'Talk talk, I'm talking'- Jae

At breakfast we switched modes of transportation again and we were in cars. Katie and I were together and then the driver changed and the person in the passenger's seat changed with them. I found out when getting off the bus at breakfast that one of my flip flops, aka thongs for the Aussies, was missing. (Whenever we got on and off the bus we had to put our shoes in a bin in the front of the bus to stop some of the spread of dirt.) Luckily, I had packed my shower shoes in my bag for the bus as well. I was especially glad that I had another pair when we got to lunch because it was rainy.

We stopped at another park for lunch. While they were prepping the sandwiches, a few of us went on a walk around the park. It was gross and wet. When we got back we somehow to got talking about the size of Australia compared to America and the northern/southern/eastern/western-most parts. I used some of my trivia to tell them that Alaska is both the westernmost and easternmost state. Lunch was, again, sandwiches, but I ate some with just chicken and mayo.

They changed drivers when we stopped for gas, and Jae was driving. We followed the other car, which ended up going the wrong way to Canberra, but we got there. They had police set up doing random breathalyser tests on drivers. Jae got pulled over and it was a kind of breathalyser that we had never seen before. Instead of blowing into it, you talk into it. He didn't know what to say, so he just kept talking about talking, hence the title.

We got to Canberra late that night and we ate dinner at the Edwards' house. They were the main host family where a lot of people stayed. The rest of us were in billets, aka host families, of the church that they go to. We had pasta for dinner. After dinner we were supposed to get in groups of four to be placed into billet's homes. Katie and I formed a group and then added Nathalie who brought in Monica. We ended up being at the Tinney's house and they had four girls and four guys that were staying with them. The four guys were Ben, Chris, Eddie, and Nathan.

All of the people staying at billets took Henry to get dropped off. The family was nice but we didn't really get to talk to them a lot. When we got there we talked while rotating showers. We found out that Eddie and Nathan are tea connoisseurs and it was hilarious and entertained us every night. The shower ran out of hot water halfway through, that's what happens when 8 people are showering, but it was still really nice to get clean after being on a bus for about 3 days.

'I am the master of my own bladder.'- Dr. Sheldon Cooper

Kangaroo tails

We stopped at some park for breakfast, but I was too tired to actually get up and out, not to mention I don't eat breakfast. We then kept driving until lunchtime. We stopped in a small town in South Australia called Nundroo. Apparently it is the wombat capital of the world and they had some funny bumper stickers and other things in the truck stops's store. I bought some salt and vinegar crisps and a sprite so that I could have some snacks on the bus. We had sandwiches for lunch, which I don't like. I just ate some bread and butter and salt and vinegar crisps. You could also buy some kangaroo tails at the store. I guess that you can eat them, but it just looked really weird.

45 minute time difference between
WA and SA

I don't know... but Octavius is there! 

There was also a sign for the world's longest golf course. The holes are in different cities all across the Nullarbor. At lunch we had to eat as much fruit as we could because we were going to pass a fruit check in Penong, SA. They don't want to spread fruit flies and other insects across Australia, so at the fruit check all fruit has to be thrown away.













We stopped at another park for dinner. This time we were in Wirrulla, SA. They made pasta and it was actually really good and I had seconds.

We were in Gemma all day and all night. The title is because I barely ever had to use the bathroom, which Katie thought was weird. I kept using this quote from Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. He was talking about keeping hold of a Lord of the Rings ring for a competition with his friends, whereas I just don't like public bathrooms.

Road trip Buddies

I had to get up really early this morning to finish packing and catch a cab to the Student Village at Murdoch. Steve had called me last night to say that he was going to pick up Katie and I there and take us to Tim Thorburn's house to leave. I set my alarm to 5:15, but hit snooze a few times and didn't get up until 5:35. My parents had called a cab for me yesterday because the buses did not run early enough in the morning. I got in the cab at about 6:15. The cab driver was kind of a creeper. He kept talking to me about Aussie boys and it was really weird and awkward. He also talked about how much he could tell that my parents loved me and how lucky I was. Luckily the cab ride was only about 15 minutes. I got to the village early, so I just sat at the pool deck with my stuff while I waited for Steve. Steve came and so did Katie. Then Steve told us that Nathalie was staying at his house and wasn't ready when he came to get us. We had to go back to Steve's house to pick her up.

We then went to Tim's house and got there by about 8. We waited for a long time for everyone to get their crap together, late comers to arrive, and to get everything packed and details sorted. Katie and I ended up going to the store nearby with a few girls to pass the time. They wanted to find something to use as a jump rope during our stops on the bus. They didn't find anything, though. Before we left, they also went over this complicated rotation of the buses/cars that we had and put us in groups according to our mission teams. WE had a big bus (Gemma), a small bus (Henry), and two cars. We finally ended up leaving Tim's house at 10.

Inside Gemma

Henry

I was on Gemma during the day. We had a hymn-along, which was a lot of fun. We also had to bring our lunches and eat them on the bus because we weren't stopping for lunch that day. We played some more games after lunch. For dinner we stopped at a park in Coolgardie. They made chicken curry, which I barely ate because I don't like curry, and cous cous. After dinner was the first bus switch and my group was in Henry. It was a really cold night because I had left my sleeping bag in my suitcase instead of taking it or some kind of blanket on the bus.

The title refers to Katie and me since this was our third road trip together. We went to Denmark, WA together with CIEE and the Northwest/Outback Excursion with Murdoch's study abroad program before embarking on this trip.

Bunga binga... Ugg!

Today was my last full day in the Perth area. My mom wanted to go to the E shed markets, but first I had to get something to eat. I wanted a cinnamon roll from Gloria Jean's because we went there yesterday and it was delicious. I didn't actually know the name or really where it was, so we ended up walking around Freo for a while before we found it. We didn't see cinnamon rolls anywhere else, which is why I wanted to find that place again. We went to the E shed markets which was quite bigger than we had thought.

