I got my first taste of blood on my spoon.....I have officially made my first ever kill in the game of Assassins! A sad feat to be proud of you say? I think NOT! I am a terrible liar and manipulator; I could never play poker or BS. Today, I hashed the perfect plan! A group, including my target, were going to the Comedy Festival tonight. I used this information against him (for a while his alias had been Elmo; I didn't make it up, Krshna did). I asked those in the group that were going, which ironically enough I got this information about who was going FROM my target, if they would participate in my plot and inform me where they were meeting and at what time. Then, at the right time, they would back away (the rule was anyone could be killed if there weren't in arms length of anyone else playing the game).
I even used his own joke against him! Phil, by the way is the name of my target. Phil from Cyprus (he was also in the Turkish military), likes that I don't like the nickname Han. And if you don't know Australians, they like names to be as short as possible. If you think it is impossible for them to shorten your name because it is one syllable, they will shorten to one letter just to prove you wrong! So, of course mine would be Han. Anyway, I don't prefer being called this because it can be mistakenly heard as Ham. He ergo wanted to nickname me Hammah! And he said he couldn't wait for me to say, "Stop! Hammah time!" Well guess, what? I "killed" him, which means I found the perfect moment to say, "Na na na na chi chi na na chi chi na na CAN'T TOUCH THIS!" It was the highlight of my day!
Moving on from my public internet gloating....I was reluctant to go, but I agreed to go see Marcel Lucont, the comedian with the group that night. I was not disappointed.
Before we got to the show, though, the most amazing thing happened at the bus station. After as certain hour of the day, there are more security guards around areas like the train station. One of the guards comes up to Paula, one of the members of our group, and asks her "Is that a spoon in your pocket? And if so, WHY do you have a spoon in your pocket?" We ended up having to explain to him that our Hall is playing a game of assassins where in order to "kill" someone you must tap him with a spoon! He had a grand chuckle over this. So did we.
The comedian's character (I won't say the comedian himself, because most comedians put on a facade when they perform to add to the humor; I know for a fact Marcel in particular emphasizes his French accent) is the most indifferent, pompous, self centered Frenchman. He read to us poetry, sang, and told stories about his childhood, and most of it somehow would end up in some sort of sexual reference. He has an espcially special place in his heart for talking about woman's breasts (note the sarcasm in that sentence). I wasn't expecting the room to be so small and easily interactive, but there were probably only 40 people in the room. It was a studio in the "Tuxedo Cat" called the Puffer Fish. Each of the rooms had random animal names. As a result of such an intimate setting, I actually ended up being a participant in his act. When he asked if there were any internationals, our entire row was the only row that raised our hands. And of course he asks, Where from? He ends up with a joke about Brazilian versus Californian waxes, because Paula is from Brazil, and leads on to joke about Phil because what do you expect a Cyprus wax to look like, a tree?
After the show, we walked around for a while, got a pitcher of Sangria and a pitcher of some sort of other Cocktail at an unusual Japanese themed bar, and walked around some more. It was a well worth the night out, full of kicks and giggles.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Weekend Plans
Last Friday, I meet with a Professor about taking up some hours each week to do some research on one of his projects. The only reason I knew to meet him in the first place was because of my fluke meeting with the Professor from Penn State at the Wine tour! The lesson here is be prepared to network with people ANYWHERE!
I haven't confirmed my standing yet, since I have also talked with my Professor whose project is more related to what I am interested. He hasn't been very prompt about replying back, though. I will give him the weekend, but come Monday, I will speak to him after class again.
Starting on Wednesday, the hall has been playing a game of assassins. It is pure chaos here! Friends become enemies, acquaintances become allies, and everyone is either hiding out in the shadows of the save zones or clinging to the buddy system. I signed up to play, but that was before I knew I had an exam AND a presentation on Thursday. It's only week 4! Well, I made sure to post that I wouldn't continue to play unless it was determined that the Study Lounge was a save zone, too.
Just a random note, the other night I went to the Nott, and Richardson students like to hang out in the Moose room to do some predrinking. Well, tonight there was some perfect comedic timing! A guy named Krshna, from Canada, was wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants because a new rule for the day was if you were wearing underwear visibly, you were safe from assassination. Well, these particular boxers (that said It's party time) were too large from him, but the elastic held them up. He swore another person could easily fit into them. Well.....someone took him up on the offer to try it out. Jack, a British man with no shame or modesty, got into Krshna's underpants while he was still wearing them. As they were standing there facing each other and began to pretend to get intimate with each other, one of the security guards for the building walks in on us. His face was priceless; all he did was shake his head, as if to ask what has happened to this generation?, and walks back out. Oh, and Jack couldn't help but take this moment to say, "It's pretty easy to get into Krshna's pants!"
