Moreton Island!

Aussie word of the day: Mozzies - Mosquitoes (a.k.a. the things that ate me alive this weekend!)

Moreton Island was AMAZING. We got down there Friday night, picked tents/tentmates (mine was Corissa), ate tacos, socialized, star gazed on the beach (holy crap was it an amazing view) and then hit the hay. Saturday we got up bright and early, ate breakfast, and then headed out to some of the world's tallest coastal sand dunes to go SANDBOARDING.I tell you, it was one of the scariest things I have ever done...but so fun! We also checked out middens, which are piles of ritualistically deposited shells left by Aboriginal peoples. Lunch was sandwiches, for which I was provided my very own loaf of gluten-free bread. Our cook/tour guide/driver Sharky made sure that there was lots of stuff for me to eat all weekend, including bread. He rocked, let me tell ya. That day we also examined a population of soldier crabs, which fled at the sight of us, for the most part.

Dinner was an "authentic Aussie bbq" (authentic in that it was prepared by an Aussie), preceeded by watching the sunset, and followed by a campfire and further social time.

Sunday we ate breakfast (everyone else had pancakes, Sharky made me egg-in-a-hole), then went to check out the island's lighthouse. It was built by convicts back in the "Australia-as-a-penal-colony" days.
From there we went to the coast near Honeymoon Bay (which the storm had turned into Honeymoon Cove, as the water was so fierce that it swept away all the sand!), and spent time there eating lunch and hanging out. I waded in the surf and collected shells with Steve. After a while we went from the beach over to the Blue Lagoon, which is actually yellow thanks to tea tree tannons in the water. The swimming was great there, and almost made up for the fact that our plans to snorkel had to get cancelled on account of poor weather. We all slathered mud from the lagoon all over ourselves for its incredible exfoliating properties. We looked ridiculous, but it felt divine. After about an hour we went back to pack up camp and leave. We got home somewhere in the neighborhood of 6:30pm, totally exhausted. I for one got burnt despite using tons of sunscreen. I am not happy about this, I may write a letter. I also intend to mention in said letter, perhaps in a post-script, the 30 or so mosquito bites sustained despite copious use of bug repellent.

This humidity has got to end...

Aussie word of the day: rubber - eraser (so it's ok if someone asks if they can borrow a rubber here...it isn't unsanitary)
In Australian news:
The Commonwealth Games are underway, so the channel owned by Fox out here is airing craploads of Simpsons reruns...which actually out-rated the games! I think that's the funniest thing.
The cyclone (lamely named Cyclone Larry) devistated Northern Queensland. I am nowhere near Northern Queensland. Rest assured.
Classes continue to go well, although the work is starting to PILE on. Once I get back from Moreton Island (a trip organized by the Arcadia people), I'm gonna have to hit the books full force.

In back-home-type news:
So my poor advisor back in the states had better be getting paid extra for dealing with my anal-retentive nuttiness. (Actually, she said she wished more of her advisees were as anal as me...she's crazy). That being said, my schedule for next semester is planned out!

PY331.2 (3rd year psych) -> M/W/F @ 12:15pm with Marianne Miserandino
PY331L.1 (3rd year psych lab) -> M @ 1:30pm with Lester Sdorow
ID101.4 (science for non-science majors) -> T/R @ 8:30am with Marie Sanchez
ID101L.10 (science for non-science majors lab) -> W @ 3:00pm with Thomas Canning
HN202.1 (honors project) -> R @ 4:00pm with Bette Goldstone
PY205.1 (abnormal psychology - YEAH, I CAN TAKE IT!)-> M/W/F @ 11:00am with Angela Gillem
ID222.5 (pluralism) -> T/R @ 2:10pm with Ana Garcia

Gooooooooooood times. Yeah, so I will have no time to live. This is gonna be hardcore. I'm really glad I'll be living in campus housing this year; that will make life somewhat easier.

Cheers! Time to watch Amazing Race

The koalas are stareing at me...

