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.

Week 9

And so, I just finished up Week 9 of 12 weeks of class. (You have to realize, they don't include the two week break as part of the teaching schedule. I have no idea why... We all know sunbathing and snorkeling at the GBR should totally count as class time. Ha.)



Dark Mocha at Lindt Chocolate.

After two weeks in paradise, we got back to crap weather in Melbourne. I mean, clouds, rain, wind and everything. But it was nice to be back with everyone. We actually went straight to the kitchen and hugged/caught up with Rhi, Tom and Flo. Then we crashed. Woke up to a thunderstorm. I love sleeping to storms. It lets me know it’s ok to stay inside, that it’s ok to go to sleep. Woke up around lunch time. Figured I needed to do laundry. Got coins exchanged at the 711 and a convenient store beside Unilodge since the machine only takes dollar coins. The guy must get that request a lot because he asked, Laundry? To which I nodded.

Got my laundry finished then caught coffee with Natalie. Always good to see her again. While walking back from meeting with her, I couldn't help but realize how unworthy I am. How self motivated. I feel like it’s so easy to get so focused on yourself. You get caught up in everything you want to do and everything you want to see. The truth is that I should be more burdened by the lives of the people around me. I should be more worried about the burdens they carry instead of where my next adventure is going to be. Sigh. I bought Nat’s coffee. It was the least I could do.

Sunset in Melbourne

October brings a new month, tomorrow a new day.  I went out to St. Kilda last night with Flo, Rhi and Shayna. It was so nice to have a girl’s night out and the place we went, some lintel as anything, was so good. Not only were the veggie dishes delicious (I got pumpkin curry) but they let you pay what you think the meal is worth. All of their staff works off of donations. It was kind of a humbling place to be in and made you want to pay them twice as much as what the food was worth because it was amazing. But alas, we’re college students. 8 bucks for a strong cappuccino and delicious pumpkin curry wasn’t too shabby.

We then browsed St. Kilda’s fancy store front cake shops, balked at prices, and scampered to Woolies where we bought a chocolate cake to split between us all. Haha. Take that steep prices. Then we walked along St. Kilda pier and I spotted a penguin in the dark. It was a pretty exciting moment. I never knew penguins make such creepy noises, almost like a high pitched snoring old man that is simultaneously pissed off at you. It would have been funny to see us all jump and point our phones as flashlights at the rocks behind us when we first heard the penguins.

I’ve been trying to get myself to start my homework, but it’s hard. AFL finals were today. So I went downstairs for a free Unilodge bbq and watched the whole game. Funny, how it’s completely different from NFL in the fact that there are simply NO commercial breaks, and when there is one, it is simply that, ONE. Not an hour’s worth, cough cough. It was between Hawthorne, based out of Melbourne, and the Swans based out of Sydney, so already a huge rivalry going on between the two cities. It was honestly a close game the WHOLE time. But Sydney pulled through at the last moment. Bugger. Oh well. It could’ve been worse. It could’ve been a blow out.

I ate dinner with Tom, Flo and Rhi. Tom made an Irish dish-potato soup. It was amazing. I feel like I’ve had it before though. Cheese, potatoes, onions, garlic, and cream of something. Yummy. I had seconds. Then I stole Flo’s music and watched Shawshank Redemption. It was super insightful and put me in an intrinsic mood. Maybe I'll get some writing done...

Monday I woke up early and got on skype to talk to mom then I went to bio and it was interesting enough, but I was more excited by talking to Sally and Aurelien and the girl who is in my Bio tute about holidays.  It was nice to know I’m not the only one who’s behind in that class. Then I got some sushi and walked right into getting a free snag and Pepsi. Yus.. it made me happy. 

I made pasta for Shayna and I, and was all keen to go to library when I stumbled right into free pizza, chokkie, sodas and popcorn. I was in heaven. Apparently, the school was putting on some kind of event to celebrate coming back from holidays? Whatever it was, I approved.

 I just came back from the library where I listened to bio lectures for a little over two hours, but at least that’s out of the way. I met Alvina in the lounge after coming back from the library. She was so nice!  She picked me up an Arizona green tea because she thought I was homesick. It was so sweet of her. I’m thinking about going to an art exhibit with her on wed night, but we'll see.

Today was awesome. I woke up, went to my bio tute, grabbed a free snag and veggie burger while listening to this awesome band (One More I think) from New Zealand. I had this small moment in my day where I was just so happy. The endorphins were running. I just realized how many awesome people I’ve ran into since getting here…Aurelien, Sally, Dina, Arthur, Tom, Rhi, Nanna, Vera, Flo…. I saw them all today and it was awesome. Even that girl from my Bio tute turned around in bio lecture the other day and asked me how my trip to Cairns went. It was unexpected and I just realized how much I’m going to miss everyone.

