Who's ready for part two of the mid semester break adventure?! Yah I knew you'd be anxiously waiting for the rest of the adventure.
We left Surfers at the fantastic hour of 4:30 to catch our 6 AM flight. We left the apartment clean and had to wheel our stole shopping trolley to the dumpster...where surprisingly we found a couple others and didn't feel so bad leaving ours there. We landed in Melbourne and headed to Jo's house. She is a girl from college who graciously let us stay in her house, which is GORGEOUS. It is an old Victorian house, I might even call it a mansion it was so massive. It had its own chapel in the basement, a full garden with fountain in the backyard, and a tower in the top. It was just an absolutely beautiful house and I of course took heaps of pictures ofi t. They will be posted shortly. Jo lives in one of the suburbs of Melbourne called Hawthrone and so we spent the afternoon exploring that shops and areas by her house. I helped cook dinner with Jo, we made hamburgers and chips (french fries for those who still get confused). I also baked some chocolate chip cookies which was also lots of fun. I miss having a full kitchen and being able to bake cookies or brownies whenever I want like at W&M. We had a low key evening at Jo's just lounging around her house, with her Spoodle dog (a cockerspaniel and poodle mix) named Mac. We watched Dirty Dancing and then went to bed.
The next day we woke up and had brekky and Jen actually tried VEGEMITE!! She said it tasted awful. I have yet to try it, but I'm pretty sure I won't do it until the last day because it just sounds awful. We took a train into the city and went to the Queen Victoria Market which was awesome! It had an entire section of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, fish, bread, just everything food wise you could imagine. It also had a huge variety of souvineors and clothing and Australia everything. We had a fresh deli lunch after our shopping experience and then went to see the War Memorial. It was in honor of all the Australians who fought in the wars. It has a gorgeous view of the city, thus the reason we went, and got to take heaps of good photos. Afterwards we took a train to another suburb of Melbourne called St. Kilda where Anna lives. I want to move here. It is right on the beach and is this trendy, new age, laid back town. It was just awesome. Anna's house was amazing as well. Her's was really modern with the largest, most high tech kitchen I've ever seen. Which I found out was because her mum is a chef, as in has her own TV show!! I ate lamb, CHOPPED LIVER, dahl, Pakistan cuisine, EGGPLANT and probably some very amazing wine. All the food was incredible. For dessert we had ice cream and hand melted chocolate, which we later decided to make a fondu thing and dipped fruit and bread it. We were so full and happy!! Anna's family reminded me all of mine, lots of talking and eating and all around a wonderful evening. It was so nice to spend time with family, even if it wasn't my own. After dinner we headed back to Jo's for the night and decided not to go out in the town because we were going to have an early start the next day.
Our last day in Melbourne we woke up very early to head into the city and did more touristy things. We saw Flinders Street Station, an Aboriginal Art Museum and went along South Bank, which is a bunch of cafes / coffee shops along a river. Then my friend from home, Jon Garon, who is doing his study aboard in Melbourne meet up with me. I went back to his residential college, Newman, and met some of his friends, toured the place and had lunch there. Then we explored Carlton, another awesome part of Melbourne, which is notorious for great Italian food and subsequently Italian mobsters. Woo! Jon and I had a little afternoon treat at a chocolate bar which was a cafe where everything was made of chocolate....can you say heaven?! It was so delicious. We had chocolate covered fruit, cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and ice cream. As well as hot chocolate and an ice chocolate drink. Needless to say after we ate all this, we wanted to vomit. Haha! It was so good to see Jon though, it was nice to spend some time with him and get away from the girls for a bit (haha love you girls!!) I headed back to Jo's house and we made pasta for dinner and watched some TV before bed. Our trip along the Great Ocean Road started the next day and we had to be up at 5 AM. WOO for early starts!
YAY! Only one more part left!! I have most of the pictures up and I'm just writing comments on them so you all can know what they are. My goal is to have them finished tonight before we head off to watch Debating. YAY NICK! DEBATING! Haha it should be pretty funny apparently. Miss you all!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Mid Semester Break - Surfers Paradise
This will probably have to be a part series as I can't imagine writing everything that happened on this trip in one sitting nor can I imagine any of you wanting to read it. So this is part one when we were in Surfer's Paradise.
Day One -- Jenn, Laura, Devon, Hannah and I caught a 6 AM flight to Syndey and then a connecting one to the Gold Coast. We landed in the Gold Coast at 10 AM and checked into our beautiful apartment at the Blue Bay Resort. It was in an amazing complex with a swimming pool, spa, and tennis courts. Our apartment had two bed rooms, a full kitchen, dinning table, living room with a TV (which came in serious hand) and a balcony. It was just perfect. After settling into our apartment we walked up the street to the grocery store to buy things for the week. It was quite a hike up the street to the store, but the weather was sunny and so none of us minded. On the walk back, we decided that carry groceries would just be difficult, so we borrowed the shopping cart (of course) and pushed it back to our apartment. Clearly looking like a bunch of homeless girls, it was quiet amusing. That evening we cooked a lasagna we bought and enjoyed a relaxing evening in the spa.
Day Two --Woke up rather early in hopes of having a full day at the beach, but the weather had other things in mind. It was really windy and overcast, but we decided to head to the beach anyways. We went to Main Beach and the waves were just massive, water freezing (couldn't go in) and the windy was a killer. After attempting to lay out, we all realized how ridiculous we were being and decided to go explore the town. We went shopping for souvenoirs ad tried to stay out of the rain. We headed back to the apartment and cooked pineapple chicken for dinner. It was really delicious! Then we all got dressed and headed out to a bar in Surfers called The Bedroom where they had free drinks for ladies from 9 - 11 PM. It was a really cool place and even more exciting was FREE DRINKS! WOO. As we were leaving the bar we ran into Steve, one of the Americans from St. Marks! It was so random but so cool to see someone we knew!! We chatted for awhile, but the ran kept coming down so we decided to catch a cab home for the night.
Day Three -- I decided to wake up and cook everyone French Toast for brekky (my one speciality) and it was AMAZING! I forgot how much I missed french toast!! The weather was still pretty overcast, but we decided to try the beach again anyways. We got to Surfer's and there was (surprise surprise) a surfing competition!! We sat on the beach, bundled up in sweat shirts watching the competition until it started down pouring. Scratch the beach...we went shopping around Surfer's again and headed back to the apartment for the afternoon. There we actually got a US channel and got to watch a baseball game!! WOO AMERICA!! It was pretty awesome. Even with all the rain we decided to head out to the spa and sat in the bubbly warmth while it was raining. Haha. This basically knocked us out and everyone took a nap when we came back inside. For dinner we had pasta and salad. We decided to have a low key night and we played card games and watched two movies on TV -- 10th & Wolf and Igby Goes Down. Both were pretty good, though Igby Goes Down was pretty bizarre.
Day Four -- Still raining. Devon and I decided that we weren't going to waste another day shopping or attempting to go to the beach and went to an amusement park instead. We went to Dream World and rode some ridiculously awesome roller coasters. It was awesome because it wasn't raining that hard, but enough to make the lines really short (since no one was there) and it even got sunny for awhile. We also got to see Tiger Island where there was a show with tigers and trainers that was awesome. I have some great pictures of them jumping and doing some cool tricks. It was probably the best choice for the day. The other girls said it rained all day and they just hung out, went shopping and lounged around the apartment. That night we had all headed out to the city for a big night out. Went to a couple of bars and us girls ended up meeting some Irish guys in an Irish bar (go figure!) It was a hilarious night, mainly because their accents were ridiculous and the drunker they got, the harder it was to understand them!! It was all around a great night out.
Day Five -- Our last day in Surfers and how about it, SUNSHINE!!! And lots of it! We spent the entire day on the beach, watching the surf competition, building Hannah into a sand mermaid and even went into the ocean!! The waves were so intense and the under toe was really strong. Devon, Hannah and I were the only ones who went in and we just got knocked around left and right. It was lots of fun though. That night we cleaned up the apartment and decided to head out for dinner. We went to a Thai place that was just absolutely incredible. I had so much to eat and was so full and happy. All full of food and exhausted from being in the sun all day, we lounged around the apartment that night packing up our stuff and getting ready to catch at 6 AM flight to Melbourne.
OKAY! That's part one! I'm in the process of loading my 104389482482038 photos and will have them up ASAP!! I'll try and write the other parts later today! I have dinner at the High Table tonight with the Master and Dean and some other college students like Jemma!! So I have to get dressed up and look presentable! We get to have wine and cheese before dinner and port and dessert after!! Woo =) I am pretty excited! MISS YOU ALL!!
Day One -- Jenn, Laura, Devon, Hannah and I caught a 6 AM flight to Syndey and then a connecting one to the Gold Coast. We landed in the Gold Coast at 10 AM and checked into our beautiful apartment at the Blue Bay Resort. It was in an amazing complex with a swimming pool, spa, and tennis courts. Our apartment had two bed rooms, a full kitchen, dinning table, living room with a TV (which came in serious hand) and a balcony. It was just perfect. After settling into our apartment we walked up the street to the grocery store to buy things for the week. It was quite a hike up the street to the store, but the weather was sunny and so none of us minded. On the walk back, we decided that carry groceries would just be difficult, so we borrowed the shopping cart (of course) and pushed it back to our apartment. Clearly looking like a bunch of homeless girls, it was quiet amusing. That evening we cooked a lasagna we bought and enjoyed a relaxing evening in the spa.
