Going Home

My only hope is that people noticed that I haven't been blogging for a while. In my defense, I've been taking exams. Not finals, mind you. Exams. In the words of one of my dearest friends, "of course you Americans need to call it finals to remind yourselves that you're done afterwards".

I mean I'm alive. Did you know that taking exams in Australia is similar to taking exams in Hogwarts?

I'm soaking in a lot of little moments right now. I'm sitting on Sydney's bed listening to her talk to Anna, our hall supervisor. The sunshine is creeping in the door and there is a slight breeze making me regret throwing away all my socks in a packing frenzy. Sydney's music is bumping from her lonely laptop whilst she does her business elsewhere. The hall is filled with people that are a mix of melancholy and excited, talking about how many Tim-Tams and sweet chili sauce can fit in their luggage and screaming excitedly. I can't name one person here who isn't dying to see their family.

This is my second to last day here. I'm overwhelmed by the thought of all that's happened to me in the last 5 months. I've been places I never thought I'd me, seen things that have blown me away with their beauty and met people that have embedded themselves deep into my heart. I can't wrap everything up in a blog post. It's not possible. The thoughts that have all come pouring into my head right now are endless and while I wish I could share every special moment, every side-splitting memory, and every important realization I've had, I can't.

I'm overwhelmed. I'm so incredibly grateful for every moment that I've been here and the more things I'm blessed with, the more I start to comprehend how incredible, beautiful, and priceless life is. How every moment should be treasured because the things that surround you now will be gone before you know it. I'm also realizing how important it is to cherish the people you care about. There will be a time in your life where you'll have to spend a period without them and then sometimes, no matter how tightly you want to hold on to someone, you have to let them go even knowing you may never see them again.

Oh good lord. Tissues, tissues, tissues

I'm going to leave it at that. It's been good Australia. I'm SO grateful for everything who has made this possible for me (Mum, Dad).

I'll be back  :)

<3 Manders

This Peanut Butter is Whipped!!

My mind is blown. And I thought peanut butter couldn't get any better.

I believe the last ocean dip of the season might have taken place on Tuesday, thanks to my dear friend Kelsey. The weather might be getting colder, but no Australian weather can make their oceans as cold as Lake Superior. Therefore, it can be done!

Tuesday morning, as I was rolling my trolley full of groceries back to the P&O, I thought about how weird it would be to be able to go grocery shopping and put things in your trunk to take home. I thought I would probably miss walking down the streets with bags in hand. And then I tripped over my trolley. Changed my mind.

Hey so heaps of us took place in a 4k last weekend! Sporting our Bennie and Johnnie red like true representatives, we got up at the buttcrack of dawn (not an original phrase) and joined the crowd of 20,000 people in the HBF Run for A Reason 4k. I would say our chances of winning were slim but...A for effort!

We learned a lesson in public modesty this past week. If you weren't aware, our building has a balcony that wraps around it on the top level which is convenient for sunning when the walk to the beach is too far, too windy or too sandy. We found out the hard way that the School of Theology is the building right across the street and the building that gets the privilege of enjoying a dozen bikini-clad girls on sunny days. Let's just say they didn't appreciate their privilege...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyd0ey_FXB8
^ watch this, it's funny

Life goes on. We cherish the beginning of the end of our time here. Even though we still have three weeks left, our days seem numbered as soon as you stop and count them. Already people are saying their final goodbyes to the places, things, and people that have had such a tremendous impact on their experiences here. With so many things that made this trip what it is, the farewell process is proving to be a tedious one.

As for me and some of the others, the week spent away from dear Fremantle during study week is going to be difficult because it's like saying goodbye seven days sooner.

My parents remodeled my bathroom. I know, it's just a bathroom, right? More for practicality than for enjoyment, but it's things like this that remind me that even though home is out of sight, time never stopped passing by. Just like I've experienced change, so have the pieces of my life in the States and re-introducing myself to everything is going to be a bit...weird.

No longer will it be like living in a sorority house with 6 guys (thanks Gina).

Manders

Cultured Milk

I don't think I can do one more culturally reflective paper at this point in my life. Culture, to me, seems like something that happens to you, whether you know it or not. It seems like something that you can't help but be immersed in because you have no choice to start doing things the way everyone else is doing things, or else be conscious enough to know that you've chosen to maintain your own habits.

Culture is... everywhere. There, that's my two cents for the day.

What's happened in my life that's worth sharing? I miss home. Really really do. But at the same time, Sydney and I were thinking about the first morning when we wake up in our own beds, walk into our own kitchens and sit down at our own tables with our own family and realise that the last five months of our lives were spent in a different country, and in one night, they've vanished completely.

I think I'll sob.

Yaaayyy happy thoughts.

Syd and I also spent about an hour looking through pictures we have and playing sad music and shedding tears. Why, you ask? I don't know, because women are strange creatures who may, at times, be completely illogical.

So...in a week I'm flying to Melbourne to spend time with our dear, dear friends from the land of the Kiwis. I'm so excited I could scream and shout :D. Chris, Stuey, James, and Cam, prepare yourselves. Here's a funny thing: because we're so broke we can't eat, we saved money on the plane ticket by not checking any bags, so we're forced to fit all our luggage into a 15 pound carry-on. For a week, that'll be exciting.

