(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!!!
Friday, April 27, 2007
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 :)
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