Day Two --Woke up rather early in hopes of having a full day at the beach, but the weather had other things in mind. It was really windy and overcast, but we decided to head to the beach anyways. We went to Main Beach and the waves were just massive, water freezing (couldn't go in) and the windy was a killer. After attempting to lay out, we all realized how ridiculous we were being and decided to go explore the town. We went shopping for souvenoirs ad tried to stay out of the rain. We headed back to the apartment and cooked pineapple chicken for dinner. It was really delicious! Then we all got dressed and headed out to a bar in Surfers called The Bedroom where they had free drinks for ladies from 9 - 11 PM. It was a really cool place and even more exciting was FREE DRINKS! WOO. As we were leaving the bar we ran into Steve, one of the Americans from St. Marks! It was so random but so cool to see someone we knew!! We chatted for awhile, but the ran kept coming down so we decided to catch a cab home for the night.
Day Three -- I decided to wake up and cook everyone French Toast for brekky (my one speciality) and it was AMAZING! I forgot how much I missed french toast!! The weather was still pretty overcast, but we decided to try the beach again anyways. We got to Surfer's and there was (surprise surprise) a surfing competition!! We sat on the beach, bundled up in sweat shirts watching the competition until it started down pouring. Scratch the beach...we went shopping around Surfer's again and headed back to the apartment for the afternoon. There we actually got a US channel and got to watch a baseball game!! WOO AMERICA!! It was pretty awesome. Even with all the rain we decided to head out to the spa and sat in the bubbly warmth while it was raining. Haha. This basically knocked us out and everyone took a nap when we came back inside. For dinner we had pasta and salad. We decided to have a low key night and we played card games and watched two movies on TV -- 10th & Wolf and Igby Goes Down. Both were pretty good, though Igby Goes Down was pretty bizarre.
Day Four -- Still raining. Devon and I decided that we weren't going to waste another day shopping or attempting to go to the beach and went to an amusement park instead. We went to Dream World and rode some ridiculously awesome roller coasters. It was awesome because it wasn't raining that hard, but enough to make the lines really short (since no one was there) and it even got sunny for awhile. We also got to see Tiger Island where there was a show with tigers and trainers that was awesome. I have some great pictures of them jumping and doing some cool tricks. It was probably the best choice for the day. The other girls said it rained all day and they just hung out, went shopping and lounged around the apartment. That night we had all headed out to the city for a big night out. Went to a couple of bars and us girls ended up meeting some Irish guys in an Irish bar (go figure!) It was a hilarious night, mainly because their accents were ridiculous and the drunker they got, the harder it was to understand them!! It was all around a great night out.
Day Five -- Our last day in Surfers and how about it, SUNSHINE!!! And lots of it! We spent the entire day on the beach, watching the surf competition, building Hannah into a sand mermaid and even went into the ocean!! The waves were so intense and the under toe was really strong. Devon, Hannah and I were the only ones who went in and we just got knocked around left and right. It was lots of fun though. That night we cleaned up the apartment and decided to head out for dinner. We went to a Thai place that was just absolutely incredible. I had so much to eat and was so full and happy. All full of food and exhausted from being in the sun all day, we lounged around the apartment that night packing up our stuff and getting ready to catch at 6 AM flight to Melbourne.
OKAY! That's part one! I'm in the process of loading my 104389482482038 photos and will have them up ASAP!! I'll try and write the other parts later today! I have dinner at the High Table tonight with the Master and Dean and some other college students like Jemma!! So I have to get dressed up and look presentable! We get to have wine and cheese before dinner and port and dessert after!! Woo =) I am pretty excited! MISS YOU ALL!!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
It Glimmers Like Gold
So things have been pretty quiet since I last posted, sadly just been slaving away a presentation and two papers. What kind of stuff am I studying over here? Is it harder than William & Mary? Hmm...well let me tell you about my presentation and papers...
Presentation:
For my Anthropology class -- Popular Culture -- presenation on -- Fashion. Yes that's right, fashion. My friend Karri and I did a whole entire presentation about Fashion, Barbies (yah we had an entire class discussion on Barbie for awhile too) and trends around the world. I think it was a solid presentation if I may say so myself =)
Paper One:
Also for my Pop Culture class. It was to be 1500 words (about 5 pages) on a multitude of questions. I decided to tackle "Describe the emergence and life cycle of a subculture and what a globalization perspective might effect this subculture." Toughy right. Well I wrote about Preps, yup good old New England American Preppys. For those who watch Youtube on a semi-regular basis will recognize this video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0 -- which a majority of my research was conducted from. I also had to research for visuals and thanks to Google picture found some good Prepster pictures. Woo USA!
Paper Two:
Okay paper two is not nearly as much as these two...it was for my history class and involves Charles Darwin...borinnnggg...and to be honest I don't think many of you care that much about what papers I'm writing about. I know you want more kangaroo and wallabee stories. Well that's what all of you have to look forward too because at 4:30 AM tomorrow I will be heading off on SPRING BREAK!!!!!!
Here's our itinerary:
April 16 - 21 Gold Coast -- Surfer's Paradise. Staying in the SWEETEST Apartment that is walking distance for the beach! Shopping, surfing, tanning and having a fantastic time.
April 21 - 24 Melbourne -- staying a friend from College who lives in Melbourne. I have a friend from home, Jon Garon, who is studying aboard at Melbourne Uni so I'm hoping to meet up with him while I'm there. Lots of sight seeing and shopping and exploring our first BIG Australian city!!
April 24 - Day One of the Great Ocean Bus Tour -- Great Ocean Road is famouse for its surf beaches, massive rock formations, ancient rainforest and stunning coastal scenery. Day one will involve Helicopter flights are the 12 Apostles (third most visited natural site in OZ), exploring ancient rainforests, fern gullies and gum trees!! We are also seeing koalas and feeding native birds, and staying the night in Warrnambool Victoria.
April 24 -- Day Two -- day filled of bush walking, exploring and playing with Australian animals! We will go to Tower Hill and Grampian Nation Park which is reowned for grand and rugged ranges, wildlife and fauna. Then we will get to get up close with Australian birds, KANGAROOS, emus and koalas!! (Prepare for me to steal a couple...put your orders in now). Then We will head to McKenzie Falls and Reeds Boroaka Lookout. After that we head ot the rambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre (YES HISTORY!!) and spend the night back in South Australia.
April 26 -- Day Three -- WOOO SUPER EXCITING DAY!! Checking out Fossill Caves and ADVENTURE CAVING!! We get to explore Naracoorte World Heritage Listed Fossil Caves and get to do ADVENTURE CAVING!! What is that?! Well apparently we get to GET DIRTY crawling, sliding and scrambling through tunnels and chambers with helmet, LIGHT, overalls and kneepads!! WOOO =P After that we will check out the Wonambi Fossil Cantre and see fossils of giant kangaroos, wombats and snakes. Then we get to go horse riding and wine tasting!! We will cross over the Great Murray Rive and through the Adelaide Hills back home to Adelaide and the end of our sweet Australian adventure!!!
I will not have internet for the entire trip unless I can find some internet cafes or something like that. I can't wait to come back and tell you allllll about it and post pictures!! Hope all is well with everyone. Good luck with finals W&M kiddies and all the other colleges kids too because school is coming to an end for you guys!! And I'm only half way through mine.... LOVE YOU!
Presentation:
For my Anthropology class -- Popular Culture -- presenation on -- Fashion. Yes that's right, fashion. My friend Karri and I did a whole entire presentation about Fashion, Barbies (yah we had an entire class discussion on Barbie for awhile too) and trends around the world. I think it was a solid presentation if I may say so myself =)
Paper One:
Also for my Pop Culture class. It was to be 1500 words (about 5 pages) on a multitude of questions. I decided to tackle "Describe the emergence and life cycle of a subculture and what a globalization perspective might effect this subculture." Toughy right. Well I wrote about Preps, yup good old New England American Preppys. For those who watch Youtube on a semi-regular basis will recognize this video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0 -- which a majority of my research was conducted from. I also had to research for visuals and thanks to Google picture found some good Prepster pictures. Woo USA!
Paper Two:
Okay paper two is not nearly as much as these two...it was for my history class and involves Charles Darwin...borinnnggg...and to be honest I don't think many of you care that much about what papers I'm writing about. I know you want more kangaroo and wallabee stories. Well that's what all of you have to look forward too because at 4:30 AM tomorrow I will be heading off on SPRING BREAK!!!!!!
Here's our itinerary:
April 16 - 21 Gold Coast -- Surfer's Paradise. Staying in the SWEETEST Apartment that is walking distance for the beach! Shopping, surfing, tanning and having a fantastic time.
