"Resist the Thrill to Test Your Skill!"
Another week and a half has gone by, and it's been busy busy busy. The whole program took a group trip to Melbourne last weekend (pronounced Melburn) and it turned out to be an awesome city. Very quaint; a little less metropolitan, with a little bit more charm and even friendlier people than Sydney. Don't get me wrong, I love Sydney, and it's hard for me to say which city I prefer, but there were definitely a few people on the trip who have since decided that they prefer Melbourne. It's just got that much more culture, I suppose. As for me, I enjoyed it as a weekend trip and I'd be happy to go again, but I actually think Sydney is more appealing -there's more energy. Apparently Melbourne is to Sydney as San Francisco is to New York City... although I certainly prefer Sydney over New York. It's cleaner and friendlier, it's just got all the same perks with less cons. hahah... hm.
So the whole weekend was spent exploring Melbourne. I saw a fantastic photography exhibit that was called "View of the World From Above." It was meant to raise environmental awareness. It was really cool. Apparently it's been in circulation for a few years... my advisor saw the same exhibit in Paris about 5 years ago, but he says it's just as breathtaking. There are a lot of amazing views of this planet from above... it's a shame that it's being destroyed. Spreading awareness is great and all.. but no one seems to be offering any real solutions. I can't help but feel helpless. I can make sure the water's not running, and I can buy a car with great gas mileage whenever I have the money or whatnot, but what can we do on a larger scale? Or is there anything? Does the government have too much control over it, or do they have any at all? Should we just all vote for Gore?
On that note, I found it interesting that Australia is just as bad to the environment as America. Bush "hasn't gotten around" to signing the Kyoto Protocol... whereas Australia flat out said no. That was a shocker for me. I was always under the impression that they cared about their environment. In a lot of ways I feel like I've entered America's parallel universe. Better in a lot of ways, worse in a few, too. But no place is perfect.
We accidently stumbled upon a bar right outside of Melbourne in hopes of finding the Greek Film Festival. Trivia Fact: Melbourne has the largest Greek population in any city outside of Greece. Kind of weird, huh? So we got lost on the train to South Yarra and we kept getting off and getting back on... thinking we were going in the wrong direction when in reality the train had to loop before getting to our stop. We felt like a bunch of idiots (me, Ashley, and Irene) but decided to make a night of it, anyway. By the time we got to South Yarra, we were about 45 minutes late for our movie, so we decided to explore. It was an extremely cute little stretch of a town, and we stopped some people on the street in hopes of finding a cool hang out. They directed us to the "Arcadia," a bar, and we walked in right in time for Trivia Night. Australian bars have a thing for trivia night.. it's very strange, but cute and endearing. Ashley started talking to a local guy, Dave, and before I knew what was happening, the three of us were on his trivia team, where we met Andrew, Brooke, Liz, a guy who I can't remember his name, Spence, and Kevin. They were so cool. All about 24, they grew up together about two hours outside of Melbourne in a very rural town and all moved into the Melbourne area together. They were also very friendly. We did alright in the first round, but got our asses kicked in the second round. I was surprised to find that a lot of the trivia was based upon American pop-culture. They're big into that here. Lots of 80s music, too. But Ashley, Irene, and I were no use when it came to the Australian pop-culture topics.
We followed up our failed trivia game by shooting pool with Kevin, Spence, and Spence's younger brother (i also forget his name). I was taken by a lot of things at this bar. Firstly, everyone was so amazingly friendly and welcoming, making sure we didn't mind if they called us "yanks." I was shocked, especially, that Brooke and Liz were so friendly. In America, a girl walks in to find her guy friends chatting up with three strange Australian girls, and she almost always gets standoffish. I feel like American girls are always on the defense. It's annoying and stupid, but it's what I've noticed. These girls were so cool. It was great, I felt so welcomed.
The second thing that I noticed right away was how much these guys knew about American politics. I couldn't have told you a thing about Australian politics before coming here... and whatever I would have thought up to say.. I would have been wrong about. Australian politics are totally different from what I expected. Believe it or not, they do get involved in wars! Hah.. but these guys weren't even the type of Australians that you'd expect to be interested in foreign affairs. Kevin deamed himself a "metro-bogan." Bogan being the slang term equivilent to redneck. He grew up his whole life in a farming town, and I don't think he went to college, but he was still totally knowledgable about global affairs. In fact, they all were. I was really impressed.
