The day after Springbrook I flew to Adelaide to do a Great Ocean Road tour. I was in Adelaide for most of a day, so I had a nice walk around. I somehow managed to find a pond with baby ducks that had me transfixed. I watched them for maybe a half hour then went to go find something to do. I checked out a museum that had me interested until I got to a giant section consisting of nothing but portraits of people I’ve never heard of, and I was quite done. So I went and watched the ducks again. Lame sauce, I know, but I enjoyed it.
Onto the tour! This one was a bit more physical than the others I’ve done. I suppose I didn’t really look at the physical level when I signed up for it, but the hikes seemed to be a bit faster paced and no one seemed to be having problems. In the other tours there was generally a mixture of people.
We started out with a walk. Blah blah, beautiful views, but to be frank not the best I’ve seen in Australia. To be frank, by this point I was a little viewed out. I’ve seen so much since I’ve gotten to Australia, especially in the final weeks of my travels around Oz, that the least beautiful things kind of lose their sheen, despite the fact that they are still spectacular.
After the first hike we went for a short walk down to see a waterfall. It was a wider one than the Springbrook falls we saw, so it was different.
The second day (it was a 3 day tour) we got up early to do another climb. It was a bit cloudy, but our guide thought it wouldn’t be too bad once we got to the top. On the way up it started to drizzle and the clouds flippin rolled in. When we reached the top, it was like looking out into a sheet. I’m sure the views would have been great from the lookouts, but it was a great white wall from our standpoint.
The way down was hellish, to say the least. The rain picked up a bit, and the already rather steep and mildly slippery rocks became ludicrous. The walk was estimated to be about two hours, and the way down probably added another hour to that. The rain made every rock slippery and I don’t think anyone got off without falling at least once. In some places a rope was tied to help us down, and in those places I was literally just controlling my fall downwards as there was no chance of walking safely.
After that we were pretty exhausted, but most of the rest of the day was driving to lookouts and maybe short walks in places. My favorite we saw was the Loch Arc Gorge. Basically it was this huge gorge which ate ships, and one ship was called the Loch Arc. Everyone on that ship died except for an 18 year old girl and one of the junior captains. He pulled her to shore and they hid out there for quite a while until they were found. I guess they were quite a big deal back in England and everyone wanted them to fall in love and get married and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, he was a sailor and she didn’t want to sit around while he saw the world so they never got together. It’s kind of sad, but I found it to be a very interesting story. I’m not sure why it was so captivating. I suppose standing at the site were these two people struggled to live made it seem more real, more interesting.
We also saw London Bridge, a rock formation that looked like a bridge. Huh, fancy that. Apparently it used to be connected with the mainland and people could go and walk around on it. One day it collapsed leaving a man and his *ahem* secretary stranded. They had to be helicoptered out and were all over the news. I imagine his wife was not too pleased with the evening news.
We were supposed to watch the sunset over the Twelve Apostles, but it was so foggy there was no sunset. Earlier we did a vote to see the Apostles before dinner as we thought it would be too foggy. It cleared up a bit, so our guide nixed our vote and took us later. Too bad the clouds rolled right back in and obscured them again. I managed to get a picture and then my camera promptly ran out of battery.
Being a champion packer, I had packed the night before leaving and left my charger and spare battery at our apartment. As a result I have no pictures from our third day or Melbourne.
The third day we went on a rainforest walk. It was much bigger than Springbrook was, and the trees were gigantic. They also had walkways built up among the trees that we could walk on to see the different layers of the forest. That, I must confess, was really neat.
After that we basically just drove to Melbourne. It was a bit of a drive and we had to all be dropped off at our hostels. I’ve heard spectacular things about Melbourne from everyone who has been there, but I only had a night to spend. I ate at this burger place down the street from my hostel which was fantastic. I had a burger with egg and Canadian bacon and a whole mess of other stuff, and YES I ate it all with no more ketchup than they put on it. OK the second half I added some, but still.
I also went down the cake shop street. Oh the cake shops. There was this street lined with stores, and one section is cake shop after cake shop. They have sweets and cupcakes and muffins and anything delicious and rich and sweet you could want. There was five or six right in a row. Needless to say, the next morning I had a cupcake for breakfast.
I managed to navigate the Tran system Melbourne has going for it. It is basically a trolley system all over. I was staying in one of the suburbs of Melbourne, so to get to the city I had to take a 15 minute trolley ride.
In Melbourne they have a silly thing called a hook turn. To avoid the trolley tracks, in order to turn right you have to first turn left and hook around. It’s really odd and apparently it is the only place that does it. I found it fascinating that they just invented a new driving rule to avoid the tracks.
The next day my flight didn’t leave until around 5, so I went into the city and wondered around. I wanted to find a book shop to pick up something to read, but mostly I just wanted to soak in Melbourne. I got a bit lost trying to take a shortcut and never found my bookstore, but it was great anyway. Australian architecture is really fantastic; each building has a life of its own. It isn’t like most cities I’ve been too, because each building is different and unique. They all have character.
Not much else I suppose. I flew back to Brisbane and spent a day before I flew into Christchurch, but that’s another post I suppose.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Beaches and a Rainforest
OK post number two, here we go. Erin left a few days ago, so we were trying to cram in as much as possible into the days between when I got back from The Alice and she had to leave. We went to Stradbroke Island (about an hour outside of Brisbane), Surfer’s Paradise (located in the Gold Coast), and to Springbrook National Park. Chronological order, you know the drill!
To get to Stradbroke it is an hour train ride, a bus, and then a 20 minute ferry. Short enough for a day trip, long enough to be boring.
Erin and I woke up early, intending to make the most of our time, and ended up getting there right after the ferry left right before the two hour lunch break. We explored the ferry harbor to discover it was pretty barren except for the little restaurant and the ticket station.
I think the Island is my favorite thing around Brisbane. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We went on a gorge walk all around the island and there was almost no one there. Our bus driver on the way back told us that it’s practically empty all the time and he never sees a full bus except during festivals. We were the only people on the bus ride back, so we sat and talked with him for a while. He was very nice, I think because everyone he sees is going on a holiday and so is nice in return.
We didn’t really go much into the water at Stradbroke because it was a little chilly. We did, however, have a horse fly adventure. These horse flies would not leave us alone once we got down onto the beach itself. I managed to kill one with my shoe but that seemed to just make them angry. Since we were the only ones on the beach, they didn’t have any distracts and would not stop pestering us. That being said, it was still a really fantastic day.
Surfer’s Paradise is in the Gold Coast, about an hour outside of Brisbane. We went there on a “Cultural Outing” that Study Australia sponsors for us. Our Resident Director Marco met us in the morning at the train station and bought us tickets down. He brought a certain lady friend of his whom he said was his friend but then demanded a high five for “hitting that”. Silly Marco.
He was also participating in “Movember”. I say participating, but really it was more of a trying to participate. Movember is like no shave November in the States, except just the mustache. I think it is associated with a charity of some sort. It’s widely considered to be the most unattractive month of the year. Lots of men with half-grown porno mustaches. Blech.
Any who, Surfer’s Paradise was lovely. It was a true beachy experience, as opposed to Stradbroke which was mainly the Gorge walk. We lay down in the sun and played in the waves, it was glorious. It was like a wave pool only a hundred times better. The ocean here is so wild, you just have to close your eyes and let it sweep you away.
We ate at this fantastic place for lunch that was hot air balloon themed. We sat in this huge booth that was shaped like the basket of a balloon and then had draping above it to resemble the balloon, it was adorably fantastic. I had pancakes! Om nom nom pancakes.
There is really only so much I can say about a pretty beach. Onward to Springbrook National Park!
Erin and I signed up for a full day walk to see glow worms mainly. We had to be in the city fairly early to be picked up and driven to the Gold Coast. Fast forward through the drive and more pickups from Gold Coast hostels and then more driving, we got to the rainforest at around lunch time. A quick lunch of sandwiches and then we went for a walk around. The trees were huge, unbelievably so.
Australians like to name things for what they are, so we learned about Climbing Vines (vines that climb!) and Strangle Plants (these plants that strangle the tree they grow on) and Whip Birds (the male makes a whip noise and if there is a “Cachoo cachoo” after that means he has found a lady friend).
We saw some waterfalls which were just flipping cool. One was through a hole in the rock and fell into a cave with a circle of light falling around it. Another we got to walk under as the rock jutted out over the path. The best one was a giant one which had a pool in the bottom we could swim in. Most people didn’t have their bathing suits so didn’t swim; Erin and I went down and dipped in our feet.
We had some cool views from the top of our hike, blah blah there are only so many positive adjectives one can use to describe scenery before the words begin to lose meaning and I feel as though those should be saved for the truly spectacular. Highlights being the waterfalls in terms of scenery we saw.
During the walk we got to walk through a giant crevasse in the rock, which was pretty snazzy.
After the rainforest walk we went to this little place that was some land which some rich potter guy gave to the tour. I’m not entirely sure what the deal was, but he had cultivated a lot of glow worms and wanted people to be able to see and enjoy them. There was shop there to buy overpriced souvenirs and out back was a whole host of birds.
The birds were really cool, I must confess. They gave us handfuls of sunflower seeds and the brightly colored parrots would fly down and land on your hands to eat. Some people got creative and put seeds on their heads and had birds all over. They were kind of mean to each other, pushing and pecking to get to the seeds when there were plenty to go around. I had one which really didn’t want to climb onto my hand but would chase away all the other birds from my seeds. Little jerkface.
After feeding the birds we got to see the glowworms. They wouldn’t let us take pictures, as they distress the worms, though I imagine it would be like trying to take pictures of the stars. There were little green speckles of light all across this cave which we walked through, and it was really quite lovely.
Sorry this is a bit brief; I’m actually in New Zealand at the moment trying to catch up on a few things so I can start writing about the various adventures I’ve been having here. Sorry, folks, I’m writing when I have time but I’d rather be out having adventures than recounting them.
To get to Stradbroke it is an hour train ride, a bus, and then a 20 minute ferry. Short enough for a day trip, long enough to be boring.
Erin and I woke up early, intending to make the most of our time, and ended up getting there right after the ferry left right before the two hour lunch break. We explored the ferry harbor to discover it was pretty barren except for the little restaurant and the ticket station.
I think the Island is my favorite thing around Brisbane. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We went on a gorge walk all around the island and there was almost no one there. Our bus driver on the way back told us that it’s practically empty all the time and he never sees a full bus except during festivals. We were the only people on the bus ride back, so we sat and talked with him for a while. He was very nice, I think because everyone he sees is going on a holiday and so is nice in return.
We didn’t really go much into the water at Stradbroke because it was a little chilly. We did, however, have a horse fly adventure. These horse flies would not leave us alone once we got down onto the beach itself. I managed to kill one with my shoe but that seemed to just make them angry. Since we were the only ones on the beach, they didn’t have any distracts and would not stop pestering us. That being said, it was still a really fantastic day.
Surfer’s Paradise is in the Gold Coast, about an hour outside of Brisbane. We went there on a “Cultural Outing” that Study Australia sponsors for us. Our Resident Director Marco met us in the morning at the train station and bought us tickets down. He brought a certain lady friend of his whom he said was his friend but then demanded a high five for “hitting that”. Silly Marco.
He was also participating in “Movember”. I say participating, but really it was more of a trying to participate. Movember is like no shave November in the States, except just the mustache. I think it is associated with a charity of some sort. It’s widely considered to be the most unattractive month of the year. Lots of men with half-grown porno mustaches. Blech.
Any who, Surfer’s Paradise was lovely. It was a true beachy experience, as opposed to Stradbroke which was mainly the Gorge walk. We lay down in the sun and played in the waves, it was glorious. It was like a wave pool only a hundred times better. The ocean here is so wild, you just have to close your eyes and let it sweep you away.
We ate at this fantastic place for lunch that was hot air balloon themed. We sat in this huge booth that was shaped like the basket of a balloon and then had draping above it to resemble the balloon, it was adorably fantastic. I had pancakes! Om nom nom pancakes.
There is really only so much I can say about a pretty beach. Onward to Springbrook National Park!
Erin and I signed up for a full day walk to see glow worms mainly. We had to be in the city fairly early to be picked up and driven to the Gold Coast. Fast forward through the drive and more pickups from Gold Coast hostels and then more driving, we got to the rainforest at around lunch time. A quick lunch of sandwiches and then we went for a walk around. The trees were huge, unbelievably so.
Australians like to name things for what they are, so we learned about Climbing Vines (vines that climb!) and Strangle Plants (these plants that strangle the tree they grow on) and Whip Birds (the male makes a whip noise and if there is a “Cachoo cachoo” after that means he has found a lady friend).
We saw some waterfalls which were just flipping cool. One was through a hole in the rock and fell into a cave with a circle of light falling around it. Another we got to walk under as the rock jutted out over the path. The best one was a giant one which had a pool in the bottom we could swim in. Most people didn’t have their bathing suits so didn’t swim; Erin and I went down and dipped in our feet.
We had some cool views from the top of our hike, blah blah there are only so many positive adjectives one can use to describe scenery before the words begin to lose meaning and I feel as though those should be saved for the truly spectacular. Highlights being the waterfalls in terms of scenery we saw.
During the walk we got to walk through a giant crevasse in the rock, which was pretty snazzy.
After the rainforest walk we went to this little place that was some land which some rich potter guy gave to the tour. I’m not entirely sure what the deal was, but he had cultivated a lot of glow worms and wanted people to be able to see and enjoy them. There was shop there to buy overpriced souvenirs and out back was a whole host of birds.
The birds were really cool, I must confess. They gave us handfuls of sunflower seeds and the brightly colored parrots would fly down and land on your hands to eat. Some people got creative and put seeds on their heads and had birds all over. They were kind of mean to each other, pushing and pecking to get to the seeds when there were plenty to go around. I had one which really didn’t want to climb onto my hand but would chase away all the other birds from my seeds. Little jerkface.
After feeding the birds we got to see the glowworms. They wouldn’t let us take pictures, as they distress the worms, though I imagine it would be like trying to take pictures of the stars. There were little green speckles of light all across this cave which we walked through, and it was really quite lovely.
Sorry this is a bit brief; I’m actually in New Zealand at the moment trying to catch up on a few things so I can start writing about the various adventures I’ve been having here. Sorry, folks, I’m writing when I have time but I’d rather be out having adventures than recounting them.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Red Center
Due to a series of unfortunate events I am a bit behind on my blogging. I sort of had this completely written before I went to Adelaide, but then it got deleted. Sad day, I know. Let’s try round two, second verse same as the first...only better?
Alice Springs was fantastic, to say the least. Hot as hell, but fantastic. I think my trip to Uluru may be one of my favorite. I did a two night, three day tour from Alice Springs. Fun fact, they call it “The Alice” there, isn’t that adorable?!
Our first stop was a camel farm, and I got to ride one! It was just around the yard, but it was ridiculously fun. It was more bouncy than a horse, and man did those camels not want to behave. It took the trainer quite a bit of time to get the camel to stand up and sit down, probably around a minute and a half each. Silly rebellious camel!
Any who, after that we drove to Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas. There are two trails which you can walk on, a short and a long one. The long one was closed because it was far too hot, so we did a short hour and a half walk.
I should probably mention the heat. It was pretty disgusting. It got up to 45 C (113 F) during the day, and we were hiking around in it. It was so hot that 30 C (86 F) felt chilly at night. The sun could be physically felt beating down on you. I managed to avoid sunburn though! Through careful application of sunscreen and a hat and sunglasses, however I do now have a nice golden glow. I’m flippin tan!
After lunch we were promised a dip in a pool, however it was closed. We contemplated jumping the fence or starting a riot, most just settled for a fully clothed shower.
That night we went and watched the sunset on Ayer’s Rock. I was actually a little disappointed with it. The rock itself was beautiful, a fantastic glowing red that really did change colors as the sun set. The problem was the crowd gathered to watch said color change. There was a ton of people gathered, some sipping wine eating hors d'oeuvres, others talking loudly and not appreciating what they were standing in front of.
That night we slept outside in swags. Swags are like little mattresses that you put your sleeping bag on top of and it makes it more comfortable, actually quite comfortable. It was hot enough that we didn’t need our sleeping bags, so most people just slept on top of the sleeping bag as well.
