Today ended as one of the best nights I've had in awhile! The actual day wasn't too bad either, except I could feel myself wanting to shut my eyes during my genetics lecture and my philosophy tute. But in both it was a very relaxed style of teaching, where it was mostly just question and answer about specific topics we've covered. Definitely not too bad, and I was actually productive in my off time as well now that I've officially finished the second book of the Game of Thrones series. I'm itching to read the next one, but I'm tempted to make my friend hold onto his copy until my finals are over so I won't have that to procrastinate studying with. We'll see how long that holds out hah. I gotta see how my Starks are doin....
After class I headed to, where else, but work. It started off terribly, with both my managers in horrible moods where they'll yell at you for the tiniest little things you do wrong. As the night went on, however, they actually noticed that I was doing a good job and making good tips (I made 20 dollars tonight!) and started congratulating me. They even brought out a secret hidden stash of sweets from Brunetti's and gave them to all the serving staff! Then to make the night even better, they seemed totally fine with me leaving this weekend and then stopping work in 3 weeks altogether. I mean, I told them I was leaving the country in exactly 3 weeks, but what they don't know won't hurt them haha. Even better than everything else was that they let me go at 10pm, so I was able to run down to Puggs to grab a drink with my Arcadia friends!
Puggs was SO much fun, and I was able to catch up with some of the people I see less often. I even found some people to lend me a raincoat for Tasmania so I will be able to go and not get soaking wet! Now my last day of classes OF THE YEAR are tomorrow and I can't believe it. It does not feel like the end of the semester in the slightest, although I guess this entire semester hasn't exactly felt like normal anyway. Crazy how time flies. Wayyyy too fast.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Day 114
Today was one of the biggest fail days of my life. I had all these dreams of how the perfect situation would lay out, and NOTHING did. Let me explain.
So I woke up this morning knowing I had a very busy day ahead of me. I first had to go to my genes and genomes problem session, which I usually go to the session on Friday, but as I'm going to be on a plane to Tasmania this friday, I went today. My first problem was actually FINDING the lecture theatre, since when I got to the place where I thought the lecture was going to be held, there was no one waiting outside. As I turned to leave and go find a computer to see if the location had been changed, I hear a "So you decided to actually come to a problem session?" and immediately my stomach drops. I turned to see the one and only jerkface standing in front of me, leaning against the side of the stairwell. I ignored his comment and asked him if this is where the session is, which he confirmed so I turned around and sat down on a bench, putting my jacket on one side of me and my backpack on the other so there was no possible way he could get close to me. He did his best, sitting next to my backpack, and started asking whether I had actually done the problem set before the class. Obviously, douchebag, otherwise I wouldn't have been here. Luckily I only had to make awkward small talk for a short time before we were let into the theatre and I purposely sat on the opposite side of the room as him. I had escaped, but just barely.
I then ran to the ERC to get a new uni ID since my old one was warped and now lost completely, and got my ticket and went to sit down. My stomach dropped yet again when I saw I was number 78, and they were on 45. So I sat and sat, and finally after 40 minutes my number was called. I went and explained the situation, and the woman said I had to pay 30 dollars to get a new one. WHY DOES A LITTLE CARD COST 30 DOLLARS?! I was outraged, especially since I never even USE my card since my last one was so warped it literally was useless. But I reluctantly gave in, seeing as exams are crazy legit here and you need to have your uni card on your desk when you're taking your exams or something for identification. So annoying.
After that excursion, I ran to catch the tram to Brunswick to find a raincoat for Tasmania. I literally went to every store I could think of to find a raincoat and NOTHING. I even went down into the CBD to look at target, big w, even myers (the huge department store with things WAY out of my price range) and sports stores and it seems that Australians just don't wear raincoats. Which is absurd for how much it rains here. By the time I was ready to give up, it was 4 hours later and I had to run to class. I made it just in time, sat through my last human-animal interactions lecture, and then had to run to work.
Work was pretty normal today. Two big families came in that were both friends of my bosses so they told me to take care of them. I was doing brilliantly if I say so myself, and got each order exactly right. Both tables ordered a TON of food, so I was sure they would add 5 or 10 dollars onto the end of the bill. Nothing. I had spent all this effort actually being a good waitress, and I got nothing. Even more ironic is the table of 3 chinese people I spent next to zero time on since all they ordered was a pizza, THEY gave me a 5 dollar tip. The lesson I'm taking out of this is that if I try really hard, I won't get a tip, but if I barely put in an effort, it's possible. Ah well, at least I didn't get yelled at tonight! So I guess my day wasn't a complete fail, only a partial fail!
So I woke up this morning knowing I had a very busy day ahead of me. I first had to go to my genes and genomes problem session, which I usually go to the session on Friday, but as I'm going to be on a plane to Tasmania this friday, I went today. My first problem was actually FINDING the lecture theatre, since when I got to the place where I thought the lecture was going to be held, there was no one waiting outside. As I turned to leave and go find a computer to see if the location had been changed, I hear a "So you decided to actually come to a problem session?" and immediately my stomach drops. I turned to see the one and only jerkface standing in front of me, leaning against the side of the stairwell. I ignored his comment and asked him if this is where the session is, which he confirmed so I turned around and sat down on a bench, putting my jacket on one side of me and my backpack on the other so there was no possible way he could get close to me. He did his best, sitting next to my backpack, and started asking whether I had actually done the problem set before the class. Obviously, douchebag, otherwise I wouldn't have been here. Luckily I only had to make awkward small talk for a short time before we were let into the theatre and I purposely sat on the opposite side of the room as him. I had escaped, but just barely.
I then ran to the ERC to get a new uni ID since my old one was warped and now lost completely, and got my ticket and went to sit down. My stomach dropped yet again when I saw I was number 78, and they were on 45. So I sat and sat, and finally after 40 minutes my number was called. I went and explained the situation, and the woman said I had to pay 30 dollars to get a new one. WHY DOES A LITTLE CARD COST 30 DOLLARS?! I was outraged, especially since I never even USE my card since my last one was so warped it literally was useless. But I reluctantly gave in, seeing as exams are crazy legit here and you need to have your uni card on your desk when you're taking your exams or something for identification. So annoying.