Afterwards, we went to the Woolstores shopping centre. I don't remember what all happened because it was so long ago. (I'm writing this on Dec 15) We then were walking downtown and I saw a store with ugg boots on sale. I had finally convinced my parents that I wanted some and I should get them in Australia. We asked the lady working there about the different labels to make sure that we weren't getting a knock-off kind. She explained that the brand Ugg used to be Australian owned. They were bought by the US and are now all made in China. (go figure!) Ugg boots, the generic name, just means boots that are made of sheepskin. I ended up getting another brand that was actually Australian owned and made. (The title is a pun about the sound effects from the computer game Dino Slots.)

We continued walking around Freo and went to the Lolly shop and back to Freo markets. We also stopped at Coles so I could get some last minute things for the bus trip. We then went back to the flat to eat our leftovers for lunch. We also took a long nap until dinner time.

 I wanted to go to Little Creatures because I had still never been there and it is in every guidebook, so we went there. We were told to go to the loft, and saw that they had a comedy night that night. We had to wait for a while before the comedy part was open, so we got some drinks in the loft area. We thought they had food up there, but it ended up just being appetizers, so I got two little burgers to eat for dinner. The comedy was pretty funny. There were three guys and the MC. The first comedian wasn't very funny, but the other two were good. Some of the jokes were about Australia and the Perth area, so my parents didn't understand them. I got most of the jokes, though. The last comedian had one part where he talked about imaginary friends from when he was younger. He went around and gave out masks of famous people and they had to go up and sing some song about friendship that I don't remember any more. He gave me a mask and I had to go up. I then realized that the mask I had was actually him! It was kinda awkward. Luckily the comedy was done before the grill part of Little Creatures had closed. I had wanted to try the frits, their fries/chips, because I had heard they were amazing. They were!

It's weird to be a tourist where I've been living...

Today my parents and I went on a tour called Aussie Super Bonanza Day Tour. It was a 6 in 1 tour that did many tourist things. It ended up being a really good value for everything that we did and we had a lot of fun. We had to be in Perth by 8:30 and at a place near the train station for them to pick us up. They usually pick you up from where you are staying if you are in Perth, but we were in Freo. We had some trouble finding the place where we were supposed to meet him, but we found it. Our tour guide's name was Ron. After picking us up, he had another couple, from Hong Kong, that he had to pick up too.

Our first stop was Caversham Wildlife Park. I had been there about two weeks before, but I was still extremely excited because I love Aussie animals. We also had a tour guide from Caversham this time, which was really interesting. She explained how they have white kangaroos and white dingos. The white kangaroos are actually a mutation and they were bred like that. While they aren't albino, it looks like they have the health problems with their eyes because they look more closed from their light eyelashes. She also explained how the white dingos are actually a natural variation in the colouring of dingos. We also got to pet the wombat and went to the Farm Show. My dad got picked to try and crack the whip during the show. Both of my parents ended up milking the cow at the end of the show. (I had milked it last time I was there, and once was enough for me!)

After Caversham, we went to an Aboriginal store. My parents ended up buying some things, but I don't remember what they ended up getting.

The next stop was a wine tasting. Since I don't drink, I just sat there and watched. It was pretty interesting to hear some of the differences in wines. I just drank some water and ate cheese. They had about 6 wines that they tasted. The guy giving the wines also showed us these weird wine bong things. I guess the point is that you end up heating them with your hand by the way that you hold the bong. It also supposedly gets you more drunk because the alcohol also goes up the other part of the bong and you end up inhaling it when you drink. My parents ended up getting 3 bottles of wine and then getting a set  of 2 wine bongs for free.

The next stop was at chocolate store. They had samples of their white, milk, and dark chocolate in chips sitting out. We ended up getting some nut chocolate clusters and a cookies and cream bar. They were alright, but I've had better. We didn't want to get too much because lunch was afterwards.

For lunch we went to the tour guide's, Ron, house. His wife made some lamb chops, potatoes, and a salad. I normally don't really like lamb, but it was really good. Ron also made his 'famous' apple pie. My parents liked the wallpaper that they had in their dining room because it was the same as either in my mom's grandparents house or my parents' first house. (They didn't agree on where it came from.) They also had a collection of spoons and had one with wooden shoes, so my parents took a picture. They had a really big house and an awesome view of the Swan River.









We then took a ferry from his house back to Perth. It was a short ride, but it was cool to take the ferry because I hadn't taken the ferry before. Ron then picked us up at the other side of the river.

When we got to Perth, we went to King's Park. We went on the tree top walk. My parents and I had done the walk yesterday, but it was still cool. The tree top walk wasn't as epic as the one in Denmark, WA, though.

Ron then dropped us off where he picked us up that morning. We took the train back to the flat in Freo. My mom took some pictures as the sun set and of the view as the night lights came on. We then went to dinner at Mexican Kitchen in Freo. I got the steak fajitas again and my mom and I shared some Mexican fruit punch. It is a frozen strawberry drink with lemon juice. It is delicious!

Stairway to Heaven or Highway to Hell

I had changed my checkout time to today because we wanted to go on the Aussie Extravaganza tomorrow. I woke up early to pack because I was out last night. I quickly packed everything up so that I could check out at 11:45am. The place was a mess, but luckily Brendan told Willie, the man in charge of checking me out of the village, that the mess was his fault. Willie also saw how clean my room was compared to the others and wasn't going to charge me for cleaning. My parents were there and we took my stuff to their flat in Freo.

We then took the train to Perth in the afternoon. We went to King's Park to find the DNA staircase. The way to get to the park from where the bus dropped us off was a long staircase called 'Jacob's ladder.' It had 242 steps to the top. We almost died climbing up. The park is huge, apparently it's bigger than Central Park in NYC. We ended up getting lost along all of the paths. There was a big concert thing going on, and we ended up asking some security guy how to get to the DNA staircase. My mom and I being the nerds that we are, had my dad take a lot of pictures of us on it.

