Have I told you about my family?

So I kind of figured that this goes without saying but recent events make me believe I should reiterate certain facts of life, namely that my family is truly awesome, probably the best in the world actually.

Here's the story - I like to check my mail just because it's kind of a treat and makes the day great if I get something, and if I don't get something it just means that there's a greater chance that I'll get something the next week. Well I went for a run the other morning and on the way back to the Blocks I decided I'd just walk over to the residential life office and check my mail. Well immediately when I walked through the door I could tell that the "O" box was pretty full. And I take a few more steps and there's a bunch of envelopes that all look the same. So I just figured that Deakin had sent out a bunch of stuff to everyone. But the first one had my name on it and as I looked at the envelopes I could see all the labels were the same and I just kept flipping through (and my eyes and smile just got bigger and bigger) and on about the fourth one my brain finally processed all the information and I just couldn't say anything for a couple minutes, which was fine because no one else was there and it would have been weird if I had started talking. Then even though I had 11 envelopes in my hand, apparently that wasn't enough so I flipped through the rest, and lo and behold there was a yellow slip that said I had a package! That just put me over the moon. It was a bit of an overload for one day but so so great. It was so great to walk back to the Blocks with this huge stack of mail I felt very conspicuous in a very good way. Like those people that deliver the great big checks to peoples' doors, you know as they're walking down the sidewalk and everyone is just thinking, "whoa". That's how I felt and I was thrilled.

I just want to thank everyone for the cards and prayers and everything that have helped me stay connected with people back home even when I'm so far away. It really is amazing to know you have so many people that care about you.

So cool

Today I woke up and got my act together to go pick up a package that mom had sent me, and let me just say there is no better way to start the day. Then I pulled a cool move and went to class at 10:00. Walked in, didn't recognize any of the people, realized my class is at 11:00 not 10:00. You would think after a couple of months I wouldn't still be having these sorts of problems. I guess it's the constant minor screw-ups that keep life interesting.

An over-the-rainbow kind of girl in an under down under kind of place

Tasmania was the next stop after Mulwala. It was a beautiful country but sadly didn't photograph very well. What follows will be a brief rundown of our escapades, in no particular order of significance or chronology. It rained alot so most of the time it was dreary and gray but there were a few shining moments when the sun burst out and everything became a magnificent green. So what did we do? Well bright and early Tuesday Katie, Aman, and I rented a car and got the heck out of Hobart (just kidding it really was a nice town). From there on we saw some animals, drove on the most windy, curvy roads imaginable, went to Kettering, Tasmania for Katie who is from Kettering, Ohio, drove on some more curvy roads (this will be a recurring theme),
came across some cows that were being herded up the road (brought back memories of the good ol' days on the farm), saw some funny signs, petted a wombat, slept in the car, learned the location of every public toilet in every town on our route, went to Lake Barrington, talked about how much Tasmania looked like the landscape in Lord of the Rings (yes I know that was filmed in New Zealand),
did a grueling hike to Wineglass bay (and when I say hike I mean we did the equivalent of 2 hours on a stairmaster - by the time we got done it hurt just as much to go down as up), enjoyed a cold and rainy day at the 2nd best beach in the world, saw some rainbows, tried to see some monkeys at Launceston but it was night so we had no luck, got to see little (formerly known as fairy) penguins on their nightly trek in from the ocean, drove on some more windy roads, found out we couldn't get on tours of the Cadbury factory or the Cascade brewery (the only two things we had really planned to try and do), did a ghost tour at Port Arthur, almost hit a possum on the road, spent a little time in Bicheno (Tidy Town Tasmania 2003 by the way), discovered a wonderful treat called Quatro's by Arnott's, the same company that makes TimTams (Quatros by the way beat TimTams by a mile and a half, that's how absolutely good they are), did some mermaid poses, tried to take artsy pictures (as a result we have lots of pictures of rocks that will possibly look cool in black and white, but I'm not holding my breath), wrote things in the sand, saw the "Remarkable Cave" (it's remarkable because it's a little tunnel, not really a cave at all, but the ocean comes rushing through and at one end, you can see the outline of Tasmania - it really is pretty remarkable), climbed a tree, filled the Nimbus up with petrol,
and, you guessed it, drove on some curvy, windy roads.