I’ve never slept outside where there is no light pollution. The first night we slept in a camp site where there were a few street lamps, and some people in cabins nearby, but other than that there was nothing. The second night was the middle of nowhere, we were the only ones around so once our lamp went out it was like someone turned on the sky. It was spectacular, breathtaking. If you haven’t seen the stars with no light pollution, you haven’t seen the stars. They go on forever, tiny flecks of light spreading out across the sky.
I was also there around the peak of the Leonid meteor shower, so I saw quite a few shooting stars. I never realized they were so fast, you blink and they’re gone. I didn’t even have time to make a wish, although I didn’t really have one prepared in advance.
The next morning (and I use the word morning loosely) we had to be up at 4 (still night in my book) because we were headed to watch the sunrise over Uluru (AKA Ayer’s Rock). The sunrise was much better than the sunset, as significantly fewer people made it up in time to see it. The color changes were really quite lovely.
After the sun had risen, while it was still marginally cool (as in not midday), we did a base walk around the rock. It took around two hours to get all the way around it. The textures on the rock were really interesting, and I took way too many pictures. Huge chunks are missing where erosion has eaten away at the rock. There were some aboriginal paintings in sections, and sacred sites dotted the base. There were signs indicating that no pictures could be taken at those places.
I saw some dingoes running around the rock as well. They just trotted by on the path, a few feet from the people walking around, totally nonchalant about it. Way to go dingoes.
Climbing up the rock was closed that day. In case you didn’t know, it is still legal to climb Ayer’s Rock, but it is extremely discouraged. The traditional owners view it as a very sacred site and take full responsibility every time someone is hurt on the climb. They see it as their fault, as it is their land. Efforts are being made to make it completely illegal; as it stands it is just extremely frowned upon. Quite often it is closed due to temperatures or winds, anyway. I had no intention of climbing it, even if I could have. I think it’s important to respect the Aboriginal people’s beliefs, even if I don’t share them, and I respect their acceptances of everyone as being important, rather than just their own people as so many other cultures do.
Most of the rest of the day was spent driving to get to King’s Canyon, our next stop. The next morning we were up early again (this time at 4:30, whoo sleeping in!) to get there. The night before our guide, B, gave us a talk over dinner. To climb King’s Canyon you must first scale a bit called “Heart Attack Hill”. The walk is 3-4 hours long depending on the pace (I think we did it in 4 because we had a decent sized group) and almost entirely in the sun. To do it B required a certain amount of water and checked to make sure each person had it before allowing us to even try.
The first section certainly lived up to its name. I’m glad it was at the beginning, the day was still warming up from the night before so it wasn’t as hot as the end, and the knowledge that it was the hardest bit of the walk added an incentive to reach the top.
I’m elated to say that I did it, made it to the top and managed to not get shipped to a hospital for dehydration. The views more than made up for the wheezing to the top. It was like we were standing on the top of the world. I think it was my second favorite thing we did on the tour, the first being falling asleep and waking up to the stars ablaze.
It’s hard to describe how breathtaking Kings Canyon is. It would take a better versed writer than I to do it, and I don’t want to insult the emotions associated by attempting to do so. Just know that people have been known to cry upon reaching the top, and I feel honored to have experienced it.
After Kings Canyon we went to a rest stop camp ground setup with a pool and lots of bathrooms and jumped into the pool, several of us (including me) fully clothed. Bathing suits is for pansies!
Never has a pool felt so good in my life. I can still feel the cool water against my skin after the hike in the sun all day. I’m trying to think of an artistic metaphor, but all I can think of is jumping into a cool pool on a hot day. Close enough?
I’m certain this post was longer the first time I wrote it, but I’m exhausted and don’t care to try and remember what I said then. More to come in the next day or so, I have two more posts planned before leaving for New Zealand. Until then, stay classy kittens!
Alice Springs was fantastic, to say the least. Hot as hell, but fantastic. I think my trip to Uluru may be one of my favorite. I did a two night, three day tour from Alice Springs. Fun fact, they call it “The Alice” there, isn’t that adorable?!
Our first stop was a camel farm, and I got to ride one! It was just around the yard, but it was ridiculously fun. It was more bouncy than a horse, and man did those camels not want to behave. It took the trainer quite a bit of time to get the camel to stand up and sit down, probably around a minute and a half each. Silly rebellious camel!
Any who, after that we drove to Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas. There are two trails which you can walk on, a short and a long one. The long one was closed because it was far too hot, so we did a short hour and a half walk.
I should probably mention the heat. It was pretty disgusting. It got up to 45 C (113 F) during the day, and we were hiking around in it. It was so hot that 30 C (86 F) felt chilly at night. The sun could be physically felt beating down on you. I managed to avoid sunburn though! Through careful application of sunscreen and a hat and sunglasses, however I do now have a nice golden glow. I’m flippin tan!
After lunch we were promised a dip in a pool, however it was closed. We contemplated jumping the fence or starting a riot, most just settled for a fully clothed shower.
That night we went and watched the sunset on Ayer’s Rock. I was actually a little disappointed with it. The rock itself was beautiful, a fantastic glowing red that really did change colors as the sun set. The problem was the crowd gathered to watch said color change. There was a ton of people gathered, some sipping wine eating hors d'oeuvres, others talking loudly and not appreciating what they were standing in front of.
That night we slept outside in swags. Swags are like little mattresses that you put your sleeping bag on top of and it makes it more comfortable, actually quite comfortable. It was hot enough that we didn’t need our sleeping bags, so most people just slept on top of the sleeping bag as well.
I’ve never slept outside where there is no light pollution. The first night we slept in a camp site where there were a few street lamps, and some people in cabins nearby, but other than that there was nothing. The second night was the middle of nowhere, we were the only ones around so once our lamp went out it was like someone turned on the sky. It was spectacular, breathtaking. If you haven’t seen the stars with no light pollution, you haven’t seen the stars. They go on forever, tiny flecks of light spreading out across the sky.
I was also there around the peak of the Leonid meteor shower, so I saw quite a few shooting stars. I never realized they were so fast, you blink and they’re gone. I didn’t even have time to make a wish, although I didn’t really have one prepared in advance.
The next morning (and I use the word morning loosely) we had to be up at 4 (still night in my book) because we were headed to watch the sunrise over Uluru (AKA Ayer’s Rock). The sunrise was much better than the sunset, as significantly fewer people made it up in time to see it. The color changes were really quite lovely.
After the sun had risen, while it was still marginally cool (as in not midday), we did a base walk around the rock. It took around two hours to get all the way around it. The textures on the rock were really interesting, and I took way too many pictures. Huge chunks are missing where erosion has eaten away at the rock. There were some aboriginal paintings in sections, and sacred sites dotted the base. There were signs indicating that no pictures could be taken at those places.
I saw some dingoes running around the rock as well. They just trotted by on the path, a few feet from the people walking around, totally nonchalant about it. Way to go dingoes.
Climbing up the rock was closed that day. In case you didn’t know, it is still legal to climb Ayer’s Rock, but it is extremely discouraged. The traditional owners view it as a very sacred site and take full responsibility every time someone is hurt on the climb. They see it as their fault, as it is their land. Efforts are being made to make it completely illegal; as it stands it is just extremely frowned upon. Quite often it is closed due to temperatures or winds, anyway. I had no intention of climbing it, even if I could have. I think it’s important to respect the Aboriginal people’s beliefs, even if I don’t share them, and I respect their acceptances of everyone as being important, rather than just their own people as so many other cultures do.
Most of the rest of the day was spent driving to get to King’s Canyon, our next stop. The next morning we were up early again (this time at 4:30, whoo sleeping in!) to get there. The night before our guide, B, gave us a talk over dinner. To climb King’s Canyon you must first scale a bit called “Heart Attack Hill”. The walk is 3-4 hours long depending on the pace (I think we did it in 4 because we had a decent sized group) and almost entirely in the sun. To do it B required a certain amount of water and checked to make sure each person had it before allowing us to even try.
The first section certainly lived up to its name. I’m glad it was at the beginning, the day was still warming up from the night before so it wasn’t as hot as the end, and the knowledge that it was the hardest bit of the walk added an incentive to reach the top.
I’m elated to say that I did it, made it to the top and managed to not get shipped to a hospital for dehydration. The views more than made up for the wheezing to the top. It was like we were standing on the top of the world. I think it was my second favorite thing we did on the tour, the first being falling asleep and waking up to the stars ablaze.
It’s hard to describe how breathtaking Kings Canyon is. It would take a better versed writer than I to do it, and I don’t want to insult the emotions associated by attempting to do so. Just know that people have been known to cry upon reaching the top, and I feel honored to have experienced it.
After Kings Canyon we went to a rest stop camp ground setup with a pool and lots of bathrooms and jumped into the pool, several of us (including me) fully clothed. Bathing suits is for pansies!
Never has a pool felt so good in my life. I can still feel the cool water against my skin after the hike in the sun all day. I’m trying to think of an artistic metaphor, but all I can think of is jumping into a cool pool on a hot day. Close enough?
I’m certain this post was longer the first time I wrote it, but I’m exhausted and don’t care to try and remember what I said then. More to come in the next day or so, I have two more posts planned before leaving for New Zealand. Until then, stay classy kittens!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
100 Words on Examine
Finals over, I have a chance to do some fun stuff again, like 100 word prompts! Missed two weeks, but I'm back with "Examine".
Crunch crunch crunch, the little girl sat crushing leaves. Youthful excitement tinged with anticipation filled the room as she carefully opened her birthday gift. A box filled with microscope slide making tools, and she was humming with pleasure. A drop of liquid on the leaf first. She slowed her breathing, carefully dropping the plastic to not catch any bubbles.
Almost.
Four tries later, the perfect slide is finished. Sliding it into place, she flipped the switch and gazed into the lens to examine the leaf.
Nothing.
A few simple adjustments to the microscope brings the intricate lines into focus. Perfect.
Crunch crunch crunch, the little girl sat crushing leaves. Youthful excitement tinged with anticipation filled the room as she carefully opened her birthday gift. A box filled with microscope slide making tools, and she was humming with pleasure. A drop of liquid on the leaf first. She slowed her breathing, carefully dropping the plastic to not catch any bubbles.
Almost.
Four tries later, the perfect slide is finished. Sliding it into place, she flipped the switch and gazed into the lens to examine the leaf.
Nothing.
A few simple adjustments to the microscope brings the intricate lines into focus. Perfect.
Theatre Sports
Finals over, and I’m flying to Alice Springs to see Uluru tomorrow, but we have more important things to talk about. IMPROV REVIEW.
Alright, here we go.
OK so the show was set up with a spy gimmick, someone has to go save the world through the use of theatre sports (AKA improvisational comedy). There is a host (looking dashing in his suit) with the list of games, and a judge (facing away from the audience, though the back of his head was also quite dashing) who rated the games 1 through 3 magnifying glasses. There were 9 performers, each with a tie with their number on it, who were each referred to by their number rather than name. They were called out for games and would be rated, after a certain number of games a few people would be eliminated based on their number of magnifying glasses until one improvisational comedian was left standing.
It was sort of obvious that the group hadn’t really worked together, and the individual competition setup was not conducive to a group mentality. Sure, scenes were performed together, but in the end people were trying to stay in the game, which is not what it should be about at all. I’ve seen a few different setups now, and I have to say this is my least favorite. I see the benefits of a competition, but I much prefer two groups head-to-head over the individual being mixed together with different people. It allows for bonding, and working together. It’s one for all and all for one, rather than just all for one and none for all.
The most surprising and obvious difference was that all of the suggestions were already chosen. They didn’t get a single one from the audience. I found this especially surprising considering the audience they had to work with. Comprised of mostly actors from the show and their friends, they were quite ready and willing to laugh and participate. The performers had no idea what the suggestions were (I also got the vibe from their reactions that they didn’t even know what game they would be playing), so it was improvised, but the host already had all the suggestions picked out.
They were not afraid to let one person perform on their own, which I actually rather liked. Some good stuff came out of it. One girl did a pitch for a children’s book (no joke, that was her entire suggestion. They were pretty terrible sometimes) and really shown. The guy who ended up winning seemed to be kind of new at it; because they called him up and said he was improving then gave him a game by himself. He had to defend himself in a court room for a crime. Wasn’t given a crime to defend against, just a general crime. Kind of lame suggestion, but he did surprisingly well. He picked a direction and ran with it.
They also didn’t have any games like CMM, which used mime to convey things to each other. They did, however, have an actual mime game. Two people had to mime brushing their teeth. There is something to be said for simple suggestions being given to people who know how to use them as a spring board, and I think that is what the host was trying tap into.
Some of the games were the same with different names, though there were a couple new ones that I found rather interesting. One was called “Stunt Double” where two people were performing on a movie set a rather simple task; however they are lazy actors that don’t like physical activity so whenever anything has to be done they call “Stunt Double” and two stunt doubles take their places and perform the activity and a ridiculous stunt-y fashion. They call “actors” and the actors come back.
Another game which was particularly fantastic was called “Man Up”. It is sort of like a manly-themed “Should Have Said”. Two or more people perform an activity (they scrap booked when I saw it!). If the audience thinks they aren’t being manly enough, they shout “Man up!” and the performer changes their last line to something manly. Beer, women, breaking stuff, you get the picture. Incredibly sexist, and filled with lulz.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m looking at you Ryan, and also you Steven (though I already talked to you, so I’m looking at you slightly less).
HOLYCRAPFINALSOVERNOWLOTSOFTRAVELANDFUNANDAUSTRALIAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Ahem. Time to go pack for 100 degree weather in Uluru. I expect to get unburnt and I plan on buying a ridiculous hat.
Alright, here we go.
OK so the show was set up with a spy gimmick, someone has to go save the world through the use of theatre sports (AKA improvisational comedy). There is a host (looking dashing in his suit) with the list of games, and a judge (facing away from the audience, though the back of his head was also quite dashing) who rated the games 1 through 3 magnifying glasses. There were 9 performers, each with a tie with their number on it, who were each referred to by their number rather than name. They were called out for games and would be rated, after a certain number of games a few people would be eliminated based on their number of magnifying glasses until one improvisational comedian was left standing.
It was sort of obvious that the group hadn’t really worked together, and the individual competition setup was not conducive to a group mentality. Sure, scenes were performed together, but in the end people were trying to stay in the game, which is not what it should be about at all. I’ve seen a few different setups now, and I have to say this is my least favorite. I see the benefits of a competition, but I much prefer two groups head-to-head over the individual being mixed together with different people. It allows for bonding, and working together. It’s one for all and all for one, rather than just all for one and none for all.
The most surprising and obvious difference was that all of the suggestions were already chosen. They didn’t get a single one from the audience. I found this especially surprising considering the audience they had to work with. Comprised of mostly actors from the show and their friends, they were quite ready and willing to laugh and participate. The performers had no idea what the suggestions were (I also got the vibe from their reactions that they didn’t even know what game they would be playing), so it was improvised, but the host already had all the suggestions picked out.
They were not afraid to let one person perform on their own, which I actually rather liked. Some good stuff came out of it. One girl did a pitch for a children’s book (no joke, that was her entire suggestion. They were pretty terrible sometimes) and really shown. The guy who ended up winning seemed to be kind of new at it; because they called him up and said he was improving then gave him a game by himself. He had to defend himself in a court room for a crime. Wasn’t given a crime to defend against, just a general crime. Kind of lame suggestion, but he did surprisingly well. He picked a direction and ran with it.
They also didn’t have any games like CMM, which used mime to convey things to each other. They did, however, have an actual mime game. Two people had to mime brushing their teeth. There is something to be said for simple suggestions being given to people who know how to use them as a spring board, and I think that is what the host was trying tap into.
Some of the games were the same with different names, though there were a couple new ones that I found rather interesting. One was called “Stunt Double” where two people were performing on a movie set a rather simple task; however they are lazy actors that don’t like physical activity so whenever anything has to be done they call “Stunt Double” and two stunt doubles take their places and perform the activity and a ridiculous stunt-y fashion. They call “actors” and the actors come back.
Another game which was particularly fantastic was called “Man Up”. It is sort of like a manly-themed “Should Have Said”. Two or more people perform an activity (they scrap booked when I saw it!). If the audience thinks they aren’t being manly enough, they shout “Man up!” and the performer changes their last line to something manly. Beer, women, breaking stuff, you get the picture. Incredibly sexist, and filled with lulz.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m looking at you Ryan, and also you Steven (though I already talked to you, so I’m looking at you slightly less).