The test and presentation went alright. I was glad my group volunteered to be the first to present because it was 2 hours of presentations and seeing that I was getting bored, I assume the Professors were, too. As for the exam, I don't think I have ever taken a Thermodynamics exam where I was able to complete it in the allotted time that they gave us. And I knew how to answer the last question, I just didn't have an opportunity to get to the exact answer, so I did the next best thing and explained stepwise what I was planning to do in order to reach the right answer.
This weekend is going to be quite busy for me. I hope in between all of the events I still have time to get stuff ready and lined up for next week, because I don't think my weeks are going to let up from now on. I plan to go Opt shopping tomorrow morning. That's what they call thrift stores here because opt stands for opportunity. I am looking for pieces of my costume I want to wear for the cosplay festival that is happening in a few weeks! I have never been to a cosplay festival but I have always had the desire to have the experience.
I have never been to a city where in under a few weeks I have gone downtown to a variety of festivals! I have been there to White Night, Food and Wine Festival, two FREE concerts in one night, and now I am going to the Comedy Festival either tonight or tomorrow night, or both, depending on how I feel I have time for. Then of course there's Supanova, the cosplay fest I mentioned in the paragraph above! I am really getting my taste of every aspect of Australian culture, and I picked the perfect location to do it!
I haven't confirmed my standing yet, since I have also talked with my Professor whose project is more related to what I am interested. He hasn't been very prompt about replying back, though. I will give him the weekend, but come Monday, I will speak to him after class again.
Starting on Wednesday, the hall has been playing a game of assassins. It is pure chaos here! Friends become enemies, acquaintances become allies, and everyone is either hiding out in the shadows of the save zones or clinging to the buddy system. I signed up to play, but that was before I knew I had an exam AND a presentation on Thursday. It's only week 4! Well, I made sure to post that I wouldn't continue to play unless it was determined that the Study Lounge was a save zone, too.
Just a random note, the other night I went to the Nott, and Richardson students like to hang out in the Moose room to do some predrinking. Well, tonight there was some perfect comedic timing! A guy named Krshna, from Canada, was wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants because a new rule for the day was if you were wearing underwear visibly, you were safe from assassination. Well, these particular boxers (that said It's party time) were too large from him, but the elastic held them up. He swore another person could easily fit into them. Well.....someone took him up on the offer to try it out. Jack, a British man with no shame or modesty, got into Krshna's underpants while he was still wearing them. As they were standing there facing each other and began to pretend to get intimate with each other, one of the security guards for the building walks in on us. His face was priceless; all he did was shake his head, as if to ask what has happened to this generation?, and walks back out. Oh, and Jack couldn't help but take this moment to say, "It's pretty easy to get into Krshna's pants!"
The test and presentation went alright. I was glad my group volunteered to be the first to present because it was 2 hours of presentations and seeing that I was getting bored, I assume the Professors were, too. As for the exam, I don't think I have ever taken a Thermodynamics exam where I was able to complete it in the allotted time that they gave us. And I knew how to answer the last question, I just didn't have an opportunity to get to the exact answer, so I did the next best thing and explained stepwise what I was planning to do in order to reach the right answer.
This weekend is going to be quite busy for me. I hope in between all of the events I still have time to get stuff ready and lined up for next week, because I don't think my weeks are going to let up from now on. I plan to go Opt shopping tomorrow morning. That's what they call thrift stores here because opt stands for opportunity. I am looking for pieces of my costume I want to wear for the cosplay festival that is happening in a few weeks! I have never been to a cosplay festival but I have always had the desire to have the experience.
I have never been to a city where in under a few weeks I have gone downtown to a variety of festivals! I have been there to White Night, Food and Wine Festival, two FREE concerts in one night, and now I am going to the Comedy Festival either tonight or tomorrow night, or both, depending on how I feel I have time for. Then of course there's Supanova, the cosplay fest I mentioned in the paragraph above! I am really getting my taste of every aspect of Australian culture, and I picked the perfect location to do it!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wholefoods Free Food Mondays
Monday is normally Corinne's cooking night. She gave us advanced notice that she couldn't cook for us this Monday, so we could plan accordingly.
I had been meaning to try the Free Food Mondays at Wholefoods just to see what it was like.
The people were spicy and well seasoned, the food was bland.