Aussie word of the day: Arvo - Afternoon

Who's going to Sydney for Fall break? Who? Oh that's right, ME. Corissa and I finished booking everything last night, and we are good to go go go! You know while I'm there I'm gonna try to find 42 Walaby Way...I just have to. We're also gonna climb the bridge. Only three bridges in the world are open for the public to climb, and we're gonna do one of them. Ohhhh yeah.

Coconut milk tastes like coconut, who knew?

Aussie word of the day: Ta - thank you

The title has to do with trying to explain Thai food to my roomie.

I just had to write about the following, because I found it so very cool:
Tonight, on the boat home from school (yes, I go to/from school on a boat), the angle at which we were sailing away from the moon made it look as though the moon was rising into the sky at a rapid rate. It was almost like watching one of those time-elapsed videos. The best part about it was the fact that the moon was perfectly full...it was breathtaking. Oh yeah, let's hear it for awesome optical illusions. Now I have to go to sleep, Corissa and I stayed up chatting until nowish (close to 3am), and all my working out and running around from the week is catching up to me about...now. So good night and a good weekend to you all. I'll likely post again in a day or few.

The bats here are bigger than birds...

Aussie word of the day: Kip - nap, sleep

Yeah, so walking home tonight with Corissa (we went into the city to see Match Point, depressing as hell movie), I saw three of the biggest bats EVER. I cannot even explain them.
It seems, knock on wood, that I have internet access. A neighbor agreed to let me on their secure network for a small monthly fee. Woot!
In other news, I, brilliantly enough, managed to give myself some minor tendon strain in my right elbow (the sort that could turn into tendonitis if abused), because I over-zealously used too-heavy weights in Bodypump. I've been advised to stay clear of that particular class for the next week, but I can continue with all my other gym stuff. I'll just have to hit the cardio room on the days I normally have weights. Not a huge issue, I'll be back to weight-training (with the proper poundage) in no time.
I am reading the absolute weirdest book for my Gender/Postmodern class...it's called Sexing the Cherry, but it's nowhere near as sexy as it sounds. It's just bizarre. Imagine the book The Phantom Tollbooth having an acid trip...this book would be that trip. Anyway, I should go finish it and then get some shut-eye. 'Night all, I hope everyone had/is having a good weekend, and Happy Purim to those to whom it applies.

Cheers all!

Aussie phrase of the day: Septic Tank - Yank (it's a bit of the very popular rhyming slang of this place)

Howdy all, my internet problems my be coming to an end (finally!) Dial-up is expensive and Andrea can access the boys' wireless from her bedroom (her room is closer to their window), so I, after they deliberate, will likely be paying the people directly downstairs a small amount per month in return for access to their secure network (which I can see quite well.) Until then (the next day or two), I have temporary dial-up (free but the cost of a phone line). That means I can access my blog and e-mail and whatnot, but cannot use Skype or AIM.

On the school front, I have decided to drop the crime class in favor of the "family and households" class. I sat in on it today, and it seems sooo much more interesting. So there we have it, my final schedule. I am taking the two required psych classes, plus a sociology and a gender class, both of which count towards my minor. I have classes 4 days a week. Mondays don't start until 2pm (and goes to 4pm), Tues. and Wed. start at 10am (Tues. goes to 2pm, Wed. to 4pm), and Thurs. I have one class from 4pm to 6pm. I have programmed an intense work-out schedule around my classes, including 2 days of weight training, one days of "Abs, butts, thighs," one day of pilates, and one day of Yoga (if I can stomach it...that 's on Fridays.)

In other, Maddy's-junk-related, news I finished both my taxes and FAFSA online, and I got accepted back onto the Orientation Team for Fall 2006. Fall training begins on Aug. 23, so I'll need to be back in PA by the 20th or so. Luke and co. are dealing with the housing situation, and I've found a fourth flat-mate for it. Her name is Corissa, she's a sophomore accounting major, and she's actually here in Australia (it took Arcadia sending us across the world for us to meet).