HOLYCRAPFINALSOVERNOWLOTSOFTRAVELANDFUNANDAUSTRALIAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Ahem. Time to go pack for 100 degree weather in Uluru. I expect to get unburnt and I plan on buying a ridiculous hat.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Bugfest and Halloween
It’s been a while, but for good reason. I will probably split this into several entries, because it’s been a full few weeks. Highlights: finishing my thesis, tech week for the play, the show, last classes, Halloween!
Last week was hellish, the last week of classes before revision period. Assignments due in all my classes, including a thesis and a presentation on said thesis. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much. I got it all done, pulled two all-nighters, and managed to be some semblance of presentable throughout the week. Huzzah.
Onto more important and interesting things. The week before last was “tech week” for Bugfest. They call it “bump in”, and I never did figure out why. I finally got to put together everything I had been imagining or calling out during rehearsals. Sound effects and lighting came together.
Lighting was a little complicated. I’ve never done much with lights, so I had to find words to describe what I wanted and ways to compensate for what wasn’t possible. Thankfully my lighting was pretty simple, only a few cues and a few settings, and the lighting designer was thankful for that. I think she liked me because I was nice and didn’t ask much. There was only one which was simpler than mine; lights up and down a few times, mine had some red in it.
The first time we went through it with all the tech I hated it. The design didn’t turn out the way I imagined or wanted. It took the most important and serious section of the play and made it comical. I was exhausted and not happy with the way things turned out. Mulling things over in my head as I walked him, I decided to make a few changes (although I hadn’t figured out what those changes would be yet). It took a flash of inspiration at 2 am to figure it out.
I cut a sound effect and amped up the lights to compensate for the intensity the sound was supposed to add. The lighting tech actually said “Great, much better, I love your work.” The second time around was so much better. It added to the intensity and really supported the words the way they needed to be supported.
Any who, that is most of Bump In. Everyone was really nice; hanging out back stage with all the actors and directors was so much fun. I had almost forgotten how fantastically amazing drama people are.
Bump in over, I let my actors go about their merry way. Opening night I had dinner with the writer of my script, Tim. We have a lot in common (the script was inspired by one of our shared favourite authors) so it was a good time. I was a bit nervous when it came time for TCOMSSK (abbreviated title of my play, The Centre of My Skull Sized Kingdom) to go on. Tim had never seen it. Would he approve? Would he enjoy it? It was his baby I directed, he was basically the only person whose opinion mattered to me.
He laughed at all the appropriate moments, and a few extra places. The smile on his face at the end was all I needed to see.
I saw it two more times after that, once with Kylie and Erin and once by myself on closing night. The night I went with Erin and Kylie the after show was improv (!!!) which was refreshing to watch. I plan on writing a post just dedicated to that, the differences and all, as I figure that will be interesting to anyone from Purdue Improv. I didn’t get to tape it (sorry Ryan), but I made lots of observations. Next best thing?
Closing night was Halloween and Bugawards. Most of the awards were not surprising at all. Best script went to my favourite, which had a nice blend of the funny and philosophical. Best female actor went to Samara from my play. We also managed to snag Best Production and Best Ensemble BOOH YEAH. I was really shocked at getting those two; I honestly wasn’t expecting to get anything. I got a plastic lizard as a prize and gave a little speech, followed by a group hug from my cast. D-awww.
After a minimal set strike, there was a party! Whoo! It was a mix of a closing night party and a Halloween costume. Some people dressed up (my favourite was Samara who dressed all-out as a nun. Seeing a nun appear throughout the night was priceless), while others did not. Games were played, friends were made, and a good time was had by all.
A few highlights: a nuddie run (which I did not partake in, thankyouverymuch), Never Have I Ever (there were some crazy stories in that bunch), and explaining to people that not everyone believed 911 was a hoax.
The house the party was at was above a sex shop, which was hilarious in itself, and it was the only residential place for quite some area, so noise was not a problem. Good thing too, we were pretty loud pretty much all night.
I got to know a lot of people that night. Some I had only said a handful of words to, and then spent hours talking with. I wish I had more time to get to know all the people I have just scratched the surface of.
Improv post will be coming soon, but I have exams to study for, kittens, so you’ll just have to wait.
Last week was hellish, the last week of classes before revision period. Assignments due in all my classes, including a thesis and a presentation on said thesis. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much. I got it all done, pulled two all-nighters, and managed to be some semblance of presentable throughout the week. Huzzah.
Onto more important and interesting things. The week before last was “tech week” for Bugfest. They call it “bump in”, and I never did figure out why. I finally got to put together everything I had been imagining or calling out during rehearsals. Sound effects and lighting came together.
Lighting was a little complicated. I’ve never done much with lights, so I had to find words to describe what I wanted and ways to compensate for what wasn’t possible. Thankfully my lighting was pretty simple, only a few cues and a few settings, and the lighting designer was thankful for that. I think she liked me because I was nice and didn’t ask much. There was only one which was simpler than mine; lights up and down a few times, mine had some red in it.
The first time we went through it with all the tech I hated it. The design didn’t turn out the way I imagined or wanted. It took the most important and serious section of the play and made it comical. I was exhausted and not happy with the way things turned out. Mulling things over in my head as I walked him, I decided to make a few changes (although I hadn’t figured out what those changes would be yet). It took a flash of inspiration at 2 am to figure it out.
I cut a sound effect and amped up the lights to compensate for the intensity the sound was supposed to add. The lighting tech actually said “Great, much better, I love your work.” The second time around was so much better. It added to the intensity and really supported the words the way they needed to be supported.
Any who, that is most of Bump In. Everyone was really nice; hanging out back stage with all the actors and directors was so much fun. I had almost forgotten how fantastically amazing drama people are.
Bump in over, I let my actors go about their merry way. Opening night I had dinner with the writer of my script, Tim. We have a lot in common (the script was inspired by one of our shared favourite authors) so it was a good time. I was a bit nervous when it came time for TCOMSSK (abbreviated title of my play, The Centre of My Skull Sized Kingdom) to go on. Tim had never seen it. Would he approve? Would he enjoy it? It was his baby I directed, he was basically the only person whose opinion mattered to me.
He laughed at all the appropriate moments, and a few extra places. The smile on his face at the end was all I needed to see.
I saw it two more times after that, once with Kylie and Erin and once by myself on closing night. The night I went with Erin and Kylie the after show was improv (!!!) which was refreshing to watch. I plan on writing a post just dedicated to that, the differences and all, as I figure that will be interesting to anyone from Purdue Improv. I didn’t get to tape it (sorry Ryan), but I made lots of observations. Next best thing?
Closing night was Halloween and Bugawards. Most of the awards were not surprising at all. Best script went to my favourite, which had a nice blend of the funny and philosophical. Best female actor went to Samara from my play. We also managed to snag Best Production and Best Ensemble BOOH YEAH. I was really shocked at getting those two; I honestly wasn’t expecting to get anything. I got a plastic lizard as a prize and gave a little speech, followed by a group hug from my cast. D-awww.
After a minimal set strike, there was a party! Whoo! It was a mix of a closing night party and a Halloween costume. Some people dressed up (my favourite was Samara who dressed all-out as a nun. Seeing a nun appear throughout the night was priceless), while others did not. Games were played, friends were made, and a good time was had by all.
A few highlights: a nuddie run (which I did not partake in, thankyouverymuch), Never Have I Ever (there were some crazy stories in that bunch), and explaining to people that not everyone believed 911 was a hoax.
The house the party was at was above a sex shop, which was hilarious in itself, and it was the only residential place for quite some area, so noise was not a problem. Good thing too, we were pretty loud pretty much all night.
I got to know a lot of people that night. Some I had only said a handful of words to, and then spent hours talking with. I wish I had more time to get to know all the people I have just scratched the surface of.
Improv post will be coming soon, but I have exams to study for, kittens, so you’ll just have to wait.
Friday, October 23, 2009
100 Words on Place
Another 100 word challenge by Velvet Verbosity, this time the word was "place". A lot came to mind with this one, it can go so many different ways. A physical place, a less substantial place-in-the-world place, searching for a place, so many options. I decided to go with my first thought which was "placemats". If there is one thing that improv has taught me, it is how to look at suggestions in a new and interesting way. So, here you go!
"The table was bare. The soft clink of silverware being set down, accompanied by the soft rhythmic clicking of the ceiling fan filled the room. Plates and napkins, meticulously folded, were next. Chairs gently pushed into place, barely brushing the tablecloth. She stood, carefully measuring the distances and counting utensils.
Place mats. She had forgotten the placemats. Stifling a sob, she rushed to the cabinet, organized first by size, then colour, then date. Two placemats, then fix the stack. It was all ruined now. The process must be repeated, and she would not be eating tonight. Not with this travesty."
"The table was bare. The soft clink of silverware being set down, accompanied by the soft rhythmic clicking of the ceiling fan filled the room. Plates and napkins, meticulously folded, were next. Chairs gently pushed into place, barely brushing the tablecloth. She stood, carefully measuring the distances and counting utensils.
Place mats. She had forgotten the placemats. Stifling a sob, she rushed to the cabinet, organized first by size, then colour, then date. Two placemats, then fix the stack. It was all ruined now. The process must be repeated, and she would not be eating tonight. Not with this travesty."
Sunday, October 18, 2009
100 Words on Rain
I have recently stumbled upon a website, Velvet Verbosity. This is a blog centered around a writing exercise where a word is posted each week and if you want to participate, you must write 100 words (no more, no less) using that word for inspiration. I think its a fantastic idea, so it will be a mild intermission from my normal posts.
Without further ado, here are my 100 words on Rain.
After the exam finished, we stared out into the pouring rain, utterly drained. It was a long walk home with no umbrella between us. We began laughing hysterically at how terribly the day had gone overall and decided it ended here. Giant puddles plagued our campus, so we ran, jumped, splashed, and giggled. Strangers joined in and soon a huge crowd of physics students was dancing in the rain for the pure joy of mindless happiness. Secret smiles were exchanged, a display of a shared experience. My jeans turned sticky, my shoes soaked, and my demeanor had never been better.
Without further ado, here are my 100 words on Rain.
After the exam finished, we stared out into the pouring rain, utterly drained. It was a long walk home with no umbrella between us. We began laughing hysterically at how terribly the day had gone overall and decided it ended here. Giant puddles plagued our campus, so we ran, jumped, splashed, and giggled. Strangers joined in and soon a huge crowd of physics students was dancing in the rain for the pure joy of mindless happiness. Secret smiles were exchanged, a display of a shared experience. My jeans turned sticky, my shoes soaked, and my demeanor had never been better.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tom's Twenty First
I am going to try and avoid a walrus sized post like last time from now on, but no promises. Especially as things begin to speed up. My semester is almost over so assignments are due and finals are looming. Once finals are over I have a pretty decent amount of travel planned and I’m not sure how my computer access will be during those times. Most notably my New Zealand excursion, which will last eighteen days. I’ll sort it out, no worries.
Friday night was my friend Tom’s (different Tom than the one I have mentioned before, this one is one of my actors in my play) twenty first birthday party. It was in this little hole-in-the-wall art gallery in The Valley. I got a little lost trying to find it. Lost is such a strong word, though. I merely walked the wrong way down the street it was on for about ten minutes, twenty once I backtracked, but I finally found it.
When I walked in I was immediately very glad I came. There were only a handful of people in the gallery and I was a bit embarrassed for Tom. After grabbing a drink and a few introductions someone suggested we head outside. A-ha! There is an outside!
Around the corner opened up to this great outdoor room flush with people. Whew.
It was surrounded by a brick wall completely covered in graffiti. This isn’t street graffiti, it was all crazy colors and really interesting to look at. On one wall there was also a fake tree house, which I thought was especially cool.
Backtrack for a moment, rewind to inside getting a drink. This was my first fore into choosing by myself when it comes to alcohol. Generally I just try what Erin or Kylie has go “Ew” and drink my Sprite. I stood, confused, for a moment trying to decide what in the heck I wanted. After I mentioned that I wasn’t legally allowed to drink in the US, I had a group of about five people offering suggestions and trying to find something I would enjoy. That’s Australia for you, coming together in the name of drinking.
I ended up with a glass of white wine which was only marginally gross.
Anyway, the party was a lot of fun. The Underground people are all ridiculously nice and welcoming, I met a lot of really interesting people. Granted, I completely forgot most of their names almost immediately, but still.
I also found out why the twenty first is still a big birthday in Australia. In the US it is the legal drinking age so people go out with friends to celebrate their new ability to get intoxicated at will. In Australia it is eighteen. Generally they don’t go as crazy at eighteen as we go for the twenty first, but it is a much more go out to have fun atmosphere. At 21 it is a more mature, rent-out-a-venue sort of shindig. Family and friends come together to celebrate the coming of age. It used to be that the birthday person would get a key to the house at 21 as a symbol of reaching maturity. A sort of Australian bar mitzvah, if you will. And now you know.
Well now I must get back to writing my thesis. I feel so fancy saying that. Thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis. Tee hee.
Friday night was my friend Tom’s (different Tom than the one I have mentioned before, this one is one of my actors in my play) twenty first birthday party. It was in this little hole-in-the-wall art gallery in The Valley. I got a little lost trying to find it. Lost is such a strong word, though. I merely walked the wrong way down the street it was on for about ten minutes, twenty once I backtracked, but I finally found it.
When I walked in I was immediately very glad I came. There were only a handful of people in the gallery and I was a bit embarrassed for Tom. After grabbing a drink and a few introductions someone suggested we head outside. A-ha! There is an outside!
Around the corner opened up to this great outdoor room flush with people. Whew.
It was surrounded by a brick wall completely covered in graffiti. This isn’t street graffiti, it was all crazy colors and really interesting to look at. On one wall there was also a fake tree house, which I thought was especially cool.
Backtrack for a moment, rewind to inside getting a drink. This was my first fore into choosing by myself when it comes to alcohol. Generally I just try what Erin or Kylie has go “Ew” and drink my Sprite. I stood, confused, for a moment trying to decide what in the heck I wanted. After I mentioned that I wasn’t legally allowed to drink in the US, I had a group of about five people offering suggestions and trying to find something I would enjoy. That’s Australia for you, coming together in the name of drinking.
I ended up with a glass of white wine which was only marginally gross.
Anyway, the party was a lot of fun. The Underground people are all ridiculously nice and welcoming, I met a lot of really interesting people. Granted, I completely forgot most of their names almost immediately, but still.
I also found out why the twenty first is still a big birthday in Australia. In the US it is the legal drinking age so people go out with friends to celebrate their new ability to get intoxicated at will. In Australia it is eighteen. Generally they don’t go as crazy at eighteen as we go for the twenty first, but it is a much more go out to have fun atmosphere. At 21 it is a more mature, rent-out-a-venue sort of shindig. Family and friends come together to celebrate the coming of age. It used to be that the birthday person would get a key to the house at 21 as a symbol of reaching maturity. A sort of Australian bar mitzvah, if you will. And now you know.
Well now I must get back to writing my thesis. I feel so fancy saying that. Thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis. Tee hee.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Auditions and Sydney
Alright so I lied about the updating in the next few days, so sue me! I got a bit distracted and then left for Sydney for mid-semester break. More on that in a moment. By a moment I mean a few paragraphs. And by a few paragraphs I mean a lot of paragraphs. This is going to be a hella long post.
I survived mid-semester exams (barely). Grades haven’t come in yet, but there are more interesting things to discuss.
Bugfest auditions were fantastic, to say the least. I met the other directors, and they were all really nice. I was pleasantly surprised. They mostly knew each other but were really welcoming, despite the fact that I have never even seen anything Underground has put on. I think the fact that I was completely as new as new could be to Underground helped put some people at ease during auditions if they were auditioning for the first time.
Two days of auditions, both had very good turnouts. Twenty-fiveish people both days, around half of which were guys! The vast majority of the casts were male, so that was a huge relief. There were discussions of threats of violence between directors prior to the first round of auditions.
We first handed out scripts to people we were interested in, and then sent them to practice then come in to show us. It was a bit disorganized. Six directors handing out scripts to different people, and then trying to mix up people. It didn’t work out quite the way we planned. After seeing everyone through we decided to take our scripts and just pull people aside to see them read. It went much faster when we were all running scenes at the same time.
