"What's it mean?" "I don't know, but it sounds Australian!"

I felt very accomplished today. I made a list of things that I had to do today before leaving for the Northwest trip tomorrow, and I got them all done! I woke up at 9:30ish and started to write my paper. I then took a break to actually wash my dishes that were piling up. That's the reason that I only have a few dishes, I won't wash them otherwise! I wrote some more and took another break to go to Unicredit to get money out for the trip and ask about checking my balance online. They said that I had to set up online banking, so they set that up for me. I also went to see if they had other water bottles at the bookstore or the guild shop, but I didn't find any that had the close top that we need to have on the bus, so I'm just going to stick with my one that barely comes out for the trip. I can always open the top and drink from the bottle if I need to. I stopped by the administration building and got some $1 coins for the laundry. When doing laundry, someone saw me putting my money in the dryer, and he told me that it only cost $1, instead of the $3 that the washers cost! I was so mad to know that I had wasted all of that money! (Btw, there is no sign for the price of the dryers and someone told us they were also three dollars and it doesn't automatically start when you put in the money like the washers do)

I ate lunch while my laundry was washing and the I wrote more of my paper. I finished it at 4:15ish and now I just need to finish editing it before I turn it in on the sixth. It was perfect timing because at 4:30, Carrie and I decided to meet to go to Kmart for last minute things for our Northwest trip. I also had to recharge my phone, because apparently the time expires after a month and so mine was supposed to expire today. I also got some snacks for the trip, some shoes because I pretty much just have my tennis shoes and they were cheap. I also got an awesome hat. Carrie needed to get a hat for the trip, but I had already gotten one. We looked at the hat in the men's department and then we saw the hat there that we liked, but didn't see at first. It is so Australian, and the brand is Jackeroo. It has UV protection, breathable and fast drying fabric, and a hidden fly net in the brim! It was so awesome that I had to get it even though I already have one. (The title of this post is what I said about the brand of the hat) I also needed new sunglasses because the frame on my other ones broke in my backpack. :(

We also decided to eat at Chicken Treat, which we had been wanting to eat at for a while. It was so good! We got the two meals for $10 special and each got the 2 pieces of fried chicken and chips (fries). The chicken had a really good flavour and unlike KFC, actually had chicken and tasted like chicken! The fries in Australia are also so good compared to the States. I'm not sure what it is, but I love them! We then came back and I finished packing, but I still have to shower, edit my paper some more, and clean my dishes from lunch today.

"Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr."

I woke up at about 10 today and read some of my readings for my paper and ate lunch. At 1:30, I had my biology lab, which was again shortened because our class is too big for the room. Today's lab was a lot of fun, and we basically did the same type of stuff as we did in week 2 with identifying animals, but this week we did reptiles and amphibians. There was one frog that was really cool because it is a turtle frog and looks just like a turtle! My partner from last week and I worked with a bunch of people and we were actually able to finish this lab! I even got all of the questions answered during lab time!

I came back and read some more of the articles for my paper before Carrie and I went to watch talent nite at the Rec Room. There were only between 5-10 acts, but it was still fun. They gave out fake tim tams and a big candy bar to everyone that participated, so this one girl just went up and sang the "Soft Kitty" song from The Big Bang Theory that Sheldon sings for the chocolate! (Hence the title) She obviously didn't win, but it made my day! The first place prize was $100 to Coles, second place was $50, and third place was a thing of chocolates. The winner was a guy and girl that sang an Alicia Keys song together. The whole show was about 40-45 minutes and after, I just came back. I'm now just going to finish my readings for my paper and try to write down some thoughts so that I can get the paper mostly finished tomorrow. Can't wait for Friday!!!

Home Sweet Hope

Don't get me wrong, I do love it here, but there are definitely things from Hope that I miss. As my friends are all going back over the next few days, here is a list of some of the things that I miss most. Again, no order, just when I think of them.

• my friends- I feel that I'm the only one that misses friends, because they were talking about how they could live here, and I said that I'd need my family and friends, but they said they'd be fine with just their parents. I don't know if it is Hope or what, but I love my friends!
• teasing Jenny, there is no other JB in the entire world!
• Friday night walks to Vanderwerf with Caitlin (my roommate)
• Chapel- while I go to MCU, it's just not the same without the amount of people, being in Dimnent, and having the Chapel band!
• eating coldstone in Vanderwerf basement across from the particle accelerator
• watching How I Met Your Mother and the Big Bang Theory with Caitlin, Erin, Nayt, and Dan
• the science dorky conversations that my friends have
• having science majors as friends
• Quidditch!
• being able to talk about Harry Potter with my friends, especially Anne!
• people watching, especially when the gamers are around!
• tales of Black squirrels
• Christian atmosphere
• smoke-free campus
• friends that also don't drink
• clean bathroom, and I'm imagining a clean kitchen although next semester is my first kitchen at Hope
• Discussing the meaning of life and analysing Caitlin's life with my sociology skills
• Sardines in the Vanderplex and Science Center
• professors that seem to care about you- although it is more informal here, and you are actually considered equal (ie you call lecturers by their first name) I feel like the profs at Hope actually care about you and want you to do well.

Where are you from?

I've decided that I should make a list of the different countries that I meet people from while here this semester (not in any particular order, just when I think of them)...

• Australia (obviously)
• USA (again, obviously)
• Germany
• Saudi Arabia
• Canada
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Ireland
• South Africa
• Kenya
• India
• Liberia
• England
• Finland
• France
• Thailand
• Malta

Naps are my BFFs!

Tuesdays are long days, and now Paul has started the on-going orientation (because of lack of interest in the living and learning seminar, this is a shortened version) which is every other Tuesday. I had class at 8:30 followed by the ongoing orientation, for a total of 5 hours! Then we went to the CIEE office because Paul gives us food for going. It was little sandwiches and some dessert things, but I just picked the chicken salad stuff off of the sandwiches. :) We then ended up staying and talking for a while at the office, and after my classes I was just too tired to actually get up and leave without the motivation of someone else leaving. haha Corin talked to Paul about her mom possibly coming up and I said that mine were too, so he sent us websites to help our parents find a place to stay. He said that it is actually cheaper to rent out the apartments/cottages in the area than it is to stay in a hotel! I guess that explains why I don't see many hotels when I'm in the cities.

