Bow Chicka Wow Wow

That song is stuck in my head.
Okay, so I promised Kayk I'd do a lovely little post tonight, so here. I'm posting. Done.
What's been happening? I have a beautiful new "Dani Feel Good Wall," which looks fantastic, with a bunch of cute and funny pictures strewn about. It brightens up the room.
What else? Not much else going on. Kinda tired. Had a sweet Unofficial a while back.
Went to my first footy game last night. I had a conversation with Nick Maxwell, captain of the Collingwood team.
Me: "Hey, Nick."
Nick: "Hey, how are you going?"
Me: "Good."
Nick: "Good luck."
Me: "Thanks!"'
We're so gonna be best friends soon.
I got to also take a little picture with the Geelong cat and St. Kilda (yay!) Saint.
Another wonderful thing about Australia is that you can bring any non-glass/can food or beverage in like it's whatever to sporting events. I love it. And the in-MCG food isn't horribly priced. Tom's a part of the MCC -- aka Fancy Footy Club-- where you get fantastic seats for a discount, so we were really up close. Apparently, his dad was telling me that he had to put Tom and his sister on the waiting list 16 years ago because you have to wait for people to die so you can replace them in this club. Crazy, no?
My new favorite phrase to use is "cold as" or "expensive as" or (insert word) as. Really, it's a superlative and it doesn't make sense (cold as what?!) but I like it and use it frequently.
I went to Tom's vineyard a bit back (sorry this isn't in order) out in Castlemaine -- the countryside--- and it was absolutely gorgeous. His parents gave me lots of wine and we walked through the vineyard and it was wonderful. I named his chickens, too. Mrs. Gertrude Clucksworthy and Miss Georgette Hensickle.
This weekend we were all supposed to go to Ocean Grove and go camping, but the weather got icks, so we're planning for two weeks from now. Great Ocean Road next weekend!
Also, all plans are set for the Easter Break Adventure with Paul and Susan. Three days in Sydney, three days in Cairns, a day in Brisbane, and three days on Fraser Island with tours and such. So cool. It's costing me a pretty penny, but hey, I'm in Australia, right?
I miss Reeses. Hilary just gave me one that her friend's mom sent her. They don't sell them here. :(
I love Hilary. Such a good roommate and the best stories. And she's really wise, too. Good listener, good advice. All around wonderful girl. I'm glad I have her, opposed to some other Americans here.
Overall, all of the Americans and Australia are kind and funny and interested in knowing me. I love coming across a funny pronounciation ("conDOHM") and trying to muster up a good accent. You should hear me say "Australia." So good at it. ("'Straiya!")
In any case, I'm behind on my work and it's quarter till 2, so I best jet. xx

Things I Miss List

Real American chunky peanut butter
Jimmy John's
One World breadsticks
Everything Dsigs
Nutrigrain bars
Free MTD buses
Degrassi
Family
Friends
Not spending tons of money
Ikenberry
My bestie
Pringles not costing $7
Roomski
My mom's chopino
Watching Harry Potter all the time
Secret Life
The multigrain bread we get at home
Special K Fruit and Yogurt (because they only have the original kind here. what is that?)
Driving


Among other things.

Bromance is Better than Nomance

I’m making good friends here, getting closer with Tom, Drew, and Eugene particularly, although I also seem to hang with Marita and Emily in the Bat Cave often. They’re nice guys and we get along really well. I don’t go out often, so they stay in with me and we talk and watch movies and play cards. And they teach me Aussie lingo and aren’t afraid to comment honestly when I ask them about clothes. I feel like most guys offer an “I dunno,” but here it seems they’re making a more honest effort.

Another thing I really like about Australia is how comfortable guys are with their masculinity. Shorts for guys tend to be a lot shorter, sometimes pink or yellow, and some guys wore neon tights to Fluoro Night. Drew said it’s common for guys to send “xx” (or “kiss kiss”) at the end of messages too. When I told him that most guys in America probably wouldn’t feel comfortable with that, the guys replied “Bromance is better than nomance.” Well said.

