Courtesey of BYOB: "Who ordered the prawns?" ... "Kelly what did you get?" ... "I...don't remember."
Happy ANZAC Day! (Well, it was yesterday). I am currently enjoying an ANZAC Day cookie for breakfast, courtesy of Lindsey. I'll go into what that holiday is all about later.
I have been doing a lot schoolwork lately, since paper due dates and the like are sneaking up on me. I've got a paper about Australian parliament that's due May 6, but I have to have it done by Wednesday since I am going to Sydney Thursday, and I've got a biology paper about Fraser Island due May 13, and a paper for Australian popular culture, which I believe I am going to do on a topic I have devised on my own, tattoo culture. Mom won't be happy I am doing this, but it doesn't mean I am going out to get myself all tattooed up. It is just really common for people here to have them so I thought I would look into why that is and the history and culture surrounding it. I hope I can find enough information. Otherwise, I will go with another topic. Either way, this paper is sure to be a bit lighter and funner to write than the one about politics.
Enough about uni. In other news, I have started a regular, very part-time babysitting gig with a family just a 5-minute walk down the street. Her name is Levon and she and her husband are from Canada and have two sons, one of which was born here in Australia, they are 4 years old (Owen) and 14 months old (Angus). Owen has an Aussie accent which I just think is the cutest thing ever. And they are super well behaved, even though I am the first babysitter they have ever had (don't know how women can go four years without a little help). I will probably just go over there for a couple hours a couple afternoons per week. Every little bit helps though! And it's a nice little break for me, finger painting and reading kids books and stuff.
Also, I met with a personal injury attorney on Wednesday, and pending meeting with another lawyer to get a second opinion, I think I may end up going that route instead of trying to go through my medical and dental insurance. It will be a lengthy process, but the man I saw says if I try to go through the man who hit me's car insurance solo, they'll either say "Piss off, we aren't giving you anything" or they'll give me a tiny amount and make me sign saying I won't ask for more. Both scenarios undesirable. I didn't ever imagine having to deal with this kind of thing over here, but the good news is that if I hand over the case to an attorney I don't much have to think about it anymore, he'll handle the paperwork and the phone calls and all that and I just have to give him the bills and all that. It just isn't something I would be able to do alone. We'll see what happens there. I am confident. Most importantly, my tooth has a temporary crown, and one of my front teeth has just a tiny chip in the corner, which isn't entirely OK with me since I am obsessive about my teeth. But it's temporary and will be fixed soon. And, my chest has felt just fine lately. I went to the gym the other day and aside from being extremely out of breath and out of shape since I haven't worked out in weeks, I was fine. It no longer bothers me when I sleep and only is a very dull pain when I cough or something.
So let's see, that was mostly my whole week, until Thursday, which was my birthday. It just so happens that Brad's birthday is also April 23rd, go figure, so we went out and I brought Lindsey and Candace and he brought his friends Dan, Matt, and Az and we got Thai food at a place in the West End called Huong's. It was really fun. Then we went out to a bar called Friday's on the Riverside, and that was really fun too and met up with a ton more people. Then at one point, it started to get quiet I think, so people wanted to go to another bar called the Stock Exchange, so we went and apparently here in Australia you have to pretend you are dead sober to get into bars because they wouldn't let me in which was annoying because, hey, it's my 21st birthday! Cut me some slack. But, I'd had a good time so decided to call it a night then. That was essentially my 21st birthday, and it was a bit different than I had imagined since I am here and not in America because, well, anyone can drink when they are 18 here. But fun, still.
