The New Year

Courtesy of Death Cab for Cutie....
So this is the new year and I don't feel any different
The clanking of crystal and explosions off in the distance
So this is the new year and I have no resolutions
It's self-assigned penance for problems with easy solutions
So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As 30 dialogues bleed into one
I wish the world was flat like the old days
So I could travel just by folding the map
No more airplanes or speed-trains or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back


Hey everyone--Happy 2007--best wishes for the new year!!!

Merry Christmas one and all!

Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas. Let's hope all of us have been good little boys and girls this year, no one wants to wake up Christmas morning to find a lump of coal in their stocking.

I'm headed down to Southern California for the holiday and then back up to San Francisco for Joey's Rockin' New Years Eve party, not to be confused with Dick Clark's Rockin New years Eve, as there will be no ball dropping at midnight, there may however be a girl down!

Everyone have a very merry one and a happy new year!

Join the Revolution

Alright folks I've finally gotten on Myspace, mainly I was just too lazy before to get it together but finally it's done, so check out my profile at:

http://www.myspace.com/travelingdre

Also if any of you are on there add me as a friend..I a few!

Chile Bound

Since I'm meant to move to Chile in the next few months lots of people have been suggesting some great reading material for me to check out before I leave. The first thing I'm gonna be checking out is a trilogy by Eduardo Galeano called Memory of Fire, which is a history of Latin America starting from the around the 15th century and going through the mid-1980's. I reckon that will pretty much get me up to speed on my history lessons for the region. While looking for these books I saw that Galeano had a recent book called Voices of Time, it's written as small vignettes, very beautiful ones at that, anyways here's one of them..

The Voyage
Oriol Vall, who works with newborns at a hospital in Barcelona, says that the first human gesture is the embrace. After coming into the world, at the beginning of their days, babies wave their arms as if seeking someone.

Other doctors, who work with people who have already lived their lives, say that the aged, at the end of their days, die trying to raise their arms.

And that's it, that's all, no matter how hard we strive or how many words we pile on. Everything comes down to this: between two flutterings, with no more explanation, the voyage occurs.

The Christmas Spirit

So I officially got into the Christmas spirit the other night when I went to my little sister's Christmas Choir concert. She's in the San Francisco Girl's Chorus and they put on a great show at Davies Symphony Hall. Since I didn't know until pretty much the last minute that I'd even be able to go I ended up sitting way up on the second tier by myself, but at least I had binoculars. I thought I'd be like in the movies where I could scan the crowd with my binoculars the whole time the show was one, spying on people. Anyhow it was too dark in there for all that and eventually I just got a headache from all that scanning...guess that's what I get for being nosy.

Back Jack

I'm back in San Francisco for a couple of months and have been enjoying it so far, even though it's currently raining which makes me miss sunny Australia it's been nice to catch up with friends and family here and check up on all my old haunts. Everything is so manic here because of the holidays--Christmas parties, concerts, etc. have been taking up my time so I've just resigned myself to the fact that I won't get a good night's sleep until after New Years..something to look forward to indeed!

Young and Restless

So apparently I'm not alone in wanting to wander, there was an interesting article in today's paper about the 25-34 age group and what big cities are doing to attract us to live there b/c apparently our demographic is very mobile and willing to move to places that have the characteristics that we want, and what are those characteristics you ask?
"They are people who, demographers say, are likely to choose a location before finding a job. They like downtown living, public transportation and plenty of entertainment options. They view diversity and tolerance as marks of sophistication."

The article goes onto to state that we as an age group are, "Mobile but not flighty, fresh but technologically savvy, "the young and restless," as demographers call them, are at their most desirable age, particularly because their chances of relocating drop precipitously when they turn 35."

I actually totally agree with this article, it's pretty much how I feel, I would rather choose a location where I want to live and then find a job and I do value those characteristics in a city, not to mention I'm hoping that my proclivity to move will lessen by the time I'm 35...perhaps by that time I'll have been attracted by one of the cities that are trying to "lure" our age group there..which are namely..Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, Charlotte, Portland and Austin..anyways very interesting article, something to ponder..you can read the whole thing at

Cities compete for Young, Restless

It's gonna be a doozy...

It's not yet 9am here at Thanksgiving central and already everyone who's walked through the door has been steadily complaining...are you gonna put glaze on the ham? I don't like alot of glaze, did anyone buy ice cream to have with the pies?, why did you arrange the table like that? etc. Also my mom's already made the statement, if anyone else says anything to me I'm gonna just chew 'em out. So looks set to be an interesting Thanksgiving..I think there is something to my personal rule of only being home every other holiday.

Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I thought it a great time to list some of the things I'm thankful for, even though I've had some delays and setbacks with my job lately I'm confident that everything will work out how it should, it always does even if I don't always see it that way at first. Anyways because of that I'm able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family so for that I'm very thankful.
Also I'm thankful to my friends who always crack me up and have provided me with many happy memories.
Finally I'm thankful that I've been able to complete my masters degree and that I was able to spend 2 wonderful years in Australia, that's two things crossed off my life list (1. get a masters and 2. Live overseas for at least a year), not that it's just about checking things off the list but I made the list so I could remember the things I"ve dreamed of doing and go after them..so onto the rest of the list!

Side Note: My grandma was an avid watcher of Dancing with the Stars and last night while we were cooking dinner she was complaining about the fact that Mario Lopez didn't win b/c she thinks he's so cute and was a good dancer. Anyways then she goes on a tangent about how Mario does not have a girlfriend and she thinks that he's just not ready to settle down, etc. cracked me up how she had Mario's romantic life figured out, better she's worrying about his than mine I say.

Old Folk

Hanging around with my grandmothers lately has brought about so many mysteries in my mind, such as why do they always try to give me their clothes?
My grandmothers are 72 and 77 and yet they both seem to be convinced that I would enjoy wearing clothes that they themselves do not want!!!! They also seem to think that I want clothes right off their backs. If I ever compliment one of my grandma's on her clothes she tries to give them to me, I don't want them!! I said they look nice on you..you who are 72 and while you do in fact look nice in them they're just not my style. Last week my grandma tried to give me her winter coat, a very nice gesture indeed and it was a nice coat for grandma but not for me, I'm always trying to think of nice ways to say that I don't want the clothes but alas I've decided the firm way is best--I won't ever wear that seems to rebuff along with the statement, it looks fabulous on you though.

Sometimes...

when I wake up in the middle of the night I still think that I'm in my room in Brisbane, it's the weirdest thing I'll reach for the side of my bed where I always kept my cell phone then realize that I'm not there anymore. Also sometimes when I first wake up when I'm gathering my thoughts and thinking about what I'll do that day I sometimes think I'll go to places that are in Brisbane, then I'll quickly realize wait a minute, not there anymore. So very strange how a place can stay with you.

Lifetime Scores Again!

The Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker will premiere in March on Lifetime.
The movie centers on a bright and ambitious college freshman (Paxton) who falls into the world of nonstop partying and binge drinking, leading to devastating results. (www.movieweb.com)

My first question is was someone following me and my friends around at Texas A&M circa 1996-2001?? I'm glad they are making a movie about this, it should be highly entertaining and as Lifetime always does, teach us a valuable lesson!!
I could probably go on all day about the lessons I learned or didn't learn but should have, but mainly I think we must look at the dates I listed. Most of you are probably thinking, isn't college only supposed to take 4 years? Why yes dear readers that's how it normally works but then sometimes you fail your first semester in college miserably putting you on scholastic probation and not giving you credits for some of the classes you took, causing you to repeat classes and take others that someone told you were easy for the sheer fact of bringing up your grades enough to stay in school. But as always I pressed on, was able to stay on past my freshman year and then binge drink for 4 more..just thinking about it is giving me a hangover.

I love that story!

My old flatmate and good friend D. McG, aka Danielle just sent me an awesome e-mail this morning, While we were living together in Australia she would sometimes bring up that she has always wanted to be a lawyer, that it was interesting to her, etc. but she didn't score high enough marks to study law at college so she got a degree in social sciences (or something related) instead. Also she had a full scholarship waiting for her to get her masters in social sciences when she got back to Ireland, so the law thing, just basically never gonna happen, but it kept nagging at her. Anyways she went back to Ireland and did her masters and got her degree in August and has started working, law dream over completely, right? Not so..my girl came through and this morning I got this e-mail from her..

Hey missus...ur gona b so proud of me...remember that drunken meltdown in Brisbane about wanting to study law? Well im starting law school (at nite) this week! I cud never get wat u said to me out of my head....'if you're happy knowing that ull NEVER be a lawyer, then move on...if not, do something about it'!!

So mad props to DMcG today, you did it! So glad you took that step and now you know at least know you gave law a go!

Some good quotes..

The first of our good quotes is from a Lifetime TV movie I was watching earlier tonight, called The House Next Door which was of course about an evil house. Basically everyone that lived there turned evil or died...for example in one of the families that moved in the husband turned super psycho on his wife for doing things like not putting the spices in alphabetical order..but at first you didn't know what was wrong just that he had shoved open a drawer and had his wife by the hair or something and he's putting her hand in the drawer and he says..all sing-songy..
"What is wrong with this picture,
now tell me sister!!"
Now I fully maintain that if anyone ever threatens you in a rhyme they are beyond normal crazy and are totally psycho and you should freakin' get away from them ASAP and never look back!! Of course the wife stayed and later in the movie he got all crazy and threw her on the ground and pointed a gun at her because she put lettuce or something in the refrigerator crisper and he was saying that she was trying to poison him. Needless to say a scuffle ensued in which she captured the gun, pointed it at him and then said all sing songy..
"What is wrong with this picture,
now tell me mister!!"
Then she shot him like 12 times. Oh and also earlier in the movie he got mad at her because she got the invitations to their house warming party printed regularly instead of embossed..so naturally what with the spices incident and invitations and what not..I was thinking..is the husband gay or something?? But anyways I digress..here is another good quote for today, albeit a more serious one..

"Breathe. Let Go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure."
-Oprah Winfrey

Dressing Room Dilemmas

I swear since I've been home I've felt so many times like I was twelve. Honestly I haven't spent so much time at home since I was 18 which was..yikes 10 years ago. So now at 28 I find myself hanging out at my mom's for a couple months before starting work and BAM! twelve again. On Saturday I went shopping with my grandma and my mom and they kept picking out clothes for me to go and try on, I've learned that I can gong only a certain amount of outfits and then it's futile to resist. So that's how I end up in the dressing room with several outfits..only a couple picked out by me that I have to put on and then walk out to show my mom and grandma..uhh. It made me think of the time when I was a teenager I can't remember how old I was but I went to buy a bikini and I had to go with my mom since I had no money of my own and after I put every one on I had to come out of the dressing room so she could see...so embarass!! Then flash forward to adulthood and I had to come parading out in some "work outfits" that had been picked out for me..it just never ever ends.

Oh Dr. Phil

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a taping of Dr. Phil with my grandma and about 40 other seniors. Let me tell you it was quite an adventure. The Dr. Phil show sent a bus to pick up the ladies club and take us all to the studios. First of all let me say that the oldies love to push and shove to get onto the bus, and of course are in a panic that they won't be first into the studio, etc. Even though we were told they'd be letting us in by numbers. My grandma kept going further and further up to the front and then would yell for me, where are you?? Keep Up!! It was exhausting really.
The actual taping was alright the topic of the show was Is it normal? There was a lady on who was basically a hypocondriac and then someone who refuses to celebrate holidays. The general consensus among the ladies was that we should have at least gotten free Dr. Phil mugs and they felt rushed around all day. I'd say the rushing they felt was themselves getting in a tizzy about getting on/off the bus first or making sure they got into the studio ASAP. Also they got super impatient when Dr. Phil and some Marines were filming PSA's for Toys for Tots, it was taking forever and it was cold in the studio..purses were gathered and they were ready to bolt the second it was over. Anyways the taping airs on Nov. 1st, I'm sure you can see me since the lady in front of me kept clapping at inappropriate times and so the camera would pan over to her. Oh the other best bit was that they showed Dr. Phil being drawn for an episode of the Simpsons and in the clip he says something to Homer about losing weight. This one got all the ladies started, something about a Dr. Phil diet bar scandal that all the seniors seemed to know about in great detail. At this point I also got another lecture about broccoli. My grandma said something about how you need to read labels very carefully and that one time she almost ate somethign with too much Vitamin D, and that you can OD on Vitamin D if you're not careful..then she says, you can OD on anything really if you have too much, even broccoli. Then she launched into the broccoli speech again, by the end of this she's gonna have me brainwashed to never eat broccoli again!

Limbo Land

So currently I'm in limbo, not going but not staying either. I should be leaving in the next couple of weeks to start my new job but in the meantime I'm just killin' time. My typical day goes something like this:
8:30am- Wake Up, Check E-mail
9:30-11am- Go to gym (note this is my only outing of the day)
11am-1pm- Come home from gym and shower, eat some lunch
1-3pm-play on the internet, attempt to learn spanish or read
3pm-4pm-Watch Oprah
4-5:30pm-Am usually very bored, waiting for my brother to come home at 5:30pm

The highlight of this week is on Thursday I'm going with my grandma to sit in the audience of Dr. Phil, should be interesting, and if nothing else kills a whole day!

I'm still here!!