Easter in Mulwala

Easter was different this year just because it was the first time I had ever had to celebrate it away from home. Our residence had secret Easter Buddies which made things kind of fun. Mine happened to be Dan (turned out to be not so secret), one of the loudest individuals you'll ever meet. He's a pretty nice guy though and gave me the wonderful Eggosaurus pictured at the left which I promptly ate. (ok not the whole thing but a good portion of it was gone by the time I left on Friday). On Friday Katie and I left with Mel to spend the weekend with her family at Mulwala, New South Wales. On Friday we went out to eat with her family and an uncle and aunt from her mom's side. Her uncle Mike had spent about 5 years being a sales rep. in Kansas so he knew a lot of the towns etc. and it was so nice to talk to someone who actually knew what I was referring to! Mel's two younger brothers both play footy so on Saturday we watched them play. It was pretty cool just to see the Australian version of high school sports. There are some big differences but for the most part the atmosphere is pretty similar. On Sunday evening we visited her Grandparents and met some of her extended family. No matter where you go, families are the same. Her Grandpa was bald and sat at the head of the table and her Grandma was making sure everyone had enough and not really taking time to eat. Her younger cousin had an accident and her uncles told jokes. It was great to be there but at the same time I was wishing I was home with my family. It was pretty neat though when we had dessert, the bowl I ate out of was the exact same green flower pattern that is on our plates at home so I was thrilled. It was great to be able to spend Easter with a surrogate family and be so welcomed into their home, and I guess that's about as close as you can come to the real thing when you're half way around the world.

....in Paradise

I went to Brisbane and Surfer's Paradise last weekend (March 30 to April 2) and got to see a different part of Australia. In Brisbane I spent a lot of time wandering around by myself waiting for my friend to get done with classes. I spent a lot of time in the Roma Street Parklands and got a little bit homesick for my mom and grandma. I kept taking pictures of stuff knowing that if they were there, that's exactly what they would be doing and knowing how if they were there I would be getting so exasperated with them. And I enjoyed myself in a melancholy way for that very reason. It makes not very much sense I realize but that's apparently the way my brain works. That was pretty much the highlight of Brisbane. I helped my friend (a fellow K-Stater) work through some enrollment issues and just kind of hung out. The next afternoon I headed for Surfer's Paradise and met up with some other Int'l students I have met since being here. We had a good time going to the beach etc, and looking at signs. There were so many businesses that were called "Something" In Paradise... there was Vegas in Paradise, Pancakes in Paradise, and countless others that I don't remember. I'm adding two of my favorite signs below:



Who knew that they had IGA in Australia?





Some people say everyone has their own version of paradise, but apparently there's only one and there is a road that'll take you right to it. Good to know.

Thanks Mom!

My first bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal (with almonds) sent with love all the way from Palmer, Kansas. Believe me, they tasted amazing. Like a little bit of heaven in my mouth. I saved them for a couple weeks because I had other Australian cereal to eat (of a much lower calibre on the breakfast scale) and I wanted to prolong the anticipation. I was not disappointed.

Meet Adam

This is Adam. This picture was taken on his 19th birthday, a day that will live in infamy as the day he officially became "past his prime." His look says it all. He got a text from his mom at 9:00 that night that said, "Hey, was today your birthday?" Who's mom forgets their kid's birthday?! It was quite funny, poor fella. We surprised him later with cupcakes though so I think that cheered him up a bit.

I have to give him credit for introducing me to Tim Tam Tea and rock climbing as well as the Essendon Bombers - the only footy team worth supporting in his opinion. He is notorious for hollering things down the hall that are completely out of context with the present conversation, as a result we laugh a lot when he's around. Some funny quotes from Adam:

BUSY VERY BUSY!

Amsterdam! Beautiful Women! Mr. Jones!

Hey Adriane! Hi, my name is Neo! (followed by his version of matrix moves)

I realize that these aren't as funny if you weren't there, but I thought it was worth taking a shot to share the humor.

Catching up on Life

It's been raining all day and the computer lab has a more pungent funk than normal. But I'm going to take advantage of the bad weather to do a little catching up on stuff. Some things that I have done that I haven't yet passed along include going out to a club in St. Kilda which is an area in Melbourne. Katie and I went there with Ben, a guy we know from Uni and one of his friends Timmy. We had a pretty good time except the techno music got a little old after a while. We even saw an actor from Neighbors which is a TV show over here. (It'a pretty bad show though so it's kind of a joke)


The next week, on Wed. (March 22nd) we went and watched the Commonwealth games Squash competition. At first it wasn't too thrilling but towards the end it really heated up. The crowd got intense especially during the England/Mauritius match. The players from Mauritius were just amazing. They ultimately lost but they played with such flair. Amazing. So at the end of the match we rushed down and had them autograph our ticket stubs. How many people have that souvenier? I'm going to wager not very many.

The next Monday, there was a school sponsored trip to Queenscliff to see seals and swim with dolphins. I'll admit I had some reservations because I'm really not a dolphin lover, but it actually was a pretty cool experience. The seal colony smelled really really noxious. My whole face kind of shriveled up in agony, but once you got in the water you didn't notice it as much. When we got to the dolphin area, it took us a little while before we spotted them, but once we did there was a group of like 20-25 that were swiming around and below us. The company that was taking us out there doesn't feed them or anything so everytime they go out it's a matter of chance whether or not you see any. So basically we had about the best luck anyone has in that situation.


A celebrity, some squash, seals and dolphins...

How do you top a line-up like that?