3 Months to go ~Aug 29, 2010~

This past week went by so quickly! I had another 2 assessments to turn in, and one I have to finish by tomorrow at 6pm. Ben has been bugging me to do it, all weekend, I'll get to it... Thursday was a really fun night. It was SUPPOSED to me a foam party at 240V, but when we got there, there was not one ounce of foam! What a rip off! But it was still a good time, I love dancing there. It was me, Kelly, Danielle, Chris, Seb and David. It was Molly's birthday celebration, and this other boy Jerry's, he's Australian. Tomorrow is this American girls birthday, Karen, so everyone is going to have a good night tonight too lol. And it's Sunday, so my favorite place tonight, O'Malleys! :D Good things always happen at O'Malleys! Oh yea, on Wed night Australian Luke picked me up and we watched Casino Royale at his place in Mooloolaba, it's such a good movie. He's cool, I like hanging out with Australians. The way they talk is addicting. They say "I reckon" instead of "I think." And "hey" at the end of their sentences. "Sweet as, good as" And "heaps" for "a lot" lol. One of my favorites is "I can't be bothered" for "I don't feel like it." HA! They literally shorten every word. I have never been called "Ang" so much in my life before coming here, they don't even think about it and I doubt if they even know my full name haha. The culture here is so amazing, I could definately get used to it ;) So Friday was really boring, nobody did much. I was at the pool for most of the day, hanging out with Justin, being annoyed by some random Roland kid who doesn't even live at Uni or goes to Uni, but is visiting. I don't know but he was infatuated with Americans and loved our accents. Weird. Me, Kelly, Danielle, Chris and Seb made burgers and had watermelon for dinner, YUM! Me and Seb had to walk to IGA (a convient store down the street from campus) to get hamburger buns. We had Tim Tams for dessert. Oh my God, Tim Tams are the greatest things ever. It's like and Australian version of the Oreo! It's a chocolate, hazlenut creamy mouse cookie thing. MMMMMmmmm...I'll have to bring some back as presents haha. They are cheap too! Always on sale at Woolies. Also, the ATM's don't require a fee to take out money, which I think is so great. I'm getting used to the $1 and $2 coins. I always feel like I have no cash, but really all the coins on my desk adds up to more than $10! Yesterday, I hung out with Matty in the morning for a bit. Then Kelly and I went to the pool for an hour or so, had lunch then we met Danielle and Seb to go to the Plaza. We missed the 2:00pm bus so we had to wait until 3pm which kind of sucked because the plaza closes at 5:30pm on Saturdays for some reason, which I think is very inconvenient. Kelly and Danielle went to Target and Seb and I walked around random stores. Seb got a kebab (which is like a gyro) and I had a gatorade while stupid pigeons walked around and ate food off the floor, ugh stupid nasty birds. And I got pooped on! A tiny little bird let one go on my leg! UGH! If it would have been bigger I would have been pissed, but it was tiny so I just laughed, but now that I think about it now, it was pretty gross lol. On Tuesday Kelly and I made tacos and OMG they were SO GOOD, one of the best things we've had here, and after Michael and Ashliegh took me and Danielle to the Plaza for coffee and a snack. We went to this cafe called Zarraffa's and it was better than Starbucks. SO FREAKING GOOD! I got an iced mocha something that had ice cream, fudge and cinnamon on top. (drool...) New favorite place! I'm going to have to remember to take more pictures of all these places! On Friday we realized there was exactly 3 more months here...so sad. We don't want to leave!! What if we never get to see any of these people ever again!! :( *sad* Last night, after we got back from the Plaza I went to hang out at the Pav with Todd, crutches Matt, Cole, Jenna and Emma and some other people. We were trying to watch Rugby, but it was some guys birthday so the music was cranked and people were drinking and playing air hockey and pool and talking and laughing so loud. I didn't really mind that much, I just like hanging out with those people because they are all Australian! And plus, I never get to watch rugby in the States, so I was trying to learn the game and had them explain rules to me and stuff. After, we went back to Todd's and watched Swordfish, good movie. Then we put in Pineapple Express. Yay...not. There are some pretty funny parts, but it's all about getting high and crap. But it was nice to chill out with some Australians. I stayed the night because it was pouring out and it was like 2am. This morning, Rebecca made pancakes again like last Sunday, but I missed out so I just had Krispy Kreme custard filled donughts that Matty brought home Friday night after he got from ice skating in Brisbane. Man sure knows how to make a girl happy lol. Ben invited me to got skating with him Chloe, Amy and Kat next Saturday. Some guy I met at the Pav last night asked me out to the beach and dinner next Saturday too. I had to pass lol. I'm doing an experiment to see if I can go this whole trip without having to buy myself a drink. So far so good, and its been 6 weeks :):)
Tonight Ben is playing at Buderim Tavern again, so I invited Kelly and Danielle to come with and we are going to go I think, otherwise I'll just go with Todd and those boys. It's a good time. Plus O'Malley's after! Tonights going to be a good night! :)

