The Last Days of 'No Worries'

So I'm finally back in the States (although technically I'm currently with my cousin in the Cayman Islands, but that's a good deal closer to home than Australia is). I haven't really had a chance to blog since my return do to being in a coma/getting my new license/visiting Bryn Mawr/Haverford/Swarthmore/getting ready for Cayman, etc. But more importanly I just haven't really had the urge to blog in the way I did while I was in Australia. I therefore justify my certain desire to do so on the similar climate of Cayman to Cairns. Anyhow, being back at home has had its ups and downs. My parents got rid of my car while I was gone, so I am currently sharing a car with my sister, which is okay. It's really nice to see her and Joe and my brother again. It feels much more like it's going to be Christmas in New Jersey as opposed to Queensland. I got a chance to catch up with the Jews and Hannah and some other Mawrtyrs. But I really, really miss being in Australia. Being in Cayman with Paul and his friend Adam is essentially my last hurrah in the no-stress freedom that went hand-in-hand with my studying abroad. Since I've been here we've watched football, watched loads of VH1, ate lots of food, and went to the beach. It's wonderful, and I actually really enjoy their company. But while sitting on the couch watching the top 100 songs of the 90s while they sat outside smoking cigars, I overheard them talking about their lives and relationships, which made me realize that in a few years I will be expressing similar concerns. And that reminds me of the fact that now that I'm home again, I have to think about my future, my career, and, most importantly, somehow making money. And I REALLY don't want to think about that. I know I'm still in undergrad and that I have time before it really actually becomes important, but it's still much more real now to me than it has been in months. The one thing I hope the my time in Australia will influence more than anything else is my determination now to do something in my life because it makes me happy and not just because it pays the bills. I wish that this was a more socially accepted attitude in the States so that this would be an easier feat to accomplish.

The one thing that I think will make this all the easier to deal with will be seeing all of my friends again and getting back into the swing of things at Bryn Mawr. It was really wonderful just to be on campus and to eat at Haffner. I'm a bit concerned accademically due to the fact I'm taking some fairly difficult courses next semester following a semester of doing very little. But hopefully I'll be able to be disciplined without losing the carefree spontaneity I found in Oz. I'm working really hard on maintaining contact with people, but everything is just so different now. It's really difficult to have much more than the facebook relationship when you're separated by almost an entire day.

So, what I've basically come to realize is that at some point, maybe after I graduate Bryn Mawr, maybe after I get my law degree and/or Ph.D in history, that I need to move back to Australia. Similarly, I need to start living my life here in a fashion more like the one I had there. Hopefully I can do it without compromising too much of what has been established about "me" here, but I know for certain that in order for me to be happy, and really happy, I need to keep up the adventure. And with only a year and a half left of college before I have to confront the horrors of real life, I better live it up all I can right here and right now.

Final Days in Torquay: a Brief Reflection

This will most definitely be my last entry before I get back home. I spent the weekend at Kym's "beach" house in Torquay with Sneha, Francisco, Javier, Simon, and many, many others. It was a really wonderful weekend. We barbecued amazing food, went to the beach, played Twister, made smoothies, played really hardcore foozeball, and just generally chilled out. It was basically the perfect ending to my time in Australia. It's always sad though to meet really amazing new people at the end of your time in a place. I got on really well with the group at Kym's, and it's sad that I didn't get to know them sooner. I guess that just means I'll have to come back :)

I really would like to write a nice reflective entry on my time in Australia, but considering I'm still here and utterly exhausted I might wait until I get home. I have a million things to do on my last day, so I'll focus on that for now and get some sleep. I'll write again when I get home.

Actually, I'll try a shortish one. I'm actually glad that it worked out that I've been with Sneha this weekend since it's given me a chance to talk about things with her and share our feelings about the experience of studying abroad with each other. We both agree that while things at home are never really that bad, there is something about Australia, and the experience of studying abroad here that just offers a whole new perspective on life. We both realize that the way we are here will not and cannot transfer to the people we are back home, but I think in a lot of ways it still will affect my general attitude towards life. I am going to try to have more fun, do more random things and worry less. I want to have more of these memories and crazy stories I've gained while being here. But most of all I want to keep making friends from all over the world and maintain contact with the ones I've already made. I think one of the most important elements of my time abroad has been the friendships I've made not only with Australians, but with international students. The group at Kym's this weekend was composed of Vietnamese, Chileans, Israelis, and Americans. As most of my other experiences have shown, most of my social interactions have been international ones. It has been so important for me in gaining a broader perspective on the United States, on people in general, and on myself. I really do want to do more traveling, and I think that that will be the major thing that directs me when I'm trying to make decisions on my career choice in the not too distant future. I want to go back to Europe and visit these people I've met, to live there and work there and just learn through being infused by other cultures. I really do believe now that there is something incredibly valuable in this, and while it's not terribly practical or financially sound, it's extraordinarily rewarding and intellectually/emotionally stimulating. So yeah, maybe I'll do international law. Maybe I'll become a historian. Maybe I'll be a teacher and travel the world during the summer. I'm not sure yet, but I firmly believe that travel needs to be an essential part of my life.

Australia has made me a thrill seeker, a social planner, a travel buff, a much, much, much more relaxed human being, a food snob, and just generally happier. I don't know how much of that is the country's mindset and how much of that is being a student here, but it's a really good feeling and one that I'm not too willing to leave behind. I already know it will be hard for me to go home, not because I'm don't want to see my family, because I do, but because it will just be so difficult to let go of the opportunity to do anything and everything with few limits and concerns. I don't want to have to worry about things again. I don't want to be in a town that offers me nothing after having been in a city that offers everything. I was saying to Sneha today that seeing the Melbourne skyline gives me the same feeling I get when I drive through Philadelphia and into the Main Line. Philadelphia is my home. Melbourne has come to feel very much the same.

That's really all I can write for now. I don't want to get nostalgic before I even leave, but I'll miss it here. I really will.

Three Hundred Pictures of Red Rocks

Of all the things I wanted to do in coming to Australia, going to Ayers Rock was at the top of the list. Despite many occasions when I thought it wasn't going to happen due to time/money/flight issues, it finally did. And let me say, Central Australia is everything I thought it would be. It was hot. It was dirty. It was red. And it was glorious.

I flew out of Cairns Sunday morning after an uneventful night. Flying over the Australian desert is one of the coolest experiences ever- it's just red, for miles and miles. There are crags and cracks in the terrain which you can see clearly from the sky. There are few, if any, paved roads. It's really, really, really neat. Mind you, there is NOTHING to do in Alice Springs. I went to the Reptile Centre and played with pythons and lizards because there was nothing else. But the natural landscape and the big hunks of rock/mountains/canyons in the desert make it totally worth the boredom of a night or two in Alice Springs.