Last Wednesday I did karaoke at the Orient. I never thought I would get up in front of a crowded bar and rap to Eminem, but I did. Thanks to Kelsey for playing Rihanna, it would have been weird to make that transition in the middle of the song. A few beers later, we also sang Piano Man, not very well I might add.

Thursday...Marissa and I went out to the Roundhouse with Alecea and had good talks and later made friends with some new people. Just those kinds of friends that you really only want to know for one day though, not the ask-to-hang-out-again type of friends. Sorry about it.

Friday was good. Well, not counting the entire day where I felt sick and had four classes, all of which I thought I was going to die during. Wait, sorry, except for the one I slept through. O.o  That night I played chaperone for a few of the girls. You see interesting things when you're the one off to the side just observing the commotion. I saw another streaker, for those of you who read my blog about the Freo Dockers' game. One of my friends suggested that I might even attract people of this type? Which is a disconcerting thought. I also made friends with the club photographer, who let me handle his camera for a while and take some shots. Future career? Maybs.

Oh, forgot to mention that we made friends with an older man who looked like Gerard Butler. Yeah he did, don't believe what other people say or what pictures say. That was fun. Haaaa that was actually really fun. Really good times. You'll have to ask me about it because if I type it, it's going to sound like a weird experience. A bit creepy, in fact.

Yesterday I ate a whole pizza. Highlight of my week and accomplishment of my life. Thinking about how I can make it fit on my resume. This all happened on a lovely date with the three of us girls and our wonderful little friend Elliot (aawwww). Which happened after we bussed to South Beach to visit him at work, get coffee, chat in the grass, and then do a little window shopping on the way back into town. A good, Australian-relaxed day. (Australians are pretty relaxed, in case that made no sense).

I need coffee. Here I go back to writing a reflective paper about my cultural experiences.

Oh gosh...I just gave up on life a little when I looked up "culture" on urban dictionary and came up with: "wasted on Americans"

Motivationnnn...

Bussel Sprouts

So many things! So many exciting things!

So last weekend...
We have this friend and his name is Jeremy and he likes to be shirtless, surf, take saltwater baths, eat carrots and do sustainable things. He invited us to his house for the weekend to hang out with his parents and sit on the beach and go surfing and hiking and stuff.

He lives in a town called Busselton. It's beautiful, and beachy and sunny.

Yup, here it is. We got there late afternoon...

Wait, wait, I have to back up. I just want to say that up until this date I was living in the week from down under and by down under I'm not talking about Australia I'm talking about a very terrible place. During this week I got about two hours of sleep a night so my body was close to comatose. This will apply later in the story, I promise. 

So we got there late afternoon. Rolled up in a turquoise pickup truck to a cozy little beach house with like...bikes and surfboards on the deck, a guest house that overlooked the beach, a living room with two sofas, a fireplace and a wall full of books, and a little puppy named Jordie. *sigh*

We decided to have a few beers and then bike ride into town to meet a few of Jeremy's friends that night. Four beers later, the four of us plus a friend of Jeremy's boarded our bicycles, donned a jumper and took off down the road with a torch in hand and a bike basket full of spare...drinks. We ditched our bikes behind an old building in the grass and then waltzed into a nightclub/bar thing. It's a good thing I was dressed for the occasion in a blue and white wool sweater with about 50 blond men skiing all over it. 

The rest of the night was great.... 

We had McDonalds. I think their burger fryer was broken because we waited like half an hour for our greasy bundles of satisfaction. We also took a taxi. I've never really done that before. We also slept in a camper in the neighbor's back yard, just for the fun of it. 

So that was fun. I woke up the next morning absolutely not ready to get up, so I didn't. Jeremy's mom took the other two girls for a hike while I slept until 3 in the afternoon. And then read a book on the beach. 

Great day. 

Cool thing is the next day was even better, what with the fishing in the morning and surfing in the afternoon :D

Ok, I know what you're thinking. Try to calm your sense of awe at my extreme dudette-ness. First of all, I was extremely proud of my fishing skills, let's get that out there. I haven't caught a fish since 5 years old when I caught a sunny off the cabin dock and ran up to my parents screaming "I GOT A FISHY!!", so this was quite the moment for my sense of accomplishment. It was a herring, actually. 

Secondly, surfing sounds awesome I know, but if you count the rip tide I got myself caught in, the rocks I smashed against and the amount of sand in my crevices, you probably wouldn't be as impressed. However, I did actually successfully ride some waves on my knees... 

So that was that. Pics? OK. 

Rasberry infiltration!

DISCOVERY!!

I was with my classmates at the bar after a long, stressful Monday and one of them introduced me to what is called a "Guinness with raspberry", which is exactly what it sounds like. To some, it tastes like cough syrup mixed with alcohol, but to me it tastes like a raspberry-chocolate-milkshake-delight so...sorry 'bout it. 

The semester is starting to wind down and home is riding heavily on my mind. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm homesick, but sometimes I miss home a lot to the point where I get sick thinking about it. 