April 21 - 24 Melbourne -- staying a friend from College who lives in Melbourne. I have a friend from home, Jon Garon, who is studying aboard at Melbourne Uni so I'm hoping to meet up with him while I'm there. Lots of sight seeing and shopping and exploring our first BIG Australian city!!
April 24 - Day One of the Great Ocean Bus Tour -- Great Ocean Road is famouse for its surf beaches, massive rock formations, ancient rainforest and stunning coastal scenery. Day one will involve Helicopter flights are the 12 Apostles (third most visited natural site in OZ), exploring ancient rainforests, fern gullies and gum trees!! We are also seeing koalas and feeding native birds, and staying the night in Warrnambool Victoria.
April 24 -- Day Two -- day filled of bush walking, exploring and playing with Australian animals! We will go to Tower Hill and Grampian Nation Park which is reowned for grand and rugged ranges, wildlife and fauna. Then we will get to get up close with Australian birds, KANGAROOS, emus and koalas!! (Prepare for me to steal a couple...put your orders in now). Then We will head to McKenzie Falls and Reeds Boroaka Lookout. After that we head ot the rambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre (YES HISTORY!!) and spend the night back in South Australia.
April 26 -- Day Three -- WOOO SUPER EXCITING DAY!! Checking out Fossill Caves and ADVENTURE CAVING!! We get to explore Naracoorte World Heritage Listed Fossil Caves and get to do ADVENTURE CAVING!! What is that?! Well apparently we get to GET DIRTY crawling, sliding and scrambling through tunnels and chambers with helmet, LIGHT, overalls and kneepads!! WOOO =P After that we will check out the Wonambi Fossil Cantre and see fossils of giant kangaroos, wombats and snakes. Then we get to go horse riding and wine tasting!! We will cross over the Great Murray Rive and through the Adelaide Hills back home to Adelaide and the end of our sweet Australian adventure!!!
I will not have internet for the entire trip unless I can find some internet cafes or something like that. I can't wait to come back and tell you allllll about it and post pictures!! Hope all is well with everyone. Good luck with finals W&M kiddies and all the other colleges kids too because school is coming to an end for you guys!! And I'm only half way through mine.... LOVE YOU!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Halloween in April
Yesterday was Garden Party!! Tony and I decided to dress up like two parts of a heart. We painted our entire bodies red...and I mean face, ears, legs, hands, feet...all red. Then we had these cardboard hearts hanging from us that when you put the two together they said "I LOVE ST. MARKS" Haha it was digustingly cute. There were some really good costumes, a group of girls dressed up as the McDonald's crew, like the Hamburger Stealer, the purple guy, Ronald I mean the whole nine years. Another group of guys were Snap, Crackle and Pop from the Rice Crispies cereal. I mean lots of effort and thought went into these costumes. There were girls who dressed up as Trolls and who did their hair all the way up...I mean epic. I didn't take pictures because my red hands would have dyed my white camera, so I will steal Jenn's pictures and post them. Because this outfits were awesome and I know you all want to see me covered in red paint.
Today we the boys and girls cricket finals for college. We were in the finals for both, but we ended up losing. The girls game was a good effort and we lost to Flinders University. The boys game was really rough, we were so close to winning, we trying to hold the other team as much as we could, but they won by one run. We lost to our biggest rival too so it was a really big loss. Ah, it was a really good match though, very intense and exciting, and apparently that NEVER happens in cricket.
This is the last week before mid-semester break and it's going to be a rough one. I have two papers and a presentation all due, so I have to get back to doing some homework. We had daylights saving last night, so I gained an hour but it also puts me back to being 15 1/2 hours different than home. I hope that everything is going well at home. I love all the emails that I get from you guys, it really makes me so happy and makes being away a lot easier. I will post more pictures soon =) BACK TO WORK!! =P
Today we the boys and girls cricket finals for college. We were in the finals for both, but we ended up losing. The girls game was a good effort and we lost to Flinders University. The boys game was really rough, we were so close to winning, we trying to hold the other team as much as we could, but they won by one run. We lost to our biggest rival too so it was a really big loss. Ah, it was a really good match though, very intense and exciting, and apparently that NEVER happens in cricket.
This is the last week before mid-semester break and it's going to be a rough one. I have two papers and a presentation all due, so I have to get back to doing some homework. We had daylights saving last night, so I gained an hour but it also puts me back to being 15 1/2 hours different than home. I hope that everything is going well at home. I love all the emails that I get from you guys, it really makes me so happy and makes being away a lot easier. I will post more pictures soon =) BACK TO WORK!! =P
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Two reasons I love Australia: Jack Johnson and Casey Jennings
This weekend has been a weekend of epic portion. This weekend was the FIVB Beach Volleyball tournament. Countries from around the world came to Glenelg Beach to play. YES THAT IS RIGHT, the US, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Aussies all playing volleyball this weekend in Australia and I am here to watch it!! Friday, Jenn, Devon, Laura, Mark, Cliff, Steve, Tony, Hannah and I all headed out to Glenelg to watch this massive tournament. We got there in time to watch the end of the Brazil v. Netherlands Men’s match. Brazil won by a landslide. Up next, who could it be?? None other than the a US men’s team, Gibb and Rosenthal, versus the Germany team. The US team won the first game, 21 to 18 no problem. The next game was a bit of a struggle for the Gibb and Rosenthal, and the lost it 22 – 19. Everything rested on the final game, on 15 points. It felt like WWII all over again…We were all cheering our lungs out and being probably the only Americans in the stands, we did some serious cheering. We even attracted some attention by the announcer, who stated over the loud speaker that we were certainly dedicated. The game started off with the US behind by a good 4 or 5 points. We didn’t let it get us down and it is my firm belief that our cheering and support helped motivated Gibb and Rosenthal to victory!! They ended up holding the Germans at match point three separate times and BEAT THEM!! GO USA!! We celebrated heavily!! Devon, Laura and I decided after the match we’d grab something to snack on before the Australian women’s team played against the Germans. AND GOOD THING WE DID! Because just as we walked down from the stands, who is standing there? CASEY JENNINGS!! Yes, amazing US player Casey Jennings married to Kerri Walsh Casey Jennings. AND I TOOK A PICTURE WITH HIM! Yah I know absolutely amazing.
BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER.
After the tournament, Steve, Laura and I were walking down the street heading back to St. Mark’s when I see this gorgeous man with two beautiful blonde beach bum toddlers, one on his shoulders and one walking holding his hand. I turn to Steve and causally say, “I’m in love with that man. Look at him with his kids.” Steve more or less disregards my comment, but Laura looks up from her iPod which was just playing a song by Jack Johnson…and breathes out the words “That’s Jack Johnson.” For those of you who don’t know Jack Johnson, he’s a musician, an amazing artist who had just played a concert in Adelaide. Well by the time we had reacted and freaked out a bit, he was half way down the street. Steve chased him down and shook his hand and told him how much he loves his music. Laura and I were pretty star struck and didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to chase him down when he was with his two kids…so we stood from a far and gazed in awe.
Today was cricket, boy and girls for St. Mark’s. We walked away winners from both matches, the girls killing Lincoln and the boys winning in an epic comeback with only two bowls left and needing to score 4 runs, to beat Flinders. WOO ST MARKS! A bit closer to the High Table Cup!!
What’s coming up in my life in Australia? Friday is Tony’s birthday, he turns 20!! WOO! I think we American girls are taking him out to dinner and something nice like that. Saturday is Garden Party, which is basically like Halloween all day…but instead of candy there is beer and wine. Sunday is the final matches for girls and boys cricket!! I’ll keep you all posted…and will post pictures soon I promise!
BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER.
After the tournament, Steve, Laura and I were walking down the street heading back to St. Mark’s when I see this gorgeous man with two beautiful blonde beach bum toddlers, one on his shoulders and one walking holding his hand. I turn to Steve and causally say, “I’m in love with that man. Look at him with his kids.” Steve more or less disregards my comment, but Laura looks up from her iPod which was just playing a song by Jack Johnson…and breathes out the words “That’s Jack Johnson.” For those of you who don’t know Jack Johnson, he’s a musician, an amazing artist who had just played a concert in Adelaide. Well by the time we had reacted and freaked out a bit, he was half way down the street. Steve chased him down and shook his hand and told him how much he loves his music. Laura and I were pretty star struck and didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to chase him down when he was with his two kids…so we stood from a far and gazed in awe.
Today was cricket, boy and girls for St. Mark’s. We walked away winners from both matches, the girls killing Lincoln and the boys winning in an epic comeback with only two bowls left and needing to score 4 runs, to beat Flinders. WOO ST MARKS! A bit closer to the High Table Cup!!