I started a conversation with two guys ahead of me in line when one of them, Calin, I think it was (Calvin without the 'v,' he said), was giving an impression to his friend of a British accent from some movie I had never heard of. I ended up talking about all of the American stereo types and debunking almost everyone of them. I never thought about it this way until I spoke with them: as an American I am at a severe disadvantage culturally. American pop culture is world renowned, but Australian's pop culture is something I have to learn as I go.
It was good fun, but when we got our food and sat down to take our first bite, we discovered that though it was a simple spaghetti and tomato sauce dish it was the most bland spaghetti I have ever tasted. The only reason I knew I was even eating was because I felt the texture of the noodles in my mouth. I know it's free food, but how much does it cost to add a little salt, something to make it "tastable."
At least I enjoyed good company.
I had been meaning to try the Free Food Mondays at Wholefoods just to see what it was like.
The people were spicy and well seasoned, the food was bland.
I started a conversation with two guys ahead of me in line when one of them, Calin, I think it was (Calvin without the 'v,' he said), was giving an impression to his friend of a British accent from some movie I had never heard of. I ended up talking about all of the American stereo types and debunking almost everyone of them. I never thought about it this way until I spoke with them: as an American I am at a severe disadvantage culturally. American pop culture is world renowned, but Australian's pop culture is something I have to learn as I go.
It was good fun, but when we got our food and sat down to take our first bite, we discovered that though it was a simple spaghetti and tomato sauce dish it was the most bland spaghetti I have ever tasted. The only reason I knew I was even eating was because I felt the texture of the noodles in my mouth. I know it's free food, but how much does it cost to add a little salt, something to make it "tastable."
At least I enjoyed good company.
Be Brave and SHAVE!
I don't know what it is about Australia, but I have definitely gotten bolder since I have been here. I think it's because I realize that I have nothing to lose, especially since I have such a limited span of time to achieve what I want out of my experience abroad.
Last Thursday I voluntarily participated on shaving my head, not to the point of bald, but close enough for me. It's for a program called "The World's Greatest Shave;" they raise money for blood cancer research. Their motto is be brave and shave.
There are some days I look in the mirror and ask myself, "What have I done?," yet the majority of the time I look in the mirror and feel pride for what I have achieved as a result of that hair cut. I raised money in person as well as online. My guess is it was over my goal of $1000, but I cannot honestly say whether this is correct because the only number I can see is the one that's online. I feel like such a rebel. One of the first observations I had when I came to Monash was the majority of women adorning pixie cuts were over the age of 40. I think I have only met one girl in the halls with a short hair cut, and another randomly in my class (and she realized she was in the wrong classroom soon after we began conversing). I am definitely the only woman on campus with an almost rocker hair style! I almost feel as though I should chuck my old wardrobe out the door, and start from scratch. Yesterday, I bought the cheapest leather jacket from a woman whose company is called "Recycle Queen" at the Monash Market. It was a good investment. Now all I need is some heavy black eye makeup. I am kidding.....or am I?
To my parents, I promise I won't come back Gothic. I am just enjoying teasing with the idea because I feel like a Bohemian now (we have been discussing Australian Bohemians in my Australian Idol unit).
So many people approached me since the "deed" was done with varying reactions of surprise and support. I especially enjoyed the comments and reactions of those who were their during my shave. A lot of them expected me to cry, I suppose. All I did was smile embarrassingly, since MRS made a big deal (they called it the grand finale) about it and so many were watching, while jamming out to the music they had playing. I think the worst part was when the razor's batteries died, causing a gap (an intermission so to speak) in the process.
I also liked how some people who'd met me already that weren't at the shave and the 30 second span that it took for them to realize it was me!
Check out the first half of my shave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZswqmkKlyk&list=UUSVsxxm3Ne8g_5QFeZpbkYw
If anyone else want to support a great cause, please submit any small amount to the following:
http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/seehannahshorthairforacause
Last Thursday I voluntarily participated on shaving my head, not to the point of bald, but close enough for me. It's for a program called "The World's Greatest Shave;" they raise money for blood cancer research. Their motto is be brave and shave.
There are some days I look in the mirror and ask myself, "What have I done?," yet the majority of the time I look in the mirror and feel pride for what I have achieved as a result of that hair cut. I raised money in person as well as online. My guess is it was over my goal of $1000, but I cannot honestly say whether this is correct because the only number I can see is the one that's online. I feel like such a rebel. One of the first observations I had when I came to Monash was the majority of women adorning pixie cuts were over the age of 40. I think I have only met one girl in the halls with a short hair cut, and another randomly in my class (and she realized she was in the wrong classroom soon after we began conversing). I am definitely the only woman on campus with an almost rocker hair style! I almost feel as though I should chuck my old wardrobe out the door, and start from scratch. Yesterday, I bought the cheapest leather jacket from a woman whose company is called "Recycle Queen" at the Monash Market. It was a good investment. Now all I need is some heavy black eye makeup. I am kidding.....or am I?