I was absolutely blown away by how good everyone was. There was almost no one who wasn’t good for at least one part. It helps that the scripts are all very varied. Some of the readings did me no good at all to see as the characters are as different as can be. People who would have been terrible for my play were perfect for one of the other plays.
After each day of auditions we sat down and each wrote down a cast list if we had to cast after that day’s of auditions. We then wrote a second list if there were more people we were considering. After the second day we sat down and made final lists for callbacks. There was actually very little overlap of the lists. A people were contested, but we all had enough options that it was evident everyone was going to be pretty happy with their cast.
Callbacks rolled around and we decided to try and bring some order to it. We watched most people run through each of the scenes they were called back for. It was actually really really helpful. Seeing people in different roles certainly helped. One girl who I was calling back fit so perfectly into another role she was called back for that I didn’t even take notes when she was reading mine. She was already cast in my mind as someone else. The point was to not have one awesome play and five mediocre ones; it was to have six awesome ones.
Callbacks were intense. Switching people around to try and find the perfect combination. It was sort of terrifying and exhilarating. Trying to think of everything that goes into casting, it felt good. When I was walking there I felt as nervous as I ever felt when I was auditioning. I had three people for each of my roles, so I was going to be breaking some hearts.
I cast fairly quickly. My script has three people, female and male lead and a female supporting role. Only one of my guys was suitable for the role during callbacks, so it was mostly a matter of finding who was going to be playing with him. The supporting girl fell into place pretty easily. It wasn’t really a competition between the two girls who I saw read. The female lead was a bit trickier. One was out as she was crazy epic awesome in someone else’s play, so it came down to two girls.
Both would have been great for the role but as only one could actually be in it, I had to choose. So I did. I don’t really want to go into the reasoning behind it, but I’m happy with who I cast.
I was a little nervous because there was a mild conflict between another director and me over Tom, the guy who I wanted to cast. He saw Tom read for mine and admitted that he was great in the role. He had one more guy to read for the role and if he was good at all, he would concede Tom to me.
The guy was crazy epic great and had us rolling laughing. We all ended up happy! YAY!
I sent out emails to my cast and we all met up to iron out a rehearsal schedule. Performances are at the end of October, so we needed to get a-move on. Two practices a week until the shows. Even in the read through I couldn’t stop smiling. It’s such a great script and the people are so perfect. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
So that was two weeks ago. The next week (last week) was mid semester break!
I’ve been calling it spring break throughout the semester, and that is basically what it is. Its spring here, so that’s appropriate. A week off of classes, so it is even MORE like spring break in the States. Surprisingly enough most Australians don’t really go anywhere for their break. They head home or hang out around Brisbane. Thinking back, I generally don’t do anything special for spring break either, but a lot of people do. A week off of classes is a great time to go do that thing that you’ve been meaning to do. You know, at the place. With the person. Yeah, that thing.
I used my break to go see Sydney. My parents coincided their visit to Australia and we met in the airport. They spent a week in New Zealand before meeting me there, and absolutely loved it. Apparently it is much prettier than Australia, which is sometimes hard to imagine. I can’t wait to see it (have I mentioned that after exams I’m going to be trekking around New Zealand for a few weeks? I honestly can’t remember…but I am).
We got in at around five and had hugs. They commented on my hair (I have bangs now!) and we lugged our luggage out to grab a cab. Piling in, we headed to the hotel and chattered about various things. What we were going to do, what they had done, how quizzes went.
After checking into the hotel, we went to find somewhere to eat. They had been served dinner on the plane, but I had not. A Hungry Jack’s sandwich for a late lunch was wearing thin, so we walked down a street near our hotel that looked promising. We found this cool little restaurant that had fantastic lasagna.
I guess I didn’t realize how much cooler Sydney is in comparison to Brisbane. I had brought some pants and jackets for my parents to take with them, and I actually ended up wearing some of them.
Dad only had one full day in Sydney before he had to fly back to Chicago to go to a meeting in a day (ha ha jetlagged meeting!) so we decided to book a tour to go see the Blue Mountains.
Basically the Blue Mountains are these beautiful mountains (go figure, eh?) about an hour from Sydney. The tour we booked also stopped at an animal park to pet koalas and took us up to see the Three Sisters (a set of three lovely rocks surrounded by trees and beauty and height and nature-y stuff) and gave us a boomerang demonstration! Exciting, no?
First stop was the animal park. I got a few good pictures of animals we saw after my camera battery died. We also saw another emu and it demolished Dad’s ice cream cone of kangaroo food. They all laughed when I said that emus were terrifying. It’s the truth. Their huge beaks are right at eye pecking height and they have the glint of bloodlust in their emu eyes.
OK not really but they are ugly lookin’ birds and when they eat they peck hard, and I have no doubts that they could take off a finger without a second emu thought.
I later fed it when it was sitting down. Much more manageable.
The weirdest thing that happened the entire day (possibly my trip so far) was at the animal park. When I was feeding a wallaby, a Japanese man came up and said something along the lines of “You take picture?” I assumed that he wanted me to take a picture of him with his friends in front of the cute marsupials. Silly me, no. He wanted a picture WITH me. He and his friend stood on either side and smiled and I suprisedly smiled too.
Weird.
After the animal park we all got little koala souvenirs that had a little vest which said “Featherdale”, the name of the park. We stopped in a random park to do a boomerang demonstration. Yes this was really horrifyingly touristy. But, yes, I got off the bus to watch anyway.
The bus driver explained what makes a good returning boomerang, which was very helpful. I later bought one and it seems to be pretty awesome so far. Haven’t tried it yet, but I intend to upon returning to Purdue. It is now on a flight home with my mummy.
The driver threw it quite a few times and missed catching it every time. I chuckled at his expense, I must confess.
Off we went again, and headed up into the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters. (I’ll post pictures to go along with this eventually, maybe tomorrow morning; we went over internet quota again L). It was windy and cold and beautiful, but mostly cold.
In the Blue Mountains, looking down from the top, it’s as if the trees go on forever. All you see is rolling hills (mountains really, but you are so high everything looks small), absolutely covered in trees. It goes on for so long it simply fades into the sky.
After the overhead view, we headed below the treetops to the tree bottoms. There is a series of wooden paths all below the overview that lets you walk through the forest. To get down we rode the world’s steepest railway. The seats were literally diagonal so that you would be sitting straight as you descended. When it started they played the Indiana Jones theme song and I giggled.
A few cool trees later, we stopped at the site for the Sydney Olympic Games. There were pillars that had the names of all the volunteers on them so we found the Helmers (two of them!) and the Fulton’s (my mom’s maiden name) (there were like eight of them!) and took pictures and got a ferry ride home. The Sydney lights were lovely floating by.
For dinner I had roo steak. In case you’re keeping track at home, yes I ate kangaroo hours after petting one. It was delicious.
Dad headed out early to catch his flight, and Mom and I hit the Botanical Gardens. Bigger than the ones in Brisbane, apparently they don’t compare to the ones in Christchurch. There were hundreds of flying foxes sleeping in the trees, and we later got to see them fly. They’re pretty big suckers. Walking down by the Harbor with the sun shining off of the Opera House was magical. The Harbor is so clear; grass grows at the bottom of it. How crazy is that?
We stopped by the Opera House to take pictures and buy tickets to a show. We ended up getting tickets to not one, but TWO shows. On called Mikado is an operetta and the other, called Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy, is a marionette one man show. By signing up for a tour of the Opera House we ended up saving something like two hundred dollars on the Mikado tickets.
After soaking up the Opera House ambiance, we headed to the harbor and went on a cruise around it. The cruise took us around the Harbor and through the suburbs of Sydney. There are some crazy ridiculous expensive houses there. Eighty million crazy expensive. I’m sure the view is pretty and all, but eighty million dollars?! Yeesh.
I also got a picture of the house where the party scene in Australia (the movie) was filmed! Our tour guide had an Aussie sense of humor and commented that there are two reasons to see the movie Australia. One, Hugh Jackman. Two, Hugh Jackman takes his shirt off.
Mom and I stole a bunch of cookies (aka biscuits) from the cruise. Shh, don’t tell. Ill gotten sweets always taste the best.
On Tuesday Mom and I decided to get in some Sydney shopping. It was surprisingly difficult to find affordable places. If we wanted designer clothes, there were shops a-plenty, but kind of cheap, affordable twenty year old clothes were severely lacking. It was a little disappointing, but window shopping was actually kind of fun.
In Sydney there are so many jewelry shops. Opals seem to be the specialty around here, but the stores were certainly not limited. If you wanted gold, silver, watches, necklaces, vintage, new, anything it could be found. Looking at all of the pretty, shiny, expensive trinkets in the stores was beautiful. Mom and I bought necklaces at one store! Hers is a green oval opal, very pretty, and very Mommy looking. Mine is a much smaller (Laura-sized! (Aka cheap college student sized)), sort of clear opal. When it lies on different backdrops, it changes color. On my skin it is a pretty purple pink. Pretty snazzy, eh?
That night we went and saw Mikado, an operetta. It was pretty good, although the main character made the entire show. He is one of those actors who steals every scene he is in. He walked on stage, and instantly the entire audience was entranced with what he had to say or do and everyone else became…uninteresting.
Fast forward to the next day, we went to the aquarium. It was pretty freakin awesome. The Frommers Australia book highly recommended it, and it was well deserved. They had lots of coral and cool fish and some of the pictures I got are breathtaking. There were two huge tanks that you could actually walk through. The first had dugongs (manatees!) and the second had sharks and sting rays. They would swim over the tunnel you could walk through or under your feet or along side. It was magical, staring at a dugong floating by and listening to the classical music playing in the background.
That night we were planning on going to the Observatory. They do night tours and you can look at the stars and it is apparently quite lovely. The problem is they require reservations and we were too late to get in. Instead we went and saw Fame. Not too bad, if you were wondering.
On our last full day in Sydney Mom and I went to a huge market called Paddy’s Market. It was a huge building filled with row after row of stalls hawking their wares. There were hats, jewelry, clothes, electronics, Australian tourist crap, and on and on. My personal favorite was the stall that had nothing but socks.
We didn’t end up buying anything, but it was fun to look at. After a while it became overwhelming. It was endless. Rows and rows of crap.
That night we went to see Billy Twinkle. I’d never seen a marionette show before and was relieved that they weren’t creepy (much). I actually liked it better than Mikado. The puppet master (I don’t remember his real name, sorry!) played a cruise ship puppeteer who was going through a mid life crisis. He shushes an audience member and gets fired. The beginning was pretty weird because he tries to kill himself but gets possessed by the man who taught him how to make puppets who can’t go to rest until Billy retires a puppet representing him. He speaks to Billy in the form of a bunny hand puppet! They then go through Billy’s past and relive key moments in his life via puppets.
I thought it was a nice blend of humor and serious. Each of the scenes had a key moment that was what made it pivotal in a man’s life. Mom liked Mikado more, but Billy Twinkle was much more my speed. I love interesting characters, and Billy Twinkle was certainly interesting.
It was a rather nice end to the trip. The next morning we had time for breakfast (waffles!) and then headed off to the airport. I’m glad to be back in Brisbane, it’s like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes again.
Anyway, classes start up tomorrow again. Baaaaaaah
Six pages in word, whew. Props to whoever read this all.
I survived mid-semester exams (barely). Grades haven’t come in yet, but there are more interesting things to discuss.
Bugfest auditions were fantastic, to say the least. I met the other directors, and they were all really nice. I was pleasantly surprised. They mostly knew each other but were really welcoming, despite the fact that I have never even seen anything Underground has put on. I think the fact that I was completely as new as new could be to Underground helped put some people at ease during auditions if they were auditioning for the first time.
Two days of auditions, both had very good turnouts. Twenty-fiveish people both days, around half of which were guys! The vast majority of the casts were male, so that was a huge relief. There were discussions of threats of violence between directors prior to the first round of auditions.
We first handed out scripts to people we were interested in, and then sent them to practice then come in to show us. It was a bit disorganized. Six directors handing out scripts to different people, and then trying to mix up people. It didn’t work out quite the way we planned. After seeing everyone through we decided to take our scripts and just pull people aside to see them read. It went much faster when we were all running scenes at the same time.
I was absolutely blown away by how good everyone was. There was almost no one who wasn’t good for at least one part. It helps that the scripts are all very varied. Some of the readings did me no good at all to see as the characters are as different as can be. People who would have been terrible for my play were perfect for one of the other plays.
After each day of auditions we sat down and each wrote down a cast list if we had to cast after that day’s of auditions. We then wrote a second list if there were more people we were considering. After the second day we sat down and made final lists for callbacks. There was actually very little overlap of the lists. A people were contested, but we all had enough options that it was evident everyone was going to be pretty happy with their cast.
Callbacks rolled around and we decided to try and bring some order to it. We watched most people run through each of the scenes they were called back for. It was actually really really helpful. Seeing people in different roles certainly helped. One girl who I was calling back fit so perfectly into another role she was called back for that I didn’t even take notes when she was reading mine. She was already cast in my mind as someone else. The point was to not have one awesome play and five mediocre ones; it was to have six awesome ones.
Callbacks were intense. Switching people around to try and find the perfect combination. It was sort of terrifying and exhilarating. Trying to think of everything that goes into casting, it felt good. When I was walking there I felt as nervous as I ever felt when I was auditioning. I had three people for each of my roles, so I was going to be breaking some hearts.
I cast fairly quickly. My script has three people, female and male lead and a female supporting role. Only one of my guys was suitable for the role during callbacks, so it was mostly a matter of finding who was going to be playing with him. The supporting girl fell into place pretty easily. It wasn’t really a competition between the two girls who I saw read. The female lead was a bit trickier. One was out as she was crazy epic awesome in someone else’s play, so it came down to two girls.
Both would have been great for the role but as only one could actually be in it, I had to choose. So I did. I don’t really want to go into the reasoning behind it, but I’m happy with who I cast.
I was a little nervous because there was a mild conflict between another director and me over Tom, the guy who I wanted to cast. He saw Tom read for mine and admitted that he was great in the role. He had one more guy to read for the role and if he was good at all, he would concede Tom to me.
The guy was crazy epic great and had us rolling laughing. We all ended up happy! YAY!
I sent out emails to my cast and we all met up to iron out a rehearsal schedule. Performances are at the end of October, so we needed to get a-move on. Two practices a week until the shows. Even in the read through I couldn’t stop smiling. It’s such a great script and the people are so perfect. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
So that was two weeks ago. The next week (last week) was mid semester break!
I’ve been calling it spring break throughout the semester, and that is basically what it is. Its spring here, so that’s appropriate. A week off of classes, so it is even MORE like spring break in the States. Surprisingly enough most Australians don’t really go anywhere for their break. They head home or hang out around Brisbane. Thinking back, I generally don’t do anything special for spring break either, but a lot of people do. A week off of classes is a great time to go do that thing that you’ve been meaning to do. You know, at the place. With the person. Yeah, that thing.
I used my break to go see Sydney. My parents coincided their visit to Australia and we met in the airport. They spent a week in New Zealand before meeting me there, and absolutely loved it. Apparently it is much prettier than Australia, which is sometimes hard to imagine. I can’t wait to see it (have I mentioned that after exams I’m going to be trekking around New Zealand for a few weeks? I honestly can’t remember…but I am).
We got in at around five and had hugs. They commented on my hair (I have bangs now!) and we lugged our luggage out to grab a cab. Piling in, we headed to the hotel and chattered about various things. What we were going to do, what they had done, how quizzes went.
After checking into the hotel, we went to find somewhere to eat. They had been served dinner on the plane, but I had not. A Hungry Jack’s sandwich for a late lunch was wearing thin, so we walked down a street near our hotel that looked promising. We found this cool little restaurant that had fantastic lasagna.
I guess I didn’t realize how much cooler Sydney is in comparison to Brisbane. I had brought some pants and jackets for my parents to take with them, and I actually ended up wearing some of them.
Dad only had one full day in Sydney before he had to fly back to Chicago to go to a meeting in a day (ha ha jetlagged meeting!) so we decided to book a tour to go see the Blue Mountains.
Basically the Blue Mountains are these beautiful mountains (go figure, eh?) about an hour from Sydney. The tour we booked also stopped at an animal park to pet koalas and took us up to see the Three Sisters (a set of three lovely rocks surrounded by trees and beauty and height and nature-y stuff) and gave us a boomerang demonstration! Exciting, no?