So yes I'm still home, and last week I was lucky enough to get the flu--so that kept me out of commisson for a bit. I'm all better now and getting back into my daily routine of tv, gym and spanish lessons. I'm now going for training in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia which is gonna be exciting. Meanwhile I've still got lots of stuff to read and lots to learn, not to mention lots of lying around to do before the real work begins.
Also the whole flu thing has exhausted me because now that I'm well my mom has it and so she's been home and needing some TLC which is fine except that because of this grandma feels the need to stick around half the day and constantly give advice on how to get better or why my mom still feels sick. The best was yesterday when we took my mom to the doctor. On the way there my mom was getting sick into a bag (this flu thing is horrible with all the vomiting!). Anyways so grandma says to me, "What did she eat that she's throwing up?" and I tell her that all my mom's eaten all day is some chicken broth, at which point my grandma says--Broccoli!! Who the hell gave her broccoli, sick people aren't supposed to have broccoli..and you know too much of that can poison you, if you have more than half a cup you are poisoned, that's why I don't like to eat broccoli!!! Of course at this point there is no stopping or correcting her so I just sit there for the 20 min. car ride listening to grandma rant about the evils of broccoli and my mom throwing up in the backseat..and yep that's pretty much what life is like back home!

And thus it begins..

Well as some of you may or not have heard there was a coup in Thailand yesterday so this has changed plans as far as beginning my training for work. My company has decided to change the location of training to ensure the safety of all involved since the situation in Thailand is a bit uncertain at the moment. Of course this delays everything a bit and dammit I'm anxious to get started with my new job!! By the end of the week I should know my new traning destination so I"m excited, I'll get a surprise as to where I'll be headed next and of course will keep you all posted. Meanwhile I'm just chillin' here at my mom's house, working on my spanish, reading lots for work and of course fitting in lots of relaxing/fun activities.

Sorry for the Absence!

No I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, I'm just back home for a visit before starting my new job. It's been hectic trying to visit everyone in my short time back but I'm coping. Also there's a slight chance my leaving date might be revised which frankly would be welcome since I feel like I haven't had much time to sit and relax. I'm in San Francisco for the next few days and then will fly back to my mom's house for about a week before taking off for Thailand (if everything remains on schedule!). Also I must remember not to get used to sleeping in, sure soon I will have to wake up at a normal hour and that my friends is not something I'm looking forward to!

Things I will miss 5

The Beer

Of course I will miss the Aussie Beers that I have grown to love, and I was lucky enough to work for the company that makes one of my all time favorite beers Victoria Bitter!

Things I will miss 4

The Footy

Rugby Union (pictured), Rugby League (and my favorite the state of origin series which I watched in an island bar made of sand last year, hours from shore), and Aussie Rules Football it's always been fun to watch a game even though at first I had no clue what was going on. Everyone is so into sports here that it's a great atmosphere wherever you are watching a game and whatever game you're watching! Some of my best nights out have been watching the various footy games Australia has to offer!

Things I will miss 3

The color of the water and the cliffs, with such unique looking rocks--absolutely beautiful!

Things I'll miss part 2

Lawn Bowls

Yes lawn bowling is a real sport and yes it's mostly old people dressed in all white. However nearly every town in Australia no matter how small has a bowls club. There were 2 within spitting distance of one of my old houses. The advantage of the bowls club? Cheap food and booze of course! Every night of the week the bowls club is invaded by younger people taking advantage of the bargain basement prices, good locations and sometimes dodgy live music and poker machines! My old local lawn bowls club was the last stop on a pub crawl I did last Sat. night and there was also a fancy dress party in full swing in part of the bar, from the outfits I'm guessing it was a pimps and hoes party..the bowls club, not just for old foggies!!

Things I will miss, Part 1

Queenslanders

The Queenslander style house is the most common in the state I live in (you guessed it Queensland!) and are perfect for the warm weather, they are made of timber and have beautiful verandas and are up on stilts with the whole underside of the house just being open and you can often just see all the way through to the backyard. I've lived in 2 different Queenslanders since I've been here and absolutely loved it, if I ever moved back here I'd live in an old queenslander for sure. The picture is of a queenslander that was just down the street from where I used to live, the whole neighborhood is full of beautiful houses like this and most are very close to the river, so have beautiful views.

New Look!

New blog, title and new blog address and new resolve from me to blog more often. The next couple of weeks may be iffy though because of my mini-vacation home to the US, but also realistically I'll just be stuck at my mom's house all day so perhaps extensive blogging/internet surfing will be in order!

Important Announcement!!

Hey everybody, here's an important update for you, I got my employment contract and final placement for my new job! Drumroll please...I will be a Regional Manager in South America based in Sao Paulo, Brazil!! So who knew it's back to Brazil for me for a while. I'm really excited about the position. I'm gonna be super busy the next few weeks though, I'm leaving Australia at the end of August to come back to the US until around Sept. 20th when I will leave for training in Thailand and then in October I will go straight from Thailand to my post in Brazil...so lots of globetrotting in my future. Can't wait to have lots of visitors in Brazil. Meanwhile I'm in a panic about languages, I really need to ramp up my spanish quick (as other countries in my region include Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Columbia) as well as get some basic portuguese down..so I'm really freaking out about that, not to mention this is going to be a crazy busy job but I'm looking forward to the challenge!! Hope to catch up with some of you when I'm back home!!!

Absent

hey all sorry I've been absent for a bit, things have been mighty hectic over here! Currently I"m working full time at Fosters for the next few weeks and then I'll leave to start training for my new job! Yep I managed to get a real job right out of school using my masters!! I'm really excited about it and will be headed to training in SE Asia at the beginning of Septemeber before being relocated to (hopefully) the US! The job involves lots of travel so I don't mind being based in the US, as I'll probably spend at least one week a month overseas!! Anyways just waiting for final details on my training dates and my final location placement..will keep everyone updated on my whereabouts..more stories to come!!

Less is More

Why is it that the less you have to do, the less you seem to get done? Now that school's over and I'm just working part time, I don't seem to ever get anything done, just getting lazy I suppose. Like today it seems like a massive effort to even go grocery shopping, so I may or may not actually go. Also I've been watching quite a few movies lately, I saw a good one the other day called Sione's Wedding, it's a New Zealand film about a group of Samoan mates, really funny and great cast, loved it. Also I saw that Lake House movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, while I don't pretend to understand the space-time continum I did think the movie was okay, it's just best not to think about it too much. Also I have to say the guy that played Keanu's brother in the movie, for some reason there was something about him that creeped me out, perhaps it was his constant pained and weird facial expressions. In other news, I've got a job!! I'm starting relatively soon and details to follow shortly but I should be leaving Australia by the end of August to start my training, so in the meantime I'll be making the most of my lazy days.

Party Week!

I've offically finished my degree to this week was branded party week and why not? Monday was a big night, went out after the final was over and ended up staying up all night at a bonfire. Then I took a bit of rest until Thursday when it was a night out at the casino and then Friday topped it off with a graduation dinner and then a big night out with all my friends who just finished school as well. I'm so happy to be done, the next few weeks are now vacation time, I'm offically a woman of leisure, well apart from my part time job but that doesn't take up much of my time..will be coming back home probably at the end of July for a visit before I take off on my next adventure!

