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.

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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!