Ciao Bella

Well Sydney has been interesting so far. We're staying in Kings Cross which isn't in the nicest part of town and the showers really really suck but we've been making it. Imagine showering under the equivalent of the kitchen sink sprayer and you basically have to be touching the wall in order to be under it... I can fit about one shoulder under it at a time. It's really pretty amazing. We've been walking all over the place and in our first day encountered all manner of unusual species. Most of the two legged variety.

We started out the day with a big walk through the Botanic Gardens which ended with a great view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We followed that around and then decided to get tickets to see Romeo and Juliet that night at the Opera House ("well since we're here we may as well see something..."). We then wandered some more and saw a couple guys playing the bagpipes under a statue of Queen Victoria. A little further down the street we saw two preppy little boys picking a fight with 2 goth girls and a whole big group of both sides' friends standing around trash talking each other. The highlight of the exchange was when one unfortunate looking fellow from the gothic side shouted, (and I quote)

"I'd like to see you take as many bullets as 50 cent!"

What? We literally hid behind a sign laughing.

We walked on. Ended up by the Anzac memorial so we spent some time in there. We noticed that all the counter-culture kids (dyed hair and piercings, usually aged 11 asking us for cigarettes...)hang out around the stairs of major buildings and attractions. They had put a sign up around the Anzac memorial though that said no one could sit on the stairs so they had to be content to lurk around the edges of the reflecting pool instead.

We went back to our hostel and a crazy lady in green was talking to herself and moving about as if possessed. Slightly scary but we sort of wondered if maybe we were on Candid Camera.

We headed off to the Opera house and we were walking in a kind of dark area and this guy came up and said "?" (we didn't know what he said at first because, it turned out it was a different language. Italian to be exact) We kind of kept walking but stopped and said "What?" At which point he repeated it and it turned out to be "Ciao Bella." This then sparked a 30 minute long conversation that covered everything from the length of our legs and their attractiveness to sharks (they wouldn't bother us), what we should see and do in Sydney and Cairns, "What, only staying for 3 weeks?! You should stay for 3 months at least!", our long legs ("They're covered with jeans right now but I can just use my imagination."), flying foxes and probably 100 other things in between all of that. We also saw a bunch of bushy-tailed opossum, which are nicer to look at than our little rat-tailed fellas at home.

We then continued on to the show which was great except for the fact that I hate Romeo and Juliet. However during one of Murcutio's monologues he did throw in a little Chewbaca so all in all I think it was worth it. We made it back to our hostel and after another lovely shower, we decided against joining the four "ladies" on the corner and called it a night.

Today we started off the day heading in the direction of the bridge. We ended up underneath it so we had to backtrack a ways so we could actually get up on it. We did a quick walk across and ended up on the north side. We ate our PB&Js and took a nap on a concrete ledge. Oh it was amazing. We then decided, since I (Adriane) had picked the Luna Park nose in Melbourne, we should probably do the one in Sydney too. (Those pictures will be coming later, so try and be patient, cause I know it's hard to wait for gems like that)

(Sidenote: right now we are in a weird little internet place where there's way too many people wasting their lives away playing internet games, and some Asian in the back corner just said, "Oh my gah, Made in China!" This really is too much)

We took a ferry to Darling Habour went through Paddy's market (wow if you need a wig this is the place to go) and then went to a free didgeridoo performance at a cultural center. It was really really amazing. Probably one of the coolest things we've seen so far (apart from the street fight that is...). Seriously though, it was really cool and we learned alot actually. Turns out the little didgeridoos that you can get for $35 and manage to take back home in your suitcase don't actually work because they're way too short to be able to create enough vibration to make noise. So I won't waste money on that I guess. We had some food and now that brings us up to the present time. Creepy little internet basement. ("Paragon of ridiculous power" is what the kid that just walked by said... wonder what game he's been playing) Anyway we gotta go before we get sucked into the madness. More "members" keep strolling in and I feel like we're in someone's seat.

On that note, we'll make our merry way home.

Milky white goodness

Well folks, after my flight from KC to Denver was delayed enough for me to miss my flight from Denver to LA, I was able to fly standby on a flight that got me to LA minutes before my plane left for Melbourne. Luckily there was room on another flight that left later that night and I was able to board that plane at no additional cost and I actually arrived in Melbourne 30 minutes before my original flight did. I thought, "Wow, after all that worrying things turned out alright." As I was waiting for my luggage and everyone from my flight started to leave, I realized that although I had made it safely and on time my luggage had not. I had to talk to someone and they informed me that when the bags arrived, they would call me and deliver them. I arrived here on Saturday morning and they delivered my bags this afternoon (Monday). You may be wondering if I wore the same outfit the past two days and the answer to that is kind of. For the first day I wore the clothes I had on for the 30 hours of travelling. Then I changed to some sweats and a shirt of Ad's. I did not however wear any of Ad's underwear, so I will leave that to your imagination.