What’s coming up in my life in Australia? Friday is Tony’s birthday, he turns 20!! WOO! I think we American girls are taking him out to dinner and something nice like that. Saturday is Garden Party, which is basically like Halloween all day…but instead of candy there is beer and wine. Sunday is the final matches for girls and boys cricket!! I’ll keep you all posted…and will post pictures soon I promise!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
No Easter bunnies just cows, horses and hot crossed buns
Ah I've been so awful at writing and I know all of you have been desperately checking my blog to find out what exciting things I've been doing with my life. Haha wellllll here it is!! Easter weekend was pretty amazing, we all had Friday off for Good Friday (even though I don't have classes on Friday anyways). Jenn, Hannah, Laura and I caught a ride with Amanda to Clare Valley where Jemma lives. It's about a two hour drive away. Jemma's house is GORGEOUS, like I'm talking it belongs on the cover of Home & Garden magazine. It use to be an Old Hospital but Jemma's mum has painted and landscaped and made it into a beautiful and entirely homey house. Beautiful. We took Jemma's mom to church for Good Friday and spent the afternoon cruising around the Clare Valley, seeing where Jemma went to high school and where she use to work and such. THEN Jemma let me drive the car!! I'm talking driving on the LEFT side of the road with the steering wheel on the LEFT SIDE!! AHHHHHHH!!! I loved it and I was actually pretty good at it! Woo! Afterwards, we headed back to Jemma's house for a delicious dinner of crayfish (lobster) and prawns (shrimp) and I even tried some delicious cabbage salad. Yah, I know, trying all kinds of new food. That evening we played charades cause we are that cool. It was actually heaps of fun, especially since Jemma and her older brother Josh didn't know all the American stuff and we didn't know the Aussie things. Oh cultural differences =P
We decided to go to bed rather early since we were going to the races the next day. Laura and I were sharing a bed in the house and we had just about fallen asleep when suddenly loud voices echoed through Jemma’s house. Before we knew it, our lighted flickered on and three people stood in our room. “Are you the American girls?” Disoriented by the sudden light and people, we manage to shake our heads yes. “Awesome! Get some warm clothes on and come with us!!” The taller, older man said to us. We found out that the older man (about 40) was Nick Masterson, a dairy farmer that lived down the road from Jemma. He was accompanied by a younger guy (about 20), who’s name I forget, and his girlfriend, who went to St. Mark’s last year. Laura and I looked at each other and both agreed that the only intelligent choice would be to go. So we put on some warm clothes and hopped on four wheelers (dirt bikes) and went off with these random Aussies at 11:30 at night. As dodgy as it sounds, it was seriously the most thrilling, exciting and awesome evening ever. We rode on the back of Nick’s bike and he took us on the dirt roads to his dairy farm. He let Laura and I drive the bike through the field of cows and up to his house. IT WAS AWESOME!! We saw a calf that was only 20 minutes old, he literally was just born and we saw him take his first steps. Amazing!! Then we got back on the dirt bikes and rode up to the top of this massive hill, where Nick had his wedding reception. It was absolutely the most gorgeous view. We could see for miles and the sky was crystal clear, so many stars. Nick told us how to find south by using the Southern Cross in case we ever got lost in the outback! We drove back to Jemma’s house and after our great adventure Laura and I passed out.
Saturday morning, we had a delicious brekky of scrambled eggs and bacon and lots of toast. Then we all got dressed up for the races and took pictures before heading to the races. These races were so laid back and more country than the Adelaide cup. People were dressed in everything from three piece suits to cut off jeans and flip flops. Very causal, but heaps of fun! After a whole day watching horse racing and meeting Jemma’s friends, we went back to Jemma’s house for dinner and a much needed nap. Sunday we had another fulling brekky and Jemma's mom even put on a little Easter egg hunt for us. She's really a fantastic mum! Afterwards we headed back to St. Mark’s via train and spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing work. Yes it is true, I actually some school work here =P though it’s nothing compared to W&M it’s still a considerable amount....of which I must continue =P
Pictures of these events and more to come soon!!
We decided to go to bed rather early since we were going to the races the next day. Laura and I were sharing a bed in the house and we had just about fallen asleep when suddenly loud voices echoed through Jemma’s house. Before we knew it, our lighted flickered on and three people stood in our room. “Are you the American girls?” Disoriented by the sudden light and people, we manage to shake our heads yes. “Awesome! Get some warm clothes on and come with us!!” The taller, older man said to us. We found out that the older man (about 40) was Nick Masterson, a dairy farmer that lived down the road from Jemma. He was accompanied by a younger guy (about 20), who’s name I forget, and his girlfriend, who went to St. Mark’s last year. Laura and I looked at each other and both agreed that the only intelligent choice would be to go. So we put on some warm clothes and hopped on four wheelers (dirt bikes) and went off with these random Aussies at 11:30 at night. As dodgy as it sounds, it was seriously the most thrilling, exciting and awesome evening ever. We rode on the back of Nick’s bike and he took us on the dirt roads to his dairy farm. He let Laura and I drive the bike through the field of cows and up to his house. IT WAS AWESOME!! We saw a calf that was only 20 minutes old, he literally was just born and we saw him take his first steps. Amazing!! Then we got back on the dirt bikes and rode up to the top of this massive hill, where Nick had his wedding reception. It was absolutely the most gorgeous view. We could see for miles and the sky was crystal clear, so many stars. Nick told us how to find south by using the Southern Cross in case we ever got lost in the outback! We drove back to Jemma’s house and after our great adventure Laura and I passed out.
Saturday morning, we had a delicious brekky of scrambled eggs and bacon and lots of toast. Then we all got dressed up for the races and took pictures before heading to the races. These races were so laid back and more country than the Adelaide cup. People were dressed in everything from three piece suits to cut off jeans and flip flops. Very causal, but heaps of fun! After a whole day watching horse racing and meeting Jemma’s friends, we went back to Jemma’s house for dinner and a much needed nap. Sunday we had another fulling brekky and Jemma's mom even put on a little Easter egg hunt for us. She's really a fantastic mum! Afterwards we headed back to St. Mark’s via train and spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing work. Yes it is true, I actually some school work here =P though it’s nothing compared to W&M it’s still a considerable amount....of which I must continue =P
Pictures of these events and more to come soon!!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sports, Horses, Hell
In case you haven't heard, Adelaide is currently breaking records. Sports records? Maybe. Drinking Records? Probably. Temperature Records? DING DING We have a winner!! That's right, for the past 13 days the weather in Adelaide has been over 35 degrees...errr I mean over 95 degrees. Ironic because I think the East coast is chilling at 35 degrees as well, but that's actually in Fahrenheit. So though you may be bundled up in your jacket, be jealous of the fact that I get to go to the beach and lounge around in shorts and tanks tops. Oh and lets not forget that fact that I also get to sleep on the floor in the library of St. Mark's because my room is 100 degrees ALL THE TIME. Yah, I know you're jealous. If that didn't rouse enough jealousy, here are some other things to tickle your green eyed monster with:
Adelaide Cup -- that's right, horses racing in 100 degree weather. Forget about animals rights, lets talk about the people here!! Heat wave or not, Devon, Jenn, Laura and I all dressed in our finest with a bottle of wine in hand and climbed in the Gassie for a trip to the races. Now, I thought people in Virginia went a little nuts with their big hats and summer dresses for horse racing. Oh no, Australians have us beat. Feathers, flowers, hats, birds, strings, god knows what else these women glued it on a hat or directly to their hair. Seriously, one woman was in a yellow dress with a yellow and orange feathered hat. She looked like a duck. Now, I tried my best to take some decent pictures of these women, but it was hard to do it without being caught. I only successfully got one. Don't worry, slideshow will follow. I didn't beat on any of the horses cause lets face it, how do I know if Mystic is faster than Golden Flower? Either way, the races were a blast and I even attempted to make up my own words to the Australian anthem. Needless to say, some of the Aussies weren't too pleased about that =P The trip home we all piled into the Gassie and by all I mean a good 30 people sitting on each other's laps on the floor of this old truck. It was quite an adventure, but just to spice things up a bit the cops pulled us over and had about 5 people get out. Yah, that really made a difference. We made it back to St. Mark's safe and sound and spent the rest of the evening laying on the tennis courts sipping wine and talking.
St. Mark's and Sports -- thus far, St. Mark's has had two athletic events: Tennis and Swimming. Tennis, we rocked. We won the entire tournament in the girls, boys and co-ed divisions. BOO YAH. Swimming, nooottt tooo shabby, but we didn't come out on top. Though swimming was like a cheer fest. We were all sitting in the stands screaming St. Mark's cheers, wearing our St. Mark's polos (THANKS MOM!) and showing some school spirit. I, as an ex-Spirit Queen (2 years in a row), had to of course led some cheers and yell at the top of my lungs. Needless to say, I lost my voice. Tony was on the swim team, he did really well and overall St. Mark's was 3rd place. Why does this all matter? Three Words: HIGH TABLE CUP. St. Mark's has won the High Table Cup 6 years in a row. Which means we have scored the highest or won all of the sporting events against the other residential colleges. The new Master is dead set on going for the unprecedent 7th year. Good thing this semester brought some of the loudest and most spirited Americans ever (that would be Devon and I).
