Toliet Paper Monster

Apparently our flat has a toliet paper eating monster. I have put out
6 rolls of paper and Tari 3 to the girls bathroom and Zane put 4 into
the boys, and Zane is the only boy.

WHERE IS THE PAPER GOING?

Happy Mardi Gras

apparently mardi gras is a western hemisphere thing. these aussie have
no clue what I am talking about. however, the other americans and
myself are going to show them. emily is buying beads and i am getting
junk food. we are going to do this fat tuesday up right.

yesterday was much fun, i think i am going to stick with this frisbee
deal and i hope we all keep playing volleyball. it is quite hot out
today. i have no food left so i am going to have a heck of a lot to
carry back. should be fun tonight though.

hope you all have a loverly mardi gras and such. i am off to church
and shopping and to do my weekly chore (rubbish bins) as it is
walkthroughs tonight!

Loving Perth

I have decided my new favorite sport is AFL, Australian Rules Football,
aka Footie. It is mad fun and fast paced. Totally better then
gridiron. I am even going to buy an AFL ball I think. On Sunday I am
going with my roommate and her family to see the Freemantle Dockers
play at the Perth Oval. Very excited.

So this weekend/past week has been crazy fun. Classes are awesome. It
is so strange having so little school but I am going to enjoy it. I am
also going to try and sit in on interesting lectures, planning on
sitting in on one about insurgency in asian nations. Should be great.

I love the buses here. Very clean and prompt. I need to buy a
multipass soon though. Took a huge long bus-train-bus trip to
Scarbrough Beach. Not worth the 2something hour trip but still fun. I
got crushed by huge waves and then watched the wind and kite surfers.
It was fun. That was Saturday, Sunday Kelly from Canada and I went
into Fremantle and had an awesome lunch at this little cafe. I had a
chicken sandwhich with carrots, tomato, and cucumbers on a crusty fresh
roll, and REAL LEMONADE! which is saying alot as most lemonade here is
sprite with a lemonade sticker. It was very good and I plan on going
back. We sat under a huge tree and watched everyone walking past. At
one point the little boy next to us asked if his mother's boyfriend
"ever going to marry mommy?" It was a fun day in Freo. I also scored
a million green beans for 3AUD. I am going to make dinner for everyone
tomorrow.

Tonight is the flat pizza and movie party. It is BYO plate. I love
it. We are watching Hitch. Should be good as my courtyard is full of
awesome people. Such as Ed from Perth but with this crazy english
accent, Russian/Aussie Anna, Canada Kelly, the Seattle trio, Tom from
south WA and Norway Andre.

I have outwalked my flip flops and the right one now has a hole in it.
I'll have to venture over to K-Mart and try to find some new ones.
They call them thongs here. I am picking up most of the lingo but I
can't seem to make the transition from shopping cart to trolley. I
always mess that one up. Oh well.

So I bought a camera today and I'll be taking photos of everything as
soon as it charges. I am pretty exctied about the purchase. I talked
to the manager of the store and ended up getting a sweet discount which
enabled me to buy a larger memory card. So hopefully I'll have tons of
photos uploaded soon.

Don't forget to email me your addresses so I can send you a postcard!

i can't wait to start class

so tomorrow is the first day of class for my last spring semester at college. i am quite excited. it has been a long winter break and i am more then ready to be back in lectures. i have australian foreign policy at 830 and then australian cinema at 930. it should be a fun day.

it is also the student night at the on campus tavern. should be a fun night with pool and a band. yesterday was student night at the tavern across the way. a group of about 20 of us headed over. the place was a bit shady but still was a great time.

since it was already paid for i joined the guild gym. a super nice pt made a program for me and then this trainer john went through it with me. it was quite fun and i am looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

monday night i went to a kiwanis meeting and met the australian governor. it was great. they are uber excited to start circle k in western australia. they invited me to a golf weekend which sounds very fun.

my roommate and i went shopping today so now i have actual food, not just peanut butter and jelly. i think i'll make a sandwhich when i get back. i also made cds for sabina and her joy over panic at the disco made me smile.

i gave the little rope braclets i wear to tom and jake last night and now my wrist feels quite empty. I would ask the lady to send me more but i have no idea which box they managed to get into. i think i'll try ordering them online.

my email has been a little on the fritz lately so sorry if i haven't responded. i worked it out and shall be replying shortly. i'll also try and post some photos soon. still trying to figure the video thing out.

cricket, aussie rules, and wine

So Australia is known for its wines. We decided to take a wine tour
yesterday. It was amazing. I didn't like wine much when it started
but now I appreciate it. The tour was beautiful. Our driver Justin
was so fun, we rocked out on the bus with some girls from Sydney and a
Canadian. We ate brilliant cheese and chocolate. Lunch was a barbie
on the Swan River. Then we went to a pub in downtown Perth and had a
pint. It was a fabulous day.