So then we got back from Melbourne and jumped right back into our schooling. I've got one more week before our "spring break." So I have finals on Saturday, the 7th, for the two classes I've been taking. A lot of papers are due, and we have some oral presentations to deliver, not to mention the finals... so it's definitely crunch time. To make matters worse, I came down with a bizarre head cold in Melbourne and it's not out of my system. It's just... lingering. I hate that. I feel like I got it because of the temperature change. Melbourne was pretty chilly. Their weather is bizarre. It'll be really hot and then suddenly get really cold, hail, and then get really warm again before the day is out. There is no way to prepare for the Melbourne weather. Irene and I walked into a store and the clerk asked us how the weather was outside. We said, "I think it's raining... it's really weird today." To which he replied, "That's Melbourne!" It's further south than Sydney, so it's naturally colder in the spring. (this is backwards world.. south is cooler and north is hotter) It felt like Boston in the spring. It made me strangely nostalgic. Anyway, I came down with a sickness, and I would be really happy if it would just leave, because it is certainly not welcome anymore.
I think I might be joining this pilates place near me. It's so convenient.. cheap rates because it's new, and it's literally across the street from where I live. I really couldn't have gotten luckier.
Also, my dad just informed me that he took a job in Dubai and starts on October 15... which means he and the fam have to move there by then. Talk about stressful, but what a blessing.. this is going to be a great opportunity for him. His official title is "Treasurer of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise." It's a fresh position for him, so he's really excited, especially since he'll be working with a long-time friend who he (and me and mom and michael) has known since Singapore. So I'm naturally excited for him and thought I'd give him a little shout-out. Congrats, Dad. I hope I get the chance to visit! woo woo.. the middle east. crazy stuff.
So I suppose I'll retire to bed now. I've been bad about updating more than once a week, and I can't promise anything better. It's a busy world over here in the southern hemisphere.
I'm always updating pictures on webshots, though, so feel free to click the link to the right of this page and check them out!
(I just looked over at the TV and there's this really weird Alien show on TV... definitely time for bed.) I just had Ashley, Meredith, and Irene over and we watched Love Actually because it was on the tele. What a classy movie. Sigh. Gets me all excited to see my family at Christmas time.
Much love and good things! Have a good week.
So the whole weekend was spent exploring Melbourne. I saw a fantastic photography exhibit that was called "View of the World From Above." It was meant to raise environmental awareness. It was really cool. Apparently it's been in circulation for a few years... my advisor saw the same exhibit in Paris about 5 years ago, but he says it's just as breathtaking. There are a lot of amazing views of this planet from above... it's a shame that it's being destroyed. Spreading awareness is great and all.. but no one seems to be offering any real solutions. I can't help but feel helpless. I can make sure the water's not running, and I can buy a car with great gas mileage whenever I have the money or whatnot, but what can we do on a larger scale? Or is there anything? Does the government have too much control over it, or do they have any at all? Should we just all vote for Gore?
On that note, I found it interesting that Australia is just as bad to the environment as America. Bush "hasn't gotten around" to signing the Kyoto Protocol... whereas Australia flat out said no. That was a shocker for me. I was always under the impression that they cared about their environment. In a lot of ways I feel like I've entered America's parallel universe. Better in a lot of ways, worse in a few, too. But no place is perfect.