Today, I went to a few classes – my Australian history class in the morning. We talked about Anzac Day and Australia Day and what it means to “be Australian” or “unAustralian.” For instance, it was unAustralian for this one Aussie woman to diss Steve Irwin. And it was unAustralian when an Aussie footy player decided to go coach a Brit team. And it was unAustralian for this one company to check up on its employees when they were taking Monday and Friday sickies.

In my Marketing class, I was definitely the biggest talker. I’m the only Marketing major, which was a little strange, and the only American. We talked about branding and promotion and did this taste test experiment thing. The prof was pretty chill. Oh, and another thing. It’s uncommon to call your superior by anything other than their first name. So, your teacher, you call him Bob. Not Prof/Mr. Smith.

I left my Finance class early because it was dull and they record the lecture and post it online. In any case, the guy goes WAAAY too fast with his math.

I’ve been Skyping often lately and usually grab a random Mary’s Aussie to “say something Australian” to the Skyper. “Ello, mate. How you going?” is what I usually get. It’s nice to see familiar faces and remember what my American life is like. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget.

The best call was with David. I miss hanging out with him, and when people mention their siblings, I automatically start ranting about David. I tell them how he makes me laugh and we watch Harry Potter and he always tells me that he loves me and we’re really close. And then I miss him. Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. People used to always say that when you aren’t living together, you get so much closer with your siblings, and it’s true. I hated David in high school, and now he’s one of my favorite people and I talk to him everyday in Champaign. No one knows you better than someone who was raised with you.

Today, “Bells Will Be Ringing” – that overplayed Christmas song my mom is obsessed with – came on my shuffle. I wasn’t annoyed. It was more of a “Awww….”

Tomorrow is Unofficial and Paul and I are splitting a handle for the occasion. First we have a Turn, which I had no idea about, (I realize now that I have to tell Laura… damn. I really, really wanted to see her tomorrow…) and then we’re off to Puggs. I’ll do my best to take pictures. And not get sick.

Speaking of sick, I’m feeling a little under the weather lately. If there’s one thing I miss about home, it’s how my momma takes care of me. Moms make everything better, especially when you’re sick. And I’ve been sick before in Champaign, but being all the way across the world is a little unsettling. Of course, I can take care of myself, so it’s all good. Emily squeezed some lemons and made me tea and Tom kept checking up on me and said he’d pick me up some throat lozenges tomorrow, so it’s all good. Oh, friends. What would I do without them?

But I miss my brothers. All the Vajizzler threads go out and I make sure to scan through them everyday. It’s my little piece of Dsig home that I can hold onto. When I was Skyping Hannah, Eugene asked her if she went Greek and she said “no.” I asked him if he remembered my frat’s name and he muttered “Delta….something Pi. Delta…Sigma Pi?” Hannah was like “Oh yeah. You’ll be hearing a lot about them.”

So true. It’s a little sad how attached I am to Dsigs. It’s my everything in Champaign. Pretty much my entire college experience and I don’t know how I would even survive at uni without it. Which is why, in a bittersweet way, I’m kind of glad I left my new-I semester, so I could get away and just miss it and not let it absorb me again. Because someday there won’t be Dsigs and I shouldn’t lean on it as a crutch as much as I do.

Anyway, I have class at 9 tomorrow, so it’s best I go to bed. Catch you later, blogosphere. Good afternoon, America. Good night, Australia.

Toast vs. Waffles

So, yesterday. We were woken up particularly early for “yoga,” which was pretty much thrusting and spreading our legs to say “hello, morning!” Fun way to start the day.

Then, in the early afternoon, we had the option to go on The Sydney Road Adventure (pub crawl) or on a Café Crawl, so I went for the more chill option with a small handful of fifteen people or so. The first café we went to was really closeby, called Animal Orchestra. We sat outside, but the inside was beautiful. It was like a giant magazine collage and the lighting was nice and mellow. I had a decent mocha, and then we went over to a more trendy place called Seven Seeds. It’s this little brick place, hidden in an alleyway. Coffee was fantastic. Definitely the better of the two, but a bit more expensive. I had an iced coffee and just took in how cool the décor was. Like, if Urban Outfitters were a café. Yeah.

