*head explodes from stress*

Aussie word of the day: Onya - Well Done, shortened form of "Good On You."

Man, one more month of classes (followed by a month of study and exam time) and they are PILING on the work. I can barely breathe, so if it takes me a while between posts, please forgive me. For example, we had Tuesday off to celebrate ANZAC day. How did I commemorate the brave and the fallen? 5 1/2 hours of stats project. Oh the soldiers would be so proud. At least we (me and my study group) got it done. That leaves me with a 200 page book to read and write a seminar paper about, and a major (10 page) sociology research paper to write. Oh yeah, no fun for Muppet this weekend. I did manage, in honor of having a 2-day houseguest (a friend I made on the road, girl named Sari), to check out the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on Wednesday (my reward for Tuesday's labors). It was amazing! Totally made my trip to cuddle with a koala (see my profile picture). And now, at the request of a few folks, some pictures from my various travels.
In front of the Sydney Opera House
That's the Three Sisters behind meCorissa and Me at a lookout point (Mrs. somethingorother's Chair)
Making friends with Kanga and Roo at Lone Pine

Cheers!

Awesome trip...soooooooo tired

Aussie word of the day: Hooroo - bye (informal)

I might as well start from the beginning. The flight to Sydney was uneventful, and when we arrived we checked into the Blue Parrot hostel, which was absolutely lovely. Nice, clean, small, friendly, much better than some of the backpacking horror stories I've heard from friends. Once we got settled, we walked around the city and had dinner. The following day (Sat.) we traveled the city on a narrated tour bus, and took a tour of the gorgeous Sydney Opera House. I took pictures (where I was allowed to) and will post them once I get them all uploaded to my computer. We also did some shopping, including Corissa finding a stunning Aussie opal pendant for herself. That evening we hit up the Aquarium. Getting home was an adventure in and of itself, as we ended up walking across most of the city in search of the right bus, only to find ourselves near enough to the hostel to just finish the trek on foot. Sunday we did more city exploring, and then set to the evening bridge climb. Once in a lifetime experience, let me tell you! The view from the top was incredible. Monday we went on a Hunter Valley vineyard tour and wine tasting, which was lovely. I actually liked a few of the wines! The chocolate tasting at the end was the best part, though. That took pretty much the entire day. Tuesday we briefly visited the Sydney Jewish/Holocaust Museum, and then boarded our train to the Blue Mountains. The hostel there was...in a word? Sketchy. The place itself was nice, clean, spacious, but some of the folks living there (yes, living there, there were some fairly permanent residents) were pretty freakin' weird. Corissa jokingly slept with my new mini digeredoo just below her bed, just in case someone broke in. The town itself was tiny and fairly dull. We did manage to have a good time when we took a tour bus to a place called Scenic World, which included two sky lifts, several walking paths, and a train ride through and over the mountains and next to the rock formation The Three Sisters. Again, I took tons of pictures, which I will upload soon. I also found myself a gorgeous (and inexpensive!!) Aussie opal ring. It's a good thing we only spend two nights there, however, because we would have gotten bored of the rest of the town pretty quickly. All in all the trip was very enjoyable, and chock full of adventure (of various kinds). This weekend will hopefully bring some concentrated R&R, as I'm fairly exhausted from it all. We walked so much that I hardly feel that I missed out on anything being away from the gym a week! Much love to all and whatnot. I hope all is well with everyone (if it wasn't, I'd probably have heard about it!) I promise I'll finish my website soon, but between pesky schoolwork and then my trip, it sorta fell to the bottom of the list. Cheers!

P.S. There IS no Wallaby Way! Damn it.

Sorry I've barely, this week's been busy as hell

Aussie word of the day: Winge - whine, complain, bemoan

So, this week I tried kangaroo sausages (kanga bangas). That's right, devoted readers, Australia is the only 1st world country that eats it's national animal. So I had to try them, right? They are...chewy. I'm gonna stick with my all-beef hot links from here on in.
In other news, I lost another 1/2 kilo, and I finally found a pair of jeans that fit both my hips and my wallet. They are an Aussie 10, which is about a U.S. 6. I'M A SIZE 6! You heard me.
I leave for Sydney TOMORROW! Can't wait can't wait can't wait. I promise to take tons of pictures, but I may not be able to post them until I get back (no idea what my internet access will be like.)
Happy Pesach to those to whom it applies, I went to a seder at a local synogogue, which was nice. Small, but nice. Turns out a guy who's also here with Arcadia (but goes to Penn State) was there, too. I didn't even know he was Jewish.
Ok, well I need to go get packed, so I'll leave you at that. Night all!

