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Yay for Spring Break!!
Today, Monday, is technically the first day day of my two week mid-semester break. Unfortunately, I do not really get a semester break because I am in two online courses, which means I have to study and go to class and have tests over the next two weeks. This does not, however, deter me from having fun where I can.
Enter one Jessica Kobbe. I met Jessica (Jesse) in my bioethics course. We have the same sounding last name, and that was a great conversation starter. She is from Germany. Recently, we had an assignment due for bioethics, and she was discussing with the professor the possibility of an extension because she was having difficulty with the language in the technical papers. Me, being the kind-hearted soul that I am, stuck around after class and offered to help her with her paper and the articles she had to read for it. We set up to meet the following day, Saturday, at her flat in North Strathfield. Saturday morning found me ventruting forth into the unknown... this was my first train ride in Australia. Got a little lost trying to find the place, but with the help of our trusty mobile phones, we got me there with minimal difficulty. Saturday afternoon we spent working on her paper and bonding. You know how sometimes you meet people and the personalities click? You just bond instantaneously and suddenly find yourself richer in good friends? That is Jesse and me. So besides finishing the content of her essay, we spent a fair amount of the afternoon and evening discussing girlie things, and generally getting to know each other better. Siblings, food, plans, hot boys... you know. Girlie things. It eventually got very late, and Jesse and her flatmate, Shirley, invited me to stay the evening. So I happily threw myself onto the ground and slept with great contentment until about 5 in the morning.
It had come to our attention during the previous evening that we had an opportunity to go to Canberra, the nation's capital. So, at 5 in the morning on Sunday, Jesse and I got ourselves out of bed and began the long drive south. Enter now a new member of our journey, Andy. Andy is a friend of Jesse's that she lived with for a brief period of time. Things did not work out for her to live there, so she moved to a new place with Shirley. Anyway, Andy is driving, Jesse's in the passenger seat, I am in the back. We drive for approximately 4 hours, and arrive in Canberra.
Our first stop in Canberra is at the Floriade. The Floriade is a a festival of flowers, only found in Canberra, and only on for about a month in the spring when the tulips are blooming. It took us several hours to walk around this park, and there were flowers everyewhere. Mostly tulips, but also poppies, iris, and some other pretty, nice smelling, colorful flowers. (Anyone interested, there are pictures on fb.)
After the Floriade, we were hungry, so we drove around until we found Canberra's main shopping center and stopped for a bite to eat (fish and chips!!). We went past the parliment building, but it was not even worthy of a picture. Good to see, but just to be able to say 'I've been there'. Not really very exciting at all. The national museum was kinda crowded, so we skipped that, but we saw a very nice fountain in central park.
Our next main stop was at a place called Black Mountain. The area was designed as a scenic tourist-y spot, so it's not really a proper mountain, but the area affords a nice view of Canberra and the surrounding country. At the top of the 'mountain', there is a tower steeple thing that you can pay to go inside and have even better views, but we decided that was kind of silly and decided to take a hike around the 'mountain' instead. (Again, see associated pictures of Black Mountain hike on fb.) There were lots of trees, lots of lizards, and lots of very pretty parrots. Most of them were red/purple or red/green. And they came in pairs. The parrots down here either mate for the season or mate for life, I'm not sure which, but the point is whenever we saw a single parrot, there was always a second one to be found in the bush.
At the end of the hike we were sweaty and grubby and very tired, so we opted to go home. Andy dropped us off at Jesse's flat around 6, and she and I ate some more and finished her paper, which I just needed to proof read for spelling and those annoying English-isms that I don't know how English-as-a-second-language people ever learn. We finished with that at a reasonable hour, but Shirley and Jesse again invited me to stay the night, so I did. We slept for like 9 hours last night, and it was wonderful.
This was a bit more narrative than I originally intended; mostly I just wanted you guys to know that I am branching out! I have a wonderful new friend, and have visited Canberra. Yay!
So I just watched a movie. It was good, but it made me think.
It used to be that we all watched movies together, piled into someone's apartment. It used to be an afternoon of homework, with a little bit of play time sprinkled through it. Rock-climbing, frisbee, tubing. The movie nights. Then dinner would happen, and back to the grind. That was the schedule. For years, that was the way it was, night after long night. Sometimes, there was less playing (junior year classes...). Sometimes we lost a member for a bit (after school activities or anti-social-ness...).
But we were all always there, you know?
It was us. We were the the Night Crew, the Meyer Crew, the Physics Crew.
The pomegranate juice. The chair races. The light-up frisbees. The all-nighters. The tears. The homework assignments with 18 names on them. The runs to Safeway and King Soopers in the small hours of the night. Charlie and Candy Mountain, The End of the World, Ultimate Showdown, 4 Men 8 Treadmills.