Where to begin in talking about my tour? Let's start with the guide: it's approximately six o'clock in the morning. It's already hot. I've had my morning vegemite. The bus is late. Suddenly, there pulls up to the hostel a four-wheel, hardcore desert rover. Out pops a tanned, gray haired rugged type in khaki attire. Very outback like. Then he opens his mouth, from which comes the Frenchist of French accents. Bonjour, je m'appelle Erwan. Yes. My outback tour guide was French. However, he was also by far the coolest tour guide I've had in Australia. I get on the bus with two Swiss girls I'd met the night before, and we drive around Alice Springs collecting the various others with whom I would sleep under the stars in swags covered in red sand. The group was as follows: an unmarried 40-something couple from England, a similarly aged couple from Holland, the aforementioned 20 something Swiss girls, a pair of mid-twenties Danish boys, two twenty year old German girls, a 24 year old business masters from India who had been studying at Melbourne Uni, a Swedish forklift operator who had been working in Perth, and, later on in Uluru, a Japanese boy whose English was far from good. Together we set out across the desert, conquering the massive wonder that is Ayers Rock, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, and, above all else, camping in the Australian Outback.

Our multi-lingual group got on really really well. We were dirty and hot, but we had a great experience. I got on very well with the Indian boy, the Swedish boy, and the two Swiss girls. When I accidentally stepped on a small piece of glass and started adding a new shade of red to the red dirt, the four of them took care of me and bandaged me while I laughed hysterically at the irony of the situation. By that point I'd climbed up cliffs, dealing with killer flies and sun, only to get injured on a small piece of glass. The photos of the event are probably among the best from the trip.

But let me talk for a bit about why I was there, to see the Rock. Uluru is really amazing, especially at sunset and sunrise. The Rock varies in shades from red, to orange, to mauve, to purple, to gray, to only a silhouette. It's pretty extraordinary. But in all honesty, in a lot of ways Kata Tjuta, and especially King's Canyon, were even more impressive. It's really hard to describe it, and I'll just have to put up pictures of everything when I'm home in a week.

Which brings me to my next set of thoughts: I can't believe I'm going home so soon. But I am definitely ready. When I was landing in Melbourne this afternoon I was actually on the brink of tears because I just wanted to be home and not have to deal with figuring out what to do with myself/where to stay/what to eat for the next few days. Luckily I'm feeling better now that I'm at Sneha's and essentially all of those concerns have been taken care of. I am likely going with Sneha and a few others to a friend's beach house in Torquay near the Great Ocean Road, where we will relax and have barbecues and good fun all weekend. It'll be a nice farewell and a good end to my time in Australia. That will leave Monday then to do my last minute gift/souvenir shopping before I fly home Tuesday.

So that's that. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write a final entry before I leave. If not I will certainly write one upon returning home. I've really enjoyed keeping up this blog and am really glad so many of you have found pleasure in reading it. Miss you and see you all soon!!

Reef, Rainforest, Sails and Goodbyes

Much has happened since I last wrote from Airlie Beach. Last weekend was spent sailing upon the glorious British Defender through the crystal blue waters of the Whitsunday Islands. The group on board was an amazing bunch, comparable in gloriousness to the first group we met in Byron. Among my favourites were Wilfried and Kris, the adorable Germans, Ernesto, Lindsay my Canadian homeslice, Ciska, Peter, Priscille, Richard, and many, many others. The Germans though were absolutely tops. Along with adorably shy Wilfried and flamboyantly gay Kris was Wil's sister, Nicole. The three of them are currently in Alice Springs, where I will be flying to even hotter weather tomorrow. Living on a boat for three days in paradise drinking gin and tonics and hanging out with Germans was pretty much amazing. Wearing a stinger suit to protect myself from the extremely tiny and deadly iruganji was not. As a result of the suit, not showering for three days, and a bit too much sun, I developed a really love rash on my neck. A week later it's completely gone, but it really was pretty ugly. Overall the Whitsundays are at the top of my travel experiences. I went snorkeling, scuba diving for the first time, and walked on the whitest sands in Australia.



Upon arriving back at Airlie Beach, we ran into Kate, a girl who had roomed with us the night before. She is also amongst my favourite people I've met so far, absolutely lovely British girl. Monday was spent primarily lounging by the lagoon and showering at other people's hostels. Monday night Antonio and I took our final night bus up to Cairns, where arrived Tuesday at about 6:30 in the morning.



Of course, being the active travelers we are, approximately an hour after checking into our hostel, Antonio and I got onto another boat to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. I initially refrained from discussing my first primary scuba diving experience from the Whitsundays to discuss it here. I am addicted to scuba diving. It is by far the coolest thing I have ever done. While I had not intended on going diving off of Cairns, I am SO glad I did. Even though I was on cloud 9 after my Whitsundays dive, my GBR dive was amazing. I fed sea turtles. I saw cuttlefish. I saw Nemo. I saw stingrays. It was awesome. I want to be under water all of the time. I can't wait to go to Caymen and dive with Paul/get certified. Seriously, best experience of my life. Oh, not to mention after the dive we went boomnetting. Boomnetting consists of you being dragged behind a speeding boat while holding on to a net for dear life. Probably won't do it again anytime soon, but it was really fun.

After our time at the reef we came back to the hostel and had a barbecue. I will miss Australian barbecues terribly. My food consumption this week has been somewhat varied, ranging from steaks to crocodile and kangaroo to hummus and fruit.

We left Wednesday to go on a three day tour to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. Prior to leaving I checked my mail only to discover my dirt cheap Tiger airways flight had been cancelled. In the midst of my panicking on the bus while driving out to the oldest rainforest in the world, I lose phone reception. Cue my Tasmania crisis all over again. Luckily there was reception at the mosquito infested beach, of all places.

Our time in the rainforest was really good. It is really humid but very beautiful in northern Queensland, and we had a nice time just relaxing at our luxury hostel. We met a pair from England who were also on the tour and have been spending a good bit of time with them. After a few days of croc spotting, walking through croc inhabited creeks, getting attacked by geckos and mosquitoes, and finishing my novel, we headed up to Cape Tribulation, where we had the pleasure of meeting Matt Lynch. Matt is pretty much the funniest guy I've ever met. Following a night of drinks and sing alongs (Matt pulled out of his bag a harmonica for all eight people at our table), Matt and I went Jungle Surfing. Jungle Surfing basically consists of you being harnessed to a rope and flung through the rainforest canopy. I did it upside down. Somewhere in Australia I became a thrill seeker.

Our last afternoon Antonio and I went on an exotic fruit tasting. It was pretty cool. I'm in love with soursop.

Last night we went to see Beowulf with the Brits, Lauren and Steven. I liked it overall, but it was definitely a guy movie. Although I guess considering the "epic" quality of Beowulf anyway, it's a guys story to begin with.

Today was spent at the lagoon, then hiding inside due to the extreme heat. Antonio left me about an hour ago for the airport to fly back to Melbourne. I fly to Alice Springs tomorrow morning, where I will be greeted by even more extreme heat. I am, however, pretty pumped to see the Rock.