Sign of Doom

Yesterday I had an Economics final, I knew it was gonna be hard but thought I was at least semi-prepared, turns out I missed something. I sat down and looked around and noticed that everyone had calculators, interesting I thought, didn't know we needed a calculator but I had one in my bag so what the hell I went and got it. The thing is though if you didn't know you needed a calculator to begin with then getting one is probably not going to help you much, and that hunch turned out to be correct in my case. But at least umm I felt like I fit in with my pencils and erasers and calcualtor and ruler to draw graphs, yep I gave off a damn good performance of acting like I knew what I was doing, just turns out I had no clue so I'm pretty sure my grade for that class has gone down, I did make up answers for all the questions though so at least that'll be entertaining for the lecturer.

Please Remove the obstruction

A friend of mine lives on the 34th floor of this apartment building in Brisbane, earlier today when I was waiting to get the elevator down I could hear a ruckus occuring on a floor above, there was lots of shouting in an asian language of some description and the robot voice of the elevator saying, Please Removed Obstruction from the Door. Meanwhile I"m standing there getting pissed thinking dammit hurry up and get in so the elevator can come down to my floor! Finally it does and what was in the elevator you ask? Well it was 3 Asian people with heaps of luggage and I'm not kidding a massive box of eggrolls, like it was as big as a TV box, which I'm guessing was the obstruction in the door. Also I'm wondering where it was they were going on vacation that they felt it necessary to bring along 500 eggrolls. It was all I could do to contain myself until we got to the ground floor, it was too funny.

Also on a side note, I listened to the new Dixie Chicks album today and I have to say it's great, love the Not ready to make nice song.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

This is a great poem by John Godfrey Saxe that oddly enough I ran across in a law textbook, but it's from a fable told to him in India way back when..the moral to the story is great, and it is of course true, many wars and ignorant comments and gestures are made on assumptions of things we've never seen, a lesson to us all.

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Bits from everywhere

Sorry I've been absent lately but lots of school stuff to get done in the last few weeks. I got my paper back that I spent all night on and I got 26/30, which is excellent..I always do work better under pressure, although I have to say that my brain was on auto-pilot most of the time.

Also in other strange news, Dr. Heidi the Austrian PhD student who I shared a hostel with one time is supposedly gonna be my new flatmate. My landlord told me last night she was moving in and I thought, I know that crazy Austrian, and crazy she is indeed so the next weeks should be interesting, I'll of course keep you apprised of the antics of Dr. Heidi.

All Night Long

I was up all night last night and no it wasn't for a fun reason. I was finishing a paper, a very long, involved paper. Today my eyes feel like sandpaper and it was so hard to get up to turn in the paper after 2 hours of sleep, I think I must just be on some adrenalin rush at this point, don't know how I haven't fallen over yet. Anyhow I finished at 6am, have no idea how coherent the paper is but the important thing is that it's done..one more paper to go and that's it..masters degree here I come. Let the celebrations begin!

World Record Holder Here!

So I never thought I'd set a world record for anything but hell you just never know what might happen after you wake up in the morning. Yesterday I was at the Paniyiri festival (huge greek festival in Brisbane), little known fact outside Australia it has the biggest Greek population outside of Greece. You get tired of hearing it though, it's an often repeated fact here, especially that Melbourne is the largest Greek city outside Greece. Anyhow I was one of the many, many dancers in last night's successful world record attempt for the world's biggest zorba dance! Yep there were nearly 2000 of us, all with linked arms and doing the zorba for over 6 minutes, it was good fun. As we know I'm about the least coordinated person on the planet so I really did have to keep repeating the instructions for the dance over and over again in my head but it worked and was really great and I didn't fall down or lose the grip on the shoulders of the man next to me so all in all a success. Also I did have some Mythos (greek beer) and ouzo and see lots of hot greek-australian men so a great time was had by all!

Sweet!

Today I started my job with Fosters and can I say I couldn't be more pleased. First of all I have my dream schedule start time of 10am, which allows me to get those extra zzz's in the morning. Next and best of all found out this morning when I was getting the grand tour that there is a bar on the premises, not too far from where my desk is turns out and it opens at 4;30pm everyday and drinks are you guessed it FREE! Unfortunetly I'm sick and so no drinkies for me but one day I shall be well and then 4;30 here I come. Also my co-workers are pretty funny, rough as guts Aussies for the most part. Kylie (yes there are lots of Aussies named this) who was training me was telling me that when I run across wine orders to highlight them so they "stand out like a dog's bollocks", cracked me up. Then my boss says hope you don't mind cursing and carrying on, we find it helps to pass the time. Should be interesting, and my time today went by fast even though I did feel like someone had my head in a wrench b/c of this damn cold!!

Just in Time

Today is my birthday and I have a cold, so I was still aslep when the temp agency called me at 950 am and asked if I could make it to an interview at 11am. Sure I said even though I didnt wanna get up because I do need a job. So I jump up run to use my roommates computer to see where this place is on the map, only to go through a super frustrating experience because well her laptop is french and little known fact but the french do not use the same keyboard we do, the letters are arranged differently,instead of qwerty they use azerty, which means i kept typing in things wrong and I was in a super hurry!! I managed half running to get there on time and the interview went great and before I made it back to the bus stop I got a call offering me a job with..Fosters Australia(no one does drink fosters here but they make lots of aussie beers, wines and spirits that people do drink), yes I now work for that most Aussie of beer companies..I feel this will round out my full Aussie experience...Happy Birthday to me!

And the Adventure continues...

Big news in these parts-- I got a job in Japan! So looks like in September I'll be moving to Osaka. Can't wait should be a really good time. I will be sad to leave Australia though, after spending about 2 years here I've really grown to love it and totally wouldn't mind living here for good one day. But the adventure must continue, time for me to explore a new place on a new continent, hopefully giving me another perspective on this great big world we live in. In the meantime though I plan to enjoy the sunshine and good beer and try to see as much as I can before it's time for me to go :)

The Fuzz

So last week was fun, we had the threat of an immigration raid on the house because of my landlord and his damn kiosks!! Anyways I got a phone call and had to run home and basically had 30 seconds to grab stuff from my room. Why did I have 30 seconds you ask?
1. Immigration had already turned up to one of the kiosks looking for 3 of my roommates who were working illegally so they thought they'd be looking at the house next.
2. My landlord was burning all his business papers in the bbq outside and I didn't want to be implicated because I was in the house.
3. Due to a crazy theory told to me by my grandma I felt like I should get my passport before it was seized and used to "blame god knows what on me"

Anyways so I ran in grabbed my passprt and my photos and ran out to my friend's waiting car and then I was free. You know why I was free because at that moment I really was okay with never seeing any of my other stuff again, I was just glad to be outta the situation. Yes it would have really sucked to lose it all but you know there are worse things..such as being put in immigration jail somehwere in the outback.