After that excursion, I ran to catch the tram to Brunswick to find a raincoat for Tasmania. I literally went to every store I could think of to find a raincoat and NOTHING. I even went down into the CBD to look at target, big w, even myers (the huge department store with things WAY out of my price range) and sports stores and it seems that Australians just don't wear raincoats. Which is absurd for how much it rains here. By the time I was ready to give up, it was 4 hours later and I had to run to class. I made it just in time, sat through my last human-animal interactions lecture, and then had to run to work.
Work was pretty normal today. Two big families came in that were both friends of my bosses so they told me to take care of them. I was doing brilliantly if I say so myself, and got each order exactly right. Both tables ordered a TON of food, so I was sure they would add 5 or 10 dollars onto the end of the bill. Nothing. I had spent all this effort actually being a good waitress, and I got nothing. Even more ironic is the table of 3 chinese people I spent next to zero time on since all they ordered was a pizza, THEY gave me a 5 dollar tip. The lesson I'm taking out of this is that if I try really hard, I won't get a tip, but if I barely put in an effort, it's possible. Ah well, at least I didn't get yelled at tonight! So I guess my day wasn't a complete fail, only a partial fail!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Day 112
So I have been failing with this whole, writing every day thing. The thing is that I literally have NOTHING interesting to talk about! Every activity that other people are doing I can't do because I'm either working or in class, and as soon as I have free time, nothing is going on so I just study. At least I'm making a good amount of money every week and gaining about 15 dollars in tips a night (nothing compared to this douchebag I work with who takes everyone elses tips -- he makes about 100 a night. I WONDER WHY. We all hate him and one of my highlights of the night is just talking with everyone in the restaurant -- cooks, bartenders, waiters/waitresses alike -- about how much we hate him). All that's keeping me going in this job is knowing that it's the reason I was able to do such awesome things like skydiving and Tasmania and snorkeling with cuttlefish. Only a few more weeks and then I'll be done and ready to just have fun in Australia again!
But something absolutely ridiculous did happen last night at the restaurant. So I was working inside all night which was absolutely dead since it was so hot out, but then got switched to working outside when one of the girls went home. I walk out and the first thing my coworker says to me is YOU TAKE 41, I CAN'T TAKE IT. I looked over and thought, okay, it's a big table of 8 people, she might have just had a long day. So I go over there and ask if they'd like anything to drink, and they all start cracking up histerically. It took me about 2 seconds to realize they were all high off their asses on something to the point where one of them couldn't even talk legibly. The rest of them could speak just fine, but because of the nonstop giggling it took a good 20 minutes to get their entire order because they kept just telling me they wanted "pasta". We have probably over 60 different kinds of pasta combinations. That table was definitely a struggle to get through, but at the end they left me 10 dollars in coins and an array of lollies! The lollies I decided to pass on seeing as I would not be surprised in the slightest if they were spiked with heroin, but the 10 dollars was definitely appreciated.
Now it is officially our last week of school, and even though I got next to no sleep last night I still decided to get up and go to my 9am class to get some good karma for the week. The universe repaid me by making it rain the entire walk over here and now not even 30 people are here in my class of over 200 students. And we're learning material that I've already learned before. This makes me highly doubtful of this karma thing.
But something absolutely ridiculous did happen last night at the restaurant. So I was working inside all night which was absolutely dead since it was so hot out, but then got switched to working outside when one of the girls went home. I walk out and the first thing my coworker says to me is YOU TAKE 41, I CAN'T TAKE IT. I looked over and thought, okay, it's a big table of 8 people, she might have just had a long day. So I go over there and ask if they'd like anything to drink, and they all start cracking up histerically. It took me about 2 seconds to realize they were all high off their asses on something to the point where one of them couldn't even talk legibly. The rest of them could speak just fine, but because of the nonstop giggling it took a good 20 minutes to get their entire order because they kept just telling me they wanted "pasta". We have probably over 60 different kinds of pasta combinations. That table was definitely a struggle to get through, but at the end they left me 10 dollars in coins and an array of lollies! The lollies I decided to pass on seeing as I would not be surprised in the slightest if they were spiked with heroin, but the 10 dollars was definitely appreciated.
Now it is officially our last week of school, and even though I got next to no sleep last night I still decided to get up and go to my 9am class to get some good karma for the week. The universe repaid me by making it rain the entire walk over here and now not even 30 people are here in my class of over 200 students. And we're learning material that I've already learned before. This makes me highly doubtful of this karma thing.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Day 108- Karaoke!
Last night was one of the most fun nights of this entire trip BY FAR. The entire Arcadia crew went out to this bowling alley and rented a room for karaoke for our friend's birthday. I was kind of scared people weren't going to be into it and just sit back and it'd be really awkward, but it wasn't at all! My friend and I started the night off right by singing Last Night by the Strokes and everyone was cheering and singing along and laughing and having the best time ever! It made it even better that the venue provided costumes, so i spent the entire night with sparkly pink antennae on my head while other costumes like fairy princesses, 80s rockers with gaga masks, and Army pants were worn. We ended up staying until the place closed even though we only paid for 2 hours, but we were having so much fun who could really stop us? I realized this morning that perhaps the videos and pictures I took probably should not have been taken (I guess belting your heart out to Queen feels a lot better than it looks in pictures) but now I will always have something to crack me up.
I am now one class away from finishing my 2nd to last week of class! It's so crazy that's it's almost over -- part of me feels like it was yesterday and part of me feels like I've been here forever. When we walked downtown yesterday, we all got extremely nostalgic of when we took our first tour of everything and Melbourne seemed so big and scary. Now it feels like home. I'm definitely going to be so sad to leave here and everyone I've gotten to know so well! But I'm not thinking about that yet -- I still have more than 5 weeks!