Then, we went downtown (which no one calls downtown) and went to A WAFFLE PLACE. So pumped. I’d been craving a waffle since I’d left Singapore, and Aussies are hardcore into toast, and many people on the crawl hadn’t ever had a waffle. Wtf? Anyway, it was the rando little stand in the middle of the city, called Just Waffles. Sooo good. I made friends with Flavio, the French man with an Italian heritage, who owned the stand, and he made me his favorite kind of waffle, with strawberries, ice cream, and syrup. Yum yum.

I got to get more comfortable with the tram and talk to some more Aussies too. I really like Grace. We’re going to Jalong (sp?) this month to visit one of her friends, so I’m excited. She taught me one of my favorite new terms “fair dinkum” and Bec taught me “Arrubudiduch!” Yeah, that’s probably not spelled properly, but I love it.

Talked to Greek God some more over dinner, and could very possibly be going to his apple orchard home next weekend. Nice guy.

Then, we had our toga party, which was wonderful. Hilary helped me wrap my sheet and braided my hair. We’re getting along beautifully. She’s funny and easy to talk to and fun to share stories with, so I’m really happy to have her as a roomie here.

Speaking of Hilary, she just walked in from going out. Soooo drunk. Love it. She’s talking about all the drunken Mary’s hookups going on, and described them as “awww yeah, get it!” with thrusting motions and spanky hands. J Hilary’s the shit.

Anyway, then we went out to the bars for a bit, but I decided to go for the early take-home, being out of money and kinda sleepy.

Today, I went to Crown to exchange some traveler’s checks, which took forever. Xavier, one of the O-Weekers and my next door neighbor, was really nice and drove me in his super-80s car. However, we were going to the beach afterwards, so I looked like a bogan in my attire.

            While I was waiting for Xavier to pick me up again, a 30-something year-old guy from Queens came over to me, offered me a smoke, and tried chatting me up, saying I should go to “this joint he owns” and gave me the address, saying that if I say my name I’d get in free and get free drinks. Um….no?

            So, Xavier finally picked me up and we went over to St. Kilda’s, where it was cold. Everyone said it was going to be a really shitty beach, and it wasn’t awesome, but I didn’t find it that bad. Sat on the sand, talking to Isa, Susan, Bec, Flic, and Bridget mostly. Isa blows my mind. Her mother is Mexican and she goes to school in Barcelona, so she speaks Spanish, by nationality she is French, so she speaks French, she has fantastic English, even though she only started at 13, and she’s relatively fluent in Italian. This girl is awesome. She can’t always figure out exactly what she wants to say, but when she says something, you can see she’s sincere in her eyes.

Random comment: My room placing is excellent. I’m right on the corner of the floor, so one big window faces the street and the other on the east side of the building, right next to the uni, and a bunch of drunkards just walked past, singing. Too funny.

Also, I’ve found an ordering-soulmate in Tom. We were talking about names and he said that when he orders food, he tries to use different names than his own for the Hell of it, and went on to start listing them. All I was thinking was “No. Way. Crazies like me. They exist.”

When I got back from the beach, I took a bit of a nap, and then went over to the UniMelb sort of Quad Day, to feature all the clubs. I signed up for an International Commerce club, Exchange Students Society, and an organization that raises awareness and supports fundraising to fight poverty.

Tonight, we also had trivia. WHICH OUR TEAM WON. Hells yeah. We blew them out of the water. I was particularly helpful with the Disney round. Happy to put my useless knowledge to use.

Everyone is going out to celebrate the end of the week, especially the O-Weekers, who are tired of taking care of Freshers. I went to the Amurrican pregame, hosted in Paul and Justin’s room, where we taught some Aussies the art of beer pong. Hilary and I are the champs. Fo’sho. That is how East 55 does it. Don’t mess.

Aaron ended up spewing on Paul’s doona after a couple shots, which was pretty sick, and Susan was wonderful and helped clean up that and the pong table, which was a too-short desk. Also, Aussies have good music taste. I like almost every song. They’re just getting Two Door Cinema Club here and everyone is really into it, so I’m super happy. They all go “awww, LUCKY!” when I say I saw TDCC in concert.