We then went through Perth to find somewhere to eat dinner. We ended up going to a Korean barbecue restaurant called Arirang. It is a place where you cook your own food at your table in this thing in the center. I ordered the chili soy sauce beef and my dad got the same sauce on calamari. My mom was feeling sick and didn't order any food. My mom and I did get this drink called 'Fire Engine,' which was sprite and a strawberry juice thing. (I think but I don't really remember and when trying to google it I just found some alcoholic drinks.) I felt like I was going to be sick for the first time in months, but I ended up going outside and I was fine.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I decided to list some things I am thankful for this year:

o       My time in Australia and being born in a time and to a family that I was able to do that

o       Friends: both in America and abroad

o       Family: their support and love is everything

o       That my parents were able to visit me

o       Brain surgery: that it was successful, the tumour has not come back, and that I had a brain tumour because it helped me find my life’s purpose

o       MCU and Hope College for enhancing my faith

o       WYD and now NTE/ God bringing me to Sydney

o       Struggles that God has given me that weren’t too much but allowed me to grow as a person

o       CIEE and Paul that were helpful when studying abroad

o       Harry Potter because it has shaped both my youth and life currently; helped with leadership by Hope Quidditch

o       Sociology and realizing that I didn’t like Biology before I was stuck in that major and career path

o       Maturity gained from studying abroad

This is more than 1 1/2 teaspoons!

My parents came to visit my Uni today. We first went to my flat to go online to register for our trip on Friday. (My parents didn't have internet where they were staying at that time.) My internet had run out because it was per month. We tried to fiddle around with in and eventually after a few hours of trying to buy the week pass, it let me log in. I also don't think it ended up charging me.

I then took my parents on a tour of the campus. We first went to the CIEE office where my parents met Paul. My dad ended up talking to Paul for a while and telling what seemed to be our life story, as always. They also talked about Cricket and my dad asked Paul to explain it. Paul ended up emailing me a link to send to my dad that helped explain it to Americans by using references to baseball and other American sports. We went around the rest of campus and also ran into Russ.

Later that night, we had our final farewell dinner for CIEE. I met Carrie and Corin in Corin's flat where the were working on a present for Paul. It was a poster in the shape of Australia with pictures from this semester on it. It is a good thing I got there before they finished, because they had the map of Australia upside down! Carrie wouldn't believe me, but she googled it and found I was right.

We were supposed to meet in Freo and then Paul was taking us to an unknown location. We met by a church and he had us all walk to the place. It ended up being Clancy's fish pub. It was a cute fish and chips place. Some people got calamari and chips but I just got the fish and chips. We were also given these funny paper things to get drinks with. Everyone signed the poster during dinner and afterwards we gave it to Paul. After dinner we all got ice cream. Many people were excited to get sprinkles, and thought I was crazy for not liking sprinkles! Carrie was holding a beer when she got her ice cream with sprinkles, and it made me laugh, hence the picture.

After dinner we were going to go to Newport because it was our last Wednesday. When Carrie came over she saw the giant salt thing that one of my flatmates had in the kitchen. She said that the amount of salt you are supposed to eat in a day is 1.5 teaspoons. People came over and we got ready to go to Newport. Before we left, Connor got Carrie a tequila shot and when she put salt on her hand, but she had licked too much of her hand. She then said 'This is more than a teaspoon and a half!' It was fun and Carrie and I left in time to be able to take the bus back to Murdoch.

Cheese and Quokkas

We took the ferry over to Rotto (Rottnest Island). We had to take a ferry over from Freo at 9:45. We left the flat with plenty of time to be able to make it down there since we didn't know the bus times. We got there really early, about an hour before we were supposed to be there to be 30 minutes early. We ended up going around town to get me something to eat for brekkie. We got a cinnamon roll and it was delicious!

The ferry over is about a half hour. It wasn't too bad until the end when the water got a little rough. I'm glad my mom had her motion sickness patch on or she wouldn't have made it. It was really pretty on the island, but also windy. We walked around for a while and ate lunch at Red Rooster. It was good, but definitely no Chicken Treat! We also got to see some quokkas.(my dad kept forgetting how to pronounce quokkas hence the title.)  Rotto is the only place that they are found in the world and they are super cute! I actually pet the one in the picture as it walked by, although I doubt you are supposed to. It was pretty soft!

We then decided to get tickets and go on the bus around the island. We asked the driver what would be a good beach to go to, so we got off there. That ended up being a cliff with no way down. We then walked because it was an hour before the next bus came that we could get on. It was far and it was hot out. Then next beach that we got to had a little bit of rock climbing to get down to the beach. I could easily get down and back up, but my mom was nervous that she wouldn't be able to get back up. When the continued on. It was even further to finally find another beach that we could get to. It was called Parakeet Bay, although I saw no parakeets. We were only there for about an hour or two before we had to leave to go back. Although my dad and I did walk out to a big rock on one end of the beach and found a big black lizard!

Our ferry was supposed to be at 4:30 but because of the bus times we got back before 4. We got ice cream and then decided to take the 4 ferry back to Freo. It was pretty sunny and we all got sunburnt. We forgot to put on sunscreen after initially putting it on before leaving the flat. Oops! My nose and shoulders got burnt, but it was mostly gone the next morning except for my left shoulder. It is still a little burnt as I write this on Thursday night. I again stayed at my parents for the night.

Fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar, Fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar and POP!

I'm writing this a few days late because I was staying at my parent's flat that didn't have internet. I tooksome notes of what we did, but it's hard to remember a few days later. 

We walked around Freo some more. We went and saw the Round House and went to the Maritime museum shipwrecks galleries. We then ate lunch at Cicerello's. It was really good and a cool place. It was on the waterfront and is a fish and chips place. It was my first team eating fish and chips since being in Australia! They serve the food on paper and there was lots of food in the meal. We got 2 meals for the 3 of us and had lots of food that we just couldn't eat. They also had a bunch of aquariums set up around where the line to order food is. My mom also wanted to go to some garment exhibition at the other Maritime museum. That museum costs more to get in, so we just went to that exhibit because it was free. My mom also made us go to a yarn shop before we went back. 