I am not, however, all that excited to go back to Melbourne. With Antonio's absence I've realized that there isn't really going to be anyone there when I get back, making my last few days in Australia pretty lonely ones. Hopefully a few people will be around, but honestly, at this point I've come to the realization that I'd be okay with going home now. I am tired, my clothes are dirty, and I'm basically out of money. I'm ready to sleep in my bed, to hang out with Joe and Alicia, to play with Lily, and to obtain a new drivers license. I'm ready to work again. I'm to do acapella. I'm ready for Bryn Mawr again. I didn't think I'd be saying it so soon, but I really do want to come home. As much as I love this country, I'm ready to be with my family and friends again and share my experiences with them, face to face.

Turkey Day in Paradise

Since my last entry I have been to the Australian equivalent of any small North Carolina town, Hervey Bay. Antonio and I arrive on Wednesday night around 8:30 and had to walk through the town to our hostel, about half an hour away. Seriously, this place looked, sounded like, and felt like North Carolina. There were people getting drunk on their front porches and the streets were dead. The hostel itself was okay, not the nicest (there was a huge rat in the kitchen) but we were only there for the night so it wasn't really a big issue. The people staying with us were nice enough and gave us free Coronas so we really couldn't complain.

Yesterday we went to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is one of the biggest sand islands in the world and is known for its various beautiful natural sites. Initially I had wanted to do Fraser on a self-drive safari, but since I lost my license in September that wasn't really an option. The tour was okay, not really that exciting, but the last bit, Lake McKenzie, was completely worth it. Lake McKenzie is a huge, turquoise blue, fresh water lake in the middle of the island. The weather was gorgeous so we took obnoxious sports illustrated-esque swim suit photos. I have enough to make my own calendar. Last night was my Thanksgiving, which was probably the saddest Thanksgiving I've ever had. Since we were catching the night bus to Airlie Beach, we were pressed for time and forced to eat at places close to the bus station. I had a chicken wrap and some roast potatoes from a KFC-like joint called Red Rooster. Really upsetting.

Today we are lounging around Airlie Bay prepping for our sailing trip this weekend. I decided at the last minute that I was going to go scuba diving instead of just snorkeling. I'm pretty pumped- hopefully I can find a water camera so I can take all sorts of pictures of the Great Barrier Reef and Nemo. So yeah, that's about it for what's going on with me. Will write again soon because we managed to get an hour of free internet at the hostel we'll be staying at for the next week! Love you and miss you all!

Moderately Burnt and Extraordinarily Happy

I've been away from Whitley/Melbourne for just over a week now. Since then I am been traveling all over the place. My time in Sydney with Rafal/the Polish Aussies was really wonderful. I was essentially spoiled for the week, living in a gorgeous house with my own room and bathroom about 500 meters from the ocean and eating amazing food/cocktails and not being allowed to pay for any of it. I actually spent most of my time with my great aunt and uncle. My great aunt looks exactly like Babcia and acts like her too. They are really terrific people and I hope that my visit with them will help to bridge the gap that has been crated by our family living on three very distant continents. I also managed to see Shilton while I was there, which resulted in a crazy night on the town where I met a nice Irish boy.

Speaking of which, there are Irish people EVERYWHERE. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since it's crazy sunburn weather here and it's not as if Irish people do too well in the sun. But I am now obsessed with Irish people and am trying to figure out how to fit Irish into my ideal combination of the blonde haired, blue eyed, Greek Australian Jew. Yeah, not quite sure how that's going to work.

So far on our journeys Antonio and I have been to Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and now we are in the Noosa Heads. Byron Bay was absolutely wonderful- we met some really wonderful people about thirty seconds after checking in (including an Irish boy). The two days in Byron were not nearly long enough, and were filled by long days on the beach, volleyball, sunset adventures to the lighthouse, hummus, and my first sunburn of our voyage. It was hard to leave the great people and wonderful accommodation in Byron, especially when Brisbane turned out to be a major disappointment. The hostel was in a good location, but there is NOTHING to do in Brisbane. At all. We went to museums. And after being by beaches, we couldn't wait to get back.

Which brings me to Noosa. I want to live here. It's gorgeous. I've picked out my beach view house. The hostel has a spa and beautiful flowers that creep into the bedrooms in the morning. They're fuchsia. We went on a hike today around Noosa National Park and walked through a nudist beach filled with old men. Alicia would have loved it. In about an hour we are leaving to go to Hervey Bay, where we will stay the night awaiting our trip to the white sands of Fraser Island in the morning. Here is the itinerary for the rest of my trip:

Nov. 21- leave Noosa, head to Hervey Bay for the evening
Nov. 22- Spend the day in Fraser Island, head to Airlie Beach over night on Greyhound
Nov. 23- Arrive in Airlie Beach, spend the day lounging around, stay the night in Airlie Beach
Nov. 24- Depart for sailing in the Whitsundays. Stay on boat overnight
Nov. 25- Still sailing in the Whitsundays. Still sleeping on the boat.
Nov. 26- Arrive back in Airlie Beach around noon. Hang around for a bit. Depart for Cairns overnight on Greyhound.
Nov. 27- Arrive in Cairns early in the morning. Going snorkeling. Stay the night in Cairns.
Nov. 28- Cape Tribulation= Reef and Rainforest. Staying in Cape Trib
Nov. 29- More Cape Trib.
Nov. 30- More Cape Trib
Dec. 1- Head back to Cairns or may stay in Cape Trib for one more night. Not sure yet.
Dec. 2- Fly out from Cairns in the morning, arrive in Alice Springs in afternoon. Hang around in the desert for the day.
Dec. 3- Wandering around in the desert, riding camels. Sleeping under the stars.
Dec. 4- Going to Ayers Rock. Sleeping under the stars. Getting eaten by spiders.
Dec. 5- Rock part II. Returning to Alice Springs, spending the night in the city.
Dec. 6- Flying out of Alice Springs back to Melbourne. Accommodation to be determined. Probably staying with Emma or going back to Whiltey for a few days. We shall see.
Dec. 6-10- Doing last minute gift buying in Melbourne/saying goodbye to Australia.
Dec. 11- I fly back home!!

So that's it. That is the rest of my stay in Australia with roughly what I will be doing. I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and will think of me sailing in pristine Australian waters while you eat your turkey and fall asleep on the couch. Love you! Hopefully will write again once I get to Alice Springs!!

Parting Thoughts

Tonight is my last night at Whitley. I am sitting in the computer lab entirely ready to go out, and am fully disappointed that no one was up for it tonight. I fly out tomorrow for Sydney to stay with Rafal and re-connect with the Polish side of the family I've never met. I'm really excited to be traveling again, but I have mixed feelings about leaving Whitley and Melbourne in general. I wish people weren't studying/going home now because I will very likely not see most of them again after tomorrow morning and I want to spend time with them and I can't. Despite having multiple "meal" dates today, I actually feel ridiculously lonely. I know I'll be fine tomorrow, but I am having serious issues getting through this night. I don't want to go to sleep because my room is bare and prison-like with half-packed bags, and I have several unresolved issues that I have to figure out before I can even fall asleep. I definitely should have waited until tomorrow morning to leave notes for some people....

