's a hard life down under.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Good On Ya, Mate
so (mini) vans aren't really a popular car here.. and for the most party they aren't even called vans... they are called 'people movers'
ice cubes are ice blocks
'bolt' can mean heaps.. i mean lots. 'i've got bolt cash'. i think i'm gonna use this one
when you put on lots of layers and dress warmly... one might say you are 'rugged up'... as in wrapped in a rug
lately people have been moving rooms.. tired of their roommates or they want a single... but each time it's referred to as 'shifting'. ohhh! i get to shift today! ...my neighbor is shifting out!
when one does something smart or cool... it's 'good on ya, mate!'
and when niceities go beyond 'g'day'... EVERYONE says 'how ya going?'... slight variation from 'how ya doing'... but sounds weird to me
my friends have never heard of "tailgating". not as in trailing a car too closely, but as in 'pre-gaming for sports events (or concerts) by drinking and grilling out of the back of your car'. i miss tailgating. i miss american sports. i'm in withdrawl. i won't be able to watch the nfl... and i'm more upset about that than i thought i would be. BUT i just realized i think i'll be in america for the superbowl! i'll get back to y'all on that
soooooooo..... i have an essay due in 36 hours. have not started writing for it. i have read about 6 articles... usually i have around 20 works cited per paper... and i'm at 6. tomorrow S and i are spending the entire day in the city library. something to look forward to.
last nite... for some reason S and i stayed up until 8am. i slept today from 8-3pm.. and hopefully will be crashing soon. we went down to the common room to study (free internet down there!) and we ended up playing poker and pool all nite. then i walked to the gym with my new friend D at 6am... only to find that it was closed til 9 cause it was sunday. so we decided to put on another layer (rug up if you will) and take a walk around the city lake and watch the sunrise. he pointed out all the different kinds of birds around the lake. they don't have white swans, only black!! we walked for about an hour and we were maybe a third around the lake when we realized just how big the lake was. so we turned back and returned at 7:30 and had breakfast together. the lake and sunrise were beautiful. i want to make the lake walk a weekly thing but i doubt i'll ever be up at 6am again on a sunday.
so anyways, i have my paper to write tomorrow. then i'll have 2 days to write a second paper and study for my race and human genetics exam..... but that means
a) I AM FINISHED WITH 1 WHOLE CLASS. studying for human skeletal anatomy took 2 all nighters... but i think the worst i did on the test was a low B.... i guess we'll have to wait and see.
b) I WILL BE DONE WITH ALL MY CLASSES THIS FRIDAY! only one more week and i'll have a 6 week vacay where i hopefully will get to travel to all of: fiji, tasmania, melbourne, sydney, and adelaide.
i was watching House... an old episode.. and he explained what a Myoclonic Jerk is... where the respitory rate drops so the brain sends a pulse to a certain area of the body to 'jerk' it to make sure it is still alive. it usually happens when falling asleep. so at least i know i'm not seizuring at nite... my brain is just looking out for me
so not much to report. life is all in all the same old same old. my room is a disaster area, however i spent 20 minutes today cleaning my friends' living room. and i really got into it. i wanted to sweep, vacuum, wipe down all the tables, everything! but once i step into my room... i just want to lie on my bed and stare at the piles of clothes. why is that?
and have you ever had cream cheese in a sweet chili sauce?? S had it once.. and now i'm addicted. it's really good with ritz or water crackers.
did i tell y'all about the care package my dear mother sent me?? it had kool-aid and a nfl regulation football.
my friends can't get enough of the kool-aid. and i am now the BGOC (big girl on campus) for having an american football to throw around in the courtyard... watching the aussies throw it is hiliarous! they are all used to rugby tossing and aussie football throwing (where it's not really a throw... if you're right handed, you place the ball in your left hand down to your right side... and hit the back end of the ball with your right hand in a fist... like an underhanded volleyball serve... it's really weird).
in the next package there are gonna be graham crackers, so i can show these crazy kids what a real s'more is.
and omg... all i needed to buy the other day was a black cardigan and black strappy heels (we had a formal end of the year dinner) and it was soooo hard to find them! it's so expensive here. i just kept wishing i was back home... i'd go straight to DSW and then straight to target... then i'd be done. but nooo... i went to about 13 different stores... and spent way too much money on the shoes. the sweater was 27 bucks down from 65. 65 dollars on a department store sweater?? that's insane.
but the end of the year dinner was really fun! it was the whole dorm and we only had to walk a block to the banquet hall.. where we had drink vouchers, a dance floor, balloons, and a buffet! (even a vegetarian one!!). needless to say it was a good night for everyone. it was fun having everyone you know from the dorm in one setting.
and i'm getting really good at pool guys. just giving y'all a heads up!
well i'm rambling on now.. more than usual, so i'm off to sleep so i can wake up and write a 10 page paper!!
love and hugs to everyone!
ice cubes are ice blocks
'bolt' can mean heaps.. i mean lots. 'i've got bolt cash'. i think i'm gonna use this one
when you put on lots of layers and dress warmly... one might say you are 'rugged up'... as in wrapped in a rug
lately people have been moving rooms.. tired of their roommates or they want a single... but each time it's referred to as 'shifting'. ohhh! i get to shift today! ...my neighbor is shifting out!
when one does something smart or cool... it's 'good on ya, mate!'
and when niceities go beyond 'g'day'... EVERYONE says 'how ya going?'... slight variation from 'how ya doing'... but sounds weird to me
my friends have never heard of "tailgating". not as in trailing a car too closely, but as in 'pre-gaming for sports events (or concerts) by drinking and grilling out of the back of your car'. i miss tailgating. i miss american sports. i'm in withdrawl. i won't be able to watch the nfl... and i'm more upset about that than i thought i would be. BUT i just realized i think i'll be in america for the superbowl! i'll get back to y'all on that
soooooooo..... i have an essay due in 36 hours. have not started writing for it. i have read about 6 articles... usually i have around 20 works cited per paper... and i'm at 6. tomorrow S and i are spending the entire day in the city library. something to look forward to.
last nite... for some reason S and i stayed up until 8am. i slept today from 8-3pm.. and hopefully will be crashing soon. we went down to the common room to study (free internet down there!) and we ended up playing poker and pool all nite. then i walked to the gym with my new friend D at 6am... only to find that it was closed til 9 cause it was sunday. so we decided to put on another layer (rug up if you will) and take a walk around the city lake and watch the sunrise. he pointed out all the different kinds of birds around the lake. they don't have white swans, only black!! we walked for about an hour and we were maybe a third around the lake when we realized just how big the lake was. so we turned back and returned at 7:30 and had breakfast together. the lake and sunrise were beautiful. i want to make the lake walk a weekly thing but i doubt i'll ever be up at 6am again on a sunday.
so anyways, i have my paper to write tomorrow. then i'll have 2 days to write a second paper and study for my race and human genetics exam..... but that means
a) I AM FINISHED WITH 1 WHOLE CLASS. studying for human skeletal anatomy took 2 all nighters... but i think the worst i did on the test was a low B.... i guess we'll have to wait and see.
b) I WILL BE DONE WITH ALL MY CLASSES THIS FRIDAY! only one more week and i'll have a 6 week vacay where i hopefully will get to travel to all of: fiji, tasmania, melbourne, sydney, and adelaide.
i was watching House... an old episode.. and he explained what a Myoclonic Jerk is... where the respitory rate drops so the brain sends a pulse to a certain area of the body to 'jerk' it to make sure it is still alive. it usually happens when falling asleep. so at least i know i'm not seizuring at nite... my brain is just looking out for me
so not much to report. life is all in all the same old same old. my room is a disaster area, however i spent 20 minutes today cleaning my friends' living room. and i really got into it. i wanted to sweep, vacuum, wipe down all the tables, everything! but once i step into my room... i just want to lie on my bed and stare at the piles of clothes. why is that?
and have you ever had cream cheese in a sweet chili sauce?? S had it once.. and now i'm addicted. it's really good with ritz or water crackers.
did i tell y'all about the care package my dear mother sent me?? it had kool-aid and a nfl regulation football.
my friends can't get enough of the kool-aid. and i am now the BGOC (big girl on campus) for having an american football to throw around in the courtyard... watching the aussies throw it is hiliarous! they are all used to rugby tossing and aussie football throwing (where it's not really a throw... if you're right handed, you place the ball in your left hand down to your right side... and hit the back end of the ball with your right hand in a fist... like an underhanded volleyball serve... it's really weird).
in the next package there are gonna be graham crackers, so i can show these crazy kids what a real s'more is.
and omg... all i needed to buy the other day was a black cardigan and black strappy heels (we had a formal end of the year dinner) and it was soooo hard to find them! it's so expensive here. i just kept wishing i was back home... i'd go straight to DSW and then straight to target... then i'd be done. but nooo... i went to about 13 different stores... and spent way too much money on the shoes. the sweater was 27 bucks down from 65. 65 dollars on a department store sweater?? that's insane.
but the end of the year dinner was really fun! it was the whole dorm and we only had to walk a block to the banquet hall.. where we had drink vouchers, a dance floor, balloons, and a buffet! (even a vegetarian one!!). needless to say it was a good night for everyone. it was fun having everyone you know from the dorm in one setting.
and i'm getting really good at pool guys. just giving y'all a heads up!
well i'm rambling on now.. more than usual, so i'm off to sleep so i can wake up and write a 10 page paper!!
love and hugs to everyone!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Negative/Positive Reinforcement
this is why i'll never stop procrastinating... b/c i do well in the end. i got my human skeletal analysis paper on determing age and sex through different methods on bones of the body and his remarks are as followed:
"Good! (underlined) a well written, well researched paper, clearly structured, methodical and logical in its conclusions."
D+
(and i lied before. D doesn't stand for distinguished... it stands for distinction.) (so.. here, i'm hihgly distinct) (but i'm still distinguished... in my own grading system)
so apparently writing a paper in 8 hours is the way to go for me.
my new favorite work out song is: U + Ur hands by pink. We aren't here for your entertainment, fellas.
My friend, I, is on an intramural soccer team… two in fact. And he talks about all his soccer training. He means soccer practice. They call it training. Sounds like he’s suiting up for a war or something. But no, he’s just having soccer practice.
The other day I opened my blinds at 8am… and there was a huge red ball. Huge, outside my window, about 30 meters away… I don‘t know what that is in feet… it was like half a block away. But, oh wait, no, that’s not a huge ball. THAT’S A HOT AIR BALLOON. and this isn't the first time this has happened. i took pictures. y'all can check webshots for an update
Oh, and I had the best grocery shopping day ever the other day. I found jalapenos AND soy cheese. It was amazing. i made the best bean burritos.
i also made vegetarian tacos for S and B the other nite. and omg, they loved them. and B is a huuuuge meat eater. and he liked the fake mince meat i found. that's the other thing... they don't call it ground beef, it's 'mince'. well maybe we do that in america too, i just always called it ground beef.
in 2 weeks i'll have 2 tests and the week after i'll have 1 test and 2 papers.
the paper topics now are:
1) functional anatomy of vertical clinging and leaping primates. i guess i'll focus on the tarsiers??
2) the theory that the Y chromosome is disappearing and that within 10million years, it'll disappear completely. but i doubt humans will be around in 10 million years anyway... but, i thought it was pretty cool. our bodies might evolve and the sex triggers on the Y chromosome might fall onto another chromosome and we won't even know the difference. but i do get to write about 'gonads'.
so now i'm gonna have to lock myself up for hte next two weeks and do all the reading and preparation for said tests and papers.
BUT then i'll have a 5 week holiday!! part of which i'm going to fiji with some friends :) and i'm trying to plan a trip to visit my friend G at her home in tasmania.
it's weird because all of the exchange students leave in june. i couldn't imagine leaving here in 2 months.
S told me to stop 'bludging around'. apparently that means procrastinate. bludgers, bludges, all different forms.
another american from california told me he saw me walking home one day, very briskly and said i looked 'so american'. but it also could have been my bright yellow tote bag that has the outline of the state of texas on it. or maybe both the walking and the bag put together :)
and obviously most aussies don't even know it's texas. just like my texas flag.
for my friend's birthday, she's having an A-themed party. where you have to come dressed as something beginning with an A. i said i'd come as an american. or maybe i should go as the entire A-team.
i remember when my sister was studying in England she had her 21st birthday overseas. and i thought how sad, turning 21 isn't even a big deal there. but i was talking to this guy who was about to enjoy his own 21st, and he says it is in fact a highly celebrated birthday here. even though they earn no new rights with priviledges with turning 21, they still celebrate it wildly because americans do. say what??
i went to a dorm party the other evening. and i left after 10 mins. i felt like an old lady. 30 kids, in one room, smushed together with blaring music. you cant see or hear anyone. i had enough of that in undergrad. so i went to B's room and played poker all nite. much more to my liking :)
a 6 pack of sam adams here is A$27.
my friends made fun of me for shortening anthropology to anthro. omg, i don't understand it. it's ok for australian to shorten anything (in fact everything) but i can't. and anthro is a completely normal abbreviation!
i just learned, about 2 days ago, that instead of 9-1-1, they dial 0-0-0. that's probably something the school should tell international students.
no one knows what 'what's the 4-1-1?' means.
i know that there was so much more to include here.
my room is entirely messy. yeah, no one's surprised. i've gotten hooked on boston legal. and that takes precedent over dishes and making my bed.
i bought a box of kellogg's Sultana Bran. why don't they call them raisins? or a pepper a pepper? they say 'capsicum'.
i miss my car. i was going out driving with S and J in S's car when she ran upstairs to fetch something, leaving J and me alone. we were in the parking lot and i wanted to see how it felt to drive it. so i did. ahhh, it was freaky. i was only going about 2 mph and i was so nervous. and all i did was back it up. i don't think i could ever pass and get a liscence here. i would certainly kill 6 people the first day, nay, the first hour.
so nothing too crazy has happened in the last few weeks. i took a huge break from doing any sort of school work at all. i refused to open a book. i did attend classes, but nothing outside of those 9 class hours. i totally burnt myself out that one weekend with the paper and the presentation. and the past few weeks were awesome, stress free. but now it's all built up again.
and the weekends were weekends. we had a dorm building game torunament nite and i played in texas hold 'em. and i wasn't the first one out! and there were only 2 girls playing. i guess like 30 played and i was probably the 15th one out, or maybe it was earlier but still pretty good i say :)
the common room now has free wireless internet. no more charging for mb downloads!!
so all in all, things are going well. alright, i'm gonna go put up new pics on webshots before my add kicks in and i see something shiny.
"Good! (underlined) a well written, well researched paper, clearly structured, methodical and logical in its conclusions."
D+
(and i lied before. D doesn't stand for distinguished... it stands for distinction.) (so.. here, i'm hihgly distinct) (but i'm still distinguished... in my own grading system)
so apparently writing a paper in 8 hours is the way to go for me.
my new favorite work out song is: U + Ur hands by pink. We aren't here for your entertainment, fellas.
My friend, I, is on an intramural soccer team… two in fact. And he talks about all his soccer training. He means soccer practice. They call it training. Sounds like he’s suiting up for a war or something. But no, he’s just having soccer practice.
The other day I opened my blinds at 8am… and there was a huge red ball. Huge, outside my window, about 30 meters away… I don‘t know what that is in feet… it was like half a block away. But, oh wait, no, that’s not a huge ball. THAT’S A HOT AIR BALLOON. and this isn't the first time this has happened. i took pictures. y'all can check webshots for an update
Oh, and I had the best grocery shopping day ever the other day. I found jalapenos AND soy cheese. It was amazing. i made the best bean burritos.
i also made vegetarian tacos for S and B the other nite. and omg, they loved them. and B is a huuuuge meat eater. and he liked the fake mince meat i found. that's the other thing... they don't call it ground beef, it's 'mince'. well maybe we do that in america too, i just always called it ground beef.
in 2 weeks i'll have 2 tests and the week after i'll have 1 test and 2 papers.
the paper topics now are:
1) functional anatomy of vertical clinging and leaping primates. i guess i'll focus on the tarsiers??