First stop was the animal park. I got a few good pictures of animals we saw after my camera battery died. We also saw another emu and it demolished Dad’s ice cream cone of kangaroo food. They all laughed when I said that emus were terrifying. It’s the truth. Their huge beaks are right at eye pecking height and they have the glint of bloodlust in their emu eyes.
OK not really but they are ugly lookin’ birds and when they eat they peck hard, and I have no doubts that they could take off a finger without a second emu thought.
I later fed it when it was sitting down. Much more manageable.
The weirdest thing that happened the entire day (possibly my trip so far) was at the animal park. When I was feeding a wallaby, a Japanese man came up and said something along the lines of “You take picture?” I assumed that he wanted me to take a picture of him with his friends in front of the cute marsupials. Silly me, no. He wanted a picture WITH me. He and his friend stood on either side and smiled and I suprisedly smiled too.
Weird.
After the animal park we all got little koala souvenirs that had a little vest which said “Featherdale”, the name of the park. We stopped in a random park to do a boomerang demonstration. Yes this was really horrifyingly touristy. But, yes, I got off the bus to watch anyway.
The bus driver explained what makes a good returning boomerang, which was very helpful. I later bought one and it seems to be pretty awesome so far. Haven’t tried it yet, but I intend to upon returning to Purdue. It is now on a flight home with my mummy.
The driver threw it quite a few times and missed catching it every time. I chuckled at his expense, I must confess.
Off we went again, and headed up into the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters. (I’ll post pictures to go along with this eventually, maybe tomorrow morning; we went over internet quota again L). It was windy and cold and beautiful, but mostly cold.
In the Blue Mountains, looking down from the top, it’s as if the trees go on forever. All you see is rolling hills (mountains really, but you are so high everything looks small), absolutely covered in trees. It goes on for so long it simply fades into the sky.
After the overhead view, we headed below the treetops to the tree bottoms. There is a series of wooden paths all below the overview that lets you walk through the forest. To get down we rode the world’s steepest railway. The seats were literally diagonal so that you would be sitting straight as you descended. When it started they played the Indiana Jones theme song and I giggled.
A few cool trees later, we stopped at the site for the Sydney Olympic Games. There were pillars that had the names of all the volunteers on them so we found the Helmers (two of them!) and the Fulton’s (my mom’s maiden name) (there were like eight of them!) and took pictures and got a ferry ride home. The Sydney lights were lovely floating by.
For dinner I had roo steak. In case you’re keeping track at home, yes I ate kangaroo hours after petting one. It was delicious.
Dad headed out early to catch his flight, and Mom and I hit the Botanical Gardens. Bigger than the ones in Brisbane, apparently they don’t compare to the ones in Christchurch. There were hundreds of flying foxes sleeping in the trees, and we later got to see them fly. They’re pretty big suckers. Walking down by the Harbor with the sun shining off of the Opera House was magical. The Harbor is so clear; grass grows at the bottom of it. How crazy is that?
We stopped by the Opera House to take pictures and buy tickets to a show. We ended up getting tickets to not one, but TWO shows. On called Mikado is an operetta and the other, called Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy, is a marionette one man show. By signing up for a tour of the Opera House we ended up saving something like two hundred dollars on the Mikado tickets.
After soaking up the Opera House ambiance, we headed to the harbor and went on a cruise around it. The cruise took us around the Harbor and through the suburbs of Sydney. There are some crazy ridiculous expensive houses there. Eighty million crazy expensive. I’m sure the view is pretty and all, but eighty million dollars?! Yeesh.
I also got a picture of the house where the party scene in Australia (the movie) was filmed! Our tour guide had an Aussie sense of humor and commented that there are two reasons to see the movie Australia. One, Hugh Jackman. Two, Hugh Jackman takes his shirt off.
Mom and I stole a bunch of cookies (aka biscuits) from the cruise. Shh, don’t tell. Ill gotten sweets always taste the best.
On Tuesday Mom and I decided to get in some Sydney shopping. It was surprisingly difficult to find affordable places. If we wanted designer clothes, there were shops a-plenty, but kind of cheap, affordable twenty year old clothes were severely lacking. It was a little disappointing, but window shopping was actually kind of fun.
In Sydney there are so many jewelry shops. Opals seem to be the specialty around here, but the stores were certainly not limited. If you wanted gold, silver, watches, necklaces, vintage, new, anything it could be found. Looking at all of the pretty, shiny, expensive trinkets in the stores was beautiful. Mom and I bought necklaces at one store! Hers is a green oval opal, very pretty, and very Mommy looking. Mine is a much smaller (Laura-sized! (Aka cheap college student sized)), sort of clear opal. When it lies on different backdrops, it changes color. On my skin it is a pretty purple pink. Pretty snazzy, eh?
That night we went and saw Mikado, an operetta. It was pretty good, although the main character made the entire show. He is one of those actors who steals every scene he is in. He walked on stage, and instantly the entire audience was entranced with what he had to say or do and everyone else became…uninteresting.
Fast forward to the next day, we went to the aquarium. It was pretty freakin awesome. The Frommers Australia book highly recommended it, and it was well deserved. They had lots of coral and cool fish and some of the pictures I got are breathtaking. There were two huge tanks that you could actually walk through. The first had dugongs (manatees!) and the second had sharks and sting rays. They would swim over the tunnel you could walk through or under your feet or along side. It was magical, staring at a dugong floating by and listening to the classical music playing in the background.
That night we were planning on going to the Observatory. They do night tours and you can look at the stars and it is apparently quite lovely. The problem is they require reservations and we were too late to get in. Instead we went and saw Fame. Not too bad, if you were wondering.
On our last full day in Sydney Mom and I went to a huge market called Paddy’s Market. It was a huge building filled with row after row of stalls hawking their wares. There were hats, jewelry, clothes, electronics, Australian tourist crap, and on and on. My personal favorite was the stall that had nothing but socks.
We didn’t end up buying anything, but it was fun to look at. After a while it became overwhelming. It was endless. Rows and rows of crap.
That night we went to see Billy Twinkle. I’d never seen a marionette show before and was relieved that they weren’t creepy (much). I actually liked it better than Mikado. The puppet master (I don’t remember his real name, sorry!) played a cruise ship puppeteer who was going through a mid life crisis. He shushes an audience member and gets fired. The beginning was pretty weird because he tries to kill himself but gets possessed by the man who taught him how to make puppets who can’t go to rest until Billy retires a puppet representing him. He speaks to Billy in the form of a bunny hand puppet! They then go through Billy’s past and relive key moments in his life via puppets.
I thought it was a nice blend of humor and serious. Each of the scenes had a key moment that was what made it pivotal in a man’s life. Mom liked Mikado more, but Billy Twinkle was much more my speed. I love interesting characters, and Billy Twinkle was certainly interesting.
It was a rather nice end to the trip. The next morning we had time for breakfast (waffles!) and then headed off to the airport. I’m glad to be back in Brisbane, it’s like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes again.
Anyway, classes start up tomorrow again. Baaaaaaah
Six pages in word, whew. Props to whoever read this all.
Four AM Ramble?
I have a huge post coming all about Bugfest and Sydney and wonderful things that is almost four pages in Word so far, and it will be up within the next day or so, hopefully, but its four AM and I can’t sleep and I wanted to discuss something a little less substantial.
Since I’ve been here the conversations I’ve held have been very physically oriented. What I’ve seen, where I’ve been. It isn’t just the Australians eager to hear about American culture shock, it is my friends and family back home too. Everyone wants to know the Aussies I’ve met and the pictures I’ve taken.
There’s nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, I love it. I love seeing things, tasting things, smelling things, meeting people, experiencing things. The thing is that isn’t what this is about. That isn’t why I came to Australia.
Oh, I came to see the world, sure. But the best part by far has been the changes I’ve seen in myself. I’m happy here.
That isn’t to say that I wasn’t happy before, I was. I fully expect to be happy once I get back as well. It’s different though. I am filled constantly with the moments that were fleeting at Purdue. Those moments when you realize you are smiling for no reason at all other than the pure, simple joy of it all and the world seems ablaze with colors. The sights, smells, tastes, talks, smiles, jokes, and memories that are the foundation of us all and give credence to the idea of a soul, that is what I find here.
I’ve realized by going back over some of my blog entries it ends up being descriptions of what I’ve seen that pale in comparison to the actual seeing of the sights. That isn’t what I wanted at all. I wanted something that captured the souring elation I felt when standing in the Blue Mountains, the giddy feel of hugging a marsupial, the simplistic pleasure of cruising past the city glowing with color at night. The problem is words can’t capture those feelings. If I were to try I would fill pages upon pages with text that still would fall short of the mark. So I end up diluting it all, watering it down until it is a purely physical entity.
I’m not quite sure what the purpose of this post is. Just to put into words that I’m more now. More what, I’m not sure, but more.
Since I’ve been here the conversations I’ve held have been very physically oriented. What I’ve seen, where I’ve been. It isn’t just the Australians eager to hear about American culture shock, it is my friends and family back home too. Everyone wants to know the Aussies I’ve met and the pictures I’ve taken.
There’s nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, I love it. I love seeing things, tasting things, smelling things, meeting people, experiencing things. The thing is that isn’t what this is about. That isn’t why I came to Australia.
Oh, I came to see the world, sure. But the best part by far has been the changes I’ve seen in myself. I’m happy here.
That isn’t to say that I wasn’t happy before, I was. I fully expect to be happy once I get back as well. It’s different though. I am filled constantly with the moments that were fleeting at Purdue. Those moments when you realize you are smiling for no reason at all other than the pure, simple joy of it all and the world seems ablaze with colors. The sights, smells, tastes, talks, smiles, jokes, and memories that are the foundation of us all and give credence to the idea of a soul, that is what I find here.
I’ve realized by going back over some of my blog entries it ends up being descriptions of what I’ve seen that pale in comparison to the actual seeing of the sights. That isn’t what I wanted at all. I wanted something that captured the souring elation I felt when standing in the Blue Mountains, the giddy feel of hugging a marsupial, the simplistic pleasure of cruising past the city glowing with color at night. The problem is words can’t capture those feelings. If I were to try I would fill pages upon pages with text that still would fall short of the mark. So I end up diluting it all, watering it down until it is a purely physical entity.
I’m not quite sure what the purpose of this post is. Just to put into words that I’m more now. More what, I’m not sure, but more.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Red Sandy Sky
I realize that I haven’t updated in some time, and I will give you a full update but I haven’t been inspired in some time. Indulge me.
The sky is red. It has been windy lately, and the red sand of the outback has been blown into the cities. This morning Kylie mentioned that Sydney was red (from the news), and on the way to class Erin and I experienced an orange tinged sky. It was a pale orange that was the color of the taste of Crème Savers.
The sky is red. It has been windy lately, and the red sand of the outback has been blown into the cities. This morning Kylie mentioned that Sydney was red (from the news), and on the way to class Erin and I experienced an orange tinged sky. It was a pale orange that was the color of the taste of Crème Savers.
After an hour and a half lecture, the dust was everywhere. The wind had been blowing the entire time, and the sand came in droves. It sticks in your throat and in your hair and clothes. People had cameras (not just the international students either!) and were taking pictures. The dusty Great Court looked like fog had rolled in and was covering the world.
After Erin and I got back I went back out with my camera to take some pictures. Walking around by myself felt like I was the only person in the world. Cars coated in red, buildings hazy in the distance. I realize that this is a pretty terrible thing to happen, but at the same time I’m very glad that I’m here to experience it.
Imagine fog. One of those days when you wake up to go to class and the world is hazy and the building across the street is dim and looks far away. Now tinge it all with red. That’s Brisbane right now.
Even as I’m writing this I can smell it in my hair, taste it on my lips, and feel it on my clothes. Anyway, I think it is time for a shower. I’ll inform you of my directing exploits in a day or so, promise!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Midterms
It’s that time of the semester, midterms! Here they call them “mid-semester quizzes”. Its been a pretty hellish week and I’m exhausted, but not enough to sleep so I thought I’d update the world on my exploits.
Erin and I had our 3006 quiz on Wednesday, 3005 homework due on Thursday, 3005 quiz on Saturday, and 3004 quiz on Monday. Needless to say, its been fun. We’re through Saturday with only the Monday quiz to go.
The exams here have a pretty constant format. We are handed an exam answer booklet where we write in our names and id numbers. The exams are handed out and there is a ten minute perusal period (what it is actually called! Perusal, what a great word) where no writing is aloud. I actually really like the perusal period, it’s a nice time to get all your thoughts in order and read over the exam before you start.
3006 was not as bad as expected, though not very good. This is the class that Erin and I are missing at least two major prerec courses for. We’ll have to wait to see what happens.
3005 was laughable. We have two quizzes for that one though, so maybe we will do better? Apparently that class is the hardest one of the entire chee course load here at UQ and people try to study abroad specifically to take that class somewhere else. Erin and I transferred in missing at least one prerequisite course for it! GOSH WE ARE SO GOOD AT THIS.
3004 should be the easiest, only time will tell. The material is the easiest but the professor doesn’t like partial credit. He says that in the real world companies won’t care if you had it mostly right. Yeah well, in the real world I will be able to look up anything I need, so there. Neener neener.
Saturday night after our 3005 exam, we decided to go into the city to go to a music festival that was going on in the Valley. We were going to head in and listen, then come back at a decent hour so Erin and I could wake up early to get a head start on our studying. The night was a pretty big disaster. Some highlights: waiting for an hour with a group of about two hundred people for a bus, not even making it to the Valley due to crowds for a Brisbane festival the same night, ripping one of my two pairs of nice fitting jeans (a pretty major tear that is irrepairable) and then almost going to a potentially very fun party. Unfortunately it ended up being about an hour bus ride away.
On the bright side the bus driver was so overwhelmed with the number of people that he gave us all a free ride from the city back home. That was really nice.
When I say overwhelmed, that is a terrible choice of words to describe this man. More like apathetic. The stop we get on in the city is the end of the line slash the beginning. It’s the end into the city and the beginning out, the bus runs in a giant circle. He got to the bus stop about fifteen minutes early with an empty bus and proceeded to walk up and down it twice looking for trash. He then opened the back door and walked around a bit, waiting for the time when the bus was actually supposed to arrive and completely ignoring the huge hoard of people waiting for the doors to open. Talk of a riot or revolution was spread about, but he just calmly pulled out a little book and read a few lines.
I think he had been driving busses for so long that he’d seen it all and knew that it wasn’t the end of the world. When the appropriate time came he hopped back on the bus and slowly took out this box which we assumed held the money for the tickets, then casually taped up a handwritten sign which read “Free rides” and we all cheered.
The doors opened, and the massive push started. I remember being pushed up against the side and having a polite conversation with the girl standing behind me that went something like this
*push* “Oh I’m sorry”
“Oh it’s fine, it isn’t your fault”
“Too many people!”
“I’m just happy to be touching the bus, they have to let me on now!”
You get the picture. When we finally got home, Erin, Kylie, and I were just drained. We sat around for a while then just sadly went to bed. It has just been a shitty week overall.
Oh I forgot to tell you, I got pretty sick around Tuesday. I felt the sickness coming on Monday then woke up just feeling terrible on Tuesday. I felt like a Katy Perry song, hot and cold all day. Have you ever been sick where you feel like you aren’t really fully in your own body? I was that kind of sick. I pumped myself full of drugs (decongestants and ibuprofen!) and tried to shove some knowledge into my stuffy head.
It mostly passed pretty quickly and I was feeling a lot better by the end of the day.
I really really really really really need to go to bed. Last midterm tomorrow and BugFest auditions start. They asked us to bring some warm up games so I think I am going to show them some of the improve warm-ups that Zach showed us! I’m pretty freakin excited, I just have to survive the test first.
Erin and I had our 3006 quiz on Wednesday, 3005 homework due on Thursday, 3005 quiz on Saturday, and 3004 quiz on Monday. Needless to say, its been fun. We’re through Saturday with only the Monday quiz to go.
The exams here have a pretty constant format. We are handed an exam answer booklet where we write in our names and id numbers. The exams are handed out and there is a ten minute perusal period (what it is actually called! Perusal, what a great word) where no writing is aloud. I actually really like the perusal period, it’s a nice time to get all your thoughts in order and read over the exam before you start.
