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.