Return to Reality

I suppose I should at least have the courtesy to close this blog down properly since you have all had the decency to keep up with it this long. I caught a plane to L.A. on Tuesday and have now been home for six days after almost 30 hours straight of traveling. I thought hard after returning and settling back into who I was as to what  I wanted to take away from one of the most amazing journeys of my life. I guess the first would be this:

1. Love people. No matter what size, shape, color, gender or lifestyle. We should all be able to look someone in the eye and recognize ourselves.
2. There's nothing wrong with having your own beliefs, as long as you're not forcing them on other people. Heck, you should even be excited to share what makes you tick inside when someone's curious.
3. Realize, that no matter where you are, it is the people you surround yourself with that truly determine whether or not you are content.
4. Stop and admire the beautiful things in life.
5. Don't become accustomed to a car. Get out and walk somewhere that you don't have to just because you can.
6. Condiments are American.
7. And as always, "It's the small things..."

Yes, I'm sure there is a plethora of untold bits of knowledge I've picked up along the way, but those will have to be revealed later.

Thank you, to everyone who kept up with me while I was abroad. Thank you for the love, prayers and financial aid you have all provided to make this trip possible. And thank you, for daring to see beyond the horizon.

Oh, and if you are particularly keen on keeping up with me throughout my return to the States, then I would direct you to my newest blog: http://jomobiz.wordpress.com/

(If you are wondering about that Tasmania trip, well, it was simply too serene to put into words. That, and I am lazy.)

I bid you adieu.
Jordan Moses.

Tying Knots

[Disclaimer: I will no longer be able to upload photos. Apparently, I've used the maximum amount of photos for one blog. So, if you are really keen, you will still read my updates anyway. Otherwise, Facebook photos will be uploaded soon!]

I know, I know; I haven't been blogging. Sorry about that, but finals and traveling are time exhausting no matter what country you're in.

Basically, I've spent the past two weeks studying for my Biology exam and spending time with the amazing people I've met on this journey. The truth is, I've made some really close friends here, and every moment I can't help but treasure. You look into each other's eyes knowing every second is precious, that when you say goodbye, it could be your last.

But this is just late night morbidness.

There's always social networking :)

Let's see. By my calculations, I have two weeks to account for. This is going to be fun. I figure I will tell you about my last two weeks leading up to my trip and then dedicate the next post solely to Tasmania. So look forward to it! For now, here it goes. More Melbourne goodness!

Monday (5th) I licked my stamps, pulled out the Manila envelopes and turned in my three creative writing portfolios. SUCH a good feeling. I almost felt a little lighter, even. I guess just knowing that there's nothing else you can do about it is a comfort in itself. After making my way through the frenzy of students trying to staple on cover sheets and shove their work into the small slot that meant our freedom, I grabbed one of the free fortune cookies the Creative Writing department was providing. Hah. Words that spell out our destinies. How appropriate. Of course, there I was zooming down the elevator feeling uplifted (ha) and free and even a little appreciative of the small token gift in the form of a cookie when I read my fortune. Geez. Thanks guys. Now I feel much more secure in my future. I swear they are out to get me.

Since I didn't want to dive straight into studying for biology, I decided to take a break by meeting Nanna and going bouldering. (It's basically rock climbing without harnesses because the walls aren't as high.) Anyway, the walls are free under a bridge beside the Yarra River. Of course, Nanna and I decided to try to tram it to a certain point and then walk from there... honestly, it would've taken less time to walk the whole way ha, but we made it eventually and it was totally worth it. It was odd how there seemed to be this whole subculture revolving around the three climbing walls. Basically, different colored rocks indicate how hard it is to get from one side of the wall to the other by only using those colored rocks.

I definitely stuck with the easiest one, and once I finally made it, went up to the second easiest (red) and found that after I made it half way my arms were so tired that I simply couldn't hold grip anymore. It's amazing how much finger strength you need to rock climb. I would suggest bringing climbing shoes too that help you grip the rocks with your toes. Nanna had some and they were definitely useful. Nanna was zooming along the top levels and even made it part of the way on the second wall which has an incline. I was completely impressed. I only stopped when my arms were jelly and dime sized blisters covered my fingers. So sad when you want to keep climbing and can't because your fingers are too raw. It was definitely an awesome experience and I loved the atmosphere. There were several other guys down there climbing seriously, with chalk and shoes and in the background was a dude playing saxophone. The whole place was right next to the river and graffiti covered the walls around us. Oh, and we were under a bridge. I wanted to break out in Gangnam style, but that's a different story.

Anyway, Nanna practically lives with me now because we both haven't had lives the past couple of days so we consequently spend all of our time between semiproductiveness on campus and complete unproductivness at Unilodge.

So, usual Unilodge activities for the night included a bunch of people randomly going out as usual. Shayna had been wanting to do my make-up for a while, so we ended up having a huge make-up session with Shayna kindly doing Vera's, Nanna's and my mine. James, the Australian guy we went hiking with at Wilson's Prom, was set to meet us that night to play the Pirate dice again. Long story short, it was Vera, Shayna, Nanna, James and I--I totally dominated the dice game somehow and Nanna and I ended up doing Gangnam style in the middle of Unilodge's lounge--twice.

Then we went to some random park and I got to pet a opossum, which was awesome. Ha. It came right up to me and sniffed my finger and I got to pet it before it scurried away. Then we climbed up and perched on the monkey bars spending the next hour talking about random stuff. It's so fun to compare and contrasts cultures. It must have been a climbing day, because we all crashed my room that night when we came back from the park and Nanna ended up on top of the dresser somehow. She's talented, what can I say.

The next day was spent more or less studying some more, but luckily, I had company. Nanna and Vera joined me in the room and we all tried to be productive... of course, that turned into looking up random Youtube videos and laughing our heads off at the literal Harry Potter parody. If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MahTKZDHXaA

If you're not laughing, there's something wrong with you.... (just kidding.)

After that, we decided to enjoy the night and went out with the 12th floor guys to enjoy the view from Unilodge. Geez, this city is beautiful. Just the way all of the lights stand out against the vast landscape, almost like they're trying to mirror the sky. When it got a bit chilly, we all moved to a warmer look out. I sat beside Tisara and realized how serene it must be to have such a routine established in coming out to admire the city--to admire your city... then I realized how it must feel to know that after three years of admiring your surroundings, you realize they're about to change. Permanently, even.

Yes, finishing what you set out to start can be a scary thing. But it's not fear I worry about as much as a questioning of what's next and a longing for more of what's now.

We had many philosophical conversations, but I think the one that stuck was this:

"Don't you just wish you could stop time? (Pause.) But you can't. You just take in moments like these and know they're the ones you live for. No one's pressing pause."