3006 was not as bad as expected, though not very good. This is the class that Erin and I are missing at least two major prerec courses for. We’ll have to wait to see what happens.
3005 was laughable. We have two quizzes for that one though, so maybe we will do better? Apparently that class is the hardest one of the entire chee course load here at UQ and people try to study abroad specifically to take that class somewhere else. Erin and I transferred in missing at least one prerequisite course for it! GOSH WE ARE SO GOOD AT THIS.
3004 should be the easiest, only time will tell. The material is the easiest but the professor doesn’t like partial credit. He says that in the real world companies won’t care if you had it mostly right. Yeah well, in the real world I will be able to look up anything I need, so there. Neener neener.
Saturday night after our 3005 exam, we decided to go into the city to go to a music festival that was going on in the Valley. We were going to head in and listen, then come back at a decent hour so Erin and I could wake up early to get a head start on our studying. The night was a pretty big disaster. Some highlights: waiting for an hour with a group of about two hundred people for a bus, not even making it to the Valley due to crowds for a Brisbane festival the same night, ripping one of my two pairs of nice fitting jeans (a pretty major tear that is irrepairable) and then almost going to a potentially very fun party. Unfortunately it ended up being about an hour bus ride away.
On the bright side the bus driver was so overwhelmed with the number of people that he gave us all a free ride from the city back home. That was really nice.
When I say overwhelmed, that is a terrible choice of words to describe this man. More like apathetic. The stop we get on in the city is the end of the line slash the beginning. It’s the end into the city and the beginning out, the bus runs in a giant circle. He got to the bus stop about fifteen minutes early with an empty bus and proceeded to walk up and down it twice looking for trash. He then opened the back door and walked around a bit, waiting for the time when the bus was actually supposed to arrive and completely ignoring the huge hoard of people waiting for the doors to open. Talk of a riot or revolution was spread about, but he just calmly pulled out a little book and read a few lines.
I think he had been driving busses for so long that he’d seen it all and knew that it wasn’t the end of the world. When the appropriate time came he hopped back on the bus and slowly took out this box which we assumed held the money for the tickets, then casually taped up a handwritten sign which read “Free rides” and we all cheered.
The doors opened, and the massive push started. I remember being pushed up against the side and having a polite conversation with the girl standing behind me that went something like this
*push* “Oh I’m sorry”
“Oh it’s fine, it isn’t your fault”
“Too many people!”
“I’m just happy to be touching the bus, they have to let me on now!”
You get the picture. When we finally got home, Erin, Kylie, and I were just drained. We sat around for a while then just sadly went to bed. It has just been a shitty week overall.
Oh I forgot to tell you, I got pretty sick around Tuesday. I felt the sickness coming on Monday then woke up just feeling terrible on Tuesday. I felt like a Katy Perry song, hot and cold all day. Have you ever been sick where you feel like you aren’t really fully in your own body? I was that kind of sick. I pumped myself full of drugs (decongestants and ibuprofen!) and tried to shove some knowledge into my stuffy head.
It mostly passed pretty quickly and I was feeling a lot better by the end of the day.
I really really really really really need to go to bed. Last midterm tomorrow and BugFest auditions start. They asked us to bring some warm up games so I think I am going to show them some of the improve warm-ups that Zach showed us! I’m pretty freakin excited, I just have to survive the test first.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Guess where I went! Go on, guess.
Still no clue? The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, goofs! It’s the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary, in case you didn’t know.
We took a bus into the city then hopped on another which just goes out to Lone Pine. A half hour later, and we were at koala heaven. There were birds
Turtles
Crocodiles
Ponies
And more. We got to see a dog show, two dogs herding sheep. One dog was about a year old and before the show started he kept wandering to go visit the kids and get attention. When called he would sort of look at the farmer guy like “Do I really have to? This is so much more fun!” The other dog was a few years older and knew her shiz-nit. She sat at attention looking intently at farmer guy waiting for a job. She was really awesome to watch. Once the sheep were in the small pen, she would jump and walk on top of them to make sure they were in tight. A few times one on the end would back up and she would stare it down. You could tell it knew it wasn’t supposed to be away from the group and it would scurry back when she gave it the Puppy Death Glare.
After the dog show we went and saw what was, in my opinion, the coolest thing at the Sanctuary. The kangaroos. There was essentially just a huge fenced in field that the kangaroos could roam around, laze about, and generally be awesome.
You could feed them ($1 for a bag of food) or just go up and pet them. The first time we went in, it was pretty hot so they were mostly just laying about taking naps. A few perked up if they thought you had food, but for the most part they were content to laze about. There were some great picture opportunities because they were so chilled out.
After some time with the kangaroos we went and ate lunch and saw a peacock just strutting his stuff around the tables. He didn’t unfurl his tail, but it was magnificent to look at none the less.
After lunch came the koala cuddling. The line was reasonably short so we hopped in. As long as you paid for one picture you could take as many as you wanted, so we put Andrew on camera duty (as he wasn’t holding one) and got a-cuddling. They are so soft and adorable. The one we held was named Gandalf (lulz, get it, Gandalf the Grey?).
We got to see the Tasmanian devils
And dingoes. However, it was at this point that my camera died, so I don’t actually have any pictures of the dingoes. We also went back and saw the kangaroos again. I will probably steal Kylie and Erin’s pictures from the rest of the zoo-fun eventually, but for now this is what I’ve got. OK I have more, but I don’t think this blog can handle 120 pictures of me attempting to hug a kangaroo and take my own picture. Stay classy, folks!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Plays, Visitors, and Internet, Oh My!
Guess who has internet?! THIS KID RIGHT HERE!
I should probably explain. In Australia it is commonplace to have what are called “download quotas”. Basically, there is a limit to how many interwebs you have each month. This past month our apartment went over (mostly due to Erin and me, sorry Kylie!). Once you go over one of two things will happen, either the internet will stay at the same speed and they will change you ridiculous fees or it will become slow. Almost dial up slow. We were a member of the latter group. For the past two to three weeks we have had snail-speed internet which has made things…difficult. Split slow three ways and you get even slower.
Between the hours of 2 AM and noon we would get normal speed, so before class or late at night we would download anything we needed for schoolings to save to our computers and deal with when we didn’t have interwebs.
In other news, The Airborne Toxic Event concert was canceled due to band illness. My money was refunded, but I’m still really disappointed. The venue that it was going to be in was pretty small and I doubt it was sold out so it would have been an epic concert. Oh well, I’ll just have to see them somewhere else.
In other, other news I got some good news on Friday. Last week I applied to direct a one act play in a festival called Bugfest here on campus and I got the one I wanted! I will get to cast and direct the play; rehearsals go for about a month. Don’t worry Mom and Dad; we won’t be rehearsing every night so I will still have plenty of time for my classes and research.
The play is a sort of spoof on Twilight, but it is really about imagining others as real people rather than just living in your own world. The cast is small (3 people) so even though I haven’t directed before I think I will be able to handle it.
Erin’s boo Andrew is visiting currently. He is staying at our place for a few days and we are taking him around to see all there is to see in Brisbane. I moved my mattress into Kylie’s room to give the two crazy kids some privacy for the duration of his stay. The first day he was here we went into the city to get dinner and took the CityCat back. About 15 minutes prior to us boarding a couple fell overboard from another boat, only one got back on. Half way through our trip home they came over the loud speaker and told us that there was someone in the water. We slowed way down and they started spotlighting places on the river looking for him. They didn’t find him when we were onboard and apparently they still haven’t. Pretty heavy, folks.
I should probably explain. In Australia it is commonplace to have what are called “download quotas”. Basically, there is a limit to how many interwebs you have each month. This past month our apartment went over (mostly due to Erin and me, sorry Kylie!). Once you go over one of two things will happen, either the internet will stay at the same speed and they will change you ridiculous fees or it will become slow. Almost dial up slow. We were a member of the latter group. For the past two to three weeks we have had snail-speed internet which has made things…difficult. Split slow three ways and you get even slower.
Between the hours of 2 AM and noon we would get normal speed, so before class or late at night we would download anything we needed for schoolings to save to our computers and deal with when we didn’t have interwebs.
In other news, The Airborne Toxic Event concert was canceled due to band illness. My money was refunded, but I’m still really disappointed. The venue that it was going to be in was pretty small and I doubt it was sold out so it would have been an epic concert. Oh well, I’ll just have to see them somewhere else.
In other, other news I got some good news on Friday. Last week I applied to direct a one act play in a festival called Bugfest here on campus and I got the one I wanted! I will get to cast and direct the play; rehearsals go for about a month. Don’t worry Mom and Dad; we won’t be rehearsing every night so I will still have plenty of time for my classes and research.
The play is a sort of spoof on Twilight, but it is really about imagining others as real people rather than just living in your own world. The cast is small (3 people) so even though I haven’t directed before I think I will be able to handle it.
Erin’s boo Andrew is visiting currently. He is staying at our place for a few days and we are taking him around to see all there is to see in Brisbane. I moved my mattress into Kylie’s room to give the two crazy kids some privacy for the duration of his stay. The first day he was here we went into the city to get dinner and took the CityCat back. About 15 minutes prior to us boarding a couple fell overboard from another boat, only one got back on. Half way through our trip home they came over the loud speaker and told us that there was someone in the water. We slowed way down and they started spotlighting places on the river looking for him. They didn’t find him when we were onboard and apparently they still haven’t. Pretty heavy, folks.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Can you smell what the Oz is cooking?
I think it is time for a post about the thing that you all REALLY care about. Food. Delicious, nutritious, and otherwise.
Let’s start with the epically awesome Tim Tams. I know I have described the wonder that is the Tim Tam Slam with hot chocolate, but did you know there are other varieties of Tim Tams? The best, in my opinion, is the double coated ones. The extra chocolate makes it perfect, the inside gets gooey and you can still hold onto it. Erin loves the dark chocolate ones. There are also these things called Tim Tam Crumbles. These Tim Tams are things like Cookies and Cream, and are a little slice of awesome. While still wonderful with hot liquids, they are just as good on their own. A third category of the delicious cookies is the ones with stuff inside them. These include caramel and a hazelnut one. The problem with these is that when refrigerated, the gooey stuff becomes really hard to bite through. I am not much of a fan of the consistency of the goo, when it melts the chocolate is very malleable but the caramel and hazelnut cream stay about the same. It isn’t as melty.
Did you know that in Australia they call cookies biscuits? I think biscuits as we know them don’t really exist here, they didn’t have them at the KFC (KFC in Australia, I’m still shocked) here, and if any place would have biscuits KFC would. Some other fun names for things include tater tots being called potato gems (hee hee, I’m keeping that once I get back. Potato gems…) and French fries being chips.
Speaking of chips, fish and chips is flipping everywhere here. You would think this was England! Pretty much every restaurant has fish and chips, and I have seen several places dedicated solely to sole and other fish. I’m pretty content, as it is usually delicious. A restaurant on campus called 2nd Degree has fantastic fish and chips, nice and light and just the right size for a lunch.
Other places to eat are severely Asian geared. There is a huge Asian population in Australia, and they brought their food from each of their countries. This is fresh-off-the-boat (Kylie said it so it’s not racist) food, as real as you are going to get outside of the actual country the food came from. What is very weird is that many of the places felt the need to take on two types of food. There are Chinese-Malaysian places, Vietnamese-Chinese, Korean-Sushi. Each place obviously has their specialty, but they have food on their menus from both. I am really craving some Rice Café bastardized terrible fried delicious Chinese. They don’t really have bastardized Chinese food here, probably because the Chinese actually live here. Imagine that.
When you ask for lemonade to drink, here you get Sprite. It’s actually rather refreshing. I haven’t figured out what they call real lemonade, yet but I’m enjoying the Sprite-lemonade. When I went to London it was the same way, so I think the US is just weird with our lemonade lemonade.
Here you have to pay for ketchup. Yeah. I know. Those of you who know my eating habits know that ketchup forms the base of my food pyramid. This is either a large hit for my wallet or my diet; I’ve chosen to even it out. A ramekin of ketchup will run 25 cents to 50 cents, depending on where it is and what the size of it is. Some more casual places with the little packets of ketchup will give the first free, then you have to pay for the others you want. Feel free to begin making jokes about how you’re surprised I haven’t starved yet.
What they do have, however, is ketchup chips. What. The. Hell. Apparently they are pretty big in Canada as well, how do we not have these in the US?! I have yet to try them, they sound pretty nauseating but I figure I will give them a try along with the Cheese and Bacon Cheetos that keep calling my name.
Another interesting flavor they have is sweet chili. Holy crap, this flavor is fantastic. It is a sauce or a chip flavor, and it is fantastic. It is sort of like a zingy sour cream and onion flavor, which sounds disgusting in theory but is magical in practice. How this has not crossed the ocean, I will never know because it is my new favorite chip flavor. Better than barbecue, better than sour cream and onion, better than popcorn.
One thing that is very interesting is the variety of textures the Aussies like to play with. They have twice as many candy bars as we do, Cadbury is huge here. There are lots of chocolates that are very different than the Hershey’s bars we have. I tried a candy bar called Aero, which was essentially lots of very tiny bubbles of chocolate coated in a layer of chocolate to give it a solid appearance. If you hold it in your mouth, the thin layers of chocolate inside forming the bubbles will melt and you can actually hear and feel them popping. Its very light and easy to eat and crazy interesting.
Last night I had a candy bar that was shaped like a Twix, but inside were very thin tiny long strips of chocolate. It was crumbly and like nothing I have tried before. Very tasty, and when it melty very creamy. Cadbury has some good stuff man; we in the States are missing out. I have a list of about four other candy bars that I’ve never even heard of that I want to try.
Another delicious Aussie sweet treat is something called a lamington. Basically it is a sponge cake coated in a thin layer of chocolate then covered in coconut shavings. I’m not a big coconut fan, so I didn’t much like the texture that it added, but the flavor is just light enough to balance the chocolate and cake. The cake is fluffy and delicious and you could eat a vat of it and still have room for more. And since it is mostly air, it doesn’t really count.
There is this chain of fantastic bakeries around Brisbane (possibly further, I haven’t been enough places to tell) that has fresh baked delicious things every day. They are made in house and they have muffins and donuts and sausage rolls and it is all fantastic and reasonably priced. The muffins are what stick out in my head. The flavors are all very subtle, just enough. Even the triple chocolate muffin is not overwhelmingly chocolaty as one would expect it to be.
Well that is about it. What? You say I left something out? Hm I don’t think so. Oh. Wait. I suppose I can’t have a blog post about food without talking about the food of all foods. The stereotypical Aussie treat. Vegemite.
Yes I have tried it. Twice in fact! I forgot what it tasted like the first time as I only had a bite, so for the sake of this post I made myself some toast, slathered on the butter, and spread that Vegemite thin, just the way it is supposed to be made. It isn’t as bad as you are led to believe. I’m a pretty picky eater and I probably could finish the piece if I set my mind to it. It has a salty, strange flavor that isn’t, in my opinion, bad at first. The lingering aftertaste is what I found to be the nasty part. I ate a cookie to wash it out. The lingering taste is a much lesser form of the smell of the stuff. Stale butt, that is the smell. If you are ever presented with a jar of Vegemite and want to know what I’m talking about, don’t take a huge whiff. You will probably die.
That’s it so far (that I can think of and wanted to make note of anyway). I have yet to try Roo, though I have heard good things. It’s on the list! I keep saying that like there is an actual list. There isn’t. But if there were, trying kangaroo would be on it.
Let’s start with the epically awesome Tim Tams. I know I have described the wonder that is the Tim Tam Slam with hot chocolate, but did you know there are other varieties of Tim Tams? The best, in my opinion, is the double coated ones. The extra chocolate makes it perfect, the inside gets gooey and you can still hold onto it. Erin loves the dark chocolate ones. There are also these things called Tim Tam Crumbles. These Tim Tams are things like Cookies and Cream, and are a little slice of awesome. While still wonderful with hot liquids, they are just as good on their own. A third category of the delicious cookies is the ones with stuff inside them. These include caramel and a hazelnut one. The problem with these is that when refrigerated, the gooey stuff becomes really hard to bite through. I am not much of a fan of the consistency of the goo, when it melts the chocolate is very malleable but the caramel and hazelnut cream stay about the same. It isn’t as melty.
