from A to Zed

Tonight at dinner we got to talking about American/Australian language differences. For one, they pronounce the letter Z as "zed" instead of "zee." Which means that zebra is pronounced "zehbra." I thought this was hilarious. Other abnormalities of Australian English include a high frequency of unnecessary vowels inserted in words (behaviour, labour, colour), as well as 's' where there should clearly be a 'z' (organisation, realisation).

Further, their candy (lolly) selection is far inferior to the American arsenal of sweets. No Reese's. Tragic, really. Instead of gummy worms and gummy bears they have gummy rattlesnakes (vicious but acceptable) and, worst of all, gummy BABIES. Human babies. In gummy form. If you want to go really crazy you can get the kind with the liquidy stuff inside and have squirting babies for an afternoon snack. These people are freaks.

Meal times are some of my favorite parts of the week. Besides the obvious enjoyment I get from eating, it is nice to have guaranteed socializing opportunities. At WashU it is so easy to avoid everyone and eat alone at 3 pm or 9 pm or 2 pm (all times we do not eat here), but here, there is such a small window for eating that everyone is together. I kinda love it, kinda hate it. It definitely keeps me on a schedule and gets me out of my room on those days I just want to sleep all day.

Today in our marine science class the lecturer spent the entire class detailing the many ways we could die by Australian sea creatures. The abbreviated list includes cone snails, box jellyfish, blue ringed octopuses, stingrays, and sharks, all of which we'll be encountering on our trip to the Great Barrier Reef in a couple weeks. I'm generally okay with deadly animals, you know, NBD, but that octupus freaked me out because it blinds and paralyzes you while you are fully conscious. I live a dangerous life.

Two of our friends are traveling this weekend and the rest of us were jealous. Not to mention we have gotten rather lazy lately. My time in Australia is going so fast that it is stupid not to take advantage while I'm here. Hence our quick decision to go to Noosa this weekend. Noosa is a place on the Sunshine Coast (I know, sounds perfect already) and we're staying at a villa on the beach for two nights. Shoutout to Christine, who is on the Transportation Committee* and planned the whole thing in like an hour (and also scored a sweet discount on the villa). Looking forward to getting out of Brisbane for a couple days and doing something different.

*Committees are always necessary in any group of friends. I'm Morale Committee, FYI. Basically I just get excited about things and encourage to others to get excited, as well. It's crucial.

these are a few of my favorite things

Yesterday I got to thinking about the things I miss from America. Here is an abridged version.

- Panera bread bowls
- SONIC
- Watching TV on an actual television
- Being able to eat at all hours
- Pigz
- the other 90% of my wardrobe
- magazines
- Mexican food
- basketball (I guess it's not basketball season so I wouldn't be watching it at home but there is a profound lack of interest in the sport here)
- my car/being able to travel without relying on public transportation
- Red Lobster
- unlimited outlets. I only have one in my room, and I only have one adapter.
- dressing casually to go out. why do we always have to be fancy here?!
- home cooked meals
- root beer
- rap & hip hop music. Techno, I have acquired a tolerance for you but we will never be friends.
- pop in general ($3 for a bottle of Sprite- no thanks)
- Target (exists here, but it's just not the same)
- Steak n Shake

I find it incredibly sad that the vast majority of things I miss are food related. It's just that the food situation here is really tragic. Having a one hour window for each meal is difficult. Having roasted chicken/beef and almost-good-but-a-little-too-bland pasta for every single meal gets old. It just gets old.

At some point I'll share with you the list of things that make Australia cooler than America, but right now I just want some tacos so I'm feeling patriotic.

swine 09

Australia is obsessed with the swine flu and up until Friday I was disinterested in the whole pandemonium. It is basically just the regular flu, only it's been sensationalized so that we are all terrified of turning into pigs or dying or whatever happens when you get it. I basically rolled my eyes at every mention of the swine flu.

And then I contracted it. This may be a slight exaggeration, as I don't actually know that's what it is. However, it's my best bet, as some of my friends and many of my floormates have had it. My symptoms are dead on: cough, sore throat, fever, aches, etc. It actually does suck, although I maintain it is just the same as the regular flu (perhaps better because there seems to be less puking involved with the swine). For a few hours on Saturday night I felt as though I was going to meet my maker. Nothing several bottles of water and several episodes of Weeds can't fix!

I hear it's all over KU now. The attempts to stop its spread are a valiant effort but come on, washing your hands with extra soap is not going to stop the swine. I must admit, hearing of its attack at home does make the world seem a little smaller. Universal diseases connect us all!

In other, healthier news, I actually feel like I'm in school now. Boo. I've written two papers in the past week. And it appears that the work is never-ending from here on out. Weirdly enough, we've already been through 5 of 13 weeks of classes. I can't believe it's September. Just truckin along.

Sickness + schoolwork = unhappiness. This week sucked. Here's hoping for a better week!

Party in the AUS

We went on a field trip to an island last weekend. Let me tell you, Australian field trips are much more exciting than the field trips of my childhood (Kansas river, anyone?). Technically, we were there in the name of science, so we measured oxygen levels and salinity in tide pools blah blah blah but let's be real. We were at the beach. For school. We saw dolphins, played Mafia, and ate every 2 hours. My kind of field trip.

Being profound.
Just the Pacific Ocean in the middle of winter. No big deal.

We went to an AFL game last night. It's Australian football, which is basically it's like a combination of American football and soccer. You can use your feet and your hands and the goal is to get the ball through the goalposts. They wear absolutely no padding and it's really fast paced and intense. Brisbane made a comeback during the last few minutes which was pretty thrilling. I still don't know exactly what was going on, but I cheered at the appropriate moments and cringed at the appropriate moments so I consider it a success.