I really have enjoyed it here, despite some bullshit and some personal drama, I'm definitely glad I got to stay in a residential college. I'm excited to come back after Alice Springs and see Emma and Anna and all again- they've been my life support here. But I am going miss some people terribly. I decided today that I hate saying goodbyes. It never was a problem for me before because I always figured that if people cared that much to stay in touch they would, and it's not like you're that far away. But I know that there are people here that if I was here for longer would become even better friends than they already are, and its the kind of thing that you can't really duplicate solely over facebook. Much of my time here has been about the experiences. Next semester there will be new freshers, new Americans, a new start. When I first came to Whitley I remember how jealous I was of Marty because everyone talked about how much they loved him. Feeling the way I do now, I'll be really sad if they don't talk about me in the same way.

I know that I'm not leaving Australia tomorrow. I know that there are going to be many more stories and experiences. But I also know that when I leave tomorrow it will be back to living out of my suitcase until I get home. I guess in that respect I'll be really happy to get back to a "stable" living environment.

Right, I can't deal with this right now so I'm going to go sob in my room.

Nostalgia Setting In

How do you say goodbye to people you've really only just started saying hello to? And worse, how do you say goodbye fully knowing that the likelihood of you actually seeing them again is practically non existent? These are my thoughts this weekend as one by one, my friends from Whitley are leaving for home. I've made friends in short periods of time and been sad to lose them, for example when I went to Europe junior year, but Australians are different- they're irreplaceable. Yes, I am looking forward to going home and seeing Hannah, Alicia, Joey, Mike, Rachel, Kevin, etc, again, but I also knew from the beginning that I would see them again when I left. I have had such a good experience in Australia, and a lot of it has been because of how wonderful these people have been to me. Considering I was brought into "the family" after about a week of being at Whitley, my home away from home became cemented fairly quickly. What's more lamentable, however, are the people I've become really good friends with in the last two months or so, and I wish I just had more time for all of us, without exams and extraneous stresses, to just do things and enjoy each other's company.

I am currently avoiding packing up my room, even though I really need to because it makes it real. It means I really am going home, that I really am leaving this country that has showed me so much about myself and the person I want to be. I know I have another month of travel yet to go, and that there will be many more adventures and many more stories, but the fact that I am going to have to pack my suitcases means that from now on, there will be no set, stable place to call home. I'm leaving for good now. I will never again be a student at Melbourne University, never again have class with Conall Cash's dad, never again randomly crash barbecues on the lawn, never again arbitrarily borrow books from the greatest library on earth, never again dress up for a CRD, never again have a Cafe, never again go for a Puggs Thursday. I feel like I've taken so much for granted, that I should have done more, seen more, gone out more. But then again, one has to sleep too.

I don't know what I'm going to do in a few weeks when Antonio will leave me in Cairns for New Zealand. Seriously, I've made so many good friends I just can't stomach the idea of leaving them as solely part of my experience in Australia. I want to take them with me, I want to have crazy nights in Philly. I know for some of them this is a reality- Sneha and I are already plotting things. But when again will I be able to hang out with Germans, Swedes, Italians, Australians, Irish, English all with the common experience of studying in Australia? Never. It's like graduating from high school, except I like the people.

I don't think I can write anymore right now because I'm starting to cry, and it's embarrassing crying in the computer lab. I'll write more later.

Procrastination, Part II

So this weekend I had my crazy 21st. It definitely lived up to be a (not) memorable night. Yeah. My room looked really good though! Pictures soon, I hope!

In a further effort of procrastination, I've decided to make a list of things I miss about home and things I don't miss. This will probably be followed within a month of things I will miss about Australia and things I will not miss.

I Miss
- Bryn Mawr
- Long Showers
- Driving
- Reese's Peanut butter cups
- Real Sushi
- Alicia
- Hannah
- Lily
- Having money
- Nip/Tuck
- Having things work correctly
- My computer
- Acapella/Theater/Extra Curriculars
- Philly
- The Castle
- Home cooked/healthy food
- Buying books
- Movies being released in the States nowish!!
Don't Miss
- Extensive amounts of reading/work
- Cinnaminson and all of its BS
- Boredom
- Cleaning up after Lily
- Peter Pan Bakery
- the mess that is likely my room right now
- Did I already mention Cinnaminson?

I suppose my "miss" list is bigger than my "don'ts"- which is probably a good thing because it may mean I come home after all. Although if we can move out of Cinnaminson before I get back I might be more inclined to do so.

Spurts of Productivity Balanced by Intense Procrastination

I've basically taken over the computer lab. I have piles upon piles of books scattered all over the floor, I am jamming to the fantastically emo music pouring out of my ipod, and, in reality, accomplishing very little. Considering I've written two out of my four papers in the course of about four days though, I'm not really that worried. I've just decided to be lazy today. I actually do have about five hundred words of my next essay written already, so once I throw a few citations into it I'll probably be finished my quota of 800 words for the day. It's a beautiful way to write essays.

After I finished my Kundera paper yesterday, I decided to go to uni to have lunch with Tim, and then went shopping because I really didn't feel like dealing with people. I am REALLY excited about my 21st tomorrow night- hopefully we won't get kicked out of the pubs for being dressed up in Halloween costumes. I'm going as a witch!! I also hope that I'm not still sick tomorrow either. I'm kind of bummed that I missed Halloween in the States, although I did go trick or treating around Whitley last night dressed in a giant pumpkin suit with a witch's hat on. Hopefully I'll have a picture or two to share at some point. I got tons of candy, fruit, juice boxes, and random things. As a result, I was hyper and sugar high until about 1 in the morning, which resulted in my trying to make origami animals and drawing pictures. I didn't actually get to sleep until about two, which means I'm moderately delirious today.

I'm very much ready to go traveling, although I realized that I actually am really going to miss Whitley. I was writing letters to people in my head while trying to fall asleep and had a spontaneous crying session. It's been really good here, and it's somewhat sad to think that I will likely not actually see these people again. Some of them have become really good friends too.

On a random note, how emo is Sufjan Stevens? It's almost Conor emo, except Sufjan's tears are less folksy than Conor's. I seriously need to be writing my paper right now.

I can't wait to go home so that I can buy books again. I want to buy more Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Eugenides other book. I would also like Jonathan Safran Foer to get on the band wagon and put another book out!! I'm so excited for English classes at Bryn Mawr again to- my Art/Pornography/Blasphemy/Propaganda class has been such a disappointment. I wrote a brilliant essay and I know that it won't matter because my tutor is an idiot and will mark me poorly regardless.

I've really enjoyed keeping up this blog, even if I don't actually say anything that relevant in it. I keep getting told by people at Whitley how well written it is etc. It's kind of nice to know that people actually enjoy reading my ramblings. Maybe I'll just become a writer and forget this whole law school/grad school/having financial security idea. I can just write pretentious academic essays for the rest of my life! And watch movies!! Being old is terrible- you actually have think about these things now for real. That may be the primary reason for my not wanting to go home yet: when I go home I'll have to be responsible and goal-oriented again. I don't want to think about my future when I'm having so much fun living in the present!!