To my parents, I promise I won't come back Gothic. I am just enjoying teasing with the idea because I feel like a Bohemian now (we have been discussing Australian Bohemians in my Australian Idol unit).
So many people approached me since the "deed" was done with varying reactions of surprise and support. I especially enjoyed the comments and reactions of those who were their during my shave. A lot of them expected me to cry, I suppose. All I did was smile embarrassingly, since MRS made a big deal (they called it the grand finale) about it and so many were watching, while jamming out to the music they had playing. I think the worst part was when the razor's batteries died, causing a gap (an intermission so to speak) in the process.
I also liked how some people who'd met me already that weren't at the shave and the 30 second span that it took for them to realize it was me!
Check out the first half of my shave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZswqmkKlyk&list=UUSVsxxm3Ne8g_5QFeZpbkYw
If anyone else want to support a great cause, please submit any small amount to the following:
http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/seehannahshorthairforacause
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The Beach
Last Sunday I was supposed to call my sister.....I ditched her for a last minute invite to the beach. I am a TERRIBLE sister. I am glad she puts up with me because it is wonderful having confrontations with her. We may have a short tiff, but we will both walk away, and return with nothing more to say about it, so we will just get on with our day as if it never happened. Anyway, props to you girl for being a GREAT BIG SIS!
So....the BEACH! How was it you ask? Well, let's first have a mini geography lesson of Victoria, Australia. It's a bay. There ya go. That sums it up pretty well. Almost all of the coast of Victoria is a bay. I have never swam much in bay beaches. And I became the stupid American that asked, "why aren't there any waves?"
The water was a lovely temperature of just-cold-enough while the sun remained constantly hot. It was perfect. And of course, even with the protection of sunscreen, I got burnt that day. It's pretty inevitable. I don't think I have gone a day without at least looking at my upper chest and seeing red. Sunscreen must be applied every 15 minutes after being in the water just to work effectively in Australia. I have to say, that day, a little burn was worth the day away from campus. I hope to head to the city again tomorrow (Saturday 14th) for the Food festival. We'll see.
Most of the day went by without me even realizing it. However, we did get to the beach later than expected because there weren't enough people with cars to carpool the entire group, so Tali, David and I stayed behind. That was okay with me, in earnest, since Tali had knocked on my door at 11:15am while I was still sleeping off staying up late the night before. I ended up only having 15 minutes to get ready, so a little wait didn't hurt. It gave Tali some time to share with me the pride and joy that is Rhonda and the BIG AD! If you are in America, you know there are those advertisements that everyone, I mean EVERY-SINGLE-PERSON-YOU-TALK-TO-ON-THE-STREET knows about! Well, it's not that different over here. And Tali was exposing me to the commercial culture of Australia. And most of the....were for beer.
Later that week we had another fruitful conversation about how Australia cops with drought, flooding and bush fires.
Back to what happened when we got to the beach. This was only the third time I had carpooled in someone's car here, and it wouldn't be the last. It was Alex's car with Dexter riding shot gun. They had actually gotten lost coming back for us, because what was supposed be a 30min wait for them turned into an hour. We jammed to some oldies tunes on the radio. Supposedly there aren't many radio station options that are good.
When we arrived, we dropped off our stuff at the beach. Soon after we headed to the town's main strip to get some grub. I had fish and chips. Someone observed that wasn't the best choice to be having for lunch at the beach when everything else was already so salty. I had no regrets. Those were really good fish and chips. Before we got lunch, though, Tali gave me a true Australian christening. She doused me with lots and lots of sea water. My hair felt like I had grew dreadlocks overnight. I got back at her later.
I got in the water after a few bits of food. Almost my entire time in the water we played a game of monkey in the middle with a Frisbee. I realize now, Tali was never monkey in the middle. It was such a rush to not think about anything but the present.
So....the BEACH! How was it you ask? Well, let's first have a mini geography lesson of Victoria, Australia. It's a bay. There ya go. That sums it up pretty well. Almost all of the coast of Victoria is a bay. I have never swam much in bay beaches. And I became the stupid American that asked, "why aren't there any waves?"