Things missed:

--living on a farm

--Wal-mart

--healthy food (none of this pasta crap anymore)

--wide varieties of cheese

--cheap beer

--class structure that's familiar

--living in my own apartment

--not having to worry about getting deported

--brothers and mothers and fathers

--sleep

--not having to log into the internet each time you close your computer (Notre Dame thing)

--having your plugs fit in the outlets

--all my curling irons :)

--wearing jeans and a sweatshirt to bars

--kitchen floor conversations

--lack of drama

--money

--mama hugs

Fellow P&Oer Annie just made delicious oatmeal chocolate chip bars with glaze and I'm so incredibly happy right now. Not helping my healthy eating dilemma though. 

So....two Mondays ago I failed my first test in the history of...my life. He posted all our grades up on the board during class and after locating my student number I followed it all the way to the right.....to a big fat F. Worst moment of my life, and the weirdest, inexplicable grade I've ever gotten because I actually studied quite a bit for it. I literally wondered for a moment if all the Australian beer destroyed my brain cells. However, today I went to meet with my prof...umm...lecturer about my grade and the poor old man (not in an insulting way, old men are the shiz), got all the grades screwed up and I ACTUALLY got the equivalent of an AB at home. So. My morning was officially made. 

Although, like...do you celebrate or lament when he tells you you were 2 points away from an A?

Yeah community dinner. It's a great time. It happens every Monday and we all get to eat a feast for free. I'm still full. Last night we had Asian cuisine, complete with fried rice, wontons, egg rolls, noodles, stir fry, and fortune cookies...and raspberry-vanilla-cheesecake-cake? Asian food in all its glory. 

That's all for now, thanks folks!

Footie

Footie -- Australian football. Yay!! 

I don't have a whole lot to say about it...it was a great time...much like going to a Johnnie football game only we were wearing Tommie colors. I cheered when everyone around me did. 

Footie players are a lot more fit...and attractive than American football players. I didn't think that was possible, but it's literally like the act of being sexy is a requirement to be on the team. 

I saw my first streaker today. It was quite graphic, let's just leave it at that. 

Well ok, here's basically how footie works (from my perspective). There are about a dozen players from each team on the field and it's like a game of catch on crack. Every team member is running all the time. You can pass the ball either by kicking it or doing this pass that looks similar to a volleyball underhanded serve. There aren't really any contact rules, so at various points in the game, the ball will be at the bottom of a ten-man mountain and whoever is holding it when all the men are peeled off continues with it. Nothing happens when the ball hits the ground, the games just keeps going. There are four tall poles at each end of the field. Two short ones on the ends and two tall ones in the middle. If you hit it between the two tall ones, you score, which is six points. Hit it between one of the tall ones and one of the short ones, you just get a point. I think...

That's about all I can remember. In other news...

Australian grades are kicking my butt. I've never had to work so hard for a good grade. O.o This past week has been rough, but I'll make it. Papers and papers and papers and more papers. 

On that noteeee....peace out homies

Manders

Oh brother why art thou on the train?

I am effectively learning to budget my grocery money.

And by budget, I mean eat less. Great, I started the day with two problems: not enough money to buy food and a belly forming as a result of the culminating junk food I've been eating... these problems are both now solved.

Well, since the loss of our kitchen, fellow P&Oers and myself have been unsure about the status of the kitchen, i.e. will it be open all the time? Will we be able to access our food? Will our food go bad? And so on and so forth. This means I haven't been buying food until I KNOW dat grub can stay safely in my nice little refrigerator box.

...

Thursday, May 3
Jeremy's birthday! We (Syd, Mol and I) took the train into Perth. Like waaayy into Perth, farther than we've ever been. So adventurous! The best part was we got halfway there before we realised we didn't have any directions to where we were going, or an address or anything.
Terrible planning skills, my bad.
Lucky us, friendly Australians (and one Montana-ian) looked us up directions on their phones!
And then we look over and Molly and Sydney are like, "Hey Amanda, that guy looks a lot like Jeremy, he could be related!" So, to solve the conundrum, I approached the nice man and said, "Hey, are you related to my friend Jeremy?" Lucky for me he was, because that would have made for an awkward situation.
So that was cool.

We went out dancing, ran into my friend Cat from class who also had a nice friend with her, so we had some drinks together and chatted and danced a little. Then we said farewell and somehow, over the course of the night, we ended up on a party bus? It was a great time, everyone was having fun, but when we arrived at our destination, we realised we didn't know where said destination actually was...
Again, my navigational skills are in need of severe attention.
It's ok cuz my bff Chris came to the rescue with his handy-dandy Chrismobile and took us home.

Saturday, May 6
Went for coffee, bought a shirt. You know, because everyone needs a worn out, baggy old t-shirt to study successfully in. If you don't agree, it's because you haven't tried it, that or you weren't home schooled and you actually did your homework in real clothes. This city has incredible thrift stores and I am professionally trained in the art of bargain hunting. My coach - my bank account.

The shirt says "Mooks: Peteca Associacao". I was attracted to the colors, but after I bought it, I realised I could have unintentionally bought a shirt with a drug or sexual or other inappropriate reference (Australian lesson I've learned, number 46). So I googled it. Or had Brenna google it. "Amanda, if something bad comes up on my computer screen I'm gonna be really upset". "Heh...heh heh.."
Good news!
It's the name of a Portuguese badminton association. New favorite shirt.