"Yea, but can you imagine how many problems that would cause if everyone could stop time when they wanted. Absolute chaos."

(Pause.)

"You should write a story."

Tisara definitely has his moments.

The following day was election day in the States and also the deadline for my last script (writing for screen.) Consequently, I spent the majority of my day sketching out a storyboard for my short film and listening to the results. Since I found both exhausting and I tend not to sleep as much as I need to, Shayna and Vera joined me to go get a dollar coffee at 711 (best invention ever.) But seriously, for a dollar, their coffee is not that bad.

I finished my work with enough time to spare, saw the election results, laughed as the Americans got into political debates and then international students joined in because they knew just as much about our system as we do. Spent the evening in Nanna and Vera's company simply enjoying each other.

Man, I'm going to miss these people.

The next day I turned in my last portfolio and caught coffee with Tom. It was nice to catch up. I spent the rest of the day trying to get things together for Tassie. That night, Nanna came over, and because we were both feeling melancholy, we hit the streets with no inclination whatsoever of where we wanted to go. Even though we were dressed like crap (hoody buddies!) we ended up joining Aurelien, Carney and Tisara at the Queensburry Hotel for Trivia night. Basically, it's the pub where they have trivia questions every weeks and whoever wins gets free beer. Of course, I think the guys simply go for the atmosphere and enjoying each others company, because there is no way they would ever actually win (sorry, guys.) But it was a lot of fun, I ended up trying parma for the first time, an Australian iconic pub food. It's basically schnitzel with Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce baked on top. You can also add avocado slices to mix things up. Anyway, it was HUGE. Nanna and I shared one and still couldn't finish it because it took up the whole plate. Ha. Needless to say, by the end of the night, we were both feeling much better.

When we all went back to Unilodge, we were greeted by a nasty little surprise. There was a putrid smell on 12th floor and after following our noses we found a bag of spoiled food and maggots on a lower shelf in the kitchen. It was super grody. I called the R.A. and made him take care of it immediately. Then, to escape the smell, we all joined in on our usual escapade and ended up looking down at the lights of Melbourne again, except this time Vera joined us. Everyone was completely high on life and each other. It was fun to hang our feet out and yell whatever noises we wanted to the world because we knew the wind didn't mind.

There's nothing like having people on either side of you that you are at complete peace with and then sharing the same screen of the world below; the same view you all feel is breathtaking.

Melbourne is a beautiful city.

I had to wake up at 4 AM that morning to register for classes. I assure you, it was invigorating. I got up, clicked enroll and realized I only got one out of the four classes I needed to graduate. Sad thing is, I couldn't find it in me to be too distressed. I just wanted to sleep. And that's exactly what I did. The next morning I sent out a wide array of emails, phone calls etc. trying to make sure that I WILL actually graduate in May. I'm still not guaranteed.

Bugger the administrative system.

Friday (November 9th--to give you some sort of reference) I joined Natalie and Nicole for a PlanetUni Central, which is an event put on by Planet Shaker's college students. As always, I felt  uplifted and got to meet some new people. It's always nice to help be part of the effort to introduce someone to something you've only just discovered a few month's prior and now realize you have to leave again. I felt so settled in as I sang along with the worship team and listened to people tell of a God who had changed their lives. And as I stood with arms uplifted, I realized something. Maybe the reason why church has such a big impact in my life is because it is one of the few places you can go that reminds you that LIFE isn't about you. But, maybe that's just me.

As I was coming through the door, I ran straight into the Unilodge group who was going out to Persa, a pub/club nearby on Brunswick. Apparently it was Ash's last night out and they were going to celebrate, also it was the last time everyone was going out together since Shayna, Daniel, Phil and Alex are leaving for New Zealand and then Daniel is heading back to the States from there. It's so weird-- having people disappear before your eyes. Oh well, suppose I'll be that person soon enough.

Anyway, we all danced our hearts out to 90's music that night and said our final goodbyes to Ash who had a plane to catch the next morning. I felt bad for him. He wasn't going to have a chance to get much sleep. Oh well, people are more important than planes, I suppose.

On our way back, Flo and I managed to get the ever resilient 711 guy to slip us a free meat pie at 2 in the morning. We halved it and it was delicious.

I spent the entire next day studying for my biology exam with Aurelien. We both made massive study guides and kept running questions by one another. It was nice to know someone else was going through the same torture I was. Of course, I say torture, but honestly, I'm learning about Australian animals, how could that situation possibly get cooler? I guess it's just the knowledge that you're sitting indoors when you could be outside exploring. But it was worth it. Of course, we ended up taking a lunch break and heading over to the Rice Bowl. (Any Asian food is fine with me!) Then I headed over to the library to print my housing application and send it into UNC. I still have no idea where I am living next semester. Oops.

That night, Wendy was kind enough to invite Nanna and I over for dinner. Geez, she is honestly one of the best cooks I know. She made this delicious sweet potato and spinach... stuff? and we put it on toasted wraps. SO yummy! And healthy. I really need to get on this whole cooking thing. We watched "A Royal Affair" which was in Danish and since Nanna is from Denmark, I thought it was cool and somewhat relevant.

Nanna and I ended up hanging out at an Irish pub the next night with Aurelien, Carney, David and Charlie (who is from England, but lives in Tasmania.) We all hung out and laughed sharing some chips. The Unilodge guys are such a good group. I'm so glad they're coming to Tasmania with me.

Monday, after studying all day again and using my free sushi coupon thanks to Unilodge, I went out that night with Flo, Shayna, Rhi, Vera, Phil, Alex and Daniel to celebrate Daniel's time in Melbourne since it was his last day with all of us. We went to this authentic little Italian place on Bourke St. It was amazing. Honestly, if you want good Italian food and don't want to pay Lygon prices, check this place out. I had the pesto cheese ravioli and it was amazing. That night Nanna, Aurelien and I went out for ice cream on Lygon and then later, as Nanna and I were lounging in my room, we watched as a small mouse tiptoed its way into my room. It was a bad moment. Needless to say, I was able to lure it out of the room the following day so everything was fine.

I ended up making potato salad the next day, simply because it reminds me of home. Then I moved my furniture around in my room because it needed a new look. I headed to Queen Vic market with Tom and Flo with no aim but to meander. Good fun! The evening was then spent studying with everyone out on the campus lawn because it was such a beautiful day outside. Frustrating when there is such good weather and you have to studying through it. Oh well.

I grabbed free coffee with Nanna from the business school the next morning and we both put off studying to lounge in the sun for a few hours. We talked about anything and everything and before we knew it we were "those girls" laughing hard enough to bring tears to our eyes while everyone walking past wondered what we were smoking. Ha. Such a good feeling to have a companion who seems to completely understand you. Nanna--you will be missed.(And just remember--Clooney husbands and their misfortunes.)

