Back to school...

I survived my first week back at uni....and it was so much more successful than the last go.  I made it to all of my classes on time went to all the right rooms, and didn't have to publicly battle the chairs.  All in all, a good week.

A quick rundown on my courses:  terrestrial resource management; environmental economics; Disasters: vulnerability, mitigation, and planning; and managing marine and coastal environments.  After the first week it seems like it's going to be a really fun and interesting semester.  And I am determined to keep my work on schedule!

Other than classes the first week is always filled with festivities to kick off the semester, which I of course participated in. :)  Toga party was on Tuesday and it was a bit of a let down (when compared to the one I went to in 2008).  We  rocked up around 10pm only to find no one in the club, instead everyone was waiting for the bus to town.  We still went in, had a few drinks from our favorite bar tender (Vitto), but then decided to head to town.  I was a complete moron and forgot to bring my ID to the club (thankfully I knew the bouncer!) so we had to take a nice long, and expensive, cab ride back to the house and then to town.  It was a great night though, which made the cab drive worth it.  Nothing like rockin' the town wearing a bed sheet!

toga!

The next festivity was Thursday night, and the options were: uni club or deck party at the riverside tavern.  Since uni club's reputation has crashed and burned most people were heading to the tav...so we hopped on board.  I went over to my new place and hung out with the future house-mates for awhile before we headed off.  We grabbed a few roadies and were off walking to the tav....our first house bonding experience.  It was a really good night, we had a chill night hanging out with friends over a couple jugs of beer.  At the end of the night we walked back and bonded even more with some beer induced "deep" conversations haha.  It was heaps of fun...and a nice preview of what next semester will be like.  I'm excited!

Frans, David, and David showcasing their "roadies".   :)

The festivities are continuing tonight with an 80's flashback party!....so I am off to go find myself a sweet outfit.  I'll write more soon!

Races!

This weekend was also the Jupiter Cup horse races....which is basically an excuse to get all dressed up and drink all day long.  :)  We started the day with some strawberries and champagne around 10am and continued with some goon and juice.  Around 11:30 Chris' dad came and picked us up in his work bus and dropped us off at the races for a fun filled afternoon.  

The gang

It was a blast!  Everyone looked so nice with crazy hats and fascinaters...as well as some bizarre shoes!  It was totally acceptable (and encouraged) to look like Lady Gaga at this event.  The bigger and weirder the hat, the better.  We arrived, had some food and drinks and just hung out on the lawn watching the horses race by every now and again.  I have no idea how the betting works, so I opted to pass on the betting.  There's not much more to say about it...just that it was a great day! 

What happens when you start drinking before lunch...

All dolled up

go go go!

Charters Towers

on the road!

Awhile back Emily and I decided it would be fun to road trip out to Charters Towers  (about 130km from Townsville) for the drive in theater.  We opted for this weekend because Toy Story 3 was on. :)  So by 8:00am-ish we were on our merry way to inland Queensland.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were ready for an adventure.  We really had no plan besides the drive in, so we were just going to wing it.  

The drive out only took about an hour and half and seemed quite quick with some good jams and interesting sights.  There was one stretch of land that was absolutely covered in termite mounds!  It was the strangest thing I have ever seen, they look like mini volcanos haha.  Strange.  We also saw sooo much roadkill :(  But thats what happend on these outbackish roads.  We even saw a road train (which is a huge culprit in the road kill because they cannot slow down) which is essentiall 2-5 semi trucks hooked together.

termite mounds!

Road train!

We arrived in town to find quite a large city, which surprised me.  Back in the day it was the second largest city in QLD (besides Brisbane) due to the gold rush, so it makes sense....I am just so used to podunk Australian towns.  We got some coffee and walked up the main street to have a look at the shops.  The main street reminded me a bit of a CO ski town where there are some fun unique boutiques as well as some western shops (since it is the country music city of Australia).  After that we went to the tourist center to get some ideas for the day. We ended up getting an audio driving tour CD that directed us all around town and informed us of the historic sights and landmarks of the town.  It was actually a lot cooler than it sounds haha. 

View from Tower Hill.  Looks like a decent sized town, but there is NOTHING beyond the city limits.

Hanging with the boomerang sculpture.

