Realizing I’m in Australia

This weekend we went on a field trip to Canberra, NSW! We heard from other students before going on this trip that it would be the most boring thing ever, but surprisingly, I LOVED it! We were up at 5am and drove all morning! Let just say I was beyond exhausted! It is ungodly to be awake while it is still dark outside haha! But, I had my headphones in looking out the window and it finally hit me. I have been here for one month, and Friday was the first time I actually felt like I was in Australia!  It was seriously so majestic! I think that because we have been in Sydney this whole time, I was used to the city, and now that we were in the country, I realized I really am truly in Australia! And how you imagine Australia looking, is exactly how I saw it Friday morning as the sun rose!

After a total of 3 hrs of sleep in 2 days, we stopped in a town called Bundanoon where they do not sell plastic water bottles! I know that sounds dumb, but its actually the first town in the world that band selling plastic water bottles, and went eco-friendly with reusable water bottles! We sat through the presentation and it was so fascinating realizing that a town of 2,000 people started a revolution that is taking over the world! We then got to drink from one of the water sites, super cool! Haha even though not going to lie, it was like a normal drinking fountain, haha but I told my self this was monumental! Haha in my picture I ended up looking like Gollum from Lord of the Rings lol!

From there we drove two more hours to reach our final destination, Canberra! As soon as we got there we enjoyed a picnic lunch and our numerous photo opp times! Haha my favorite pic of the day definitely was a reenactment of the lady I told you about, our guest speaker! Katrina, my roommate, was the armpit hair, haha seriously, it made my day because they did the exact face and pose that lady kept doing! PRICELESS!

 Then we were off to Parliament! As soon as we walked in, my friend Amanda goes, “Wow, I like this place way better than the White House. Its like modern!” Haha seriously?! Who are you lol! But, we got to tour the whole building, sat in the Chamber where the representatives sit, and even sat in on one of the Parliament debates! Not going to lie, funniest thing of my life! Haaha summary: a senator was addressing the Minister, and the Minister kept ignoring him, playing Angry Birds and tweeting! Needless to say, it the senator got a little heated and started yelling at him and addressing us saying how dumb the Minister is and that he must be deaf that’s why he was not answering the question! I mean honestly, if this would have happened in the US, people would have had a cow!! Haha this is not politics! I mean, its more like a reality tv show!!

After an entertaining congress session, we visited the Aboriginal Tent Embassy where we talked to an Aboriginal woman who was protesting in front of the old Parliament house. It was fascinating to listen to her story, but it also raised many questions among us students. She was saying that they are protesting to have their land returned to them, but what are they expecting be done? You can’t just change 100 years of progress and development and make the land how it once was. The issue is much more complex and I left feeling confused on where I stand on this issue.

After heated debates on the bus, we finally arrived at our youth hostel after an exhausting day! I was dreading this part, because after my horrific experience in a Chicago Hostel on my COR trip, I was fully expecting this to be the same! Seriously, NOT EVEN A COMPARISON!! Haha I actually could shower, it was clean, no broken toilet seats, or bed bugs! It actually was really cute!! We spent our evening relaxing and had a big How I Met Your Mother marathon.

The next morning came way too early again, haha we were all walking zombies! We woke up and went down to breakfast, and I tried Vegemite for my first time people!! Seriously, I probably put a toothpick-sized dot on the whole piece of toast, haha so I loved it! It wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone has been saying!!

So, Saturday was our day of museums, museums, and more museums! Sounds super boring, I know, but it actually was so fun and we had some of the most hilarious conversations of my life! Haha I won’t go into details, but lets just say we saw more male genitals and hair than I ever have! Lol we were like immature kids, but it provided enough jokes to last us a lifetime! I have to write about one incident though, haha so sorry if it offends anyone! But, we were looking at a painting, and there was a man in it, with an “exaggerated” nude body (if you know what I mean haha), and behind the man was a goat! So, one of our friends goes up to girl in our group and they are just standing starring at the painting and this conversation came out of nowhere! Like honestly, you couldn’t have scripted the lines any better!

Her: “Oh wow, this is just breathtaking.”

Him: “I know, its like it slapped me in the face.”

Her: “Its just so big.” (The painting)

Him: “I know, it really gets me deep in my throat.”

Her: “Oh wow, its so hairy, I just really want to pet it!” (She is doing hand motions as if she were stroking the goat hahahhaha)

Haha for real, HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN!!! Haha the best part about this is she never caught on!! Seriously, this was funnier than a movie! We were laughing so hard we were crying!! Needless to say, our conversations the rest of the day were based off of this topic haha and it got out of control! Oh, how you gotta love our immaturities!! But, it is our immaturities that made this trip so memorable and seriously turned our weekend into an amazing bonding time and time of learning and growth!