End of Weekend ~Aug 23, 2010~

What an end to a crazy weekend! Last night was such a random night, but a lot of "first times" for me. Saturaday night was really fun. Also, some drama too. I went out with Ben and some of his friends. Amy, Kat and Chloe are Australian,and this girl Ashley is Canadian. We drank at Todd's place, Ben's mate and they are both from Darwin. Then we went to the Pav and hung out. We all left at 11pm to get the bus. We were planning to go to Mooloolaba Pub, but ended up getting off at Friday's and just stayed there. My first time there! It was a really big place, and the first place I've been that charged a fee to get it, $5, cash only. I didn't have any cash so Ben's friend Ben paid for me, also Australian. That was really nice. There is about 3 separate areas and we all headed to the live music stage. The band was pretty good and we had some fun dancing and chatting. Ben is keen on Chloe (which means he's interested) and they have been friends for a while. Ashley got really drunk and was dancing with Ben and poor Ben had to babysit. I was dancing with Todd and stuff and the second I left him to talk to Ben, Ashley jumped on him and they started dancing and making out. So that was dumb and rude. Anyway, it was a mess, but Kat and Amy were wicked nice about it and were talking to me and stuff. So we left and went to Mackers (McDonald's). A friend bought me some food, paid $7.50 for a cheeseburger (no onion!) and a 6-nuggets! That would be $2.11 in the states off the $1 menu! Which doesn't exist here, they have a value menu and I'm pretty sure the cheapest thing is $2.95. So Kat ended up hailing us all a taxi and we went back to Uni. It was nice to meet those girls, they live across the street at Varsity, hopefully will be hanging out with them more! So Sunday Rebecca made Ben, Matt and me pancakes, which was SO nice! We all sat outside on our deck and ate and talked. I love them :) During the day, Kelly and I layed out by the pool all morning and afternoon. We then got ready to go to Buderim Tavern to watch Ben play. He does a show every Sunday at the pub and this was my first time going! We left around 2 and it was cheap night so beers were only $3.50. I usually drink a beer called Touhey's Extra Dry here, but there was a beer calledd VB (Very Best) and the boys liked that a lot more. Matt was there with us and we got introduced to a lot of Ben's friends, virtually all from Darwin. We started drinking at 2 which is the earliest I ever have! The pub was really nice, spacious and a good view, all of Sunny Coast! It was a nice day out and the staff was really funny, talking to us and they clear the tables of empty glasses right away. It's so much more clean here than back in the States, I've noticed. So we met 3 Jack's, Dave, Anton (Anthony), Gus, and were joined by Ben's friends from school Matt (crutches), Zach,Todd, Jenna, Emma,all Australian, Karen (American), and Ben (canadian). Kat, Amy and Chloe came too! Justin and his roomie Jill and Ben's friend Mia came later too! It was cool to see Justin there, we never hang out anymore, but I think we are going to catch a movie on Wed! Anyway, so music was loud, everyone was eating, drinking, dancing, chatting, taking videos and pictures, it was so much fun! Good time, I'll try and put some videos up on facebook. Ben is actually playing the guitar right now, he doesn't put that thing down I swear! Lol! So around 8pm when the music was done, the Darwin boys, (Dave, Jack and Anton) decided to have an after party at their house down the road. So everyone walked down and there was like 20 people there! The boys picked up guitars and drums and started playing and singing, having a major jam session. The house was amazing, so huge and with 2 half wrap around decks outside, one with a bar! So it was a great time, we all stayed up until 2am, people were crazy. I scored the guest bedroom and didn't get much sleep, but Kelly and I agreed it was worth it lol. We got a ride back to Uni in the morning around 9am. We were starving! We ate and ended up sleeping again from 11am-4pm! Ben made Spaghetti bolognese for us after I asked him, mmmm SO GOOD! kelly finally went back to her room, Alice even texted me because Kelly was MIA ha! I sat and chatted with people for like 2 hours on Facebook, very productive I know. But I got to talk to a very good friend of mine who I haven't talked to in a really long time, so that was very nice. :) Kat came over for a bit and chatted with Ben and me. Matt got back from Brisbane, I got to talk to Todd a bit which was nice, he's really cool. Now Ben and I are thinking about watching a movie and I have to get some sleep because I have class and a paper to write tomorrow! Ugh! And tomorrow is Tues, I wonder if anyone is going out! I went out Thurs night, Fri, Sat and Sun night, that's another first and a record for me I think! What is Aus doing to me!? Ha!
Also, the election for Prime Minister was on the 21st and for the first itme in history here, there was a tie between Julia Guillard (present PM) and Tony Abbott. I'm not sure what they have to do now, but I have been learning a lot of things about Australian government and listening to my Australin friends talk about it, it's so interesting!
So hopefully these two posts have made up a little for my absense! :)

