Days 54-62

Busy, busy, busy.

I am now in Week 7 of classes. Out of 12. Scary? I know.

There have been a few highlights over the past few days.

Last Wednesday. I was blessed enough to be able to meet with my Urban Life group again. (Basically, they are a small group based out of Planet Shakers.) I ended up running into and inviting Alvena (from Cairns) to come with me that night. It was so awesome how well she fit in with the group. I love helping people make connections. It's amazing to see people learn more about themselves through learning about others. I think that's what drew me to journalism in the first place. Making connections.

Anyway, Urban Life was as awesome as ever with delicious food, fellowship, worship and humor. I'm so glad to have a friend group I can be completely comfortable with. A group where I don't have to worry about insulting someone or having my guard up.

Thursday marked my first Australian workshop in my Short Fiction class. Eh. It definitely could've gone better. Basically, my professor used the words "long" and "slow." The words every aspiring author wants to hear, ya? I knew what one of the criticisms would be before going in because I didn't turn in the whole story since only three pages were required. There were still another three pages that he didn't read, and honestly, the ending gave relevance to the whole story. I think his main criticisms were that the story wasn't modernist enough, I needed to get into the action sooner and he was worried that the subject of my story might not be relevant enough. Haha, he even used the term "outdated" to describe my style. If you think about it though, the great writers of old are still great because their writing was great. So why is imitating their styles so bad? Just because everything else in the world is trending toward instant gratification doesn't mean that everyone's writing should. But, as with everything in the literary world, my opinion is debatable.

Once I told my teacher what the ending was, he was extremely intrigued, but still argued I should get to the point of the story sooner. Seeing as how he is published and I am not, I think I'll take him up on that suggestion.

Needless to say, I spent Friday ripping my short story apart and putting it back together again. For now, I'm putting it aside. I'll look at it with fresh eyes after spring break. I transitioned to working on my script for my "Writing for Theatre" class this weekend. It's a whole different feel, the different styles of writing. I feel like there is so much more leniency with writing for theatre. Your characters are allowed to be dramatic. Melodrama is actually a genre of writing, not a criticism flung at bouts of emotion audience's don't feel like the characters have earned.

Anyway, I'm still working on it, but my play deals with the concept of silence and the implications of such. It also deals with the subjectivity of morality and how that comes into play with bouts of silence. Oh, and there are two recently escaped convicts involved. There. The makings of a great work of theatre. Ha.

Watching the sunset after I ran.

Saturday, I was able to do something I've been wanting to do since getting here. I played RUGBY!! It was supposed to be with girls and guys, but when I showed up to the field in my boots (Aussie for cleats), I was facing a whole group of guys from Singapore. Apparently, they'd all played on Uni teams at home and now play together here. Yea. It was a different experience, haha. We played touch instead of contact so there were quite a few differences. First of all, even if you know nothing about rugby, you'll recognize that contact rugby has a much slower pace than touch because you have to stop for rucks and usually, it's the scrumhalf that's going in for the ball.

Touch rugby, however, is a whole different ball game. (Excuse the pun.) Basically, you crash and the dummyhalf (whoever happens to be closest to the ball) runs in and dumps the ball to whoever is better positioned to thread the gaps in defense. If all of this is beyond your head, don't worry about it. ZIMS. You will understand when I say, "I'm outta shape, bra!" Haha, they smoked me, but I did have a few passes to the guys who made trys. Regardless. It was fun. I was glad to have my hands on a rugby ball again.

Plants are cool.

But with the good, comes the bad.

I lost my hat.

I know. I'm distraught. Farewell to my grey beanie, the coolest hat ever in the fact that it kept me warm. I'm convinced someone's dog carried off...

Saturday night was basically awesome because I spent the night with Nic and Nat who made curry, which was delicious. I brought strawberries for dessert. (The extent of my cooking prowess.) It was so good to be with people I've known for a short time and feel like I've known them forever. We also ended up watching the first episode of show Community. It's sad the number of times I was reminded of CVCC... Oh, and the mattress on the floor I slept on in Nic's apartment was so much more comfortable than my awful Unilodge mattress. Needless to say, I slept like a baby.

Then we went to Shakers! Which was a relief, as always.

Elephants hanging out on Lygon Street.