Classes wise, I'm not worried about this semester in the slightest anymore! I still can't believe I'll have an entire week and a half off to study for my finals, so I feel like it'll be impossible to do that badly on them, especially with the semi-work ethic I've had this semester. I'm definitely excited to have them all over with and just be able to hang out with mah wonderful friends for 2 weeks before we all go home. And since I've persevered through the italian restaurant, I actually have money to do more fun things before I leave! Definitely worth the job this semester -- despite how horribly I was treated sometimes.
Aaand on that happy note, I have run out of things to say!
I am now one class away from finishing my 2nd to last week of class! It's so crazy that's it's almost over -- part of me feels like it was yesterday and part of me feels like I've been here forever. When we walked downtown yesterday, we all got extremely nostalgic of when we took our first tour of everything and Melbourne seemed so big and scary. Now it feels like home. I'm definitely going to be so sad to leave here and everyone I've gotten to know so well! But I'm not thinking about that yet -- I still have more than 5 weeks!
Classes wise, I'm not worried about this semester in the slightest anymore! I still can't believe I'll have an entire week and a half off to study for my finals, so I feel like it'll be impossible to do that badly on them, especially with the semi-work ethic I've had this semester. I'm definitely excited to have them all over with and just be able to hang out with mah wonderful friends for 2 weeks before we all go home. And since I've persevered through the italian restaurant, I actually have money to do more fun things before I leave! Definitely worth the job this semester -- despite how horribly I was treated sometimes.
Aaand on that happy note, I have run out of things to say!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Day 105!
I made an exclamation point in the title to make my life seem more interesting, but alas it's not. With finals coming up in exactly 3 weeks it is now that time in my life where if I am doing anything but studying I start feeling immensely guilty and lazy. Most of my time lately has been taken up by writing an animal physiology lab report which was just interesting enough to make it my procrastination technique for studying for finals. Yes, I procrastinate studying by doing other homework. I'm quite aware of how lame I am.
As a side note, for family dinner this week, a jewish person in Arcadia cooked us some traditional jewish food and it was so delicious I was practically ready to convert. Okay, not really, but there was this tomato, peppers, onion egg dish that was totally to die for. And for dessert they had these sweetened apple pieces -- yummmm!
Oh! And my life is about to get more interesting! Tomorrow our group is FINALLY going out and singing karaoke in celebration of my friends birthday! It apparently will be in a bowling alley ... legit right? I don't think I'm quite ready to show everyone my immense bowling talent yet, but if forced I may have to show them how I can hit other peoples pins by aiming for my own if I'm lucky...
As a side note, for family dinner this week, a jewish person in Arcadia cooked us some traditional jewish food and it was so delicious I was practically ready to convert. Okay, not really, but there was this tomato, peppers, onion egg dish that was totally to die for. And for dessert they had these sweetened apple pieces -- yummmm!
Oh! And my life is about to get more interesting! Tomorrow our group is FINALLY going out and singing karaoke in celebration of my friends birthday! It apparently will be in a bowling alley ... legit right? I don't think I'm quite ready to show everyone my immense bowling talent yet, but if forced I may have to show them how I can hit other peoples pins by aiming for my own if I'm lucky...
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Day 101 -- Winery Tour!
Yesterday was certainly..interesting. It started off bright and early, heading off to the Yarra Valley for a free wine tour courtesy of the wonderful wine club I'm in. We (my spring break crew and I) took the Melbourne subway trains for the first time ever, and I realized how easily I could get to so many different places around Melbourne. The train only costs 7 dollars for a day pass and with it I can ride any tram, bus, or train in the greater Melbourne area. Blows my mind!
Anyway, we finally get to the Yarra Valley after about an hour train ride and load onto this big bus that takes us to our first stop, Yering Station, Victoria's first vineyard. It was absolutely gorgeous since you could see far off into the distance of the valley every way you turned. We got a tour of the wine making process which was actually really interesting seeing as I know NOTHING about wine. We were able to try as many wines as we wanted, so we really quickly were able to focus on what kinds of wine we like. I, not surprisingly, like the sweetest bubbliest wines, which apparently is very common among new wine drinkers. They kept joking that in no time I'll be drinking a dark dry red with the rest of them. But for now, I'm perfectly fine with my dessert wines and champagne!
The next winery was very different from the first, a small family-owned winery that only opens 2 days a year for tours. Their wine cellar literally is just in the cellar of the house, and they only produce about 1200 bottles of each kind of wine a year. That is absolutely nothing compared to the other wineries we visited. This tasting was especially interesting because they showed us the same wines in different years so we could taste the difference that an extra year makes on these wines. I was actually very surprised of how big of a difference I could tell between the different years. The 2008 chardonnay and the 2010 chardonnay were completely different creatures. And I love that I can say that now and sound like a complete snob.
The last place was by FAR my favourite, but mostly because along with selling wine tours, they have cheese tours. Now there is few things in this world I love more than good cheese, and this was some of the best. They had the biggest list of wines of the three wineries and had a very distinct order in which you should try them in. Apparently you should always try wine lightest to darkest, starting with champagne to cleanse the pallet. Who woulda thought? But it was so delicious and I'm SO happy I got to do this wine tour. Usually they're about 100 dollars at least, which they're easily worth, but I probably wouldn't have done it if it wasn't free.
Cheese platter!
The night ended (after a very long day at work) as wonderful as it started, with a slumber party at my downstairs neighbour’s room! They have so many more channels on their tv than my roommate and I do, so I had so much fun flipping through their channels and freaked out when I saw Buffy!! I screamed and made them watch with me even though they had no idea what was going on and made fun of me endlessly. I didn't even have the guts to tell them I knew it was season 5 episode 12...
Anyway, we finally get to the Yarra Valley after about an hour train ride and load onto this big bus that takes us to our first stop, Yering Station, Victoria's first vineyard. It was absolutely gorgeous since you could see far off into the distance of the valley every way you turned. We got a tour of the wine making process which was actually really interesting seeing as I know NOTHING about wine. We were able to try as many wines as we wanted, so we really quickly were able to focus on what kinds of wine we like. I, not surprisingly, like the sweetest bubbliest wines, which apparently is very common among new wine drinkers. They kept joking that in no time I'll be drinking a dark dry red with the rest of them. But for now, I'm perfectly fine with my dessert wines and champagne!