Kissing a camel, no biggie. :)

 In the middle of the cd we took a detour 30kms west to eat lunch at a pub that supposedly had an animal farm....mainly because we wanted to see a camel and an ostrich.  We drove out there only to find out the pub was closed (bugger!) but the camel and ostrich were still out back, so we still got the see them. :)   We headed back to the main street and had lunch, then finished our driving tour.  Once we had finished that we ran to the grocery store to pick up something to eat for later (we opted for PB&J since we're both suffering peanut withdrawls living with a Lindsay) and some deeeelicious jaffas (one of my favorite lollies here in oz).  After we stocked up on some treats we were off to the river for a potential swim.  We drove out to some site 20kms outside of the city but it was juuust a little too chilly for us, so we relaxed on the bank of the river for a bit before heading to the movie.  As we were leaving to head to the drive in we caught a glimpse of the most amazing sunset!  So bummed that we didnt leave a little earlier and catch the whole things, but oh well...next time.  Since Charters Towers is in the middle of nowhere there are just miles and miles of nothing, which makes the sunsets absolutely amazing.  That is one reason I am dying to go to Uluru; the sunsets and starry night is meant to be unbelievable.  So after snapping a few photos we were off the drive in to chow down and enjoy some g-rated entertainment.  I love the toy story series so I of course loved the third movie.  I even cried at the end, as pathetic as that sounds haha.

Relaxing on the river bank.

tail end of a gorgeous sunset

July update:

Okay, so I feel as if my world has completely switched around within the past three weeks....a welcomed, and enjoyable switch I might add.  

The biggest player in this change is no longer having to do brekkie!  No more waking up at 4:30 = much happier Jamie!  I am amazed at how cutting that out changed everything...I finally felt like I could enjoy my break.  So, enjoy it I did!  I caught up with my friend Shannon (a girl I knew when I lived at Rotary in 2008) and went to town with her, Azul, Vitto, Emily, Lindsey (not my roomie Lindsay) and her boyfriend Cody for cheap Tuesday my first week off.  We started at Cactus Jacks (a piss poor mexican restaurant lol) for some $3 coronas, headed off to the shed for some dancing, and ended the night in the mad cow taking pictures with strangers haha.  All in all, a great night out...with no worries about getting up! :)

Shannon, Vitto, and Azul

Crazy Americans...

Our new "friends"

Another exciting thing: Lindsay and Chris got a puppy!  Effing adorable!  Having some fur in my life just makes me smile....especially when I am not responsible for picking up it's poo. :)  His name is Kaan (full name is Takaani, which means wolf) and he is an adorable Siberian Husky pup.  Though he is getting bigger, more bitey, and more territorial (aka...pees on everything) lately, which is not the most fun.  

I just want to shake him he's so cute!

Other exciting things: I finalised my housing for next semester!...and it's going to be awesome.  My friend David and I (He is from Mexico and I knew him from last time I was here) decided to find a place together so we wouldn't be stuck in a house with strangers.  We found one we really liked but ended up not acting quick enough and one of the rooms was given away...but then, one of the houses I had looked at previously (but was too expensive) lowered the rate so we snatched it up.  Ironically enough the other house mate was a friend  and we hadn't realized it!  So it's going to be myself, David, Frans (the friend) and another David (the owner of the house).  Its a great group of people and I reckon it's going to be an amazing semester there.  I have been to 2 BBQs and its a nice, relaxed group of people and friends.  The house is beautiful and fully furnished (with a massive HD projector screen tv!!!!) and a pool with a huge yard.  I'm so excited!  All three of my house mates speak Spanish, so I'm going to have to learn quick to stay on par with the rest of them.  I reallllly want to learn Spanish so maybe this will be the thing that forces me to learn. :)  I haven't moved in yet, but will slowly start moving over this week and will post pictures asap!  On the note of my housing, another exciting thing was David coming back into town.  He spent the last semester abroad in the Galapagos Islands so I hadn't seen him since 2008.  It was soooo nice to have the old gang back together.  Like the good ol' days again! 

Reenacting a 2008 moment...so it doesn't make sense.  The fact that all 3 of us are in the same photo is the main point! :)

Other than that I have just been enjoying my time off before uni starts back up again.  I caught up with another mate from Rotary, went out dancing again, and have just been relaxing!   This weekend I went to Charters Towers and the races (I will post more about those in a minute), which was a perfect way to end the winter break....because unfortunately the time has come, uni starts tomorrow!!!! I cannot believe its starting again, but I am kind of excited to get back in the swing...kind of.  Now that I am finally enjoying my break I don't want it to end.  Oh well, tough luck!  I will let you know how my first week goes.  Hopefully more successful than last semester! hahaha

That's so Australian....

I was talking with a friend about the differences between Australia and the US and it made me realise how many things that I've gotten used to here, things that were once weird to me, but are now part of my everyday life. I thought I'd share some of the things that, when compared the the US, seem “so Australian”.....

1. 
   