Oooh the Gold Coast is niiiice

Aussie word of the day: Nappies - Diapers

So this has been a very cool weekend, dampened only by my terrible sinuses. Yesterday I went out to Queen St. Mall with Andrea and Corissa, and today I trecked down to the Gold Coast to visit my darling Donna before she returns to the U.S. One great thing is that I finished nearly all of my gift shopping. I found something I LOVE for my father (I found stuff for my mother a couple days ago, but this just reached out and grabbed my eye for my dad), as well as things for just about everyone else on my list. I am still in search of pants that fit, as the ones I've tried on thus far are either 1. way too long, 2. way weirdly shaped, or 3. waaaaaaay to expensive. Not to worry though, I bought a beautiful wrap skirt today, so if all else fails I can wear that every day until I find pants that fit (and as I lose weight, I just tie the skirt more tightly!) I really found some fabulous stuff to bring home to folks (and at great prices!) Ok, I'm beat and the Nyquil is kickin' in, so I'll call it a night. Ohh, for those who care, I'm nearly done renovating my poetry website (finally!)

One paper down, one to go

Aussie word of the day: dag - affectionate term for the uncoordinated (i.e., me)

So, I turned in my Gender and the Postmodern paper yesterday, and tonight I'm finishing up my lab report for tomorrow. It would be going a lot more smoothly if I didn't have a killer cold (it's going around) and thus no energy to speak of. That kind of sucks. I'm fairly close to finishing though, and it's only 8pm, so it's alright.

In other news, I need to buy new jeans this weekend, as the ones that I brought with me are toooooo big now! Woot! Go Muppet, shrinking out of size 8! I am so happy about it, as I've been working hard and now I'm seeing results. Very cool.

Ok, back to work...just felt like taking a little blog break. Leave me notes, I miss you guys!

"If I won me the lottery, I'd dance naked in the street with a top-hat full of money!" - Beth Hart

Aussie word of the day: Sunnies - sunglasses (just sounds so cheery, doesn't it?)

Two weeks until I go to Sydney. Upon returning, I'll get to see my darling Donna for a day before she goes back to the states (she went to Bond, so she's nearly done). I'm gonna try to go down to the Gold Coast to see her this weekend too, but it depends on my hw situtation. I finished my paper, by the way. YAY. Ya'll knew I would, it just took a little longer than usual. Mostly because I kept getting distracted *oh, what's that?? Something shiny!!?!?!?* Yeah. Tonight is lab report night, so that'll be fun, too! Blah. It's a Monday morning, so I don't have a whole lot to report. I think I'll get my butt out of bed, get my towels from the dryer, shower, and actually get some stuff done before my class at 2. Later!

Screw Nadine Gordimer

Aussie word of the day: Togs - Swimsuit (do not ask me why)

The title refers to the fact that after a full week of trying (pointlessly) to write a paper about Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup, I have decided to scrap the one page I've managed to crappily produce, and switch over to Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry. It's a more difficult book in that it's trippy as hell, but it has a lot more material for my prompt.

I had a research methods midterm today, which I feel went pretty well. Got some solid work done on my lab report, so I felt compelled to take some well-earned time off with Corissa and go see V for Vendetta. REEEEALLY good movie, in my opinion. The filming was incredible. I can’t even explain…parts of it just moved me so much. I recommend it highly. Now I must get back to work, but I will leave you with a little poetic contribution:

Cheating

There are times I think to cheating
But oh the risk I run
It would tear me up inside
And all the shame I'd have to hide
Of the weakness of my wanting
The frailty of my constitution
That I fail to stay true
To what's done me so good
In seeking that clandestine thrill
Of tasting the spoils I've so long denied
Oh the temptation of lustful glances
And of offers from all directions
How I know I'd swell inside with warmth
For the passion of forgotten flavor
And the chance to oh so secretly savor...
Yes there are times I think to cheating
By eating wheat, what did you think?

Hahaha, April fools, kids. Goodnight.