o man

so... i finally tried it: the thing that everyone has warned me about since before i even came. VEGEMITE. everyone said that it is this awful thing that tastes like feet, then when we got here all the asc'ers that tried it said it was really gross and really salty. i wasn't really trying to form an opinion before i tasted it, so i tried to block out what everyone said. and guess what. i like it! it's really not that bad... apparently people just don't eat it right. all the aussies think it's funny to watch americans taste it, and even they know that it's awful if you put it on really thick, so that's how they'll give it to the americans for the first time. but my host family is not that mean, and they showed me the right way to eat it. let me tell you how you're supposed to eat vegemite: first you toast some bread or whatever you want it on (mine was on an english muffin). then you put some butter on the toast (not too much, but enough that you can tell you put some on there...) then you get just a little bit of vegemite and scrape it on there, just so it gets in the little holes (but not all of them. you should still be able to see the bread). and enjoy! it's just really salty, which is why i think a lot of people don't like it. i can't really describe it, but i like it. i'll bring some home with me.

on thursday night kieran and some of his friends let me and elle tag along with them all night. we went to this place called the coronation club, which is a big lounge with a bunch of chairs and a bar off to one side. there were about 6 people in there, and apparently it's a members only club. luckily kieran's friend pacey is a member (he works for some politician or something... i don't really know.) so we had to sign in and everything, then he asked us what we wanted to drink. we're not allowed to drink under the asc rules, but kimberly said that there is one alcoholic beverage we are allowed to get: it's called lemon-lime and bitters. apparently the "bitters" part is literally one drop of some sort of alcohol. whatever... i had heard it's really good anyway, so that's what i got. and it is good! so we hung out there for a little bit, then we went to this other little pub called the pine inn, which is apparently a good local spot. again, there was almost no one there, but we managed to spend about 4 hours there just listening to music and playing pool. we also played deer hunter (yes, the arcade game) and it was funny. guns are illegal in australia, so i'm pretty sure none of those guys have ever actually hunted anything. but they're pretty good at the game. even though we really didn't do anything, it was a good time. and i learned about good australian music. those guys left last night to go to this music festival called splendour in the grass that's going on this weekend. i'm jealous... they showed me who's gonna be there. it's gonna be so good! here is who they are going to see: the living end (a huge australian band that's good but similar to older green day. apparently they have been around longer than green day though), sigur ros, band of horses, and lots of others that i can't remember right now but i would love to see. they're pretty fun guys though, so it'll be fun to hang out with them while i'm here.
after class yesterday (which was good... that's coming next), there was a group of about 14 or 15 of us that decided to go check out this big thrift store that michelle (my host mom) had told us about. we had spread the word, and everyone wanted to go, so that's why the group was so big. anyway... we rode the train and walked for a long time and then finally made it to this thrift store, and it was closed! so we turned around and got some delicious cheesecake from this little shop that we had passed. well, today elle and i decided to go back to anglicare (the thrift store) to see how it was. o my gosh... it's awesome. it's basically just this big warehouse with a bunch of big bins piled with clothes. so you have to dig to find stuff, then they charge by the kilo, so it's really cheap! apparently there's a real shop attached, but it's more expensive. we didn't get to really look at everything though because this mean lady kept telling us to leave because it was closed, even though there were about 20 other people in there just digging away. but that is definitely somewhere i will be going back to... woohoo!

so yesterday in our view from australia class we had a panel of 4 aussies come in and just talk to us about some things that we should know while we're here. it was really cool to hear their perspectives on stuff, and to hear more about some things that i have noticed since i have been here. for example: from almost day one i noticed that a big part of the aussie accent is the fact that almost everything they say sounds like a question, because they tend to make their voices go up at the end of a sentence, as opposed to americans who tend to make it go down. apparently to australians, that makes americans sound very harsh because everything we say sounds very final, while everything they say sounds open to other suggestions. i thought that was cool, mainly because i noticed it and thought i might be crazy, but then they talked about it, so it turns out i'm not. another thing that i was really excited to hear about was the fact that aussies don't sugar coat stuff or compliment people a whole lot. they are really sarcastic, and it seems mean because they always make fun of eachother. but really it's a form of affection (which is totally how i am... the meaner i am the more i like you usually). also, they are required to vote in elections because they know that if they weren't, no one would vote. they just don't like conflict or care enough to make a big deal out of politics. they are very wary of either side, and only the crazies would actually pay attention if voting was not compulsory. it was just really cool to hear about some of their perceptions about things.

one of the biggest things they stressed was america's impact on the rest of the world and how we need to really be aware of that. i never really thought about how much america's decision affect the rest of the world, and especially australia. if america goes to war, so does australia (and the other way around... but australians are way to chill to go to war, so we've never had to worry about that). another thing that is crazy to me is the fact that vegemite, which is like an australian icon (and is actually illegal to sell in the states) is owned by an american company! (kraft) it's funny because in america, if we meet an australian we get really excited and love the accent. in australia, they hardly notice american accents because of pop culture. american shows are almost more popular than australian shows here (my host brother's favorite show is scrubs). and, if they really like a show, they will make their own australian version of it. that's mostly with reality shows. here are some examples:

-australian idol (even though we actually jacked american idol from the british. but the australians got it from us.)

-australian biggest loser

-australian price is right (i actually didn't know about that until we were playing australian taboo and one of the words you couldn't say was some guy's name who is apparently the host)

-australian big brother

-autralian deal or no deal

it's just crazy to me how much america can affect the world. and it's sad to see how australians just soak it up and are almost ashamed of their own heritage. but it's also something that i'm really excited to learn more about and observe more while i'm here...

i'm done writing this now. i'm gonna go eat some timtams (mmmmmm....)