After predrinks (which Hilary didn’t mind taking one for the team and skulling my goon for me), I went upstairs, and I’ve just been doing laundry now. The machines only take $1 coins, which is a hassle, but whatever. The basement is creepy as fuck and I’ve been borrowing the Mary’s cricket paddle to ward off any scary people who decide to mess with me. I’m having sex with Dani Weiss. Don’t play with this shit.

I actually have to go transfer it to the dryer now. Paddle: check.

Eugene's Drunken Logic of the Jolly Scale

"No, a 1 is like you've just been woken up at 6am, hungover, with diabetes and your parents are dead."
"A 10 is like I've just had sex with Jessica Alba and I wake up to blueberry pancakes and bacon. Gotta have crispy bacon."

First Blog!

So, I've been here since Thursday? Yeah. Thursday. I'll run through the past week and then try to keep a daily updating thing going on, if I can.

Thursday - Arrived in Melbourne, exhausted. I didn't get a wink of sleep on the flight from Singapore to my new homeland, but that's okay, because I bought a Kinder at Changi, which is all a girl really needs. The lines were ridiculously long for everything, and I had to chuck out my pack of Nutrigrains that my momma packed for me, so I wouldn't have to spend twenty lifetimes in customs. A guy cut in front of me in one line and I scowled at the back of his head for a good half hour and I accidentally bumped his suitcase a few times. How passive.
I got up to the desk and got a friendly "how are you going?" from a man with lots of laugh lines. Best new phrase and it doesn't make me sound like an idiot when I use it, like "ute" and "arvo."
Then I got to see Carly! Much too long. AND STORYTIME. So, as we were leaving the airport parking lot, Mike Posner crossed our car. Craziness.
After some driving and catching up, we got to Carly's apartment in Glen Iris, where she lives with three British boys with beautiful accents. I got to shower and crash on a super comfy mattress in the hallway. (Oh, they make fun of how I say "supER," instead of "supAH," as well. Usually followed by the mocking American accent and "supER best friends!")
Got my first taste of goon. Sunnyvale tastes like shit. Don't drink it.
Then, got to see Carly's work and had a few drinks, playing some sort of Aussie shooting video game. I sucked. I think I shot maybe one animal? And I had the chance to meet some of Carly's friends and play some pool with her roomies. And then we ran off to Crown! First experience with a Casino. I was terrified that I'd lose everything I'd ever earned, so I was cautious and put down $10 on Roulette, and then just stuck to the slots and won $4, and called it a night. Instead, I bought a ginormous margarita for Carly and I to split and we ended up just drinking that while Carly and the boys gambled more.

Friday - Left Carly's in the morning, with the intent of going to an 11:30am meeting, but got so lost on campus that I never made it. And life without a phone is very difficult, I tell you. Carly and Boon had to jet to the hospital to get Boon's medical guinea-pigging done, so I was left by myself with a wonky map and no sense of direction. Everyone was pointing me each which way and contradicting each other. Really, people, really?
Finally got all my stuff into Mary's (my new home of the red and the blue) and then went to get more uni stuff together. I remember being absolutely starving after not eating all day, so we got to stop by Maccas and pick up some fries. Yum! However, Boon is challenged with drive-thru operations and just can't seem to get a grasp on the concept, so we took a little longer than usual. I had a brief run-in with my roomie, Hillary, and then jetted back off to Glen Iris. Hillary's a sweetheart. She's from CT, but goes to school at Boston College. Tall, freckly, cute clothes, and seems to have everything put together. She's very confident with all of her decisions and never seems to second-guess anything she does, which I really admire. She's also been letting me borrow her adapter and toothpaste and things of that sort until I'm completely settled.
Friday night we ended up going over to Carly's friend Taylor's place and watching Little Britain over goon and cordial. We played a game that I don't remember the name of, but there are lots of "boo......WHIP!" sounds. Relatively easy to catch on. We had the intent of playing lots of games, but ended up just watching Little Britain and crashing. In the beginning, I just could not understand Vicky and her "yeah, but no, but yeah but" way of speaking (which everyone found to be hilarious), but finally caught on and understood most of the humor. Some things I will just never get.
Anyway, I decided to sleep on the couch and told the girls to wake me up in "just a few minutes," but ended up opening my eyes two hours later, and seeing everyone conked out and strewn across the room.