Australian lesson number 47: The f-bomb is used affectionately here. Don't take it personally.

Tonight we are young

Just a quick synopsis of my Sunday.

Went to the market with my dear friend Chris. Seemed innocent enough until we walked past a very very angry man who flipped a lid and started kicking in his general direction. He didn't actually hit him, he just kind of flailed like an insane person...

They have...the most delicious donuts I think I've ever tasted at that market. They're fried in like sunflower oil and coated in raw sugar...so good. Don't tell me that it was still bad for me, in my eyes it was a nutritious snack.

So I came back to the P&O to do a little homework when Molly flounced into my room and informed me of her Hungry Jacks craving. It wasn't the best laid out plan because it started raining about halfway through our trip but did that stop us? No. Nothing was about to come between two Bennies and their cheeseburgers, no way.

Um, so then on the way home, we noticed we were really wet. We also noticed the puddles were getting really nice and big... I turned to Molly and said, "if it starts down pouring, I'm coming straight to your room and we're going to go dance in the rain".

So I go back to do homework and I'm in the middle of a Facebook conversation when I hear something thundering out on the patio. I chucked my poor computer in the direction of my bed and pealed down the hair, full-on collided with a screaming Molly, and then proceeded to gallop barefoot through the streets of Fremantle. We got kinda far...we were far enough away from out residence that a passerby, mistaking us for drunk people, asked us if we needed a taxi ride home. "Boooyy, can't you see we havin' a great timmmee?" No, at Molly's suggestion, we went to go find our friend Elliot, which is harder than it seems when you know which building he lives in but not the flat number. So we just rang all of them. To no avail, unless our goal was to annoy the rest of the residents in the building.

This is much less of a synopsis than I had planned...

By this time I'm wet but very hyperactive. Somehow Sydney and I went to grab food in the kitchen and it turned into a wrestling match (which I won, regardless of what she tells you). I then went upstairs to cool down and discovered that my Facebook had been rudely hacked with a status that gave the Facebook world a misconception of my character and I had no choice but to take the perpetrator to the ground. I also won that match, although she might tell you that I lost, seeing as I came out with a rug burn and her with nothing.

Umm...the rest of the night culminated in this little beaut:

If you think this is frightening, you should see the video. Man I love it here...

A great Saturday

Well I told ya'll I'd have pictures from the ball. Will not disappoint.

However, I did climb a mountain and feed wild kangaroos and go to a wine tasting on Saturday as well, but I don't have any pictures so I'm not sure what to do with myself. Just take my word for it, it was really cool.

I DO have pictures from the ball, and let me tell you, the ball was a blast and a half. If you know me at all, you'll know that three of my favorite activities are eating, dancing, and taking pictures and, lucky me, it was a triple whammy.

Now, this is about to get slightly PG, so if you need to save your innocence, please skip the next paragraph. I got slightly intoxicated at said ball. Spare me the appalled reaction and try to understand where I'm coming from...in the words of Jack Sparrow, "drinks all around!"
...it's not every day champagne is free, ok?

Yeah so...it was a good night. Lots of good dancing happened (just not by me, dancing and champagne aren't my best combination) and I had steak for the first time in months. A very happy night. Tippy Amanda = happy Amanda :)

Wanna see pictures? Cool, me too.

I've been working on my wink for a while. You can tell, can't you.

The most wonderful girl ever and I got to sit next to her :)

Remember what I said about the free champagne?...

I swear, this was posed.

Deep in animated conversation

Add caption

Daannngg we all look so good tonight

Soups, ceilings, and sunrises

The latest news here at the P&O:

The sky is falling! And by sky, I mean the kitchen ceiling.

Just...you know...fell off. Well actually, the upstairs toilet picked yesterday to split in two pieces which caused yummy plumbing juices to fall onto the ceiling underneath which caused this little catastrophe. Poor Katie Skuza had a near death experience just trying to get her bread.

And the shower floor cracked open.

Here's a fear surfacing in my mind. I'm showering right above the kitchen ceiling and all the sudden the floor gives way, I go tumbling through thin air when, all of a sudden, I catch on some sharp piece of wood or pipe or something, so not only do I have to be worried about a gash in my side, I also have to deal with the fact that my rear end is hanging out for everyone who comes into the kitchen to enjoy.

Deep seated fears that didn't exist before...

Wednesday was a national holiday, also known as Anzac day. The P&O celebrated by getting up 5 hours earlier than a school day and marching up to the top of Memorial Hill for the sunrise service. Aside from standing for 45 minutes in the dark and cold, it was actually quite...inspiring. I'm not Australian (....yet) but I felt oddly patriotic. Also, the sunrise was breathtaking.

****

Tomorrow is the student ball, with a Turkish theme? It should be a good time. A huge meal and...open bar. I'm sure pictures will follow. Don't get too impatient. 

Shout out to Mama Gay for a moment here. I grew up eating creamy white chili for every birthday of my life and if you don't know what creamy white chili is, just ...receive my utmost pity. Not only is it the best meal ever, it's like having every good emotion in a bowl of creamy, chickeny goodness. It also comes from Taste of Home, but in my mind, it will always be my mom's famous recipe. 