2) the theory that the Y chromosome is disappearing and that within 10million years, it'll disappear completely. but i doubt humans will be around in 10 million years anyway... but, i thought it was pretty cool. our bodies might evolve and the sex triggers on the Y chromosome might fall onto another chromosome and we won't even know the difference. but i do get to write about 'gonads'.
so now i'm gonna have to lock myself up for hte next two weeks and do all the reading and preparation for said tests and papers.
BUT then i'll have a 5 week holiday!! part of which i'm going to fiji with some friends :) and i'm trying to plan a trip to visit my friend G at her home in tasmania.
it's weird because all of the exchange students leave in june. i couldn't imagine leaving here in 2 months.
S told me to stop 'bludging around'. apparently that means procrastinate. bludgers, bludges, all different forms.
another american from california told me he saw me walking home one day, very briskly and said i looked 'so american'. but it also could have been my bright yellow tote bag that has the outline of the state of texas on it. or maybe both the walking and the bag put together :)
and obviously most aussies don't even know it's texas. just like my texas flag.
for my friend's birthday, she's having an A-themed party. where you have to come dressed as something beginning with an A. i said i'd come as an american. or maybe i should go as the entire A-team.
i remember when my sister was studying in England she had her 21st birthday overseas. and i thought how sad, turning 21 isn't even a big deal there. but i was talking to this guy who was about to enjoy his own 21st, and he says it is in fact a highly celebrated birthday here. even though they earn no new rights with priviledges with turning 21, they still celebrate it wildly because americans do. say what??
i went to a dorm party the other evening. and i left after 10 mins. i felt like an old lady. 30 kids, in one room, smushed together with blaring music. you cant see or hear anyone. i had enough of that in undergrad. so i went to B's room and played poker all nite. much more to my liking :)
a 6 pack of sam adams here is A$27.
my friends made fun of me for shortening anthropology to anthro. omg, i don't understand it. it's ok for australian to shorten anything (in fact everything) but i can't. and anthro is a completely normal abbreviation!
i just learned, about 2 days ago, that instead of 9-1-1, they dial 0-0-0. that's probably something the school should tell international students.
no one knows what 'what's the 4-1-1?' means.
i know that there was so much more to include here.
my room is entirely messy. yeah, no one's surprised. i've gotten hooked on boston legal. and that takes precedent over dishes and making my bed.
i bought a box of kellogg's Sultana Bran. why don't they call them raisins? or a pepper a pepper? they say 'capsicum'.
i miss my car. i was going out driving with S and J in S's car when she ran upstairs to fetch something, leaving J and me alone. we were in the parking lot and i wanted to see how it felt to drive it. so i did. ahhh, it was freaky. i was only going about 2 mph and i was so nervous. and all i did was back it up. i don't think i could ever pass and get a liscence here. i would certainly kill 6 people the first day, nay, the first hour.
so nothing too crazy has happened in the last few weeks. i took a huge break from doing any sort of school work at all. i refused to open a book. i did attend classes, but nothing outside of those 9 class hours. i totally burnt myself out that one weekend with the paper and the presentation. and the past few weeks were awesome, stress free. but now it's all built up again.
and the weekends were weekends. we had a dorm building game torunament nite and i played in texas hold 'em. and i wasn't the first one out! and there were only 2 girls playing. i guess like 30 played and i was probably the 15th one out, or maybe it was earlier but still pretty good i say :)
the common room now has free wireless internet. no more charging for mb downloads!!
so all in all, things are going well. alright, i'm gonna go put up new pics on webshots before my add kicks in and i see something shiny.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
When will I learn
so remember how i was boasting about never having school work? well it all just caught up with me. i haven't talked to many, well frankly, any of y'all for a week or so, due to me locking myself in the library for 3 days straight.
this is a little bit of what happened. i had a paper due monday and a presentation due wednesday. i was supposed to start both over the holiday, but did nothing for either.
then i get back and for the first week back, i did no school work. even with the ANZAC day holiday, i did no work that day. i was too busy being social, der. so then the weekend comes upon me. and i stay in (almost) every nite, with the plan of doing school work. and somehow i always got talked in to hanging out or going to a bar to watch a cricket world cup game to cheer on australia. the cricket game, mind you, started at 11:30 at nite, and the 'half-time' break was at 5:30am. that's when i went to bed. what a stupid game to last for so long. so now it's sunday, and i have yet to start my work. so my teacher, on our field trip on friday, said to me and a fellow post grad that we could hand out papers in tuesday morning, cause we had to write 1,000 more words than the undergrads. so i took that to heart and didn't do any work on sunday, because i knew i had all day monday. it's like, i can't do work unless it's absolutely necessary.
so now it's monday, and i have my friend take me to the national library and i'm there from 10:30 am til it closes at 9pm. and at this library, you can't check out books. you can only 'request' them online, and they are brought up from the basement, and then you can photo copy them if you like... it's a really weird system. so i sat there all day with my mozart, my computer, and 36 references and tried to write the paper. so i get back to my room and hang out with some friends for a bit, c'mon, i had literally just spent the entire day at the same desk, in the same corner of the library, writing, i was totally entitled to a break. and i took one. til midnight. then i wrote some more of my paper til 3am. then i took a nap, woke up at 5am. and finished writing my paper. i even did a proof reading. and i got it all done and handed in at 8:30 tuesday morning. but it's not over yet, now i have to start work on my presentation... the one on inbreeding.
so i come home and pass out at 10am, and wake up at 2pm. and look up some resources and then, somehow, wasted the entired afternoon, i think mainly watching scrubs. and once midnight rolls around, i realize my presenation is due in 12 hours. so i go to the common room and make myself comfortable, and i sat there until 8:30am wednesday, when i finally finished it. i was completely out of my mind by this point. but i got it done.
i even went to class at 10, 11, and gave my presenation at noon. and it went pretty well, but then my teacher asked me questions afterwards and my answers were so insane, i couldn't form a complete sentence.... but we'll see what grade he gives me, haha.
so when will i learn to not leave everything to the absolute last minute!!!!
so then wednesday i went home.. and i didn't have a lab that day! so i passed out at 2 and woke up at 7pm... not knowing what day it was or where i was. what a good sleep.
but then the wave of relief hit me as i then realized i don't have anything due for another month. yaya! i can have stress-free fun for a month!
so that's what i've been doing. i taught all my friends the drinking card game 'wheel of fortune', also known as king's cup, or circle of death. i have so much to teach the kids here.
i've also made time to watch legends of the fall, bridget jone's diary, truman show, and the first 6 episodes of 30 rock, while all my other friends are doing school work.
but today, i realized, i am really happy here. that could be the stress-free relief talking, but the past few days i've really felt like i've made some really good friends here, school is going well and is interesting (apparently inbreeding ain't all that bad), my mother's surgery was successful, the weather is beautiful, i've been working out, australian boys like my american accent, N from home sent me the best package ever. a shirt with a brontosaurus (well actually, an apatosaurus. brontosauruses don't exist anymore. ok, yeah, no dinosaurs exist anymore, but there was never such a thing as a brontosaurus. they were all apotosauruses.) on it that says 'NEVER FORGET' and an awesome cd, and i did laundry today! i love clean clothes. and i have a new shirt that says 'KISS ME I'M A TEXAN' with a four leaf clover on it. i'm wearing it right now.
so don't worry anyone, if you were, i'm loving it (but i do miss you all and feel bad i haven't talked to anyone in a while.)
now... some crazy australian things
i went to a bar: the Labour Club.... which has slot machines in the back, which they call Pokies.
at the same bar, my friend and i went to order a drink and he mumbled what i thought was 'shooshah uhvix' but he actually said 'schoon of vics' which is a schooner (a glass) of victoria's bitter (a beer). and the bartender understood him. i obviously did not.
they have a COPS show here where they boast about catching all the 'crims'. no one can say a complete word here.
BUT my friend was convinced she had pink eye last week. and called me saying she had conjuctivitis. and i took a beat, then go 'oh yeah, pink eye!' and then later that day she said conjuctivitis like 3 more times, and i kept thinking she was trying to be funny or clever calling it the technical name, instead of pink eye... but turns out, they don't say pink eye.... they say conjuctivitis. so the one think americans have nicknamed, they haven't.
today the dorm put out a notice complaining about the furniture missing form the 'break out area'. sounds like a rash. but apparently it's the little common areas at the end of the hallways where they put couches on each floor.
and that's about it friends!
oh, and i've started to say 'i reckon'. i feel like i should be wearing overalls when i say it though.
this is a little bit of what happened. i had a paper due monday and a presentation due wednesday. i was supposed to start both over the holiday, but did nothing for either.
then i get back and for the first week back, i did no school work. even with the ANZAC day holiday, i did no work that day. i was too busy being social, der. so then the weekend comes upon me. and i stay in (almost) every nite, with the plan of doing school work. and somehow i always got talked in to hanging out or going to a bar to watch a cricket world cup game to cheer on australia. the cricket game, mind you, started at 11:30 at nite, and the 'half-time' break was at 5:30am. that's when i went to bed. what a stupid game to last for so long. so now it's sunday, and i have yet to start my work. so my teacher, on our field trip on friday, said to me and a fellow post grad that we could hand out papers in tuesday morning, cause we had to write 1,000 more words than the undergrads. so i took that to heart and didn't do any work on sunday, because i knew i had all day monday. it's like, i can't do work unless it's absolutely necessary.
so now it's monday, and i have my friend take me to the national library and i'm there from 10:30 am til it closes at 9pm. and at this library, you can't check out books. you can only 'request' them online, and they are brought up from the basement, and then you can photo copy them if you like... it's a really weird system. so i sat there all day with my mozart, my computer, and 36 references and tried to write the paper. so i get back to my room and hang out with some friends for a bit, c'mon, i had literally just spent the entire day at the same desk, in the same corner of the library, writing, i was totally entitled to a break. and i took one. til midnight. then i wrote some more of my paper til 3am. then i took a nap, woke up at 5am. and finished writing my paper. i even did a proof reading. and i got it all done and handed in at 8:30 tuesday morning. but it's not over yet, now i have to start work on my presentation... the one on inbreeding.
so i come home and pass out at 10am, and wake up at 2pm. and look up some resources and then, somehow, wasted the entired afternoon, i think mainly watching scrubs. and once midnight rolls around, i realize my presenation is due in 12 hours. so i go to the common room and make myself comfortable, and i sat there until 8:30am wednesday, when i finally finished it. i was completely out of my mind by this point. but i got it done.
i even went to class at 10, 11, and gave my presenation at noon. and it went pretty well, but then my teacher asked me questions afterwards and my answers were so insane, i couldn't form a complete sentence.... but we'll see what grade he gives me, haha.
so when will i learn to not leave everything to the absolute last minute!!!!
so then wednesday i went home.. and i didn't have a lab that day! so i passed out at 2 and woke up at 7pm... not knowing what day it was or where i was. what a good sleep.
but then the wave of relief hit me as i then realized i don't have anything due for another month. yaya! i can have stress-free fun for a month!
so that's what i've been doing. i taught all my friends the drinking card game 'wheel of fortune', also known as king's cup, or circle of death. i have so much to teach the kids here.
i've also made time to watch legends of the fall, bridget jone's diary, truman show, and the first 6 episodes of 30 rock, while all my other friends are doing school work.
but today, i realized, i am really happy here. that could be the stress-free relief talking, but the past few days i've really felt like i've made some really good friends here, school is going well and is interesting (apparently inbreeding ain't all that bad), my mother's surgery was successful, the weather is beautiful, i've been working out, australian boys like my american accent, N from home sent me the best package ever. a shirt with a brontosaurus (well actually, an apatosaurus. brontosauruses don't exist anymore. ok, yeah, no dinosaurs exist anymore, but there was never such a thing as a brontosaurus. they were all apotosauruses.) on it that says 'NEVER FORGET' and an awesome cd, and i did laundry today! i love clean clothes. and i have a new shirt that says 'KISS ME I'M A TEXAN' with a four leaf clover on it. i'm wearing it right now.
so don't worry anyone, if you were, i'm loving it (but i do miss you all and feel bad i haven't talked to anyone in a while.)
now... some crazy australian things
i went to a bar: the Labour Club.... which has slot machines in the back, which they call Pokies.
at the same bar, my friend and i went to order a drink and he mumbled what i thought was 'shooshah uhvix' but he actually said 'schoon of vics' which is a schooner (a glass) of victoria's bitter (a beer). and the bartender understood him. i obviously did not.
they have a COPS show here where they boast about catching all the 'crims'. no one can say a complete word here.
BUT my friend was convinced she had pink eye last week. and called me saying she had conjuctivitis. and i took a beat, then go 'oh yeah, pink eye!' and then later that day she said conjuctivitis like 3 more times, and i kept thinking she was trying to be funny or clever calling it the technical name, instead of pink eye... but turns out, they don't say pink eye.... they say conjuctivitis. so the one think americans have nicknamed, they haven't.
today the dorm put out a notice complaining about the furniture missing form the 'break out area'. sounds like a rash. but apparently it's the little common areas at the end of the hallways where they put couches on each floor.
and that's about it friends!
oh, and i've started to say 'i reckon'. i feel like i should be wearing overalls when i say it though.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Snoop Doggy Daaaaawg
(just in case you haven't checked within the past day, there is another new post right before this one)
so get this, Australia is refusing Snoop Dog entrance into Australia. because he has too many criminal allegations. don't they know that's how australia started???
and i can't believe i forgot to mention TWO UP. the infamous ANZAC Day drinking game. apparently it started with the english and irish and even spread to eastern us states and across the country during the goldrush, but i guess it's long gone now from there cause i've never heard of it. but anway, apparently during WWI australian soldiers played it extensively. it's a gambling game. and it involves drinking. but due to the excessive drinking the game encourages it was recently made illegal EXCEPT for on anzac day. so bars host huge TWO UP tournaments. and this is the game:
you have a special flat stick or baton of some kind. you place 2 one dollar coins on the end and you toss them up in the air. and then the gambler says if they will both be heads, or tails, or says which coin will be which. and that's the game. or something of that sort. i think there are different versions, where it's kinda like roulette. but that's the game. and they show people playing on the news. and on tuesday nite when i first learned of the game (anzac day is wednesday) i said: let's play, show me! and they all got silent and said 'no, we can't, it's illegal' and i said, 'yeah, but we're in a dorm room, no one is gonna know we played in here' and they responded 'nah, we should wait for tomorrow' so that's one rule all aussies seem to follow.
so i went to sydney today.. on a bus... and it was very long. over 3 hours between here and there, each way obvy. but it wasn't bad. i printed out articles for the essay i have to write and tried to read them. also my postgrad friend G from tasmania came with me, so we chit chatted all day.
on the way there, the radio played some dixie chicks and the song 'kids in america'. i thought "strange"... for both songs.
and my sister should be proud, when people ask me why i'm a vegetarian (trying to be vegan) i give them small little informative lectures. and i really grossed out G today on the bus. whoo hoo! your meat includes fecal matter!!!!
the trash cans here are called 'rubbish bins' and have signs on them saying 'general rubbish'
we got the headset dealio that goes with the exhibit today. and during the speech on the cerebellum, i was informed that not only does it manage all movement and motor output that 'tells us how to walk' but also 'let's us tie the thoooooousands of knots in a persian rug'. what a strange example to give of motor skills.
so we pronounce trachea as 'TRAY key ah' on the headset they said 'tra KEY ah'. hmm.. see the difference?
so the exhibit was cool, but the one at home was sooo much better. this one, well they had the bodies and everything, but the whole set up was pretty cruddy. just kinda looked like a middle school science fair. as my professor said it was 'a bit pov'. i guess that's short for 'poverty-ish?' or G said it was 'dodge' for dodgy. anyway, they didn't have a horse or a camel, or any animals at all. and no pregnant lady, and no box to throw away your cigarettes into. but it was fine enough.
car crashes here are 'smashies'
i explained to G today what a chinese fire drill is. she thinks american kids are insane now
driving home we went through the new fancy sydney tunnel and before entering there is a sign posted 'NO DANGEROUS GOODS IN TUNNEL'. uhh...
and the crossword puzzles here suck. it's not like the ones that are good, where every letter is a part of two different words (you know, across and down). it'll have like POTTERY and only the P a T and the E will be connected to other words. that's not a challenge!