So, Friday I didn't do much because Brad came to pick me up really early Saturday morning at like 4am so we could partake in the oh-so-Australian ANZAC Day parade down at Surfer's Paradise. They do the parades in mostly every major city and area but we wanted to go to Surfer's I guess because well, A) I have never been there and B) there's a fantastic breakfast buffet at a casino down the street, Conrad Jupiters. So at 5:20am, a parade started right along the main street on the beach there. ANZAC Day is celebrated to honor members of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps who died in WWI fighting at Galipoli in Turkey. I hadn't known anything about the holiday but apparently it is similar to our Veterans's Day. (Places close down in honor of it, no grocery stores or anything were open all day.) So veterans and family members marched in the parade and then a man led the ceremony, just talking about the day and what it means and everything. There was a moment of silence, it was really nice. (But cold--it's starting to get really cold here at night, but still really warm during the day. It is their winter though so it is understandable but it's been such a fast change!) Then once that was over most people sat on the beach to watch the sunrise which was absolutely gorgeous. It was only the second time I have been able to watch the sun rise at the beach since I have been here, and it might have been even more stunning than at Straddie. Tough call, haha. Brad is insane and went swimming and I didn't because I am a baby and it was way too cold. Then we got some coffee and the sun came up so it finally warmed up, and soon it was time to feast at the breakfast, which was totally awesome since by that time we had been up for 6 hours and were starving. All kinds of food, it was delicious. Then we sort of lounged at Broad Beach for a little while, not long, which was lovely.
Then last night, Lindsey had Candace and I join her for a BBQ at a friend of a friend's who lived sort of far out in Petrie. We had to take the train there then they picked us up, they were way out in the 'burbs. It was fun though, we just sat outside and chatted most of the night. Everyone there traveled so much. Brenton, the one who invited us, was on a hockey team in Canada for four years until he was injured, and also played for the Gold Coast Blue Tongues, which is the hockey team for Queensland--I didn't even know they had hockey here in Australia! And others had just traveled all around, one woman had lived in England for a while, another traveled around with his family when he was younger to Russia and all these other places. There was a girl there from Japan (that's not uncommon though around here!) and it was just interesting hearing everyone's little stories. It's fun to hang out with Australians who know what it's like to move around because they are interested in hearing about where you come from but also can tell you about what they've seen and done. Brenton told us that once we get back home, we will miss Australia for about a month, then we will be glad to be home. I don't think it's quite a set formula though, the culture shock and reverse culture shock is different for every individual.
Today I HAVE to get some of this paper knocked down! Check out my pictures from my birthday and Surfer's on my flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellyalysia.
Cheers!
I have been doing a lot schoolwork lately, since paper due dates and the like are sneaking up on me. I've got a paper about Australian parliament that's due May 6, but I have to have it done by Wednesday since I am going to Sydney Thursday, and I've got a biology paper about Fraser Island due May 13, and a paper for Australian popular culture, which I believe I am going to do on a topic I have devised on my own, tattoo culture. Mom won't be happy I am doing this, but it doesn't mean I am going out to get myself all tattooed up. It is just really common for people here to have them so I thought I would look into why that is and the history and culture surrounding it. I hope I can find enough information. Otherwise, I will go with another topic. Either way, this paper is sure to be a bit lighter and funner to write than the one about politics.
Enough about uni. In other news, I have started a regular, very part-time babysitting gig with a family just a 5-minute walk down the street. Her name is Levon and she and her husband are from Canada and have two sons, one of which was born here in Australia, they are 4 years old (Owen) and 14 months old (Angus). Owen has an Aussie accent which I just think is the cutest thing ever. And they are super well behaved, even though I am the first babysitter they have ever had (don't know how women can go four years without a little help). I will probably just go over there for a couple hours a couple afternoons per week. Every little bit helps though! And it's a nice little break for me, finger painting and reading kids books and stuff.
Also, I met with a personal injury attorney on Wednesday, and pending meeting with another lawyer to get a second opinion, I think I may end up going that route instead of trying to go through my medical and dental insurance. It will be a lengthy process, but the man I saw says if I try to go through the man who hit me's car insurance solo, they'll either say "Piss off, we aren't giving you anything" or they'll give me a tiny amount and make me sign saying I won't ask for more. Both scenarios undesirable. I didn't ever imagine having to deal with this kind of thing over here, but the good news is that if I hand over the case to an attorney I don't much have to think about it anymore, he'll handle the paperwork and the phone calls and all that and I just have to give him the bills and all that. It just isn't something I would be able to do alone. We'll see what happens there. I am confident. Most importantly, my tooth has a temporary crown, and one of my front teeth has just a tiny chip in the corner, which isn't entirely OK with me since I am obsessive about my teeth. But it's temporary and will be fixed soon. And, my chest has felt just fine lately. I went to the gym the other day and aside from being extremely out of breath and out of shape since I haven't worked out in weeks, I was fine. It no longer bothers me when I sleep and only is a very dull pain when I cough or something.