Needless to say 3 of my roommates left and now my landlord is determined to only hire legal workers, so 2 british backpackers are moving into the house tomorrow..let the fun and games begin again.

P.S. yes I am considering moving but dammit I've only got 5 weeks of school left and it's just too much to even think about at the moment, at least I know all the incriminating evidence has been burned.

This is only a test...

Well I'm convinced the last 2 months has been a test, a test to see how much one can take before they want to quit school. The fact that I only have 5 weeks left until my masters is finished is just mindblowing. I have wanted to just quit and get a full time job so many times in the last weeks because I'm so sick of having no money. It's like I'm in a science experiment to see how long a person can eat two minute noodles and not develop some weird skin rash or keel over from malnutrition. I'm really making a concerted effort not to get a negative attitude but I think it's too late at this point. However I keep reminding myself that I'm in a place I love, I love to wake up to the sound of the kookuburas every morning, walking along the river to get to school (there's always the nicest breeze no matter how hot), being so close to some of the most awesome beaches in the world (and thank god they are free), and most of all to all my great friends I've made here who try to feed me meals and keep me halfway sane.

We've come to this conclusion..

I've discovered that I don't
1) Listen
2) Pay attention
These are two things that you get yelled at for when you are 10, yet still I have trouble with these things..it has become apparent on several occasions, most recently yesterday when I was interviewing for a job. We had to do an excersise, we'd be given a topic and had 15 seconds to think about it then talk about it for 45 seconds. So when it was my turn she says..describe your ideal pant..or I thought she said pant but of course I'd been tuned out of the conversation then came back in and heard something about pants. Turns out she said pet, describe your ideal PET! Oops..sorry miss wasn't paying attention.
This is only one example of many where I wasn't listening and/or paying attention, another one is the time I tried out to be on Wheel of Fortune. Of course we had to play a mock game and of course when they called on me I said a letter that had already been picked, why? because I hadn't been paying attention that's why. Dammit how do I cure myself of this!!!

Slow Poke

Sorry been absent a bit lately, I've been running around interviewing for jobs, taking mid-semester exams, etc. I've got this week off but am working on some projects I have due after the break, 4 papers in 2 weeks..yep that's the stuff of dreams people.

In other news..I'm thinking of going to Japan after I'm done with school, just interviewed for a job yesterday and it went well. Am not really bothered to go and live back in the US when I'm done here and am really keen to keep on travelling so hopefully it all works out for the best. Also still no freakin' money from school and it's cramping my style in a major way. I'm trying to keep myself away from the New Zealand idea because after all I've only 5 weeks of school left until I've got a masters, would be a shame to quit now.

Itchy Feet

So it is now Week 7 of school and still I haven't received the living expenses money I get from the US Gov't, supposedly it will be put in my bank account by next week. You would be surprised how one can live on NO money for several weeks. It does help a diet plan, even if you have to eat noodles and spaghetti all the time, it's not like you eat lots of it. Anyways I'm 2 minutes away from applying for my work visa online to go and pick fruit in New Zealand..2 minutes people..with the bond money from my place I'd be able to get a plane ticket and have money for about 3 weeks..until I got paid for my fruitpicking or working in a ski resort..yep..I have to convince myself everyday to stay put!!

Where it stops nobody knows..

One summer I decided to stay at A&M and go to summer school (of course I ended up dropping out of my classes and just working b/c they were too early in the morning) but nonetheless I was in College Station the whole summer. One of my friends was doing an internship so I subleased his room, and moved in with the 2 guys that were living in the house. There were several issues in the apartment some being: there was trash everywhere, 2 pomeranians always in makeshift cages that one of the guys was watching for his girlfriend, sometimes one of my roommates would think it was funny to wake me up by pounding on the door with a golf club, and worst of all Rush Hour (the movie with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker) was always being played on a loop.
Fast forward to my current household and guess what there's a movie that's played on a loop..Half Baked, I can hear the entire movie at least once a day and most days twice, last night it seemed to be on a loop until at least midnight..honestly people I know you are stoned but damn, download another movie!!! Also it shows no signs of stopping since we got 2 new roommates Monday night, both of which are total stoners..I keep telling myself patience is a virtue.

Bring back the TV!!!

About a week before I moved into my current house the TV exploded, which is rather unfortunate. Because of this we've had no TV for a few weeks and will hopefully be getting one soon, as soon as my landlord is done building the kiosk. Due to the lack of television all of us are --gasp-- forced to talk to each other every night for hours on end b/c well there's nothing else to do. One can only read so many books in their room (I read 2 last week) before they'd rather have some human conversation. However the normal topics of conversation are always totally out there. Here is a partial list of things that I've spent hours of my life talking about in the last week:
Whether or not it's legal to have a monkey in Israel
The monkey that attacked Itzic at a temple in Thailand
The diseases monkeys carry
How Itzic can get someone an illegal monkey in Israel if they have enough money
The home countries of all the women Dan has slept with (he's trying to sleep with someone from every country--a whole other conversation)
Why Asian women aren't easy (this is a favorite topic of Dan's which has been discussed several times)
Dan's 3 step plan for sleeping with a woman
The best way to build a kiosk
Why selling skin care products is the best job for picking up women
Why the French are so prone to hysteria (we've had a French girl Juliet move in)
The French film industry
Why American women are easy (a topic I was endlessly grilled about by Dan)
The best places in America to pick up women
The best stoner movies
Comic books made into movies
The bitch lady from the property management company
Finally the most common topic:
When are we finally gonna get a new tv!!!

Build a Kiosk and they will come...

Alright so the Israleis are working on the plan for Dead Sea skin product domination and they have branched out on their own and hope to have stands in 10 malls by the end of the year. However this past week they hit a hitch in their plan, the first mall told them that they could have a spot but they would have to provide their own kiosk. Since they don't want to pay money to rent one they have decided to build their own kiosk. Mind you none of them have built anything like this before and so they went on a scouting trip to malls to take pictures of kiosks as a sort of guide. Then it was to the hardware store to buy hundereds of dollars worth of timber and then of course tools, because well they had no tools. Right now the major construction project is going on in the garage, I fear this will only end in tears.

The Dark Horse

The Dark horse captured on film at the party, he's very brooding.

I'd like to buy a vowel...