Thursday (15th) I had my Bio exam. I walked to Wilson with Aurelien and caught up with Sally and we all waited outside the building for the exam to start. It was a little intimidating. The room was huge and had a wall completely build of glass that faced outward toward campus so that anyone walking past could look in. As the exam was placed in front of me, I couldn't help but admire the room itself. There was a huge piece of art at the front of the room and it was so cool/distracting that I found myself staring at it instead of engaging in reading time (a thirty minute window where the examiners let students read over their tests before answering) I've never heard of such. Not in the States!

Anyway, I soon navigated my way through all of the forms and TWO multiple choice sheets as well as the essay questions. Before I knew it, two hours had passed and I was finished. There was still another hour left to go, but honestly, I couldn't be bothered. I know that sounds awful, but I just need to pass. It doesn't matter how well. So I decided my gnawing hunger and full bladder was enough to persuade me to be one of the first ones to leave the exam. Good bye Bio!

And just like that. My semester at Melbourne Uni ended.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What if that was the end of the story? Never fear, it's not.

I went to Urban Life the next night and said my goodbyes to everyone I've met through PlanetShakers. AH, I'm going to MISS that group!! We watched a film caused "Amazing Love" that was so inspirational. It was the perfect mood setter for my leaving. That night, I packed all my stuff for Tassie in a huge trekking bag that James was kind enough to let me borrow. And with pretty much no plan whatsoever but to chill in whatever way possible, I closed my eyes and prepared for 10 days in a place I have only ever dreamed of.

Tasmania. Here. We. Come.

(Stay tuned for Tassie Travels. Coming up next!!!)

Miss. You. Guys.

J.

Deadlines and Coffee

So when I realized I have abandoned my attempt at counting days and that the number of weeks doesn't apply anymore since I'm technically no longer in school, I've decided to keep track of my days spent each week by naming them appropriately. As the majority of this week was spent downing caffeine and using it as a crutch to pump out scripts... well, there you have the title.

Monday was the day after we returned from Wilson's Prom, so I was pretty tired and ended up sleeping in then grabbing coffee with Shayna. We went to Potter's Cafe and I started my morning off right with a chocolate muffin and coffee because they don’t accept credit cards unless you pay 5 dollars and a coffee is only 3.5. Ugh. But I absolutely love Potter's Cafe. It has good scenery and the benches outside are so nicely placed on the grass just out of the way where sunlight can creep in and touch your face while your body surges with caffeine. Such a nice retreat for a coffee recluse!

Nanna and I seem to keep missing each other this week. When I’m being productive she’s not, and when she’s being productive I’m not. So it’s usually like, “Bother bother bother, are you busy?” “Yup.” “Darn.” “Are you?” “Nope. I’m playing tetris.” Hah. That's about how it goes down. But we’ve managed to make it work a couple of times. 

 I’m pretty sure I blogged Monday because I was so afraid I would forget everything haha. After blogging, I actually started working on my scripts. You see, my two shorts stories, essay and synopsis in short fiction and my synopsis and 10 minute play are all due on Monday (November 5^th), so as you can imagine, I’ve been ridiculously busy this week, seeking out corners where I can write without feeling restrained. Hence, not the library. I’ve found all sorts of places varying from random buildings, to rooms, to floors, to wide lawns with sunshine and ants crawling underneath. And yes, inspiration has struck.

Tuesday I rented this movie by Quentin Tarantino. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s the screenwriter for Inglorious Bastards, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, just to name a few. His style? Raw blood, guts, language, and everyone dying at the end alongside some poignant underlying theme that usually points to the fact that humanity is flawed and without any real sense of moral code. Yup. That about sums up Tarantino. Anyway, since my play is on two criminals, I needed references and I had just watched Pulp Fiction a few weeks back (I’m sure I blogged about it) so I figured it would be a good idea to watch it. So, the scene where a psychopath was cutting off a guy’s ear while dancing was quite disturbing, but one good thing did come of it. I ended up listening to that song “Stuck in the middle with you” on replay for the whole day and working on my play. After running it by friends both here and back home, I finally came up with a completely new draft. I labeled it “final draft” but I swear, it had to have been my 7^th or 8^th. Hopefully, it got better each time. Fingers crossed! 

Wednesday was Halloween! I was kind of stoked that I was spending it in Australia. Even though I was stressing over my writing, I decided to take the night off and go out with Tom, Flo, Rhi, Phil, Daniel, and Alice. Tom, Flo, Rhi and Alice were all going as zombies. It was fun to watch Rhi and Flo splash their shirts with chocolate sauce/red paint to make it look like blood then blowing it dry with a hairdryer. That was about the point that I randomly decided that I wanted to be a pirate. Funny thing is, my wardrobe was already well equipped to make a costume out of. (Maybe I’ve always subconsciously wanted to be one…)

Anyway, I flung a bandana on my head, a floppy shirt and pants, a scarf and belt, borrowed Rhi’s hoop earrings, painted on a goatee and Rhi gave me scar and I called it a night. For a last minute costume, it rocked. We all went downstairs and hung out a while mostly just goofing around and taking pictures before we hit the streets. It was so different. There was practically no one out in costumes. Just people in nice clothing giving us odd looks. Then we made it to this weird pub that was Halloween themed and danced around with people in costumes. But no one really went all out. It was NOTHING like Franklin St. Ah, I miss UNC. I danced enough until I left with a smile on my face. I really do love dancing, even if I look stupid, ha.

Then I came back and we all went to Rhi’s kitchen where she made us Ramen noodles. This was at like 2AM mind you, ha. Not the healthiest choice, but dancing takes it out of you ;) I met this girl Attica, who was Alice’s friend from Estonia. I’ve never met anyone from Estonia and realized after talking to her that it was probably because it is so small. I think the coolest thing I learned was that 1) there are wolves in Estonia and 2)one of the people who invented Skype was from Estonia. So there, fun facts for the day! She seemed really nice, just a little out of place. Easy to feel in such a large city. Well, comparatively large. To Estonia.

Thursday I’m pretty sure I spent writing again… I know, I’m a procrastinator. But apparently the closer a deadline is the better motivation it becomes. At least, that’s always been my strategy. I think I ended up catching coffee with Wendy and Nanna. It’s always nice to see their smiling faces! Nanna and I ended up spending the next few hours at a table we’d scooted up against a wall outside that had an outlet on North Court. Because we all know that’s the perfect combination to do work: a seat, an outlet, and sunshine. I would say good company is a factor… but I’m pretty sure Nanna and I end up distracting each other more than getting actual work done haha.