Still not jealous? Well this one might put you over the top:
Hell -- yes, you read that right, Hell. Now I know you must be thinking "Seriously, Emily, why would I be jealous of Hell? And are you talking about real Hell or has the weather completly melted your brain?" Well before I answer those questions (Yes you should be jealous. Yes, real Hell.), I must explain floor crawl. Floor crawl is a drinking activity that allows the members of your floor or hall bond with each other. We team up with another person on the hall and we decorate, have drinks and a game that goes along with the floor's theme. Our floor's theme was Vacation Locations. So under this theme we had: the Moon, Rome, and Mexico to name a few. Now for the jealousy part. Tony and I teamed up and came up with the most epic idea ever. Destination: Hell. I went shopping slash found in the storage room at St. Mark's the most AMAZING decorations (fabric with flames, red sheets, red yellow and orange balloons, red streamers and other devilish things). Tony and I dressed in devil outfits, me in a red dress with horns, him in a red cape with horns. Seriously, I was so pumped through this party, even writing about it now (three days later) I'm still so impressed by it. I took pictures. I'll post them. You'll be jealous.
Okay...so maybe Hell isn't your thing. But, if you know the person I am about to talk about next, believe me, YOU WILL BE JEALOUS.
Mr. Dolan -- that's right. Mr. Dolan, Jackie's dad!! He was on a business trip here in Adelaide and I got to have dinner with him!! I seriously was so excited. We had a really awesome dinner at a Chinese place and even had some chocolate cake (though I had to eat the whole thing because Mr. Dolan didn't want any pssh). It was so wonderful to see someone from home. Jackie if you read this, please thank your dad. It was really great of him to take the time and see me and it honestly made my night. =)
Alright, so don't be too jealous because in reality I am jealous of all of you. I miss being home a lot and though I am having a fantastic time here, seeing people from home, like Mr. Dolan, really makes me miss being in Virginia. I will post pictures from all these adventures soon. =)
Adelaide Cup -- that's right, horses racing in 100 degree weather. Forget about animals rights, lets talk about the people here!! Heat wave or not, Devon, Jenn, Laura and I all dressed in our finest with a bottle of wine in hand and climbed in the Gassie for a trip to the races. Now, I thought people in Virginia went a little nuts with their big hats and summer dresses for horse racing. Oh no, Australians have us beat. Feathers, flowers, hats, birds, strings, god knows what else these women glued it on a hat or directly to their hair. Seriously, one woman was in a yellow dress with a yellow and orange feathered hat. She looked like a duck. Now, I tried my best to take some decent pictures of these women, but it was hard to do it without being caught. I only successfully got one. Don't worry, slideshow will follow. I didn't beat on any of the horses cause lets face it, how do I know if Mystic is faster than Golden Flower? Either way, the races were a blast and I even attempted to make up my own words to the Australian anthem. Needless to say, some of the Aussies weren't too pleased about that =P The trip home we all piled into the Gassie and by all I mean a good 30 people sitting on each other's laps on the floor of this old truck. It was quite an adventure, but just to spice things up a bit the cops pulled us over and had about 5 people get out. Yah, that really made a difference. We made it back to St. Mark's safe and sound and spent the rest of the evening laying on the tennis courts sipping wine and talking.
St. Mark's and Sports -- thus far, St. Mark's has had two athletic events: Tennis and Swimming. Tennis, we rocked. We won the entire tournament in the girls, boys and co-ed divisions. BOO YAH. Swimming, nooottt tooo shabby, but we didn't come out on top. Though swimming was like a cheer fest. We were all sitting in the stands screaming St. Mark's cheers, wearing our St. Mark's polos (THANKS MOM!) and showing some school spirit. I, as an ex-Spirit Queen (2 years in a row), had to of course led some cheers and yell at the top of my lungs. Needless to say, I lost my voice. Tony was on the swim team, he did really well and overall St. Mark's was 3rd place. Why does this all matter? Three Words: HIGH TABLE CUP. St. Mark's has won the High Table Cup 6 years in a row. Which means we have scored the highest or won all of the sporting events against the other residential colleges. The new Master is dead set on going for the unprecedent 7th year. Good thing this semester brought some of the loudest and most spirited Americans ever (that would be Devon and I).
Still not jealous? Well this one might put you over the top:
Hell -- yes, you read that right, Hell. Now I know you must be thinking "Seriously, Emily, why would I be jealous of Hell? And are you talking about real Hell or has the weather completly melted your brain?" Well before I answer those questions (Yes you should be jealous. Yes, real Hell.), I must explain floor crawl. Floor crawl is a drinking activity that allows the members of your floor or hall bond with each other. We team up with another person on the hall and we decorate, have drinks and a game that goes along with the floor's theme. Our floor's theme was Vacation Locations. So under this theme we had: the Moon, Rome, and Mexico to name a few. Now for the jealousy part. Tony and I teamed up and came up with the most epic idea ever. Destination: Hell. I went shopping slash found in the storage room at St. Mark's the most AMAZING decorations (fabric with flames, red sheets, red yellow and orange balloons, red streamers and other devilish things). Tony and I dressed in devil outfits, me in a red dress with horns, him in a red cape with horns. Seriously, I was so pumped through this party, even writing about it now (three days later) I'm still so impressed by it. I took pictures. I'll post them. You'll be jealous.
Okay...so maybe Hell isn't your thing. But, if you know the person I am about to talk about next, believe me, YOU WILL BE JEALOUS.
Mr. Dolan -- that's right. Mr. Dolan, Jackie's dad!! He was on a business trip here in Adelaide and I got to have dinner with him!! I seriously was so excited. We had a really awesome dinner at a Chinese place and even had some chocolate cake (though I had to eat the whole thing because Mr. Dolan didn't want any pssh). It was so wonderful to see someone from home. Jackie if you read this, please thank your dad. It was really great of him to take the time and see me and it honestly made my night. =)
Alright, so don't be too jealous because in reality I am jealous of all of you. I miss being home a lot and though I am having a fantastic time here, seeing people from home, like Mr. Dolan, really makes me miss being in Virginia. I will post pictures from all these adventures soon. =)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
And the temperature keeps rising
It was a sizzling 100 degrees today. Ugh. Friday night was pretty epic. Introduction of the Black Dress Mafia. Laura, Devon, Addie, Jemma and I all went out to the Oxford in black dress and stunting some nice heels. Well, except Jemma cause she has a busted ankle. Either way, we danced, we drank, we had a great night. This morning I woke up sooo hot and could not fall back asleep. I had kitchen duty today too. All students have kitchen duty sometime during the semester. Luckily mine was the lunch time (11:30 AM) and not breakfast (8:30 AM). Three other students worked had duty with me. We had to serve lunch to everyone, wash dishes, clean tables, set out food and sweep up. It was fun for about 5 minutes. Being in the kitchen was super hot and we were there until 2PM. But I've done it and it's over. After kitchen duty, I did some reading in the library and then got ready to go into town.
By opening a bank account here I was entered into a contest to win tickets to Fringe Festival. The Fringe is a big festival they have here in Adelaide that has comedians, concerts, and shows. Well I won!! I won two free tickets to see Arj Barker, a US comedian, for tonight. So I took Tony with me and we got dressed up and headed into the city. The Fringe Festival was interesting, a lot of "different" people. Some cross dressers and some carnies. The show was hilarious though. I was laughing so hard. It was really great. On the walk back to St. Mark's we saw fireworks from the other festival going on, womadelaide which is a world music art and dance festival. It was pretty awesome night. After we got back a bunch of us just laid out on the lawn looking at stars and just talking the night away. I'm pretty tired and it's still really hot at 11:50 PM so I reckon I'll sleep in the library tonight because it's the only place where there is AC. Tomorrow we have a tennis tournament against other colleges starting at 8AM and I really want to watch it. It's going to be another hot day, 101 tomorrow. WOOOO summer time in Australia.
By opening a bank account here I was entered into a contest to win tickets to Fringe Festival. The Fringe is a big festival they have here in Adelaide that has comedians, concerts, and shows. Well I won!! I won two free tickets to see Arj Barker, a US comedian, for tonight. So I took Tony with me and we got dressed up and headed into the city. The Fringe Festival was interesting, a lot of "different" people. Some cross dressers and some carnies. The show was hilarious though. I was laughing so hard. It was really great. On the walk back to St. Mark's we saw fireworks from the other festival going on, womadelaide which is a world music art and dance festival. It was pretty awesome night. After we got back a bunch of us just laid out on the lawn looking at stars and just talking the night away. I'm pretty tired and it's still really hot at 11:50 PM so I reckon I'll sleep in the library tonight because it's the only place where there is AC. Tomorrow we have a tennis tournament against other colleges starting at 8AM and I really want to watch it. It's going to be another hot day, 101 tomorrow. WOOOO summer time in Australia.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
5 day weekened? How did this happen?
Yup, 5 day weekend started yesterday. Accidentally of course, but still a pleasant surprise. Wednesday night was pub night, an epic night that began with the longest meeting for College ever. We of course were encouraged to drink during this meeting, where the Master and the Dean spoke and where we voted for sports captains and some other fantastic positions. Some great examples -- The Keeper of Crustaceans (the person who puts fish in the pond) and Hang Over Chief (responsible for making hung over seniors comfortable). Haha this place is amazing. We headed to the pub after this meeting to be greeted with FREE JAGER BOMBS. Yes, that's right, every person got one free Jager Bomb. Ridiculous. It was a really good night, I got to talk to a lot of new people and didn't spend that much money!! WOO!! Thursday is typically my longest day at uni, but all of my lectures and tutorials were canceled! Haha. So my Thursday was very laid back consisting of me eating, doing homework, watching tennis and SWIM PRACTICE.
