so friday night was nice and quiet as no one was around. saturday was great, nice weather and i had the place to myself most of the day. i slept in and had a hamburger lunch party. it was good. that night katie and i went to the best party. the dj was great and the house was off the hook. very fun indeed. it was an early night as i had to get up around 7 the next day.
speaking of sunday, i spent the day at the park along swan river volunteering with kiwanis. i helped serve up the sausages and egg and bacon sandwhiches they were selling. it was fun and really awesome weather. we were at the telethon fundraiser for children's cancer research i believe. it was a toddler marathon. the little tots had a warm up session and then toddled around the park for their "marathon", it was pretty darn cute. it was fun watching all the families having picnics and the little kids dancing to the kids putting on a concert. the whole idea, kids raising money for kids, was well done. i quite enjoyed this little girl that keep dancing around in front of us.
today was a reading frenzy. i also cleaned my room and put away the laundry i did on saturday. zane yelled at me because i got loud after 5 cups of tea and finding new music i really liked. we watched this aussie gameshow that comes on after australian wheel of fortune. the gist is the contestant picks a case out of 24 and then tries to open ones with the least amount of money to get the best odds that the unopened cases hold lots of money, that way the bank offers them more money not to open their case which may only have 50 cents. anyway i think it is a silly game but bridget always watches it. so to make it more interesting i make them choose a case and play my "home version" so far i have ended up with more money then bridget each time, and i guessed that she had only 50 cents right once. today i won 75,000 and beat zane and bridget, although katie got the max, 200,000. it was great because bridget hated that some american won wheel of fortune and then i won the case game. so that was a good laugh.
tomorrow i hope to finish my film project, or at least get the web page layout finished. it isn't due for 3 weeks but i figure if i get it done before the northwest trip i won't have to bother with it when i get back. also i want to show it to him to make sure it meshes with his database. anyway i being a pretty good student this week.
oh i forgot! friday evening i went to stations of the cross, pretty different from st. francis' CYM version but not too bad. although i wish i had drank some water before i went as i had taken a nap and just woke up in time to run up to the church and felt sick thirsty throughout the whole thing. maybe that was a good thing.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
hell of a week
time is flying! i can't believe i am almost half way through already. it is so fun i don't want to leave. this week went by very fast. classes are getting really boring, but only to be expected. the americans here are very annoying. they are so rude and obnoxious. it really isn't hard to see why we get the reputation we have. they speak without knowing what they are talking about, they show up late to class, are disruptive, and basically show no respect. it is wierd because at pitt people honestly don't act like they do. granted we aren't angels but i haven't seen anyone stroll in 15 minutes late and proceed to eat a bowl of cereal while wearing sunglasses inside. oh well.
on the other hand in my politics class it is surprising some of the things the australians saw, especially in regards to the US. as i am the only american i hold my tongue but today it was rather hard. it could just be that this is the first international relations course for many of the people in my tutorial. i'll give them the benifit of the doubt. but honestly, his name is george w. bush.
the outback trip is in a week, getting excited for it. is has gotten chillier lately. you can tell the australians because they are the ones already in sweaters while we are still in shorts.
on the other hand in my politics class it is surprising some of the things the australians saw, especially in regards to the US. as i am the only american i hold my tongue but today it was rather hard. it could just be that this is the first international relations course for many of the people in my tutorial. i'll give them the benifit of the doubt. but honestly, his name is george w. bush.
the outback trip is in a week, getting excited for it. is has gotten chillier lately. you can tell the australians because they are the ones already in sweaters while we are still in shorts.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
wine and an irishman
so last night i was quite frustrated with my flatmates (mostly zane) because our flat has become insanely gross. i scrubbed the bathroom for a couple hours trying to get the floor not to be black. steph and mariko decided that i would be better served to sing ridiculous songs with them and wander the student village with a footie.
we wound up in jake's flat and watched the end of anger management. then to the courtyard where we met gareth, an irishman visiting WA. he had the best accent ever and tried to teach us gaelic. we sat outside under the stars drinking australian wine and swapping phrases and slang from south africa, ireland, america, australia and holland. it was quite the international event.
mariko broke out the tiny teddys which led to a very silly war in which we sort of ganged up on sam. the evening produced wonderful quotes and great photos. also i had much fun chatting with my brother the golden child yesterday. he was having a good deal of fun himself as to be expected with UF's win. Go Gators! I hear he called home and am sad I missed that call.
went to church tonight at the australian one off campus. it was mad different from all the churches back home. it is real confusing as they stand, sit, kneel differently. nice to experience new things though...
so now back to the philosophy paper and the crazy question of what is happiness. i wonder if i can cite last night's experiences as evidence? if that fails the prospect of steph making a roast for dinner is always there. hope everyone is doing well!
we wound up in jake's flat and watched the end of anger management. then to the courtyard where we met gareth, an irishman visiting WA. he had the best accent ever and tried to teach us gaelic. we sat outside under the stars drinking australian wine and swapping phrases and slang from south africa, ireland, america, australia and holland. it was quite the international event.
mariko broke out the tiny teddys which led to a very silly war in which we sort of ganged up on sam. the evening produced wonderful quotes and great photos. also i had much fun chatting with my brother the golden child yesterday. he was having a good deal of fun himself as to be expected with UF's win. Go Gators! I hear he called home and am sad I missed that call.
went to church tonight at the australian one off campus. it was mad different from all the churches back home. it is real confusing as they stand, sit, kneel differently. nice to experience new things though...
so now back to the philosophy paper and the crazy question of what is happiness. i wonder if i can cite last night's experiences as evidence? if that fails the prospect of steph making a roast for dinner is always there. hope everyone is doing well!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
OC goes to Asia
So we left Sunday afternoon and flew into Bangkok. The plane ride was amazing. It was 6 hours of great service, wonderful food (dinner was lamb), ice cream, all the free drinks (alcohol, soda, fruit juice, etc.) you could imagine, and Harry Potter. I enjoyed Thai International. Bangkok was a large airport but customs was just two guys chilling at a desk. They just waved to us as we walked out. We stayed at the Asia Airport Hotel, which had the worst smelling elevator I have ever been in (and that is saying a lot as I’ve ridden in Holland Hall’s).