Then that night we had a jam session in Rhi’s room and Tom, Rhi and Shayna sang beautifully as always. I love working to their voices, it’s such a nice backdrop to the whirling of a plot. I wish I could sing!

Friday, I actually decided to be super productive. At this point I was completely out of groceries so I ended up spending about an hour in Woolies (Safeway) just walking around and picking things at random. (It didn’t help that I went in hungry since I’d only had a lobster roll that day.) After dropping off 40 dollars worth of healthy groceries, I went back out with Tom and Flo to Queen Vic Market. I needed veggies, and the market always sells them cheap. I really do love the market, it’s got such a nice atmosphere. Trinkets of every size and shape, weird men calling out “Banana, banana, banana, one dollar, banana” and cages with fuzzy chicks for 85 cents. Such a strange and wondrous place.

And of course, after we’d bought our veggies, we had to stop by the pet shop. I know this sounds odd, but I love the birds in that place. Dogs are usually my favorites, but not in a pet shop because they’re sad and in glass boxes. It makes me want to adopt them all. But the birds are so fanciful and brightly colored hopping around and making odd noises. I saw a parrot hiding under a newspaper and talked to a pair of cockitiels that actually answered back. But most intriguing was the huge white cockatoo in the middle. He’s not in a cage, but simply sitting in the middle of the store on a perch with a tiny rope attached to his foot so he doesn’t fly away. I tried to pet him three times but each time his giant beak twitched toward my finger… I’ll take a dog bite any day but I don’t mess with bird beaks. That’s just crazy. Especially one that big! Ha.

We then got back and ended up studying in Flo’s room. I was so impressed at what a creative space her room evokes. There’s a nice window that lets in all the sun and an outlet that was behind my head. That with Tom’s music playing from his laptop and I was set. I actually ended up finishing all of my short fiction crap. YAY! Then we all went downstairs because Unilodge was giving out free KFC as a study break. I scored a tub of coleslaw afterwards… yus. 11 different spices baby.

That night, after showing Tom the ab routine from p90x, I watched Brave on my laptop. It was a cute feel good movie but the accents made me laugh… I’ve been living with Tom and Flo for the past 5 months, I’m sorry but hers just didn’t add up.

Saturday I made a super healthy lunch. Check this out: spinach wrap with avocado lime and chili pepper humus, fresh lettuce from the market, turkey and cheese. It was amazing. I ended up spending the majority of my day lying out on South Lawn in the sun. I’m not going to lie, I fell asleep a few times pretending I was writing. But the good thing about dozing in the sun is that it inspires me to keep writing. I’ll get an idea I wouldn’t have thought of if I’d been conscious. I’m convinced that some of our best ideas come from being in that transitional semiconscious state between being asleep and awake.

While lying out in the sun, I watched this cute Asian family. The dad was kicking a ball for his four-year-old toddler to chase and bring back. The kid was super excited, though I thought it looked like a lot of effort. Anyway, the dad geared up for a big kick and the kid starts getting all happy and then the dad kicks it in a tree. BAHA, you should have seen the kid’s face. It was like a balloon had been popped in his face or something . All of a sudden you have the kid screaming about his ball and the dad saying no no it was ok that he was going to climb and get it and then you have the wife joining in telling him to be careful because he wasn’t as young as he used to be and all the time I’m dying laughing. I look around and realize the family has become a spectacle for everyone on south lawn so I didn’t feel so bad for staring. But all too soon the dad had obtained the ball, gave it to his son and it was if nothing had happened. Ha. Sorry. I saw it. It happened. And now you know it did!

Anyway, I took a break from dozing since it was such hard work and caught coffee with Nanna again. Yup, it was at Potter’s Café. Good guess! (I’m working on getting 9 little stamps on my little coffee card so I can get one free. Ha. Two more to go!) We then all went out for my half birthday that night… I know, I know. You’re all like, what half birthday. Technically,  it was my birthday… minus 6 months. But we aren’t going to be here in May so we celebrated in November J Whatever works, ya? It was really just an excuse to get everyone to take a little break and hang out together so we don’t go crazy from studying for finals. We walked down to China Town and tried this place called Shanghai Village. It was SO crowded, but the food was cheap and tasty. I got dumplings… 15 of them. Yummy. Of course, I couldn’t finish them so 8 bucks for two meals isn’t bad, ya?

We (Nanna, Rhi, Shayna, Flo and Vera) all headed for San Churros. If I was going to fake celebrate my birthday, then I had to have a Mocha Mambo. If you are not aware of this fabulous drink that includes dark chocolate and espresso, refer to my earlier posts, I’m sure I fawned over their deliciousness there. Anyway, after chilling out and having a girls' night, I was wired and came back to Unilodge. Halfway through working on my script/facebooking, I crashed. I really don’t even remember falling asleep, but hey, I slept well!

Today I spent the majority of the sunshine filled atmosphere couped up in the library. I had to get things done since my writing is due tomorrow. I completed both of my portfolios and electronically submitted my short fiction assignments. I was so paranoid that I was going to screw up writing that was 100% of my grade that I made Nanna press the “submit” button. Hopefully, I passed. Haha. Hopefully.

The weather has been nice this week, even the cold days weren’t that cold. It rained at one point but the sun came out right afterwards. Today, it was even in the 80s or upper 30s, which ever type of degree you use. Hmmm. Now, I’m contemplating whether I should catch my breath and browse YouTube for a few hours or actually try to cut my short film script down to 2000 words instead of 2370 words. (It's due Wenesday along with a storyboard I haven't started on.)

 Overall, I feel like my writing has really grown this semester. I’m getting more confident in my narrative voice and most importantly, learning how to revise, which is honestly the most important process in writing. It’s so easy to get into the habit of writing something and thinking it’s golden because you’ve written it and it is yours! No, no, my friend. If it doesn’t get through to the audience, then it is your responsibility to change it or you will not be effective as a writer. That’s my spill.

Oh, and tomorrow I’m going bouldering. What now. (After I turn in my portfolios!)

Hope everyone is well! Miss everyone, but I assure you, the clock is ticking down and I will be back in a matter of weeks…

Toodles!

Wilson's Prom

Air balloons over Melbourne.

Week 12

Hello readers!

As everything begins to wind down, I find myself more and more loath to spend time in front of computer writing. Not because I don’t want to share, not because I’m not having experiences worth sharing, but because I’m living each day to its fullest and getting home exhausted with no inspiration or caffeine to persuade me to write. 

But alas, I will try to keep you updated anyway because too much has happened to let it waste away in my dusty memory.