I went back with them to the flat because they were cooking on the 'barbie.' They were at a different flat for a few days because it costs more, but had a better view that they wanted for at least a few days. This flat was extremely nice and had a beautiful view of the beach and the whole sunset. After resting for a while before my parents cooked dinner. My dad cooked prawns, lamb, and steak that was delicious, although I don't eat prawns and don't really like lamb. I ate a lot of the steak, though. My mom also cooked some onions and sunburst squash. I decided to just stay there because I didn't know the way back and it was dark by the time we finished dinner.

"This is worse than the frat house I lived in during college!"

I did not sleep well last night since I took that nap and my parents are jet lagged. They were up and I was up so we were talking. They also always get up at like 6 when the sun gets up, so I only got a few hours of sleep. I was exhausted but since they had jet lag they were fine. I was also extremely hungry when I woke up because we didn't eat dinner since we ate lunch late and I didn't have any sort of snacks at their flat. I also had a pretty bad headache. We eventually went to the Freo markets again when they opened. I got some strawberries to eat. They were pretty good, but really tiny. We also had to get some more of the epically awesome olives. :) We got a medium container this time and then my parents wanted to get some cheese and we decided to get another container. We also asked the lady how they were made so that we can try to make them at home.

Outside my flat at Murdoch
 student village

We then took the bus back to my flat. I was going to take my parents on a tour of the campus, but I was not feeling good at all. I showed them around my flat, though. That's when my dad said the quote I have for the title. It isn't even as bad as it has been sometimes. I have pictures on flickr of my flat and when my parents have been here so far. (Yes, I am wearing the same clothes as yesterday because I hadn't brought a change of clothes to their flat since I wasn't intending on staying the night. Also, there are pictures from their camera that aren't on flickr yet.) I ended up taking a nap while my parents walked to the store. I forgot that it was Sunday and that Cole's and Kmart are both closed on Sundays. My parents ended up going to IGA, though.

When they got back, I woke up and could finally do my laundry since we got $1 coins from various places yesterday and this morning. (yes, we had to ask for them because that's how bad I needed to do laundry.) I also texted Carrie and Corin to come with my parents and me to Chicken Treat for lunch. Chicken Treat is basically a REALLY good version of KFC. It is still fast food, but it actually tastes good and there is meat, unlike the mostly bone and breading at KFC. They also have really good chips (chips= fries in America), but they weren't as good today as the other time I went there. The flavour was still really good but they were floppier chips.

After lunch, my parents went back to Freo to change flats because they are spending a few days one on the beach. I flipped my laundry then ended up taking another nap since I still didn't feel that well. It was one of those naps that you are in such a deep sleep that when you wake up it feels like you rose from the dead. It was great and well needed. Now I'm just sitting in my room that feels like a sauna. We don't have air conditioning (there also isn't insulation) but I do have a little space heater thing that has a fan setting. It doesn't do that much, though.

Day 122 and my parents come!

This is actually being posted a day late because I ended up staying at my parent's flat so I couldn't blog that night.

I had my parents text me when they got to Sydney and when they got to Perth so that I knew they'd arrived safe. My mom then texted me about an hour after they had arrived in Perth to say that they were at their flat in Freo. She sent the text 'Accio Caitlin' because she knows my love of Harry Potter too well. :) I went to Freo markets to meet them and when I got there, there was a weird couple playing music. Then the pirate sword swallower, that I saw the first time I was in Freo, was performing. It was a full circle kind of moment.  My dad was on the phone trying to get their internet fixed so they ended up being a little late. They came up from behind me since I didn't know what way they were coming from. I was so excited to see them, I just can't explain it.

We then went to Next Door for lunch. I had an angus burger and it was awesome! It was like a steak, but folded, on a roll like a hamburger. It also had caramelized onions on it and came with potato wedges. We then walked around the Freo markets. I got a Fremantle footy scarf and my parents got a present for my nephew. I also noticed at one of the places they had these olives that sounded really good because they had garlic, paprika, and chili powder. My dad and I each tried one and then we had to buy some! They are epically delicious!!! I ended up eating them all that night and wanted more! We then walked around Freo some more and down by the water. Afterward we went to my parent's flat. It is actually cheaper to stay in a flat in Australia than it is to stay in a hotel. I ended up just staying there the night. I ended up falling asleep at around 7:30 but just for a few hours before I woke up. My parents also had trouble sleeping because they are jet lagged from the long flight and 13 hour time difference. My dad also wanted to stay up for the Michigan/Wisconsin game. I kept yelling at him to go to sleep though, since he wouldn't get used to the time difference if he wasn't sleeping at night! I eventually did fall back asleep, but not until 3:30ish.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

I finished my exams yesterday, so I didn't really have anything to do. I slept in really late because of lack of sleep recently and having nothing else to do. I initially woke up at 11, but then just laid in bed and fell asleep again until 1. I am running out of clothes, so I was going to do laundry. I went to the village office and paid my cleaning fee and wanted to get $1 coins for laundry. They only had two though so I couldn't do laundry since it costs $3 for one load of wash. I also went to the library to get some Sprites because you can get a guild discount there so it's cheaper than vending machines. Stupidly I didn't check that my ID was in my purse, the ID has a guild sticker on the back, and I forgot it. Luckily the girl at the register gave me the discount anyway. I also partially cleaned my room, really exciting stuff actually :P It reached 104 F, which is 40C, so it was really hot. (Despite the fact that the sun wasn't even out when I was outside) An exciting thing is that my parents are currently over the Pacific Ocean now and will land in Perth around midday tomorrow!!!