So many memories, wrapped up in few years.
And now we're moving on.
I suppose that was bound to happen, but I rarely thought of it before graduation. With Mines, it's usually one day at a time.
But now we're here. We've graduated (most of us!). We made it through Mines. Even if your GPA wasn't a 3.5, we made it through Mines. That is something in and of itself.
So now what happens? We have the rest of our lives waiting for us, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the rest of my life. I got so used to having you guys there with me, to help me through the long nights and the assignments, and the tests we all thought we failed, the emotional drama that comes with life.
Being halfway around the world kinda puts things into perspective.
Truthfully, I was terrified to move to Australia. Granted, I've moved around a lot in my life; Mines was the longest time I've ever spent in one place, at one school. I've learned how to adapt, and meet new people. But leaving never bothered me so much before I met you guys. There was a big part of me that didn't want to move, that wanted to stay in CO with you guys, find a job, settle down. Travel a bit, just for fun, but stay close to home.
Because home is where you guys are, for me. It's not about where I can find a job, where I find a house. Home is where I have people that I love, and that I know love me back.
So why did I decide to leave? Partly because I've wanted this program since I was in high school. Partly because, come on, it's in Sydney! Partly because I was worried that if I stayed, I would never have the guts to move again. If I was going to move, it needed to be then. When I didn't have a house or a significant other. If I waited for a while, I might be in a relationship or have some responsibility that kept me from moving. Partly, I left to prove to myself I could. And partly, I left for you guys. That big part of me that didn't want to move, that wanted to stay with you guys? If I stayed, someone else would have been in the same position in a few years' time. One of us needed to go. I decided I had the opportunity, so I would be the first one to boot myself out the door.
So it was scary to move down here. It's still scary, and I've been here for almost two months. Don't get me wrong, Australia is pretty much amazing. I'm not in hurry to leave, there's way too much to do.
I guess I just wanted to let you guys know that I love you. Life moves on, and we're all going to go our ways and do our own things. And they'll be great, and we'll meet new people and have a myriad of new experiences. But you guys will always be there. And I'll always be there for you.
A toast! (We're not together, so use your imagination, here... the next time you have a drink, whether together or individually, raise your glasses!)
To the many years behind us, and the many more ahead of us!
So I went to a party recently. It was an 80s party, disco style. Lots of fun, and free drinks from 8-10pm. Lots of scantily clad females, and lots of neon colored gents. I was there from 7.30 until about 11, when I left to come home (I had class the next morning). However, I got lost on the way home cause someone told me to get on the wrong bus, and it took me 2.5 hours to get home. Kind of drastic, but I'll spare you the details. The point of this post is to tell you a couple of funnies.
So, the joke of the year (not day, week, or month, but year):
Person #1: I want to give you an Aussie kiss.
Person #2: What's an Aussie kiss?
Person #1: It's like a French kiss except Down Under!
I laughed so hard I choked myself on my drink.
The second one to record isn't really a joke. We were playing drinking games on the bus on the way to the party, and Liam and Mark starting singing the following song. It's a repeat song, so they would sing a line, and then we would sing the line. I can't remember all the words, but a couple of the refrains went something like this:
I wish that all the ladies
were buns on a shelf.
And if I were a baker
I'd fill them with my cream.
I wish that all the ladies
were waves in the ocean.
And if I were a surfer
I'd ride them with my motion.
I wish that all the ladies
were bricks in a wall.
And if I were a brickie
I'd lay them by the mile.
It carried on like this for a while, but it got progressively harder to understand what everyone was screaming. A grand night, overall! Except the getting lost...
I am staying at Les and Annette's gorgeous two story house. It's all dark wood, and glass... very classy. Mum and Erin arrive from the States, and go upstairs with Les and Annette, and they give Erin a day long roller skating lesson. While they are all upstairs, they have me house-sit their puppy, Sassy. I go upstairs to my bedroom to go to the bathroom, but when I enter my room, Mike and Sean are there, going through my jewelry. They keep picking up necklaces and holding them against my throat. You guys were apparently looking for the 'best' necklace. I go back downstairs and sit on the front porch with Sassy. A while later, I hear the upstairs door open, and Les, Annette, Mum, and Erin all come back downstairs and everyone is excited because now Erin knows how to roller skate. Les starts to make dinner, and Mum goes to help him.