Swim practice highlights:
Today is Friday and I have no classes on Friday. Game plan for today is gym -- lunch -- beach -- dinner -- movie? pub? ???? So it has good potential. This weekend the American girls are figuring out Mid-Semester Break plans and going shopping for Garden Party and figuring out plans for Adelaide Cup on Monday (Uni is canceled!) So here I come 5 day weekend, now only 4 days left which I must make the most of.
Swim practice highlights:
- Everyone in Australia is hard core about sports -- one piece swimsuits, goggles, swim caps.
- I'm in a bikini. No goggles. No swim cap.
- Everyone dives in to the pool to start warm up for laps.
- I hop in the pool and attempt to swim a lap.
- Will: "What stroke do you swim, Emily?" Me: "The frog one." Will: "It's called Breast Stroke." Idiot.
- After 25 meters I stopped because I am not fast, can't really do the frog swim that well and I really just wanted to jump off the diving board....or go down the slide.
Today is Friday and I have no classes on Friday. Game plan for today is gym -- lunch -- beach -- dinner -- movie? pub? ???? So it has good potential. This weekend the American girls are figuring out Mid-Semester Break plans and going shopping for Garden Party and figuring out plans for Adelaide Cup on Monday (Uni is canceled!) So here I come 5 day weekend, now only 4 days left which I must make the most of.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A brief moment of time...
I have a couple of minutes this morning before I head off to uni and I thought I'd update you all on my "exciting" life! Haha if only. Things have dramatically slowed down after O-week and everyone has really gotten into school mode...and when I say everyone, I mean me, Jenn and Tony. It seems that no one else is every studying or reading or doing any work. They are all just playing tennis (which everyone here is ridiculously good) or relaxing in the JCR watching movies. Maybe it's because we come from W&M and it is ingrained in us to study study study, but I feel like I need to get all this work done before the weekend. Monday is the Adelaide Cup, which is the big horse races here. Uni is cancelled at we are all going to get dressed up and head off to the races. It should be an awesome time. We also have Garden Party coming up soon, which is basically Halloween. Everyone gets dressed up in awesome costumes and drinks on the lawn. =P Seriously, any occasion to drink, these guys will do it. Haha!
Uni has gotten progressively better since my last post. I was able to get cash and buy my packets, but the wireless is still a no go. Which is really frustrating!! However, the internet at St. Mark's has improved DRAMATICALLY which is truly awesome. I was able to Skype without it dropping the call eight times, which was wonderful =) And AIM is back up and working, but I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one...
I'm also planning on trying out for the swim team...I know, I know, I've never done competitive swimming before, but Will, the sports guy here and I had the following conversation:
Will: "If I throw you in the pool, will you drown?"
Emily: "No."
Will: "GREAT! Come out for swimming!! Thursday 7:15"
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen!! I shall be trying out for swimming, I'll keep you posted on whether I sink or swim. For now I must head to uni!! Miss and love you all!!
Uni has gotten progressively better since my last post. I was able to get cash and buy my packets, but the wireless is still a no go. Which is really frustrating!! However, the internet at St. Mark's has improved DRAMATICALLY which is truly awesome. I was able to Skype without it dropping the call eight times, which was wonderful =) And AIM is back up and working, but I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one...
I'm also planning on trying out for the swim team...I know, I know, I've never done competitive swimming before, but Will, the sports guy here and I had the following conversation:
Will: "If I throw you in the pool, will you drown?"
Emily: "No."
Will: "GREAT! Come out for swimming!! Thursday 7:15"
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen!! I shall be trying out for swimming, I'll keep you posted on whether I sink or swim. For now I must head to uni!! Miss and love you all!!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sometimes I miss the states....
Today was the first day of Uni...and let me just say that I honestly miss William & Mary so much. The University of Adelaide is HUGE...well maybe no Tech or Penn State huge, but it's a lot bigger than W&M and it's not as friendly. My morning started at 7:30 with a shower and some brekky (which I must get up for otherwise I'll starve to death). I walked to uni with Jenn, we have the same lecture today, Australian Pop Culture. Lecture was interesting and the class sounds really interesting. After wondering around for awhile and asking directions, we went to go buy our lecture packets, which was in the basement of some building. The line to buy packets, being sold by only one woman, was out the door. So we decided to wait a bit and went to the library to figure out how to get wireless on my computer. After a couple of tries on my own, I went to IT and asked for their help. Jenn left for another class and I spent 45 minutes with the IT guy and my laptop. Which ended with him telling me that my "foam card" for the wireless services was old and I need to download the new card. Great. This would of course be so easy, considering I don't have wireless and they have no lan connections in the library. Woo. So I decided I would go wait in that line for my packets, but they only accept cash. I've got time before Jenn gets out of class, so I went to the Bank to take out cash. Whoops. ATM is broken and the line for the counter...yup you guessed right, out the door. So scratch all that. Needless to say I found one of three books I was searching for in the library. I went back to St. Mark's to be greeted with dodgy internet.
And by dodgy...I mean absolutely the slowest connection when it is working, but usually it comes in and out and never lets me connect to Skype or AIM or be logged in to my email for long. So this entire rant is basically to say.... I MISS THE STATES
And by dodgy...I mean absolutely the slowest connection when it is working, but usually it comes in and out and never lets me connect to Skype or AIM or be logged in to my email for long. So this entire rant is basically to say.... I MISS THE STATES
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Last Weekend Before Uni
It's Saturday afternoon and I'm relaxing in my bed after another ridiculous night here at St. Mark's. Last night was Fresher's Dinner. We got dressed up in our formal wear and put on our robes (like in Harry Potter) and a had predrinks with the Master and the Dean. Then we proceeded into the dinning hall where we were served wine, champagne, and beer with a full course meal. We had pumpkin soup, chicken and mashed potatoes and veggies and for dessert we had apple crumble pie. AMAZING! Through out the whole dinner groups of people were sung too, like the Freshers, and had to chug their drinks. We ever got to sing the song to the Master!! It was insane. Needless to say, most people were pretty drunk by the time dinner was over and we headed out to the courtyard and had a party! There was a DJ and kegs and everyone was dancing and having a great time.
Today has been pretty lazy Saturday. I went up to the store and bought some notebooks and things for Uni on Monday. I'm getting really excited for it!! It'll just be nice to have set schedule and be going to class and stuff. I'm sure that'll change once Uni starts but for now I'm staying positive about it. Tomorrow we have to attend church for a St. Mark's ceremony, I believe it's a commencement of the semester. We are going to the beautiful cathedral next door. I hope it's as beautiful inside as it is outside.
I've made slide shows of my pictures and put them above the posts, as I'm sure you've already noticed. I'm almost finished uploading the Kangaroo pictures (I know it's taking forever!!) The internet is really slow here, so it always takes me two times to upload the pictures. Soon they will be up and I'll send the link to the website and the slide show will be posted with the other pictures above!! For now, I'm going outside to hang out on the lawn!!
Today has been pretty lazy Saturday. I went up to the store and bought some notebooks and things for Uni on Monday. I'm getting really excited for it!! It'll just be nice to have set schedule and be going to class and stuff. I'm sure that'll change once Uni starts but for now I'm staying positive about it. Tomorrow we have to attend church for a St. Mark's ceremony, I believe it's a commencement of the semester. We are going to the beautiful cathedral next door. I hope it's as beautiful inside as it is outside.
I've made slide shows of my pictures and put them above the posts, as I'm sure you've already noticed. I'm almost finished uploading the Kangaroo pictures (I know it's taking forever!!) The internet is really slow here, so it always takes me two times to upload the pictures. Soon they will be up and I'll send the link to the website and the slide show will be posted with the other pictures above!! For now, I'm going outside to hang out on the lawn!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Drop Offs, 7 am techno and the longest week of my life
Well O-week is about to finish and I find myself exhausted but with heaps of new friends and new experiences. It truly was one of the longest weeks of my life. We started out with an all day obstacle course and campus tour, where the showed us what NOT to do. They had parked a car in the wrong spot and so they smashed the car to pieces! We had a slip and slide, a tunnel crawl, and a run where they threw garlic powder, veggie mite, peanut butter and all kinds of gross things at us after we were soaked with water. Needless to say it took me two days to stop smelling like garlic. We also had a pub crawl or pub night every night. So not only do they want us to get drunk at night, they want us to suffer every morning. At 7AM sharp, they played the most atrocious and ear-piercing techno song. They banged on our doors and forced us out of bed to do exercises, milk chugging relays and other ridiculous things. Ugh!! My body still cringes at the thought of that awful techno song. We had a toga party on a boat ride around the river, a quiz night where we could win all kinds of cool prizes (my team didn't do that well, so we didn't win anything). Today we had drop offs. We were dressed up in ridiculous outfits...and I mean ridiculous. Some guys were in dresses with obscene things written on their arms, some girls in hats, bikinis, scuba gear, everything. Then we were paired up, duct taped to our pair, blind folded and dropped off somewhere and had to make it home. We were given an envelope with money and a phone number, for EMERGENCIES only. If you opened it, you were automatically disqualified. I was dressed in a sweatshirt as pants (my legs through the arm holes), and pants taped to my arms. I was duct taped to a guy and he was duct taped to a girl. We were blind folded and dropped off in a junk yard at a the Port. We had quite an adventure getting back involving a drunk bum taking a picture of us with his cellphone, a car full of guy threatening us for the obscene things written on the guy (it was saying something awful about the Port cricket team), and an old lady helping us find a bus station. Thanks to the mercy of the bus driver, who let us ride in the back of the bus for free. We made it back to St. Mark's in one piece and with a great story!! Wooo!!