My mum suggested that I talk about how my semester abroad has changed me and any new insights that I didn't have before. This would be hard for a lot of people because you don't often see yourself change until you are with other people that you haven't seen and realize how different you are in comparison. I am a very contemplative person, however so I've thought about this. It is also probably good to think about this because I'm sure there is something on what Hope is going to make me fill out about this. My time abroad has definitely matured me more. I think that any time you go away from your usual comfort zone forces you to mature. College is a good example of this, but study abroad places you in another culture, away from parents, makes it harder to talk to people at home, and you have to deal with your problems on your own. The set up of the village also helped with this because in the States all colleges/universities have a dining hall. I also only go to the store at Hope when my dad is in town. Here I had to go to the store and cook all of my own food and pay for my own things like groceries. After living on my own, I think that it will be weird to go back home.

I also did a lot of contemplating on my relationships back home. I realized that there are certain things that I didn't miss from Hope/home and things that I missed a ton! It's hard to realize what you really love or dislike until you separate yourself from it. I also definitely realized that I appreciate my family more than I thought and I can't wait to see my parents tomorrow!

I also have become more aware of human injustices because of the two Aboriginal studies classes that I had, especially Contemporary Indigenous Issues. As hard of a grader as my lecturer was, I learned a lot about the injustices, especially for things like health. I had no idea that there was so much racism in Australia, either. I now care about them fixing this, but I am still far from becoming a Democrat. :P I also feel that my religious beliefs have grown. Thanks to Murdoch Christians United. I have never been in a bible study and haven't analysed the bible in that way since elementary school. Ever since my brain surgery, I have been extremely thankful to God for every day and that has only increase with Chapel at Hope College and then MCU here.

Spoiler alert!

Well, not really, but I did go see Harry Potter! (It came out at midnight on the 18th instead of the 19th in Australia)

I woke up early this morning to get some more studying in before my exam, but I ended up taking two naps before 10! Lack of sleep takes two days to catch up and I definitely was feeling that. I also had a bit of senioritis/Australiaitis because, even though I'm not a senior, it is my last biology class. (assuming that I pass :P) The exam didn't seem too bad, but I always get the opposite grade than what I think I did. I'm just hoping that I passed and never have to take another biology class again! (Fun fact: spell check recognizes senioritis as a word, at least on my internet!)

Before my exam, Carrie had sent me a message that said she was worried about her final tomorrow so she no longer wanted to go to the movie. After asking around to a few people, I finally saw Sam on chat and she said she'd buy Carrie's ticket. We went to Millennium Cinema in Freo. There was a decent amount of people there, but no where near the number of people that would be there opening day in the States. There were also people dressed up, which made me happy. :) The movie was really good, had some funny points, and almost brought me to tears in more than a couple places. The first scene really got to me, but I won't say what that scene was. Also one of the last ones, but you'll have to see the movie or ask me in a message or email because I don't want to spoil anyone. I don't think that it was the best Harry Potter movie, Half Blood Prince is my favourite, but it was good and extremely emotional. I definitely want to see it again, but movies here are so expensive so I'm going to wait until I'm back home.

Oh and a weird thing about Australian cinemas is that they don't have the same type of previews before the movie that we do in the States. They had a lot of ads like you would see on tv, and even one to visit South Africa! They did have a few previews for other movies and like one ad to turn off your phone, but that's it. I also found out that there is going to be another Narnia movie coming out in December, so I'm sure that will end up being our family Christmas movie.

On another note, my parents are leaving 3pm their time, which is 4am here to come and visit me! They should arrive midday/afternoon on Saturday. Please pray that they have a good and safe trip. I can't wait to see them!!!

One more day!

I didn't go to bed until after 1 last night and then I woke up before 5 to work on my paper. I thought that I was very pressed for time on writing my paper, but I ended up finishing it around 11:30. It wasn't as long as it was supposed to be, and it wasn't my best work. I had realized that it was 5% less than I thought and I was sick of writing it, so I just went to turn it in. The CIEE office was closed today because Paul is still on a trip to America and Isabella wasn't in today. I ended up just going to the library to print it. It is supposed to cost money, but I didn't see a charge listed on my account. It might just show up later, but I don't know because I haven't had to print anything in the library before. The printer for the area that I was in wasn't working so I had to go find what one I had sent it to, which was a little adventure, but it was just downstairs. I then went to turn in my paper, and after I turned it in, I was trying to find the door and ended up getting a little lost trying to find the door out! I eventually found one, but it wasn't anywhere near the one I thought I was going out. I came back and cooked my hamburgers. I'm not exactly sure if the meat was still good because had its best by date a few days ago, but when I realized it was a day past so I put it in the freezer. Then it was in the fridge trying to thaw for two days. It still tasted good and I haven't died yet, so I think it was fine.

After lunch I tried to catch up on my lack of sleep last night. Stupidly I didn't set an alarm so I slept much longer than I should have. I didn't end up waking until like 7:30 or 8:00. It was bad because I hadn't started studying yet for my final tomorrow. I've been studying but I'm not sure how to best divide my time, so hopefully I'll study what I should and will be fine tomorrow. My exam isn't until 2, so I can study tomorrow morning, too. I just need 30% to get a C equivalent in the class and 60% to get a B. Unfortunately there is no grade in between so that would suck if I get like a 55%. This is my last biology class ever since I will have my minor after this class as long as I pass.

The title refers to both that there is one day until I am done with my semester/biology minor and one day until I get to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1!!! (and I'll talk of more interesting things when I am finally done with my studying and have time to do that)

Did you hear the angels singing?

I had my Contemporary Indigenous Issues exam today at 9:30. I felt alright going into it, not anything like my exams at home, even though it is 40% of our grade and I should have been terrified. The test was 1/4 multiple choice, 1/2 short answer, and 1/4 essay. She gave us all of the multiple choice beforehand with the answers. She also gave us 10 possibilities for the short answer and 5 of those were on the exam. I was pretty well prepared for those and practiced writing out answers to the short answers a few times. I know that I got all of the multiple choice write and at least some of the points for all of the short answers because we (Corin, Lily, Morgan, Shawn, and myself) looked up the answers as a group to help study so I know I was on the right track. One of the short answers was about Aboriginal health so I better have gotten all the points on that one since it's about public health and that's what I want to do with my life. The essay also seemed alright, but I don't know how harshly the lecturer will grade because she graded so hard on the two papers we had. After the exam, I went to the CIEE office to print off my confirmation email for the Harry Potter tickets. On my way there, however, I pass by my lecturer's office and Corin, Lily, and Shawn were in there and called me in to talk to her. We talked to her for a while and she was really nice outside of the class setting.