After I came back to my room, I decided to take a much needed nap. It was great, but I didn't want to wake back up! I then worked on my readings for my short essay for my Indigenous studies class. I also read through the lab that we have for biology tomorrow. That's pretty much all I've done because I have to get most of the essay completed by Thursday night before I leave for the Northwest trip on Friday morning!

"I think we all know what supremacy is." "being supreme." "having all of the toppings on a pizza!"

Since it's Monday, I had my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class at 9:30. I don't really remember what we talked about, but after I went to the library to try and find a field guide on Australian mammals to complete my biology lab. They all ended up being checked out, so I just facebook messaged a girl in my class to see if she got the answers. At 12:30, I then went to mass at the Worship Centre and got pizza after. I love free food, even if I have to pick of a lot of toppings. :) I also met some new people that weren't there last week. After mass, I decided to take a short nap (only about a 1/2 hour) before my tute at 3, because I was exhausted.

I went to my tute and before we ended up talking about study abroad experiences and how it seems to have grown in the past few years. Michelle, our lecturer, talked about how when she was in school they didn't have anything like this and it was big that she went from Sydney to Perth. We then talked about the readings. After the tute, I came back and ate dinner. Then I did some reading for my other indigenous studies class' paper until it was time to go to Murdoch Village Christians. I left a little early because my flatmate was in the bathroom puking, and I could hear the noise and wanted to leave. I left at ~7:15 and he was still in there when I came back after 9:30, so I hope he's alright. Murdoch Village Christians is definitely one of my, if not the, favourite (I changed my computer to Australian English) parts of the week. Today we sang three songs, including one that we sing at Hope! We then talked about the next part of Colossians. During the dissection of Colossians, is where the quotes in the title come from. After the final prayer, we just stay and talk. The people that I was talking with were talking about their ideas for movies, and they were just hilarious. One guy talked about this elaborate plot that he has were there is a girly superhero and she has to stop this 'werewolf' from eating chickens, but it ends up just being a crazy guy that thinks he's a werewolf. It was really funny, but you had to have been there to really appreciate it. They also took a group picture tonight, so hopefully they'll put that on the facebook page.

Now I just have to take a shower and read some more for my essay for my class before I go to bed. I hate Tuesdays because they start at 8:30!

All I do is homework, which is why I didn't blog at Hope!

I woke up at 10 today, because I wanted to get some homework done early and go to open day for a while. I realized when I got up, however, that I had more readings and other homework than I thought. I ultimately decided not to go to open day, but did some readings instead. I have a lot to do before I go on the Northwest trip on Friday! I thought that I just had my readings for the short essay that I need to write, but as I was writing down my homework, I realized that I had to read and do study questions for both of my indigenous study classes and I have to finish my lab for biology. I hope to go to the library tomorrow to finish my lab.

I basically just did my readings and study questions for my class tomorrow. They took all day because I stopped for lunch and dinner and I kept getting a headache and needed to take short naps. I think something about the heater in my room gives me a headache, but I'm not sure if it smells or makes a noise, but when it's on, I get a headache. I also ate the rest of my fajitas for lunch, which tasted really good, but upset my stomach a little! So homework is pretty much all I did and all I will be doing in my freetime until I leave for the Northwest trip because I have to write a paper that I haven't even started to turn in on the Monday that I get back. (I come back on a Sunday at 4ish, so I have to have it almost done by the time I leave!) 5 days!

Publish post, oh crap never mind I still need a title!

We went into Perth with Isabella today to visit the City Farm. The place was cool and there was a lot of interesting art and such. I took a few pictures, too. City Farm seemed very hippie-ish and I'm sure it would fit in just well with Ann Arbor, but I felt a little out of place there. Especially at when we ate lunch at the cafe because they only had a few options, they were all organic, and I didn't like anything. I just got an apple juice instead. We then walked around and saw different parts of town and went into the PICA art gallery. They had a weird exhibit going on, but they had a cool picnic table with two xylophones in it that you could play, and a giant swing on wheels so that it goes the opposite way that you are swinging.

Isabella and Mike left after that, but Corin, Carrie, and I stayed around Perth to go shopping. I bought a brim hat to wear for the Northwest trip, Carrie got a few things, but Corin didn't buy anything. We then got back to Uni at around 4 and I ate some chicken with Spicy Garlic b-dubs sauce! :) After dinner, I took a nap because I was exhausted and had a bit of a headache.

At 8, we were going to go to Freo to a place called Little Creatures that has comedy on every Saturday night. Carrie came over to my flat early and asked if I wanted to walk with her to the ATM, so I did. On our way there, we saw a man working on the coffee vending machine things, and he asked if we wanted free cups. She had the cappuccino that was being made, and I asked for a hot chocolate. I didn't really like the hot chocolate, but I gave it to Carrie and she liked it. When we got to the bank, we realized that UniCredit doesn't have an ATM and the Bank West one wasn't working! We then came back to Carrie's flat to meet up with Corin and Liz, someone that they met on the wine tour last weekend. When we got to Little Creatures, I wasn't allowed in because I didn't bring my passport, even though I had other forms of ID and a photocopy of my passport. I think it's one of the dumbest things that you need to carry it around! We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant instead, Mexican Kitchen, and I think that they were actually happier that we did because they wanted margaritas. I got steak fajitas, which were really good and I took most of it home, and Mexican fruit punch, which was a delicious frozen drink of strawberries and fresh lemon juice.

After Freo, we came back and I just want to take a shower and go to bed! I need to attempt to get some homework done tomorrow and it is Open Day at Uni. I'm not exactly sure what is happening, but I hope to at least check it out. I want to make sure I get some work done, so that I don't have to stress about it over my Northwest trip. Less than a week!