The next winery was very different from the first, a small family-owned winery that only opens 2 days a year for tours. Their wine cellar literally is just in the cellar of the house, and they only produce about 1200 bottles of each kind of wine a year. That is absolutely nothing compared to the other wineries we visited. This tasting was especially interesting because they showed us the same wines in different years so we could taste the difference that an extra year makes on these wines. I was actually very surprised of how big of a difference I could tell between the different years. The 2008 chardonnay and the 2010 chardonnay were completely different creatures. And I love that I can say that now and sound like a complete snob.
The last place was by FAR my favourite, but mostly because along with selling wine tours, they have cheese tours. Now there is few things in this world I love more than good cheese, and this was some of the best. They had the biggest list of wines of the three wineries and had a very distinct order in which you should try them in. Apparently you should always try wine lightest to darkest, starting with champagne to cleanse the pallet. Who woulda thought? But it was so delicious and I'm SO happy I got to do this wine tour. Usually they're about 100 dollars at least, which they're easily worth, but I probably wouldn't have done it if it wasn't free.
The night ended (after a very long day at work) as wonderful as it started, with a slumber party at my downstairs neighbour’s room! They have so many more channels on their tv than my roommate and I do, so I had so much fun flipping through their channels and freaked out when I saw Buffy!! I screamed and made them watch with me even though they had no idea what was going on and made fun of me endlessly. I didn't even have the guts to tell them I knew it was season 5 episode 12...
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Day 98
It has finally gotten beautiful in Melbourne!! It finally is starting to feel like spring, with 70 degree weather and all the leaves returning to the trees! So gorgeous! I even got HOT as I was walking around campus exploring libraries (...cause that's what cool kids do right? Find the different libraries on campus?) But despite the gorgeous weather I somehow ended up indoors for much of the day, rewatching multiple episodes of Game of Thrones with a friend and then going to Brunswick St for the majority of the night. But it was fun nonetheless and the gorgeous weather outside made me happy!
The only problem last night was how inevitable it is to run into people you don't actually want to see when you're on Brunswick St. It was a girls night, with the few minor exceptions of our guy friends who both have girlfriends back home so they're practically one of the girls (don't tell them that) and we went out dancing. There I was, minding my own business, rocking out to Moves like Jagger because that song is amazing, and who walks up but this german guy I talked to very briefly during the Melbourne Welcome. He was a giant skeeze then, and he proved that nothing has changed when he pulled me in for a hug and then said "By the way, I overheard some guys talking about you in the bathroom. They said you were really awesome except you were a midget, so that's your downfall". Thank you german man for giving me this useless information. But at least now I know I'm short, cause ya know, I was kinda shakey on the subject before that.
Now today after taking one look at my genetics assignment due next Friday, I knew I was in trouble. I spent an hour struggling over decifering genetic codes and looking for sites where specific restriction enzymes would cleave the DNA and what the resulting amino acid sequences would be and got through one question. At least I'm starting this a week ahead of time so I actually have time go to into my lecturer and perhaps look like an idiot, but it's obvious that I need help. Only two more weeks of school left!
The only problem last night was how inevitable it is to run into people you don't actually want to see when you're on Brunswick St. It was a girls night, with the few minor exceptions of our guy friends who both have girlfriends back home so they're practically one of the girls (don't tell them that) and we went out dancing. There I was, minding my own business, rocking out to Moves like Jagger because that song is amazing, and who walks up but this german guy I talked to very briefly during the Melbourne Welcome. He was a giant skeeze then, and he proved that nothing has changed when he pulled me in for a hug and then said "By the way, I overheard some guys talking about you in the bathroom. They said you were really awesome except you were a midget, so that's your downfall". Thank you german man for giving me this useless information. But at least now I know I'm short, cause ya know, I was kinda shakey on the subject before that.
Now today after taking one look at my genetics assignment due next Friday, I knew I was in trouble. I spent an hour struggling over decifering genetic codes and looking for sites where specific restriction enzymes would cleave the DNA and what the resulting amino acid sequences would be and got through one question. At least I'm starting this a week ahead of time so I actually have time go to into my lecturer and perhaps look like an idiot, but it's obvious that I need help. Only two more weeks of school left!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Day 95
Today was supposed to a totally awesome day where I'd go tour the veterinary hospital and talk with veterinarians about the whole process in Australia. However, all my hopes and dreams were crushed when I realized it started at 6, my class ended at 5:30, and the veterinary hospital is in a zone where the tram doesn't go, and it's a half hour CAR ride. Then, just as I was defeatedly canceling my tour, who calls me but work saying they need me to come in tonight. That will make 5 days I'm working this week, most likely till close every time. Ughhhhhh. I wish I didn't like making money so much, it would make my life so much more fun....
On the bright side, today I was actually productive so I got all my data analyzed and graphed for my huge lab report due in, what, like 3 weeks. Gotta love Australia! And in a couple of weeks I will be venturing around the beautiful lands of Tasmania! Just gotta keep looking ahead.... :)
On the bright side, today I was actually productive so I got all my data analyzed and graphed for my huge lab report due in, what, like 3 weeks. Gotta love Australia! And in a couple of weeks I will be venturing around the beautiful lands of Tasmania! Just gotta keep looking ahead.... :)
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Day 93 - Grampians!
I had SO MUCH FUN THIS WEEKEND!! I am so unbelievably happy I went, and I'm feeling totally refreshed to get back into things. Friday night we drove down in this bus for what was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride, but ended up taking closer to 4 since we were stuck in traffic for an hour. This would have been horrible if I hadn't been with some of the best people in the world, so we ended up just having a wonderful time! We finally arrive at the campsite around 11:30 and realize there are kangaroos EVERYWHERE. Seriously, everywhere you turn there were kangaroos as common as there are squirrels around Wooster! You have to be apparently be really careful with them though since they'll try and steal food from all the campers. But honestly IT'S A FREAKING KANGAROO stealing my food so I don't think I'd mind.