Exams here are really different than at home. Not sure if it is a Hope thing or an American thing, though. The exams are all in lecture theatres instead of your classroom. They also have multiple exams going on in the same room. I think there was four in our room. Each class was assigned certain rows and the tests and answer booklets were already set out for us. All we could take to the desks were pencils and our ID so they could check it and make sure we are taking our own exams. We  had to leave the rest of our stuff like bags and phones at the front of the room. The lecturers were not there, but instead there was three people monitoring us. One was standing in the front of the room, one walked around to make sure no one was cheating, and one would accompany you if you had to go to the bathroom. The exam set up was different too because at the beginning of the exam period, there was 10 minutes of what they call reading time. I guess you just read through the test. We were allowed to make notes while reading but one of the other classes was not. You can't start on your answer booklet, though. This exam was my first time using a blue book!

I then came back and talked to my roommate from home, whose name is also Caitlin, for a while. I then took a nap which ended up being much longer than I intended it to be. I have been working on my paper ever since waking up from my nap, with the exception of eating dinner and writing this post. 2500 words is longer than I had realized and I should have started this paper much sooner since it is due tomorrow by 4. I have written out an outline of what he wants us to talk about and some points and am just starting to actually write it to see how much more I have to find. Luckily that even though it is a research paper almost all of the information is supposed to come from one book that is online and he gave us. This paper is 30% of my grade in the class, but I've been doing pretty well and he isn't too hard of a grader so hopefully I will be fine.


Oh and the title is referring to what I said on my post yesterday about the heavens opening up and the angels singing 'Hallelujah' when I finished my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class.

The post auto-saved a minute in the future!

I pretty much just studied today. One exciting thing is that I bought the tickets for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 for Thursday at 6:15. It comes out a day before the US here and we're 13 hours ahead, so I get to see it a while before the people at home even though I'm not seeing it at midnight! I have my first exam tomorrow, so wish me luck! If you see clouds opening up and hear angels singing at 11:30 it is because I will finally be done with my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class! :)

3 days until Harry Potter and 5 days until I see my parents!!!

So another suggestion that my dad has was to say what are the first things that I want to do when I get home. Again I may forget something, so I might be adding to this if I remember other things.

• see my dog, Buddy! I miss him so much!!!
• see my niece (Adrianna) and nephew (Austin). They are getting so big and I miss them so much. (Also I want to see the rest of my family, but honestly who doesn't want to see the cute little kids :P)
• eat b-dubs
• eat Chet and Matt's Hot wing and cheddar pizza
• eat Andy's garlic chicken
• adjust back to the time difference (I want this to happen fast, but it probably won't)
• eat beer-butt chicken
• eat scotcheroos
• see my friends at Hope, but sadly I get back during their exam week and probably won't see them until next semester :(
• eat my dad's chili
• eat my hot wings (I don't have the correct spices here and I'm almost out of Frank's anyway)
• eat good pasta (I just have had eaten Ramen noodle-type pasta)
• eat things other than just chicken (I love it, but it's getting kinda old meal after meal)
• drink Sprite that actually tastes like the Sprite I love (the Sprite here is made with sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup)
• weigh myself (I am trying to gain weight, but I don't have a scale here)
• play Quidditch, but again that has to wait until next semester
• eat tortilla chips and cheesy salsa

Corvus corANNOYdes

I basically just studied today. I practiced writing my short answers for my contemporary indigenous issues exam. I went to the study flat/room for a while because Carrie and Ria were there studying and Carrie told me to come when she came to visit me while taking a break from studying.

My parents suggested some new topics for me to write about in my blog. My dad suggested that I write about the things that I will miss the most and things I'll miss the least about Australia once I leave. I'll probably forget things so I might add more things to this post at later times. Things that I'll miss the most will be hardest because you don't realize what you have until it is gone, so I probably won't realize I miss something until I get back.

Most

• I'm sure I'll miss some of the people/new friends
• Murdoch Christians United- but glad to be going back to a Christian school
• hearing Australian accents :P
• warm weather (although I do love snow sometimes and won't like the heat that's here when I leave)
• lack of precipitation- It doesn't rain often here... I hate the rain!
• being able to get into places like bars/clubs even though I don't drink (but this won't matter after May 26 since I'll turn 21 and I barely go to any of them at home anyway, but it's nice to be old enough to go to them)
• the relaxed atmosphere- people that know me well know that know that I have a problem with anxiety attacks and last year I went through a bunch of health problems because of that. I am also on anti-anxiety medication, but even when I forgot to take it for a while I was better that I usually am at home
• The adventures around different parts of Australia- CIEE has been awesome with taking us to different places! (Australearn and other study abroad organizations that people are from at Murdoch don't have that, so I strongly suggest CIEE for those studying abroad!)
• TransPerth public transportation- you can get almost anywhere on the bus/train system. It goes to both Freo and Perth. I wish we had public transportation like that at home.  The MAX just doesn't compare, despite the kangaroo mascot!

Least

• Birds- not sure if I posted the bird calls on here, but they are so annoying... check them out here. The Australian Raven/Crow is the most annoying
• I keep identifying birds and tree species subconsciously because of wildlife biology. If I see a tree I'll be like 'That's a jarrah' or if I see an Aussie raven 'that's a Corvus coronoides.' It's so annoying and I'm glad we don't have those trees or animals in America!
• No bugs/animals that aren't pets in my living area. Sometimes my flatmates leave the door open and I've seen magpies in our flat and Brendan has seen a quenda! There are also always spiders and other bugs in the bathroom.
• The Australian grading system- they grade so harshly! They make it fit an actual bell curve instead of the grade inflation we have in the States
• Having to walk to the store to get groceries- so glad my friends have cars and there are meijer runs and my dad can visit to buy me groceries back at Hope
• The prices of certain things, like groceries, being really high... chicken is over $13 per kilo, which is about $5.90 per lb. 