Five Weeks In ~Aug 21, 2010~

Ok, I know I'm TERRIBLE! I must be the Worst blogger ever. It's been forever since I have written, I'm so sorry! Let's try and catch up! I'm talking to Tara right now on facebook. She's getting plans started for the wedding. She wants me to look at dresses, but I don't know where to start! Getting married is such a huge step, but in the near future! It's pretty scary to think that your future husband is in the world right now, just waiting to meet you...! So, I'll go back in time a bit...I've gone out every Thurs and Sun since I stopped writing. 240V on Thurs and O'Malley's on Sun. Not last Thurs, but the Thurs before that, I went with Chris, David and my new friend Luke. He's from Chicago. That night was pretty fun, stayed until 3am and caught a taxi home with Chris, David and our friend Abby from Colorado, she's so nice and fun, and Chris's friend Lisa.David is a really good dancer, I'm glad we got to hang out that night. I always appreciate a guy who can dance! Friday's and Saturday's we all just chill out, watch movies, make dinner and lay by the pool all day. Seb studies a lot. Sunday was started out as pretty lame. No one was really going out because it was Week 4 of Uni, and that's when a lot of assessments are due. I had 2 assessments to finish by that Friday. (Which I did, so relax.) We weren't going to go out, but Alice convinced us to. So me, Kelly, Danielle, Chris, Alice and the two Germans Sascha and Chris went out to O'Malleys. It was pretty dead at first, but picked up later. I randomly started talking to this guy and we ended up talking all night. His name is Luke Harvey and he's 21 and Australian. He works as an accountant and he asked me out the next day. He took me to the movies, but he didn't pay! And a movie cost $16.50 here! I almost died! I mean it's not like I 100% expect a guy to pay, but he asked ME out, and he drove! (I guess he did buy me drinks the whole night before, and paid for my taxi home then for him to go back which all together was prob a good $70-$80) BUT, that's besides the point! Anyway, we saw Inception, which was freaking amazing, so it was worth the money. It was SO GOOD. I love me some Leo DiCaprio. Just when I think he can't get any better...! Mom, I think you should bring Dyl to see that, i bet he would really like it. Or get him to read the book :P lol. So that was pretty fun, and he has been texting me since. He went to Brisbane and the Gold Coast this weekend for his friend's bachelor party, which they call "Buck" parties. He's super Australia, talks all the lingo and is a really good surfer. He even had his surfboard in his car when he picked me up! Lol! So school has been pretty good, I go to all my tutorials and learn some interesting things, though I hate all the lectures except for my psychology. I have to admit though, school here is easier than school at SNC. Barely any tests or exams, just a lot of papers, which is harder for some people yes, but I find it easier. Even though I'm the biggest procrastinator ever, I'll definately have to work on that. Speaking of things to work on, my room looks like a rhinoceras ran through it, I need to clean is ASAP! I didn't go out on Tuesday, but went to my friend Luke's and watched Blow, a really good Johnny Depp movie. Me and Seb have just started watching Hero's together. And me and Kelly are almost done with How I Met Your Mother, which is almost my favorite now since House and The Office have seniority and semantics on their side lol.I went to 240v's again last Thursday with Ben and his friends Todd and Liam. Also, the American girls I met at LAX on the plane, Jules (who goes to Salve Regina!) April from Long Island who looks like Megan Fox (but has short short hair) and Molly who is so sweet and nice, I think from NY as wel, but maybe not. Ben drenched us all with champagne after he shook it and popped the cork into the crowd. It was actually pretty good, I got a couple free glasses. Ben bought me a couple drinks, and Kelly's roomate Matt bought me some too. I danced with him for most of the night, mostly becuase he was one of the only guys I knew there who was actually dancing. Ben and all his friends don't dance lol. Great night at 240V! Left at about 1am. Ben had a little, uh, situation, so Matt came and picked us up. He's fine now, and he refuses to talk about it with me, but I think it has something to do with a girl. I love how I get serenaded by Ben and his guitar almost every day! A girl can get used to that! :D One of Ben's friends Liam works for 240V and always takes pictures for promotional purposes, so look out for those on facebook, they are really cool! So, the next day on Friday me Kelly and Danielle spent the day in the library finishing up our assignments and turned them in. I made some fried rice for lunch and later me, Ben, Matt, another Austrlian Matt who's on crutches, Todd, another Ben from Canada, some girls, Jenna, Karen, Emma, and Miriam (I'm not really friends with them but we've met and hung out sometimes!) all went out to eat at Sizzler. I got the soup, salad, pasta and dessert buffet and I could barely move. It was a lot of fun! I tried Pavlova, which is an Aussie dessert! Holy sweet, it was very sugary, but it has fruit on the bottom, which was tasty! I should be taking more pictures of things, but I get so caught up in the moments, and I've began to get accoustomed to everything, it's hard to remember! After dinner, me Matt Ben and Liam played Call Of Duty for a couple hours. That was fun, and they watched a movie after and I started True Blood season 3. I'm pretty much addicted now. Oops lol. I stayed up until 4am one night finishing Season 2. It's so good! It's kind of like Twilight, but more sex. Like, a lot more sex. And today, me, Kelly, Danielle. Chris and Seb all hung out by the pool. There was a lot of pushing and water spraying this time which was not good for me, yet still amusing!
I really feel bad for not writing for so long! Hope this makes up for it! Hopefully this won't happen again! 'Til next time! :)