We woke up the next morning and walked out of our cabin to go to the breakfast cabin and this is what greeted us!
After breakfast we drove to this giant mountain where we went rock climbing! Now I don't mean those things that have the pre-made knobs and things that you put your hands and feet on -- I mean we were literally climbing about 20 meter high cliffs! It was so scary, but since I had one of my guy friends belay for me, he was practically pulling me up the wall himself. I barely had to climb because the harness was held so tight against me so it made it a lot easier. After we climbed up the cliff, we went abseiling down another face of the mountain. That was FAR scarier, as literally it's you literally backing up over the side of a cliff, and it didn't help that I was the second one to do it in our group after the one person who was experienced. I felt SUPER proud of myself after I did it though, and the views were absolutely gorgeous!!
We left the rock climbing wall and had I guess a true Australian picnic lunch -- a box lunch. This entails putting a ton of different things into a giant lobster pot, like tomatoes, beans, corn chips, onions, and I don't even know what else and then putting it all in a tortilla. It was a weird combination of all the different ingredients, but it wasn't bad! We then went and hiked up Mount Zero, which is called that since apparently it is a magnetic anomaly. People seemed to want to race up the mountain, so we ended up summating after a half hour or so, but it was the hardest uphill climb I've like ever done. It was especially hard after having rock climbed all morning so we were all exhausted when we got to the top. But it was so worth it!
After we got down, we headed over to a different part of the mountain to see some aboriginal artwork that was carved into the mountain. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but the fact that the hand prints are 600 years old is pretty cool!
The rest of the day was spent exploring waterfalls, a giant lake called Lake Bellfield, an Australian barbie for dinner, and drinking cider until we all were so exhausted we had to go to bed. The next day wasn't quite as eventful, but still really cool! We went to this aboriginal center where we learned about the different aboriginal tribes that occupied the Grampians. We got to paint our own boomerangs, which I'm actually super proud of how mine turned out! We then learned how to actually throw boomerangs, and of course I was so incredibly bad that mine just fell right to the ground, but I'm totally blaming the wind for that. Then as we were leaving, we look over and see this GIANT snake in the bushes, and our tour guide tells us that it is the most venomous snake in the entire world. It's about time I see something that could kill me! But I'm so happy I went on this whole trip and it was one of the best times I've had here so far!
Yikes.
After breakfast we drove to this giant mountain where we went rock climbing! Now I don't mean those things that have the pre-made knobs and things that you put your hands and feet on -- I mean we were literally climbing about 20 meter high cliffs! It was so scary, but since I had one of my guy friends belay for me, he was practically pulling me up the wall himself. I barely had to climb because the harness was held so tight against me so it made it a lot easier. After we climbed up the cliff, we went abseiling down another face of the mountain. That was FAR scarier, as literally it's you literally backing up over the side of a cliff, and it didn't help that I was the second one to do it in our group after the one person who was experienced. I felt SUPER proud of myself after I did it though, and the views were absolutely gorgeous!!
We left the rock climbing wall and had I guess a true Australian picnic lunch -- a box lunch. This entails putting a ton of different things into a giant lobster pot, like tomatoes, beans, corn chips, onions, and I don't even know what else and then putting it all in a tortilla. It was a weird combination of all the different ingredients, but it wasn't bad! We then went and hiked up Mount Zero, which is called that since apparently it is a magnetic anomaly. People seemed to want to race up the mountain, so we ended up summating after a half hour or so, but it was the hardest uphill climb I've like ever done. It was especially hard after having rock climbed all morning so we were all exhausted when we got to the top. But it was so worth it!
After we got down, we headed over to a different part of the mountain to see some aboriginal artwork that was carved into the mountain. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but the fact that the hand prints are 600 years old is pretty cool!
The rest of the day was spent exploring waterfalls, a giant lake called Lake Bellfield, an Australian barbie for dinner, and drinking cider until we all were so exhausted we had to go to bed. The next day wasn't quite as eventful, but still really cool! We went to this aboriginal center where we learned about the different aboriginal tribes that occupied the Grampians. We got to paint our own boomerangs, which I'm actually super proud of how mine turned out! We then learned how to actually throw boomerangs, and of course I was so incredibly bad that mine just fell right to the ground, but I'm totally blaming the wind for that. Then as we were leaving, we look over and see this GIANT snake in the bushes, and our tour guide tells us that it is the most venomous snake in the entire world. It's about time I see something that could kill me! But I'm so happy I went on this whole trip and it was one of the best times I've had here so far!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Day 91 - Reality Check
Today was one of those days where I realized that finals are actually coming up very very soon. It's only another three weeks of classes, a week of "reading" and then are the three weeks of finals. We finally figured out when our finals are (for some reason they're stupid and don't actually tell us until October), and I'm actually psyched that mine are all in the first week. I would HATE for mine to all be the last week of November so all I can do all month is think about the hell to come. Plus I'm used to doing all my finals in one week since in Amuurica that's what we do, and I'm not even used to a full week off to study for them before hand, so I think it should be enough time to study! Then I can have two weeks left in Australia to do whatever I like! Seems like a good enough time to me!
The downside of finals coming up is that the classes are reallllyy starting to get complicated, well, one in particular. My genetics class is completely going over my head sometimes because he goes so fast, so today I found myself going over the recording for one lecture for 2 hours starting and stopping so I could frantically write what I wanted. It's a good thing my lecturer changed or I would have been COMPLETELY lost. I guess my schooling had to get tough at some point! Luckily for me, all my other classes have remained consistently easy so I have been able to devote the majority of my time to understanding the vast world of genetics while still acing my other classes. It definitely is a comfort!