   Cars
   Most of the cars here are old, small hatchbacks. There are the occasional sedan and whatnot, but as a whole the types of cars on the road are quite different. The biggest difference is the utes so popularly driven here in AUS. Useful, but ugly if you ask me. Bigger utes are around and are similar to trucks in the US, but they still have their differences. For one, the bug utes here tend to have snorkels on the exhaust (to allow for driving in water) which makes it look like the cars have periscopes haha. If only they did....

   

   Everyday ute

   

   snorkel ute

   
   
2. 
   
   Fluoro trade shirts

   

   soo bright...

   Here in Oz it's not the common thing for people to go to uni after high school, which is so strange to me. The most common path is to specialise in a trade, whether it be a plumber, a baker, etc, etc. For that reason the part-time casual jobs are harder to find because even a job at the chemist (pharmacy) becomes a somewhat professional one. Anyway, back to the fluoro shirts. Since heaps of people work in trade jobs there are hundreds of people out and about in these colourful trade shirts. Most of them tend to be outdoorsy trades, like gardening, construction, and plumbing, but you see heaps of them around town. I feel that my eyes are going to be so bored when I am home in the states without the bright fluoro in my life everyday.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. 
   
   Specialty Shops
   On par with the trade jobs follows more specialised shops and businesses. There are few “one stop shops” like all the stores in the US are turning to. Generally there is everything you need in the shopping centre, but you need to go to different places to get it all. It was a bit frustrating at first, having to hunt around for the things I wanted, but now it seems natural to me. Run to the chemist for your lotion and such, the butcher for your meat, the grocery store for your food, and the news agency for your cards and whatnot. They have something similar to wal-mart, Big W, but it is still quite different and doesn't have everything you need. Also, all the shops close at 5pm, except Thursday night (which is late night shopping) when they are open until 9pm. Grocery stores are open until 8pm ever day, so that's never a problem. (on the note of grocery shopping, they don't refrigerate their eggs. Weird, ay? And also you don't need to wear shoes to shop...ew.) It's kind of nice actually because when they close that early your evenings are free, you don't have to worry about working or bogging them down with errands. It is a bugger when you've realised you need something and nothing is open...which has happened a few times.
   
   
4. 
   
   Pub Food
   I didn't eat out much when I was here last time, and to be honest I haven't eaten out much this go around...but after working and hanging out with more Australians I realise there is a typical pub menu, and it doesn't branch out much from that. In the US I feel like people try different restaurants to try different things, but here they go to different pubs only to find who has the best food. The few times I have been to a pub with some Aussies they almost don't even need to look at a menu because they know exactly what they want walking in. Hamburgers, chicken schnitzels, steak burgers, crumb steak, chicken burgers, salt and pepper squid, fish and chips, and lasagna can be found on just about evvvery single menu in this country. And every burger will have beet root on it, no doubt about it. Now don't get me wrong, there are some restaurants that branch out, but if you walk into a “pub” you know exactly what to expect. Also, every single pub has pokies (slot machines) and keno. Gambling is just a part of everyday life here, which is so strange to me. Even people who come to Angelina's (my work) for lunch will head over to the news agency and buy scratchies to play in the afternoon. On the note of food, fish and chips shops are absolutely everywhere. Every suburb in Townsville has at least 3 fish and chips places...and the suburbs are not that big. No complaints from me though, I love me some fish and chips. :)
   
   
5. 
   
   Bottle shops
   Aka...liquor stores. Here there are heaps of drive through bottle-o's where you rock up, tell them what you want, and they bring it out to you. They call it "the drive". How convenient! Though I usually just park the car and get out myself to have a look, I am too indecisive to know straight away what I want. There are so many pre-mixed drinks that make your decision so much harder. They have tons of flavored vodka with sodas as well as pre-mixed rum and cokes, etc. I have definitely gotten used to those!

   

   
   

   
   

   

   Australia's own rum, pre-mixed with cola...a very popular drink here!
6. 
   
   Pre-paid mobile
   No one (well very, very few) here has an actually phone contract, everyone has pre-pay, which is rare in the states. Apparently it is really hard to get a credit card here until you have been working ages (which is also very different from the states where they force feed you credit cards the moment you turn 18) so getting an actual plan is really hard.
   
   
7. 
   
   No pay at the pump
   This is the absolute weirdest for me. In the states there is absolutely no way you can even get a drop of gas without prepaying. Not here, you pump and then go inside to pay. I actually find this annoying because it takes so much longer. I want to swipe my card, pump, and be on my merry way. But oh well, what can you do. Also, you have to hold and squeeze the gas pump the whole time. I'm going to have a buff right hand when I come home so everyone be ready. :)
   
   
8. 
   