My only issue with this place is that I actually have to do work. I have a paper to write by Thursday, and I don't think I've ever been more disinclined to do work in my life. It's just that I sit down to do work, but something more appealing always seems to pop up. Like croquet. Or the mall. Or laying out.

I miss Mexican food.

I've been listening to Miley's Party in the USA nonstop for the past two weeks. Ironically, it fully encapsulates my experience away from the USA. If you're not a fan of the song, we're probably not friends.

Today is Eric and my 3 and a half year anniversary, for those of you keeping up with such stats. Presents welcome. Feels like just yesterday we were merely mathletes together...


I still don't understand why we didn't win cutest couple in high school.

one month later

I left Kansas a month ago. A month! There's only 12 of them in a year and I've spent an entire one in Australia. What to make of this, I'm not sure. Time is tricky. In some ways this month has gone by way too quickly, but at the same time, every day seems long and eventful. When I look back at the many MANY pictures we've taken, I am astounded by how much we've already done. So to commemorate my first month down under, here are some reflections (because who doesn't love to reflect?)

1. Modern technology is freaking incredible. Even though I'm 9000 miles from home, I can talk to my parents, email little Al, iChat with Eric, write on Tara's facebook wall, and it's like I'm right there with them. Sort of. The 15 hour time difference can be irritating, but college students run on bizarre schedules, so somebody is always awake.

2. Everyone should take a break from their normal setting. Being away from the everyday routine has been so good for me. New people, new environment, new lifestyle. It's just necessary every so often before you get stuck in a rut.

3. I have a newfound appreciation and love for WashU. I have never and will never be WashU's biggest fan - in a lot of ways, I resent that institution and am glad to be out of the bubble for a semester. But absence does make the heart grow fonder and I find myself really missing certain aspects of that place. Ex: food at all hours; knowing at least five people you see en route to any place on campus; heated buildings. Plus I'm starting to miss the activities I'm involved with at school, especially Chi O. I'm going to go back refreshed and ready for the WashU world again.

4. Sleeping is fun, watching TV is funner, but socializing is funnest (also, I am digging the fact that funner & funnest are real words now). I am by no means the life of the party and I usually go out once a week, twice if it's a particular crazy weekend. Usually I'm just really tired, busy, & lazy so going out is not as appealing as Gossip Girl (but let's be real, what party surpasses the greatness of GG?). But here I am all about having fun and being with people. Part of it is that I'm not overwhelmed with extracurriculars and responsibilities here. Part of it is the general attitude of Australia. It's so laidback and relaxed that you can't help but get the happy vibe, too.

5. America has extreme influence over the rest of the world. Every day, in every class, there is at least one mention of the US -- an American author, an American city, an American politician, an American stereotype. It's amusing yet fascinating. At some points it makes me ashamed to be American (Iraq, obesity, treatment of Native Americans, Palin, etc.) but mostly I have a strong sense of patriotism at every mention of America. Home sweet home.

Five is a good number. I don't want to overwhelm you by the sheer amount of reflecting I have done. Leaving for a field trip in the morning, my first field trip in years. It is my opinion that the world would be so much better if we all went on more field trips.

visual diary

A bunch of the girls in my college. The cards were a major theme throughout the evening.

Into the Wild theme party. For anyone who knows me well, it cannot come as a shock that I loved the cat poses I made throughout the night.




I fell in love with the beach. Amazing. Will be getting a second home there as soon as I find some money.


My fellow beach-goers. Love these two.
With more sun, more sand, & fewer clothes


Snuggled up on the way home. The beach is exhausting.

Story of our Australian lives: relaxing in the sun all day every day.

on sausages

I had an epiphany today. An epiphany spurred by the loud group of guys advertising $1 sausages on campus this afternoon (more on the sausage phenomenon later).

During the entirety of the going-abroad-decision-making process, I’ve experienced anxiety about my chosen destination. Why, I asked myself, am I going somewhere where the language is the same, the TV shows are the same, and walking down the street, I could easily mistake it for any warm American city? Shouldn't I go somewhere super exotic, where I can't understand anything, where my Westernized mind is boggled by the intensity of the crazy, life-altering events going on every day? Why Australia? I have struggled with this issue on and off for several months, always pushing it aside and thinking about happier things, i.e. the beach.

Until today. Cue epiphany. I was walking to class, my stomach was growling, and I encounter this group of guys shouting about discounted sausages. And then it just hit me. I like Australia. I am happy here. This is where I want to be.

I don't want to struggle to communicate with the native people. I don't want to feel alone. I don’t want to go weeks without showering in a tiny rural village. I don’t want to live in a sophisticated European flat and go on art tours. I don’t want to go somewhere extremely exotic solely to have a more “authentic” cultural experience. I would love to go to Africa & Europe & South America at some point, but I’m devoting thousands of dollars and four months of my life to this experience. I want to be in a place where I can have fun, meet people, and not be stressed out all the time. That is Australia.

What’s more is that for all of the American luxuries I didn’t have to give up (Internet, showers, large portion sizes), there are tons of things that are, in fact, not the same. I am for sure living a different life in a place far, far, really really scarily far from WashU, and that makes me confident that I made a good choice.

I will make an elaborate post one day listing all the differences between America and Australia, but for now, let me leave you with a short piece about sausages.

THEY LOVE SAUSAGE HERE.

Seriously. So many meals here involve sausages. And every student group sells them on campus for fundraisers. When they say they’re having a BBQ, they mean sausages. No buns. Just white bread. Just a sausage on a piece of white bread. With onions. And barbecue sauce. I don’t get it. But I love it.

So today I walked to class, eating my $1 sausage, in perfect weather, and I was happy.