Now in TWENTY MINUTES I am headed for the weekend out to the Grampians! I'm super excited except for the rainy forecast that may or may not make me completely miserable, but I'm going in with a positive outlook! Oh! And on a completely separate note, I am trying to cut my gum addiction, since gum is so expensive here, by using mints instead. I decided to eat a mint every time I wanted to chew a piece of gum and thought for some reason it would leave me completely satisfied. The result, however, is me popping eclipse mints like crack cocaine. I think I need to go to gum addicts anonymous. Damn it's minty deliciousness.
The downside of finals coming up is that the classes are reallllyy starting to get complicated, well, one in particular. My genetics class is completely going over my head sometimes because he goes so fast, so today I found myself going over the recording for one lecture for 2 hours starting and stopping so I could frantically write what I wanted. It's a good thing my lecturer changed or I would have been COMPLETELY lost. I guess my schooling had to get tough at some point! Luckily for me, all my other classes have remained consistently easy so I have been able to devote the majority of my time to understanding the vast world of genetics while still acing my other classes. It definitely is a comfort!
Now in TWENTY MINUTES I am headed for the weekend out to the Grampians! I'm super excited except for the rainy forecast that may or may not make me completely miserable, but I'm going in with a positive outlook! Oh! And on a completely separate note, I am trying to cut my gum addiction, since gum is so expensive here, by using mints instead. I decided to eat a mint every time I wanted to chew a piece of gum and thought for some reason it would leave me completely satisfied. The result, however, is me popping eclipse mints like crack cocaine. I think I need to go to gum addicts anonymous. Damn it's minty deliciousness.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Day 89
I am so incredibly proud of the dinner I had tonight. I'm starting to get extremely sick of my high carb diet of pastas, rice, cereal, etc. just because it's the cheapest option, so I decided to spend the extra cash to start eating more chicken and vegetables. Tonight I had a chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, onion, rosemary, and garlic and lemon roasted asparagus. It was even more delicious than I had imagined and it was super easy! I'm not usually one to make up my own recipes too, so I'm actually very proud of myself! Speaking of food, I am feeling EXTREMELY nostalgic for fall foods and just fall in general. I really am missing seeing all the leaves turn colors and carving pumpkins and I have a humongous craving for pumpkin bread. Even foods that I don't really like such as apple pie I find myself missing and wishing I could have a slice of. At least I'll have the full holiday season to go all out with making christmas cookies and doing holiday things! (Watch out parents, our house is going to scream Christmas ALL. MONTH. LONG.)
Yummmmmm.....
My beautiful dinner!
As for the rest of my day, classes were...okay. I narrowly avoided a confrontation with jerkface in my genetics class by quickly moving to another row when I saw him about to sit down. What was fabulous about that class today, too, was we filled in evaluations of our two professors in that class so I got to write exactly what I thought about my first professor. I love evaluations. I will always put in more time than everyone else and I will never get more excited about them when I really have something to say. Beautiful invention.
As for the rest of my day, classes were...okay. I narrowly avoided a confrontation with jerkface in my genetics class by quickly moving to another row when I saw him about to sit down. What was fabulous about that class today, too, was we filled in evaluations of our two professors in that class so I got to write exactly what I thought about my first professor. I love evaluations. I will always put in more time than everyone else and I will never get more excited about them when I really have something to say. Beautiful invention.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Day 88 -- Jerkface Strikes Back
Today started as normally as any other day. I went to my animal phys lab and worked with mice and honeybees, measuring their metabolic rate in multiple environments. That was actually fun, despite the environment where we had to stay in a 4 degree cold room for 20 minutes while taking measuring the amount of oxygen produced by the mouse. That was a bit cold. But we got out a half hour early and I didn't get stung by the bees so I consider that a success! Now everyone is freaking out about how we have to do a full lab report, and they even gave us an entire week off from classes to work on it. This blows my mind as I've had to write so many lab reports over the course of a weekend while having like a midsemester exam on the same day, so all I can say is melbourne students are babied! But I won't complain about an entire weeks material NOT being on the final exam – I already have enough to study for.
I had about an hour before my next class once I went home and ate lunch, so I decided to go find the veterinary school. I walked around aimlessly for about 30 minutes in the general direction that I thought it was and eventually found this wall with a giant horse head sticking out of it – I knew I'd found it! It looks GORGEOUS! Some of the buildings look brand new and I was able to creep inside the windows and see some lab benches with physiology books on them and got practically giddy. I want to go so bad!
My good mood was absolutely killed, though, when I walked back to my human-animal interactions class and opened my computer to check my genetics mark for the midsemester exam. Never has my heart dropped more than seeing the grade “68”. Thankfully a 68 is a B, but my brain has been trained to think “failure” when I see that. Looking at the other marks in the class, I feel a little bit better, but I definitely want to do better on the final now that I know what to expect. This mood was only heightened when I notice a shadow over me and look up to see jerkface trying to casually lean back on the chair next to me while tipping his chin up in a total “bro” like way. I tried as fast I could to look back down at my computer but it was too late. That little second of eye contact was enough to make the jerkface pounce. He sat down next to me.
I tried to look at my computer with such intensity I don't think I've ever done before – anything to avoid talking – but he started with a “so what did you do your essay on?” I quickly told him the welfare of chickens without even looking at him and continued with my reddit. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn his entire body to face me while he said “well what a coincidence, I wrote about the same exact thing. It was so boring.” Of course he had written about the same subject and thought it was boring. I wouldn't be surprised if he had seen me in the library researching and decided to do the same topic just so he could tell me he thought it was boring. I didn't even warrant his sentence with a response, and I guess he really can't take a hint, because he started up again with “So what are you doing tonight?” Luckily at that moment the class started and I pretended like I didn't hear him, and snuck out ten minutes early from class to avoid any future communication. It is starting to get to the point where I really have to ask myself what am I doing wrong??
I had about an hour before my next class once I went home and ate lunch, so I decided to go find the veterinary school. I walked around aimlessly for about 30 minutes in the general direction that I thought it was and eventually found this wall with a giant horse head sticking out of it – I knew I'd found it! It looks GORGEOUS! Some of the buildings look brand new and I was able to creep inside the windows and see some lab benches with physiology books on them and got practically giddy. I want to go so bad!