Fast forward to next scene. The house is the same, but now it is owned by Ron's mum, Margaret. There is no sign of Mum, Annette, Les, or Erin, but Margaret still has Sassy. I have just arrived at the house from overseas, but for whatever reason, I'm not allowed to stay in the house. There is a tool shed like thing out back, and that is where I put my bags and papers and stuff. I house sit again, while Margaret is upstairs. She is gone for the whole day, and then it becomes night. I go out to the shed to get some homework and bring it back to the house, and while I'm gone, I leave the back door open. I'm only gone a couple minutes, but while I'm gone, 4 feral cats get into the house. Sassy starts to bark ridiculously, and that triggers the return of Margaret. She comes down the stairs, and Sassy is still barking, and we scare the cats back outside. She starts screaming at me, cause apparently, the cats come in with a really stinky armadillo/skunk like thing, and now it's in the house, and if it sprays the house will be ruined. Enter a man I assume is Margaret's husband. He goes to the kitchen and finds the creature in the cupboard, and turns to Margaret and I, standing in the doorway. He tells us that yes, there is a creature, yes, it already sprayed, and it's also the worst smelling kind. Margaret is livid. She screams at me, asks me how I'm going to fix this, how much money do I have, how am I going to make reparation? She tells me to get out. Margaret's husband gets me a bag, and tells me to pack whatever can fit in the bag. I go to my shed, and pack my homework, some blankets, and some food. The husband comes outside and hands me a passport and a map. I put them on the top of the bag. I leave the house via a field out back, and start walking along the side of the shed. A little 12 year old girl, who looks kind of like Natalie Portman, comes running out of the bush wearing a red dress. She looks at me, then runs away again. I follow her.
Hand over hand. Watching your feet. Tight shirt. Numb toes. White flakes floating all around, settling in your hair, in your eyelashes, down your throat. Going higher, getting farther away from everything. A moment's irritation, aimed at the rope between you and the wall. Sweaty palms, slick hands. Your breath starts to hitch. Your muscles start to tighten and cramp at inopportune moments. Your foot slips and your rhythm goes. Catch yourself. Your body screams. Hair in your face. Look up. How far? A moment, to regain desire, edge, drive.
Go.
Wow. Two days into classes, and I'm ready for a weekend. In a nutshell:
9 am - Brain, Behaviour, and Evolution
9 am - General Relativity and Cosmology
9 am - Other Worlds
10 am - Barbarian Europe and Byzantium
10-12 - Ecology and Evolution
11 am - Microbiology
11 am - Ciceronian Rome
1 pm - Archaeology and Society
1 pm - Other Worlds Practical
2-6 - Molecular Biotechnology
2 pm - Advanced Astronomy
4-6 - Arabic II
6-9 - Ancient Egyptian Religion
This was my schedule for today (Tuesday). Monday was just as bad, but subjects were things like Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, International Trade and Finance, and Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
Obviously, since I don't have a time-turner, I had to pick which ones to go to. This means that all the ones I couldn't go to I was trying to find the prof. for, to talk to him/her and pick up a syllabus.
Won't give you a blow-by-blow, but some things to note throughout the day:
--Physics profs are crazy whether you're at Mines or in Australia. My general rel prof told us how some guy got drunk, his friends threw him into a train carriage, he woke up the next morning and felt like playing a game of pool.
--The prof for con and evo genetics can read lips. I was talking to a girl asking her when the class technically started, and the prof came over from the other side of the room and answered me. He's a goofball, but I like him.
--The Hieroglyphs prof vaguely resembles a door post in speech and mannerisms. Except he's German. You guys remember Uwe Greife's accent? German, and then he tried to learn American English? Imagine someone with the same German accent, but now with an Australian accent. OMG.
--I got to hold up a rubber ball representing Jupiter for while. This poor rubber ball seriously needs to be retired. It has done its job.
--In micro, there were about 10 of us sitting in a room until 20 after the hour (class was supposed to start on the hour). I finally asked the room at large if anyone had a computer and we could look up the prof's number and call her to see if she'd forgotten about us. One of the girls in the class mentioned she had heard about another section of micro in another building. So all 10 of us unanimously decided to up and herd ourselves across campus. We found our class, but missed the majority of the lecture. Apparently, we were in the room we're going to be in the rest of the semester. But the first day we were meeting in this other room. No one knows why the 10 of us missed this information. Shrug.
--I wear my Mines sweatshirt in some odd defiance/unwillingness to conform thing on my new campus. People look at me and wonder...
--I have finally met two people that are potential hang-out buddies. One of them, Emily, is in my micro class, and was one of the lost 10. She also does the outdoors-y thing, which is exciting. The other, also Emily, I met because I was carrying too much stuff around and I threw paper on her.
I'm going to stop typing now, because I hurt and want to go to bed.
Oh! Mum and Erin just arrived in Oregon. They got there safely, and are in the new house tonight. Things are busy. Sadly, I cannot perform my daughterly duty and call to check in on her. Yet another drawback to being halfway around the world... But I thought I would let people know she got there, and life is moving on.
Love to everyone.
And fond thoughts.
And quirked eyebrows.
Me