So, in an effort to have a little piece of home in Australia, I made a whole monstrous pot of it tonight. I was craving it like all get out, but I can't make white chili and enjoy it all myself. It's unethical, really. So I made lots and shared it and let's just say it was a big hit. 

Nothing feels better than having people appreciate your cooking :) 

I miss home! The USS Carl Vincent docked in Freo two nights ago. That, ladies and gentlemen, is an American aircraft carrier complete with 4,700 American naval men. 

O.o

We went out that night.

It was so cool walking around the streets of the town because you could pick them out immediately. They wear tennis shoes, they have backpacks on, short hair and none of these short salmon-colored shorts and lots of flannel. Ooohhhh home. I was hit with my first wave of homesickness since being here. 

I mean, then we ran into a group of like 6 of them drunk and I remembered what American guys are like. ;)

I met a guy named Danny from Michigan. We bonded. That's all.

Manders

Part Two

Ok so, to be completely honest, I forgot that I had to finish the last blog. I hope some faithful followers are actually reading this, because I'm putting a lot of work into it. I might also be in class right now...

In my last post I talked about being in Exmouth/Cape Range National Park which iisssss.....

...right here, where the A bubble is. That's the western coast of Australia! How exciting.

From there, we woke up at the buttcrack of dawn once again, separated from one of our cars so they could stay in Exmouth to scuba dive, and took a 6 and a half hour drive into the Pilbara, specifically to Karijini National Park. This is the part where it gets real good. I had been having some intense wanderlust up until this point and Karijini was my ultimate destination.
Seriously, I couldn't wait. Karijini National Park issss....

....here! A short little hike across the Australian Desert to Tom Price to fill up our gas tanks. Tom Price is nice. It's like an oasis, actually. You're speeding across the desert at 120 kph and all of a sudden you're visually blasted with a sea of green. Our first sight of fresh green grass in daayysss. It's all right that it's virtually isolated by miles of nothingness from the rest of the country, it's got a grocery store, a gas station, a skate park, and hot girls apparently. All you could ever need in a small town.

On to KNP!

In case you didn't know, KNP is famous for their gorges. Some would say it's a gorgeous place to visit. And it is. Ever been to Hamersly Gorge? No? I didn't think so. Sucks to suck. Imagine twelve sweaty hikers climbing down a gorge to find a clear, blue, freshwater pool surrounded by bright red cliffs (full of anticlines and synclines, Sydney Henderson) awaiting you at the bottom. Imagine rope swinging into the water and swimming down the gorge as far as you want to. Imagine swimming the other way, up layers of waterfalls and pools to find one carved out in a cavity of smooth rock with a small, warm waterfall pouring into one end. Ok, imagine it looking like this:

....No big deal.

We spent the rest of the day there, gettin' all wrinkly and stuff.

That night we stayed at an eco retreat, which is a fancy way of saying "regular-campground-with-little-huts-as-an-option-for-people-who-want-to-stay-in-luxury-and-no-garbage-cans-because-it's-not-environmental". It was cool, they had ice cream and beer. Just no places to throw the empty beer cans away. That was the night we were in bed by 7 and after realising it was nowhere near our bedtime, we went to go get snacks.

So, the next morning I took one of the cars by myself to go get a cool picture of the red road and the mountains in the background, because with all the dust created by our three car caravan the day before, there was no possibility of stopping for a picture without getting rear-ended by an unsuspecting Corey's car behind us. Amanda was unhappy. I wanted that dang picture.

GOT IT.

Off to see all the other gorges in the park! I mean, what can I say? Words cannot describe. Plus, I don't really want to make all my readers jealous.

Actually, I'm not too worried about it.

This was Joffre Gorge. We started out staring down into it from the top and then climbed into the basin. Breathtaking.

 This is Circular Pool. So blue. So cold. So refreshing. 

 This is Fortescue Falls. *Sigh*. Swimming under waterfalls.

By about 2 in the afternoon, Australia had kicked the you-know-what out of all the Bennies and Johnnies. I remember being unable to control my involuntary shaking because my body had absolutely nothing more to give.

The good news is....as a car, we were down to about one open-faced peanut butter sandwich, one and three quarters of a cookie, and a handful of mixed nuts per person until we could drive out of the park and get to the nearest roadhouse the next morning. I believe we had supper at 3:30, which seemed like a good idea until 7 pm rolled around and we were all waiting for one another to croak in the hot sun so the rest of us could have a decent, fresh meal.
Just kidding, but no joke.
Water? Wasn't too bad of a situation until crumbles of Molly's dinner ended back up in the community water bottle. If there is ever a really bad time to backwash, that was it.

'Twas a night of relaxation and bonding while we all clung to each other for survival. I awoke that night at 10 pm, either from the rocks, the black hole in my stomach, or the wild animal snoring in the sleeping bag next to me. From the campsite over yonder, past the outhouse and grove of trees, I heard boisterous, loud, American voices. I'm not sure why, but after listening to their conversation, I got a really strong impression that these people were my friends and I had a strong urge to go and talk to them. So I went in search for the source of the voices.
After searching in vain for a flashlight, I stumbled slowly through the trees to their tent, when I realised I didn't really know the best way to introduce myself to a group of people in a tent, in the dark, in the middle of the Australian Outback. Do I knock...? Like...give a bird call, shake the tent? None of those sounded like good ways to make friends so it went more like this:

Me: "Hey"
*continued boisterous conversation*
"HEY"
*more conversation*
"...HEEYY!!"
Tent: "...is that you Cassie?"
"No, uh...I'm...you don't know me"
"Um, hello"
"Yeah I'm just camping here. I uh...I just, yeah hey, just came to say hey"
"Come on in!!"