Classes ~August 5, 2010~

This week has been very laid back and chill. We haven't done much. Mostly prepared dinner for eachother and watched TV and movies at night. Classes of course have been taking up a lot of our time. This was the first week I had my tutes as well. Class on Tuesday was easy. I like my Journalism tute a lot more than I thought I would. Both my lectures are still boring though. I changed my schedule a bit, so now instead of going longer on Tues, I have one tute on Wed 10-12. That was now I'm done at 2 instead of 4 on Tuesdays. I just got done with class today and it's 4pm. I had my first class at 8am. Grr... You guys know how much of a morning person I am...NOT! But its my Social Psychology lecture for 2 hours, and I absolutely love it. The teacher is great and the material is extremely interesting. I had the psych tute today as well and it was awesome. Had the opportunity to meet a lot of really nice great people. I am still a little nervous for the assignments due in a few weeks, but I will just have to put my best effort into it and ask for help if I'm hestitant on the information or style. Though I am quite pleased with my psych class, the most important class I am taking here is unfortunately a dissapointment. Frankly, and I apologize now for my being frank, but I think the teacher is an idiot and I am not impressed on the class at all. I want to go to sleep it's so boring. The teacher pushes for class discussiona nd enthusiasm, however knocks down what others have to say, being negative and then will go ahead, turn their words around and say the exact same thing. It's extremely annoying...and we all know how I deal with annoyances. Not very well. It took Ben (who has class with me now) stern looks for me to keep my mouth shut, because I was seriously about to voice my opinions on the material he was covering. Also, on Wed, my journalism tutor told me that I have to be careful with my writing, because she will mark me down for using American words and spellings of words. I think I have most of the differences in spelling down, but I might have to have an Aussie check my assignments so "Americanisms" don't slip in. She gave the example of "trash," though I failed in questioning which word I should use instead. Oops. Anyway, on a better note, I'm done with class until Tuesday so I have my 4-day weekend. Now I will concentrate on making a resume so I can apply for some jobs, hopefully getting lucky!
I thought I might mention some things I've noticed about Australia that's different than America. First of all, this makes me laugh, they pronouce their "H's" differently. Like "hay-tch" instead of "a-tch." And "Z" is "Zed" sometimes. I have a funny story. Yesterday, me and Seb were laying out by the pool after class, Chris joined us later and we left for lunch at their place. Chris made a steak with melted cheese on top, and 2 pancakes from breakfast with butter and syrup. Ok, being silly, he put the steak between pancakes and added cayanne pepper and steak sauce on top! YUCK! He ate the whole thing in less than 5 minutes and said he liked it. I wanted to throw up lol. Danielle made us dinner last night, steak steamed green beans and corn on the cob. It was so good! The night before that, Kelly made us dinner, cheeseburgers and salad and we had a double chocolate chip muffin for dessert. It was pretty great except the burgers were made out of ground pork instead of ground beef...Oh Kelly...lol. No, they were good. It'll be my turn to make dinner next, I actually started planning it today, I think I'll make it tomorrow though, I don't want to make a huge dinner tonight if we are going out later. Oh yeah, I cleaned my whole room on Monday and guess what? It's still clean!! :D !! I'm pretty proud of myself. I almost had a cry breakout today sitting in class. I had a swift vision of pulling onto the road that goes to Mem's house and I remember seeing that stupid purple raisin with his moving black legs and it made me really sad and I almost cried! I imagined a hug from Auntie Jeanne lol. Point is, I miss R.I. very much, can't wait to be living there soon...:D!!!
Quick update, Danielle put the video of Kelly and I jumping off the cliff on facebook, it's very short and funny (maybe I scream and look like a fool a little lol) but definately worth checking out!