G said they prononce the card game UNO as Yuno. she says cause no one knows spanish over here
and i don't know how y'all pronounce Nestle... the chocolate people... but i say Ness-lee. they say Ness-Lay. i guess that's more frenchish. even though as a kid she pronounced it as the verb 'nessul'
anyway! i'm off to read more about measuring the proximal end of a tibia to determine sex in a skeleton. then to read about using the 1st and/or 4th rib as a determinate in age estimation on skeletons
love and hugs!!!
so get this, Australia is refusing Snoop Dog entrance into Australia. because he has too many criminal allegations. don't they know that's how australia started???
and i can't believe i forgot to mention TWO UP. the infamous ANZAC Day drinking game. apparently it started with the english and irish and even spread to eastern us states and across the country during the goldrush, but i guess it's long gone now from there cause i've never heard of it. but anway, apparently during WWI australian soldiers played it extensively. it's a gambling game. and it involves drinking. but due to the excessive drinking the game encourages it was recently made illegal EXCEPT for on anzac day. so bars host huge TWO UP tournaments. and this is the game:
you have a special flat stick or baton of some kind. you place 2 one dollar coins on the end and you toss them up in the air. and then the gambler says if they will both be heads, or tails, or says which coin will be which. and that's the game. or something of that sort. i think there are different versions, where it's kinda like roulette. but that's the game. and they show people playing on the news. and on tuesday nite when i first learned of the game (anzac day is wednesday) i said: let's play, show me! and they all got silent and said 'no, we can't, it's illegal' and i said, 'yeah, but we're in a dorm room, no one is gonna know we played in here' and they responded 'nah, we should wait for tomorrow' so that's one rule all aussies seem to follow.
so i went to sydney today.. on a bus... and it was very long. over 3 hours between here and there, each way obvy. but it wasn't bad. i printed out articles for the essay i have to write and tried to read them. also my postgrad friend G from tasmania came with me, so we chit chatted all day.
on the way there, the radio played some dixie chicks and the song 'kids in america'. i thought "strange"... for both songs.
and my sister should be proud, when people ask me why i'm a vegetarian (trying to be vegan) i give them small little informative lectures. and i really grossed out G today on the bus. whoo hoo! your meat includes fecal matter!!!!
the trash cans here are called 'rubbish bins' and have signs on them saying 'general rubbish'
we got the headset dealio that goes with the exhibit today. and during the speech on the cerebellum, i was informed that not only does it manage all movement and motor output that 'tells us how to walk' but also 'let's us tie the thoooooousands of knots in a persian rug'. what a strange example to give of motor skills.
so we pronounce trachea as 'TRAY key ah' on the headset they said 'tra KEY ah'. hmm.. see the difference?
so the exhibit was cool, but the one at home was sooo much better. this one, well they had the bodies and everything, but the whole set up was pretty cruddy. just kinda looked like a middle school science fair. as my professor said it was 'a bit pov'. i guess that's short for 'poverty-ish?' or G said it was 'dodge' for dodgy. anyway, they didn't have a horse or a camel, or any animals at all. and no pregnant lady, and no box to throw away your cigarettes into. but it was fine enough.
car crashes here are 'smashies'
i explained to G today what a chinese fire drill is. she thinks american kids are insane now
driving home we went through the new fancy sydney tunnel and before entering there is a sign posted 'NO DANGEROUS GOODS IN TUNNEL'. uhh...
and the crossword puzzles here suck. it's not like the ones that are good, where every letter is a part of two different words (you know, across and down). it'll have like POTTERY and only the P a T and the E will be connected to other words. that's not a challenge!
G said they prononce the card game UNO as Yuno. she says cause no one knows spanish over here
and i don't know how y'all pronounce Nestle... the chocolate people... but i say Ness-lee. they say Ness-Lay. i guess that's more frenchish. even though as a kid she pronounced it as the verb 'nessul'
anyway! i'm off to read more about measuring the proximal end of a tibia to determine sex in a skeleton. then to read about using the 1st and/or 4th rib as a determinate in age estimation on skeletons
love and hugs!!!
Home Sweet Home
ookkkk, so my school just had a 2 week holiday, an easter holiday actually. i originally was going to stay here, but after i put some thought into it, i started to get a little homesick and decided last minute i should fly home. so that i did! i used the cheap airfare sites and got myself a ticket home. i then added on a short trip to connecticut to visit all my undergrad friends for one of my weekends in the states.
as i began my trip, 7:00am on a friday, taking a taxi to the airport, i then started to remember just how long it takes to get back home. buying the ticket was easy, now i had to spend 20 plus hours flying. the canberra airport is very very tiny. i think it has 11 gates total. and being such a well-traveled person as i am, i had already placed my liquids in a baggie. so as i was going through security in airport, i took my liquids out and placed them on the belt. and low and behold, the securtity people were amazed. "oh wow! are you international? is this how you do it? i've never put my liquids in a bag. i've never seen someone do it either. is this all the room you get?' the security was asking me about the liquid security measurements. this is a very small airport. then i was bomb tested. i passed.
i got to sydney with no problems, except i had to change airlines once i arrived in sydney. after waiting for over 30 minutes for my baggage to arrive on the carousel, i had to walk from the qantas arrival gate over to the united ticket counters in the international area... which just happened to be very very far apart. i had to walk from area A to area K. ugh. as i was walking, i passed all the other international airlines. and as i walked by THAI airlines, i noticed the different boarding classes they had. they had Royal First Class and Royal Silk Class. dude, i wanna be on royal silk. it sounds so luxuriant.
anyway, i then did some shopping in the sydney airport and went through security again, where i was once again tested for bomb handling. i promise y'all, i didn't touch any bomb. so as i find my gate, i see that it is being guarded, with ropes all around so people can't even walk into the sitting area. then i realized i had to walk through some more limited security, walk down a small hallway, then i could sit in the room. they were really concerned about the security of this flight apparently.
so i make it on the plane, and yaya, i have a middle seat! for 15 hours! but it ended up being quite nice. the girl by the window was in highschool and was traveling as part of her school team. SHOTPUT. how crazy! they were going to a tournament in vegas. international highschool shotput in vegas! i had no idea this even happened. and the girl on the aisle, well, we ended up talking for most of the trip. she's a college teacher who frankly looked younger than me. and after she ordered wine with dinner and told me alcohol was free on international flights, my trip then just got that much better. so some wine i did have. i then also read about 15 articles for a paper i had to e-mail to my teacher within the next 48 hours. an essay i had yet to start.
right before we started getting ready to land, i made a last minute stop to the restroom, to brush my teeth and whatnot, and then turbulance decided to kick in, hard. as i'm stumbling back to my seat, trying not to fall onto the passengers in the aisle, the stewardess (who did not like me or my friend cause we kept asking for wine) had the audacity to tell me to be careful. 'oh really? i shouldn't run down this aisle carefree? this isn't a carnival fun house i paid for? i could actually fall onto another person due to the turbulance? i had no idea! thanks lady!'
but we landed and things were fine. i then got to spend an hour or so with my friend E who lives in LA and she came out to the airport to say hello! (since i did have a 3 hour layover) and we traded presents and she gave me an authentic wolfgang puck chocolate oscar that she stole from an oscar party! i love my friends :) i then boarded another plane and arrived on time and met my mother, got my luggage, and we were off to a family dinner where i suprised everyone with my presence. my grandmother stood in shock for 40 seconds just staring at me wondering why i was there. i also surprised my father who couldn't believe his dear little eyes that his daughter was home. wasn't he paying money for me to be halfway around the world studying? oh well, surprise!
anyway, my holiday was good. i got my weekend in connecticut and it was amazing to be with everyone, and to celebrate my friend's recent engagement! and it was slightly reassuring to hear things like 'packy run' and 'sneakers' and driving to massachusetts to buy alcohol because it was after 9pm. and my days home were fabulous also. except to say i will never fly us airways again. i used them to and from ct, and every plane i stepped on had a late departure. and on my way back home, they kept us on the ground for an extra 40 minutes or so. something about an auxillary engine not turning on? sounds safe to me. but in the end the trip home was very well worth it i believe. i even got my essay in on time. hooray!
except then came the plane ride back to australia. getting to sydney was actually fine. standing in customs was not. waiting for baggage took another 20-30 mins and then i had to run from united terminal back to qantas where i missed my flight and 'oh sorry little lady, the next flight wtih an open seat is until 3:30 this afternoon' yeah, well it was 7:30 in the morning. i stayed 8 hours in the sydney airport. ugh. i walked around a bit, perused the stores and found a movie and cd store. and then saw a glimmer of hope, i'll watch movies all day long! and after i picked out 3 movies, each at the price of 8 bucks, i realized they wouldn't play on my american laptop. dang it all. so i slept. and read. and watched 'breakfast at tiffany's' which i have never seen but i had forgotten i downloaded on my computer a while back. finally my plane was boarding and i was on my way back to school.
i took a taxi from the airport to my dorm, and i sat in the front seat. i've always noticed that's what everyone else here does, so i thought i'd go for it. and after talking with my driver and he learning i was american, he acutally commended me on sitting in the front, instead of being 'pompous and distant' and sitting in the back like all of those other unaccustomed americans. also learning that i was a student and i was arriving late on a monday he asked 'oh, so were we wagging off then?'
umm... maybe... wait... what?
"you know, skipping out on school'
ohhh, ha. wagging off.
and when i arrived my friends were waiting and it was very nice to feel missed :)
so things went right back to routine, like i had never even left. except, wednesday was ANZAC day. which is a huge national holiday in australia. it's the Australian New Zealand Army Corps... or something like that, where there are parades with all war veterans, and people light candles, and no one works or goes to school. so it was nice to have the day off, especially since wednesdays are my only truly busy school days.
i did find out that i passed the test i took before holiday. i even got half credit for the aegyptophicus question! i didn't do too shabby at all. and when i inquired about my grade for my presentation, my teacher looked it up and said 'oh yes, it was very fine. detailed and easy to follow. i'd say it's on the border of a D and DH.'
uhh... ha, sorry, a D?? what?!
'oh, distinguished and highly distinguished. i think that's what you might call an A-.'
so look at that y'all, i'm almost highly distinguished :)
the weather has turned a bit colder and it's fabulous. i'm still wearing my flip flops though :)
and last nite a bunch of us drove up to Mt. Ainsley. i think it might be more of a hill, but it gives you a great look out over the city. and we went at nite so the city was lit up and i took a picture of the lights in between parliament and the war memorial. i'll put it up soon on webshots. and i took pics of my friends, which i will also soon add (as soon as they get the internet working again in my room.. something about resetting the system and blar blar blar...) so y'all should be prepared to see some real live ozzies.
so i forget if i've already said it, but they spell fetal = foetal. and hemoglobin = haemoglobin and anemia = anaemia. it throws me off each time.
and speaking of all that jazz, my race and human genetic class was soooooo boring today. i don't even know what we were talking about. 'beta thelassaemia" and 'polymorphic structural variants of haemoglobin'.... i definitely tuned out.
i've already had a few run ins with the word 'cut' here.
my friend I were talking about his soccer game being cancelled due to the other side forfeiting. and then told me that the german on his team was gonna be cut.
and i said 'oh no, is he bad? does he know he's gonna be kicked off?' and he was entirely confused because apparently 'being cut' means being upset. so the german was going to be upset the game was cancelled. and last nite my friend asked me if i was cut because my new shoes hurt my feet. 'no, my feet aren't cut, they are just sore' 'dude, i'm asking if you are upset cause you new shoes suck' oh... right
my friends here have actually learned to speak slower to me. ha, it's true though. and since S talks so fast and has a pretty strong accent, she's learned to accept the fact that after she tells me something, she has to wait a few beats before it'll register with me. i'll just stand there with a blank face, then it'll start making sense :)
my friends went to mackers along the way to mt. ainsley and ordered Sons of Macs. apparently these are like junior hamburgers? 'i'll have a son of mac please'. do we sell this in america?
i played pool in the common room yesterday with J, and the balls are so much smaller. apparently it's custom. they have 2 different sized playing balls and most of the time it's the smaller set. and sometimes they don't even come numbered. they come in 2 separate solid colors. you can either be yellow or red. i guess they don't play 9 ball very often.
and my sleep schedule has been totally crazy. well it's not that crazy. except for the past 3 nites i've been passing out at about 9pm and waking up at 7:30am. all on my own! i don't even have class til 10! what is this all about??
i think my friend S makes up her own words. she's going home for the weekend and she was talking about what she needs to pack and she said 'one nice outfit for dinner, some t-shirts, and some bum chuckies' apparently that's S for laying around clothes, or just pj's.