We almost died!

Today I met up with Corin, Morgan, Lily, and Shawn to talk about our indigenous issues class and to go over the questions. We went to the library and worked through the short answers, studied the multiple choice, and did a bit of a timeline for to help us prepare for the essay. We have all of the questions for the short answer and multiple choice sections, but we won't know the essay question until the test. She also gave us the answers to the multiple choice section. I then went home and studied some more. I know all of the answers to the multiple choice, which is 25% of the test, so I'll at least get 25% correct. (Well, theoretically...) And I almost forgot that I almost ate a maggot/worm type thing on accident today! I was eating tomatoes, and when I looked down at my hand I noticed something weird on it. I took it off and put it on my plate and then noticed it started moving! It was little and disgusting. At least it wasn't half of a worm, but there may have been more that I ate without knowing. I threw the rest of the tomatoes away and don't think I'll be eating them for quite a while.

Connor's birthday was also today. He turned 19. We all went out to Metro Freo. It was Corin, Carrie, Ria, Sam, Brendan, Mike, and Connor. Gen, Morgan, Lily, Natalie, and Shawn were also on our bus and going to Metro. When we got into the city, Carrie and I started to cross the street. She looked the wrong way and I was just following her when someone told us to stop for the bus. I then slipped on the curb and fell. We almost got hit by the bus, which was really scaring. You would think that not looking the right way when crossing the street would be a problem when we first got here, not when we leave in a few weeks! It was a lot of fun. We ended up leaving a little before two because someone got kicked out for crying. We ended up catching the Night Rider bus again.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night

I don't remember what I did other than some studying and watching the Big Bang Theory today. I do know that we had the Study Abroad and Exchange Semester 2 Farewell dinner at 6. We got free pizza and a free shirt. We were also given a diploma type thing to remind us about studying abroad and a picture of Perth in a paper frame thing. The two heads of study abroad, Russ and some other guy I don't know, talked and we watched a slide show with different pictures that everyone submitted from this semester. Another thing is that they found a gas leak on campus, and had to shut down the gas. They have no backup gas line, so we have no gas for the time being. This includes the village. We can't cook except the microwave and there is no hot water. I hope they get it fixed soon.

When I came home from the farewell dinner I wasn't sad about going back, but the opposite. I got really Hope-sick. I know people don't want to hear about it and just want to hear about my adventures and stuff because I'm in a place that most people will never go in their life time. I need help thinking of things to write about, though. Please leave a comment!!! I also was looking up places to get a summer job working in public health. It is really hard because so many say that you have to have at least part of your master's already! I also am just having a hard time finding jobs that are just over the summer. I never had to look for a job before (my mom has gotten me my previous jobs and I just replied to an ad for Upward Bound) and it sucks!

(The dinner was called the farewell dinner, and the word farewell makes me think of the song of music, hence the title.)

Today was not my day...

At 9:20, we had a meeting for NTE/bus trip so we met in front of the library and then went to a room in the Education and Humanities building. As I was going there, it was raining, so I got my raincoat, but it ended up clearing up later in the day. The meeting was about 2 hours long and we discussed what we were going to be doing on the mission portion of the trip. Afterward I went to the bank then went to pick up my graded lab report from the Biological Sciences building. I had looked at my grade on LMS, like moodle, and I thought I had done really well because I thought it was out of 30 because it was 30% of our final grade. That was not the case as I realized when I was looking at the actual report when I got back to my flat. I not only did worse than I thought, but I failed. I still do not understand how that happened because I got 70% on the other one and always get B's on the ones at home.I think the reason is that my tutor graded the other report and the lecturer graded this one or something. I was totally freaking out, although for some reason I just can't actually cry. I then calculated what I have to get on the final and realized that I wasn't totally doomed. I need 58.3% to get a B equivalent in the class and only 39% to get a C equivalent. I thought I would be able to get an A- equivalent, but now I'd have to get over 80%, and that's pretty much not going to happen.

Later Carrie texted me if I wanted to go to the store. I had to go, so we went. We also failed our second flat inspection yesterday, so today someone came to clean the parts of the flat that failed. We have to pay for that, but I don't know how much that is yet. I honestly haven't studied at all today because it has just been a bad day. I was having a hard time concentrating on life. (not to mention all of the drama that is going on back at Hope over housing for next semester!) I'm now listening to Darren Criss singing Teenage Dream on Glee on repeat on my computer to help make it better. :)

Also, please leave a comment asking a question or giving a topic for me to talk about!

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Today is my dog's birthday, so I'd just like to start off wishing him a happy 9th birthday! I didn't really do much today except study and watch Glee. Darren Criss, the actor who played Harry Potter in the youtube musical A Very Potter Musical and wrote the songs, premiered on the show tonight! He plays Blaine. I definitely had some fan girl moments, but was really sad that I wasn't back at Hope to watch it with Anne and Erin. We all definitely fan girl squeed when he first appeared on Eastwick, although that show didn't last long. My computer was taking forever to load the show and then it would randomly turn off. I realized after a few times of it turning off, this has happened before too, that it was because my laptop was overheating. I then switched my heater to fan mode and put it on my computer.

That's all I have because no one else has told me any ideas to blog about and I am out of ideas. If you have any ideas for blog posts or questions that you have about Australia, be sure to leave a comment. Also, 10 days until my parents arrive!

P-A-R-T- Why? because I gotta!

I went to meet Carrie and Corin this morning because we decided to go to the zoo. Corin and I thought at first we were going to the Perth Zoo, but we actually went to Caversham. It is a wildlife park near Perth and it is AWESOME! It took a long time to get there, though. We had to take a bus to Murdoch Station, train to Perth, train to Bassendean, and then a bus to the park. Then there was a bench and intercom to call them for a complimentary bus ride into the park because it is kind of a distance in to get to the main office.