Oh shoot, I almost forgot, on our way home we saw our first wild kangaroos!! Haha except they were just standing there, not jumping around of anything! LAME! “Jump, Jump, Jump around…”

I like that kinda woman.

Ok so I have officially become that person. You know, the one who claims they are going to be faithful and journal every detail of their lives, but in reality they don’t! Haha yea, totally me! I would like to blame it on my sheer busyness, but maybe it had to do with some laziness! I guess I have been choosing sleep over writing, lol what a choice! But, I will apologize in advance for how long this may end of being! I mean, I can write a novel on just one day, so writing about 2 weeks, may be a little rough on the eyes!

Haha but ok, I don’t even know where to start. A few weeks ago Kristin and I had this brilliant idea to go to the city between our classes! Maybe a little shopping, coffee, you know, walking….haha so on our way back to school, I was trying to remember when we needed to get off the bus. (Keep in mind, this was like the first time I had ever ridden on this bus back to school.) I remember making a mental note earlier that day, it was the second traffic light I saw is where we needed to get off, haha so being the intelligent person I am, I counted 2 stop lights and rang the bell to get off the bus. Haha ok WOW! Seriously, we got off the bus, and I realized, oh shoot, were still in the city!! Lol I guess I just get anxious sometimes and want to ring the bell, but oh wait, now we had to stand outside for 45 mintues waiting for another bus! Meanwhile, we were standing there when I noticed something…its called a patch of leg hair the probably has never been shaved!! Haha I kept looking at it, more like starring at it, because it was unlike anything I have ever seen before! We started dying laughing and these little kids were just starring at us, and at that moment, Mrs. Doubtfire came into my head. “I like that kind of woman. Natural. Healthy. That Mediterranean type.” Haha seriously it was an abomination! But, it doesn’t end there! Ever since that little episode, I have seen more “hair” on women in unnatural places than I have ever seen before!

The next day we were on the crowded bus and this “he/she” came and sat down in front of us. Description: an older person, white/ yellow hair, bifocals, boobs, and oh yea, a straight up WHITE BEARD! Haha its not like I just saw one chin hair, it was a full out beard, like this woman forgot to shave!! As soon as we noticed, my roommate and I couldn’t help but laugh! Then when I looked down trying to gain composure and the lady next to her had hair as thick as a forest growing on her legs! Why God!! I sat there for a half hour bus ride laughing like an immature schoolgirl!

As soon as we got to school, I was sure to tell everyone about what I saw because it was so abnormal! So we went to class and there it was again. A guest speaker raised her arms, and it caught my attention. At first I thought it might have been a string hanging off her shirt, but wait, why was it like a clump of yarn? She quickly threw out her arms again and there it was. A bush like I have never seen before. Picture a wig, ball it up, and place it under your arm, and that’s what it was like. Not even joking, I was so distracted because I could not figure out how on earth this was real! It was worse than a man! Haha I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS!!! Its called a razor Australia! I guess the women here like that natural look…haha or at least the people I encounter on a daily basis!!

Haha so basically, as you can see, I am becoming quite the cultured traveler! Haha I am witnessing things most people only see in the Guinness Book of World Records!

Speaking of, did I ever mention I am in a Life Drawing class? I would like to call it my “naked drawing” class. Oh wait, and did I ever mention I have never taken a drawing class before? Haha yea, awkward! So last week was my first experience with the “model.” I am in class, minding my own business, paying attention to our teacher, like every good student does, and am looking at what my teacher is drawing. I was super confused because she was drawing a lady that was naked, but I didn’t see her looking at anyone. It was then I saw a glimpse of flesh. I turn my head, and there stands our model, without warning, posing full frontal! Haha I am not used to such thing! The Glennwood locker rooms are the closest thing I had to prepare myself for what I was about to witness! I looked at the rest of our class and everyone had the biggest smiles on there faces and it seriously was super awkward. It got better as the class went on because I was too focused on my Picasso styled drawings with boobs that were apparently not “realistic.” I guess I was drawing an image that “people only fantasize about.” Haha lets just say, when I am done with this class, I am going to have a billion drawings of a naked woman in THE MOST awkward posses you could ever imagine...so if anyone is interested in buying an imitation of Picasso, just let me know J