West wing informed me that from Yiddish, the English language has adopted: farfetched and spatula (my sister once convinced me it was pronounced "spa too lah’) (I was a very naïve child).
ok, i have to stop here because i'm going on a fieldtrip! yep, i'm in 3rd grade. but it's gonna be cool. most of the anthro students are taking a bus to sydney to see that bodyworks plastination exhibit. i saw it at home with my mom and grandma, where i got a great shirt "mind if i smoke? care if i die?". i wore it yesterday and my german asked if i smoked. umm... no, i don't, that's why i'm wearing the shirt. but anyways, i'm excited to see the exhibit again.
btw, i went to bed last nite at 10 pm and woke up today at 7 and couldn't go back to sleep. i have never, ever in my life woken up before noon and felt refreshed. i also had one of the worst nightmares ever. it was like i was in one of those horrible horror movies. but get this, the bad guy was a sheriff who killed little girls in the neighborhood, and in my dream it was played by dan ackroyd. weeeiiirrddd.
as i began my trip, 7:00am on a friday, taking a taxi to the airport, i then started to remember just how long it takes to get back home. buying the ticket was easy, now i had to spend 20 plus hours flying. the canberra airport is very very tiny. i think it has 11 gates total. and being such a well-traveled person as i am, i had already placed my liquids in a baggie. so as i was going through security in airport, i took my liquids out and placed them on the belt. and low and behold, the securtity people were amazed. "oh wow! are you international? is this how you do it? i've never put my liquids in a bag. i've never seen someone do it either. is this all the room you get?' the security was asking me about the liquid security measurements. this is a very small airport. then i was bomb tested. i passed.
i got to sydney with no problems, except i had to change airlines once i arrived in sydney. after waiting for over 30 minutes for my baggage to arrive on the carousel, i had to walk from the qantas arrival gate over to the united ticket counters in the international area... which just happened to be very very far apart. i had to walk from area A to area K. ugh. as i was walking, i passed all the other international airlines. and as i walked by THAI airlines, i noticed the different boarding classes they had. they had Royal First Class and Royal Silk Class. dude, i wanna be on royal silk. it sounds so luxuriant.
anyway, i then did some shopping in the sydney airport and went through security again, where i was once again tested for bomb handling. i promise y'all, i didn't touch any bomb. so as i find my gate, i see that it is being guarded, with ropes all around so people can't even walk into the sitting area. then i realized i had to walk through some more limited security, walk down a small hallway, then i could sit in the room. they were really concerned about the security of this flight apparently.
so i make it on the plane, and yaya, i have a middle seat! for 15 hours! but it ended up being quite nice. the girl by the window was in highschool and was traveling as part of her school team. SHOTPUT. how crazy! they were going to a tournament in vegas. international highschool shotput in vegas! i had no idea this even happened. and the girl on the aisle, well, we ended up talking for most of the trip. she's a college teacher who frankly looked younger than me. and after she ordered wine with dinner and told me alcohol was free on international flights, my trip then just got that much better. so some wine i did have. i then also read about 15 articles for a paper i had to e-mail to my teacher within the next 48 hours. an essay i had yet to start.
right before we started getting ready to land, i made a last minute stop to the restroom, to brush my teeth and whatnot, and then turbulance decided to kick in, hard. as i'm stumbling back to my seat, trying not to fall onto the passengers in the aisle, the stewardess (who did not like me or my friend cause we kept asking for wine) had the audacity to tell me to be careful. 'oh really? i shouldn't run down this aisle carefree? this isn't a carnival fun house i paid for? i could actually fall onto another person due to the turbulance? i had no idea! thanks lady!'
but we landed and things were fine. i then got to spend an hour or so with my friend E who lives in LA and she came out to the airport to say hello! (since i did have a 3 hour layover) and we traded presents and she gave me an authentic wolfgang puck chocolate oscar that she stole from an oscar party! i love my friends :) i then boarded another plane and arrived on time and met my mother, got my luggage, and we were off to a family dinner where i suprised everyone with my presence. my grandmother stood in shock for 40 seconds just staring at me wondering why i was there. i also surprised my father who couldn't believe his dear little eyes that his daughter was home. wasn't he paying money for me to be halfway around the world studying? oh well, surprise!
anyway, my holiday was good. i got my weekend in connecticut and it was amazing to be with everyone, and to celebrate my friend's recent engagement! and it was slightly reassuring to hear things like 'packy run' and 'sneakers' and driving to massachusetts to buy alcohol because it was after 9pm. and my days home were fabulous also. except to say i will never fly us airways again. i used them to and from ct, and every plane i stepped on had a late departure. and on my way back home, they kept us on the ground for an extra 40 minutes or so. something about an auxillary engine not turning on? sounds safe to me. but in the end the trip home was very well worth it i believe. i even got my essay in on time. hooray!
except then came the plane ride back to australia. getting to sydney was actually fine. standing in customs was not. waiting for baggage took another 20-30 mins and then i had to run from united terminal back to qantas where i missed my flight and 'oh sorry little lady, the next flight wtih an open seat is until 3:30 this afternoon' yeah, well it was 7:30 in the morning. i stayed 8 hours in the sydney airport. ugh. i walked around a bit, perused the stores and found a movie and cd store. and then saw a glimmer of hope, i'll watch movies all day long! and after i picked out 3 movies, each at the price of 8 bucks, i realized they wouldn't play on my american laptop. dang it all. so i slept. and read. and watched 'breakfast at tiffany's' which i have never seen but i had forgotten i downloaded on my computer a while back. finally my plane was boarding and i was on my way back to school.
i took a taxi from the airport to my dorm, and i sat in the front seat. i've always noticed that's what everyone else here does, so i thought i'd go for it. and after talking with my driver and he learning i was american, he acutally commended me on sitting in the front, instead of being 'pompous and distant' and sitting in the back like all of those other unaccustomed americans. also learning that i was a student and i was arriving late on a monday he asked 'oh, so were we wagging off then?'
umm... maybe... wait... what?
"you know, skipping out on school'
ohhh, ha. wagging off.
and when i arrived my friends were waiting and it was very nice to feel missed :)
so things went right back to routine, like i had never even left. except, wednesday was ANZAC day. which is a huge national holiday in australia. it's the Australian New Zealand Army Corps... or something like that, where there are parades with all war veterans, and people light candles, and no one works or goes to school. so it was nice to have the day off, especially since wednesdays are my only truly busy school days.
i did find out that i passed the test i took before holiday. i even got half credit for the aegyptophicus question! i didn't do too shabby at all. and when i inquired about my grade for my presentation, my teacher looked it up and said 'oh yes, it was very fine. detailed and easy to follow. i'd say it's on the border of a D and DH.'
uhh... ha, sorry, a D?? what?!
'oh, distinguished and highly distinguished. i think that's what you might call an A-.'
so look at that y'all, i'm almost highly distinguished :)
the weather has turned a bit colder and it's fabulous. i'm still wearing my flip flops though :)
and last nite a bunch of us drove up to Mt. Ainsley. i think it might be more of a hill, but it gives you a great look out over the city. and we went at nite so the city was lit up and i took a picture of the lights in between parliament and the war memorial. i'll put it up soon on webshots. and i took pics of my friends, which i will also soon add (as soon as they get the internet working again in my room.. something about resetting the system and blar blar blar...) so y'all should be prepared to see some real live ozzies.
so i forget if i've already said it, but they spell fetal = foetal. and hemoglobin = haemoglobin and anemia = anaemia. it throws me off each time.
and speaking of all that jazz, my race and human genetic class was soooooo boring today. i don't even know what we were talking about. 'beta thelassaemia" and 'polymorphic structural variants of haemoglobin'.... i definitely tuned out.
i've already had a few run ins with the word 'cut' here.
my friend I were talking about his soccer game being cancelled due to the other side forfeiting. and then told me that the german on his team was gonna be cut.
and i said 'oh no, is he bad? does he know he's gonna be kicked off?' and he was entirely confused because apparently 'being cut' means being upset. so the german was going to be upset the game was cancelled. and last nite my friend asked me if i was cut because my new shoes hurt my feet. 'no, my feet aren't cut, they are just sore' 'dude, i'm asking if you are upset cause you new shoes suck' oh... right
my friends here have actually learned to speak slower to me. ha, it's true though. and since S talks so fast and has a pretty strong accent, she's learned to accept the fact that after she tells me something, she has to wait a few beats before it'll register with me. i'll just stand there with a blank face, then it'll start making sense :)
my friends went to mackers along the way to mt. ainsley and ordered Sons of Macs. apparently these are like junior hamburgers? 'i'll have a son of mac please'. do we sell this in america?
i played pool in the common room yesterday with J, and the balls are so much smaller. apparently it's custom. they have 2 different sized playing balls and most of the time it's the smaller set. and sometimes they don't even come numbered. they come in 2 separate solid colors. you can either be yellow or red. i guess they don't play 9 ball very often.
and my sleep schedule has been totally crazy. well it's not that crazy. except for the past 3 nites i've been passing out at about 9pm and waking up at 7:30am. all on my own! i don't even have class til 10! what is this all about??
i think my friend S makes up her own words. she's going home for the weekend and she was talking about what she needs to pack and she said 'one nice outfit for dinner, some t-shirts, and some bum chuckies' apparently that's S for laying around clothes, or just pj's.
West wing informed me that from Yiddish, the English language has adopted: farfetched and spatula (my sister once convinced me it was pronounced "spa too lah’) (I was a very naïve child).
ok, i have to stop here because i'm going on a fieldtrip! yep, i'm in 3rd grade. but it's gonna be cool. most of the anthro students are taking a bus to sydney to see that bodyworks plastination exhibit. i saw it at home with my mom and grandma, where i got a great shirt "mind if i smoke? care if i die?". i wore it yesterday and my german asked if i smoked. umm... no, i don't, that's why i'm wearing the shirt. but anyways, i'm excited to see the exhibit again.
btw, i went to bed last nite at 10 pm and woke up today at 7 and couldn't go back to sleep. i have never, ever in my life woken up before noon and felt refreshed. i also had one of the worst nightmares ever. it was like i was in one of those horrible horror movies. but get this, the bad guy was a sheriff who killed little girls in the neighborhood, and in my dream it was played by dan ackroyd. weeeiiirrddd.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Webshots
hi y'all!!
so for my 2 week easter holiday, i decided to come home and surprise my papa for his birthday!! which my mother and i pulled off successfully.
and my flight home was of course full of traveling discoveries but i'll be posting the whole travel experience on my next blog.
the point of this one was to share the link to my australia pictures i have finally published to the web!!
the direct link is:
http://community.webshots.com/user/blundersdownunder
so yes, i used
webshots.com
and my username is
blundersdownunder
so there are only a few and when i realized how few i have, i decided i'm gonna go back to australia and take pictures of EVERYTHING
and i'm gonna go to the zoo, and up the mountains, and take pics of my friends :)
so for my 2 week easter holiday, i decided to come home and surprise my papa for his birthday!! which my mother and i pulled off successfully.
and my flight home was of course full of traveling discoveries but i'll be posting the whole travel experience on my next blog.
the point of this one was to share the link to my australia pictures i have finally published to the web!!
the direct link is:
http://community.webshots.com/user/blundersdownunder
so yes, i used
webshots.com
and my username is
blundersdownunder
so there are only a few and when i realized how few i have, i decided i'm gonna go back to australia and take pictures of EVERYTHING
and i'm gonna go to the zoo, and up the mountains, and take pics of my friends :)
Saturday, April 7, 2007
My Crunchy Excited.
so, did y'all know in America, we love the adjective "crunchy"? Yeah, we use it for 'cool' or 'hip'. like when referring to music: check out these crunchy beats. Or when we refer to a special independent film: that was a crunchy reel.
so...... my aussie friends are wrong, right? cause, as my sister pointed out, i only use that word when talking about the crust of a hot pocket. australians think we are so weird.
speaking of weird australians, i brought up the point that they abbreviate everything, and yet, when i use my one abbreviation Y'ALL, they giggle themselves silly. when in fact, everyday, they are saying silly words like "sunnies, footy, servo". yeah, servo. for service station where they buy their petrol. my friend's response:
"you mean, everytime you want your sunnies, you actually say sunglasses? every single time?"
yes, of course we do.
'well now that's silly. almost as silly as saying y'all'
my friend K was talking about her loud walking and claimed she 'clomped like a clydesdale'.... and i'm supposed to be the country one.
on thursday i had a presentation and a test. in the same class. a 10 minute test that the professor claimed would be 'sooo easy, we'd be so surprised!'. um, no, no it wasn't. 'how old is the aegyptopithecus? what is the phylogenetic position on the aegyptopithecus?' all i learned was that it was an early ancestor to humans. like i know how old it is. i guessed 40 million years old. the answer was 31-36. it's not like they can really prove those extra 4 million years. maybe i'll get half credit. wanker.
my friend J has never had a butterfinger.
my new friend G invited me to visit her in Tasmania. she calls home Tazzy. apparently it is a common affair for an America to arrive in Australia and think that Tasmania is a theme park. i mean, it does have the word 'mania' in it. It's like those Tazzies are asking for it.
S was telling me in highschool, she used Microsoft Word on her computer... like everyone else in the world, and it would automatically change "colour' or "behaviour" and take out the U. then her highschool teacher would take off points for misspellings and typos. hahaha
K and S had their younger brothers visit this week. and i was holed up in my room studying and preparing for that test and presentation that they had to stay in Canberra a few days without meeting me. and K's brother so badly wanted to hear my accent, that he made K call me on speakerphone. It's weird though, b/c 90% of their television and 99.9% of their movies are comprised of an American cast. but he wanted to hear me talk. i guess Ray Romano and Tom Cruise aren't actually the real thing.
oh, and since my stories are lacking some hilarity, i pass on to you, my sister's latest blog entry. i started to tear up i was laughing so hard.
I now present to you, the epic story of the BART.
So I took the dogs down to pee and one the way up in the elevator someone got on with their laundry. I pull the dogs close to me because Honey likes to size up anyone within petting distance to determine if they will pet her. She does this by shoving her nose in their crotch.
So I pull the dogs in and lean up against the elevator wall. It has one of those handrails really low to the ground, like at thigh level. And what the hell are those for anyway? Are people sitting in the elevator? Are really short people having trouble moving from the back of the elevator to the front of the elevator? Why the fuck are there handrails in the elevator?
So I lean up against the handrail and it shifts. And when it shifts, it squeaks. And by squeaks, I mean it farts. The handrail farted. Right where I put my ass on it.
So you remember that SNL skit where Roseanne Roseannadanna tells that story where her chair farted in an interview, so she tries to skootch the chair around so it farts again and she can’t get it to make another noise? So now she’s not only the girl who farted in the interview, but she’s also the girl who scooted the chair all over the room like a weirdo?
Well, I tried to shift the bar again. With my ass, of course. And it wouldn’t make a peep. So I try a little harder. I do this by rubbing my ass up and down on the handrail in front of a stranger who’s just trying to do his laundry in peace. And it did not make a sound. So now I have apparently farted and rubbed it into the handrail of a public elevator.
It’s at this point I tried to cut my losses. I think to myself, “Well, I can’t very well keep staring at the ground like a freak, can I? Cuz then I would totally look like an anti-social weirdo who thinks it’s ok to fart in the elevator.” So I look up at him and try to smile politely.
And that is when I realize that now I am the girl who farted, rubbed it in, and was damn proud of it.
So I pretty much gave up and stared at the buttons for the rest of the ride up.
oh my. my last lift ride consisted of hitting my floor button with my foot, to prove to my friend i can indeed do body combat moves. my kicks are stellar.
so...... my aussie friends are wrong, right? cause, as my sister pointed out, i only use that word when talking about the crust of a hot pocket. australians think we are so weird.
speaking of weird australians, i brought up the point that they abbreviate everything, and yet, when i use my one abbreviation Y'ALL, they giggle themselves silly. when in fact, everyday, they are saying silly words like "sunnies, footy, servo". yeah, servo. for service station where they buy their petrol. my friend's response:
"you mean, everytime you want your sunnies, you actually say sunglasses? every single time?"
yes, of course we do.
'well now that's silly. almost as silly as saying y'all'
my friend K was talking about her loud walking and claimed she 'clomped like a clydesdale'.... and i'm supposed to be the country one.
on thursday i had a presentation and a test. in the same class. a 10 minute test that the professor claimed would be 'sooo easy, we'd be so surprised!'. um, no, no it wasn't. 'how old is the aegyptopithecus? what is the phylogenetic position on the aegyptopithecus?' all i learned was that it was an early ancestor to humans. like i know how old it is. i guessed 40 million years old. the answer was 31-36. it's not like they can really prove those extra 4 million years. maybe i'll get half credit. wanker.
my friend J has never had a butterfinger.
my new friend G invited me to visit her in Tasmania. she calls home Tazzy. apparently it is a common affair for an America to arrive in Australia and think that Tasmania is a theme park. i mean, it does have the word 'mania' in it. It's like those Tazzies are asking for it.
S was telling me in highschool, she used Microsoft Word on her computer... like everyone else in the world, and it would automatically change "colour' or "behaviour" and take out the U. then her highschool teacher would take off points for misspellings and typos. hahaha
K and S had their younger brothers visit this week. and i was holed up in my room studying and preparing for that test and presentation that they had to stay in Canberra a few days without meeting me. and K's brother so badly wanted to hear my accent, that he made K call me on speakerphone. It's weird though, b/c 90% of their television and 99.9% of their movies are comprised of an American cast. but he wanted to hear me talk. i guess Ray Romano and Tom Cruise aren't actually the real thing.
oh, and since my stories are lacking some hilarity, i pass on to you, my sister's latest blog entry. i started to tear up i was laughing so hard.