The water was a lovely temperature of just-cold-enough while the sun remained constantly hot. It was perfect. And of course, even with the protection of sunscreen, I got burnt that day. It's pretty inevitable. I don't think I have gone a day without at least looking at my upper chest and seeing red. Sunscreen must be applied every 15 minutes after being in the water just to work effectively in Australia. I have to say, that day, a little burn was worth the day away from campus. I hope to head to the city again tomorrow (Saturday 14th) for the Food festival. We'll see.
Most of the day went by without me even realizing it. However, we did get to the beach later than expected because there weren't enough people with cars to carpool the entire group, so Tali, David and I stayed behind. That was okay with me, in earnest, since Tali had knocked on my door at 11:15am while I was still sleeping off staying up late the night before. I ended up only having 15 minutes to get ready, so a little wait didn't hurt. It gave Tali some time to share with me the pride and joy that is Rhonda and the BIG AD! If you are in America, you know there are those advertisements that everyone, I mean EVERY-SINGLE-PERSON-YOU-TALK-TO-ON-THE-STREET knows about! Well, it's not that different over here. And Tali was exposing me to the commercial culture of Australia. And most of the....were for beer.
Later that week we had another fruitful conversation about how Australia cops with drought, flooding and bush fires.
Back to what happened when we got to the beach. This was only the third time I had carpooled in someone's car here, and it wouldn't be the last. It was Alex's car with Dexter riding shot gun. They had actually gotten lost coming back for us, because what was supposed be a 30min wait for them turned into an hour. We jammed to some oldies tunes on the radio. Supposedly there aren't many radio station options that are good.
When we arrived, we dropped off our stuff at the beach. Soon after we headed to the town's main strip to get some grub. I had fish and chips. Someone observed that wasn't the best choice to be having for lunch at the beach when everything else was already so salty. I had no regrets. Those were really good fish and chips. Before we got lunch, though, Tali gave me a true Australian christening. She doused me with lots and lots of sea water. My hair felt like I had grew dreadlocks overnight. I got back at her later.
I got in the water after a few bits of food. Almost my entire time in the water we played a game of monkey in the middle with a Frisbee. I realize now, Tali was never monkey in the middle. It was such a rush to not think about anything but the present.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
The Other Night I had a Nightmare
So, not last night, but the night before I had a dream.
I had to write it down. I won't use this blog as a dream journal often, because for me to recall a dream is an infrequent occurrence.
The dream starts set on a plane whose captain has just announced that he is about to land. To land, though, the plane must go through a tunnel (much like some roller coaster ride). The captain's fair warning didn't give me enough time to put everything back in my backpack, under my seat in time, so I ended up having in hand my book, phone, and camera.
On the way down, the setting began to slowly change. We were now rolling in a hollow sphere with holes, like the Pirates of the Caribbean scene on the Island of carnivorous natives. I yelled to my Dad, who had been siting next to me on the plane. I told him, I was going to lose hold of my camera. Eventually, I did.
When we ended up at home, I got extremely enraged at losing all of the photographed memories from our trip. I began throwing a tantrum of F bombs, and tears flowed freely.
For some reason my teeth had caps and seals made from circuit boards and other covers that were pealing. I started obsessing over brushing my teeth to take my mind off all of the photos I had lost with my camera and to fix my teeth in the process.
It was a bad dream. If you want to try and interpret it, go ahead, but I have never had a fear of flying or been afraid of the dentist.
I had to write it down. I won't use this blog as a dream journal often, because for me to recall a dream is an infrequent occurrence.
The dream starts set on a plane whose captain has just announced that he is about to land. To land, though, the plane must go through a tunnel (much like some roller coaster ride). The captain's fair warning didn't give me enough time to put everything back in my backpack, under my seat in time, so I ended up having in hand my book, phone, and camera.
On the way down, the setting began to slowly change. We were now rolling in a hollow sphere with holes, like the Pirates of the Caribbean scene on the Island of carnivorous natives. I yelled to my Dad, who had been siting next to me on the plane. I told him, I was going to lose hold of my camera. Eventually, I did.
When we ended up at home, I got extremely enraged at losing all of the photographed memories from our trip. I began throwing a tantrum of F bombs, and tears flowed freely.
For some reason my teeth had caps and seals made from circuit boards and other covers that were pealing. I started obsessing over brushing my teeth to take my mind off all of the photos I had lost with my camera and to fix my teeth in the process.
It was a bad dream. If you want to try and interpret it, go ahead, but I have never had a fear of flying or been afraid of the dentist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)