My good mood was absolutely killed, though, when I walked back to my human-animal interactions class and opened my computer to check my genetics mark for the midsemester exam. Never has my heart dropped more than seeing the grade “68”. Thankfully a 68 is a B, but my brain has been trained to think “failure” when I see that. Looking at the other marks in the class, I feel a little bit better, but I definitely want to do better on the final now that I know what to expect. This mood was only heightened when I notice a shadow over me and look up to see jerkface trying to casually lean back on the chair next to me while tipping his chin up in a total “bro” like way. I tried as fast I could to look back down at my computer but it was too late. That little second of eye contact was enough to make the jerkface pounce. He sat down next to me.
I tried to look at my computer with such intensity I don't think I've ever done before – anything to avoid talking – but he started with a “so what did you do your essay on?” I quickly told him the welfare of chickens without even looking at him and continued with my reddit. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn his entire body to face me while he said “well what a coincidence, I wrote about the same exact thing. It was so boring.” Of course he had written about the same subject and thought it was boring. I wouldn't be surprised if he had seen me in the library researching and decided to do the same topic just so he could tell me he thought it was boring. I didn't even warrant his sentence with a response, and I guess he really can't take a hint, because he started up again with “So what are you doing tonight?” Luckily at that moment the class started and I pretended like I didn't hear him, and snuck out ten minutes early from class to avoid any future communication. It is starting to get to the point where I really have to ask myself what am I doing wrong??
Monday, October 3, 2011
Day 87
My first day back at school since spring break and I'm actually surprised of how awake I was in my classes. It helped that they were interesting stuff -- in depth thermal regulation of mammals in various climates in comparative animal phys and post-newtonian natural philosophy in philosophy. I really do love my classes at the moment! I also got back my philosophy essay and found I got a 95 on it, which is completely UNHEARD of in Australia seeing as they make an 80-100% an A. I was psyched! After catching up with some friends, I also realized how lucky I was to get all of my work done in the first week of break. So many of them pulled late if not all nighters last night in order to pull all their work together. Plus I'd hate to imagine how much money I would've spent if I spend my entire two weeks traveling... 4 days was definitely a big enough hit to my bank account.
Now I'm just trying really hard to get over being sick before this weekend! We finally got our news on what is happening at the Grampians, and I'm nervous but excited! I'm very nervous about the rock wall climbing portion of it. Now I know some of you are thinking, what the hell Kara you jumped out a plane but you're scared of a rock wall. Well, the last time I actually climbed a wall was when I was 8 at a Jessica Simpson concert and I ended up getting halfway up and started balling my eyes out. I haven't climbed a wall since. I really hope it's not a repeat event or else I will look like the biggest wuss ever. I guess we'll see!
Now I'm just trying really hard to get over being sick before this weekend! We finally got our news on what is happening at the Grampians, and I'm nervous but excited! I'm very nervous about the rock wall climbing portion of it. Now I know some of you are thinking, what the hell Kara you jumped out a plane but you're scared of a rock wall. Well, the last time I actually climbed a wall was when I was 8 at a Jessica Simpson concert and I ended up getting halfway up and started balling my eyes out. I haven't climbed a wall since. I really hope it's not a repeat event or else I will look like the biggest wuss ever. I guess we'll see!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Spring Break!
I got back last night from spring break in Brisbane! It was so much fun and had some of the most absolutely magical moments of my life!
The first day we got up at 4am to catch our flight out to Brisbane, which was ridiculously hard to do seeing as I couldn't fall asleep until maybe 2 or so, and even then I just drifted in and out of this crazy world where I had no idea if I was dreaming or not or what was reality. Anyway! We get to Brisbane and realize that we have to walk about a mile into the CBD to where our hotel is with our baggage. Only problem was we've gotten so used to the flat city of Melbourne, and Brisbane is about the hilliest place I've EVER SEEN so it was a mile on practically a 45 degree incline up, so by the time we got to the hotel we were pretty much dead. After that adventure, we decided to spend the extra cash to take the train to the XXXX brewery, where we had a tour! It was actually pretty boring, but it was something our friend wanted to do extremely badly so we went anyway. Afterwards we got changed into fancier clothes and had an amazing dinner right on the river front to celebrate my friend's birthday! It was absolutely gorgeous with the backlighting of the city and the lit up bridges over the water. The place was crazy expensive, but our friend treated us so my bank account didn't take quite the hit that it would've (thankfully..).
The next day we were supposed to go skydiving, but the weather was cloudy and rainy so we had to postpone it. So instead we walked around the city and went to Queen St, the main shopping plaza in Brisbane. All of us wanted to save our money for actual activities, so we just bought some silly souvenirs and headed over to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary! This was what I originally decided to go to Brisbane for, and it was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. We each got our picture taken holding a koala (mine was named Crumbles and she was absolutely adorable) and hand-fed kangaroos and wallabies and emus, and saw other Australian wildlife like Dingos, Echidnas, Wombats, and so many types of birds/eagles. It was by far my favourite part of the entire trip! It was also cool because so many celebrities have been there (LIKE T SWIFT!)!
Afterwards we went to South Bank beach and found the bench that the Renovators made for a challenge on the show. Me and Alyssa were absolutely freaking out because we absolutely LOVE the renovators so it was like seeing a celebrity...except a bench. But ya know, I was excited! We finished off the second night by wandering around the city looking desperately for a restaurant that was open (very difficult for a Thursday night, who would've thought) and ended up at this place called JoJo's. I had no idea at the time, but my Australia book even recommended this place – it was crazy good! They had basically any type of food you could ever want from stirfrys to steaks to mexican to pastas so all three of us got exactly what we wanted, and there were so many pretty lights everywhere. Gorgeous!