Five minutes later, I was spooning with 4 strangers from Boston who were studying abroad near Fremantle and who were traveling up north for Easter break. I don't even know what they look like because it was too dark to see anything.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Oh good lord. The next day, we got up at 6 and drove 16 hours home. My car was the best car. We had so many good road trip moments. Deep conversations, dance parties, video logs, road experiences, and good naps. It was lovely.

Our caravan also got pulled over on the way home, but being the wonderful Bennies and Johnnies we were, they gave us a warning and let us go. :)

Thank you God, for not letting anything go terribly wrong.

Australian red dirt. Gets everywhere.

What a fantastic trip :)

I'm so blessed.

Manders

It seems as though I have a lot of catching up to do

I don't really know how I'm going to go about this...

Um.

Well I just got back from a week-long trip into the outback BUT I also never blogged about our Study Abroad excursion to spend time with the Aboriginal people SO...sadly, I'm going to leave that part out because I don't have the patience or the time to write about both. Sorry 'bout it.

This trip....epitome of my Australian experience. IMO. Now that I've been up north to see the outback and all the way up to the Pilbara to see the mountains and the gorges and everything else wonderful, I'm satisfied. Totally and completely satisfied.

How about some good highlights and then cool pics, eh?

Hmmmm...
So we rented these cars. Super cool because although the plan had been to campervan it again, that didn't work and we saved like 200 dollars on the cars. NOT cool because they didn't give us the sedans we ordered, they gave us four Toyota Corolla hatchbacks. In case you are unfamiliar with them, imagine trying to fit four people's things, food, and camping equipment for a week into this:

Yep. No trunk space. See that one behind it? That one has trunk space. We were supposed to get that one. 

We miraculously fit everything though. Our pillows and sleeping bags formed a wall in the middle back seat, forcing the two passengers to communicate via flashlight Morse code. 

We also had to leave behind the sleeping mats which we regretted when we soon found out that the Australian outback provides you with a nice mattress of boulders and jagged rocks to sleep on. I have bruises on both hips, the reason being that if one is a person who prefers to sleep on one's side, one must awaken on the hour to flip side to prevent the rocks from piercing skin. 

Anyways, I digress.

Our first stop was the Pinnacles. Google them, I'm not keen on going into detail. I have limited time and space here.

Our first night, in spite of the ground, was a party in the four-person tent. Gurl bonding time, awwww...

The next day was a trip to Kalbarri National Park to visit Nature's Window. It was like a big hole in a rock formation. Not that I wasn't excited about it or it wasn't cool, but IMO it was a mediocre experience. Too touristy and advertised for something that wasn't life-changing. 

I believe this was our first dirt road experience. As Kaylee likes to call them, the roads were full of "chatter bumps". The only way to handle said bumps is to turtle it at <15kph or floor it and take it at about 50 kph. We did the latter. I learned two things. One, that the handle located above the car doors is affectionately referred to as the "Oh Shit! handle", and two, that my calm bravado does not hold up on chatter bump roads. The rest of the car learned that I scream like a young girl when threatened.

Oh hey, later that day we hit a kangaroo! To be fair, we only nicked its tail, but it was cool to say we hit one and didn't have to really suffer the consequences. Oh, and to be really fair, Alecea was the only one who hit it.

We drove up to Coral Bay that night and spend the night in the backyard of a hostel. That was an ordeal. It was a prime holiday day and every other place was full, but hey, here's to adventure!

The next day we snorkeled there! It was wonderful. So wonderful. Picture yourself stepping into the Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo, and you'll get an idea of what it was sort of like. Only cooler because nothing was animated. There were like...bright blue and purple and yellow and orange and red fish.

The NEXT day, part of the group went to swim with whale sharks. I mean, I would have gone, but I had better things to do with $380 dollars...
No, they had a lot of fun and so did we! We went to Cape Range National Park in the Exmouth region and did a bit of sightseeing. We went down to the end of the park and did a nice little hike along the top of a gorge, which was absolutely breathtaking.

I mean, this picture doesn't really do it justice, but it will have to suffice. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the canyon...

Another night, another mattress of rocks!

On the upside, the stars are absolutely beautiful way out there. I have never ever seen a sky full of stars like that. We literally saw a black hole, thanks to Sydney's astronomical expertise, and shooting stars every few minutes.

:)

Also, over the course of the trip we all watched 7 sunrises and 7 sunsets. Our schedules were closely attached to that of the sun's. Which meant that most nights, we were in our tents ready for bed by 6:30 pm.

To be continued...

Tune in next time for Spring break road trip part 2!

- Manders

Up on the rooftop

Oh good grief. I'm gonna keep this short and succinct. With as few complete sentences as possible, you're welcome Brenna Horn.

