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....)

blehhhhhh

tomorrow is clare's boyfriend rob's birthday, so tonight we had a special birthday dinner for him. it was the greatest freaking dinner i've had so far... probably because it's my favorite: steak, baked potato, green beans, and a grilled carrot! (the grilled carrot is not part of my favorite... but it was really good!) then for dessert we had profiertoroles (which is just a way fancier, way cooler word for cream puffs). oh. my. gosh. they were homemade and they were so fresh that they were still crispy. they were flipping delicious! a few nights ago michelle gave me this stuff called sticky date pudding, which is this really good cake with this hazelnut or caramel or something delicious creamy stuff on top and you eat it with ice cream. it was the best dessert ever (apart from molten chocolate cake at chili's... that's in a category of its own). but then tonight they made the profiertoroles, and i think they beat the sticky date pudding. braedon and i got into a little contest to see who could eat the most. we each had 8, but then both of us felt like throwing up and michelle wouldn't let us keep going. so now i feel sick... but completely satisfied :)
they said their son daniel makes some really good chocolate dessert and they're gonna make it for me (it sounds similar to the molten chocolate cake... i can't wait!)
seriously... it's a good thing i have to walk everywhere and i'm taking dance and pilates, because otherwise i would have already gained like 15 lbs.

ah yes...

you know the links to news stories on aol? i like those...
i just saw one about the top 10 places to live. i was intrigued.
ft. collins is #2! heck yes...
here's the link:
http://www.walletpop.com/mortgages/best-places-to-live

service project... eee!

i started my service project at st. mary's villa today. i was really nervous because i haven't really worked with elderly people a whole lot... but as soon as i got there everyone was so cool and fun. we played bingo :) i had to help this man named jim who can't really see the numbers that well. he is this really funny ladies man who told me to call him honeybunch. haha... he's really fun though. there's this other lady named winny who is probably 4'9" and she's absolutely precious. she kept telling everyone how she has TWO units at the villa because she sold her house. so she got to choose where she wants to sleep every night... i don't know if it's actually true but she was pretty convincing. there is this other little lady named barb is is so sweet and soft spoken, and she doesn't like to walk down the halls if no one is with her. those were the main 3 that i hung out with besides another volunteer who is from naples (and her name is italia. haha)
i'm really excited to go there every week and get to know everyone better. i know that it's gonna be hard, but it will be so fun! old people are so cool!

"i want a lollie!"

i heard a tiny child say that today in an aussie accent... it was great. "lollies" are not just suckers... lollies are all candy. i love it! for one of our assignments for my asc class we have to go to 4 different types of churches: anglican, catholic, assemblies of God, and uniting. for some reason the ultimate catholic mass with the pope didn't count, so today a few of us decided we might as well go big and we went to a mass at st. mary's cathedral, this huge, gorgeous church in the middle of the city. apparently it's like THE big catholic church in australia, and the bishop is the head bishop of the whole country or something. anyways... it was beautiful inside and i felt like i stepped back in time, so naturally it seemed like everyone should have snooty british accents. then the bishop (priest? i don't actually know what he's called... i think it really is the bishop) started talking and he really did have a snooty sounding voice! and he's australian, so he had an accent. i had to keep reminding myself that he actually talks like that and he wasn't just thinking the same way i was and faking it... but then afterwards everyone was taking FOREVER to get out of the doors, and i was wondering why, but once we got out there i realized that it was because the bishop was standing outside and everyone was shaking his hand! so i figured what a great photo op, and i got brittany to wait and take my picture following the crowd and shaking his hand. but then i got up there and realized i have no idea what you're supposed to say in that situation, so i just smiled. maybe it was obvious that i'm not from here, or maybe he thought i was one of the leftover wyd pilgrims, because he asked me where i was from. i told him colorado and he got really happy and went, "denver?" i said no, but close, and he said, "well great! give me regards to bishop something or other! (he said a real name but i can't remember what it was...)" i said, "ok!" haha... sorry head bishop of australia. needless to say, now i can tell people that i've met and had a conversation with the most important catholic man in australia. woohoo!

and guess what i found out tonight during dinner! my host parents used to run a frickin cookie-baking business! like a legit, selling for profit, had a factory cookie business! and their cookies are GOOD! there was a whole jar of them in our flat when we got here, and they were gone within like 4 days. mmmmm...

a bit dodgy...