If you don't want to go to the gallows, I can show you another place to hang around

Today I woke up at 9:00 to a phone call, which I silenced, and then listened to the voicemail. It was my lecturer. He called back later as I was getting ready for class because he wanted to discuss the due date of one of assignments. It was supposed to be due over the study break, but since I will be gone for the Northwest trip, he is letting me turn it in on the Monday that I get back instead of before I leave. I then had biology lecture, but that wasn't too exciting. I feel like we just keep learning about setting up an experiment and the importance of random sampling. All of it is really boring and seems below uni level. After lecture, I went to the CIEE office to finalize my course schedule with Paul and print my paper for Contemporary Indigenous Issues. After printing, I got to go to the Kulbardi centre and figure out the date stamping and Kulbardi cover sheet. Kulbardi is the department for Indigenous Studies.

When I got back, I checked the mail, and found the pink slip of paper saying that I had a package! I went and got my care package from my parents that I had been waiting for, and was super excited and happy when I opened it. They sent me cookies, peanut butter, pictures to put up in my room, extra towels, b-dubs hot sauces (one medium and one spicy garlic, my faves), two orange chicken sauces, and a big thing of Frank's Redhot!!!!! I was so excited that I couldn't eat lunch for a while until I decided what sauce to eat! In the end, I settled on spicy garlic! :D

At 4:45, Carrie, Corin, and I decided to meet outside the RA office to go to Freo together for the torchlight tour of Freo Prison. We first met Paul where the bus lets us off, and we each got food at this place that is like a food court with a bunch of different types of Asian foods. We then went to the prison and it was awesome! The prison was closed in 1991, and is now said to be haunted. The give tours during the day, but at night on Wednesday and Friday they give torchlight (flashlight) tours. We got to go all over the prison from where they first go in, to the shower rooms, to the gallows, and even the morgue. They even had a few times that they tried to scare us, which worked, but I mostly screamed because everyone else did and I didn't actually see what was happening. I kind of hurt Carrie's arm (sorry about that!), but some of the reactions from people in our group was priceless. I also took some pictures that are on flickr. (or at least they should be once you read this) After the tour, we met up with Paul again at Gino's to get a cup of coffee or whatever. I got a fruit drink that was orange juice with ice cream in it. It was really good and tasted kind of like a creamsicle!

After Gino's, we came back to Murdoch and we were tired, so we just went back to our flats. My sisters also called me, since they are together in Cleveland. (They went to a Hanson concert last night.) It was good to talk to them. :)

As for the title, it was funnier when our tour guide said it, but I can't remember her wording. lol

(insert your own title here)

It's so hard to think of titles every day! I woke up this morning and went to start cooking chicken because I was eating the last cooked chicken for lunch. I also went to check the mail, but as of this morning, which I think was yesterday's mail, I have not received my care package from my parents yet. Hopefully I'll get it soon. I then worked on my paper while the chicken was cooking. It took too long that I was not able to go to the MCU (Murdoch Christians United) public bible talk, but I needed to work on my paper anyway. I've actually written all of my paper, but I still need to edit it and cut back on my word count. For the 600-700 word portion, I have over 950 words, so I need to cut down a lot! I also definitely need to polish it well because in the system that they have for grading over here, there is only a few assignments and this paper is 20% of my final grade! Plus, it is harder to get an HD (High Distinction) than an A in America because they grade from the bottom up, instead of the top down. (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but most people get Passes or Credit and the system is HD, D (distinction), C, P, then N(fail).

At 4:00, Carrie came over and we went to the store. Today they are open later (like 7) so we could go later. We both had a lot to get and she told me that she was going on the first Northwest Trip too! I first went to Kmart because I had to buy some things for the Northwest trip, such as a duffel bag and face fly net. We aren't allowed to bring hard cased suitcases, which were the only ones that I had. I also got my new favorite lollies there because they are cheaper there than at Coles! After Kmart, I went to Coles to get some food, including some more chicken. I wanted to make sure that I'll have food here for when I get back from the Northwest trip, since we're coming back on Sunday after the stores close. When I came back and put my food away, I noticed that my new duffel bag has the perfect brand name... Northwest Passage! haha

Now I'm just eating some strawberries and bread for dinner and I have to edit my paper some more so that I can print it off and turn it in tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a good grade on it, but since it's my first assignment in Australia, I have no idea! Wish me luck!

One week and a day until the Northwest trip!

I have no idea what to write...

I said that I'd write everyday, but honestly I just did homework. I reread the papers that I have to write a paper on for my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class, and highlighted important stuff. Then I reread what my paper has to be about, and I decided to reread the articles and write down key points that reflect my view on the questions. The paper is mostly about if Indigenous Issues are just indigenous issues or if they stem from colonization. I also ate lunch and just some chips for dinner because I was too lazy to leave my room. I also talked to my parents through facebook chat and took a break to play scramble on facebook. I really don't have motivation right now, but I won't bore you with more details.

... and Tuesday feels like Monday!

I have class at 8:30 on Tuesdays, which is just too early to have to wake up! I was tired, but able to stay awake for my biology lecture. I then had a 2-hour lecture for Aboriginal Colonised History followed by the tute, and I had to work very hard to stay awake. The first hour seemed to last forever, but we watched a documentary called First Australians that was really interesting and kind of kept me awake. It is such a long day that it seems like a Monday, hence the title. After class, I was hungry, but more tired, so I took a nap! :) I then ate when I got up.

At 5, we were supposed to be at Karakamia for our biology class. Instead of lab this week, we had to attend either tonight or tomorrow night, a spotlighting of the animals there. It was about an hour away and I got a ride from another girl in wildlife biology and she also gave a ride to two other people. It turns out that none of us are actually from Australia. She moved here from South Africa when she was little, the other girl is an exchange student from Canada that's here for the year, and the guy was born in Afghanistan, lived most of his life in India, and has lived in Australia for the past 8 years. We wanted to allow for any time to get lost, which we did (well, we took the scenic route), and left at 3:30. We got there just on time, and luckily they didn't leave without us. The guides talked about the different traps that they use and then we were split up into two groups to walk the trail and see the wildlife. The walk started while it was still light out, and ended at 7, which was past when it gets dark. We saw some Tammar Wallabies and they had their joey in their pouches! We kept on going on the path and she told us about some of the plants that we saw and some of the animals. We also saw a few Woylies. When it got dark we saw even more of the animals, since they are nocturnal. She also told us an interesting fact about wallabies. They mate in December and their fertilized eggs are arrested in development until the Solstice, when they start to develop. We also learned in lecture today that kangaroos can arrest the development of their fertilized eggs until conditions are better if there is a drought. There was supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight, but luckily the rain held off until about 5 minutes were left of the walk. We then went inside and then left. It was really exciting to see Australian wildlife out of the zoo setting, even though it was an enclosed area, I think it counts since it is so big!