For the first time since Sunday, I'm going to be able to sleep in without that awful song playing. You have no idea how happy I am, seriously. Uni will be starting on Monday and I have to get myself actually prepared for school!! How crazy!! I've been in Australia for almost 3 weeks and have yet to go to a single class. That will all change on Monday and I'm actually really excited for it. I'm taking the History of Indigenous People, Gender and Race in Australia, and Australian Pop Culture. I'm like really excited!! Tonight should be pretty low key, I think everyone has hit their limit today. We are watching Animal House on the lawn. I'm going to try and put pictures up, now that I have some free time. I'll post the links ASAP!
For the first time since Sunday, I'm going to be able to sleep in without that awful song playing. You have no idea how happy I am, seriously. Uni will be starting on Monday and I have to get myself actually prepared for school!! How crazy!! I've been in Australia for almost 3 weeks and have yet to go to a single class. That will all change on Monday and I'm actually really excited for it. I'm taking the History of Indigenous People, Gender and Race in Australia, and Australian Pop Culture. I'm like really excited!! Tonight should be pretty low key, I think everyone has hit their limit today. We are watching Animal House on the lawn. I'm going to try and put pictures up, now that I have some free time. I'll post the links ASAP!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
What??! A Fresher Again??
So I'm writing this blog in the dark at 11:00 at night....Tonight begins the start of Orientation Week, more informally know as O-week. I am once again pushed the bottom of the collegiate social chain and labeled a freshman slash first year slash fresher. And as such, I have to be initiated into the college tomorrow morning. Tonight we had a curfew of 10:00 PM at which point all the upperclassmen ran through the fresher halls and banged on doors and yelled at us to get to bed. They after a bit, they were like trying to coax us out of our rooms, saying it's all alright that it's over now. Those who were dumb enough to go out, go ponded. Being ponded means they pick you up and throw you in the pond. Hilarious. It's over now, I haven't heard them banging on the doors for awhile. Tomorrow is a big day...we are told to wear grungy clothes that we don't mind getting dirty. Rumor has it, we are getting things thrown at us (food, water balloons, ect) and having to crawl through mud. Should be lots of fun!! Haha.
Pictures will be posted after this week is over, I apologize for the delay, but from what I reckon about this week, I'm gonna need all the extra time I have to sleep. =P
Pictures will be posted after this week is over, I apologize for the delay, but from what I reckon about this week, I'm gonna need all the extra time I have to sleep. =P
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Beach photos!
Okay, so I only had time to make the beach photo album. Here is the link:
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg136/emilyinaustralia/Beach%20Retreat/
(View the slideshow)
I'll have the pub pictures up soon and hopefully some amazing ones from tomorrow. Enjoy these pictures!!
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg136/emilyinaustralia/Beach%20Retreat/
(View the slideshow)
I'll have the pub pictures up soon and hopefully some amazing ones from tomorrow. Enjoy these pictures!!
I'm a slacker and haven't been writing every night. I'm really trying to get in the groove of it, but things keep happening here!! Yesterday we played volleyball!! We found a net and a ball and set it up on the lawn and we had some good games going. At first we played sixes, the two Canadian guys are real good and so is Cliff (another American) and there was one Aussie, Tyson, who was awesome. Jenn and I held our own, but the other Americans and Aussies were...well...they tried...haha. So we decided to play some doubles after awhile, which turned out to be amazing. I was soooo happy to be playing. Jenn and I took on Cliff and Tyson and won!! Woo. Then we took on the Canadians and they whooped our butts. I'm talking in an eight point game, we got 2 points. Pretty pathetic showing. So we wanted a rematch after we had a moment to catch our breaths and we did a bit better (8-6) but they still won. After that we had dinner, which was some curry chicken thing. The food here isn't bad, I like a lot of it and I've tried everything. Be proud everyone, I'm trying new things!!
Well we started "predrinking" at 7:30, which is ridiculously early. We taught the Aussies American drinking games, mainly flip cup. Which got to be a pretty intense game, my team (of course) won. They we took the "gassie" to the pub. The gassie is this old old truck with benches in the back for us to sit in and a roof over top. It seriously was the coolest thing to drive in. Check out the pictures of it, that was a really awful description of it... Speaking of pictures, as I type I'm uploading pictures of the beach trip and of our pub night. So I'll post the links in a separate post and I'll send them out in an email. So if reading my blog doesn't excite you enough, you'll have pictures to drool over too. =P
Okay, back to pub night...did I mention that the night was themed? Yes, themed. Short shorts and long socks. Ridiculous theme and the boys went all out for it. Some of them had short shorts, awful white legs. Anyways, the pub had drink specials (AMAZING) so I got to drink and save money!! Woooo! It was a great night, lots of dancing and good times all around.
Today was a lazy day, I woke up kind of late, which was 9:30. I still haven't been able to sleep in late, but I guess that's a good thing because my classes for uni are at 10 and 11 AM. MY OTHER LUGGAGE BAG CAME TODAY!! HOOORAYY I officially have all of my luggage and I could NOT be happier!! Woooo!!! After lunch today we went to the local beach, a $1.20 tram ride away. It was GORGEOUS. I swear all the beaches here just have crystal clear blue water. I got a little bit of sun on my face, but I've been putting lots of sunscreen on because apparently the Australian sun is very strong slash there's a whole in the ozone layer here. It was a nice afternoon, but I was pretty beat by the end of it. Tonight we watched Juno, which was an AMAZING movie. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you need to. Tomorrow is a very big day...I get to see, no, I get to PET AND HOLD KANGAROOS AND KOALAS!! EEEEEE I am so excited I can't even contain myself!!! We leave at 8:45 AM and I am so excited that I can't sleep, thus the reason I'm writing this blog at 12 o'clock at night. Wooooo!! Get excited!!!
Well we started "predrinking" at 7:30, which is ridiculously early. We taught the Aussies American drinking games, mainly flip cup. Which got to be a pretty intense game, my team (of course) won. They we took the "gassie" to the pub. The gassie is this old old truck with benches in the back for us to sit in and a roof over top. It seriously was the coolest thing to drive in. Check out the pictures of it, that was a really awful description of it... Speaking of pictures, as I type I'm uploading pictures of the beach trip and of our pub night. So I'll post the links in a separate post and I'll send them out in an email. So if reading my blog doesn't excite you enough, you'll have pictures to drool over too. =P
Okay, back to pub night...did I mention that the night was themed? Yes, themed. Short shorts and long socks. Ridiculous theme and the boys went all out for it. Some of them had short shorts, awful white legs. Anyways, the pub had drink specials (AMAZING) so I got to drink and save money!! Woooo! It was a great night, lots of dancing and good times all around.
Today was a lazy day, I woke up kind of late, which was 9:30. I still haven't been able to sleep in late, but I guess that's a good thing because my classes for uni are at 10 and 11 AM. MY OTHER LUGGAGE BAG CAME TODAY!! HOOORAYY I officially have all of my luggage and I could NOT be happier!! Woooo!!! After lunch today we went to the local beach, a $1.20 tram ride away. It was GORGEOUS. I swear all the beaches here just have crystal clear blue water. I got a little bit of sun on my face, but I've been putting lots of sunscreen on because apparently the Australian sun is very strong slash there's a whole in the ozone layer here. It was a nice afternoon, but I was pretty beat by the end of it. Tonight we watched Juno, which was an AMAZING movie. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you need to. Tomorrow is a very big day...I get to see, no, I get to PET AND HOLD KANGAROOS AND KOALAS!! EEEEEE I am so excited I can't even contain myself!!! We leave at 8:45 AM and I am so excited that I can't sleep, thus the reason I'm writing this blog at 12 o'clock at night. Wooooo!! Get excited!!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Reckon some cricket after brekky?