Beginning of the End

I am currently sitting in the computer lab trying to rewrite 800 words of brilliance wasted on my irreparable, piece of crap laptop that has finally decided to die for good. I am having little success currently and am about ten minutes from quitting for the evening and worrying about it tomorrow. That being said, I am officially finished with my classes at Melbourne Uni, leaving only essays to be completed before I have nearly three glorious months without academic stresses. Hopefully.

Not too much has happened otherwise- we had our last hall at Whitley (I got a cake!), Valedictory dinner, Battle of the Bands, MUSEX Halloween at Puggs (I won a prize for my Martian outfit), etc. Sneha and Antonio are in Tasmania until Thursday. I am writing papers and sleeping because I'm sick. My gigantic 21st bash is this Friday. Mariko and I went to see a really cool version of "Hamlet" without any dialogue last Friday. She left for Europe today and I miss her terribly. I've started reading Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides. I'm going to the Melbourne Cup next Tuesday. I leave Whitley on November 13th for Sydney. I'm ready for things to be easy again. I think I may go to sleep and try to function again tomorrow.

October Madness

My life has grown increasingly more insane as October has progressed (although this weekend it reached a strange halt in which nothing really has been going on). With numerous essays, my birthday, my 21st/Halloween party, the end of the semester, traveling, etc, etc, I've had a hard time just sitting down and relaxing. Hopefully it will get a little easier with classes ending this week.

Last weekend I went to Baw Baw National Park in Gippsland and went hiking, which ended with me moderately hurting my leg. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and I was wearing sneakers. It was also really cold. It was sort of cool to go camping and schlepping the equivalent weight of another human being on my back through the snow, although I'm not entirely positive that I will ever do it again. Here are some pictures, however, to prove that I actually did brave a mountain covered in snow and lived to tell the tale:


So this past week I turned 21. My birthday lasted for about three days: the crazy foam party day, the nice dinner outing day, and the "I'm going to be a bum and not get out of bed" day. As I mentioned, the gang made me a Vegemite cake. Here is a photo of me eating said cake:

Friday night was the last Cafe at Whitley. I somehow managed, despite the intense busyness of my life, to organize an acapella group. We put on a rendition of Billy Joel's "The Longest Time" (sadly not the Hebrew version I have come to love). It actually went really well, and I feel as though once Mikio and Alex leave and I inevitably have to run Chaverim I'll actually do okay. Here's a shot of the group during performance:


This weekend was pretty quiet actually. Most of Whitley is studying and generally prepping for exams, so nobody actually felt like hanging out with me (I only have essays to write and I can't be bothered doing it yet). I therefore spent the weekend with Antonio and Sneha. Saturday we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens and had a lovely afternoon stroll. The weather has been really gorgeous these last couple of days- sadly it's supposed to be rainy and cold again this week. Saturday night we rented "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" and "Casanova." I really do enjoy spending time with the two of them and will miss the time we've been spending together lately. I'm really happy about the fact I'm spending my last month essentially traveling with Antonio and that I'll be able to visit Sneha at UPenn once we get home. Here are some photos from the garden:


Alright, so now that I'm finished putting up my obligatory photos, I need to rant a bit. Sadly I can't rant as fully as I would like to do to the fact much of Whitley now reads my blog. I'll put it this way: I'm not entirely pleased with a certain situation involving myself and another person. I'm feeling moderately alienated, but I can't really point this out because it will not be taken well. It also doesn't really matter since I'm leaving Whitley in about three weeks. It's just sort of an unpleasant situation and I'm rather tired of dealing with it.

Otherwise, I am still madly in love with Melbourne, although I do look more and more forward to going home. It would have been really nice to be with everyone for my birthday. I know as soon as I get home I will want to come straight back here, but a weekend at home would be really, really nice. A job would be really nice too- I hate being entirely dependent on mom and dad for money while I'm over here because I know I'm becoming somewhat of a burden to them, but it's hard to justify not doing things just because I can't pay for them myself. My time here is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity- even if I do eventually come back to Australia the situation will never again present itself in the same way it has now. I am enjoying myself, probably too much, but I figure after twenty-one years of trying to please everyone else and be on top of everything, it's time I live a little. And I've definitely never been this alive.

21 in Australia

So despite the fact I am in the middle of writing a massive entry with pictures etc from the last month, I felt it necessary to interject this entry before my birthday is over (although theoretically it is over for me in Australia. This is why time travel is beautiful though- I can have a two day long birthday and have it still count). Overall it was a really nice birthday. Wednesday night there was a foam party through the university in the city. It was pretty crazy actually- it's like dancing in a giant bubble bath, except for the fact that it smells like chemicals and not like soap. I woke up on my birthday exhausted and with the impending realization that I had a presentation to give. I wrote my presentation, went to class, argued with my idiot of a tutor, and came back to Whitley. There were balloons left over from the sports dinner the night before, so even though I knew they weren't for me it felt like they had been put there especially for my birthday. Everyone was just delightful all day too. Mariko bought me a cup of hot chocolate for my presentation, which led everyone in my tute to rummage through their bags looking for stuff to give me. I took a nap on the lawn at uni, went to my classes, and came home. The family went out to Chinatown and had a lovely thai dinner. Anna and Carissa got me a gorgeous wallet to replace the one I lost in Tasmania. Then, back at Whitley, they pulled out a chocolate cake with one section covered in vegemite (I know that sounds really gross, and it was, but it's been an ongoing joke of mine about how I'm going to have a vegemite wedding cake, etc). It was just a really nice gesture, and one that was really appreciated. Later on I went to Antonio to Cookie, where we went to the rooftop bar, had a drink, and listened to an acoustic duo. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so the night was still warm. The roof had a lovely view of the city, making it a perfect end to my birthday in Australia.

I am looking forward now, though, to coming home and seeing all of my friends. I've gotten tons of messages wishing me happy birthday and asking how things are. Thank you all for that- I promise I will see you all before you know it. Meanwhile, I am currently lying in bed watching "Heroes" and being a bum for the second part of my birthday. I just got a package from my parents- it's a gorgeous arrangement of yellow roses and other flowers. Now I have to clean my room so I have somewhere to put them!

Tonight is the debut of my Australia acapella group. I'm sure there will be pictures, but whether or not they ever make it up on the blog is another story. I'll try to finish all my updates today, but we'll see how it goes. Miss you all!

The Gigantic Picture Entry

So after about a month and a half of saying I'll put up pictures, here we go. Reasons this is happening now: my computer is fixed, I just uploaded about a million pictures onto facebook, and I currently am supposed to be doing homework. It seemed like a great time then to take a break and procrastinate further by blogging! So, here we go:

First off, here are a few shots from my involvement in Grease/the Winery Tour in the beginning of September:



Now here are some from Glo Camp and silverchair:
work at the exact moment my co <-- That's Mariko, she's an absolute gem- together we represented the goodness that was Powderchair. Okay, so I have LOADS of photos from my break, but considering this entry has taken me several days now to get to due to the fact that Blogger decided to not have the picture functionmputer was working, I am growing tired of this entry. It is also my birthday today, which means I don't really care much about anything and am hungry. So, here is a (small) sampling of my trip to Sydney with Team the Best and my stay with Shilton:

<-- The beginnings of Team the Best at Wilson's Prom

<-- Team the Best, complete in Jindabyne

<-- Team the Best, hanging with the Police in Canberra

So begins Sydney/Shilton!