Saturday - Went to Kmart with Carly and picked up a few things. Saw a store called "Brumby's" and thought of my pseudo-Dsig baby. I was feeling sick later in the afternoon, most likely because of the lack of sleep and the jet lag, so I decided just to stay at Carly's and sleep and watch TV for the day/night. The five of us watched Love Actually, a movie I'd be craving for a while, and ate apples and peanut butter. Well, I ate apples and peanut butter, and they all gave me strange looks. Afterwards, they went out to the pub and I just decided to do a mini-pregame and fell asleep. At about 3am, they came back and woke me up, so we talked for a bit, and then everyone went to sleep. I stayed up, too awake, serenading John with Vanessa Carlton, as he slowly got bored and fell asleep.

Sunday - Went back to uni. We took the tram to the casino to exchange my traveler's checks -- boo, poor exchange rate!-- and then stopped by Hungry Jack's in Melbourne Central for a quick bite. Got to St. Mary's by 5:15pm or so and walked in to see all the new freshers dancing or something outside. I dropped all my Kmart goodies and said my goodbyes and went downstairs to see what all the fuss was about. I went outside and asked someone what was going on, but he was too focused in dance to answer, so I left the courtyard to explore the building. Two girls stopped me, saying "there you are!" and introduced themselves. Clancy is one of my favorite O-Weekers. She's so bubbly and cute and really energetic. I watched the other Freshers do the Fresher dance, which each college does to prepare for a dance-off competition. I still don't know it, but Clancy said my private tute is coming this weekend. It's to "One" by Yeasayer, which I had never heard of, but it's stuck in my head ALL THE FREAKING TIME now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLrKDGZx15c
Enjoy.

According to Hillary, I missed The Defreshing earlier in the day, which I am so happy about. Icky hazing, but all in good fun. Apparently, they blindfolded all the Freshers and poured Vegemite and shaving cream and marmalade all over them and their hair and made them crawl through spaghetti and baked beans. OH, and they always yell "Stupid Freshers!", regardless of the fact that I'm a Sophomore. They don't care. If it's your first year at St. Mary's, you're a stupid Fresher.
We then had "Amigo Turn," which is pretty much a Mexican-themed party, listening to songs by Art vs Science (yes!) over UDL (pretty much vodka lemon lime in a can) and cheap beer. Alcohol is so expensive here, but I love the drinking age. And these folk like to drink. Seriously.
Then, we ended up going over to Pugg's, the pub linked to St. Mary's. Each college has "their" pub, where they know the bartenders and get specials and such. I decided to go for the early take-home, being exhausted.

Monday - So, on the Fresher O-Week schedule it says "Sleep in!" Ha. More like 6am-wake up. They make you run all around campus in your pajamas and do jumping jacks and such. And we played Teepees and Indians. We had a bit to shower after and then had to take the Fresher Exam. They told us that it's completely mandatory about St. Mary's history and the guidebook, and that if you failed, they would seriously reconsider your placement and they had Sister Liz, the principal, come up and talk, so it seemed serious. However....it turned out to be a joke to scare us. The questions got dumber as it went on, like drawing revealing pictures of the O-Weekers, describing how to get out of a watering can if you were a stuck rabbit, and connecting the dots when there were no dots to connect. There was lots of yelling and "NO TALKING"  and people coming around, crossing out your answers with black Sharpies.
OH. And black Sharpies. They suck. So, you have to wear your name tag everywhere, or else they will draw your name on your forehead. Now, they'll even remove your nametag and write your name anyway. Or where you're from, and stuff of that sort. I got labeled "FRESHER" in block letters last night, after the whole Fresher-Sophomore debate came up again.
Then, we had lunch and did Amigo Olympics, where we did a sort of relay thing in teams. My job was to hit down a pinata and strap a lemon to my donkey (other U-of-I-er Paul) and smuggle him across the US border. All so un-stereotype, right?
After some welcome-Freshers talks about not hooking up with every St. Mary's person you see, we went bowling. And I sucked. Figured. But Isa, the French girl from Barcelona, bowled a 12. She was so cute and embarrassed. Each time the ball looked promising, it would gutter. Poor girl. Then, I ended up talking to Greek God, the Aussie who looks like he stepped out of an American Apparel/Abercrombie catalog. He told me about all the different types of Australian beer and such.
Then, we went to a different pub and I met Eugene, a kid from New Zealand. Nice guy. Says "yes" and "six" in a cool way. I opted for the early take-home again and had a plethora of escorts.