This week marked the last week of classes? Can you believe it? Meandering around campus, looking at my classmates and teachers in new ways because the realization is in the back of my head that I will never see them again. Haha, it’s always funny when your mind plays tricks on you. It’s like subconsciously, on the last day of class, whatever class it may be, you mark every person as it being the last time you will ever see them, so in a way it’s like you don’t expect them to exist anymore. I know that sounds mean and calloused, but it’s a subconscious thing so it doesn’t count.

Cute bird!

Anyway, so when you DO end up running into that person again you go through this strange revelation that this person has come back from an extraordinary journey or that they suddenly rose from the dead because you were completely convinced that you would never see them again. Or, this could just be a weird quirk of mine and I’m rambling again. Regardless, I’ve seen a lot of miracles this week. 

People be risin’ up all over the place!

Wilson's Promontory.

So, apparently the tradition for the end of classes is to go out to a pub after glass and grab a round of beers. The concept intrigued me since in the States people just count the minutes until the class is over and then run for the door hoping they’ll never have the misfortune of being stuck in a room with the same people and teacher again. Ok, that may be extreme, but you get the picture.

In our theater class, we all decided to get together in December, grab some beers, snacks and scripts and have everyone perform their final pieces so that we can all appreciate everyone’s final work. I think it sounds like a fine idea.

Well. I say that sounds fun. But that’s in lue of skipping my last theatre class. Before you judge, just realize, I was at the last free barbeque with Tom, Shayna and Flo and it was the most beautiful day we had seen in ages. So of course we all decided to walk in the sunshine down to Savers, screw around then lie out in dog park with slushies and be bombarded by all manner of Australian dogs. Why yes, we were quite popular that day. (I saw a Jack Russell, German Shepherd, Husky, and Westie. I felt at home.)

That night (Monday) everyone went out to Turf (local pub) and since it was the last week, I decided to join them. It was really fun to get on the dance floor again, even though I have no clue what I’m doing. The cool thing about going out is that when you’re with friends, you can get away with anything because if they’re real friends, they’re not going to judge. They’ll probably just end up to stupid awkward things with you and you will all call it a night when you’ve thoroughly embarrassed yourself. Ha.

Boardwalk to paradise.

Anyway, my hat goes off to Tom, Rhi, Flo, Shayna, Aurelien, David, Alice, Phil, and Daniel for making it fun to be yourself, no matter how eccentric. 

(Oh, and that was a literal statement… my hat kept getting stolen that night.)

I turned in my final short story draft to be work shopped this week. You have to realize, the piece was around six pages before. I cut it down to three and completely changed to focus of the story. They loved it, Grant actually on board this time. In fact, if I cut the last few sentences (making it only 2.5 pages) Grant supposed it will be finished, and skillfully finished at that. Hey, if I can achieve the level of engagement that Tobias Wolf in Bullet to the Brain in less pages, I’m happy.

My original draft will have to wait.

Oh, and because my draft is so short, I have to write a second short story. Oops. Better get on that.

Looks like I need some new patches...

I went out to a pub with my short fiction class after the class ended. It was nice to just buddy around with them and listen to their conversation. You have to realize, they’re all Australians. There was a whole discussion on the pros and cons of being vegetarian and its effects on the economy to my right and conversation on a famous Australian author to my right. As I had no idea who the author was and wasn’t actively a vegetarian, I didn’t really have much to contribute to the conversations, but it was humorous to listen to. Especially the passion that drove each end of the conversation, when you have a conviction, you will stand for it at all costs, and honestly, that’s how it should be. If you have a stance, you shouldn’t be afraid to defend it. After all, there’s has to be reason you stood by it in the first place.

 

I then told them all farewell and met with Wendy. She is a vegetarian and made a delicious dinner. I’m not biased I like both veggie and not veggie meals! Ha. But then again, I’m pretty much a full on foodie (aka person who loves food.)

Blue fairy wren. He's a beaut.

We watched this weird movie that I honestly would rather not have seen, but the company was awesome. It was good just to catch up and realize that there are other international students going through the same feelings you are. This bittersweet mix of wanting to see your family but hating the thought of leaving a place as beautiful as Australia is where there are people you would love to know and interact with for the rest of your life. But hey, just because you’re not going to be standing beside a person for the rest of your life, doesn’t mean you can’t keep up a full and healthy ongoing relationship. At least, that’s what I would like to believe. 

Friday I attended my last Biology lecture. Tear. I’m going to miss doodling animals on my page while listening to interesting facts about Australian flora and fauna with Aurelien and Sally on either side. Oh well. All good things must come to an end. Now I just need to catch up on the two lectures I missed and actually start committing all of that cool information to my brain. If only my brain did act like a sponge… we’ll see soon enough.

Friday I met up with Shayna, Vera, Nanna and Nanna’s Australian mate, James. Oh yea, and we planned our trip to Wilson’s Promontory, which we were going to go to the NEXT day. You can call it procrastinating if you want. I just call it adventure.

Hiking across the beach.

Anyway, we got together, ran by Woolies (or Safeway as the Australians call it) and picked up stuff to make pasta salad. YUM. I never realized cold pasta could be so good. We stuffed it into two large zip lock bags and into my backpack and called it dinner for the night we would be camping.

 

I’m trying to think of how to describe our trip to you with any cliché words like amazing, beautiful, fulfilling, trip of a lifetime, becoming one with nature… but I just used them, so there. It was truly one of my favorite trips I’ve taken since getting here. And if you’ve been following my blog at all, you’ll realize how big of a statement that is.

I’m not going to lie; I expected the trip to kind of be a dud because they were calling for snow in the upper ranges of the mountains and rain. So I imagined hiking around in a raincoat and huddling in a tent in the midst of a storm. But I was wrong!

We woke up at 6AM piled our stuff into James’ car and headed out for Wilson’s Prom which is about a 5 hour drive. We had to divvy out all of the food, sleeping bags, tents and sleeping mats, so by the time we were all loaded up with all the weight we could manage on our backs, we all looked kind of funny, but prepared. We set off for the trails. There was so much amazing scenery, it never rained and since hiking is a sport and ends up warming up your body temp, it was never cold. 

Wombat butt!

While we were hiking, we got a total surprise when wombats just happened to casually appear on the sides of the trail. They’re so fat and cuddly! Some of the cutest creatures we’ve seen since being here. But most of all they’re just chill. Shayna was the first to go up and touch one. Its only defense mechanism was to turn its butt to her. Ha. Then James pet it and when I finally got to it, I brushed its backside before it waddled off into the nearby underbrush. Haha. They’re so soft. I can’t believe how chill they were with us petting them. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Right after we clambered up some rocks to get to the trail.