Today was another hot sunny day in paradise. Goofed around all
afternoon then played some sand volleyball. It was tons of fun. We
played for a couple hours. I actually managed to hit it well a few
times.

So Friday night I learned cricket some before we went out to Freemantle
and tonight Justin is going to show me Aussie Rules football. I am
loving the Australian culture. Absolutely loving it. I have to make
them biscuits and gravy for breakfast though as they are quite confused
like Benjamin and Barry.

I think I lucked out with awesome flat mates. They are all so fun.
Totally enjoying life right now. Tonight is the welcome barbaque.
Should be fun, my money is on them cooking sausage.

I love the emails from everyone keeping me updates on east coast
happenings. Miss you kids much.

Cheers mates!

video of oz

So I recorded a little video of the room to see if this works, here is hoping!

it's zane

that is his name. he is nice. so is his friend roland who i have taken to
calling reginald. he showed me how to work the stove. it is crazy as is
almost everything here. it rained today which was amazing because it is maybe
20 degrees cooler. wonderful.

the kids living in the "compton" section of student village have purchased a
blow up baby pool. no joke. they have the best courtyard around. i am
wondering what the security/ra kids will say about it. they are rather strict
here. we were told to quiet down 3 times last night and honestly we weren't
loud. apparently they came and had a sit down talk with one of my roommates.
no idea what that was about, they were quieter then us.

the broiler here is the griller. toasties are toasted bread with cheese. the
toliet flush counterclockwise but they are really different. there is no
handle, just two buttons. it is rather odd.

so i am taking 3 courses here and that is the max allowed. once classes start
next week i'll sign up for recitations for these lectures but this is currently
my scheduale

MONDAY - WEDNESDAY = NOTHING

Thursday 8:30-9:30 Australian Foreign Policy
9:30-12:30 Australian Cinema
Friday 9:30-10:30 Moral and Political Philosophy

Sounds good to me. Well then I think I am going to grab myself and apple then.

Oh, ps the buses here have some get up and go power.

Fwd: i forgot my roommate's name

I forgot the kid that lives in number 4's name. i know it starts with a z. oh
well. so another day another dollar spent, rather three to be exact. two for
the washer, fifty cents for the internet, and another fifty for an attempt at a
phone call. i seem to have a defective phone card.

the phone booth is mighty warm but to call out of my room requires buying a 10
phone card and it costs 50cents to make every call. i am considering buying a
mobile phone. i think it will end up costing $100 to have and use a mobile
phone which only makes 10 phone cards and that isn't including the phone cards
that i would have to buy to pay for the minutes.

it would seem i am decided then. on to another topic, australians like to
drink. i think this is really an understatement. we looked at kelly's (an
australearner) flat mate jake's photos, all very trolleyed (drunk). today i
came back from the orientation session to find z's (my flat mate whose name i
forgot) friend chilling with a gingerale and a bottle of some sort of alcohol
beverage. i think at one point of our conversation he said "i just want to
drink." case in point, while walking back from the coolest little sports bar
last night cameron's (australearner) flat mate tom asks me to show him where he
lives because he doesn't remember when he is drunk. this folks is a monday
night. and student night is tuesday.

i have figured out the library ver sucessfully and i am pretty sure i can get
around campus easily now. i have one bus down and the train seems pretty easy
too. tonight is free dinner! which is fabulous because it means more beer
money. they are fond of sausages here which i am really not wanting. cross
your fingers for fruit! they have amazing apples here.

right i have to go get my laundry off the line, which for me is a novelty and
then off to dinner. hope you all are enjoying the snow. and ps i was kidding
about the beer money lady.