Tuesday - Formal breakfast in the morning, which I woke up late for. Yikes. No worries for the first time, though. Good croissants and tomatoes.
Then, I got to register for classes, which is a pain in the ass. And my schedule is ehh, and I'm waitlisted for most course times. Hopefully, they'll make an exception for an exchanger. And I may have no Monday classes! Keep your fingers crossed. I then got my student card, met a sweet girl named Georgie, and grabbed a mango smoothie from The Spot, which I affectionately refer to as Aussie-BIF.
Afterwards, we did a sort of St. Mary's Amazing Race thing around campus, which was fun, and I got to see places like Prinny and the library. We ended up having to go into the city, too, and do all sorts of odd tasks, like kissing strangers, bucking on the streets, writing strangers names on their foreheads, and eating Nutella out of nappies. And, of course, the Fresher dance.
After some pizza skulling, we had Fluoro-Night, the best night I've had since I've been here. Everyone dresses up in neon and we all just get pissed at this pub downtown and all the ex-cols were there. I made a new drinking buddy in Tom, or Fitzy, a pseudo-Australian, who's been living in Shanghai for the past few years. He's a lefty who can't skull to save his life. I coined him and he ended up spewing all over the men's bathroom floor. Poor kid. And Paul constantly yelled "ILL" and me "INI!", with everyone really confused. And we discussed our drunk-craving for One World. Pitchers were cheap, and, even though, I'm not a beer drinker, I went for it anyway, splitting two of them with Tom. And a few vodka raspberries on top of that. It was Tori's birthday, and she was really shitfaced because everyone kept buying her shots. Such a nice girl. So, I hung out with her for a bit too.
They made us all head home at 12:30, and almost all of us were trashed. And I apparently ate two neon yellow stickers, yelling "America!" So....good job, Dani.
When we got back, they fed us toasties, which saved me from a hangover, and I skulled a few goblets of water before crashing.

Today - We had an early breakfast and then I went to the dumbest info session in the history of info sessions, about how to participate in class. I thought it was going to be useful, like "oh, don't raise your hand because it's considered rude" and such, but it ended up being like "this is how you ask a question and here are some lead-in words, like 'May I just----'" and pointless shit like that for an hour. So, I went back home and slept for four hours until our kitchen and accy tours (accy being short for "academic," or the academic center, not accounting). Then we had a quick dinner and went off to the night market at Queen Vic's downtown. Such a brilliant place. I bought sweet corn and some Tim Tam and Kinda Surprise ice cream. Yum yum. And listened to live music while browsing through this crazy dress collection.
Just got home a little bit ago. I love this city, but I definitely miss home some. I'm anxious to travel and see more of the country and get some more touristy things going. All of the Americans have already done them the week before I got here, so I'm on my own for them, which isn't too terrible.
Tomorrow, there's yoga and then a pub crawl/cafe crawl during the day. I have very little money on me at the moment, so I think I'm going to to do the cafe crawl. I mean, who drinks at 1pm for 3 hours? And then more drinking later in the night for the Toga Turn (yay, Greek!) and then off to Pugg's. So, I'll definitely get my drink  on, I'm just passing on the arvo-skulls.
Well, I'm off to bed. I just realized that it's too late, but I was supposed to run over to South and grab Cecilia's saline solution for my drying-out contacts. Damn. No worries, I'll make it work, just like everything else. Tim Gunn.

Good night!