I'm definitely looking forward to going back to Sydney in a few weeks and getting some more/better photos, but these are decent enough for now. I realize even though it seemed as though I took loads of photos over my break I, in reality, didn't. This was especially true for my Tasmania batch, since I didn't want to burden my tour group by having them take photos of me every three seconds. Here are a few good ones though:
<-- Salamanca Place (with Mt. Wellington looming overhead)

<-- Port Arthur

<-- Wineglass Bay (probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to so far in Australia)

<-- My Tassie tour group (at Wineglass Bay)

<-- Claire and I holding a baby wombat at the animal sanctuary in Deloraine (where we saw Tassie devils!!!!)

<-- Cradle Mountain (totally honeymooning here- it's gorgeous when it's covered in snow, but even more gorgeous when it's clear outside)

<-- the Snow Kangaroo!! (there was a snow koala too, but the snow kangaroo is more impressive)


So that's sort of a brief picture recap of the month of September. Now I will update in real time with a short mention of a few events from the beginning of October!

Definition of Agony

What's worse than giving a presentation on Althusser in a psychoanalytic context in a tutorial run by Conall Cash's dad? I'll tell you- being utterly unable to download the new Radiohead album due to stupid Australian Internet/firewall!!!!!!!! AGONY

Country Bumpkin

I've happily back at Whitley for a week now, still without a computer but thanks to Dad I now have access to my bank account again. I actually had a rather enjoyable week of being poor mooching off of free barbecues and the generosity of my friends (thanks for the free dinners Antonio!). Thursday night was College Day at Whitley, which was much like Fall Frolic at Bryn Mawr in that it consisted of sumo suits and later Hell Week-eque festivities followed by a drunken "Poor Taste" CRD. Thursday day was "Spring on the Lawn" at Melbourne Uni aka random May Day like event, complete with barbecue, beer, and live reggae music. So, I've basically had a week of Bryn Mawr activities with an Australian twist.

Friday night was the Melbourne Welcome reunion. It was really great to see people again, especially my friends from Queens. We ended the night at Cherry Bar on AC/DC Lane, where I think I may be having my 21st. Much rocking out to the classics, complete with head banging and air guitar.

The real highlight of this week though, was Ripper's 21st at his home in the country about three hours from Whitley. Due to a lack of space in Cheese's car, I ended up driving out with Ripper at 11 in the morning and spending the day with his family on the farm. His family runs a dairy farm right near the town of Stratford (which is located, coincidentally enough, upon the river Avon). I spend the day feeding calves, playing with border collies, and stepping in cow poop. And eating heaps of home cooked food. It was pretty much the greatest day ever. Ripper's family is lovely, especially his mom, who made sure that I had a bed to sleep in last night and plenty of food in my stomach. Despite my being there only a short while, I had a really hard time leaving the farm this morning to come back to the city. As strange as it may be, I could definitely see myself living on a farm for some duration of time in my life. Which completely comes into conflict with my other desire to be a metropolitan academic. In Australia, it's easy enough to do both, but who knows what will happen when I get back home.

I ended up getting a ride home with Payne, Fraser, and Fraser's girlfriend. It was a rather amusing adventure- we had multiple car swaps, ran out of gas and had to refill the car using an empty two liter soft drink bottle, and had a minor casualty of Brawnwynn smashing her finger in the car door. As usual, I have documentation which I will post in some massive picture-filled entry once Pete McNamara decides it's time to fix my computer.

So, to recap: I want to live on a farm and play with puppies all day while taking mid-day breaks to research random things while reading modern literature and listening to classic rock and eating good food. Preferably with access to a functional computer and single Australian men.

BBQs by Sunset and by Rain: Reflections on Spring Break and the Welcomed Return To Whitley

Since I last wrote, my life has taken many interesting turns. I got back from Tasmania yesterday morning after eleven hours sleeping in an ocean view recliner on the "Spirit of Tasmania." I have never been so happy to come back to a temporary accommodation as I was to be back at Whitley. I returned to a warm shower, English muffins with Vegemite, and people genuinely happy to see me. Additionally, there was a BBQ last night with dollar drinks and Aussie sausages, which, despite the rain, never tasted so good. Topped the evening off with a visit to Puggs and a post-drinking chat with Steve.

Tasmania was cold, frustrating, but absolutely beautiful. During my trip I was reminded of my early experiences in the country side of England during my People to People trip in high school. This is because when I first went to England I didn't have any money, my clothes were all dirty, and the weather was far from delightful. Likewise, Tasmania was marked by my losing my wallet (containing all of my means of financial security), lots of dirty clothes worn multiple times over, about four days of unwashed hair, cold, cold weather, and rain. But, unlike my time in England, which was rather miserable, Tasmania was really nice. Mind you, it would have been better had the above not been the case, but the natural beauty and general feel of Tasmania compensated for anything else that could have possibly been/gone wrong.

After my last entry in Hobart, I went out to see "Stardust" in a cinema near my hostel, since the city was pretty dead and I needed some form of entertainment. All I can say is that Neil Gaiman is absolutely brilliant and I left the movie highly satisfied and tremendously homesick for Bryn Mawr. Wednesday morning I left the hostel with my tour group to go up the east coast of Tasmania. Unlike my previous tour of crazy drunken Brits, this tour consisted of myself, two limited English-speaking Spaniards, an awkwardly adorable Polish Brit, my stereotypical bleach blonde Tassie tour guide, and later, an essentially mute Japanese boy. Yes, I was the only girl, and, incidentally, the youngest of the group as well. The tour was pretty good, although I felt like a lot of the time I was holding people back- especially after I lost my wallet. Saw some beautiful sights though- Wineglass Bay may be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.

Tasmania was slightly frustrating since after I lost my wallet I tried to contact home to get Dad to help me out. Unfortunately, Tasmania doesn't believe in phone reception, so I had about two days where there was nothing I could do about anything. It could have been much worse though- my meals, accommodation, and travel expenses were already paid for, so basically all I had to do was borrow a bit of money from Claire to get back to Melbourne. I will, again, put pictures up once my computer works again. Lots of good memories, good food, and good experiences.

Claire has been lovely about the whole thing. We went up to Cradle Mountain on Saturday and hiked in the snow and had a really nice time. I've decided I want to honeymoon there whenever that happens. She then dropped me off at the ferry so I could get back to Melbourne in one piece. Ferry would have been more exciting had I had money/it hadn't been raining. I mostly slept since I was exhausted and damp from the hike.