WOO I feel like I have so much to catch up on!! The trip to Francis' beach house was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, words can not even describe the beach, the house, the sunset, the food...only pictures. So check out the new pictures I put up:
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg136/emilyinaustralia/
This album is of the first night in Australia, I'll put the beach pictures up soon!! Click on SLIDESHOW on the right to see the pictures better =)
I feel like I should probably give you an idea of who went on the trip (the pictures will also help too). The Americans are: Me, Jenn, Hannah, Devon, Laura, Cliff and Steve. The Canadians are Jarett and Mark. The Aussies who came with us were Francis, Michael (Hoggy), Jeff, Alice and one Brit named Amy. Got them all down? There'll be a quiz later on. So Francis' parents, Tim and Pam took us to their beach house, which was about two hours away. Tim owns his own vineyard and makes one of Australia's top 100 wines -- Tim Adams is the name of the brand -- and it's labeled the best wine for the best price. It was pretty amazing, he popped a couple of bottles for us when we got to the beach. On the way there, we saw some emus and hopped out of the car for a photo op. WOO Wildlife Encounter #1! Nasty little buggers, they have red eyes, huge claws and sharp beaks. The beach was amazing, I know I already said it, but it really was. We wadded out in the crystal clear water and all swam or stood around. The water was refreshingly cool. Wildlife Encounter #2 came as a sudden surprise in the water...A CROC!!!!
No no, just kidding...it was a sting ray. Which was pretty awesome too!! It swam off rather quickly, didn't want to be bothered by any pesky Americans. After splashing around in the gorgeous water, we headed back on the beach to play some cricket. Tim, who's car I was in the ride over, taught us all about the game of cricket, so we played on the beach. It was alright, but it's rather hard to play seriously with a beer in your hand. =P So Alice, Devon and I decided to cross the desert of dry seaweed and climb the sand dune peak. Beers in hand we trekked up to the top, toasted and chugged out beers as we gazed out at the breathtaking beach. Then we ran, jump and tumbled down the sand dune. The rest of the afternoon consisted of swimming, more sand dune adventures and tanning. We headed back to the beach house for a proper dinner on the barbie (Seriously, Australians talk really weird). Dinner was bbq chicken, ribs and sausage, potatoes and salad. It was ammmazzinnnggg. Around sunset, which I took a pretty sick picture of (drop) we all went back out on the beach and took some ridiculous "jump" pictures. The next morning we had brekky of eggs, bacon and toast. After cleaning up from brekky, we piled in the car and head back to Adelaide...
http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg136/emilyinaustralia/
This album is of the first night in Australia, I'll put the beach pictures up soon!! Click on SLIDESHOW on the right to see the pictures better =)
I feel like I should probably give you an idea of who went on the trip (the pictures will also help too). The Americans are: Me, Jenn, Hannah, Devon, Laura, Cliff and Steve. The Canadians are Jarett and Mark. The Aussies who came with us were Francis, Michael (Hoggy), Jeff, Alice and one Brit named Amy. Got them all down? There'll be a quiz later on. So Francis' parents, Tim and Pam took us to their beach house, which was about two hours away. Tim owns his own vineyard and makes one of Australia's top 100 wines -- Tim Adams is the name of the brand -- and it's labeled the best wine for the best price. It was pretty amazing, he popped a couple of bottles for us when we got to the beach. On the way there, we saw some emus and hopped out of the car for a photo op. WOO Wildlife Encounter #1! Nasty little buggers, they have red eyes, huge claws and sharp beaks. The beach was amazing, I know I already said it, but it really was. We wadded out in the crystal clear water and all swam or stood around. The water was refreshingly cool. Wildlife Encounter #2 came as a sudden surprise in the water...A CROC!!!!
No no, just kidding...it was a sting ray. Which was pretty awesome too!! It swam off rather quickly, didn't want to be bothered by any pesky Americans. After splashing around in the gorgeous water, we headed back on the beach to play some cricket. Tim, who's car I was in the ride over, taught us all about the game of cricket, so we played on the beach. It was alright, but it's rather hard to play seriously with a beer in your hand. =P So Alice, Devon and I decided to cross the desert of dry seaweed and climb the sand dune peak. Beers in hand we trekked up to the top, toasted and chugged out beers as we gazed out at the breathtaking beach. Then we ran, jump and tumbled down the sand dune. The rest of the afternoon consisted of swimming, more sand dune adventures and tanning. We headed back to the beach house for a proper dinner on the barbie (Seriously, Australians talk really weird). Dinner was bbq chicken, ribs and sausage, potatoes and salad. It was ammmazzinnnggg. Around sunset, which I took a pretty sick picture of (drop) we all went back out on the beach and took some ridiculous "jump" pictures. The next morning we had brekky of eggs, bacon and toast. After cleaning up from brekky, we piled in the car and head back to Adelaide...
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I'll pull your feathers out!!
Woke up this morning again to the lovely sound of birds....and by lovely I mean, it sounds like the birds are ripping each others' feathers out!! They squawk and scream all morning, which doesn't help my new found sleeping pattern. I go to bed at like midnight and end up waking up at like 6:30 / 7 AM and can't go back to sleep. I'm not sure if this is what jet lag feels like, but how I would love to just sleep in!!
There's still no one on my hall, besides the RA equivalent Jack (they call them Floor Tutors). So it's kinda lonely and quiet...which I think is a blessing right now. Where I live, the Annex, is basically a hallway with rooms on both sides. The walls are paper thin everyone has told me. Awesome. As of now I'll enjoy my quiet, summer camp looking building and hope no one ever moves in.
Time to get some brekky and head to the beach!! I promise to post pictures soon =P
There's still no one on my hall, besides the RA equivalent Jack (they call them Floor Tutors). So it's kinda lonely and quiet...which I think is a blessing right now. Where I live, the Annex, is basically a hallway with rooms on both sides. The walls are paper thin everyone has told me. Awesome. As of now I'll enjoy my quiet, summer camp looking building and hope no one ever moves in.
Time to get some brekky and head to the beach!! I promise to post pictures soon =P
HOT HOT!!
It's about 9 PM here and I'm still uncomfortably hot. Tomorrow and Monday are suppose to be even worse heat. Good thing we are going to the beach tomorrow!! It should be an absolute blast. Today has been pretty laid back. Last night, our first night in Australia we went to a pub called The Cambridge and hung out with the other Americans, one Canadian and the Aussies. It was a lot of fun, but by midnight Jenn and I were exhausted so we called it a night. This morning we slept in until 10ish and then went exploring through Adelaide. We walked to "Uni" (the word for University, Jenn hates it, I embrace it) and had a look around. Unfortunately, every thing is closed on Saturdays and apparently they are worse than Blue States on Sunday. Fantastic. We also explored the beautiful Cathedral that sits on the corner of St. Mark's. It is GORGEOUS. I'm debating of going to service there one Sunday just to see the inside more. It's one of the oldest churches in Adelaide, which we also learned is called the "city of churches." After our adventure, which entirely wiped us out, we lounged around until a meeting about the beach.
THE BEACH!! Wooo! We are going to be leaving tomorrow at 10:30 to travel an hour south to a beach, which Francis (our international student leader) says we will be the only people on this beach. EEEEEE =) We are going to be having a barbie for dinner and then spend the night at Francis' beach house there. It is just going to be all of the international students, so it'll be a good way for us Americans and now 2 Canadians to bond. I'm so excited!!
Well it's ridiculously warm in my room, so I'm going to head over to Jenn's room to enjoys the breeze that sweeps through her room....
THE BEACH!! Wooo! We are going to be leaving tomorrow at 10:30 to travel an hour south to a beach, which Francis (our international student leader) says we will be the only people on this beach. EEEEEE =) We are going to be having a barbie for dinner and then spend the night at Francis' beach house there. It is just going to be all of the international students, so it'll be a good way for us Americans and now 2 Canadians to bond. I'm so excited!!
Well it's ridiculously warm in my room, so I'm going to head over to Jenn's room to enjoys the breeze that sweeps through her room....
Friday, February 15, 2008
Qantas Airline: 3 -- Emily & Jenn: 0
Hello from Australia!! It's been a long trip getting here, an true adventure. Jennifer (who I am traveling with) and I left Dulles and made it to LA. The airport in LA was an adventure in itself. We had to locate the Qantas Airline desk and then go through security all over again. We made it to our gate and boarded the PACKED flight for Sydney. Jenn and I were in different seats, so we didn't get to see each other most of the flight. The flight was loooonnngg, but I slept most of it. They feed us some sketchy looking chicken for dinner and an omelet for breakfast. I watched Michael Clayton, which was a pretty good movie, but that's all I was awake for to watch. Once we landed in Sydney, we made it through customs (even with my Crasins!! We were certain that would take them from me!) We headed to baggage claims...to not find out luggage. We waited and waited, but both our luggage disappeared. We reported the baggage missing and the man at the counter laughed at the irony of my baggage tag -- I Heart Baggage Handlers -- cause clearly they didn't heart me back. We headed to our gate, where we met two British girls who were on an adventure of their own. They laughed at us saying "line" instead of "queue" and were curious if girls at our universities were like those in "Mean Girls." Quite amusing. On our flight to Adelaide we met a couple who had been traveling in South America!! It was fun to talk to someone who had visited Chile as well (though they weren't there very long). They also told us we'd love Adelaide and St. Mark's. We landed in Adelaide and were picked up and taken to St. Mark's with no luggage...but it was gorgeous out and hell WE ARE IN AUSTRALIA so can we really complain?
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