Did you know that in Australia they call cookies biscuits? I think biscuits as we know them don’t really exist here, they didn’t have them at the KFC (KFC in Australia, I’m still shocked) here, and if any place would have biscuits KFC would. Some other fun names for things include tater tots being called potato gems (hee hee, I’m keeping that once I get back. Potato gems…) and French fries being chips.
Speaking of chips, fish and chips is flipping everywhere here. You would think this was England! Pretty much every restaurant has fish and chips, and I have seen several places dedicated solely to sole and other fish. I’m pretty content, as it is usually delicious. A restaurant on campus called 2nd Degree has fantastic fish and chips, nice and light and just the right size for a lunch.
Other places to eat are severely Asian geared. There is a huge Asian population in Australia, and they brought their food from each of their countries. This is fresh-off-the-boat (Kylie said it so it’s not racist) food, as real as you are going to get outside of the actual country the food came from. What is very weird is that many of the places felt the need to take on two types of food. There are Chinese-Malaysian places, Vietnamese-Chinese, Korean-Sushi. Each place obviously has their specialty, but they have food on their menus from both. I am really craving some Rice Café bastardized terrible fried delicious Chinese. They don’t really have bastardized Chinese food here, probably because the Chinese actually live here. Imagine that.
When you ask for lemonade to drink, here you get Sprite. It’s actually rather refreshing. I haven’t figured out what they call real lemonade, yet but I’m enjoying the Sprite-lemonade. When I went to London it was the same way, so I think the US is just weird with our lemonade lemonade.
Here you have to pay for ketchup. Yeah. I know. Those of you who know my eating habits know that ketchup forms the base of my food pyramid. This is either a large hit for my wallet or my diet; I’ve chosen to even it out. A ramekin of ketchup will run 25 cents to 50 cents, depending on where it is and what the size of it is. Some more casual places with the little packets of ketchup will give the first free, then you have to pay for the others you want. Feel free to begin making jokes about how you’re surprised I haven’t starved yet.
What they do have, however, is ketchup chips. What. The. Hell. Apparently they are pretty big in Canada as well, how do we not have these in the US?! I have yet to try them, they sound pretty nauseating but I figure I will give them a try along with the Cheese and Bacon Cheetos that keep calling my name.
Another interesting flavor they have is sweet chili. Holy crap, this flavor is fantastic. It is a sauce or a chip flavor, and it is fantastic. It is sort of like a zingy sour cream and onion flavor, which sounds disgusting in theory but is magical in practice. How this has not crossed the ocean, I will never know because it is my new favorite chip flavor. Better than barbecue, better than sour cream and onion, better than popcorn.
One thing that is very interesting is the variety of textures the Aussies like to play with. They have twice as many candy bars as we do, Cadbury is huge here. There are lots of chocolates that are very different than the Hershey’s bars we have. I tried a candy bar called Aero, which was essentially lots of very tiny bubbles of chocolate coated in a layer of chocolate to give it a solid appearance. If you hold it in your mouth, the thin layers of chocolate inside forming the bubbles will melt and you can actually hear and feel them popping. Its very light and easy to eat and crazy interesting.
Last night I had a candy bar that was shaped like a Twix, but inside were very thin tiny long strips of chocolate. It was crumbly and like nothing I have tried before. Very tasty, and when it melty very creamy. Cadbury has some good stuff man; we in the States are missing out. I have a list of about four other candy bars that I’ve never even heard of that I want to try.
Another delicious Aussie sweet treat is something called a lamington. Basically it is a sponge cake coated in a thin layer of chocolate then covered in coconut shavings. I’m not a big coconut fan, so I didn’t much like the texture that it added, but the flavor is just light enough to balance the chocolate and cake. The cake is fluffy and delicious and you could eat a vat of it and still have room for more. And since it is mostly air, it doesn’t really count.
There is this chain of fantastic bakeries around Brisbane (possibly further, I haven’t been enough places to tell) that has fresh baked delicious things every day. They are made in house and they have muffins and donuts and sausage rolls and it is all fantastic and reasonably priced. The muffins are what stick out in my head. The flavors are all very subtle, just enough. Even the triple chocolate muffin is not overwhelmingly chocolaty as one would expect it to be.
Well that is about it. What? You say I left something out? Hm I don’t think so. Oh. Wait. I suppose I can’t have a blog post about food without talking about the food of all foods. The stereotypical Aussie treat. Vegemite.
Yes I have tried it. Twice in fact! I forgot what it tasted like the first time as I only had a bite, so for the sake of this post I made myself some toast, slathered on the butter, and spread that Vegemite thin, just the way it is supposed to be made. It isn’t as bad as you are led to believe. I’m a pretty picky eater and I probably could finish the piece if I set my mind to it. It has a salty, strange flavor that isn’t, in my opinion, bad at first. The lingering aftertaste is what I found to be the nasty part. I ate a cookie to wash it out. The lingering taste is a much lesser form of the smell of the stuff. Stale butt, that is the smell. If you are ever presented with a jar of Vegemite and want to know what I’m talking about, don’t take a huge whiff. You will probably die.
That’s it so far (that I can think of and wanted to make note of anyway). I have yet to try Roo, though I have heard good things. It’s on the list! I keep saying that like there is an actual list. There isn’t. But if there were, trying kangaroo would be on it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Townsville
So Townsville was awesome. We got in around noon and ate at the dining hall (against the rules, might I add. Man, we are rebels). After dropping our stuff off in Stephanie’s (the girl whose room we were crashing in) room, we changed and took a bus into the actual city of Townsville, to take in some sun at the beach. Voted cleanliest beach in 2004 and 2008, whoo! It was absolutely lovely.
It was practically empty, which was amazing. Townsville seemed pretty small, especially in comparison to Brisbane which is the third most populous Australian city. There were some cute shops (all closed, and on a Saturday! What’s up with that?) but in all it isn’t the near a city campus that UQ is, it is more for people who want to hit the beach regularly and revel in wildlife I think. Blech, wildlife. Who does that?
After a nice nap in the sun (goobered up with sunscreen, don’t worry) we went back to Stephanie’s room to change again, and to head out on the town. Townsville may not be Brisbane, but it certainly isn’t lacking in the nightlife.
I should mention that on the way there we met up with a rather large group of girls who were also going into town. We proceeded to belt Disney tunes and 80’s rock ballads on the bus there. Don’t stop believing, folks. Just hold onto that feeling.
We first hit a place called the Mad Cow. Selections included Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, a Grease medley, and Sweet Home Alabama. You get the picture. There was a bachelorette party who were also there, so several people were in costumes and there were a few stray balloons that had made a break for the sky, only to hit the ceiling.
The bar tenders were attractive women wearing midriff bearing shirts who had mobs of people shouting drink orders at them. I felt a little bad when I was ordering my water because two guys were being pretty big douche bags right before me.
We stayed and danced at the Mad Cow and generally had a good time for a while, then decided to give another place a try. Some of the people we rode the bus with had mentioned going to a place called The Bank. Now, bear in mind with the story I am about to tell that most of these places are not clearly labeled. There is no giant flashing neon sign displaying for all to see the name of the establishment. It is spread by word of mouth and the music blaring from the doors.
The first place which we assumed to be The Bank due to the vague gesture earlier in the evening was….not. To get in the door we had to show ID then head up the stairs to a front desk-esc place to pay a cover. Erin peaked around the corner to see if this place was worth the cover charge or if we should find somewhere else. Apparently there were poles and stages involved in whatever was going on around that corner, which explains why we got strange looks from the hulking bodyguard at the door.
Needless to say we went back down the stairs and tried another place.
Our second try actually was The Bank. Seven bucks to get in and they were blaring the Vengaboys. We only stayed for around 45 minutes and in that time they played Barbie Girl and two songs by the Vengaboys. While waiting for Steph’s drink I helped a random guy convince his friend that the song “Boom Boom Boom Boom” was a quality song. Mission successful, random guy 2 admitted it. I like to think I change lives.
We headed home to zonk out on Steph’s floor. We borrowed cushions from another dorm room, and Kylie and I slept on the floor with a bed of cushions (3 each) while Stephanie and Erin shared the bed. The cushion bed was surprisingly comfortable for the first two nights; three was pushing it for my back.
Sunday we took a trip to Maggie Island. We took a bus to the ferry, and then took a 45 minute ferry ride to the Island. The ride over was absolutely beautiful. We got a great view of Townsville and the Island itself.
When we got there we took a cab (after missing the bus by literally a minute and a half) across the island to where we heard the best beaches were. We had some beachy fun, including some playing in the sand. The sunset was absolutely spectacular, right behind part of the Island down the beach.
Erin and I got milkshakes that were disappointment in liquid form. Emphasis on the liquid. It was like a glass of milk with a squirt of chocolate and a scoop of ice cream in the bottom, not even mixed up. I’m still a little peeved about this. Trying to let it go, but milkshakes are sacred.
After catching the ferry back we went to bed early, getting up at an ungodly hour of 6 to go snorkeling. Too early for the bus, so we called a cab which played classical music on the radio. We waited at the snorkeling place for them to pick us up in a van to take us to the wharf.
Once we got there we had to sign a form saying we knew we could die and then tried on our wetsuits and flippers, then onto the boat! The boat was a two level boat, seats on the bottom and an open top on the top. We got a talk about safety and boat etiquette filled with a few little jokes (including “If you don’t know how to use the bucket, just put your head in and read the directions at the bottom” when referring to the barf buckets) and set sail. About a half hour into it I went to ask for some seasickness medicine, about ten minutes too late. By the time the crew member got back I was already hunched over the bucket, tasting the toast they served for breakfast again.
The next hour or so was pretty fun. I couldn’t keep down water to take the seasickness medicine, so I just had to grin and bear it. I wasn’t the only one clutching a bucket though. There was a guy who sat across from me who was also feeling the motion of the ocean. Everyone was really nice; I got quite a few pats on the head with a sympathetic smile or two.
Once we got to the reef, one of the crew members stole my bucket telling me to get into the water, that it would make me feel better. He was trying to help, but his timing was terrible. I had to go to the bathroom before I could get myself into my wet suit and into the water. He was right though, I did feel a lot better once I was in the water.
The reef was, to put it simply, amazing. There were droves of fish and sharks and interesting shapes and colors. The water was a little murky apparently, but I was too mesmerized to notice. I saw reef sharks cruising about the coral, red fish and blue fish, one fish and two fish.
The coral was breathtaking. No joke, a few times I had to come up because I forgot to breathe and the snorkel didn’t help things. Also, when you smile water gets into the goggles. Just a fun fact for you.
Some people saw a turtle, but I don’t think I went out far enough. I stayed moderately close to the boat because I was still feeling a little weak and didn’t really want to go too far. There was plenty to see around the boat anyway, even if I did miss out on the turtle. I want to go back so maybe I will see one then. I would like to try out diving to actually go down to see even more. Next time I will take some seasickness medicine BEFORE we leave so as to actually be able to enjoy the entire boat ride.
The ride back was smoother so I didn’t get sick once! Trust me, that is impressive in comparison to the ride there. Towards the end I even managed to keep down some water and crackers. One of the crew members sat and talked to me a bit about his travels, Thailand and New Zealand and all of these crazy awesome places. Apparently pay on one of those boats isn’t that great, the lifestyle is what they really work for. Just traveling around, going where you want. If I didn’t get seasick I would probably have been jealous.
Back to Stephanie’s room, sleep, then to the airport in the morning. One of the guys who was on our snorkel boat was actually on the same flight to Brisbane as us, and as we were preparing for takeoff he passed over one of those white barf bags with the message “Just in case” which was very amusing.
In all, the trip was a pretty great success.
It was practically empty, which was amazing. Townsville seemed pretty small, especially in comparison to Brisbane which is the third most populous Australian city. There were some cute shops (all closed, and on a Saturday! What’s up with that?) but in all it isn’t the near a city campus that UQ is, it is more for people who want to hit the beach regularly and revel in wildlife I think. Blech, wildlife. Who does that?
After a nice nap in the sun (goobered up with sunscreen, don’t worry) we went back to Stephanie’s room to change again, and to head out on the town. Townsville may not be Brisbane, but it certainly isn’t lacking in the nightlife.
I should mention that on the way there we met up with a rather large group of girls who were also going into town. We proceeded to belt Disney tunes and 80’s rock ballads on the bus there. Don’t stop believing, folks. Just hold onto that feeling.
We first hit a place called the Mad Cow. Selections included Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, a Grease medley, and Sweet Home Alabama. You get the picture. There was a bachelorette party who were also there, so several people were in costumes and there were a few stray balloons that had made a break for the sky, only to hit the ceiling.
The bar tenders were attractive women wearing midriff bearing shirts who had mobs of people shouting drink orders at them. I felt a little bad when I was ordering my water because two guys were being pretty big douche bags right before me.
We stayed and danced at the Mad Cow and generally had a good time for a while, then decided to give another place a try. Some of the people we rode the bus with had mentioned going to a place called The Bank. Now, bear in mind with the story I am about to tell that most of these places are not clearly labeled. There is no giant flashing neon sign displaying for all to see the name of the establishment. It is spread by word of mouth and the music blaring from the doors.
The first place which we assumed to be The Bank due to the vague gesture earlier in the evening was….not. To get in the door we had to show ID then head up the stairs to a front desk-esc place to pay a cover. Erin peaked around the corner to see if this place was worth the cover charge or if we should find somewhere else. Apparently there were poles and stages involved in whatever was going on around that corner, which explains why we got strange looks from the hulking bodyguard at the door.
Needless to say we went back down the stairs and tried another place.
Our second try actually was The Bank. Seven bucks to get in and they were blaring the Vengaboys. We only stayed for around 45 minutes and in that time they played Barbie Girl and two songs by the Vengaboys. While waiting for Steph’s drink I helped a random guy convince his friend that the song “Boom Boom Boom Boom” was a quality song. Mission successful, random guy 2 admitted it. I like to think I change lives.
We headed home to zonk out on Steph’s floor. We borrowed cushions from another dorm room, and Kylie and I slept on the floor with a bed of cushions (3 each) while Stephanie and Erin shared the bed. The cushion bed was surprisingly comfortable for the first two nights; three was pushing it for my back.
Sunday we took a trip to Maggie Island. We took a bus to the ferry, and then took a 45 minute ferry ride to the Island. The ride over was absolutely beautiful. We got a great view of Townsville and the Island itself.
When we got there we took a cab (after missing the bus by literally a minute and a half) across the island to where we heard the best beaches were. We had some beachy fun, including some playing in the sand. The sunset was absolutely spectacular, right behind part of the Island down the beach.
Erin and I got milkshakes that were disappointment in liquid form. Emphasis on the liquid. It was like a glass of milk with a squirt of chocolate and a scoop of ice cream in the bottom, not even mixed up. I’m still a little peeved about this. Trying to let it go, but milkshakes are sacred.
After catching the ferry back we went to bed early, getting up at an ungodly hour of 6 to go snorkeling. Too early for the bus, so we called a cab which played classical music on the radio. We waited at the snorkeling place for them to pick us up in a van to take us to the wharf.
Once we got there we had to sign a form saying we knew we could die and then tried on our wetsuits and flippers, then onto the boat! The boat was a two level boat, seats on the bottom and an open top on the top. We got a talk about safety and boat etiquette filled with a few little jokes (including “If you don’t know how to use the bucket, just put your head in and read the directions at the bottom” when referring to the barf buckets) and set sail. About a half hour into it I went to ask for some seasickness medicine, about ten minutes too late. By the time the crew member got back I was already hunched over the bucket, tasting the toast they served for breakfast again.
The next hour or so was pretty fun. I couldn’t keep down water to take the seasickness medicine, so I just had to grin and bear it. I wasn’t the only one clutching a bucket though. There was a guy who sat across from me who was also feeling the motion of the ocean. Everyone was really nice; I got quite a few pats on the head with a sympathetic smile or two.
Once we got to the reef, one of the crew members stole my bucket telling me to get into the water, that it would make me feel better. He was trying to help, but his timing was terrible. I had to go to the bathroom before I could get myself into my wet suit and into the water. He was right though, I did feel a lot better once I was in the water.
The reef was, to put it simply, amazing. There were droves of fish and sharks and interesting shapes and colors. The water was a little murky apparently, but I was too mesmerized to notice. I saw reef sharks cruising about the coral, red fish and blue fish, one fish and two fish.