Sunday evening was spent wondering aimlessly around Melbourne just because I haven't really had a chance to explore all of the amazing shops I've seen in passing. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm not a shopper. So, I was able to hit a huge amount of stores in only two hours because most of my stops were quick in and outs. I didn't get anything, of course, but I did manage to fall in love with a leather satchel bag. My god, it was beautiful and exactly what I need for my career as a journalist and creative writer. The leather was Italian made and the style delicately feminine. I've never really wanted anything that badly.

Then I saw the price. 450 AUD. No, I'm not kidding. Geez. Maybe I should've picked up a job while I was here ha.

Oh well.

Monday I met with a girl from my Urban Life who's from Malaysia. Her name is Janielle. I don't know how exactly to describe what went down, but two hours later and empty coffee cups marked the beginning of what will end up being an amazing friendship. It's funny how you run into people you've never met before who are from completely different walks in life and find you are almost exactly the same. In your beliefs, your outlooks your love for mankind. There's just something special about having a passion in common. We both ended up having to run for class because we didn't realize how quickly time had flown. It made me smile.

That night, I met up with some friends from the first week. Dina and Alun joined Shayna and I, and we all went out to a Malaysian restaurant. It was spicy and delicious. Though, Alun told me my dish wasn't a traditional one because the coconut rice was fried instead of white. Ha, I told him I've been living off of white rice so I needed the change up. It was nice to check in on everyone's lives. See what they are up to, see familiar faces.


Today was pretty productive in every sense but classwork.

I bought groceries, did laundry and ran a mile in a place called Prince's Park. Basically, it's a huge green area in Melbourne with a huge oval loop for running, biking and walking dogs. It has soccer fields and footy fields and open fields in between, all surrounded by scenic shrubs and trees. It's beautiful. I discovered it when I played rugby on one of the fields this weekend. I decided it would be a good place to try running.

 Aussie parrots chilling above my head. Nbd.

Anyway, I met up with Ben and caught lunch at the University Cafe today, a place owned by an Italian man. It was authentic enough for me, as the tortellini was superb. I only wish the prices weren't so high. Stupid Lygon Street.

Afterwards, Ben and I simply sprawled in a homey oasis on campus. Basically, just like UNC, there are open lawns where students can lie out in the sun. However, this courtyard was more secluded behind the botany building and there were huge clumps of bamboo sprouting from the ground and palm trees and yes, I'm pretty sure I even saw a cactus... It's safe to say we were right by the green houses. I don't know. It didn't feel real. Lying in the sun, talking to my Aussie friend, staring up at brightly colored parrots and hearing the wind filter through bamboo shoots. Geez, this place really is magical.

Ben also gave me the book, "A Dog's Heart," which I'm super stoked about reading.

It's kind of sad. My Aussie friends already know where my weakness lies: BOOKS!

It's ok. Librarians are sexy. I'm convinced we're going to be the next trend. First zombies, then vampires, now librarians. Just wait. It's the way of the world, my friend.

Prince's Park, north of campus.

Oh, and I must back up and tell you about the weather! Ever since it hit September 1 (the first day of Spring in Oz), it has been SO warm. I've been wearing shorts and t-shirts and haven't felt chilly in the least. Such an amazing feeling.

After lunch, I grabbed a change of clothes and met Wendy at Prince's Park after running a mile. The oval is huge. I didn't manage to finish it this time, but I figure I'll work my way up to it. Hopefully. Wendy and I caught dinner at Don Tojos, a cheap Japanese restaurant in Carlton. It's a good deal because you pay seven bucks and have leftovers for a second meal. Like I said, not bad.

And I guess that brings me to where I am now. Blogging instead of writing a screen synopsis for "No Country for Old Men." (Awesome movie, btw. I would've never called that ending.) OH! And I forgot one of my most important discoveries this past week. There's a library on the second floor of Unihouse called the Rowden White Library that allows you to rent SIX movies for a WEEK for FREE! I was in heaven. Consequently, I've now seen No Country for Old Men, Ides of March, Donnie Darko, The King's Speech, Duplicity, Snow Cake, 9, Brother Where Art Thou? and Good Will Hunting.

Don't Judge.

I am in a screen writing class, after all. (At least, that's the excuse I've been using.) If I'm honest with myself, staying away from that place until after Week 8 (the week of all my midterms) is probably best.

So. I think that about covers it. I'm still here. Chilling Down Under and loving every minute of it. Every day I wake up brimming with excitement simply because I'm here. Because God's allowed me the chance to see his masterpieces. To love His people.

 Oh, and Unilodge bought new pool sticks. I thought it was worth mentioning.

 That is all.