Overall, my trip was a great learning experience for me. Had it been earlier in the semester, all of the things that have gone wrong probably would have ruined the trip for me. My computer still doesn't work and I still don't have any money, but being in Australia with good people and seeing just how wonderful and extensive this country is makes it seem very trivial. While I realize now that I only have about four more weeks left in my semester (with lots of work I have to organize without a student card/easy computer access), I am a much happier, satisfied, and relaxed person than I was at the start of this trip. I've essentially decided that I may not go to law school after all, and that instead I will pursue my interest in history because it makes me happier than anything else. I want to spend my life traveling, learning, and meeting people. I realize this will be difficult financially at times, but I also know that for the first time in my life I want to do things not because they're expected of me, not because my highly competitive atmosphere demands them of me, but because they are genuinely things that I want to do. I have discovered what happiness is in Australia, and it's something that doesn't need a computer or a wallet to make it happen.

For some reason Blogspot on this computer is in.... possibly Japanese???

My weekend in Sydney was absolutely amazing. Shilton was a wonderful host/tour guide and managed to show me the major attractions in the course of a day and a half. She will hopefully be coming down to Melbourne for my 21st at Perseverance with a few of her friends so that I can return the favour by letting her sleep on my floor :) We both came to the realization at the end of my visit that we should definitely hang out when we get back to Bryn Mawr. Sunday was the most random day- there was some cultural festival so there were crazy Asian events everywhere (like sychronized knife chopping). We saw the Opera House, Darling Harbour, the Rocks, the Botanical Gardens, took a ferry to Manly Beach, had breakfast/cocktails in Newtown, and had a farewell gathering of goon and tim tams on top of the International House. It was really an amazing trip and I'm looking forward to going back to Sydney and staying with Rafal, whom I actually got to have lunch with while I was in town as well. Overall, first half of my crazy impromtu break was good.

Currently I'm sitting in an internet cafe in glorious Salamanca place in Hobart, Tasmania. Despite having to wake up at 5:30 this morning after going to bed at 3, I am functioning surprisingly well. I had no trouble getting to the airport and slept for the entirety of my two hour flight. When we landed I was greeted by an expansive panoramic view of green mountains and blue sky filled with puffy clouds. It's breathtaking here, although in a completely different way from Sydney. Today I'm mostly wandering around Hobart taking pictures and doing touristy things. There are a lot of really good art galleries and museums, so there is a lot of stuff to look at for free (and I like free after spending heaps of money in Sydney). Tomorrow I'm off on another crazy bus trip up the coast, although I doubt it will be as insane as my time with Team the Best. But we'll see. Anyway, I should probably end this since I'm paying a dollar for every ten minutes (and I'm distracted because the guy running this place is rather attractive).

Keep leaving me comments- they make me feel loved :)

Team the Best

So I'm in Sydney! Yay! I haven't actually seen anything yet because I woke up not too long ago. I'm currently typing in my hostel waiting for Shilton to show up so she can show me where things are. So far my random crazy adventure trip has been really fun and I've made a lot of friends already. I am excited for Tasmania and can't believe that I have done so much in the course of three days. I am slighly anxious about getting back to Melbourne just because I realized the other day that my computer really doesn't work, which means I'm going to have to find an alternate way of saving pictures/writing papers/facebooking. I already have a ton of pictures from my three day trip to Sydney, as well as from the silverchair/Powderfinger concert (which was absolutely glorious by the way!!)

I am feeling slightly better health wise, although I look like death and everything I own is dirty. Hopefully I'll be able to organize and clean up a bit while I'm staying with Steph. I'm hoping to get in touch with Rafal today once I figure out what's going on, but so far I'm just playing it all by ear and it's working rather nicely.

I really enjoyed the fact that I was the only American on my bus trip (and was appropriately nicknamed "Team America"). It was mostly Brits actually, an Irishman, two members of Dane-land, and a couple of Koreans. Really cool group for the most part. I'll put pictures up from everything once I have a functioning computer.

So yeah, don't worry about anything, I'm having fun, I'm safe, and I am truly having an adventure. Miss you all! Leave me comments/send me love!

LONG OVERDUE ENTRY

I realize it's been a LONG time since my last post, but there are a few reasons for this:
1) I was in a play
2) I had 6000 words to write in a week and a half
3) I got sick
4) I've been planning my spring break
5) My computer broke

Therefore, let me attempt to update on what has happened in my life since the beginning of September.

On the first Thursday of September, I ended up finally meeting with my Australian cousin, Rafal. He's the most delightful mix between a stereotypical Polish guy and an Aussie it's ridiculous. He also seems to have a fair bit of money (he was going to have his personal driver take me back to Whitley from the center of Melbourne). He also is very keen on getting to know me, and the American side of the family, better. This means he won't mind terribly when I come with two suitcases and knock on his door in November.

The weekend of the 8th was Grease weekend. It was really fun to do a musical again, even if I wasn't the lead. Before the Saturday show I went on a wine tasting in the Yarra Valley. This ended with me being ridiculously pissed and giddy- making my choreographed moves for Grease much more over the top than they usually are. The winery tour was absolutely lovely- we went to four different wineries, had a wine and cheese picnic, drank wine on the bus, and generally enjoyed the weather and the company. I really appreciated the fact that most of the people on the tour were international students and not Americans.

I really wish my computer was working right now.

Anyway, Grease went tremendously well- I took tons of photos which I may or may not be able to show you, depending on whether or not my computer is revivable or not. I am really glad that I was involved in the production since it helped me to get closer with a lot of people from Whitley.

Last week was essentially the week from hell. Post-Grease brought the realization that I had three papers due on Friday, once of them being a research paper that I hadn't done any research for yet. It also meant that my break was around the corner and I hadn't made any travel plans yet. Someone, I managed to write three really good papers and arrange some sort of travel plans. I am traveling by myself, but I'm pretty excited about what I'm doing.

So far, I have gone to Glo Camp with a group of people from Whitley, which, although religiously based, actually wasn't that religious but was TONS of fun. Like my experience with Grease, Glo Camp really let met get to know people a lot better. The theme of the camp was secret agents, and my agency was "Control." We won all of the activities (including trivia night) and had strong comebacks from behind each time. We were an absolutely terrific team.

I've come to the realization that I am far more skillful at doing certain things here than I am at home. This namely applies to physical/athletic/social things. I organized a volleyball match yesterday (and appropriately declared my team the Mozzies after the mosquitos that were attacking us all weekend) and had a victorious win. I kayaked (and fell out into really cold water, which probably hasn't helped my cold much). I went sailing, played on the beach, ran around in the woods, got dirty, bruised, sore, and loved every minute of it. I love Australia so much and I'm really excited for what the rest of break has in store for me.

Tomorrow, I am going to see SILVERCHAIR AND POWERDERFINGER!!!!! I am going with a friend of mine from Uni (sadly not my blonde haired/blue eyed/Greek/Australian/Jewish future husband) who actually reminds me a lot of Christine. Wednesday I am going to see Hairspray with Emma, and then I leave Thursday for my grand adventure.