Sorry folks for the absence! Been out having fun!

Rooftop Movies in Perth - one of the coolest experiences ever.
We left the P&O relatively early to go down to the pub and enjoy a beer as a group. Very nice decision. Went to the train station, where I found out I had no money on my card. Got on the train anyways because it was leaving and I was a bit woozy to care too much. Turns out it didn't matter, just means my card balance goes into the negative, but this is all unnecessary detail.

This is us navigating our way through Perth, because whilst we were enjoying ourselves at the pub, we did not think to bring a map or an address to our destination. Good thing I'm so directionally capable... (if you know me, you'll get the sarcasm in that statement)

We actually made it though. I just followed my heart.

When we got to the top (up many stairs flights), the bouncer told us the first movie was sold out, but after that incredible trek out there, ain't no way we were going back, so we bought tickets and waited for the late show.

With 2 and a half hours to waste, what to do?






Go back to the bar. Feed ourselves with a delicious plate of fries (American fries will never ever be able to compete). Listened to a nice man play guitar and sing, while the rest of the pub was too drunk on Irish beer to give a hoot. I did one of my famous whistles and he felt more appreciated.

 I love both of these girls so much. They make me so happy.

:)

(trying to fill up empty space....)

...Delicious fries! Couldn't handle it.

Then we went to the park...

Lots more fun moments like this..













FINAL DESTINATION: Rooftop movies!

Don't even ask me about the movie that was shown. I don't want to talk about it. Awful. But, the experience as a whole = best night EVAR. Well, really fun. They had drinks, popcorn, palm trees, and free live music before the show! Also, fireworks went off during the movie. I'm thinking, "man...love sharing these romantic moments with myself."

:)

This post actually had more full sentences than I planned. And it didn't include Rottnest Island, but I'm tired of typing.

Manders

Things of no importance

Skinny dipping. Nuff said.

Intentional insomnia. The semester has officially begun.

Pinterest. LETHALLY DANGEROUS TO PRODUCTIVITY.

I'm starting to forget what life is like in the States... the atmosphere is just becoming so engrained into our daily lives here. I don't mean to be the butt who keeps talking about the beach and the sun but...sand has become a part of my every day life.

And a permanent part of my scalp?

And a throw rug on our room floor.

Life in the moment

So.

There are things I love about being here. Namely, everything.

No, but the real story is that I love people here. I've come to adore so many people on my trip.

Today I went to the beach to catch a few rays (and if you ask my face, I should have put some of the rays back). Met up with Courtney who had the same idea as me, and pulled out my reading about managing and brains and all other sorts of fun stuff. And my highlighter. Fun story, my management teacher told me that the people who succeed are the people who use yellow highlighters.

Anyways, right when I'm thinking about taking a dip in the pristine blue water, some strange young man with a tan and some scruffy beach hair (my life is the worst, seriously), came up to us and squatted and asked us what we were studying. Courtney and I exchanged glances that said "OMG go eway, you're just trying to get ladies" and instead, he was like "where are you from, what do you do, do you like Freo, how are you today?" etc, etc. Then his friend came over (equally tan and....beautiful). We talked to them for like an hour, good conversation, lots of laughing and talking about differences between America and Australia and making fun of our accent. Then they left and we had two new friends!

So tonight, after decided that today was one of those days that deserved a little bit of a break, Sydney, Christine and I decided to go out and get a beer and sit and have a chat. On the way, we met one of our beach friends and another one of his friends who said, in exact words, "We like beer! Can we join?" So they did!

I adore great conversation, and great conversation was had!

Then, came back, went straight to the kitchen (let's be real, when is eating ever a bad idea), where we met up with a guy who lives here from Ireland, had another hour of great conversation with him about movies and meat and cartoons. It was the shiz.

These are the parts of the trip (aside from seeing incredible Australian scenery and taking amazing pictures) that I'm going to hold on to for the rest of my life.

I'm so blessed.

<3

The tame version of Australian wildlife

Tired. Can't sleep when I'm sweating out every pore of my body.

Yesterday - Caversham Zoo! It was worth it, but with the intensity of the heat it was a close call. I've never felt my skin frying the minute I walked into the sun. Never had to position my body strategically to prevent body parts from touching other body parts. Never had the front of my shins sweat. Never had to avoid using brain power to prevent creating more sweat. Go ahead, create a mental picture of what 30 of us looked like on a bus on a 100 degree day. Make sure you factor in the strategic body position.

But seriously.
                                                                                                                                                                 

This is a wombat named Bubs. Not exactly the wildlife encounter of a lifetime...in fact I don't think you can use the word "wild" to describe this animal in any way, shape or form. He was soft! As I smiled for the camera, I was mentally apologizing to Bubs because I pictured myself being held in a strangers lap under the armpits while throngs of people rubbed their dirty sweaty hands all over my stomach. 

This was the part where they let the herd of us, like children to recess, into the kangaroo enclosure, each equipped with a handful of kangaroo niblets with which to make friends. The kangaroos are very aware of what you're carrying with you when you walk into that pen and they're friendlier than seagulls because of it. Completely unlike anything you'll find in the wild, but it made the experience so unforgettable. At what other point in my life can I say I was chased down by throngs of kangaroos?