the last few days have been pretty good. i only have one class that i'm not excited about, and that's my theological foundations for counseling class. i think it's going to be really hard and intense. it's a masters-level class, so there are a lot of older people who are coming back to school, but there are also a few asc'ers in there. elle's and my nervousness for the class must have been pretty obvious, because during the break (it's a 3-hour class), one of the ladies in there came up and told us not to worry and that everyone else in there was just as confused as us. i don't think she realized what a blessing that would be, but it seriously made me feel so much better! i definitely think it was a God thing.
every morning at wesley there is a group of people who get together to pray befrore the day starts. the roommates and i decided to go check it out, so on thursday we went to it. there were only about 10 of us there, but it was awesome just to be able to meet a few new people and pray and worship together, and i'm excited to go more.
yesterday (friday), our asc teachers (kimberly, melanie, and bethany) took us into the city to figure out where everything is. we started out with about an hour of class to discuss our reading homework that we ALREADY had. it sucks having so much homework, but the discussion is actually really good, so i'm pretty excited about that. then we got all 35ish of us on a bus and rode into the city. it was super rainy and cold, and a car drove by and splashed everyone just like a movie. luckily i was a few steps behind the people it happened to, so i just got to witness it and laugh. it was quite funny. then we went to the greatest place ever: the LIBRARY! seriously, i walked in and it was like one of those moments in the movies where the hallelujah chorus comes and everything is illuminated. it's absolutely HUGE! and there's one of those big rooms with tables and books all around the edge with 2 stories of balconies to get to all the books. and it goes 7 STORIES underground, all full of books! we got a tour so we got to go underground and see all the creepy awesome old parts. i loved it! i can't wait to hang out there.
then we went and ate some lunch and started the scavenger hunt to find all the biggest sites in the city. i definitely saw a lot of places that i can't wait to explore! after the scavenger hunt we got to go on a harbour cruise. it was really cool to see a different view of the major sites (opera house and bridge...), but my favorite part was the fact that it was warm and we got some tea and cake. it was great! then we went and explored darling harbour for a little bit (another place i can't wait to go hang out...), where we got some awesome mongolian barbecue for dinner! it was a pretty awesome day, despite the cold and rain.
today was even cooler... a bunch of the girls and i went to a couple of sweet markets around sydney. the first one we went to was paddington market. it's in this super cool, trendy, expensive area. everything at the market was really cool, but it was super expensive, so i didn't get anything there. but not to worry: our next stop was somewhere that i know i'll hang out a lot while i'm here. it's called glebe market, and it's frickin awesome! i got 2 shirts for $3! and i bought them from some sweet canadians... it was a good time. even though it was so great, it was sort of bittersweet because i was totally picturing how much all my friends from home would love it and how it's someplace i would go with them. it made me miss them (you?) all so much! but don't worry... that's probably where i'll be getting gifts from :)
i can't believe that i've only been here for a little over a week. i've already had so much fun with some of the girls in the group, and i can tell that the next 4 months are just gonna be awesome with them!
here are some things that i've learned so far:
aussies don't think americans are as cool as we think they are
not having a car or phone is the greatest thing ever!
not having a car or phone also makes life a lot more difficult.
public transportation is the greatest way to get around... i love it.
walking a lot is great!
saying "mobile" is way more fun than saying "cell phone"
possums climb telephone poles
apparently australians give away a lot of free stuff. here are some things i've gotten for free already:
-gelato (like a full size cup of it! they were promoting a new flavor...)
-tea and cake
-a bag (one of those drawstring things...)
-a guys tshirt (it was in the bag... they were promoting a guys' clothing store)
-licorice
-roasted almonds

more stuff...

today is wednesday... this is gonna be my busiest (word?) day of the week, but i'm really excited about it. i guess i'll start from where i left off before...
photo is gonna be so great! i'm really really excited about the class. we get to do portraits, which are my favorite thing ever, and we're gonna learn all kinds of sweet techniques and stuff. i can't wait to be able to use my sweet camera to its full potential! the only downside is that it's basically all asc'ers except for 2 aussie girls. so i still haven't really met any sweet aussies outside of my host family and some of their friends. but i'm not too worried :) yesterday (tuesday) i had my asc class, which is basically about all things aussie (minus aborigones... that comes in the second half of the semester). it's definitely going to be time-consuming and hard (we already have homework!), but i'm pretty excited about it. then i had the rest of the day off, so some people came over and hung out in our flat. then we went and saw the dark knight with neil, braedon, kieran, and kieran's friend pacey. it was at the coolest movie theater i've ever been to in my life! it was absolutely huge and the seats were like frickin couches! i was pretty excited and was being very american and embarrassing the guys. but o well... :)
this morning i had my first pilates class, which i am so excited about! the teacher is also the registrar here at wesley, and she is absolutely adorable. this is another all asc class (it's not supposed to be, but they had to put us all in a different one than everyone else because the real one interferes with our required friday class). none of us had ever really done pilates before, so it was very basic, but i still felt like i got a workout. and it's so fun! i also decided that i'm going to take the jazz technique class that is right before the pilates class and audit it (take the class but not get graded or get credit... i didn't know what that meant before, but i like it!) a bunch of girls in my pilates class are in it and said it's super fun, so i'm pretty excited about that too. on wednesdays there is this thing called the gathering, which is basically chapel, so we went to that. it was there that i realized just how tiny this school is! there were seriously no more than 150 people there. but it's really cool and i'm actually pretty excited about it. in about an hour i have an arts and culture class, and i really have no idea what to expect...
also (this is mostly for mom...) the grading system here is really different from home. basically the goal for most aussies is just to pass the class. getting good grades is not really the main idea, and if you do happen to do really well, you don't tell anyone. they have this thing called "tall poppy syndrome" where they basically don't focus on achievement. if someone is really proud and boastful, the group will almost unconsciously cut you down to their level. it's awesome.
so far i am really really loving it here. i've definitely already had plenty of moments when i missed home, but then i remember where i am and it's okay :) it's funny because driving (or walking, which i do a LOT of here ) around, everything actually looks very similar to the states. they have all the big restaurants (mackers is everywhere... i even saw a lone star last night!) but at the same time it's so incredibly different! i can't really describe it... i guess it really just feels like i'm on the other side of the world! makes sense i guess.
all the people i'm here with are awesome, and i love a lot of the girls that i've gotten to hang out with some. i'm definitely going to try to branch out from the group more, though, because i don't want my entire time in australia to be spent with a bunch of americans. but i'm glad they're here :)
ps: apparently there's a psych prof from ccu that just moved down here. rudder or rutter or something... i haven't met him yet and i had never heard of him before, but d.j. (totally the principal of the school... he's frickin cool.) told me that he's from there. so maybe if i need a coloradoan fix, i can talk to him. hehe