Since I went today, I do not have class tomorrow or Thursday, but I'm going to reread some of my readings for my paper that I have to turn in on Friday before I go to bed.

Monday is the new Sunday!

I had class at 9:30 this morning, and it was Contemporary Indigenous Issues. After class, I stopped by the Residential Administration building to get some $1 coins to do laundry. $12 later, I have clean clothes! At 12:30, I went to the Catholic mass that they have at the worship centre that is apparently every week. There was about 14 people there, not including myself but including the Priest (Fr. Joe). One of the people there had their mother and grandma there, so it's usually less, I guess. Apart from one lecturer, I was the only white person, and most seemed to be of Indian or Asian decent. This surprised me because I've never met an Indian Catholic before. Even though catholic means universal, there were some differences, but they may also have just been because it is a small group: We all gathered around the altar before communion; some of the things that we sing in the USA are only said; after the homily, other people shared their views on the scripture and what he said; and Fr. Joe didn't hand out communion, but we went to the altar and got it ourselves. There was pizza afterward, and I've decided that it must be all Australians that like a bunch of toppings, because there wasn't any plain pizza there, either. (and I have yet to see any pizza with less than 3 toppings!)

After mass, I came back and did some reading until my tute at 3:00. We talked about the readings and watched a documentary (they call them 'doco' since they shorten everything!) about the Reconciliation. (The Reconciliation was an attempt for the government to reconcile between the settlers and aboriginals.) The tute is 1 1/2 hours, and when I came back I did more reading for my classes tomorrow, then went online until 7:15, when I went to Murdoch Village Christians. It is a bible study for Murdoch Christians United students in the village. (Hence the title for this post, I had a lot of Religion today!) We first went over any announcements, then we sang, we went over Colossians 1: 1-14, then we broke into small groups and prayed. We then talked about random things, and I was there until 9:30ish. I came back and am checking my email, etc and writing this post. I plan on reading some more of my biology before I go to bed and to class tomorrow. It'll be a long day since I have a field trip with my lab until 8ish!

Oh, and my nose is getting runny and I'm sneezing a lot, so I'm getting a new sickness. I guess I'm just lucky that way! *rolls eyes*

Another boring day...

I set my alarm, but had to hit snooze twice because I did not want to get out of bed! I eventually did, and I worked on some homework until a little after 11. After that, I decided to make some chicken for this week, and when I got out to our living room/ kitchen area it was a mess! There was something that looked like uncooked pasta all over the living room floor! Later Brendan apologized for them making such a mess last night, and he said that they would clean it, but I haven't been out there since I made my lunch.

While eating, I played scramble on facebook and listened to my Team Starkid playlist on my Zune. I did some more reading on my computer for my homework, but then my eyes hurt, so I worked on finishing up my lab. There are still two questions that I couldn't get the answer to, so I will have to try to find a field guide to Australian mammals book in the library tomorrow. I got quite a bit done, but I still have a lot of reading to do, and a paper to write that is due Friday. Luckily, I don't have class Wednesday or Thursday so I should be able to do homework, God willing I don't get sick again! After I took a shower, I decided to take a break from homework, and go online. I talked to both of my parents, and decided to eat some of my Aero bar to make my mom jealous! (I was just going to eat a piece and now I think I'm going to eat the whole thing!) That's really all I've done, but hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting. I also added some pictures to flickr off of other people's facebook pictures that had me in them. Also, I'm feeling a lot better! :)

Why do I keep forgetting a title?!

I decided to just sleep in today, instead of setting an alarm, since I'm sick, and I ended up sleeping almost 12 hours again! I am feeling a lot better, though. My throat still hurts a little, but it was mostly when I woke up. My friends all went on a wine and chocolate tour today, and since I don't drink or like chocolate that much (especially not $50 worth), I stayed here. I needed to work on homework anyway, since I slept almost all of Thursday and have a lot of reading to catch up on!

Pretty much all I did today was homework, cleaning some of the crap in my room, and watching the last few episodes of Survivor. (I've finally watched every season!) I worked on homework until about 7:30-8ish, when some of my flatmates came home and decided to blast music before going out, so I took a break and got online. I played some scramble on facebook, my new favorite game as of today, and talked to my cousin, Sami, and my parents. I started listening to my 'Team Starkid' playlist on my zune and I couldn't not listen to it, so I'm writing this and playing scramble until it is over or I get too tired. Afterward, I'm probably just going to go to bed and actually set an alarm for tomorrow so I don't sleep the day away instead of doing homework!

Funny that you live in the future, but have to wait to watch it until after us. ;)

I had biology at 10:30 this morning, and that was my only class for the day. Interesting facts that I learned in biology today: kangaroos have 3 vaginae (2 real and one pseudo) and 2 uteri also numbats (another Australian animal) have male die-off a few weeks after mating season. The males live about a year, their hormones go crazy, they mate, their immune system goes down as a result of the hormone imbalance, and they die. Who says biology isn't interesting?! After class, I went to the bookstore to pick up my last unit reader, so much for this semester being cheap!

When I got back, I went on AIM and talked to Caitlin, my roommate from Hope! I was also waiting for the So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) finale to go online. I decided to watch some other tv that I was behind on while waiting, so I watched an episode of Psych, Royal Pains, and some old Survivor episodes. It wasn't until 7 that the SYTYCD finale was finally online! I was very careful about going on facebook and twitter so as not to be spoiled, and it was very annoying. I was happy about the finale and excited to see all of the season's highlights. I then watched some more Survivor. Eventually, one of my flatmate's cat came into my room, and I was playing with him. I then started talking to my flatmate, Josh, while we played with his cat. (We aren't allowed to have pets in the village, which is why I haven't said anything before.) Now I'm watching the episode of Survivor that I left paused before I go to bed.