They're very soft. 

Legitimately crossed an item off my bucket list that day!! YYYAAAAYYYYY!!! 

Oh, also, koalas - 

Last night, instead of going with the group to club it up in Subiaco (close to Perth), Sydney and I went to see a friend of mine play with his band in a pub in North Freo. Twas a great night...sat and enjoyed great music, had a glass of delicious beer, and chatted about life, love, and attractive strangers. 

Afterwards, as we sat in the common room, the members of the Subiaco group slowly started filtering in, and from what we could tell, the night was not as successful as many of them hoped it would be. 

...love hearing "last night" stories. Crazy things happen in Australia. 

Manders

Friends in warm places

I like sunsets and long walks on the beach

I <3 Australia

Real security officers would be more concerned with public indecency...

Newport Hotel - a great bar/dancing place in Freo to go get your dance on with yo gurls on the weekends. Except when it closes early on Sunday nights, in which case, it's not that exciting of a place to be. They also take pictures and then put them on Facebook, so you can tag yourself in them and feel really cool and official.

Our kitchen/eating area is right on the street and has windows that allow us to see a lot of weird things that happen on the weekends. Including three naked men walking down the street late on a Friday night. It's not a good thing to lose a drunken bet, or at least that's the advice they gave us (oh, our windows are not soundproof whatsoever).
Ish. Sorry, but it was an event momentous enough to be worth sharing.

So there's a train here that takes you all over the city and anywhere from here to Perth. You put credit on a card and then scan the card at a card-scanner station each time you get on and off the train.
So. We were coming home on the train from the beach and I was the last one in the group to use the scanner, which, for no apparent reason, kept blinking red each time I tried to scan it. And trust me, it's important to scan right because the train security guards WILL hunt you down and find you. Finally got it to blink green! Ran to the train as it was pulling away from the station! Watched sorrowfully as Molly, hand outstretched, moved slowly down the tracks. Without me.
So, alone and upset, I waited for the next train. Got on the train (having already got the scanner to be green), super happy to be headed toward Freo, when the infamous officers came to check my card. Oh, no worries, I did everything right, I'm not gonna get fined today. 
WRONG.
Somehow, something had gone wrong, and I was "not successfully tagged on to the train, resulting in an automatic $100 fine". Rude! And here I am, an American who doesn't know anything, alone and just wanting a fresh mango and a shower at home. So, did I manage to plead myself out of the situation? I'm not sure. I'll find out when I try using my card again.

People here don't like it when you try to walk on the right side of the sidewalk. I didn't know that was something that was dependent on the side of the road you drive on, I thought EVERYONE EVERYWHERE passed each other on the right side of the sidewalk.
...or MAYBE people drive on different sides of the road because of the way they walk on the sidewalk... O.o

This week's forecast - 95 and sunny all week. That's 35 degrees Celsius in case you were wondering.

If you're in Minnesota, please enjoy the snow for me as I cannot, and I won't see it again for another 8 months.

School? Oh umm....school. Today is a Labour Day (no school), tomorrow I have one class at 5 pm, and Wednesday I have off. So, I'll keep you posted!

Can't remember where I left off...

But! Last Tuesday was Marissa's birthday, so a large chunk of us went out to the bars (well, bar singular to be honest, then just ended up walking around town). The Orient is a bar that's right below the P&O (where we stay), so for convenience's sake, we went there. People keep telling me that Australians are the nicest people in the world, but they can be creepy and...married. In other words, young, hip people don't really hang out at the bar on Tuesday nights. But Bennies and Johnnies do! And they dance at said bars!

So the next day I went for an adventure around the city by myself. The sun was out (again), the breeze was cool, and the sidewalks were beckoning. Worst decision of the day? Buy a brand new pillow at the beginning of the walk. It was the best 5 dollars I've ever spent (to please finally wake up without a neckache), but my timing was off. I was probably the most awkward looking tourist Freo has ever seen. Camera around my neck, pillow in my hand, box of kleenex in my other hand, which didn't work like I wanted, because I didn't have a free hand to blow my nose.

I've unearthed an unconscious opinion I have about people - strangers are always safe because, like animals, if you don't hurt them, they won't hurt you. Didn't your mom ever tell you that about bees? Or bears? Yep, and just like when I was talking to myself, it sounds a lot dumber when I say it out loud.

Class! It's pretty good. Hasn't been too hard yet. Classes are in this format - two hours worth of lecture per class (each class meeting once a week) and then an hour of tutorial (more hands-on stuff, not quite sure since I haven't really had one) at some point later in the day. As mentioned, first week of classes doesn't have tutorials because my classes this week have consisted of reading the syllabus aloud. No icebreakers yet though.

Lesson of the day - sit at the front of the room. Lecturers speak softly and I can't hear a thing because of my cold.

I HAD....the BEST donut today I've ever had in my entire life. Not only was it gigantic but it was coated in a delicious layer of natural sugar and fried in natural fat! (Mom and Dad, it's your fault I'm like this)

And now, for the best part of the day, I saw the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Once I got all the picture-taking out of my system, I put my camera away and took another look...and it took my breath away. The camera was beneficial for this blog's sake, so hopefully my pictures can sort of convey the beauty I saw on the beach tonight.