Alright so I've blogged before several times about the norwegians. Here's the thing there are 4 of them, all hot who all have class together and are roommates, they are in 2 of my classes. Anyways Lars (my fantasy boyfriend) is widely believed to be the hottest of the 4, although now a dark horse has emerged to perhaps take the crown. I use the term dark horse here mostly because he's the only one of the 4 that's not blond. His name is Trygv, yep that's right there aren't any vowels in that, so I've taken to calling him no vowels. I've never spoken to no vowels before last night, normally I just kinda wave and then go talk to Lars. Well last night Lars wasn't out and so the 3 remaining hot norwegians were out together. Here's how my first conversation with no vowels went (some background: I'd had maybe 2 vodka lemonades already, no vowels was carrying an umbrella even though it wasn't raining, I went up to the bar to get 3rd drink and he was the only other person waiting)
Me: I guess you're a man who's always prepared (I point to umbrella)
No vowels: What?
Me: You brought an umbrella that was very prepared of you, in case it rains
No vowels: Rain yes, it might be wet
Me: What?
No vowels: I don't like to get wet in the rain
Me: No I don't like to get wet in the rain either
(It's at this point I realize..wit and charm would get me nowhere with this man..we are struggling to have an even basic english conversation)
No vowels: Are you having a test?
Me: What? No, I don't have a test, do you have a test?
No vowels: Yes I have a test tomorrow
Me: I hope it's not early..since you're out
Anyways I could go on and on this conversation was PAINFUL and lasted about 15 minutes. However I did talk to him later and it was a bit less painful, not much but a bit, baby steps. I really do think though that he may take the crown, because I saw him in boxing class earlier..Lars is really gonna have to step up the game to keep his spot.

Fun with hats!

As usual there were Guiness hats to be had on St. Patrick's day and yes those are balloons tied to my purse, I walked around with them on all night, Dr. Pritchard medicine woman (who's not pictured--b/c well I forgot I had my camera half the night and hardly took any pics) was nice enough to nick them for me from the bar. Incidently that Guiness hat Damien is wearing and then I'm wearing is the last one the bar had so we were lucky!

Strike you down!

Last night was a wonderful St. Patrick's day, fun antics to be had all around. My friend Nigel's new roommate who just moved here from the UK told me a great story about her previous run in with a Texan. Apparently this guy came to work at their lab (she's a smartie only 26 and working on a study to cure alzheimers--got sponsored to come to Australia to do so..I like to call her Dr. Pritchard Medicine Woman), anyways so medicine woman meets Texan at lab, they hit it off, one night all the lab rats go round the pub for drinks...same old story, medicine woman gets plastered and sleeps with Texan. Here's where it gets interesting she says that at like 8am--she'd only had 2 hours sleep and Texan wakes her up and starts preaching saying that god is going to strike them down for what they did last night and that they sinned, etc. Medicine woman says it was the worst morning of her life..she just wanted to go back to sleep and perhaps barf and try to forget the previous night but nope she got woken up for a sermon. This is why she now is afraid of people from Texas, can't say I blame her.

Funny Stuff

This is hilarious, it comes from the website McSweeney's Internet Tendency (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/) which has lots of great articles on it..check it out if you haven't already!

THE SLOWAND PAINFUL COLLAPSE OF A RELATIONSHIP OVER THE COURSE OF A WEEKLONG VACATION AS EXPRESSED BY THE NAMES EACH PARTNER GAVE THEIR DIGITALPHOTOS TAKEN DURING SAID VACATION.
BY MATT HULTEN
- - - -
Monday
Matt.jpg
Carrie.jpg
IloveMatt.jpg
IloveCarrietoo.jpg
Squirrel.jpg
DidMattjustwasteapictureonastupidsquirrel.jpg
IthinkCarrieisangrythatItookapictureofasquirrel.jpg
MattissnappingpicturesofverminwhenImsittingherewearingthemostadorablenewskirt.jpg
Carriewillnotletthesquirrelthinggo.jpg
Tuesday
ImreallyhopingtodaywithCarriewillbebetterthanyesterday.jpg
MaybeIoverreactedandIshouldnthaveyelledatMattforthesquirrelthing. jpg
IreallydontlikedancingbutifitwillmakeCarriehappyIllmakeaneffort.jpg
HeresMattpretendinghesprainedhisanklesohedoesnthavetotakemedancing.jpg
WeareinthefreakingBahamasandallMattwantstodoischeckhisfantasyfootballscores.jpg
Wednesday
IfIcanjustmakeitthroughtodaywithoutfightingwithCarrieIthinkwecansalvagethistrip.jpg
MeintheoutfitMattsaidmademelooklikemymother.jpg
IdontknowwhatIwasthinkingwhenItoldCarriethatshelookedlikehermother.jpg
IfCarriedoesntshutthehellupaboutgoingdancingImgoingtokillmyself.jpg
MattsayshesgoingtothehotelbarbutIknowhesreallygoingtoastripclub.jpg
CouldCarriesbathingsuitbeanysmaller.jpg
Thursday
OnlyfourmoredayswithMattandthenIcangohome.jpg
WhydidntIjustgotoVegaswithmyfriendsinsteadofcomingtothishellholewithCarrie.jpg
ImstartingtoforgetwhatIeversawinMatttobeginwith.jpg
Mattisapparentlycontentspendinghisdaysdoingnothingbutgettingdrunk.jpg
ImprettysurethatguyjustgrabbedCarriesass.jpg
IfIseeMatthitononemorenineteenyearoldImgoingtovomit.jpg
Carrieisopenlyflirtingwitheverythingontwolegsrightinfrontofme.jpg
Friday
IdistinctlyrememberCarriesayingthistripwouldbegoodforourrelationshipbutIdontrecallhertellingmeitwouldbetheworstweekofmyentirelife.jpg
MattisdrunkagainandIthinkhemightverywellhaveaseriousdrinkingproblemthathesbeenhidingfromme.jpg
SomeoneshouldtellCarriethatwhenshedoesbodyshotsoffaguytenyearsyoungerthanherselfitsnotcuteitspathetic.jpg

Saturday
HeresCarrieandthebastardshesprobablydoingbehindmyback.jpg
ThecouchisgoodenoughforMattandifhethinkshessleepingwithmehesoutofhisdamnmind.jpg
IveseenhomelessmenwearingnicerclothesthanwhatMatthasonrightnow.jpg
CarrieisprovingherselftobeevenmoreofashamelesswhorethanIoriginallythoughtwaspossible.jpg
JudgingbythewayhehashandledhimselfonthistripitsnowonderMattcantholddownasteadyjob.jpg
Carrieiswearinganotheroutfitevenaprostitutewouldbeembarrassedtobeseenin.jpg
Sunday
IhopeIvemadethisweekasmiserableforCarrieasshehasforme.jpg
IthinkweshouldseeotherpeopleMatt.jpg
ThatsfinebymeCarrieIllsendyouabillforyourhalfofthetrip.jpg
YoucangotohellMattyoucangostraighttohell.jpg