The flight to Krabi was just as nice. When we got off the plane, I would have sworn we landed in paradise. It was beautiful. Tropical rainforest everywhere and no development in the way (Krabi town was less to look at). We hopped a taxi to the Emerald Garden Resort at Ao Nang Beach. Quite a nice place, it had great food, service, and two pools. We relaxed at the resort the first day and took a walk down into the town on the beach. There were tons of shops and crazy vendors everywhere. Guys would try to get you to hire a longboat or taxi and ladies were shouting at you about their great deals. It was unreal. We walked along the beach to these huts that were numbers and all gave massages. It was the same deal, Thai ladies trying to drag you into their huts. I got a massage with the other girls at #11. In the middle, it started thunder storming which was so cool.
The other days passed by with a similar routine. We would go on an excursion, go shopping and eating in town, and then hit the pool bar at night. One excursion was to an orchid garden then a hike in the national park up to a waterfall where we swam in this crystal clear lake. After that, we had lunch in the rainforest and went elephant trekking. It was really awesome. The next day was a boat tour to a few islands where we snorkeled and kayaked. After that, we took a day off to hang around Ao Nang. Then we went on a speedboat trip island hopping, snorkeling and visiting the beach where the movie The Beach was filmed. Overall, it was so much fun. Relaxing but at the same time I came back really tired.
The flight home was somewhat disappointing as the food was not so good and the movies not good either, but still a nice ride. I was glad to be back home (in Australia, which is now home go figure). The weather here was about 30 degrees cooler and the humidity was gone. Thailand was insanely hot and humid. Bangkok was about 103 when we left.
So now, I am in fabulous Perth settling back into reading and writing. I am also helping start up a Circle K club at another uni, Curtin. The kids there are really excited and I hope I can get them far enough along before I leave. It would be great to see another club in Australia. So that is what I have been doing recently. Over Easter, I’ll be traveling through the outback and up the coast of Western Australia, about half of this semester’s work is over, I have housing at Pitt for next semester, everything is smooth sailing. My face is almost back to normal and although I still have a runny nose, I really can’t complain.
Email me if you haven’t gotten the three videos I’ve made of this trip so far. Miss you folks!
The flight to Krabi was just as nice. When we got off the plane, I would have sworn we landed in paradise. It was beautiful. Tropical rainforest everywhere and no development in the way (Krabi town was less to look at). We hopped a taxi to the Emerald Garden Resort at Ao Nang Beach. Quite a nice place, it had great food, service, and two pools. We relaxed at the resort the first day and took a walk down into the town on the beach. There were tons of shops and crazy vendors everywhere. Guys would try to get you to hire a longboat or taxi and ladies were shouting at you about their great deals. It was unreal. We walked along the beach to these huts that were numbers and all gave massages. It was the same deal, Thai ladies trying to drag you into their huts. I got a massage with the other girls at #11. In the middle, it started thunder storming which was so cool.
The other days passed by with a similar routine. We would go on an excursion, go shopping and eating in town, and then hit the pool bar at night. One excursion was to an orchid garden then a hike in the national park up to a waterfall where we swam in this crystal clear lake. After that, we had lunch in the rainforest and went elephant trekking. It was really awesome. The next day was a boat tour to a few islands where we snorkeled and kayaked. After that, we took a day off to hang around Ao Nang. Then we went on a speedboat trip island hopping, snorkeling and visiting the beach where the movie The Beach was filmed. Overall, it was so much fun. Relaxing but at the same time I came back really tired.
The flight home was somewhat disappointing as the food was not so good and the movies not good either, but still a nice ride. I was glad to be back home (in Australia, which is now home go figure). The weather here was about 30 degrees cooler and the humidity was gone. Thailand was insanely hot and humid. Bangkok was about 103 when we left.
So now, I am in fabulous Perth settling back into reading and writing. I am also helping start up a Circle K club at another uni, Curtin. The kids there are really excited and I hope I can get them far enough along before I leave. It would be great to see another club in Australia. So that is what I have been doing recently. Over Easter, I’ll be traveling through the outback and up the coast of Western Australia, about half of this semester’s work is over, I have housing at Pitt for next semester, everything is smooth sailing. My face is almost back to normal and although I still have a runny nose, I really can’t complain.
Email me if you haven’t gotten the three videos I’ve made of this trip so far. Miss you folks!
Two Things
First I will finally be getting around to updating about Thailand, I will be writing the post today and hopefully get it posted by tonight. It was a great trip but I have been mad busy sleeping and doing school work since. I am working on a philosophy paper this weekend. It finally rained here so I am not tempted to be outside in the hammock.
Second I stole this from Bryan Brown. I thought it was cool and even if you don't do it maybe you'll want to set one up for yourself.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=katieoc
So then I hope all is well with everyone and expect a large thailandish post soon!
Second I stole this from Bryan Brown. I thought it was cool and even if you don't do it maybe you'll want to set one up for yourself.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=katieoc
So then I hope all is well with everyone and expect a large thailandish post soon!
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