I now present to you, the epic story of the BART.
So I took the dogs down to pee and one the way up in the elevator someone got on with their laundry. I pull the dogs close to me because Honey likes to size up anyone within petting distance to determine if they will pet her. She does this by shoving her nose in their crotch.
So I pull the dogs in and lean up against the elevator wall. It has one of those handrails really low to the ground, like at thigh level. And what the hell are those for anyway? Are people sitting in the elevator? Are really short people having trouble moving from the back of the elevator to the front of the elevator? Why the fuck are there handrails in the elevator?
So I lean up against the handrail and it shifts. And when it shifts, it squeaks. And by squeaks, I mean it farts. The handrail farted. Right where I put my ass on it.
So you remember that SNL skit where Roseanne Roseannadanna tells that story where her chair farted in an interview, so she tries to skootch the chair around so it farts again and she can’t get it to make another noise? So now she’s not only the girl who farted in the interview, but she’s also the girl who scooted the chair all over the room like a weirdo?
Well, I tried to shift the bar again. With my ass, of course. And it wouldn’t make a peep. So I try a little harder. I do this by rubbing my ass up and down on the handrail in front of a stranger who’s just trying to do his laundry in peace. And it did not make a sound. So now I have apparently farted and rubbed it into the handrail of a public elevator.
It’s at this point I tried to cut my losses. I think to myself, “Well, I can’t very well keep staring at the ground like a freak, can I? Cuz then I would totally look like an anti-social weirdo who thinks it’s ok to fart in the elevator.” So I look up at him and try to smile politely.
And that is when I realize that now I am the girl who farted, rubbed it in, and was damn proud of it.
So I pretty much gave up and stared at the buttons for the rest of the ride up.
oh my. my last lift ride consisted of hitting my floor button with my foot, to prove to my friend i can indeed do body combat moves. my kicks are stellar.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sydney and Such
So kids, how have you been? Let’s see… these are some things that have happened since my last real post:
1) S bought a small oven that sits on the counter top. We’ve made muffins and cookies, and I bought brownie mix. This new purchase of hers might not be healthy, but it’s gonna be fun.
2) went and had coffee one evening where one of my german friends told me he wanted to go to another bar but saw it was ‘too crowdy’
3) went to a pub where the music seemed to be based around the theme of 80’s and 90’s and it was the best music I’ve heard in a while. Bon jovi, lynard skynard, bryan adams, pat benetar… I was in heaven.
4) I was asked why our coffee is called Joe and a toilet is called John
5) went to a Mid-Morning Tea with the anthropology and archaeology department for the professors and grad students. It was nice. I talked with 2 of the girls I know from my classes and tutes and then we ended up talking to our Human Skeletal teacher for about a half hour. He’s young and really nice and funny. It was nice to be so carefree with our professors. Maybe give us an edge from those silly undergrad students
6) I made scrambled eggs
7) I actually stayed in the ENTIRE weekend last weekend because I was still sorta congested and I spent the time on writing up that presentation on species. I had no idea it was going to be so complicated. I spent a few nights at S’s room. We stayed up for hours doing homework and drinking coffee and laughing. I was telling her how in undergrad, during finals, my friends and I would claim a study room in the library for ourselves and live in it for a week. Oh man, those nights of studying were so much more fun than any of those nights we went to a bar or party. We were drunk from no sleep and we were crammed into a room the size of 2 closets. It was awesome… aw, I miss you guys.
8) I watched days of our lives. On quite a few of the afternoons
9) I made vegan tofu and bean burritos from a recipe in a book (yep, the vegan recipe book you gave me N.) and they weren’t half bad. The next recipes I’m gonna tackle include mango salsa and stuffed potatoes with broccoli.
10) I HAVE YET TO SEE A KANGAROO! And when I tell australians this they ask if I have been hiding under a rock. No, no I have not. Apparently they can be found everywhere. They are even on the outskirts of our campus. Whenever I go driving with S or J, I always look. But these danged kangaroos do not want to show me their faces. I think however I saw one that was dead on the side of the road on the way to Sydney. But following my strictly self-enforced rule of not looking a dead animals on the side of the road, I quickly looked away. I think however I caught a glimpse of a kangaroo leg in the air… :(
11) I’ve learned a few words in Turkish. J and I are using our Turkish friend’s phone as our starting point for learning. Menu is Menu. Secenek is options. We are gonna go far with this, I can feel it.
12) I downloaded the first season of scrubs. I don’t know why I never started watching this show until now. It’s awesome!
13) my fellow archaeologist M back home suggested I watch Dexter, the showtime series. So I downloaded the first season off the school network, and thanks M, I got heavily addicted. I finished the whole season in like 3 days. It was good. Can’t wait for more episodes!!
14) I explained to my friends that neither New York nor Rhode Island are actual islands.
Now.. This weekend, I went to Sydney! I went home with J b/c she was going to attend “Head of the River” which is the final rowing competition for all the private schools in Sydney. The boys race on Saturday and the girls race on Sunday. It’s a big deal in Sydney… for the private school patrons. Anyway, we left Friday afternoon and took the 3 hour drive down M5 (motorway 5. The highway) to Sydney. And it was a beautiful drive. We were driving along, making our way down a long winding road in the hills and we had been passing bright green farms and rural land for a while, when she pointed straight ahead and said ‘see that green area?’ yes I replied. ‘that’s a lake’ she informed me. Hmm.. Well J, there’s no water in it, how can it be a lake? ‘it’s called a drought.’ now this lake doesn’t fill up often, she said it mainly fills about once every 10 years when a freak rain storm season comes in, but it indeed was categorized as a lake, even though in between those heavy rainfalls, farmers use the land at the bottom of the lake to feed their flocks and herds. I so wanted a picture of it (but my camera was in the boot… er, trunk), it was quite unbelievable. It was a HUGE amount of land, and it sure was a basin. A big empty lake-bowl. Lake George if y’all are curious. Also, on the highways, their passing/fast lane is called the overtaking lane. For when you want to overtake a fellow motorist.
But anyway, the drive was uneventful, her radio was busted, but we just talked the whole way to her house. It was nice. The scenery is, as I’m sure y’all imagine, breathtaking. Trees, mountains, blue skies… it was great. So we arrive at her house and settle in, I meet her fam. Her parents and younger brother, they were all very nice and warm and welcoming. And her cute dog who can jump as high as my head. Anyway, we ate dinner (her mother made me eggplant while they ate spaghetti with meat sauce. Australians don’t really understand vegetarianism. I mean, they understand the not eating meat part, they don’t understand why on her someone would do such a thing. But her mom was very accommodating.) then we went out into the city to see a ‘secret gig’. a concert that wasn’t publicized well on purpose, so only the true fans would know about it… or something silly like that. Anyway, we went with her friend R and the club was very nice. The band is actually from California… Soft Lights I think they are called. The music was very trance-licious. Anyway, I saw they had cheap brut champagne, so I ordered some and since they didn’t have pomegranate juice, I asked for it with a few splashes of grenadine. The bartenders had definitely never served this before, but guys, it’s real good. While at the bar, this guy next to me bumped into me and when I turned to say ‘sorry’ (cause that’s what we do, even when the bumping wasn’t our fault) he did a double take and said ‘where are you from? You aren’t from around here’. he heard my accent on the word ‘sorry’. I told him Texas and he yelled “LONGHORNS!‘ that was about the extent of his knowledge on the state, but hey, that’s more than some people. We then headed to another bar and it was an uneventful but fun evening, that was cut short b/c we had to wake up Saturday morning at 7 to make it to the lake on time for her brother’s race. So anyway, hailed a taxi home and went immediately to bed.
Saturday we woke up, acutally left the house on time (7:30am), and drove out to Penrith, which is about an hour’s drive out. Once again, beautiful area. I have some pictures, of course, and I’ll be posting them once I get webshots or something going on online. But J was explaining to me how the private high schools work in Sydney, or all of Australia really, and it is just like Harry Potter, minus the magic. I think because my first exposure to that type of schooling was from a book about a magical boarding school, the whole idea of belonging to a House inside the school, and House races, and boarding seemed all so mystical and amazing to me. I just keep picturing Hogwarts. Her school had 10 houses, and each had a house captain, and some girls boarded, some still lived at home. Her brother’s school is exclusively boarded, and he wakes up each morning to the sun rising over the bay. Lucky Australians. But anyway, each House has it’s own color and they do have House championships and House cups… but no quidditch. Dang it. However, they do have their rowing, which is a huuuuuge deal to these schools, and here I was in the middle of it all. It was mandatory all the students come and in uniform to support their school’s team. And all the parents are wearing the school colors. This race includes 8 private schools. Anyway, it was great being on the water and watching the races. We left early so that J could give me a motor tour of Sydney, but I loved being there. I even bought myself a Head of the River shirt. I bet I’ll be the only one in America with this shirt. It says “Head of the River’ then has drawings of each of the schools’ oars on it with their different designs and colors.
Ok, so then J drove me into the city where I also have a few good pictures. She took me to a lookout point right on one of the bays that includes the opera house, luna park, their crazy big harbor bridge, and a well known theatre on the water. And guys, get this, you can climb the bridge. You don‘t really like scale it, but walk on top of it, all the way to the middle point on the highest point of the arc where they have the Australian flag waving. And I have pictures of people up there. They look sooo small. This bridge is huge. I really wanna climb it. It’s all professionally done and you pay for it. They also have climb times at sunrise, sunset, and at night, so you can see all the lights of the city. Anyway, the sun was shining, the wind was calm, there were kayakers, sailboats, cruise ships, there was a crazy bird that kept stalking us, but it was fabulous. All the streets are narrow and old with beautiful buildings, all are different from the next. It’s a great city. We then parked and walked to what I think was called Martin Place to meet one of her friends, V. just a city square area with shopping and such. And when I told him I was from texas he said “OH! Like Kelly Clarkson!“ Yes, just like Kelly Clarkson. And I saw an Ibis!! That dang bird is in like every crossword puzzle ever, and I saw one.
We had some lunch and sat around and chit chatted til we realized it was time to be getting home to rest before we went out. I know I didn’t do anything real touristy, but J didn’t go to her home just for me. But I can’t wait to go back and do all those touristy things. Like climbing that bridge. Oh man, it’s gonna be great.
So we went home, I caught up on some internet surfing, I read some for my essay that’s due soon, and J got to nap. Now, here comes the part about Earth Hour. I’m not sure what cities were included, but Australia, or maybe just Sydney, was asking the citizens to turn off all the power they could, not to drive their cars, or use water from 7:30-8:30 that evening. So we had dinner by candle light and it was really quite nice. We talked, J shared her Chinese she is learning here at Uni, and I of course was asked questions about what America thinks of Bush. I can’t tell you how annoying the Bush topic is getting. Yeah, I get it Australia, you all think Bush is a fool. But her parents were quite polite and then I told them about the rodeo and how I don’t have a gun. Anyway, we got ready and went out for a night in the city. J was explaining to me that Sydney’s night life is divided up, just like any city. You have the rich bars, the college bars, the gay bars, and the pubs. J then also informed me that no one has seen what Sydney night life is until they have gone clubbing at the gay clubs. So that was our destination. We went to one of V’s favorite ones and it was really fun. They played the best music, I danced and no guy groped me, and everyone was friendly! It was a 3 story club with a disco ball with revolving doors at all the entrances and exits. It was awesome. So we arrived home safely and today, we slept half of the day away. A great relaxing Sunday. We had brunch (at 2pm, haha) and drove home and arrived back in Canberra this evening. It was a fun weekend in Sydney and I can’t wait to go back and really explore the city.
Some things to note:
When the students are referring to their homework, or assignments, they call them ‘assessments’.
For example (actually, in conversation they will say “EG” when asking for an example. Like, “oh, give me an EG of why he was crazy”) “I had all my mid assessments due this week” “how are your assessments going?” “I got a good score on my first official assessment!“ it’s kinda weird, but kinda cute.
When a woman is pregnant, some say that woman is ‘up the duff’. don’t know why
all trucks, pick up trucks, are called U’s. short for utility I think. “look at that dirty U.” (have I already posted about this??)
they have their AFL here, Australian rules football league, and they too have Friday Night Football… however, and I’m serious, they even write it on advertisement signs, they call it Friday Night Footy. I don’t see my male avid football fan friends in America ever calling the sport Footy. I however, will carry on this tradition. For always. Can’t wait for Fantasy Footy this year!!
My friends insist that an Emu is pronounced: E-mew. Not E-moo, like I call it.
I still haven’t be able to master their accent, but we’ve figured out some certain points of difference between the way we talk. They drop their R’s and use an ’ah’. like watah (water). They make fun of me for pronouncing the er like a boggen. but then they add R’s where there isn’t one at all: pizzer. And this change, they don’t really say them strongly, it’s not like they said ’pizzerrrrr’(like I think some new Englanders do) it’s more of a soft ’er’ that just faintly drops off at the end of the words… wow, I have no idea how to explain any of this….. Whatever, you’ve all heard the accent, it’s just funny how they consistently drop the R’s and relocate them in other words.
they have salvation army stores here. But they are called Salvos. Seriously, everything is abbreviated. The store signs say SALVO with salvation army written really small underneath it.
I am officially Texas now. J introduced me to all her Sydney friends as Texas. I have no other name. I don’t know why my parents ever bothered giving me a real name.
That’s all I can think of for now, but I know I ran across more cultural differences this weekend, I‘ll have to wait til they come back to me.
but back home, congrats to my Grand Sister on her fabulous performance in her school play! (haha, sounds like you are 8 years old). And to my old roomie N on his new job! And congrats to me for not doing that poorly on my face book.com NCAA bracket. I’m in like 7th place among my friends, and I picked the winners solely based on how lovely I thought the school name sounded. ( I can’t believe my undergrad didn’t make it. I wanted to shed a few tears.) My friend E did hers on how religious the school was, and as she said, the God Squad did not come through this year.
Love and hugs to all of you! And I promise I’ll start posting more regularly again :)
1) S bought a small oven that sits on the counter top. We’ve made muffins and cookies, and I bought brownie mix. This new purchase of hers might not be healthy, but it’s gonna be fun.
2) went and had coffee one evening where one of my german friends told me he wanted to go to another bar but saw it was ‘too crowdy’
3) went to a pub where the music seemed to be based around the theme of 80’s and 90’s and it was the best music I’ve heard in a while. Bon jovi, lynard skynard, bryan adams, pat benetar… I was in heaven.
4) I was asked why our coffee is called Joe and a toilet is called John
5) went to a Mid-Morning Tea with the anthropology and archaeology department for the professors and grad students. It was nice. I talked with 2 of the girls I know from my classes and tutes and then we ended up talking to our Human Skeletal teacher for about a half hour. He’s young and really nice and funny. It was nice to be so carefree with our professors. Maybe give us an edge from those silly undergrad students
6) I made scrambled eggs
7) I actually stayed in the ENTIRE weekend last weekend because I was still sorta congested and I spent the time on writing up that presentation on species. I had no idea it was going to be so complicated. I spent a few nights at S’s room. We stayed up for hours doing homework and drinking coffee and laughing. I was telling her how in undergrad, during finals, my friends and I would claim a study room in the library for ourselves and live in it for a week. Oh man, those nights of studying were so much more fun than any of those nights we went to a bar or party. We were drunk from no sleep and we were crammed into a room the size of 2 closets. It was awesome… aw, I miss you guys.
8) I watched days of our lives. On quite a few of the afternoons
9) I made vegan tofu and bean burritos from a recipe in a book (yep, the vegan recipe book you gave me N.) and they weren’t half bad. The next recipes I’m gonna tackle include mango salsa and stuffed potatoes with broccoli.