Then we got to a part of the trail that crossed a place called squeaky beach. Basically, if you’ve ever experience sliding your feet across the right type of sand, you will hear a distinct squeak from the friction. Self explanatory. Anyway, the beach was pretty cool but we were more distracted by the huge boulder Cliffside that looked like they could be climbed to reach the other side. So off we go, backpacks as heavy as we are, scrambling over rocks sides and up mountain sides… it probably wasn’t the safest idea, but when we clambered up from the rocks and up the Cliffside to find the trail again, I sure felt accomplished.

We found a couple rock overlooks that were simply stunning, looking out onto clear water and beach sides.

Jane Austen trail.

We also passed through this corridor of intertwining trees that were the softest of greens that gave me the distinct feeling that I was in a Jane Austen novel. I don’t know, that’s the best way I can describe it. With the sunlight peaking through onto the subtle path you were walking along… I felt like Jane Austen herself could’ve walked through, letting the leaves touch her fingers as she contemplated the characters of her next novel. Oh the stories.

I guess something that caught me off guard while hiking, was simply how much water you end up drinking. Note to amateur hikers, do not spare expense when it comes to packing water. The extra weight is worth it. Water becomes your best friend.

We stopped and snacked in the most exotic of places: beaches, rocks sides, path crossways sheltered from wind. 

Walking along the beaches, it wasn’t uncommon to look down and see the things that had washed in from the seas. We saw so many mussels and clams, crabs and sea grasses. Honestly, it reminded me of my biology class.

Paradise.

The cool thing about the hike was simply how many different types of scenery we passed through. There was this boardwalk that took us through this grove of trees that emitted the creepiest noise I’ve ever heard. Close your eyes, and imagine being in a playground with no children or distraction. Thinking about what a single swing sounds like, the creak of the chains going back and forth. It’s what the trees sounded like. Ah, so creepy, it would’ve been the perfect set up for a horror movie if it was filmed at night.

And finally, after 18km of hiking (11miles) we reached the Eastern coast. My God. It was breathtaking. I have never, ever been to a beach that beautiful. I tried to think what it was that made that beach so different, what made that beach so unique. And a couple things came to me. It seemed so isolated, so undisturbed by human presence that it was like waking up to a little piece of mother nature herself, stumbling into her presence. There were no footsteps, only white sand. No pollution, only turquoise water. No buildings or construction, only boulders jutting any direction they pleased, only mountains running right to the sea. It was truly magnificent and I felt privileged simply standing on the beach. 

 

Of course, then I made a sand angel, which is less graceful, but hey, I don’t think there was any real damage done. Ha. 

Awesome stick bug that was bigger than my hand.

We had lunch there then hiked our way up a hidden trail to set up camp for the night. And that when I saw it… wait for it….. I SAW A GIANT STICK BUG!! And not the little ones that are common, but a stick bug that was bigger than my hand. Oh, he was beautiful. I lay on the ground wondering at the small creature for a good ten minutes, so amazed at his camouflage (though, he probably wasn’t doing the best of jobs since his light brown stick color didn’t exactly match the dark brown of the log he had decided to cross, but hey, he tried.) It was just breathtaking; to see something I had learned about in class as being close to extinct. Actually, there is a whole island, (Howard Island) which is the only place that is working on repopulating the species. SO COOL.

Our green tent and breakfast!

Anyway, after sticking around for a while, I joined the others and set up the tents. I was really happy to realize that Skippy’s tent did work after all and that it was a 3 person tent instead of a 2 person tent. And since I got it for free, it was freaking awesome that it actually worked. And it’s green, my favorite color, he.

I finally got a decent pic.

We had pasta salad that night, which was delish, and ended up playing the dice game from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It’s actually quite addictive. I found out I’m a terrible liar, but that’s not new news. Then we ate delicious Cadbury chocolate and called it a night. And it didn’t rain! I was so happy that it was warm that night and we woke up to dry tents. Dry tents and a chorus of exotic birds. I’ve never been surrounded by so many colorful feathers. There were parrots, blue fairy wrens, lorikeets, crows, magpies, and birds I don’t even know the names of. The cheeky buggers. I chased a parrot around for ten minutes trying to get its picture; it kept waddling away, not even bothering to fly when I tried to stealthily creep closer to it. Ha. I prevailed in the end though.

After I jumped in the freezing cold water!

The next morning we spent completely on the beach we’d discovered the day before. Ah, everyone was of one accord in wanting to live there. FOREVER. But we had exams and James’ parents actually needed the car… Anyway, before we left, I decided there was no way I was going to be on such a picturesque beach and not step a toe in the water. So what did we do? Oh, you know. Vera, James and I put on swimsuits, counted to three, then sprinted from the white sand headfirst into the FREEZING cold water. That was probably one of the best parts of the trip. I felt so free, so excited, so… well, my body was pretty numb, actually, but in a good way. Haha, Vera and I danced around like we were three, splashing water everywhere. So refreshing. Then we took off sprinting down the beach. Geez. Memories enough for a lifetime.

 

After changing in the tent to clothes that were actually warm, we decided it was time to tell paradise farewell and head back. We had another 18 km to go, but in the spirits we were in, it wasn’t a problem. It’s such a good feeling, hiking. Even if your shoulders are a little sore, and your feet do have blisters because you didn’t pack hiking boots, you just find your rhythm and let your feet drum the pulse of the earth. You and nature, nature and you. Amazing.

So, there was a scary moment of the trip. As we were hiking back in the complete and full sunshine (we couldn’t have asked for better weather) there was a little bit of a gap between Shayna and James and the rest of us. And just after Shayna cleared a spot in the path, I came to a complete stop and flung my arm out to keep Nanna and Vera from continuing forward. Why you may ask?

There was a snake.

 

Yes, ladies and gentleman, a real life Aussie snake, and I almost stepped on it. In fact, I was so surprised that when I was like, “Oh, crap!” the snake was started and rose up, as if to come toward us, but then thought better of it, and continued to quickly cross the path into the undergrowth on the other side.

So scary. You have to realize, I spend my days leading up to Australia, reading about all of the poisonous reptiles in Oz, and then visiting glass cages in Victoria zoos, staring death in the eyes as it slithered around in a cage. But real life? Heck no. Geez. So happy I was actually looking where I was stepping haha, because I’m honestly not sure what we would’ve done if someone was bitten. We were nowhere close to cell service or civilization for that matter. Oh well.

Oh, yea, not to scare you guys, but I looked the little buggers up when I got back and this is what I found:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Australia_and_Oceania/Australia/State_of_Victoria/Wilsons_Promontory_National_Park-1867894/Warnings_or_Dangers-Wilsons_Promontory_National_Park-TG-C-1.html

Adventure :)

Sunset to end the trip with.