(The title is a quote from my sister, Jacki, when talking about the SYTYCD finale)

Thank God for days off from class!

I slept A LOT today! I went to bed early last night, and didn't wake up until 11:50 and stayed in bed until 12:20. When I finally did get up, I felt like crap with an achy body and sore throat. I watched a few old episodes of survivor, and then made lunch. I ate some noodle soup things, like ramen noodles, and made some ensure to drink. The powder stuff is a hassle and I'm guessing on the water because I'm not sure what 190mL is in my glass, but it tastes alright. The noodles felt really good on my throat! I watched some more survivor, and then took a nap at ~3:15 until 5 because at 5:30 there was a village survival 101 talk that I went to with Carrie because there was free food after. I was so hungry before we ate, but when I started eating, I just couldn't eat much. I did manage to get a slice down, though. Also, something I've noticed but I'm not sure if it is Australians or just the village, but they like to get A TON of toppings on the pizzas, and there are never any plain cheese or plain pepperoni! (I have to resort to picking things off.)

When I came back, I didn't really do much except go online. I did watch the season finale dance show of So You Think You Can Dance. I can't wait to find out who wins, but I don't want to be spoiled, so I guess I'm staying off of facebook and twitter until I get to watch it. It wasn't a real exciting day, but then again I was only awake for about 8 hours. Also, I decided to put my sheet up with my curtains to help block the floodlight. It still comes through, but at least I stayed asleep last night. (and all this morning for that matter!)

I guess I didn't actually knock on wood...

Every time someone said that they were sick, I said that I was surprised that I wasn't sick yet. Then I said knock on wood, but I guess I didn't because I woke up today with a sore throat and now I'm achy all over! I woke up at 10 because I was going to cook chicken for lunch, but I was too tired and sick to go and make food. I instead finished reading my pre-lab for my biology lab at 1:30. I left for lab with plenty of time because I wasn't positive of the location or even building, but I found it really easily and was really early! At the start of lab, a fire alarm went off, so we were outside for about 10 minutes until we could go back in.

The lab was fun, but kind of hectic. Our time was shortened because there is so many kids in the class that for two of the weeks we have to split up the class. We were given specimens and a field species guidebook. We had to follow the features to end up with the genus from our lab manual then use the field guide to find the specific species. We also had to measure skulls of a mammal and a bird and some mice specimens. Some of the mouse/other mammal specimens were gross because they were cut open and their guts coming out, but it was quite cool.

After lab, I came back to my room, check my e-mail, and took about an hour nap. I was feeling alright except my sore throat until I got back for lab. That is when my whole body started aching! I took a nap, and a little after I woke up, Carrie came and knocked on my window. She came in and told me that she got a phone, but for some reason they didn't put the credits on it even though she paid for it. I also checked my email, and found that someone is willing to switch times for the Northwest Trip with me! (Thanks Chris!!!) So I was super excited that I'll be able to go on the trip! It sounds like it will be amazing!

At 7:00, the village hosted Quiz Nite in the rec room. I ended up going with Corin and her flatmates and joining their team, Team Gooooooon. They have won for the past 5 semesters (yes, every semester they've been here) but we didn't even place this semester :( They also had raffles, but no one from our team won those either! I think it was rigged, haha. It was still a lot of fun, and there were all sorts of questions. The categories were flags, general knowledge, history, politics, tv series, movies, and an extra point thing for origami. No one at our table could figure out the origami that we were supposed to do, so I just made a flapping bird instead of whatever bird they wanted us to do. Team Goon was going to "celebrate" after at their flat even though we lost, but I went back to my flat because I just want to get some sleep. My flatmates also went out and invited me, but I'm just going to write this post, go to bed, and be glad that I don't have classes tomorrow so I can just lay in bed and try to get better!

I also haven't been sleeping well, and I realized that I'm waking up in the middle of the night because there is a big flood light facing directly into my window! I've also been remembering my dreams here, so I don't know if that has to do with it or not, but I never remember them at home!

oops... I forgot to blog last night!

I had an 8:30 biology class yesterday morning, followed by 3 hours of my Aboriginal Colonized History class. It actually wan't as bad as last week because our class got into a debate with the guest lecturer (who taught the class up until this year) about whether or not the settlers used germ warfare on the aboriginals when they came. He said that there is no proof, but many of the students deduced from what evidence there is, that they did intend to spread small pox.

After class, I came back to my flat and ate an apple for lunch before Carrie came over because we wanted to go to the store. She was going to get a phone at Kmart, but they didn't order any of the cheap one, so she'll have to go to Freo. I went shopping at Coles and the Chemist (pharmacy). I actually found some Ensure, but it comes in a powder that you mix with water. I'm trying it this morning, and it kind of tastes like the marshmallows that come in Swiss Miss hot chocolate.

At 3:30, I had my seminar on living and learning class, but when we got there Paul said that there wasn't enough interest to run the course as it currently is, and instead we'll be doing a continued orientation thing. This only meets every other week and won't be worth a credit. It is also for everyone in CIEE, not just those who signed up, and there will be food! As a treat for signing up, Paul is setting up a home-stay for Corin and me. :)

After our "class," I came back and ate some stuff for dinner, reread some of the pre-lab for my biology class today. Russ also emailed me the list of people on the first Northwest trip, so that I could try to find someone to switch with me. I sent an email to everyone and am still hoping that someone will switch. I have one person who said that he didn't sign up that was on the list, so I'm hoping that Russ will get that email and maybe that is a vacancy. Keep your fingers crossed! After that, I was too worried about changing and waiting to hear replies, that I couldn't do homework, so I watched an episode of survivor. I then read some more of my pre-lab and went to bed.

Bleh...