Back to the luggage that arrived just hours ago. Adriane got a call from the cab and we were both excited to see that all of my things had arrived intact....or so it seemed. When we got them back to the room and opened them, I noticed the box of granola bars was opened but figured customs just had to look in there. Then I began to count them. Out of 24 bars, 9 of them made it. I could see if someone wanted a few bars, but 15?! They didn't even leave me half of them. Adriane gave them the benifit of the doubt and said, "Well maybe as they were opening the box, the bars just popped out and flew everywhere so they didn't pick them all up." However, as I looked at them I noticed there were exactly 3 of each kind left from the variety pack. So that little bit of evidence threw Ad's theory right out the window. Then I opened the side pocket and saw that the milky white goodness of my conditioner was spread all over everything. After I got it all cleaned up and thought back on all the trouble this trip has been so far, I thought to myself, "Heck, at least I'm in Australia."

True Class

Nothing says "Classy Lady" like doing a fake nose pick on the entrance to Luna Park...

Something tells me that's not what Grandpa had in mind when he said, "Keep making us proud." But I thought Curt would approve so I went for it anyway!

Not in Kansas Anymore

Here are the top 5 reasons I know I'm not in Kansas anymore

1. An overweight 50 year old man wearing a zebra patterned speedo taking trash out at 10:30 am wearing pink latex gloves. Now that's how I say welcome to Australia

2. Listen to a guy from Zimbabwe mimic the Australian accent. Thank you Tamu.

3. Way too many people who look to Billy Idol for fashion inspiration when getting dressed in the morning

4. A Snickers from a vending machine is gonna set you back $2

5.

Stick a fork in me

Well I finished up my exams today. I thought it would be a great feeling of elation but instead I just feel tired (could have something to do with me staying up till 5 am studying after watching the Brazil/Australia soccer game from 2:00-4:00am) and my room is a mess and I really need a shower. Ah, yes, I'm living the dream. The test went ok, I probably could have done better but I had pretty solid answers for the three questions so as long as I pass, I'm going to be satisfied. Now I just need to solve the problem of how to organize the next couple of days. There are a certain number of things I need to accomplish, but since the days are long and I have nothing to fill them, I probably won't get them done. It's my own special way of sabotaging my life.

And here's to the Big Fella

I think it's safe to say, my Dad is an original. In Aussie lingo - a top bloke, who never fails to be buffled and befaddled by my ability to be bawling my eyes out but still squeeze in a few laughs at the same time. He is a culinary pioneer, never knowing exactly what he uses or how things will turn out, and we've been lucky so far except for the unfortunate green eggs and ham breakfast incident of 1996. Let's not repeat that one. Stick to biscuits and gravy and we'll be just grand. That said, I'm eager to get home and see the new science room he's been talking about. Love ya, Dad.

Kicking into High Gear in Order to Better Wind Down

There is definitely a feeling about campus, especially among the international students that we are reaching the end of this particular road. While it may not yet be in sight, the road signs all definitely point in that direction with increasingly smaller kms before we get there. (just realized that's a bit of an oxymoron - increasingly smaller - nice work Adriane)
The past couple of weeks have been full of events that feel very much like end of the semester, goodbye it's been fun, never see you all again events. It's been fun and crazy, but in the morning you remember that people will soon be leaving. In groups of one and two the campus will slowly lose one face after another as each calendar day passes. Jill is leaving on the 6th, Kathryn on the 13th, Katie on the 24th and Laura on the 26th. And all of the others as well. I know this is the way it always goes and everyone here has been preparing for it in their own way. It seems to be a cruel joke however that the days when you really want to be living it up and reinforcing the bonds so they may stretch and remain strong when we are no longer in this place that we have exams hanging over our heads. Granted if I had put in a little more effort throughout the semester it probably wouldn't be such a big deal. Ah, hindsight. Anyway we have still been enjoying our time here and will continue to do so all the way to Tullamarine where we will board our long flights home.

So on that note, here's a few pics of all the cheery times we've been having.



Just a bit of red and white fun before the t-shirt signing party


Me, Mel, Flora, Laura and Suze at the t-shirt signing


The Barton Ball - kind of like prom, only semi-formal, you had to buy tickets, and there's alcohol. Never thought prom could be so fun for a 22 yr. old...


Jill and I at Aussie Prom 2K6


Josh (proudly sporting his "Prohibition Chic" red suspenders), Katie, Mo and Jake


Colin and I at Aussie Prom 2K6. Colin's from Iowa and has promised to come down for the K-State/Iowa State football game this fall


Scary close-up pic of Kathryn and I


Marty and I - Prom 2K6

Sorry for the long, drawn out picture display. I'm sure I could have done it better somehow but didn't want to really take the time to redo it all. My personal apologies go out to everyone's scrolling finger.