10) I HAVE YET TO SEE A KANGAROO! And when I tell australians this they ask if I have been hiding under a rock. No, no I have not. Apparently they can be found everywhere. They are even on the outskirts of our campus. Whenever I go driving with S or J, I always look. But these danged kangaroos do not want to show me their faces. I think however I saw one that was dead on the side of the road on the way to Sydney. But following my strictly self-enforced rule of not looking a dead animals on the side of the road, I quickly looked away. I think however I caught a glimpse of a kangaroo leg in the air… :(
11) I’ve learned a few words in Turkish. J and I are using our Turkish friend’s phone as our starting point for learning. Menu is Menu. Secenek is options. We are gonna go far with this, I can feel it.
12) I downloaded the first season of scrubs. I don’t know why I never started watching this show until now. It’s awesome!
13) my fellow archaeologist M back home suggested I watch Dexter, the showtime series. So I downloaded the first season off the school network, and thanks M, I got heavily addicted. I finished the whole season in like 3 days. It was good. Can’t wait for more episodes!!
14) I explained to my friends that neither New York nor Rhode Island are actual islands.
Now.. This weekend, I went to Sydney! I went home with J b/c she was going to attend “Head of the River” which is the final rowing competition for all the private schools in Sydney. The boys race on Saturday and the girls race on Sunday. It’s a big deal in Sydney… for the private school patrons. Anyway, we left Friday afternoon and took the 3 hour drive down M5 (motorway 5. The highway) to Sydney. And it was a beautiful drive. We were driving along, making our way down a long winding road in the hills and we had been passing bright green farms and rural land for a while, when she pointed straight ahead and said ‘see that green area?’ yes I replied. ‘that’s a lake’ she informed me. Hmm.. Well J, there’s no water in it, how can it be a lake? ‘it’s called a drought.’ now this lake doesn’t fill up often, she said it mainly fills about once every 10 years when a freak rain storm season comes in, but it indeed was categorized as a lake, even though in between those heavy rainfalls, farmers use the land at the bottom of the lake to feed their flocks and herds. I so wanted a picture of it (but my camera was in the boot… er, trunk), it was quite unbelievable. It was a HUGE amount of land, and it sure was a basin. A big empty lake-bowl. Lake George if y’all are curious. Also, on the highways, their passing/fast lane is called the overtaking lane. For when you want to overtake a fellow motorist.
But anyway, the drive was uneventful, her radio was busted, but we just talked the whole way to her house. It was nice. The scenery is, as I’m sure y’all imagine, breathtaking. Trees, mountains, blue skies… it was great. So we arrive at her house and settle in, I meet her fam. Her parents and younger brother, they were all very nice and warm and welcoming. And her cute dog who can jump as high as my head. Anyway, we ate dinner (her mother made me eggplant while they ate spaghetti with meat sauce. Australians don’t really understand vegetarianism. I mean, they understand the not eating meat part, they don’t understand why on her someone would do such a thing. But her mom was very accommodating.) then we went out into the city to see a ‘secret gig’. a concert that wasn’t publicized well on purpose, so only the true fans would know about it… or something silly like that. Anyway, we went with her friend R and the club was very nice. The band is actually from California… Soft Lights I think they are called. The music was very trance-licious. Anyway, I saw they had cheap brut champagne, so I ordered some and since they didn’t have pomegranate juice, I asked for it with a few splashes of grenadine. The bartenders had definitely never served this before, but guys, it’s real good. While at the bar, this guy next to me bumped into me and when I turned to say ‘sorry’ (cause that’s what we do, even when the bumping wasn’t our fault) he did a double take and said ‘where are you from? You aren’t from around here’. he heard my accent on the word ‘sorry’. I told him Texas and he yelled “LONGHORNS!‘ that was about the extent of his knowledge on the state, but hey, that’s more than some people. We then headed to another bar and it was an uneventful but fun evening, that was cut short b/c we had to wake up Saturday morning at 7 to make it to the lake on time for her brother’s race. So anyway, hailed a taxi home and went immediately to bed.
Saturday we woke up, acutally left the house on time (7:30am), and drove out to Penrith, which is about an hour’s drive out. Once again, beautiful area. I have some pictures, of course, and I’ll be posting them once I get webshots or something going on online. But J was explaining to me how the private high schools work in Sydney, or all of Australia really, and it is just like Harry Potter, minus the magic. I think because my first exposure to that type of schooling was from a book about a magical boarding school, the whole idea of belonging to a House inside the school, and House races, and boarding seemed all so mystical and amazing to me. I just keep picturing Hogwarts. Her school had 10 houses, and each had a house captain, and some girls boarded, some still lived at home. Her brother’s school is exclusively boarded, and he wakes up each morning to the sun rising over the bay. Lucky Australians. But anyway, each House has it’s own color and they do have House championships and House cups… but no quidditch. Dang it. However, they do have their rowing, which is a huuuuuge deal to these schools, and here I was in the middle of it all. It was mandatory all the students come and in uniform to support their school’s team. And all the parents are wearing the school colors. This race includes 8 private schools. Anyway, it was great being on the water and watching the races. We left early so that J could give me a motor tour of Sydney, but I loved being there. I even bought myself a Head of the River shirt. I bet I’ll be the only one in America with this shirt. It says “Head of the River’ then has drawings of each of the schools’ oars on it with their different designs and colors.
Ok, so then J drove me into the city where I also have a few good pictures. She took me to a lookout point right on one of the bays that includes the opera house, luna park, their crazy big harbor bridge, and a well known theatre on the water. And guys, get this, you can climb the bridge. You don‘t really like scale it, but walk on top of it, all the way to the middle point on the highest point of the arc where they have the Australian flag waving. And I have pictures of people up there. They look sooo small. This bridge is huge. I really wanna climb it. It’s all professionally done and you pay for it. They also have climb times at sunrise, sunset, and at night, so you can see all the lights of the city. Anyway, the sun was shining, the wind was calm, there were kayakers, sailboats, cruise ships, there was a crazy bird that kept stalking us, but it was fabulous. All the streets are narrow and old with beautiful buildings, all are different from the next. It’s a great city. We then parked and walked to what I think was called Martin Place to meet one of her friends, V. just a city square area with shopping and such. And when I told him I was from texas he said “OH! Like Kelly Clarkson!“ Yes, just like Kelly Clarkson. And I saw an Ibis!! That dang bird is in like every crossword puzzle ever, and I saw one.
We had some lunch and sat around and chit chatted til we realized it was time to be getting home to rest before we went out. I know I didn’t do anything real touristy, but J didn’t go to her home just for me. But I can’t wait to go back and do all those touristy things. Like climbing that bridge. Oh man, it’s gonna be great.
So we went home, I caught up on some internet surfing, I read some for my essay that’s due soon, and J got to nap. Now, here comes the part about Earth Hour. I’m not sure what cities were included, but Australia, or maybe just Sydney, was asking the citizens to turn off all the power they could, not to drive their cars, or use water from 7:30-8:30 that evening. So we had dinner by candle light and it was really quite nice. We talked, J shared her Chinese she is learning here at Uni, and I of course was asked questions about what America thinks of Bush. I can’t tell you how annoying the Bush topic is getting. Yeah, I get it Australia, you all think Bush is a fool. But her parents were quite polite and then I told them about the rodeo and how I don’t have a gun. Anyway, we got ready and went out for a night in the city. J was explaining to me that Sydney’s night life is divided up, just like any city. You have the rich bars, the college bars, the gay bars, and the pubs. J then also informed me that no one has seen what Sydney night life is until they have gone clubbing at the gay clubs. So that was our destination. We went to one of V’s favorite ones and it was really fun. They played the best music, I danced and no guy groped me, and everyone was friendly! It was a 3 story club with a disco ball with revolving doors at all the entrances and exits. It was awesome. So we arrived home safely and today, we slept half of the day away. A great relaxing Sunday. We had brunch (at 2pm, haha) and drove home and arrived back in Canberra this evening. It was a fun weekend in Sydney and I can’t wait to go back and really explore the city.
Some things to note:
When the students are referring to their homework, or assignments, they call them ‘assessments’.
For example (actually, in conversation they will say “EG” when asking for an example. Like, “oh, give me an EG of why he was crazy”) “I had all my mid assessments due this week” “how are your assessments going?” “I got a good score on my first official assessment!“ it’s kinda weird, but kinda cute.
When a woman is pregnant, some say that woman is ‘up the duff’. don’t know why
all trucks, pick up trucks, are called U’s. short for utility I think. “look at that dirty U.” (have I already posted about this??)
they have their AFL here, Australian rules football league, and they too have Friday Night Football… however, and I’m serious, they even write it on advertisement signs, they call it Friday Night Footy. I don’t see my male avid football fan friends in America ever calling the sport Footy. I however, will carry on this tradition. For always. Can’t wait for Fantasy Footy this year!!
My friends insist that an Emu is pronounced: E-mew. Not E-moo, like I call it.
I still haven’t be able to master their accent, but we’ve figured out some certain points of difference between the way we talk. They drop their R’s and use an ’ah’. like watah (water). They make fun of me for pronouncing the er like a boggen. but then they add R’s where there isn’t one at all: pizzer. And this change, they don’t really say them strongly, it’s not like they said ’pizzerrrrr’(like I think some new Englanders do) it’s more of a soft ’er’ that just faintly drops off at the end of the words… wow, I have no idea how to explain any of this….. Whatever, you’ve all heard the accent, it’s just funny how they consistently drop the R’s and relocate them in other words.
they have salvation army stores here. But they are called Salvos. Seriously, everything is abbreviated. The store signs say SALVO with salvation army written really small underneath it.
I am officially Texas now. J introduced me to all her Sydney friends as Texas. I have no other name. I don’t know why my parents ever bothered giving me a real name.
That’s all I can think of for now, but I know I ran across more cultural differences this weekend, I‘ll have to wait til they come back to me.
but back home, congrats to my Grand Sister on her fabulous performance in her school play! (haha, sounds like you are 8 years old). And to my old roomie N on his new job! And congrats to me for not doing that poorly on my face book.com NCAA bracket. I’m in like 7th place among my friends, and I picked the winners solely based on how lovely I thought the school name sounded. ( I can’t believe my undergrad didn’t make it. I wanted to shed a few tears.) My friend E did hers on how religious the school was, and as she said, the God Squad did not come through this year.
Love and hugs to all of you! And I promise I’ll start posting more regularly again :)
Saturday, March 31, 2007
I'M ALIVE!
sorry folks! the truth is... i haven't been posting... not because i've been ultra busy... b/c nothing too crazy has happened that i thought would be interesting enough for a posting.
maybe i should have posted about the australian version of the biggest loser.
maybe i should have posted about burning pancakes b/c i didn't have a spatula. i thought a fork would be good enough.
maybe i should have posted about having 21 fire alarms this month. 3 of which took place within one afternoon. and one night we had a fire alarm at 7:30... then one at 7:42.
a few reasons why there were fire alarms:
someone tried to 'bake' cookies in their microwave. it then blew up.
someone tried to cook chicken in their microwave for 40 minutes.
somone boiled water and forgot about it until it went dry... then apparently smokey.
someone wanted to cook on their stove, turned it on, put oil in the pan... realized he didn't have all the ingredients... LEFT TO GO BUY THE INGREDIENTS with the oil burning on the stove, and returned to everyone standing outside due to a fire alarm... that he caused. and he had no idea it was him.
maybe i should have posted about my norwegian friend leaving school and going back to norway :( sad!
or about one of their TV channels had a week devoted to heroes... with news stories, interviews with policemen, and a movie about the tsunami.. and capped it all off with the movie THE PERFECT STORM. i had no idea the epitome of heroes was about marky mark fighting with the ocean.
or about all the dang mullets here. it's boggenlicious.
or how white people call themselves 'skips' here. i told them i'm a cracker. a delicious saltine cracker.
or about spending 250 bucks for groceries.
or about the confusion over the US states. 52? 51? no no, it's 48. does puerto rico count? what's delaware? "hi... i'm in... delaware" are your states small? b/c australia has 6. 50 is way too many. are all the states the same size? have you driven to alaska? if there are 50 states, why do you talk about the "Lower 48"? what's the most southern state... is it near new york? no, i heard new york was the most northern. what!? maine is more north? what's in maine?
or how i bought a univeristy hoodie... but i guess that's something only the american students do. a girl from california did it, a boy from pennsylvania did it... but none of the australians. i sometimes wear it over my undergrad intramural championship shirt with my nebraska shorts. i go all colleged-out.
or perhaps about ALL THE COLLEGE DRAMA. of which i am proud to say i am not in the middle of. blank made out with blank. but blank likes blank while blank likes the other blank. and blank said this to blank about blank because blank kissed blank but those two blanks aren't friends anymore because of blank. and i can't stand blank anymore. did you know blank flirted with blank in front of blank? yeah......
so i'm sorry i didn't post. i didn't think it was interesting enough.
and i'm sorry i'm cutting this one short. i do actually have some stories, but i'm in the midst of living them. i'm in sydney for the weekend. it's a beautiful city. and i'm gonna tell y'all all about it when i return.
i just wanted to write a little something so you guys won't forget about me... unless you already have cause i waited so long.
and congrats to my grand sister and her fiance for picking a place for their wedding!
when i told a friend my sister was engaged his immediate response was 'is she pregnant?' cause apparently in darwin, that's the only reason to get married.
i will be back in less than 50 hours! won't you join me?
maybe i should have posted about the australian version of the biggest loser.
maybe i should have posted about burning pancakes b/c i didn't have a spatula. i thought a fork would be good enough.
maybe i should have posted about having 21 fire alarms this month. 3 of which took place within one afternoon. and one night we had a fire alarm at 7:30... then one at 7:42.
a few reasons why there were fire alarms:
someone tried to 'bake' cookies in their microwave. it then blew up.
someone tried to cook chicken in their microwave for 40 minutes.
somone boiled water and forgot about it until it went dry... then apparently smokey.
someone wanted to cook on their stove, turned it on, put oil in the pan... realized he didn't have all the ingredients... LEFT TO GO BUY THE INGREDIENTS with the oil burning on the stove, and returned to everyone standing outside due to a fire alarm... that he caused. and he had no idea it was him.
maybe i should have posted about my norwegian friend leaving school and going back to norway :( sad!
or about one of their TV channels had a week devoted to heroes... with news stories, interviews with policemen, and a movie about the tsunami.. and capped it all off with the movie THE PERFECT STORM. i had no idea the epitome of heroes was about marky mark fighting with the ocean.
or about all the dang mullets here. it's boggenlicious.
or how white people call themselves 'skips' here. i told them i'm a cracker. a delicious saltine cracker.
or about spending 250 bucks for groceries.
or about the confusion over the US states. 52? 51? no no, it's 48. does puerto rico count? what's delaware? "hi... i'm in... delaware" are your states small? b/c australia has 6. 50 is way too many. are all the states the same size? have you driven to alaska? if there are 50 states, why do you talk about the "Lower 48"? what's the most southern state... is it near new york? no, i heard new york was the most northern. what!? maine is more north? what's in maine?
or how i bought a univeristy hoodie... but i guess that's something only the american students do. a girl from california did it, a boy from pennsylvania did it... but none of the australians. i sometimes wear it over my undergrad intramural championship shirt with my nebraska shorts. i go all colleged-out.
or perhaps about ALL THE COLLEGE DRAMA. of which i am proud to say i am not in the middle of. blank made out with blank. but blank likes blank while blank likes the other blank. and blank said this to blank about blank because blank kissed blank but those two blanks aren't friends anymore because of blank. and i can't stand blank anymore. did you know blank flirted with blank in front of blank? yeah......
so i'm sorry i didn't post. i didn't think it was interesting enough.
and i'm sorry i'm cutting this one short. i do actually have some stories, but i'm in the midst of living them. i'm in sydney for the weekend. it's a beautiful city. and i'm gonna tell y'all all about it when i return.
i just wanted to write a little something so you guys won't forget about me... unless you already have cause i waited so long.
and congrats to my grand sister and her fiance for picking a place for their wedding!
when i told a friend my sister was engaged his immediate response was 'is she pregnant?' cause apparently in darwin, that's the only reason to get married.
i will be back in less than 50 hours! won't you join me?