Then after tanning it up and working on my bio lab all day (I’m still not finished) I met Janielle and we headed off to Lindt for chokkie. Man, I spend so much on chocolate and coffee. It’s a problem. Anyway, it was awesome to catch up. And we managed to catch the sun setting over the water on the bridge. It was a peaceful moment that made me remember why I love Melbourne.

That night, after taking a break from doing nothing, I played pool with Tom, Rhi and Arthur. The game is just so chill as well as the people. I love going down and taking my mind off everything. Deadlines, especially.

Wednesday…. I ended up going to Don Tojos with Shayna and Vera for lunch and skipping bio lecture because our new lecture is a wacko, and I don’t like him because his humor is vulgar and his personality arrogant. Yup, and the lectures are on conservation, which I think is viable but boring to teach/learn. Anyway, then I spent practically the whole day lying out , getting a free drink from south lawn, and finishing my bio lab. Then after printing my script in the library, I met up with Alvina and went to the Napoleon exhibit at the art gallery. Ah, it was so amazing. I mean, we all know what history tells us, but hearing it and reading it is different from actually seeing it: the steel of his sword, the leather of his hat and the stumpy jacket that was his.

And the famous painting of that valiant yet little man rearing back on his horse with his hand pointed toward the heaven was right in front of my face. The actual awe of being so close that I could touch it and the painting so lifelike I thought his hand had came off the page. I thought of Leslie the whole time and how she would've loved every moment, reading the French descriptions I could not. As I walked through, I couldn’t help but wonder where all of the other relics of history have gone. Like the swords. You know everyone and their brother used to own one. Where are they now? You can’t tell me everyone had them melted down. It just doesn’t make sense. Such relics and treasures. It makes you wonder what will be showcased in virtual boxes for generations to come. What will they remember us by? What story will they tell that may not even scrape the truth?

Thursday, I presented my script (for screen) to the class. It sounded corny to my ears and it wasn’t received as well as I had hoped it would be, as they wanted more of a draw to the main character who’ve I’ve distanced for a reason. Back to the drawing board. 

Oh my gosh, it’s Friday and I had the most amazing day ever. Turned in my bio assignment, laid in the grass, rented some movies, bought Shayna some coffee because I owed her money, got handed  a free slushy, went to a concert. Ahhhhh, so good. It was the John Butler Trio (if you haven't heard them, stop reading right now, and YouTube them. Preferably the song OCEAN or ZEBRA) and they were amazing. The guy comes out looking like a grungy hippie, but with short hair, and I instantly fell in love. He could play any instrument that landed in his hand, and trust me there were many including a banjo. Then they all three hopped onto the drums and played together and it was freaking amazing. I’ve never been so entranced.

Near the end, he told us to turn around and count to four then turn back around and dance like we’ve never danced before, what’s crazy is that it worked. Everyone in the audience started wriggling in all sorts of new ways. We listened for hours and I could’ve listened for more. I was with Nanna, Aurelien, David, Shayna, Rhi, Flo, Daniel and Phil and it was such a good time. Then Aurelien and David said they would join us for a jazz bar in Fitzroy, but it was a cold night and Fitzroy was far, so we simply grabbed cheap food and went to the Queensbury Hotel (a pub near Unilodge). It was nice to chill with everyone and talk about any and everything. Just having pub buddies is cool. It was such a good mix of personalities, too. No one was too overwhelming. That’s what made it great. On the way there, we ran into this drunk guy who said he was trying to find his way home……in western Australia. His most memorable line? “My name is Frederick, I’m famous.” Hahah.

Saturday, we went to the aquarium and saw some huge manna rays getting fed. The aquarium wasn't very big and honestly I've seen better. Not being pessimistic, just honest. If I'd been paying regular price (over 30 AUD) I would've gone. But alas, we paid two bucks. Good ol' Unilodge. Shayna, Vera and I went out to a Mexican restaurant later that night. Oz really doesn't have any Mexican food, and when Alvina suggested this hole in the wall place, I figured Shayna would jump on it. I was right. We got fee chips and salsa, ate our 25 percent discounted food, and went away happy.

Mostly, my weekend consisted of watching movies and drinking a delicious rootbeer float with ice cream from Alvina. (What I didn't realize until half way through was that it had Snapps in it. Probably why it was so good, ha!) And finally, I broke down after trying to do work and went to San Churros with Shayna on Sunday for chocolate and coffee.

Don't Judge.

JoMo