The Kibbutz

So I've offically been living with the Israelis for less than a week and it takes a bit of getting used to, they have been pretty good about trying to speak english when I'm around so that I can be part of a conversation. I have to say though I woke up this morning to an Alanis Morisette song blaring in hebrew. A bit about my roommates, downstairs it's just me and Itzic, who everyone calls Izzy, he told me to call him Easy because anything I need just ask him and he get it--EASY! He's always saying easy..it's funny the other day I asked him if he had a couple of extra hangers and he goes and gets some from his room and when he hands them to me he says, "See--EASY!" Also Easy found a bicycle pump for me so that I could inflate the balance ball I bought. He'd never seen one before so I had to explain what it's use was and demonstrate for him..then he says how much money you think people pay for this thing, and I said well I paid $12 and he shakes his head..maybe I could sell these things--he's always looking for business opportunities and he even told me, "people say we jews are always trying to make money but it's true it's all I can think about day and night, making money..it's my life". Him and my landlord Tomal have been friends since they were little and are partners in selling Dead Sea Skin products. They hire Isralei backpackers to sell them in malls here. Right now there are 4 such backpackers that live upstairs, all of them just out of the Isralei army and travelling. All they do is sell skin products and get stoned..which is alright I suppose when you've spent the last 3 years getting rocks thrown at you and shot at.

It's a Small World After All

Alright so in my last post I said probably after my Australian foray was over I'd have lived with people from 20 different countries, anyways so I decided a list was in order. So here is the list of the countries where people are from that I've shared a house with at one time or another in Australia (I've lived in 3 places, about to be 4).
England- Scott, Laura, Gemma, Melanie, Mad Mary
Ireland-Danielle, Conor, Enda
Germany-Jann, Sebastian, Toby
France-Ben
Italy-Valerio
Finland-Lilly
Korea-Joy, Sarah
Indonesia-not sure his real name but we called him the possum b/c he would always go hide in his room
Canada-Marc, Rafael, Joanne, Kelly, Amanda
Australia-Nigel, Colin, Warrick, Dylan, Jack, Crissy, Tim
Sweden-Oskar
Brazil-Fabio
Scotland-Adam (to be fair I only saw him when he came to pay rent and that one time he came home just to have a massive fight with his girlfriend)
Fiji-Gunnar
Israel-Names TBA since I'm moving in today

So looks like I'm at 15 and counting..there's still a room free in the house I'm moving into so we could be adding another country to the list and it's possible I've forgotten a country, I'll have to think on it.

The Moving Chronicles

Alright so the other day I thought I found a place to live and then yesterday out of nowhere I get a text from the landlord saying there's been a family emergency and they will be leaving for a few weeks, and they understand if I can't wait to move in that long..NO I can't wait!! There's no way I was gonna stay in hostel that much longer. Anyhow I got lucky because the first place that I went to look at (in a full on panic of course) said that I could move in on Sunday--the same day I was gonna move into the other place. Although let me say that this new place should be mighty interesting. The landlord is an Israeli guy, probably about 24 or 25 and lives in the front apartment and then rents out the rooms in the back one. Well here's the catch, apparently he has his own business and he hires Israeli backpackers to work for him who also live in the back apartment. So they'll be me, one other student who's renting a room and 4 Isralei backpackers living in the house. Should be interesting, never really met or hungout with any Israleis before...looks like before this is all over I'll literally have lived with people from like 20 different countries. Also I'm curious about the Israeli backpacker possible intdentured servatude happening..will keep you updated on the mystery as it unfolds.

Do you know where you are??

It's been an eventful last few days. Night before last I went to a barbie and then afterwards we went to Down Under Bar, which is the most insane backpacker bar in Brisbane, it's absolutely packed every night of the week and Wednesday was no exception. I went with a friend of mine's flatmates, one of them just had a friend arrive from Germany. So at some point in the night they always yell over the speaker..Do you know where you are?? Down Under Bar!!!! Followed by a drink special, so for that song only they were having $2 shots..as soon as they announced that I heard Fabian say to his friend.."germanwords, germanwords germand words fraulines (then pointed to me and the other girl there) then germanwords germanwords." Next thing I know we were being picked up and pushed through to the bar to get the shot special..I did know where I was and you know I don't think I'm going back anytime soon!

Last night was the international students welcome party which was lots of fun, I had lectures until 8pm with Nico and then we were meant to meet people after, well of course our lecture got cancelled and so me and him ended up at the party at 6:30pm, always trouble. Anyways what I like to call the hottie triumvarate joined us, Marc a hottie frenchman and 2 hot norwegians, including Lars who's picture I put in another blog..as my fantasy boyfriend. And let me tell you the love affair (imagined) continues, because guess what Lars did all summer?? He worked with autistic children!! It's too much and also he was the only one of the triumvarate that didn't openly state at the beginning of the night they were gonna try to take someone home that it'd be easy pickings..and he wasn't skeezing on girls..very refreshing indeed. Needless to say I'm a bit tired today, but no lectures so I'm a free woman for the next couple of days and move into my new place on Sunday..can't wait!!!

The Scantily Clad German and The Austrian Math Genius

Alright so I'm back in Brissy and it's great, hotter than hell but great, luckily I'm staying at a hostel with a pool so that's been fab. Not to mention that the pool is located in the hostel bar, so it's like pool day all the time! This time I'm staying in a 4 share dorm, one of my roommates is of course a scantily clad german girl, she's always running around in bra and undies and yes it's hot but damn throw on some shorts, also I had a full conversation with her the other day whilst she was wearing no top whatsoever..don't engage me in conversation when I can see your boobs!! Other than that she's very nice and excited to practice her english with me, she came over here as an Au Pair, and when she told me I immediately thought of some shady Au Pair situation where she ran around the house with no top or something. Also she has trouble saying the word suit, like swim suit, she just can't say it, which is a source of frustration for her as you can imagine, and she made me sound out the word suit for her about 10 times and she tried to say it..but alas..no suit for her!!!

Now for the Austrian girl, when she told me she was from Austria I wanted to sing Sound of Music. When she first came in the room she was asking me if I had an adapter but she didn't know the word for adapter and she just kept making this weird motion which I eventually figured out was plugging something in, so I thought she was looking for the plug so I showed her where it was..nope she wanted something else..what was it?? Anyways after a painful song and dance I figured out she needed an adapter and you know I must have been off yesterday because I should have said no I don't have one, but instead I said I have one but it won't work because it's US to Australia and you have a Euro plug. This of course was not understood and so I ended up having to dig for my adapter and then do a demo to show that it wouldn't work..honestly I think I'm going to acquire the patience of Jobe before I leave this country. So turns out that she's here on a math scholarship of all things to QUT where I go to school and since she just got here yesterday and has limited english skills she's a bit flustered and obviously needs to find a place to live just like myself. So me and Austrian Marian are new BFF for the moment, we've a date to go look for accomodation later this afternoon and we're going to the international students party together on Thurs. Also she is scantily clad as well..maybe it's an Austra-German phenomenon, because none of the Brits that have stayed in the room or myself have spent the day running around in our bras and undies, or perhaps they are just so happy that it's not snowing the feeling to shed clothes becomes overwhelming.