We accidently stumbled upon a bar right outside of Melbourne in hopes of finding the Greek Film Festival. Trivia Fact: Melbourne has the largest Greek population in any city outside of Greece. Kind of weird, huh? So we got lost on the train to South Yarra and we kept getting off and getting back on... thinking we were going in the wrong direction when in reality the train had to loop before getting to our stop. We felt like a bunch of idiots (me, Ashley, and Irene) but decided to make a night of it, anyway. By the time we got to South Yarra, we were about 45 minutes late for our movie, so we decided to explore. It was an extremely cute little stretch of a town, and we stopped some people on the street in hopes of finding a cool hang out. They directed us to the "Arcadia," a bar, and we walked in right in time for Trivia Night. Australian bars have a thing for trivia night.. it's very strange, but cute and endearing. Ashley started talking to a local guy, Dave, and before I knew what was happening, the three of us were on his trivia team, where we met Andrew, Brooke, Liz, a guy who I can't remember his name, Spence, and Kevin. They were so cool. All about 24, they grew up together about two hours outside of Melbourne in a very rural town and all moved into the Melbourne area together. They were also very friendly. We did alright in the first round, but got our asses kicked in the second round. I was surprised to find that a lot of the trivia was based upon American pop-culture. They're big into that here. Lots of 80s music, too. But Ashley, Irene, and I were no use when it came to the Australian pop-culture topics.
We followed up our failed trivia game by shooting pool with Kevin, Spence, and Spence's younger brother (i also forget his name). I was taken by a lot of things at this bar. Firstly, everyone was so amazingly friendly and welcoming, making sure we didn't mind if they called us "yanks." I was shocked, especially, that Brooke and Liz were so friendly. In America, a girl walks in to find her guy friends chatting up with three strange Australian girls, and she almost always gets standoffish. I feel like American girls are always on the defense. It's annoying and stupid, but it's what I've noticed. These girls were so cool. It was great, I felt so welcomed.
The second thing that I noticed right away was how much these guys knew about American politics. I couldn't have told you a thing about Australian politics before coming here... and whatever I would have thought up to say.. I would have been wrong about. Australian politics are totally different from what I expected. Believe it or not, they do get involved in wars! Hah.. but these guys weren't even the type of Australians that you'd expect to be interested in foreign affairs. Kevin deamed himself a "metro-bogan." Bogan being the slang term equivilent to redneck. He grew up his whole life in a farming town, and I don't think he went to college, but he was still totally knowledgable about global affairs. In fact, they all were. I was really impressed.
So then we got back from Melbourne and jumped right back into our schooling. I've got one more week before our "spring break." So I have finals on Saturday, the 7th, for the two classes I've been taking. A lot of papers are due, and we have some oral presentations to deliver, not to mention the finals... so it's definitely crunch time. To make matters worse, I came down with a bizarre head cold in Melbourne and it's not out of my system. It's just... lingering. I hate that. I feel like I got it because of the temperature change. Melbourne was pretty chilly. Their weather is bizarre. It'll be really hot and then suddenly get really cold, hail, and then get really warm again before the day is out. There is no way to prepare for the Melbourne weather. Irene and I walked into a store and the clerk asked us how the weather was outside. We said, "I think it's raining... it's really weird today." To which he replied, "That's Melbourne!" It's further south than Sydney, so it's naturally colder in the spring. (this is backwards world.. south is cooler and north is hotter) It felt like Boston in the spring. It made me strangely nostalgic. Anyway, I came down with a sickness, and I would be really happy if it would just leave, because it is certainly not welcome anymore.
I think I might be joining this pilates place near me. It's so convenient.. cheap rates because it's new, and it's literally across the street from where I live. I really couldn't have gotten luckier.
Also, my dad just informed me that he took a job in Dubai and starts on October 15... which means he and the fam have to move there by then. Talk about stressful, but what a blessing.. this is going to be a great opportunity for him. His official title is "Treasurer of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise." It's a fresh position for him, so he's really excited, especially since he'll be working with a long-time friend who he (and me and mom and michael) has known since Singapore. So I'm naturally excited for him and thought I'd give him a little shout-out. Congrats, Dad. I hope I get the chance to visit! woo woo.. the middle east. crazy stuff.
So I suppose I'll retire to bed now. I've been bad about updating more than once a week, and I can't promise anything better. It's a busy world over here in the southern hemisphere.
I'm always updating pictures on webshots, though, so feel free to click the link to the right of this page and check them out!
(I just looked over at the TV and there's this really weird Alien show on TV... definitely time for bed.) I just had Ashley, Meredith, and Irene over and we watched Love Actually because it was on the tele. What a classy movie. Sigh. Gets me all excited to see my family at Christmas time.
Much love and good things! Have a good week.
posted by C Killian at 6:57 AM
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