----- End forwarded message -----

settled in sort of

so today is monday and o-day. it was quite like freshman festival at pitt except
way more commercial. they had a red bull tent and a bud table. our welcome packs
were basically an ad for domino's. it is really hot out. i need a hat. i still
have a ridiculous shopping list to attend to but i am going to wait until it is
cooler, probably wake up mad early and shop tomorrow. sort of disappointed with
the lack of student organizations but whatever. tomorrow is scheduling and an
international student welcome dinner. should be good.

my roommate, i think his name is zane (not at all sure) is the only one i've
really seen. he came here with his five best mates from highschool. he reminds
me too much of jj. they all seem nice. bridget is my other flat mate. she was
here last year.

the australearn group has jokingly dubbed this place the concentration camp.
they are quite strict. we have room inspections, chores, fines, and they walk
around telling you to go inside at 10. it is also turning out to be more
expensive then i imagined. you have to pay for everything, internet,
activities, the bus, the gym (which is $190). oh well.

yesterday we took the train to cottesloe beach. it was awesome. very sweet
beach. clear cool water and white sand. not a bad time. i managed to sunburn my
ankles and neck. last night we though of heading out only to find the place we
wanted to get pizza at closed at 8. everything tends to close pretty early
here.

the boys have taken to this place called chicken treat, calling it super
chicken. the aussies say it is really bad fast food. they still want to try it.
and there is this kind of creepy kid from cambridge who has been here years and
who jackie (an australearn girl) was warned about before she got here
(interestingly enough these two guys from malaysia were also warned about him).
he is here doing his phd on how to be truely happy. he is the butt of many
jokes.

i think i'll go check out the laundry. i hope they have change machines though
because change here is like gold. seriously it is. they have gold 1 and 2
dollar coins you have to use for everything.

And so it begins...

So Saturday night I finished packing, tried to transfer my music and did every
last minute thing to get ready for this huge trip I had months to plan for. It
all worked out well as I only managed to forget sunscreen. I thought I
overpacked but now that I am here it would be awesome to have more clothes.
But anyway here is a recap of the trip.

Sunday was long, really long. American Airlines wasn't too bad of a flight, no
food or drinks but the seat next to mine was empty and I saw the Colorado River
out the window. The layover at the LA airport was insanely boring. I watched
some movies, ate some overpriced Burger King, chatted with people headed to
Texas and then watched an Australian family fight. I sat next to another
Australearn kid going to Murdoch on the Quantas flight.

Quantas is a very very nice airline. They give you tons of food and free
drinks. Also the seats aren't too bad and the staff is nice. I finally
watched 40 Year Old Virgin and saw a James Blunt interview. Other then that I
slept a lot and read some. The flight went was faster then I expected. Jet
lag is a killer though.

So then we went to Cairns in Queensland. It was the best vacation ever. We
stayed at a really hip backpacker's hostel. The city was fun, the people were
great, and the food not so bad. While there we went to a zoo where I held a
koala and walked around with kangaroos. From there we headed to an aboriginal
culture park where I threw a boomarang, a spear, and played the didgeridoo
(which I can't remember how to spell). They has awesome fish there. Very
tasty.

Then came the day of the Great Barrier Reef. It was ridiculously beautiful.
Snorkling was so fun, fish were everywhere, the corals were beyond cool. It
was a very fun day and I managed to stay almost not sunburned.

The last plane ride was the worst. Although the clouds over WA are stunning and
the landscape awesome the trip sucked. Virgin Blue is a crap airline, no food,
no drinks, and uncomforatable seats. Although the staff is really
entertaining. It still didn't make the trip good though.

We arrived crazy late, got in a bus and signed some papers then escorted to our
rooms in the dark. My room is huge, my desk huge, the bathroom is bare but
nice. The kitchen is pretty nice as well. So far I haven't seen any of the 5
other flat mates I should have. I hope they show up soon as it is errie to
have the entire place to myself. All the Seattle kids are across the way and
I've been mostly hanging out with the other kids from Australearn.

We went to Freemantle yesterday and I got in the Indian Ocean. It was awesome.
Dinner was a prawn salad that I'd have again and again. They restraunt, Sail
Anchor, made its own beer, I tried a BrewBerry. Not bad at all. We had a hard
time figuring Freemantle out but ended up in a coffee shop laughing and
complaining. It was overall a great day.

I have some groceries but I need to work on the shopping thing more. I also am
thinking about getting a fan because it is mad hot. We meet a kid from
Cambridge who has been here 3 years. He seems to know a hell of a lot about
the area. I think we are headed to the beach now. Orientation starts
tomorrow.