The Chair

Well, excuse me, but I think you've got my chair.
Nope I'm not talking about the George Strait song, this isn't a tale of newfound love but instead one of absurdity, wasted time and utter ridiculousness.
A few weeks ago the dean of my department began the quest for a new chair. She had her assistant go forth to find 10 chairs for her to sit on so she could find the perfect chair. After several efforts for 10 chairs to be brought to her office, she finally realized this was going to be damn near impossible and decided that she would go ahead and go to the showroom to sit in various chairs. Finally the lucky chair was chosen and it was to be delivered here this Monday, well there were delays and miscommunications but yesterday the chair eventually made it. However there was one more surprise, the chair came in a big white box, yep that's right it wasn't assembled! So a little meeting was called to decide if they should send the chair back or if they should try to put it together. Right now I'm staring at some pieces of a chair piled in the corner, untouched and still in plastic, its' fate yet to be decided. Further complicating the matter a woman who retired from the department a few months ago popped in for a visit yesterday, a visit which lasted 6 hours, and she asked if she could have the old chair if they decided to keep the new one. They told her that they'd let her know sometime next week what they've decided..I had no idea a chair required this much time and energy!!

The Lunchtime Chronicles

So today my favorite co-worker sassy Shirley tells me that this other lady that works with us Kathy is always commenting on her lunch everyday. Shirley will go to the refrigerator at noon and get her lunch, invariably Kathy is standing there and says something, like oh is that all you’re eating today (by the way Kathy is a total Debbie Downer so she says it in a DD voice). Today was an especially interesting day because when Shirley got out her salad and jello, Kathy says is that what you’re eating today, I hope you don’t get diarrhea. Shirley said she just looked at her like she was crazy, because honestly who says that out of the blue? Then Shirley told her, maybe I want diarrhea and walked off.

Also yesterday in the lunchroom, there was a discussion about how in Australia they eat kangaroo, and one lady says, eww that's an animal ain't it? I guess I would starve there. (I'm sure she eats meat so I don't know why the animal part bugs her.) But quickly the conversation shifted back to All My Children and isn't Susan Lucci about 60, and why does she always wear low cut tops when she has no boobs..good times!

Debbie Downer

Pictured is the Debbie Downer that Joey saw at Disneyland, you can tell she’s not having fun at the Happiest Place on Earth. We all know a Debbie Downer, always complaining about things, never having fun, everything is always a disaster. Rachel Dratch does the character great on Saturday Night Live. There’s a Debbie in my office, this morning I went into the copy area and she was making copies and says to me, “Look these copies are too dark, and look at this one the letters are a bit stretched, I don’t know why I even come in, nothing ever works right.” It’s always doom and gloom, then a bit later I go to get some water and DD is saying how the tea is making her queasy and she thinks she’s coming down with a cold. Then she tells me how her friend’s dad is in the hospital here and she hopes he doesn’t die. Dammit Debbie I dare you to have a good day! Also Debbie Downers usually talk in an Eeoyre voice. I don’t know what it is but DD’s crack me up, every time they are on a doom and gloom tangent it makes me laugh, because it’s always something so ridiculous, so thanks Debbie Downers you brighten my day!

Superstar

Alright so last week I went to Lunch with an old boss of mine, the one I had right before I went to Australia. OF course she was updating me on all the goings on of the department, who’d gotten charged with sexual harassment, who’d been fired, who was promoted, etc. So then she tells me guess who’s the new star of the Finance Department, and well for the life of me I couldn’t think who, because I’d never dealt with anyone in that place that was halfway competent. Anyways so she tells me James Wong…now I spoke of James in a previous post (Today someone at work(his name is James Wong and I swear he wears the same clothes everyday and has greasy hair, he's like the Asian version of Milton from Office Space, if Milton wore black cargo pants and a Hawaiian shirt everyday) asked me to get him some rare archery equipment that they only sell in Australia and mail it to him, as if, everytime I have to give him a check request to process he gives it back and finds some reason not to do it until eventually I just have to do it myself, get your bow and arrow somewhere else Mr. Wong!)
James Wong is now supposedly the star, imagine that, can’t imagine the state of things that would bring that on!

On a separate note, I’m beginning if I’ll ever stop wandering aimlessly around the world. I really can’t fathom just coming home and getting a job and settling in one place. Maybe that changes when you get older or perhaps it’s just a permanent state of being, I’ll keep you posted.

I'm Grown

You know I’d forgotten what it was like to work for the university. I’m back at the place I worked before I went to Australia working temporarily until I go back. I’m glad to have the chance to earn some extra money before I go back (which will hopefully fund my permanent residency application—lord knows what crazy fees I’ll have to pay). Anyways I forget the craziness of everything here. Example #1: Yesterday someone had to set up a classroom for a lecture, that someone asked another co-worker to call and wake them up 10 min. before while they took a nap, said co-worker forgot to call and the lecture didn’t get set up. Example #2: Someone asked me how to do a resume, this someone (incidentally the sleeper from ex. #1) had never done one b/c they’ve worked here forever and have never had to do a resume. Although probably wise for this individual to get a resume together given their proclivity for naps. Example #3: A co-worker I used to share an office with came into another work area and was being really loud, someone said she should be quiet before she gets in trouble, to which awesome co-worker replied..I can’t get in trouble, I’m grown.
I agree, I’m grown dammit and I can do damn near anything I want, within the law of course and I think it’s high time to take full advantage of that fact, it’s easy to forget. Sometimes you feel trapped by things you’re “supposed” to do, or think you’ll ruin your life by making a choice to follow what you want to do, but lately my thinking is I’ll ruin my life if I don’t follow my dream.

Decision Time

So after being back in the US for about a month and doing lots of thinking on it, I’ve decided that I’m gonna apply for Permanent Residency in Australia. Most likely it’ll be an unsuccessful endeavor being that I don’t exactly fit into one of the skilled occupation categories that are pretty much guaranteed a place. A couple of my classmates are currently applying and one is now taking classes as a pastry chef so she can get in under that category and another classmate is simultaneously getting her masters in international business and going to beauty school so she can get in under the hairdresser category (if you saw some of the hair there you’d understand why there is a dire need for beauticians). I’m not gonna go to those lengths but hell it’s worth a shot figure I might as well apply and hope for the best, I could stand a couple more years down under. So why do I wanna stay? Couple reasons—If I do I plan to live here:
http://www.noosa-heads.net/qldtourism/

It’s only about 1 hour north of where I live now on the Sunshine Coast. Also as Ben Folds says in his song Adelaide:
The world could turn and crash and burn and you would never know
The air is clear
There’s better beer
There’s never any hurry, fuss or worry

And that folks I could definitely stand for a while longer.