This morning I did not want to get up, so I put my alarm on for another 15 minutes. :) I was still tired, but forced myself to get up. I had my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class at 9:30, in which we talked about the readings that we had over the past week and she explained them. I then went to the bookstore to see if the unit reader for my other Indigenous Studies class was printed yet, but I didn't see it. I checked online later and he sent an announcement saying it wouldn't be done until Thursday or Friday. After I got back, it was lunchtime, but I only had an apple because I need to go to the store to get more food. I also took a nap because I was still exhausted. When I woke up, I read the second article for my biology class, since I didn't read it last night. (I watched mass at St Francis of Assisi's website since I haven't been to a Catholic mass since being here)

At 3:00, I had my tutorial (tute) for my class that I had this morning. We introduced ourselves to a partner with things like favorite ice cream and star sign, then our partners introduced us to the class. After that, our lecturer, Michelle, introduced herself and told us how she came to teach Indigenous Studies since she is a white Australian. We talked in our groups about the articles that we read and then she gave us time to work on our critical reflections that we have to write for the class on the two articles we just read. After about 30 minutes of writing, she had us go into new groups and talk about what we had written and we talked as a class about it, too.

After class, I came back to work on some more homework and readings, which is pretty much all I've done. (well, that and get distracted on the computer :P) I now have a headache and I'm tired, so I'll probably go to bed early tonight. (Also, I have an 8:30 class, followed by a 3 hour class!)

Another uneventful day...

It was another boring day, as all I did was homework. I woke up around 10:30, and started doing my readings for my class tomorrow, Contemporary Indigenous Issues. We had two readings and study questions to go along with the readings. I'm pretty sure we don't have to turn them in or anything, so I just jotted down some notes to answer the questions if we have to talk about them. The first reading was boring, and I was still tired, so I ended up falling asleep a few times and just taking short naps to get through it. The second reading was pretty interesting, though.

After that homework, I took a break. I ate lunch/dinner (since it was at about 3) and watched an episode of the last season of Survivor that I have yet to see (Vanuatu). I then went online to find the readings for my biology class on Tuesday. I'm glad that I started them today, because there are three and they are long. I only read the first one, which I skimmed because it was about setting up an experiment, the scientific method, and basic statistics problems/gathering data. I learned all of that in my classes before, so it was just a long boring reading and I couldn't help but get distracted online! When I finally finished, I took a shower, and now I'm planning on reading another one of our readings for biology. I told you it wasn't exciting...

Footy!

This morning, I met Corin, Carrie, and Katie, and we went to take the bus to Freo. At the bus stop, we also met up with Matt. We met Isabella there, the woman in charge of the Sustainability part of CIEE, and she took us on a tour of the city and some of it's more sustainable parts. We went to see art galleries, including one that used to be a women's insane asylum. We also walked around town and to the beach. There was actually a wedding going on at one of the areas that we went to.

At around 5, we went to the Fremantle train station and caught up with Paul and most of the other CIEE students that didn't go into Freo with us. We all then went to an Australian Football League footy game. It was between the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Lions. They are the two worst teams in the league, but it was still exciting and fun to watch! (They play in an oval, and I couldn't help but think of how awesome it would be to play quidditch there!) I didn't really know what was going on, or the rules, but it was non-stop action and a close game. The lead kept going back and forth, and West Coast was winning up until the last minute when Brisbane scored 6 more points. We also ate dinner there, and it was surprisingly pretty good. The fries are somehow different than the ones in America, but I don't know how. The hamburger also was really good, and had onions cooked in it, although there was gross cold cheese on top. I also figured out a few days ago why the pop tastes funny here... it has sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I definitely prefer the stuff in the States!

We got back around 9, and a group of us, Corin, Carrie, Katie, Matt, Mike, and I decided to all go over to Mike's flat and we hung out. His flatmate, Tyson, was also there and one of the RAs, Tracie, also came by for a while. Today was a lot of fun, but now I'm exhausted, so I'm hoping my pictures load quickly on flickr and I can go to bed!

It's Friday!

Today, I woke up and went to the student centre to sign up for the Northwest Trip that the study abroad and exchange students can go on. It is a trip during either the first or second non-teaching weeks to the outback and west coast of Western Australia. I really wanted to go, and the doors opened at 8:30, but we couldn't sign up until 9. I went at 8:45, but totally underestimated the number of people that would be in line so early! I can only go on the first one because I have a field exercise for my biology class during the second break, but when it got to me the first trip was already full! I told him that I have to go during the first one, and he told me to have my lecturer email him, and then he'd email me a list of the names of people going on the first one so that I can try to switch with someone. I really hope that I can find someone because the Northwest trip is one of the reasons that I chose Murdoch over other schools in Australia!

After signing up, I went to the bookstore to see if they had the books for one of my classes yet, but they didn't. I then went outside of my next classroom and waited until the class before us got out. I had the second lecture of my biology class today, and we talked about the importance of statistics in biology and randomized samples. It was extremely boring, since I had just taken stats last semester and it was boring then! After class, I came back and I think I just watched tv online all afternoon and evening. I feel like I must have done something else, but I don't think I did. I found a site that I can watch my American tv on, so I spent the day catching up on Psych, SYTYCD, Royal Pains, and an episode of Mythbusters. Tomorrow will be more exciting because I'm doing things with CIEE. Oh, and Paul also started a flickr group for all of the CIEE students this semester at Murdoch to join and post pictures, but so far I'm the only one. Here's a link if you want to view others' photos (that is if anyone else joins and posts!) http://www.flickr.com/groups/cieefall2010/.

Crap, I forgot a title!

I didn't have class again today, but I did wake up at a reasonable time. I didn't really do much in the morning, but when I checked the mail, I got my debit card. I then went to unicredit to have my card activated and then the guild shop (a smaller bookstore that you can get things cheaper at if you are a guild member) to buy a few things. I had to get a lab coat for only two of the labs that I have this semester, which stinks, but I guess I had to do it. I also checked my smartrider card to see if I had registered it right to get the cheaper price, and they said that I had and to just tag on and off in two days to fully register it. As I was walking over to the bookstore, I decided to stop by the table/booth that Murdoch Christians United (MCU) had set up, and they said that they were having a meeting in 5 minutes, so I went to that. It was kind of a small scale of chapel at Hope. There were ~20 people there, and we sang two songs. (One that we often sing in chapel and one that I hadn't heard before) The songs were followed by the guy who seemed to be in charge explaining Deuteronomy and a timeline of the bible. After that, I went to the bookstore to get a few more things that I needed.