After that near heart attack, we safely reached the West coast again, watched a sunset on the beach and piled in the car to go home. We had to hit the brakes too many times to count for crossing roos, wallabies, wombats, rabbits and koalas. No, I’m not kidding. And we thought deer were bad.

And that’s all folks. (Well, of course that’s not everything, but the highlights at least.)

I hope everyone has a good week. Rest assured I will probably be living in a library for the rest of this week. In fact, I’m in a library right now, pretending to be productive while actually blogging.

Sigh, I guess it’s back to real life.

Catch you guys soon.

JoMo

Week 11

Week 11

Geez, that week flew by, too! Well, at this rate, I'll be home in the blink of an eye.

In other news, I have finally BOOKED A FLIGHT TO TASSIE! And not just a ticket to Tassie, but a whole 10 day trip to Tassie. As of right now, I lined up to go with Aurelien, Tisara, Carnay, Wendy, Kay-Ann (an awesome chick from London), and one other girl who is Wendy's friend. Basically, we're renting two cars and taking off for adventure. SO excited!

There were a few highlights from this week.

So, you have to realize, this is the second to last week of classes. So, I was a little more attentive to everything--teachers, peers, classrooms, campus, then I would usually be. I actually participated in conversations instead of zoning out, I engaged peers outside of class instead of rushing to explore some new part of the city, and so on and so forth. Anyway, because of that, I really enjoyed my Bio class where we discussed Marine Animals and my Theatre class where we read some pretty decent scripts from the class.

Then of course, the prof pulls out HIS short play and makes us read it. It wasn't that bad. But hey, that's how it should be, right?

I noticed how out there theatre people can be. For example, our prof told us about a theatre experience he had the previous weekend. Apparently, you can pay this certain couple to bring the theatre experience to your own house. (Like if your hosting a party or something.) Anyway, since our prof is a theatre guru, he totally paid these guys to come to his house and put on a performance. Low and behold, any people that are in the house become a part of the play. So, here are these two seemingly Russians who come in and act a little introverted and act like they're casing the house and asking uncomfortable questions and by the end of the performance, everyone who has previously been engaged in a story the actress is telling, is completely bound by their wrists and blindfolded and the actors take off without a warning. SO freaky!

Can you imagine sitting in the dark, hands bound, waiting for the next part of the performance or the beginning of another story and it never happening? Haha. Our teacher said someone was like, "Did they leave?" and "Was that it?" How disconcerting.

And yes, you do pay for the experience.

We asked him if all of his possessions were still there after they left. Fortunately, they were.

Tuesday, I basically went out and saw the best movie I've seen since Inception. Why of course, I'm talking about Looper with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I went with Aurelien and we both agreed it was freaking amazing (my choice of words.) My mind was officially blown.Usually people can’t pull off time travel, but honestly, this one wasn’t that bad. And all of the actors were phenomenal. Bruce Willis was, well, Bruce Willis, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt was basically gorgeous. The child was creepy, but it definitely worked.

And then we went to the pancake parlour. So basically, a FANTASTIC night.

Wednesday, Wendy and I met up and had cake since it was her mom’s birthday. It was so cute that she was celebrating it here. She even dressed up and I took a picture of her eating her brownie. Lol. I ate a brownie, too. It was only proper. Ha.

 I stayed up until 2 AM finishing an essay for my short fiction class on Friday night. Well, I say finishing, but honestly, I just completed a very rough first draft that reached the word count. There will be more work to come, but I'd rather not think about that now.

Friday, I caught lunch with Aurelien and Carnay at an Asian joint that was ten bucks a pop. There was a moment between cramming my mouth with chicken and rice and talking about Tassie that a thought struck me. I'm leaving in less than seven weeks...

It’s creeping me out. Grr. I’m going to miss this place SO much. I have established so many contacts, made so many friends. :(

But enough of that!

After lunch, Aurelien and I made it to Bio and listened to a new lecturer. I miss the old teacher. Oh well, this lady flopped a huge piece of kelp across the stage that was longer than she was, and she was pretty tall... cool enough for me.

After Bio, I met Nanna and we laid out in the botanical gardens. For once, the weather wasn’t crappy. I was wearing my southern cross blue tank and was so happy I’d thrown it on under my jumper. I ended up lying out under 'my' tree and finished my synopsis for my short script. Then Nanna and I rewarded ourselves for being productive and got a coffee at the professors' walk. I was so happy to sip on my iced mocha in the sunshine. It was beautiful.

Then we met up with Wendy in the library after working and went out to dinner at this little café a little ways down Swanston. This guy who was an older waiter was totally hitting on us, even sitting with us to help us order. He was really nice, but not our type, mainly because he was OLD.


Then Nanna and I got back to it, hopping into a couch space in the frank tate building, and I started and finished my 1000 word essay after getting into an email battle with my teacher on the differences between metaphoric and elliptical plots. The prick. I really don’t like Grant, honestly; I think it’t the whole old white men who think they’re the only good writers in the world thing. Honestly, they’re just mad because they’re old and decrepit and still have yet to gain any recognition because in the end, their works are simply mediocre. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

ANYWAY. He totally called me out in class the other day for using the work public “outlash” in my description of why one of the main characters was building a wall. He asked if it was one of those American words. Pssht. I told him to look it up in the dictionary. He did. I won.

(Although, technically, it's not in Webster's. Just every other dictionary...) 

Yea… so I went out Saturday to the library again after grabbing coffee with Shayna and then searched around Princess park and found a free bbq with nanna and met this international kid, Nick Allen, who works at an outdoor shop and offered me a 75 percent discount on sleeping bags. I almost took him up on it. Apparently, Tassie gets REALLY cold at night. Ick.  Then I worked on my play and got it around 1200 words as opposed to 900 and still need to get it to 2000. Then we hit up Aldis and grabbed some food and I was bad and bought a coke to accompany my dinner.

Today, I went to the zoo with Aurelien, a guy from London name Charlie, a Malaysian girl who I can't quite remember the name of, and a girl named Charlotte. It was a pretty good zoo. Not bad at all. I still think I like Healsville Sanctuary, but they are two completely different kinds of zoos. One is meant to be open and contain only Australian animals whereas Melb zoo is enclosed and has animals from all over the world. One difference I found intriguing was that the zoo had Asian Elephants on display as opposed to African elephants, which are usually displayed in the States. They differ in size, tusks and trunks. I think they're a little bit cuter, too.

There was also a butterfly house. I forgot how magical those places can be. I think it has to do with how warm, green and fluttery the place not only are, but make you feel. Apparently, Aurelien smelled good or something, because he was a butterfly magnet.

Jealous.

Meh. Missed Shaker's today, but I was already committed to the zoo ticket. However, Urbs this Wednesday! Can't wait.