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Let Freedom Ring
ok, so one of my favorite stories from this experience is as such:
my friend J was having a fun little conversation with our german friend. he made a joke about her, so she joked back. and his reply was "we are quit"
j said: we are quit? what?
german: you know. we are quit. we are quit.
j: no.. what?
german: you and i are both done. we got each other. we are quit.
j: even? we are even?
german: yes! we are even.
so now when any of us make jokes with each other, we reply with 'we are quit!'
not only do stores here advertise their sales, but they advertise their REDUCTIONS! reductions here! reductions rack! reductions at 30%!
in america we have words as dweeb, nerd, loser... here they have so many words that i have never heard before in my life. like: Bogens, Pikies, Wogs.
i just had a long conversation with a turkish boy. we talked politics. he apparently likes clinton, based on the fact that there was no 'war' during clinton's time. we had a war during george bush, and now durying dubya, but 'nothing' during clinton's reign. he also blames 9/11 on bush. and he also thinks hilary is our next president. i most honestly believe america will sooner vote an ethnic man before a woman. he thinks i'm wrong. i guess we'll see soon enough. (and i'm not saying that obama is that ethnic man, but america likes men more than women, despite race. so i believe another man of any race will be elected before any woman) (but what do i know, i'm just a redneck texan). that's how the rest of the world views texans: as rednecks. we are uneducated, slow, and ignorant. much like the way america views arkansas. hahaha, just kidding. (which is bill clinton's home state, fyi.) and rednecks are worse than bogens. rednecks are scum to australians. and seriously world, BUSH IS FROM CONNECTICUT. THEY ARE A CONNECTICUT FAMILY. but i will no longer talk politics. but i am trying to change the world's view of americans, one australian at a time ;)
although... they all believe america will be blown up within the next 10 years, so that's something to look forward to y'all.
one more thing, when france didn't vote for turkey to be a part of the european union, turkey boycotted anything french: clothes, makeup, any exports from france, and turkey won over france. when france didn't support america going to war, we changed french fries to freedom fries. we sure showed them.
as i was explaining to my father, my stories are becoming less and less amusing the more i stay here, because the less shocked i am by the cultural differences. although, there is no country music or line dancing here, and when i do show them the one line dance i know, they all giggle.
i no longer find it weird to hear the accent 24/7. HOWEVER they have no respect for 'articles' in the grammatical sense. seriously, on the news, in any day conversation, they say things such as 'he was sent to hospital', 'she's at bar', 'i'm going to airport'... no THE. no A/AN. and they think themselves proper... furthermore, for my turkish friend, not only is english an absurdly hard language to learn and know, but then he is confronted with accents. he has problems with understanding "can't". australians say 'cahn't' and i say "cain't". but afterall, i am just a redneck.
we had a poker night the other evening. where i was actually the most educated on the subject. (thanks celebrity poker). i threw out words such as 'trips' 'river' 'big blind'. then we went out dancing where a friend tricked me in to dancing with a 53 year old indian man. i quickly pretended my turkish friend was my boyfriend and i wasn't allowed to dance with other men.
and tonight was st. patrick's day!! we went to an irish pub: King O'malley's and sat in the 'study' room. it had bookshelves full of encyclopedias and big study chairs. it was awesome. irish? i'm not sure. but it was another evening full of conversation, some highlights centering around: nascar, parliament, the office (the tv show), gangs, bogens, cyndi lauper, the bible, their rugby team the brumbies (which i think just means 'mustangs'), and etc.
monday is a holiday... Canberra Day. i don't think any festivities are planned... one friend put it as "a day to celebrate being in the lovely canberra". which apparently means: the whole city will shut down so you stay home. furthermore meaning: no school or work.
they need better holidays here.
on their habit for abbreviating:
deries = derelict
cinnies = movie theatre
ciggy: cigarettes
(and these abbreviations aren't just used by a few people, or just every now and then: these are used at all times by everyone)
also:
thongs = flip flops
g string = thongs
rubbers = erasers
they never say purse or pocket book... it's always 'handbag'
australians seem to find one word, and use it exclusively. they never allow for synonyms apparently.
my friends have started to say 'totally' and 'y'all'. my work here is just beginning.
but i must be going, i'm burning my freedom toast.
love!!
my friend J was having a fun little conversation with our german friend. he made a joke about her, so she joked back. and his reply was "we are quit"
j said: we are quit? what?
german: you know. we are quit. we are quit.
j: no.. what?
german: you and i are both done. we got each other. we are quit.
j: even? we are even?
german: yes! we are even.
so now when any of us make jokes with each other, we reply with 'we are quit!'
not only do stores here advertise their sales, but they advertise their REDUCTIONS! reductions here! reductions rack! reductions at 30%!
in america we have words as dweeb, nerd, loser... here they have so many words that i have never heard before in my life. like: Bogens, Pikies, Wogs.
i just had a long conversation with a turkish boy. we talked politics. he apparently likes clinton, based on the fact that there was no 'war' during clinton's time. we had a war during george bush, and now durying dubya, but 'nothing' during clinton's reign. he also blames 9/11 on bush. and he also thinks hilary is our next president. i most honestly believe america will sooner vote an ethnic man before a woman. he thinks i'm wrong. i guess we'll see soon enough. (and i'm not saying that obama is that ethnic man, but america likes men more than women, despite race. so i believe another man of any race will be elected before any woman) (but what do i know, i'm just a redneck texan). that's how the rest of the world views texans: as rednecks. we are uneducated, slow, and ignorant. much like the way america views arkansas. hahaha, just kidding. (which is bill clinton's home state, fyi.) and rednecks are worse than bogens. rednecks are scum to australians. and seriously world, BUSH IS FROM CONNECTICUT. THEY ARE A CONNECTICUT FAMILY. but i will no longer talk politics. but i am trying to change the world's view of americans, one australian at a time ;)
although... they all believe america will be blown up within the next 10 years, so that's something to look forward to y'all.
one more thing, when france didn't vote for turkey to be a part of the european union, turkey boycotted anything french: clothes, makeup, any exports from france, and turkey won over france. when france didn't support america going to war, we changed french fries to freedom fries. we sure showed them.
as i was explaining to my father, my stories are becoming less and less amusing the more i stay here, because the less shocked i am by the cultural differences. although, there is no country music or line dancing here, and when i do show them the one line dance i know, they all giggle.
i no longer find it weird to hear the accent 24/7. HOWEVER they have no respect for 'articles' in the grammatical sense. seriously, on the news, in any day conversation, they say things such as 'he was sent to hospital', 'she's at bar', 'i'm going to airport'... no THE. no A/AN. and they think themselves proper... furthermore, for my turkish friend, not only is english an absurdly hard language to learn and know, but then he is confronted with accents. he has problems with understanding "can't". australians say 'cahn't' and i say "cain't". but afterall, i am just a redneck.
we had a poker night the other evening. where i was actually the most educated on the subject. (thanks celebrity poker). i threw out words such as 'trips' 'river' 'big blind'. then we went out dancing where a friend tricked me in to dancing with a 53 year old indian man. i quickly pretended my turkish friend was my boyfriend and i wasn't allowed to dance with other men.
and tonight was st. patrick's day!! we went to an irish pub: King O'malley's and sat in the 'study' room. it had bookshelves full of encyclopedias and big study chairs. it was awesome. irish? i'm not sure. but it was another evening full of conversation, some highlights centering around: nascar, parliament, the office (the tv show), gangs, bogens, cyndi lauper, the bible, their rugby team the brumbies (which i think just means 'mustangs'), and etc.
monday is a holiday... Canberra Day. i don't think any festivities are planned... one friend put it as "a day to celebrate being in the lovely canberra". which apparently means: the whole city will shut down so you stay home. furthermore meaning: no school or work.
they need better holidays here.
on their habit for abbreviating:
deries = derelict
cinnies = movie theatre
ciggy: cigarettes
(and these abbreviations aren't just used by a few people, or just every now and then: these are used at all times by everyone)
also:
thongs = flip flops
g string = thongs
rubbers = erasers
they never say purse or pocket book... it's always 'handbag'
australians seem to find one word, and use it exclusively. they never allow for synonyms apparently.
my friends have started to say 'totally' and 'y'all'. my work here is just beginning.
but i must be going, i'm burning my freedom toast.
love!!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
myblog.com.us/holiday~australian_fireworks
so i talked to my sister today on the telephone. and she's quite confused on how much free time i have. as am i. well not confused on the idea of free time, but that i have so much of it... in a post-grad program. guys, really, come visit, because i have a lot of free time. whereas my undergrad friends have class 5 days a week. 5 days! i pretty much only have class 1 day a week. cause tuesday and thursday don't count... with 1 class at 9am. today i woke up at 8:45, went to class at 9, returned to my dorm, printed out articles for a class tomorrow (articles i'm not REQUIRED to read, not really even encouraged to read... but figured i might as well do something for this class), then went shopping and walking around with K for 3 hours, and now i'm back in my room looking at the articles before i head to the gym. this is almost my everyday schedule. i do work that i'm not required to do... because i have so much free time!
however, my sister criticized my activities in her, i presume lovingly, sister way, that i'm not using my free time to explore australia. however, i don't want to go on 'holiday' by myself! sure i have 4 day weekends, every weekend, but i don't want to explore sydney by myself. and yes, i have friends. friends who are FROM australia.. who don't want to explore places they've visited throughout their whole lives. i must become better friends with international students.
HOWEVER i have signed up for a 12 day camping trip to the center of australia. i'm very excited. it's not until june... and it is 1,000 bucks (love you mom and dad!), but it's transportation and food included and i'll be camping in the AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK. isn't that why i'm here? yes.
but on saturday night, for some reason, canberra held their annual SKY FIRE. which is just a 25 minute show of fireworks over the lake. so we went. and it was beautiful. i think all of canberra was there... maybe 1,000 people? ok, there must have been more, but canberra is small folks. and my friends were loving it.. and i mean LOVING it. then i realized... huh, "y'all don't have many firework displays, do ya?" "no... not many" then i reminded them we have Independence Day. funny story... my birthday is July 5th.. and of course, as any typical american family, we saw fireworks on the 4th (sometimes also on the 3rd if we were lucky) in celebration of our country's independence.. but my parents threw in a little twist here. when i was young, they told me the fireworks were in honor of my birthday. Birthday Eve Fireworks if you will. and I BELIEVED THEM. boy did i look like an idiot in kindergarten.
i should be making a list of all the different words i come across between the 2 cultures... cause i know i had about 5 more to tell y'all about... but alas i've forgotten. i'm not a very good blog writer if i can't remember my material. however my friends do think it is unfair america just has .com instead of .com.us. all of their websites are .com.au. i laugh in their faces. yes, .com has become the central point of my american pride.
however, i do desperately need my ritalin. i had coffee this afternoon, and now i'm all jittery. oh sweet ritalin... i miss you. it's amazing how it can make me focus. instead i am left to my own devices. which so far has gotten all my school supplies color coordinated, all my articles in a binder, my march madness brackets filled in, itunesdownloadedand postcards written. i guess it is a good thing i don't have a lot of schoolwork since it probably wouldn't get done... because i don't have ritalin!! that's also the reason this blog is all over the place... blame the coffee.
so back to my original point... COME HOLIDAY HERE! cause then i'll have friends to do touristy things with. canberra has about a day's worth of things to see... then we can go to the beach, sydney, new zealand, melbourne, perth, brisbane... all of those places!! i can't go alone folks. i need your help. my friend K really wants to come to texas. she got an american tour guide packet today. which doesn't even mention texas. it has a whole chapter on nashville. umm.. yeah. let's go to nashville, forget about texas. the alamo. austin. the stockyards.
now i'm off to the courtyard to underline and highlight these unrequired (is that a word?) articles so i will have something to say in my tute about genetic diseases.
and a shout out to my cousin who's birthday is tomorrow (in american time... here her birthday would be halfway over). she might not even read this, but now you all know it's her birthday. and that makes her a lucky girl.
have a good tuesday everyone!
however, my sister criticized my activities in her, i presume lovingly, sister way, that i'm not using my free time to explore australia. however, i don't want to go on 'holiday' by myself! sure i have 4 day weekends, every weekend, but i don't want to explore sydney by myself. and yes, i have friends. friends who are FROM australia.. who don't want to explore places they've visited throughout their whole lives. i must become better friends with international students.
HOWEVER i have signed up for a 12 day camping trip to the center of australia. i'm very excited. it's not until june... and it is 1,000 bucks (love you mom and dad!), but it's transportation and food included and i'll be camping in the AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK. isn't that why i'm here? yes.
but on saturday night, for some reason, canberra held their annual SKY FIRE. which is just a 25 minute show of fireworks over the lake. so we went. and it was beautiful. i think all of canberra was there... maybe 1,000 people? ok, there must have been more, but canberra is small folks. and my friends were loving it.. and i mean LOVING it. then i realized... huh, "y'all don't have many firework displays, do ya?" "no... not many" then i reminded them we have Independence Day. funny story... my birthday is July 5th.. and of course, as any typical american family, we saw fireworks on the 4th (sometimes also on the 3rd if we were lucky) in celebration of our country's independence.. but my parents threw in a little twist here. when i was young, they told me the fireworks were in honor of my birthday. Birthday Eve Fireworks if you will. and I BELIEVED THEM. boy did i look like an idiot in kindergarten.
i should be making a list of all the different words i come across between the 2 cultures... cause i know i had about 5 more to tell y'all about... but alas i've forgotten. i'm not a very good blog writer if i can't remember my material. however my friends do think it is unfair america just has .com instead of .com.us. all of their websites are .com.au. i laugh in their faces. yes, .com has become the central point of my american pride.
however, i do desperately need my ritalin. i had coffee this afternoon, and now i'm all jittery. oh sweet ritalin... i miss you. it's amazing how it can make me focus. instead i am left to my own devices. which so far has gotten all my school supplies color coordinated, all my articles in a binder, my march madness brackets filled in, itunesdownloadedand postcards written. i guess it is a good thing i don't have a lot of schoolwork since it probably wouldn't get done... because i don't have ritalin!! that's also the reason this blog is all over the place... blame the coffee.
so back to my original point... COME HOLIDAY HERE! cause then i'll have friends to do touristy things with. canberra has about a day's worth of things to see... then we can go to the beach, sydney, new zealand, melbourne, perth, brisbane... all of those places!! i can't go alone folks. i need your help. my friend K really wants to come to texas. she got an american tour guide packet today. which doesn't even mention texas. it has a whole chapter on nashville. umm.. yeah. let's go to nashville, forget about texas. the alamo. austin. the stockyards.
now i'm off to the courtyard to underline and highlight these unrequired (is that a word?) articles so i will have something to say in my tute about genetic diseases.
and a shout out to my cousin who's birthday is tomorrow (in american time... here her birthday would be halfway over). she might not even read this, but now you all know it's her birthday. and that makes her a lucky girl.
have a good tuesday everyone!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
It's All Relative
we share 50% of our genes with bananas
and as complex as a species we are, we have about 32,000 genes in the human genome... while that crazy rice has 45,000
and as complex as a species we are, we have about 32,000 genes in the human genome... while that crazy rice has 45,000
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Give me 500ml of Juice, STAT!