But, this week, we learned how to be official “Aussies.” In our afternoon class, and Aboriginal man came to teach us how to play the didgeridoo, throw a spear, and a boomerang. A brief summary of the afternoon: playing the didgeridoo was a fail! There was spit dripping down my face, I almost passed out because I was trying to play it with all that was inside me, and there was a whole class full of people laughing. Throwing a spear, also a fail. Out of the 27 students in my class, my roommate and I were officially the worst! Not even joking, my spear didn’t even make it past the group of students! I guess I am just meant to hold it and look good! Haha not actually use it! And my favorite, the boomerang contest. He told us there would be a prize for the first person that caught their boomerang, and I was determined to prove I am really more “athletic” than everyone thinks! My group starts going and theirs were crashing into the ground. I got up there to throw it and the group was laughing because they knew mine probably wouldn’t even make it two feet! I quickly released the boomerang with all of my might and it went flying, and then it started coming back to me! I hear the laughs turn into cheers and everyone is so excited screaming my name because I have a shot to actually catch my boomerang! I took out running and at that moment, I watched the boomerang fly over my head and I start hearing the cheering turn into shrieks of horror. I quickly turn around, and there I saw 15 people laying on the ground, ducking, with their hands of their heads, in the fetal position! The second I turned around I started dying laughing! If only I had a camera to capture their faces! It was priceless! Who cares I didn’t catch my boomerang, I got to see a group of 15 “adults” laying on the ground all because there a was a fly away boomerang haha!!!

Back to my life stories! So everyday since I have been here, the weather is dependant upon my schedule. The days it is absolutely gorgeous outside, I have class from 8:45- 7:30 at night! Not even joking. Then the days I am free to go to the beach perhaps, oh wait, it’s a trenchal downpour. You may think I am exaggerating, but I am not!! So Kris and I had this brilliant idea to wake up early on our only day to sleep in to go to the beach! After 2 hours of travel, we are on the ferry and an announcement came on that made people come inside because the swells were too big! Literally, the second we got off the ferry, it looked like a hurricane outside! Needless to say, 4 hours of my day were wasted on a stupid half an hour in a coffee shop while I watched the streets flood. But, this week I finally got one nice day at the beach! As soon as class was over, we headed to meet some friends and were off to Coogee beach! It was a beautiful day and as soon as we got there and set down our stuff, a massive rain cloud suddenly appeared over my head! Not even joking, I have a picture to prove it! You see blue sky all around, and a black cloud above me! Lets just say I still had a fun time, but am the only one on the beach that went home looking white! Gotta love it! Haha this is so my life!!

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I have been in Australia for approximately two weeks now, and I have found myself asking WWW on a daily basis. Where? What! Why? The issue, no Internet!

Coming to Australia, I prepared myself for what I thought would be a challenging, yet rewarding experience of a lifetime. I tried to come into this country with no expectations, but when I got here, it was WAY different than I had imagined! I am not quite sure what I had pictured but it was different! Before leaving for four months, I promised my friends and family we would be staying in touch, Skype being our main form of communication. As soon as our plane landed in Sydney, I quickly realized communication would be a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. Upon our arrival to Wesley Institute, we learned our home stay houses would not have Internet access. I was blown away! My first reaction was how am I going to survive?

In the United States, Internet has become a way of life. We depend on the Internet for homework, personal communication, social networking, and even for directions on how to get to the nearest movie theatre.  Assuming Australia was very similar to the US (which the more I am here, the more I realize is false) I figured they would have the same technological mentality. Needless to say I was speechless when I realized the only places near my home stay that had free Wifi was at McDonalds.

That is when the WWW came into play. I have found myself spending my time asking everyone I know where I can go to get free Wifi. I don’t understand why, but every time another Australian tells me McDonalds, I feel just as shocked as I was when I first heard it the first time! Not being able to comprehend why the technological standards are not as “up to date” as the US, I decided to research on why Australia does not have a lot of free Wifi locations. I found that because Australia is so large, yet has a small population, Internet providers serve the areas that invest large amounts of capital with low returns. In other words, Wifi is used in more rural areas, which translates to, no Internet for us!

These past two weeks have been some of the most challenging days of my life. I know that sounds dumb, but its true. And to be honest, any American who is used to having Internet every second of the day, would struggle with this obstacle just as much as I have. Only having Internet a few select hours during a day is forcing me to plan out my schedule and homework ahead of time. While at school, I have to look up information I will need for that nights homework. Before I go to bed each night, I type out my emails and blog posts so as soon as I get to school I can send them.