In general, things are still going quite well. It's humid as hell in this country, but I'm managing (I've purchased a few more tank tops for the weather and the work-outs). I miss ya'll back home, but I'm loving my time here. Keep the notes coming!

The class week in review

Aussie word of the day: dodgy - sketchy, shady, of ill repute

Monday: Psychological research methodology lecture - the prof, as I mentioned before, was considerably more laid back than I was led to believe any of them would be, although he certainly seems to know his stuff when it comes to stats and whatnot. Gonna be a medium class on the difficulty scale, from what I can tell. The trouble with this, and all the classes, is that the grades are made up of very few assignments...screw up one assessment, and it's your ass, it seems. Tutorials/Practicals for this and my other psych class begin next week.

Tuesday: Gender and the postmodern seminar - I actually thought that I was going to drop this class for sure...until I took it. Yes there are a lot of (kinda pricey) books, yes the papers are likely to be challenging as hell, but it seems so interesting! Some of the books are available at my local library, so that will help. I don't think I can pass this one up, insane as I'll likely consider myself half way through. It's all about artsy gender theory and turning standard convention on it's head. I dig that. Another plus; it's a small class with no tutorial session!
Neuroscience for psychologists lecture - this one's gonna be kinda tough, as it seems to be made up a decent amount of memorization of big medical words that represent itty bitty brain bits. On a plus side, there is no cumulative final, just a series of mini-assessments and written assignments through the course. Team lectured by an Aussie man and an American woman.

Wednesday: I went to the first Gender, Culture, Race lecture and realized that I basically took the class last semester, in America, and it was called "Women in society." That which I didn't cover in my college class, I covered in my high school senior English women's studies class. I have actually read over a third of the course material already. I spoke with the prof after the lecture, and she agreed that it seemed the best thing for me to drop the course in exchange for something, as she put it, "more advanced." She went on to talk about how pleased she was to see a student from another country, or any student for that matter, so well-versed in the subject. I think she's the head of the women's studies focus at UQ. Yay points for Maddy! My options for my second gender class are discussed below.

Thursday: Crime, race, and gender lecture - seems a little dry, but I'll see...it's much less women's studies geared and more a critical look at the Aussie judicial system and its treatment of Indigenous people. Not totally sure if I'm keeping this one...I'll see, I've still got a couple weeks to decide. My other possibility is a different sociology class about households and the family structure. I'm gonna sit in on this coming week's lecture and decide which I like better. Dr. Garcia approved both, so now it's up to me.
I also made friends with an Aussie UQ student named Samantha who, as it turns out, lives in my apartment complex. Small world.

Friday: No class, rainy day, went on campus to do Yoga, but got to the gym early enough to do some time on the stationary bike first. Did I mention I signed up for the gym and a selection of group fitness classes? Well, now I've mentioned it for sure. Yoga may be the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm actually looking forward to the simplicity of the weight training class I've signed up for! Also went to Friday night dinner as hosted by AUJS. Lovely time, and the chef was nice enough to make the curry chicken gluten free in my honor. I spent much of the evening discussing eBay, Shakespeare, and how where I grew up is nothing like the representation of California culture by that bloody awful (sorry Adina, but it is) television show, "The OC".

At present, I have unreliable, or "dodgy" internet access in my home. That is to say, the guys have it, and if I sit with my laptop in the kitchen, I get one bar of signal if I'm lucky. Samantha (Sam) is in the process of convincing our wireless router that it is actually an access point, in order to boost the guys' signal in our apartment, so that we can utilize it more reliably/comfortably. That being said, I may be online a tidbit more often, but not with any real consistency until we get this access point thing hammered out. Good times. Ah well, it's getting late and I'm getting tired of standing in the kitchen waving my computer around for reception. It's not as light as a cell phone, ya know. I hope all is well in the lives of my faithful readers, and I look forward to being able to be in better contact with you soon. Keep the comments coming, they make me feel loved.