When I came back, I read some of my biology reading that I had to do for tomorrow, until ~5:15. At that point, I went over to the village seminar room because the US Consulate for the Perth area came to talk to us and there was 'American food' afterwards. The American food was PB&J, doritos, and oreos. I came back and was going to finish my biology reading, but Carrie and Corin came over and invited me to go to Carrie's flat to watch a movie and they ordered pizza, but I didn't want any. We watched Cop Out, which was a pretty cheesy movie, but I've scene worse. (Whale Rider, anyone?) We also watched a little tv, and now I'm back writing this. I'm going to finish reading my biology and then I'm going to bed because I actually have class tomorrow and I have to sign up for the Northwest Excursion that I want to go on this semester. We have two week long breaks that it is offered in, but I have to do the first because my biology class has a field study during the second one.

This is when it gets boring...

Today, I didn't have any class because we don't have lab during the first week for my biology class. I woke up at 11:30 ish (I love not having to wake up for any reason!) and just went on my computer. I cleaned some of the filth off of the shower floor/walls and then went on my computer some more until I took a shower. I also finished watching A Very Potter Sequel! (which is very good by the way) I needed to go to the store, and at 3:45ish, Corin was done with class so we walked to Cole's. I picked up a few things, and then I came back to my flat. I read some of my readings for class and that's about it. (I told you it was boring, and tomorrow I don't have class either!)

New charger = New post!!!

I got my new charger today, which means that I can finally post again, and I'm in the process of putting my pictures on Flickr, which is taking a long time! My charger broke last Wednesday. It kind of blew up from being in a converter instead of just an adapter, so I had an adventure with that and it ended up costing an arm and a leg, but I finally got it. Luckily I've been writting in my travel journal in case I can't blog that night, so I've got a lot to say that's happened in the past week.

28 July (Wednesday):

We had a CIEE meeting at 10:30 and we met in the office beforehand. They have a whole bunch of stuff left over from previous semesters and I got a hair dryer and straightener for free. We then had a meeting in another classroom, where I have class on Mondays. We discussed some things about culture and he talked about a seminar that he will be teaching this semester for CIEE students on Living and Learning in Australia. It's going to be 1 or 2 US credits and I think it'll be a good opportunity to learn more, so I'm taking it.

After the meeting I went back to my room, and that's when my charger blew up. I tried it in different outlets, to see if the outlet just blew, but it was my charger. Corin, Carrie, and I were going to Perth later, so I was just going to look there, but that proved to not work. I went to a electronics store, but they didn't sell Dell chargers or chargers that worked on Dells and said that no one sells just the chargers. He said I'd have to go to Dell.com to get one shipped to me. When I got back and it seemed like a reasonable time to call my dad, because of the time difference, I called him and had him look for places online or figure out what I could do.

Meanwhile, when we were in Perth, we went shopping and just walking around the city. It's a very nice city, except when we stopped for dinner at a food court and saw some kind of animal crawl into the escalator. When we decided to go back to Murdoch, we were walking toward the train station when Corin and I saw an aboriginal art store. We decided to look around. There was a lot of cool art and I bought an opal ring. The opal is blue and green and looks kind of like mountains during a sunrise or sunset.

29 July (Thursday):

Corin, Carrie, and I went to Cole's to go grocery shopping in the morning before our CIEE student village orientation. I bought chicken, but they didn't have any orange sauce or cayenne pepper sauce, so I got apricot chicken sauce and some other type of hot sauce. The other hot sauce isn't bad, but I definitely miss Frank's Redhot! The apricot chicken sauce is called "I feel like... Chicken Tonight." It made me laugh a lot (it's a family joke)

At 10:30, we had the village meeting since we were going on a trip that weekend and the orientation for everyone in the village was supposed to be on Friday. Afterward we had lunch there, but picky me just at the meet off of a sandwich and some fruit.

Later I went to Carrie's room because she let me charge my computer since she has a dell too. I checked my email and my dad sent me an email of a place near Perth that fixes Dells, so I called them to see if they had chargers. They said they could mail one out to me the next day. It was a generic universal charger, or I could spend more money and wait a week for an actual Dell charger, so I just ordered the universal one. Carrie and I then decided to get our books. First we went to the CIEE office to see if they had them that we could get for free, but they didn't have ones that I needed. I did get a Perth and Western Australia guidebook, though. Next, I tried the guildshop for cheaper second hand books, but they didn't have them either, so I had to go to the bookstore. I bought my books (only one was over $20!) and a Murdoch Uni sweatshirt. One of my classes doesn't have the books yet, though. We walked around campus to try to find all of our classes and then came back to the village. I read some of the guidebook, and read the first lab in my biology class, which doesn't start until next week. I then went to bed early to get ready for our trip.

30 July (Friday):

I woke up at 5:25 to check my email and get ready for my weekend trip with CIEE to a city called Denmark, about 5 or so hours south of Murdoch. The trip was amazing! We left at 6:30 in a big bus and stopped at a gas station for breakfast, I just got a pack of starburst fruitfuls (my new favorite lolly) and ate an apple that I brought. There was also a bull on the loose next to the gas station, which was quite weird. We drove a little further to an aboriginal center called Kojonup. The guy told us about the aborigine history, but he was hard to understand. He also made us billy tea (tea made in a billy can over the fire) and we walked through the rose maze, which I'm sure would have been much prettier when there were actually flowers!

After another drive, we stopped at a local farm to eat our lunch. The view was amazing and there were mountains along the horizon. They also had one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen! I'm not sure what breed it was, but the lady said that the breed is part dingo and they are bred to herd sheep.