There were a lot of different areas into and a bunch of animals both that you could interact with and that were in enclosures. There was a huge area that the kangaroos could walk around in that we were allowed in. We even saw one kangaroo with the legs of her joey sticking out of the pouch! There was also an area where you could go and pet koalas and get pictures with them. You are no longer able to hold koalas, though. :( We also got to see the Farm Show and Meet the Wombat and Friends. At the Farm show they showed how the Australian Kelpie herds sheep and then the sheared a sheep. They also had a competition of little kids to feed baby sheet milk and it was adorable! At the end they let everyone milk the cow. Since I have a picture of me milking a fake cow at the Perth Royal Show, I felt obligated to milk a real cow. I thought it would be awkward touching a cow's utter, but I did it. I accidentally sprayed milk on the man in charge helping is. Oops! Carrie and Corin also milked the cow. At the Wombat and Friends Show, they brought out different animals and at the end we could pet them. I took almost 300 pictures (not counting videos and after I deleted the crappy ones) so I can't put them all on here, but I'm putting them on flickr.

When we got back, we went to Corin's flat and ordered pizza from Dominoes. I ate nearly my entire pizza! (only 2 pieces left, which is about 3 times as much pizza as I normally eat!) We watched The Mask, which I hadn't seen in like 10 years (pretty sure that's an exaggeration, but it has been a long time). Now I'm exhausted and just want to go to sleep even though it is only about 8.

... and the countdowns begin

Days until I am done with my Contemporary Indigenous Issues class: 8
Days until I turn in my final paper for Aboriginal Colonised History: 9
Days until I am done with my Wildlife Biology class/Biology minor: 10
Days until I see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1: 10 (comes out a day early in Australia)
Days until my parents arrive to visit me in Australia: 12

I spent the day studying. I read for my research paper, then met with Corin at the group study flat to go over the questions that will be for the short answer part of our Contemporary Indigenous Issues final exam. It was my first time in the group study flat and it was pretty nice in there. They have like 5 booth type areas that have a monitor that you can hook up your computer to if your group needs to see something together.

I ran out of interesting topics that my family suggested or I thought of and know the answer to or can easily look up. I especially need more interesting topics since most of my time for the next week and a half will be studying for my exams.

*insert something witty about Australia being formed by convicts here...*

I did nothing except study today, and that is how it will be until I am done with exams most likely. I also skyped with my parents about what we are going to do when they come to visit. They will be here in less than two weeks!!! I'm really excited to see them, but I'm sure not as excited as they are to come to Australia. (My mum has been to Cairns, Queensland, Australia, but I don't think my dad has been to the southern hemisphere before)

Another blog idea came from my dad and he suggested that I talk about the penal colony origins of Australia. As most people probably know, the English settled Australia and used it to take the convicts away from England. The first fleet of convicts arrived at Botany Bay in New South Wales (the state where Sydney is located) in January of 1788. They moved to Port Jackson, which is now Sydney, about a week later, 26 January. That date is now celebrated annually and known as Australia Day. Somewhere I had heard, although it isn't on the wikipedia page, that Western Australia was meant to be established as a state that didn't have convicts. They then were building things like the Fremantle Prison and wanted cheap labour, so the convicts were sent over. Western Australia was the last state to have convicts arrive, and they first came in 1850. Over the course of the next 18 years, 9668 convicts were transported to WA. There was a policy change in England regarding sending the convicts to Australia. The last trip of convicts sent from England was in 1867, landing in WA in 1868. I also learned somewhere that most of the convicts sent to Australia were imprisoned for small things, such as theft, rather than really serious things. I also found some examples on this site. I read in a guidebook that most Australians are proud of their convict heritage, but it never came up in a conversation where I would ask someone that so I don't know for sure.

"We're happy little vegemites, as bright as bright can be - We all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea..."

I don't remember what I did today except for eating raspberries, listening to glee, listening to a lecture that I missed, starting my research essay reading, and trying Vegemite. I also went to the MCU end of year bash. They also had the general meeting. It was at Steve and Melinda's house and she made a few types of curry for us. They also elected the new committee and Steve gave the people leaving (this includes graduates and study abroad people) bookmarks. We then just hung out and played games. I even sang for Guitar Hero. It was a lot of fun and made now I want to keep singing. I miss being in the car on the way to/from Hope and my house and being able to belt out Glee songs!

I took a video of me trying out Vegemite, some of you may have seen in on facebook, but I really made it for my blog. I got the title while looking up Vegemite jokes and came across this website. Apparently it was a slogan they used in 1954. Oh the things that I do for you guys! (For some reason it wasn't working when I uploaded it on here, so I uploaded it to youtube. Then it lagged, so I just put it on from facebook and hopefully it works now.

"I guess we'll substitute Finn for Gill"

Today was the last day of lectures. I had my biology lecture (last one ever, except for the one I have to listen to on lectopia). We were supposed to have a guest lecturer, Howard Gill, come in to talk to us, but he couldn't make it, so our lecturer, Hugh Finn, gave the lecture. What was it about? Fish! Honestly it was... I couldn't make this stuff up! He also talked about our exam.

I came back and I don't remember what I did, but I'm sure it was boring. As per a suggestion from my sister, I'll talk about university sports in Australia in this post.

Sports in Australia are still big, like footy and such, but they don't really have sports in Universities. If you are really good at a sport, you will go to professional sports after secondary/high school. They have clubs for sports, like netball. There are also the Unigames. They are a week during our second study break where different teams and clubs from universities all over the country compete. This year they were held at Murdoch, but I didn't go because of my field study and I didn't know anyone that went. There were some people from CIEE that competed, though. Sports at the university level are by no means comparable to college level in the States based on popularity. Universities here don't even have mascots. Anyone that knows me well know that I don't know a lot about sports, so here's the wikipedia article on Australian sports.