Oh man, i spoke too soon. I'm sick.
calm down parents, calm down, let me explain.
i went to bed monday night with chills. i couldn't sleep actually until about 4am. i'm pretty sure i had a fever, and my throat was killing me. so at around 1am i made hot tea and minestrone soup. i eventually passed out. i woke up tuesday after about 4 hours of sleep and my throat was on fire. so i gargled. yeah, you know it' s bad when i willingly gargle hot salt water. i then talked myself into going to class... 'only 1 hour. only 1 hour then you can come home and sleep.' and i made it through, thanks to my nalgene full of warm water.
on my way home i bought more soup. soup in a box. they don't have a lot of soup in cans. and let me tell you, soup in a box is pretty gross. and not many options for vegetarians. luckily my friend S and K and I were planning on going to the grocery store. where i stocked up on juice, soups, fruit, and lots of lolipops (they don't sell a lot of hard candy, it's all chocolate or gummy type creatures) (sad). also, i've been craving pizza, so i thought i'd buy a small frozen one. nope. here in australia we demand meat on all of our pizzas. any meat will do, as long as it's an animal product. CHEESE AND HAM! MEAT LOVERS! SUPREME! BACON AND MUSHROOMS! nothing plain? no margarita? fine. no pizza. but at least they had chicken flavored mac and cheese.... gaa-ross. and can we just take a moment to talk about their cereals??
rice krispies are 'rice bubbles' and snap, crackle, and pop are different drawings!!
frosted flakes are 'frosties' they even commercially abbreviate their cereals
cocoa krispies is "coco pops"... and they have a really weird cartoon monkey
AND they don't have any cereals with marshmallows in them. my friends thought i was crazy asking where the Lucky Charms were. that's all i wanted, for my sick little body, was marshmallow sugar cereal. instead i just stuck with the bran cereal. :(
anyway, i came home and watched my newly downloaded movies and ate 4 lolipops and had soup. then today (wednesday) i woke up for my most grueling school day: 9-6.. with only 1 break. and my throat wans't nearly as bad as it was tuesday morning! home remedies can really help! (i also started taking my calcium, b-12, one-a-day, green tea, and echinacea pills) (which i should do everyday, but it took an illness to help me remember).
and today wasn't that bad. for an hour i heard about the theories of chromosomes changing during evolution, then an hour on gametes, mitosis, and meiosis (i still remember from highschool when jen p. said before a bio test 'mitosis and meiosis are my b*tches!' haha, that was funny), then an hour video on the race to find the insulin gene, and then further mutation of genes for agricultural reasons, then an hour discussion class with the post-grad students in my 'race' and genetics class (of which there are 4, including yours truly. all girls. and it just so happens, at least 2 of them are in each of my classes. we will all shortly be best friends. or sick of each other... either way....), then an hour on the post-cranial skeleton. then hey! i had a break. where i had to refresh my brain on what the post-cranial bones look like so i wouldn't come off as an idiot in my lab. then i headed to said lab. and played with bones for 2 hours. and by play with, i mean tried to articulate the radius, ulna, and humerus for about 15 minutes until we had to call over our professor. but my partner and i did get the femur, fibula, and tibia to work together nicely, without help! and even add on the patella! we're brilliant.
and now i'm home. and my throat hurts again. but that could be cause i was just talking to S for about 40 minutes. i shouldn't talk so much. but now i'm gonna have soup, watch Arrested Development, and miss having coffee with the girls because i want to get well :( and because they are going out at 9:30! why would you go have coffee at 9:30?! i hopefully will be sleeping.
but i did find out i will be giving a presentation on inbreeding in a month or so. what is inbreeding? what different varieties of it arise? what is the evidence for genetic ill-effects? what are the pattterns of occurence of inbreeding?
so if any of y'all are knowledgable in that area... share your wisdom. it's gotta be a 30 minute presentation, so if we all put our heads together, i think we can pull it off.
and i have a new favorite abbreviation: BESTIES.
for best friends. i'm so excited to use this.
love and hugs to all my besties!! (that means all of you)
calm down parents, calm down, let me explain.
i went to bed monday night with chills. i couldn't sleep actually until about 4am. i'm pretty sure i had a fever, and my throat was killing me. so at around 1am i made hot tea and minestrone soup. i eventually passed out. i woke up tuesday after about 4 hours of sleep and my throat was on fire. so i gargled. yeah, you know it' s bad when i willingly gargle hot salt water. i then talked myself into going to class... 'only 1 hour. only 1 hour then you can come home and sleep.' and i made it through, thanks to my nalgene full of warm water.
on my way home i bought more soup. soup in a box. they don't have a lot of soup in cans. and let me tell you, soup in a box is pretty gross. and not many options for vegetarians. luckily my friend S and K and I were planning on going to the grocery store. where i stocked up on juice, soups, fruit, and lots of lolipops (they don't sell a lot of hard candy, it's all chocolate or gummy type creatures) (sad). also, i've been craving pizza, so i thought i'd buy a small frozen one. nope. here in australia we demand meat on all of our pizzas. any meat will do, as long as it's an animal product. CHEESE AND HAM! MEAT LOVERS! SUPREME! BACON AND MUSHROOMS! nothing plain? no margarita? fine. no pizza. but at least they had chicken flavored mac and cheese.... gaa-ross. and can we just take a moment to talk about their cereals??
rice krispies are 'rice bubbles' and snap, crackle, and pop are different drawings!!
frosted flakes are 'frosties' they even commercially abbreviate their cereals
cocoa krispies is "coco pops"... and they have a really weird cartoon monkey
AND they don't have any cereals with marshmallows in them. my friends thought i was crazy asking where the Lucky Charms were. that's all i wanted, for my sick little body, was marshmallow sugar cereal. instead i just stuck with the bran cereal. :(
anyway, i came home and watched my newly downloaded movies and ate 4 lolipops and had soup. then today (wednesday) i woke up for my most grueling school day: 9-6.. with only 1 break. and my throat wans't nearly as bad as it was tuesday morning! home remedies can really help! (i also started taking my calcium, b-12, one-a-day, green tea, and echinacea pills) (which i should do everyday, but it took an illness to help me remember).
and today wasn't that bad. for an hour i heard about the theories of chromosomes changing during evolution, then an hour on gametes, mitosis, and meiosis (i still remember from highschool when jen p. said before a bio test 'mitosis and meiosis are my b*tches!' haha, that was funny), then an hour video on the race to find the insulin gene, and then further mutation of genes for agricultural reasons, then an hour discussion class with the post-grad students in my 'race' and genetics class (of which there are 4, including yours truly. all girls. and it just so happens, at least 2 of them are in each of my classes. we will all shortly be best friends. or sick of each other... either way....), then an hour on the post-cranial skeleton. then hey! i had a break. where i had to refresh my brain on what the post-cranial bones look like so i wouldn't come off as an idiot in my lab. then i headed to said lab. and played with bones for 2 hours. and by play with, i mean tried to articulate the radius, ulna, and humerus for about 15 minutes until we had to call over our professor. but my partner and i did get the femur, fibula, and tibia to work together nicely, without help! and even add on the patella! we're brilliant.
and now i'm home. and my throat hurts again. but that could be cause i was just talking to S for about 40 minutes. i shouldn't talk so much. but now i'm gonna have soup, watch Arrested Development, and miss having coffee with the girls because i want to get well :( and because they are going out at 9:30! why would you go have coffee at 9:30?! i hopefully will be sleeping.
but i did find out i will be giving a presentation on inbreeding in a month or so. what is inbreeding? what different varieties of it arise? what is the evidence for genetic ill-effects? what are the pattterns of occurence of inbreeding?
so if any of y'all are knowledgable in that area... share your wisdom. it's gotta be a 30 minute presentation, so if we all put our heads together, i think we can pull it off.
and i have a new favorite abbreviation: BESTIES.
for best friends. i'm so excited to use this.
love and hugs to all my besties!! (that means all of you)
Monday, March 5, 2007
My Weekend in a Flash (correction: icy pole... not icy pop)
sooo…. It’s been a long time folks! Missed me? Ok, well when I last left y’all I was going to the beach. And that I did. I went to an Australian beach with Australian, German, and French friends. Never thought I’d be doing that in my life. And it was awesome! However I didn’t realize my camera battery was dead until it was time to go and so I didn’t take any pictures. But my friends all want to go back, so I’m sure I’ll be able to get some later. Anyway, we went there and the beach was almost empty, just a few families running around. We had some food before heading down to the sand, and this mom and pop shack actually had a vege burger! I’m sure it touched utensils soaked in meat juice… but I didn’t want to think about that too much. Anyway, we walked down this little bridge and ta-da! It’s the ocean! And it was beautiful. And there was this huge island that just looked like a big rock off in the distance and I kept wondering if the LOST castaways were hanging out over there. Anyway, we walked up and down the beach and laid out and even though I just put my feet in the ocean, some of my friends tried to body surf. They didn’t do too well. But the water and sand were so clean! A good amount of seaweed was washing up, but no shells…? I saw maybe 2 tiny shells, I thought that was strange. But over all it was amazing to a) be at a beach, it’s probably been about 2 years since I’ve been to one and b) get out of the city!
On the drive down I did have some funny conversations with the german:
He first of all asked if I knew the “May ver ee icks”… and it slowly came to me, but I got it: the DALLAS MAVERICKS! Heck yeah I know them! Then we talked about Dirk. Ohhh dirk.
I then tried to introduce the game of “Slug Bug”… or as you northerners call it: Punch Buggy (that’s so silly. The name… not the game. The game is good. Cause I’m good at it.) Then he said something to the point of ‘de nancies drive de beetle” but then later I think he was saying Nazis.
He also spent years of high school in a boarding school in Connecticut, of all places!! Crazy! He then told me that Connecticut has “small villages” and said he was so surprised how cheap “the wheat” was. Then I thought maybe he was saying ‘weed’ but then he says he doesn’t do drugs. So I guess he was, in fact, talking about the wheat. So hey, wheat’s cheap in Connecticut, who knew!
Anyway, other funny things occurred throughout the day, they are bound to with mixing so many cultures.
Australians do indeed love their abbreviations: Breakfast is Brekky. Even the Macker’s commercial refers to their bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich perfect for brekky!!
All of them pronounce Adidas: Ahhh deee dahs
We then all got in a long conversation about cell phones. The german kept asking about our ‘portable’ phones. “Well, dey are portable, are dey not?”
He also kept calling the suntan lotion his ‘sun cream’
Whenever the French guy talked about his older sister, he referred to her as his ‘Grand’ sister. I kept giggling.
Anyway, like I said, the day was great, learned a lot about Germany… even some German: Achtung! Achtung! And then we came home to hang out at the dorm’s BBQ (which the australians believe they invented and any BBQ in texas wouldn’t be good enough for them) (but I don’t think they even have/use bbq sauce. They use olive oil??)
So we all ate, showered, then went out to a bar called Mooseheads. I actually came home early, I was so tired, I blame the sun. But came home to some friends sitting outside, so we talked for an hour or so while they all smoked (omg, everyone smokes here. I was sitting outside tonight with 5 smokers, and my throat started to burn… I had to stand away… ewwww). Anyway, that was my Thursday!
Friday 2 of my friends went home for the weekend so I didn’t do much that day. In fact I stayed in that night because I don’t have enough money to go out every night and I don’t have enough energy to go out every night. I ended up watching Silence of the Lambs on tv at about 10 at night. I got pretty freaked out… until I researched the Buffalo Bill character, the skin cutter, and he is now Monk’s detective boss on Monk! So I wasn’t so scared of him anymore :) furthermore, it was nice to wake up Saturday morning and not be tired :)
Saturday I walked around on a campus a bit with a friend and on the way home she kept saying she could really go for an Icy Pole. Omg… what? Ends up she wanted a popsicle. They all call them icy poles here!
They say 'i reckon' heaps. "I reckon she's a pretty nice girl" "i reckon there'll be heaps of students at mackers for brekky skipping their toots"
Also they don’t say chug, they say scull (I guess that’s how it’s spelled) It’s so weird: I dare you to scull that olive oil!
And any sweater or sweatshirt is called a jumper. Even hoodies and zippies. All jumpers.
So at night we went out to Academy again and it was fun, even though 2 of our friends weren’t with us.
I’ve seemed to have made myself quite a core group of girls:
S, A, J, and K. now you can know who I’m talking about :) haha, sorta
But they’re great and remind me of how I was freshman year of college. Hyper, loud, energetic… now I’m like ‘hey, it’s 1am, let’s go home’ “oh don’t be silly Texas, the club’s open for 3 more hours!” I am too old for this.
Anyway, Sunday was a nice day. I slept in and enjoyed a lovely (everything here is ‘lovely’) relaxing Sunday. At night I got a call, one of my friends had returned, J, and she wanted all the ‘goss’ from the weekend. So a few of us congregated downstairs and talked and talked and talked. Then we made some dinner and watched CSI. They love them their CSI here. I went to grab some chips and salsa from my room and my friends were intrigued by the ‘white corn’ chips. They usually use Doritos with salsa. What?? That is so weird. And sounds pretty gross. But I then retired to my bedroom for the evening because I figured Monday would be a long day… now that the campus was going to be back in order… I was going to be looking forward to a day of errands.
But then I was kept awake by the lineup of movies my few tv stations offered… no no Australia, don’t show the good movies during the day. Keep showing Lawn Bowling and Lifetime movies from the 70’s, but at night, when I want to sleep show High Fidelity and Adaptation. Thanks for keeping me awake til 1am.
So moving on, today was fairly busy… with it starting at 11:00am. I hit snooze for an hour and a half. Anyway, I went and got myself an Australian phone! It is a Nokia, so my father can’t be mad :) Anyway, it’s one of those pay as you go phones and I think it’s gonna work out nicely. And it’s pink! And a flip phone! I’ve never had a flip phone.
I also signed off on my loans, so now I’ll have money to live off of! (from which to live, grammar kids.) So then I came home and apparently had the biggest urge to clean. Psha, I know, so not like me. I actually scrubbed my kitchen. Scrubbed y’all. I then put away all my clothes (on hangers!) and started to organize my desk until I realized it was time to go to the gym for the bodycombat class. I then found out the $110 dollars at the gym gives me access to ALL the group classes they offer. I thought I had a to pick just one class. I’ve learned that here in Australia, there are many catches, so I prepared myself for the worst, and was very pleasantly surprised when I was told how much the 110 really buys! Hooray! So I did bodycombat, came home and my friends were bbqing outside and my other friend S had just gotten back from her weekend from home, so it was a lot of fun! I showed off my new phone and the phone numbers here are so weird. They all seem to begin with like 0404 or 0403 then followed by 6 numbers. I guess that’s still only 10 numbers, but it certainly isn’t the American pattern. They also all started to plan for their Easter holiday. They all invited me to stay with them over the break, so we’ll see where I end up: either Melbourne or Sydney. So after, I then made my way upstairs to shower and as soon as I shut my door, the dorms fire alarm went off. Omg people, please learn to vent your steam!!!
Anyway, just a few minutes ago my Adelaide friend downloaded a program onto my computer, where I don’t even have to be online, just have my Ethernet cord plugged in (so it won’t use up my MB’s), and I am now tapped in to the network where I can download anyone’s file. It’s like being back on phynd.com or whatever that place was in undergrad. I love networks. I also love downloading the last few episodes of the office for free in under 5 minutes. I don’t think you people realize how excited I am. So now I am off to watch “Phyllis’ Wedding”. Tomorrow I have one lecture at 10 and then I’m off with S to the grocery store to stock up again!
Life looks pretty good right now.
Love and hugs to all of y'all
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