Thursday: I am leaving Whitley at 6 in the morning to leave on my three day bus trip to Sydney. I'll be going to Wilson's Prom and more of Gippsland where I spent this past weekend.
Friday: More hiking in Snowy River area, Mt. Kosciusko, and general outdoorsiness. Basically lots of really nice views and fresh air.
Saturday: Heading to Sydney with a stop in Canberra. I am hoping to stay with Steph Hilton in Sydney for a few days and see some things, if not I may end up calling Rafal.
Tuesday morning: Flying out of Sydney for Hobart, Tasmania. Spending the day in Hobart, probably resting from the madness that will likely occur in Sydney over the weekend.
Wednesday: Checking out Port Arthur and Australia's delightful convict history.
Thursday: Tassie beach day.
Friday: Beaches, waterfalls, rainforests, etc. Ending in Launceston.
Friday night: Going to Claire's house!! Staying with her and going to Cradle Mountain until Sunday morning.
Sunday: Taking a bus to Devonport, where I'll be taking the Spirit of Tasmania back to Melbourne.

So that's roughly my break. There will definitely be some spontaneous things that happen in between, but that is part of the reason I'm really excited. I am really enjoying this ability to just do whatever whenever and have it not really matter that much. My grades are fine (I got my first paper back last week and did surprisingly well), I'm happy, I'm sick but getting better, and nothing really can ruin it. It would be lovely if my computer worked, but I am optimistic that someone can figure out what's wrong with it and get it back to normal so that I can show you all the wonderful pictures I've been taking. Otherwise Facebook might have to be all that's left of my time in Australia :)

Anyhow, my computer doesn't work, so don't expect me to be on Facebook much/terribly prompt with emails. I will be leaving Thursday morning, so you'll hear even less from me after that. I miss you all and hope that this entry helped relieve any worries/curiosities/etc. I'm alive and I'm thriving and therefore you should not be concerned.

American Gridiron

This past weekend was the weekend of Aussie Rules Football, otherwise known as the greatest game of all time. After having seen several footy matches since I've been here, the opportunity was presented for me to actually get to play the game. After sever frustrating training sessions and much confusion, game day presented itself this past Saturday. Moderately hung over from the house warming party the night before and exhausted from Grease rehearsals/general madness, the first match of Girls' footy was not my shining moment. Yet despite my lack of talent, I was so pumped. The Whitley girls were all given footy nicknames, mine being "Chains" (the sheer brilliance of nicknames here continues to astound me). Rumor had gone round to other colleges that Whitley had two "American gridirons" on its team- namely myself and Carissa. We got all geared up and got ready to "put the bitches down" as they say here in Australia. Here we are in our footy attire, completely with war paint:

The actual games themselves did not go so well- we lost all three. However, I had a personal win in that I learned how to kick correctly, which boosted my confidence well enough that in the second match I was about to get a mark (a catch) and a free kick. It was pretty awesome actually, and I'm excited to possibly play some sort of organized sport once I get back to Bryn Mawr (maybe rugby?) A couple of the girls got some injuries- I actually tripped on the way to the oval and got a bloody lip. Carissa got some really nice bruises. One of the girls popped her knee and another got a minor concussion. But seriously, it was the most fun I have had in a LONG time and I will really miss playing it back home. Here is a shot of the team goofing off after a long day of hard playing:

While the girls may not have fared so well, the Whitley boys did us proud. It was the Boys' footy grand final this weekend against St. Mary's, and we SLAUGHTERED THEM. I was so proud to be from Whitley, and despite the fact two of the boys got really bad black eyes, one of them has a messed up ankle now, and basically all of them got bruised and bloody knees, Whitley morale was at an extreme high. We all put on Whitley gear and went to Bridie's for celebratory drinks. Today the team even got to sit at high table for hall. It's a big deal, and I couldn't be happier to be at Whitley. Here are a couple shots of the team/Bridie's:

In other news, I spent some time this weekend hanging out with Antonio and Sneha. The house warming party on Friday was a lot of fun, and I saw a ton of people I haven't seen since I got to Melbourne. I also met this absolutely delightful British boy named Andy, whom I went out with last night on a rather spontaneous date for dinner on Lygon street. He is definitely at the top of my "list of potential boyfriends" right now, so hopefully there will be updates concerning this matter. Otherwise things have been pretty much the same- getting ready for Grease to open this weekend, writing some assignments, attempting to stay motivated to do work, waiting to see whether or not I'm going anywhere for break, looking for just the right person to come see silverchair with me, etc. I am experiencing a bit of nostalgia for Bryn Mawr since people are beginning to put pictures up on facebook from Customs Week. Have a great Parade night girls- I miss you and I'll see you all soon!!!

I named one of the Twelve Apostles "Skrypture" because they're rocks and you guys rock!!

So I basically had the best weekend ever. Starting Thursday night. Whatever had been wrong with me the past two/three weeks has completely reversed; I have bee psychotically happy all week and this weekend was no exception. Thursday night was booze cruise for Whitley- I had been trying to convince Tim to come but he had basketball and couldn't make it. It didn't really matter though, because I had an amazing time nonetheless. I got ready in about 15 minutes since I had a tute presentation from 4:15-5:15 (that went pretty well) and basically got back to Whitley and threw a dress on. Here is a booze cruise picture:

Friday was a gorgeous day. The weather has been so nice lately. I spent the majority of the day reading in the courtyard, then I had footy training. Yes, I am attempting to play an organized sport here. It's hard. I'm terrible at it. But it's SO MUCH FUN. Then I went to see the girls play Netball and went for parmas at Puggs. In the evening I went out (I think on a date??) with Don for a couple of drinks. Then I went to bed in order to rest up for the amazingness that was Great Ocean Road.

Here is what we did: Saturday morning commenced with a surf lesson. I was sore and tired from footy, so surfing didn't go to well. I wasn't able to actually stand up, but I did get up to my knees without falling so I think we a little practice I could probably be get up eventually. Afterwards we went to a photospot where we saw the beginnings of Great Ocean Road. It was really nice because I actually knew most of the people on the trip, including the girls I stayed with the first few nights I was here. Here is a picture:

However, I actually spent most of my time hanging out with new people/people I met recently, namely Antonio, Sneha, Adam, Bryan, Kevin, Sophia, Catharina, Sean, and others. We had a tremendous time together and took way too many goofy photos. The rest of Saturday we went to see more koalas, went to another beach, saw some waterfalls (and walked down a million stairs) and then checked into the hostel. Saturday night we went to a pub where a local band was playing. The band's name was "Skrypture" and was composed of two sixteen year old and one seventeen year old boy. Basically they just played lots of silverchair covers and rocked the house. I was in a really goofy mood and told them that I was their biggest Ameircan fan, so they dedicated "Israel's Son" to me and gave me a cuff/guitar pick. Here is the soon to be legendary Skrypture:

Sunday was an absolutely brilliant day. The weather was gorgeous and perfect for driving around stopping at various beaches to check out the Twelve Apostles. I have some truly amazing photographs which I sadly can't post all of up on my blog, but I'll put up a random assortment. I had an amazing time hanging out with all of my new friends and hopefully now have some people to go travel with. I am feeling tons more relaxed about everything now and honestly want to do nothing else but have adventures and not worry about "real world" issues. I have never been as sore or tired as I am now, but I really just don't care. I am really happy to be here and am very excited to see what else Australia has to offer. Now if only I could get this excited about doing my work, then life would be golden :) Enjoy the pictures- I know I enjoyed taking them!