Trying to live without Internet has been a struggle, but has made me truly appreciate the Australian culture. Everyone in Australia is so laid back. They are never in a hurry to do things, and focus on relationships in the present, not the future. I am trying my best to adapt to this mentality and am constantly reminding myself it will be ok! I am being forced to not only be here, but also “live” here. Slowly, I understand what it means to live as a “pilgrim,” and not as a “tourist.” Although it can get frustrating at times, I feel this experience is going to help me grow as an individual and realize the Internet is not always everything it is cracked up to be! I can survive without technological communication and the WWW!

“I have a question…”

Why is it that I have been in Sydney for one week now, yet still feel just as confused about life as I was when I first got here? Haha not going to lie, you see the word tourist written all over my forehead (not that the maps in my hand are any indication). Taking the bus to and from EVERYWHERE you go is a lot more difficult then I would have imagined. Not only am I running to the bus stop everyday because I frequently miss my bus, I have to hail a bus and I am practically waving like an idiot at the driver so he stops, but I also have to read stupid time tables to figure out where I am even going. Its difficult to plan where you are going because I have NO idea where each bus leads you, haha like I can’t even remember what direction I live from the city! Due to my lack of knowledge in the transportation field, or anything foreign more or less, I constantly have to ask for help. Everyone here makes fun of me because I walk up to strangers always saying the exact same thing. “Um excuse me! I have a question.” Then I ask my question. Haha never realized before today how dumb that sounds! I have a question!??! Haha no duh, that’s why I am coming to the person for help in the first place! The locals have to think I am seriously the dumbest blonde alive, but that’s not the issue!! I can’s stop saying that when I ask any sort of question. It’s like a bad habit or something, so now that I am thinking about it, and it comes out of my mouth, I start laughing, making myself look even dumber!

Today I have had many moments where someone could look at me and truly question if I was legit dumb. It all started with a bathroom. I walk into the bathroom at school and shut the stall door. Normal, right?! (So the locks on the doors here turn to lock, so you cant just slide the lock in and out.) I go to lock the door, and as soon as it locks, the handle broke and fell out!! Haha not even joking, it was laying on the ground in front of me! I tried to slide the lock, but oh wait, you need to handle to get out! Haha so I am going to the bathroom laughing to myself when I hear Kristin in the bathroom too, so I explain what just happened. I was like great, now I am going to have to crawl under the stall door, and she goes look down. Haha the crack from the bottom of the door to the floor was only 3 inches big…couldn’t even fit my head under there! So I started to panic I was going to be locked in the bathroom stall and would have to kick the door down or something. Seriously, lets be real! Can you picture me kicking down a door?! Lol um no! Something bad would happen. Long story short, I somehow managed to push the gears in and unlock the door, haha but it was traumatizing because I was stuck in there alone with a spider right next to me!

So, this evening a group of us all met up for dinner and then headed to Max Brunner, the most amazing Chocolate PALACE in the whole world! But, before I got to heaven on earth, we were eating and went to pay. One thing you have to understand about Australia is their currency is so weird. They have like $2 coins that are the size of pennies and 20 cent pieces the size of a half dollar. I often have money in my hand and have to ask the cashier for help. But tonight I thought I had it covered. I open up my wallet and hold up a small coin and asked my typical question. “um, I have a question. Is this a $5 coin?” All the girls started dying laughing and I had no idea why! Haha then I look down and I am holding a nickel! A NICKEL!! Haha for real, how do I even pass school? I am blaming it on the heat and my exhaustion from taking the bus everywhere! Like I am concerned for my own well-being. It is a miracle I am still alive!

But, this night was full of laughs that made me feel a little better about myself. My favorite story of the night I have to write about is when we were talking about embarrassing stories when we felt dumb, or were actually dumb. Our friend Amanda then shared a story that I will always remember, just thinking about it is making me laugh. She said in high school she had a boy sit next to her everyday and he would stare at her all the time. She wasn’t afraid of confrontation, so one day, she decided to march up to him preparing to shut him down. She goes, “excuse me, I noticed you have been staring at me for a couple weeks now, and I know you have a crush on me.” Before she could continue what she was saying, he interrupts her and goes “oh I’m sorry! I have a lazy eye that wonders and I don’t know where it is looking sometimes!” We were dying laughing, like so hard I almost threw up!! Haha who says that?! But you have to love her! Needless to say, she made me feel way better about myself!

Haha moral of the story, the whole “I have a question” thing, and then assuming people are willing to listen, isn’t always a good way to approach someone; especially if you are approaching them in regards to having a crush on you. At least before you do, make sure they don’t have wondering eyes lol.