The coral was breathtaking. No joke, a few times I had to come up because I forgot to breathe and the snorkel didn’t help things. Also, when you smile water gets into the goggles. Just a fun fact for you.
Some people saw a turtle, but I don’t think I went out far enough. I stayed moderately close to the boat because I was still feeling a little weak and didn’t really want to go too far. There was plenty to see around the boat anyway, even if I did miss out on the turtle. I want to go back so maybe I will see one then. I would like to try out diving to actually go down to see even more. Next time I will take some seasickness medicine BEFORE we leave so as to actually be able to enjoy the entire boat ride.
The ride back was smoother so I didn’t get sick once! Trust me, that is impressive in comparison to the ride there. Towards the end I even managed to keep down some water and crackers. One of the crew members sat and talked to me a bit about his travels, Thailand and New Zealand and all of these crazy awesome places. Apparently pay on one of those boats isn’t that great, the lifestyle is what they really work for. Just traveling around, going where you want. If I didn’t get seasick I would probably have been jealous.
Back to Stephanie’s room, sleep, then to the airport in the morning. One of the guys who was on our snorkel boat was actually on the same flight to Brisbane as us, and as we were preparing for takeoff he passed over one of those white barf bags with the message “Just in case” which was very amusing.
In all, the trip was a pretty great success.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Off to the Races!
Wednesday was a day off of school, called Ekka day. Ekka is basically this huge carnival fair that Brisbane holds for a week. There are animals and motocross and lots of food. Since there were no classes, Kylie, Erin and I decided to go to what is known as the Ekka Races!
Unfortunately Erin got sick. Kylie and I got dressed up and let her sleep in and headed off. We met with a bunch of people from the beach volleyball club (which Erin and Kylie are both members of) and took the CityCat to the races. It was probably a 45 minute ferry ride through Brisbane, so some nice sights were seen.
The races were very fun. Kylie rides horses, so she knows quite a bit. Apparently normally horses run counterclockwise around the track, but here they ran clockwise which is a strange difference. Also they ran on grass, which is also peculiar apparently. I’ve never been to another horse race, so it is difficult to make comparisons.
There were lots and lots of people there. When we first got there, it wasn’t bad but as the day wore on the crowds were overwhelming. Some girls were very dressed up (floor length dress that would fit in at prom) while others were on par with Kylie and I in nice sundresses, and everything in between.
There were food places; one was a fish and chips place which was named Nemo’s Café! It even had a Finding Nemo sign, Kylie and I had a good laugh over this.
I bet on two horses, two dollars each. The first was named American Gangster (I felt obligated to show some country pride) and it lost pretty badly. Actually I think she (Kylie thought they were mares) was fifth, but that wins me nothing!
The second horse was named Linear (nerd horse!) and she won! She didn’t just win, she slaughtered. Nerd horses for the win! My winnings almost made me break even. If I had bet Linear to win instead of to place (which is first and second place) I would have come out ahead, instead I ended up losing twenty cents total. Not bad for my first time.
~*~
(The above shall from now on denote a time change in my blog post. For example, from Wednesday to Friday as the one here does.)
Today (Friday) Erin and I headed to Indoorpoly shopping center to look around for some things. We found a fantastic shoe store and bought some flats (I got a pair of green ones!) and I also got a swim suit. Why did I get a swim suit you ask? Well maybe you aren’t really asking, as I’m in Australia, but pretend to ask just for a bit.
This weekend we are flying to Townsville. Erin knows a girl there from her StudyAustralia orientation that is letting us stay there for a few days. We got a decent deal on plain tickets there and then got a hundred dollar voucher for a flight on Jetstar airlines, which pushed it into fantastic deal land. We are going to go on an all day snorkeling trip on the reef among other things. I’m pretty excited.
Expect a fun update about how beautifully wonderfully spectacular Townsville is Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay, snazzy folks.
Unfortunately Erin got sick. Kylie and I got dressed up and let her sleep in and headed off. We met with a bunch of people from the beach volleyball club (which Erin and Kylie are both members of) and took the CityCat to the races. It was probably a 45 minute ferry ride through Brisbane, so some nice sights were seen.
The races were very fun. Kylie rides horses, so she knows quite a bit. Apparently normally horses run counterclockwise around the track, but here they ran clockwise which is a strange difference. Also they ran on grass, which is also peculiar apparently. I’ve never been to another horse race, so it is difficult to make comparisons.
There were lots and lots of people there. When we first got there, it wasn’t bad but as the day wore on the crowds were overwhelming. Some girls were very dressed up (floor length dress that would fit in at prom) while others were on par with Kylie and I in nice sundresses, and everything in between.
There were food places; one was a fish and chips place which was named Nemo’s Café! It even had a Finding Nemo sign, Kylie and I had a good laugh over this.
I bet on two horses, two dollars each. The first was named American Gangster (I felt obligated to show some country pride) and it lost pretty badly. Actually I think she (Kylie thought they were mares) was fifth, but that wins me nothing!
The second horse was named Linear (nerd horse!) and she won! She didn’t just win, she slaughtered. Nerd horses for the win! My winnings almost made me break even. If I had bet Linear to win instead of to place (which is first and second place) I would have come out ahead, instead I ended up losing twenty cents total. Not bad for my first time.
~*~
(The above shall from now on denote a time change in my blog post. For example, from Wednesday to Friday as the one here does.)
Today (Friday) Erin and I headed to Indoorpoly shopping center to look around for some things. We found a fantastic shoe store and bought some flats (I got a pair of green ones!) and I also got a swim suit. Why did I get a swim suit you ask? Well maybe you aren’t really asking, as I’m in Australia, but pretend to ask just for a bit.
This weekend we are flying to Townsville. Erin knows a girl there from her StudyAustralia orientation that is letting us stay there for a few days. We got a decent deal on plain tickets there and then got a hundred dollar voucher for a flight on Jetstar airlines, which pushed it into fantastic deal land. We are going to go on an all day snorkeling trip on the reef among other things. I’m pretty excited.
Expect a fun update about how beautifully wonderfully spectacular Townsville is Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay, snazzy folks.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Airborne Toxic Event
Just a quick note, I am going to get to see one of my favorite bands The Airborne Toxic Event here in Brisbane in September. Pee-in-my-pants excited, folks. I need to find someone to go with me, because I already bought my ticket. I’m pretty flipping stoked. That’s all.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Step Inn and Rics
So last night was pretty fantastic. We took the bus and train to the Valley to see Tom’s band. We got there a little late and only heard about 3 songs, but what we heard was pretty good. They’re called Wipedoubt, but they aren’t a surfer music band.
When we first met Tom and he invited us to the gig he promised Kylie, Erin and I a free drink each if we showed up. After they finished, he paid up. I was lucky enough to get the free drink that each band member gets for playing the show. It was a Mexican beer so nasty that they give it away to the people who play there because no one will buy it. After trying it Erin proclaimed that she would give me $20 to finish it, WHICH I DID! Boom! I about had a reversal of fortunes, but I finished all except for a last bit of foam which was stolen from me, so Erin offered 15. I graciously accepted.
After the Step Inn (where the band played) we left with Marco and Tom to go to another club. First we went to this one that was sort of like a hookah bar minus the hookah. It’s illegal in Brisbane to smoke inside, so that’s why it was minus the hookah.
We were there all of five minutes before we left and met up with two more of Marco and Tom’s friends to go to another place, I think it was called Rics or something of the sort. This place was crazy fantastically awesome. It was two levels; the first floor was nothing to write home about but upstairs was basically this open room. It had a DJ and a bar and a few seats, but most of it was just an open space for dancing. The floor was a little sticky and the crowd fluctuated from too close to just enough space and everyone was just dancing.
The dancing here is not like the dancing I’ve seen in the US. It isn’t grinding and close and sweaty, its I-don’t-care-I-just-like-this-song-and-want-to-have-fun dancing. The music the DJ was playing was absolutely perfect. A few samples of the songs played: Fat Bottom Girls (Queen), Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles), Pork and Beans (Weezer), and a bunch of other just really fun get-up-and-move songs. There were a lot of songs that everyone knew and would shout the lyrics to, and some that we knew but didn’t sing to, we just moved. Where in the heck can I find a place like this in the States, please and thank you?
We stayed there until 3:30. My ears were buzzing because the music was so loud, but it was the most fun I’ve had in quite some time. We grabbed a cab home and zonked out. A pretty great night.
No koalas today, we woke up too late. Sorry kiddos, it will happen, I promise!
When we first met Tom and he invited us to the gig he promised Kylie, Erin and I a free drink each if we showed up. After they finished, he paid up. I was lucky enough to get the free drink that each band member gets for playing the show. It was a Mexican beer so nasty that they give it away to the people who play there because no one will buy it. After trying it Erin proclaimed that she would give me $20 to finish it, WHICH I DID! Boom! I about had a reversal of fortunes, but I finished all except for a last bit of foam which was stolen from me, so Erin offered 15. I graciously accepted.
After the Step Inn (where the band played) we left with Marco and Tom to go to another club. First we went to this one that was sort of like a hookah bar minus the hookah. It’s illegal in Brisbane to smoke inside, so that’s why it was minus the hookah.
We were there all of five minutes before we left and met up with two more of Marco and Tom’s friends to go to another place, I think it was called Rics or something of the sort. This place was crazy fantastically awesome. It was two levels; the first floor was nothing to write home about but upstairs was basically this open room. It had a DJ and a bar and a few seats, but most of it was just an open space for dancing. The floor was a little sticky and the crowd fluctuated from too close to just enough space and everyone was just dancing.
The dancing here is not like the dancing I’ve seen in the US. It isn’t grinding and close and sweaty, its I-don’t-care-I-just-like-this-song-and-want-to-have-fun dancing. The music the DJ was playing was absolutely perfect. A few samples of the songs played: Fat Bottom Girls (Queen), Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles), Pork and Beans (Weezer), and a bunch of other just really fun get-up-and-move songs. There were a lot of songs that everyone knew and would shout the lyrics to, and some that we knew but didn’t sing to, we just moved. Where in the heck can I find a place like this in the States, please and thank you?
We stayed there until 3:30. My ears were buzzing because the music was so loud, but it was the most fun I’ve had in quite some time. We grabbed a cab home and zonked out. A pretty great night.
No koalas today, we woke up too late. Sorry kiddos, it will happen, I promise!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Pro at Drinking
Alright it’s been a week so this is going to be a long post. Be prepared.
Hmm last week Thursday and Friday was more classes. Friday is Erin and I’s big day of classes, we go pretty much all day, with an hour break for lunch. The last class is a 3 hour work session on a homework assignment thing. There are 3 due during the semester.
One pretty big difference between the states and here is how the 3 hour tutorial was set up. There was no introduction and everyone was expected to have already printed out the assignment and have come with questions, despite the fact that the professor had not mentioned this. Erin and I sat down next to another American girl and for the first ten minutes of class we basically sat there waiting for it to start. We were discussing how everyone seemed to be working when a girl turned around and explained this all to us. Thanks Good Samaritan!
On Saturday we were going to head to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to hold a Koala and play with some roos and other animals but we got to the bus stop too late (at around 3), it would have not been worth it to go all the way out there (half hour until the bus arrives, plus half hour to get there equals not much time before closing at 5). Instead we walked around Brisbane some more and laughed at some of the terrible clothes in some of the stores. There were some good’uns.
Saturday night we walked a block away to a party one of Kylie’s friends invited us to. It turned out to be the apartment of some other Study Australia people so Marco was there! As was one of his friends, Tom. Tom was pretty snazzy and invited us to go see his band play in a club in The Valley (the young hip to the jive fun part of Brisbane with clubs and bars and stuff) this Friday, and it should be a good time. He also said that he would take me on as his music protégée to introduce me to lots of Australian music. I’m pretty excited about that, as one of my goals while here is to pick up a bunch of really awesome Australian music. Brisbane is a big music hot spot, so it shouldn’t be that difficult, especially with a guide.
Monday rolled around and Prof Litster was at UQ! Erin and I went to an informal lunch that he had to tell people about doing exchange to Purdue. We met a guy named Richard who is going to Purdue this semester (like next week!). Treat him well, Purdue, he seems pretty nice. We also met for drinks later at the Staff Club on campus. When Litster emailed me, I didn’t realize that he meant drinks drinks. I drank about half a glass of beer! Whoo! I was rather impressed that I could swallow that much, it was pretty gross. Clearly I am a pro at this drinking thing.
Tuesday held a safety session for the building I am doing research in. I got a free pair of safety goggles for going! Huzzah! Also it was kind of required so a bribe wasn’t really necessary, just appreciated. I should be getting my swipe card to get into the building next week, and then the fun begins.
Let’s see what else. We found the laundry! Huzzah! Our apartment building has a garage on the ground floor and the one for our place is where the washer and dryer for our apartment are. Pretty weird place to put it, but better than no washer and dryer at all.
I also didn’t go back to the choir ha ha ha. I still haven’t decided what clubs I want to join here and I really need to get on that. A few options are floating about, but I’ll keep them to myself for now.
Tonight we are going to go see Tom’s band. Here’s hoping they don’t suck! Saturday will be attempt two at getting to the Koala sanctuary. This time it’s going to happen and I will put pictures up here, I think I may have figured out how to do that.
Not as long as expected, I’ll try to post sooner next time. Sorry kiddos and future-me-who-will-be-reading-this.
Hmm last week Thursday and Friday was more classes. Friday is Erin and I’s big day of classes, we go pretty much all day, with an hour break for lunch. The last class is a 3 hour work session on a homework assignment thing. There are 3 due during the semester.
One pretty big difference between the states and here is how the 3 hour tutorial was set up. There was no introduction and everyone was expected to have already printed out the assignment and have come with questions, despite the fact that the professor had not mentioned this. Erin and I sat down next to another American girl and for the first ten minutes of class we basically sat there waiting for it to start. We were discussing how everyone seemed to be working when a girl turned around and explained this all to us. Thanks Good Samaritan!
On Saturday we were going to head to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to hold a Koala and play with some roos and other animals but we got to the bus stop too late (at around 3), it would have not been worth it to go all the way out there (half hour until the bus arrives, plus half hour to get there equals not much time before closing at 5). Instead we walked around Brisbane some more and laughed at some of the terrible clothes in some of the stores. There were some good’uns.
Saturday night we walked a block away to a party one of Kylie’s friends invited us to. It turned out to be the apartment of some other Study Australia people so Marco was there! As was one of his friends, Tom. Tom was pretty snazzy and invited us to go see his band play in a club in The Valley (the young hip to the jive fun part of Brisbane with clubs and bars and stuff) this Friday, and it should be a good time. He also said that he would take me on as his music protégée to introduce me to lots of Australian music. I’m pretty excited about that, as one of my goals while here is to pick up a bunch of really awesome Australian music. Brisbane is a big music hot spot, so it shouldn’t be that difficult, especially with a guide.
Monday rolled around and Prof Litster was at UQ! Erin and I went to an informal lunch that he had to tell people about doing exchange to Purdue. We met a guy named Richard who is going to Purdue this semester (like next week!). Treat him well, Purdue, he seems pretty nice. We also met for drinks later at the Staff Club on campus. When Litster emailed me, I didn’t realize that he meant drinks drinks. I drank about half a glass of beer! Whoo! I was rather impressed that I could swallow that much, it was pretty gross. Clearly I am a pro at this drinking thing.
Tuesday held a safety session for the building I am doing research in. I got a free pair of safety goggles for going! Huzzah! Also it was kind of required so a bribe wasn’t really necessary, just appreciated. I should be getting my swipe card to get into the building next week, and then the fun begins.
Let’s see what else. We found the laundry! Huzzah! Our apartment building has a garage on the ground floor and the one for our place is where the washer and dryer for our apartment are. Pretty weird place to put it, but better than no washer and dryer at all.
I also didn’t go back to the choir ha ha ha. I still haven’t decided what clubs I want to join here and I really need to get on that. A few options are floating about, but I’ll keep them to myself for now.
Tonight we are going to go see Tom’s band. Here’s hoping they don’t suck! Saturday will be attempt two at getting to the Koala sanctuary. This time it’s going to happen and I will put pictures up here, I think I may have figured out how to do that.
Not as long as expected, I’ll try to post sooner next time. Sorry kiddos and future-me-who-will-be-reading-this.
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