The third day we actually went skydiving!!! The company we went with was called Jump the Beach and was wicked fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone! We were supposed to jump from 11,000 ft because we just wanted a cheaper option than the tallest, 14,000 ft, but once we got in the air there was apparently a cold front at 11,000 ft so we all had to jump from the highest point. That gave us 60 seconds of free fall, and I was absolutely terrified but it was SO worth it! There was only a few seconds where I felt my stomach drop and then it just felt like I was floating on air. The only bad part was that it was so incredibly cold, apparently -6 degrees, so my arms were numb most of the day down. But it was definitely worth it and I'd recommend it to anyone, just wear long sleeves!! We landed right on Bells Beach and got beautiful views of the water and the coast. Absolutely amazinggg! We celebrated being alive that night by going out to China Town and actually just stumbled upon this hole in the wall Thai restaurant where I had the best pad thai of my entire life! No joke, I think I could probably eat that every day of my life and never get sick of it, it was SO GOOD. Afterwards we went to a cocktail bar just to go dancing and had so much fun! The age ranges were really interesting since people from our age to clear 40 year olds were there, and multiple people with wrinkles offered to buy me a drink – which was just plain creepy and I ended up running away to the bathroom multiple times in the night – but they played music like the Time Warp and music from Grease so we had so much fun dancing!
The last day we didn't have our flight until about 10pm so we decided to take a train down to the Gold Coast. Our friend really wanted to go to Surfer's Paradise since he's really into touristy type beaches, which honestly I think was a mistake since there were so many people you could barely move. All the souvenirs and food were also so expensive because it was such a touristy area, but it was nice to lay in the sun for awhile! Unfortunately I was pretty miserable the whole time to be honest because my friend had given me her cold, so I'm still kind of feeling like my head is going to explode at any moment, but as activities go, there are much worse things to do when you're sick! Plus I was at the Gold Coast, I couldn't really complain!
Now I'm happy to be home and ready to not spend money for awhile! Vacations here really do drain your pocket money more than anything.
The first day we got up at 4am to catch our flight out to Brisbane, which was ridiculously hard to do seeing as I couldn't fall asleep until maybe 2 or so, and even then I just drifted in and out of this crazy world where I had no idea if I was dreaming or not or what was reality. Anyway! We get to Brisbane and realize that we have to walk about a mile into the CBD to where our hotel is with our baggage. Only problem was we've gotten so used to the flat city of Melbourne, and Brisbane is about the hilliest place I've EVER SEEN so it was a mile on practically a 45 degree incline up, so by the time we got to the hotel we were pretty much dead. After that adventure, we decided to spend the extra cash to take the train to the XXXX brewery, where we had a tour! It was actually pretty boring, but it was something our friend wanted to do extremely badly so we went anyway. Afterwards we got changed into fancier clothes and had an amazing dinner right on the river front to celebrate my friend's birthday! It was absolutely gorgeous with the backlighting of the city and the lit up bridges over the water. The place was crazy expensive, but our friend treated us so my bank account didn't take quite the hit that it would've (thankfully..).
The next day we were supposed to go skydiving, but the weather was cloudy and rainy so we had to postpone it. So instead we walked around the city and went to Queen St, the main shopping plaza in Brisbane. All of us wanted to save our money for actual activities, so we just bought some silly souvenirs and headed over to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary! This was what I originally decided to go to Brisbane for, and it was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. We each got our picture taken holding a koala (mine was named Crumbles and she was absolutely adorable) and hand-fed kangaroos and wallabies and emus, and saw other Australian wildlife like Dingos, Echidnas, Wombats, and so many types of birds/eagles. It was by far my favourite part of the entire trip! It was also cool because so many celebrities have been there (LIKE T SWIFT!)!
Afterwards we went to South Bank beach and found the bench that the Renovators made for a challenge on the show. Me and Alyssa were absolutely freaking out because we absolutely LOVE the renovators so it was like seeing a celebrity...except a bench. But ya know, I was excited! We finished off the second night by wandering around the city looking desperately for a restaurant that was open (very difficult for a Thursday night, who would've thought) and ended up at this place called JoJo's. I had no idea at the time, but my Australia book even recommended this place – it was crazy good! They had basically any type of food you could ever want from stirfrys to steaks to mexican to pastas so all three of us got exactly what we wanted, and there were so many pretty lights everywhere. Gorgeous!
The third day we actually went skydiving!!! The company we went with was called Jump the Beach and was wicked fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone! We were supposed to jump from 11,000 ft because we just wanted a cheaper option than the tallest, 14,000 ft, but once we got in the air there was apparently a cold front at 11,000 ft so we all had to jump from the highest point. That gave us 60 seconds of free fall, and I was absolutely terrified but it was SO worth it! There was only a few seconds where I felt my stomach drop and then it just felt like I was floating on air. The only bad part was that it was so incredibly cold, apparently -6 degrees, so my arms were numb most of the day down. But it was definitely worth it and I'd recommend it to anyone, just wear long sleeves!! We landed right on Bells Beach and got beautiful views of the water and the coast. Absolutely amazinggg! We celebrated being alive that night by going out to China Town and actually just stumbled upon this hole in the wall Thai restaurant where I had the best pad thai of my entire life! No joke, I think I could probably eat that every day of my life and never get sick of it, it was SO GOOD. Afterwards we went to a cocktail bar just to go dancing and had so much fun! The age ranges were really interesting since people from our age to clear 40 year olds were there, and multiple people with wrinkles offered to buy me a drink – which was just plain creepy and I ended up running away to the bathroom multiple times in the night – but they played music like the Time Warp and music from Grease so we had so much fun dancing!
The last day we didn't have our flight until about 10pm so we decided to take a train down to the Gold Coast. Our friend really wanted to go to Surfer's Paradise since he's really into touristy type beaches, which honestly I think was a mistake since there were so many people you could barely move. All the souvenirs and food were also so expensive because it was such a touristy area, but it was nice to lay in the sun for awhile! Unfortunately I was pretty miserable the whole time to be honest because my friend had given me her cold, so I'm still kind of feeling like my head is going to explode at any moment, but as activities go, there are much worse things to do when you're sick! Plus I was at the Gold Coast, I couldn't really complain!
Now I'm happy to be home and ready to not spend money for awhile! Vacations here really do drain your pocket money more than anything.
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