So let's see, that was mostly my whole week, until Thursday, which was my birthday. It just so happens that Brad's birthday is also April 23rd, go figure, so we went out and I brought Lindsey and Candace and he brought his friends Dan, Matt, and Az and we got Thai food at a place in the West End called Huong's. It was really fun. Then we went out to a bar called Friday's on the Riverside, and that was really fun too and met up with a ton more people. Then at one point, it started to get quiet I think, so people wanted to go to another bar called the Stock Exchange, so we went and apparently here in Australia you have to pretend you are dead sober to get into bars because they wouldn't let me in which was annoying because, hey, it's my 21st birthday! Cut me some slack. But, I'd had a good time so decided to call it a night then. That was essentially my 21st birthday, and it was a bit different than I had imagined since I am here and not in America because, well, anyone can drink when they are 18 here. But fun, still.
So, Friday I didn't do much because Brad came to pick me up really early Saturday morning at like 4am so we could partake in the oh-so-Australian ANZAC Day parade down at Surfer's Paradise. They do the parades in mostly every major city and area but we wanted to go to Surfer's I guess because well, A) I have never been there and B) there's a fantastic breakfast buffet at a casino down the street, Conrad Jupiters. So at 5:20am, a parade started right along the main street on the beach there. ANZAC Day is celebrated to honor members of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps who died in WWI fighting at Galipoli in Turkey. I hadn't known anything about the holiday but apparently it is similar to our Veterans's Day. (Places close down in honor of it, no grocery stores or anything were open all day.) So veterans and family members marched in the parade and then a man led the ceremony, just talking about the day and what it means and everything. There was a moment of silence, it was really nice. (But cold--it's starting to get really cold here at night, but still really warm during the day. It is their winter though so it is understandable but it's been such a fast change!) Then once that was over most people sat on the beach to watch the sunrise which was absolutely gorgeous. It was only the second time I have been able to watch the sun rise at the beach since I have been here, and it might have been even more stunning than at Straddie. Tough call, haha. Brad is insane and went swimming and I didn't because I am a baby and it was way too cold. Then we got some coffee and the sun came up so it finally warmed up, and soon it was time to feast at the breakfast, which was totally awesome since by that time we had been up for 6 hours and were starving. All kinds of food, it was delicious. Then we sort of lounged at Broad Beach for a little while, not long, which was lovely.
Then last night, Lindsey had Candace and I join her for a BBQ at a friend of a friend's who lived sort of far out in Petrie. We had to take the train there then they picked us up, they were way out in the 'burbs. It was fun though, we just sat outside and chatted most of the night. Everyone there traveled so much. Brenton, the one who invited us, was on a hockey team in Canada for four years until he was injured, and also played for the Gold Coast Blue Tongues, which is the hockey team for Queensland--I didn't even know they had hockey here in Australia! And others had just traveled all around, one woman had lived in England for a while, another traveled around with his family when he was younger to Russia and all these other places. There was a girl there from Japan (that's not uncommon though around here!) and it was just interesting hearing everyone's little stories. It's fun to hang out with Australians who know what it's like to move around because they are interested in hearing about where you come from but also can tell you about what they've seen and done. Brenton told us that once we get back home, we will miss Australia for about a month, then we will be glad to be home. I don't think it's quite a set formula though, the culture shock and reverse culture shock is different for every individual.
Today I HAVE to get some of this paper knocked down! Check out my pictures from my birthday and Surfer's on my flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellyalysia.
Cheers!