We drove some more and got to The Cove, which was an awesome cabin-type place that we were staying at. It was beautiful and the guy and his family built it out of trees that they found that had fallen. We dropped off our stuff and went to Green's pool. I was smart enough to know that it was too cold to go swimming, but most of the crazy people in our group did go in. I put my feet in the water, though, to walk around the giant rocks. The view was again amazing and at the end of our time there, it started raining, and we saw a double rainbow!

After the beach, we went to an alpaca farm and got to feed kangaroos and other animals. The highlight of the trip for me, though, was petting the koalas. It definitely made my life and Paul bought us all a postcard.

We came back and had dinner on the barbie. It was really good, and we got to try kangaroo meat! It was really good, but I didn't notice much of a difference from beef. Afterwards, we all just sat around the fire, played games, or just relaxed until we went to bed.

31 July (Saturday):

We woke up and ate cereal for breakfast. After we had a long hike up a mountain. It was really hard, and I had to stop a lot, but I did make it to all of the places and didn't even hurt myself. (Except my muscles the next day) There were some really beautiful views and I am very proud of myself for making it all the way there and back and going the extra walk back, instead of taking the bus. I took a few pictures at the places where we stopped, but they can never do justice to the actual view.

For lunch, we walked back to the Cove and ate sandwiches. At about 2, we drove a while to go to the Valley of Giants. They had giant old eucalyptus trees and a cool bridge that was suspended at the top of the tree line. It even swung as if you were in the trees, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, however I did wear my motion sick bands. The bridge was also cool because it was very sturdy and designed to move, yet it was put together like a giant K'nex because they couldn't fit helicopters or cranes in without removing trees. After the tree top part of the walk, we went through the ancient part of the park. It is where they have the oldest trees and some are hollow inside, and we could go in. At the beginning, the lady who works there told us about the history, and she said that people used to live in there or even park cars in old trees. One of them was big enough that we took a group picture in it!

When we were on our way back to the Cove, we stopped to see the world's largest barometer. Everyone faked enthusiasm, but the science nerd in me actually thought it was cool! When we got back, we relaxed until dinner, which was spaghetti. After dinner, Illya (the owner of the Cove) taught us how to play speed scrabble, which was a lot of fun, but I'm bad at it. Then we all got around the dinner table and played speed pictionary as two teams. My team lost the first round, but we won the other two. Later that night, some of the guys went outside and came in to tell us all how amazing the stars were, so we all went out to the water/beach area and went stargazing. It was amazingly beautiful. A lot of people saw shooting stars and we could even see the milky way!

1st August (Sunday):

I woke up early because I had to set up breakfast, but I went back to bed since I was still tired. I ate when I set up, so when I did get out of bed, I just sat by the fire until we left, since it was cold. We left the Cove around 9:00 and drove until we stopped for gas, and I bought more Starburst fruitfuls :) We drove further and he gave us a quiz about what we did over the weekend. He gave us each a question in turn, most of which I didn't know the answer, and when he got to me, he asked if I was ready and I said no, so he asked Corin the next question, which of course I actually knew that one! It was what year was the Cove built, and the questions were multiple choice and I read on the ceiling many times that weekend that the ceiling was done in 1976, so the answer was 1975. I was Corin's phone-a-friend. I got my question next, and surprisingly I got it right, too. I was about whose idea it was to build the giant barometer and the answer was Bert something We then stopped at a park for lunch, but I didn't like the sandwiches, so instead I just ate an orange and some of my lollies. After lunch, we finished our drive back to Murdoch.

We got back a little after 2:30, and I unpacked and went to Carrie's room to charge my laptop some more. At 4:45, we went to get our village courtyard t-shirts. My courtyard is the Melaleuca Mammoths, then we went back to her room to check my computer. I went back to my room and did a survey called Intercultural Development Inventory for Paul's seminar on Living and Learning in Australia. At 7:00, there was a welcome barbecue for the whole student village, but you had to wear you village t-shirt. It was really boring and the food was gross. I mainly sat with different people and watched the volleyball game. It was really boring and I was still tired from the weekend, so I went back to the flat to turn in early because classes started the next day.

2nd August (Monday):

Classes started and I had Contemporary Indigenous Issues at 9:30. On the way there, I found out that Corin is in my class, along with some other CIEE students. The lecturer (you don't call them professor here), Dr. Michelle Carey, just talked about course objectives/aims and gave us the unit guide, which is a package with syllabus information and a schedule. Our tutorial (like a discussion; also called a tute) was cancelled this week, so that was my only class.

After class, I went to the administration building to get $1 coins for the laundry. It is so expensive here, $3 for the washer and $3 for the dryer! I also cooked chicken for lunch and tried my new hot sauce. I read my unit reader and then took a nap after lunch.

Later, I watched some tv with my flatmates, and I know them all now. They are Olivia, Scott, Brendan, and Josh. At 7:45, we had the courtyard RAs come over for a flat meeting and they gave us giant calendars of the semester 2 village events. After the meeting we just watched some more tv.

3rd August (Tuesday):

Today I had my biology class at 8:30 and that went alright. The lecturer told us about the class and that the unit reader isn't out yet, but we can read it online. Then at 9:30, I had my other indigenous studies class and the lecturer told us about aboriginal history and the class. He also played the didgeridoo for us, and apparently you aren't supposed to clap afterwards because it scares away the good spirits that the playing brings. The class was 2 hours, followed by an hour tute for that class. In the tute, we watch a video about a famous aboriginal painter who pained watercolors and taught his sons. The class was very long, especially since it goes until lunchtime, when I'm hungry! When I came back, one of my flatmates got the mail, and I got a slip saying that I got a package, so I went to pick it up, and I cannot explain the joy I felt when I got my charger!!! I was so hungry during class, but when I got my charger, I was just so excited that I didn't eat for another hour! haha I also started uploading my pictures to flickr at that time, and it is still uploading now, about 6 1/2 hours later! At 3:30, I went to Paul's seminar and there are only four people in that class! He's not sure yet if it will still go on, or if it's going to be one or two credits. I hope it still goes on, though, since I think it'll provide a good experience. Since class, I've just been catching up on e-mail, this blog, and other things online that I haven't been able to do in the past few days.