Oh, and I caught a rugby game this weekend! I actually got to watch the game between OZ and NZ live during normal TV hours! Heck yes! It was so close, though most of the points were from penalties. Final outcome? We tied! Take that All Blacks. Oh, and it totally broke the All Black's streak of 17 consecutive wins... hahaha. (evil laugh.)

Sigh. Ok. I suppose it's time.

 C'mon Melbourne Uni. Bring on the last week.

All good things must come to an end.

 

Week 10

  Week 10

And.... it's once again Sunday night. The night that everyone is scrambling to complete their assignments on. Everyone, that is, but me. Instead, I think I'll write down a quick update to further procrastinate :)

Basically, I just flew through Week 10. Don't ask me, I have no idea how it happened. One day it was Monday and the next moment it's Sunday night. I guess if I were to ever have a rough week, then this past one would be included. It's not that anything wrong happened, or that I was overloaded with assignments, however, I did come across a barrier I never thought I would run into; homesickness.

I lasted 4 months, so there.

I think it's the frustration of looming deadlines, or one deadline I should say because all of my major assignments are due on the same day. That coupled with the terrible weather we've been having have had my spirits a bit low. But never fear, today was beautiful and I was actually able to make a Planet Shaker's service. Thank God. No literally. My spirits are now soaring and I'm ready to take on anything!

Except homework.

Haha, I wish I could tell you all that happened this week, but honestly, I wasn't even up to keeping a journal, which is strange for me. So everything will come from memory. Lucky you.

Monday, we went out to see Taken 2. It's Liam Neeson; of course I'm going to go watch it. Overall, it was a decent movie. BUT, you have to realize I went in thinking it was going to be terrible and that there was no way it could even come close to touching the first one. Turns out, it wasn't half bad. I think they played off the whole protective father bit well. However, there was an extreme lack of a serious bad guy and I felt like they copped too much from the first movie. But hey, matter of opinion, ya?

As usual, I caused the whole group problems by losing my movie ticket on the way there. (How I can lose a slip of paper that was IN my pocket during a 10 minute walk I will never know.) Luckily, Alvina spoke to the front desk and was able to get it sorted out. I was so embarrassed. And I've been doing so good lately...

Tuesday, I didn't have class and therefore can't remember what I actually did... meh, we'll skip it. I do remember catching dinner with Shayna at a fish and chips place on Lygon that also serves sushi and student discounts. We were all for it and also decided to be fatties by ordering platters and sushi. Oops.

I also got some cooking done since I didn't have any classes. I made homemade potato salad and it was delicious. However, there was a little kitchen mishap... I didn't boil my eggs long enough so in lue of a friend's suggestion (Aurelien) I stuck them in the microwave for a few seconds. Don't worry, I watched them to make sure they didn't explode in the microwave.

Of course, that doesn't mean they didn't explode when I took them out of the microwave. Not one, but two eggs exploded in my face leaving me standing in a kitchen full of Unilodgers laughing at my egg covered face. Ha.

 Jordan strikes again.

Wednesday, I met up with Nanna and we spent a fair amount of time trying to find a decent place on campus to study. (Gah, I miss Davis!) You have to have an outlet, a comfy place to sit for hours and somewhere that doesn't close early. Usually, you can't find a place that meets all of the conditions, so we compromised; no comfy seating for us. However, I did complete the third draft of my short story and I'm becoming more and more pleased with it. Not because it's where I originally imagined the story going, but because it fits the criteria the teacher deemed prevalent and I'm pretty sure it's the shortest story I've ever written. Three pages. What now.

That was also the day I ended up running off of two large coffees and then managed to make it to Urban Life where I devoured more sugar than can possibly be healthy for anyone my size. But Urban Life was amazing, so I wasn't concerned. And once again, I found so much relief by just stepping into that apartment with those people. It's like... my safe place. Sadly, I couldn't sleep at all that night because of all the caffeine and sugar. But hey, there had to be some repercussions to having so many goodies that day, ha.

Thursday I had class and class and more class until 8 PM. At least it's a class I enjoy and because we're actually work shopping people's stories it holds my interest. I don't think I would've been able to handle it if it had been a math class. Thank God for the arts...

I came back and ended up playing pool for a few hours. I won 5 times in a row. Not joking. But I'm pretty sure it was because the majority of the people I played were completely pissed, ha. And one of the games I won because someone knocked in the eight ball. It still counts!

Friday I took off with Nanna and Vera to a place in Brunswick called Savers. I swear, it's the exact thing as Goodwill. So amazing. Definitely the cheapest clothes I found since getting here.  Of course, I ended up picking up a new jacket... I've got a problem. But at least it wasn't a hat, ya? Ha, then Vera, Nanna and I battled our way through the cold and made it into a cozy little cafe where we had coffee. It was such a hipster place with graffiti and skateboards on the wall. Everyone that came in was covered in piercings and there was a ninja turtle propped up against the window. Ha, we stayed for over an hour sipping on our coffee. (Vera actually got a fruit smoothie. It was good, too!)

Then, that night, I went out with Shayna, Vera, Rhi, Tom and Flo to a dumpling place because we were all starving. All in all, it wasn't too shabby. We then split ways and decided we actually needed to get some work done.

So what did I do?

Invited Aurelien and David over to watch Pulp Fiction, of course. Haha. It was a good night and I was shocked that I'd never seen the movie until now. I have to look up the script simply because the dialogue was absolutely masterful. If you can get past the language, gore and general "rawness" of the film, it's an awesome piece of fiction.

Sunday, I finally made it to Planet Shaker's, which immediately started my day off right. That and the fact that the weather was super nice today. In fact, it was so nice that I went back, made lunch and then went to St. Kilda beach with Aurelien, Shayna, Rhi and Flo. Such a good time. We saw a man in a leather outfit on a horse, an MJ impersonator, a random music video being performed on the beach for a unknown singer who's supposedly famous and a female supermodel posing on the beach with a set of abs like I've never seen before. I'm sorry, but not even I would want to look that manly. She had a hulky guy walking around behind her doing a photo shoot on the beach. SO weird.

We then went to the Lintel place again and we were greeted by our favorite waiter. He's really nice and made room for us in the already crowded restaurant. I got Japanese pancakes this time. They were delish. Then we got TimTams at Woolies and watched the sunset over Melbourne bridge. Nice night overall. Now I'm typing away telling you guys all of my adventures! Ha. And avoiding work! I know, I know, I'm such a good multitasker. It's a talent.

But, I really do have to go now and get at least something accomplished. I hope everyone's weeks are going well! Oh, and we've hit daylight savings, so we are now 15 hours ahead. Yay.

Jordan out.