   Talking
   Obviously they sound different here, with that sexy Australian accent and all, but even the words/phrases they use have melded in my vocab...and it isn't until I really think about it that I realise we don't use it in the US. For example, if you ask someone “how ya going?” (which is what they say, not how ya doing/hows it going) the person would respond with “yeah,_____". I have absolutely NO idea why they say “yeah” before answering a question, but they do. And now I do too. Also, instead of saying “what” if you didn't hear what they said they say “hey”...which I have also adapted. Other words that have snuck their way into my ever day vocab: reckon, keen, arvo (afternoon), brekkie (breakfast), off (instead of gone bad. “do you reckon this chicken is off?”), “true?” (instead of “really?”). In addition to different vocab I have picked up some weird ways of saying things like they do...like tuna is pronounced “chuna”. So weird, but I say it that way now. Same with Tuesday the “tu” is said more like “chu”...to “chuesday”. Strange. Also, they say assume like “ashume”, which I have caught myself saying. I still haven't picked up the sexy aussie accent so I just sound like an American fool when I say “I just ashumed we'd eat chuna on chuesday”. Hahahaa. (on the note of tuna, they have soooooo many flavoured tunas here.  SOOOO many.  I absolutely in love.  Anything from mild indian curry to caramelised onion and sun dried tomato...mmm)  Also, when calling someone on the phone, even just calling up a shop, they introduce themselves. This was extremely confusing when I worked reception at the hotel because people would call and say “oh hi Jamie this is Bruce” and I would think “should I know who Bruce is...?” . They are just a very personable country and it is reflected in their casual interactions I guess....kind of how everyone is a mate. :) It also comes out when you're checking out at a shop, they will say “see you later” after almost every transaction. At first I thought “umm, when? I really don't think you will” but now it has just become normal.  And, as you can tell from this post (since it was set on AU spell check) they spell things weird.  They're not keen on using Z's...which baffles me.

There are obviously HEAPS more, but there are a few for now. :)

Jamie goes America all over their asses.

Dear Australia, 

On the 4th day of the the 7th month you are dead to me...it's time to let America shineeeee!  

Sincerely, 

Jamie

On this year's glorious indepenDANCE day we had a traditional american bbq at our place, with all the essentials: food, beer, and explosives.  My American house mate Lindsay and I decided that since we have to be Australian every other day of the year, we were going to make the Australians be American for one day....or least try our hardest to make them.  haha.  It turned out to be a really great day!  I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing the american fare: burgers, homemade potato salad, homemade baked beans, watermelon, corn on the cob, potato chips, patriotic jello salad....the whole 9 yards!  People showed up in the arvo and the festivities began.  Throughout the arvo/evening we had about 15 people come, which was just perfect.  The food was a hit and the American beer (woohoo miller)

 flowed like wine.  The Townsville show was in town that weekend (kind of like a fair/carnival) so we actually got to see fireworks!  We walked to the top of a hill in our neighborhood and watched the tinyyy show in the distance.  It wasn't as exciting as the normal show, since we were 8kms away, but Lindsay and I were thrilled.  My friends (who we may or may not have forgotten to mention how big the hill was) at least pretended to be amused.  We tried our own fireworks show, but all we had to work with was sparklers, poppers, and glow sticks hahaha.  It was the most PG 4th of July ever.  I guess thats what you get in a country where fireworks are illegal, except for one state on one day of the year...bizarre.  But, with that said, we had an absolute blast taking long exposure photos with the 

sparklers.  Amazing how entertaining it can be!  We tried to make a sparkler bomb (shaving off all the sparkler bits and putting the powder into and empty popper case) but the case melted before it could shoot up...so it was a no go.  Oh well, we still had fun trying!  After our pyrotechnic attempts we continued with the fire theme and lit a bonfire in the backyard to endulge in some good ol' American s'mores.  mmmmm!   They dont have proper graham crackers, and a lot of the marshmallows are strange as well...so s'mores are non-existant in Oz.  However, I did some research and found some good substitues and they. were. amazing.  mmmmm! 

 The Australian had absolutely no skill in roasting a marshmallow though, it was embarassing.  No matter how many times I yelled a them the ALL insisted on stick the mallow straight into the flames.  Pshh... amateurs. 

As much as I would have LOVED to be home in the states, blowing up watermelon with my family, this was the best Australian 4th of July I could have asked for!

Magnetic Island

After my last project (a review on the turtle management plan in a Great Barrier Reef nature reserve, worth 50% of my semester! yikes) was complete it was officially winter break. As I mentioned before, I still had to get up for brekkie everyday...but my days were finally homework free!  What better way to kick off the weekend than with a trip to Magnetic Island.

Emily's brother was in town for his 18th birthday, so I joined them for a little day trip to the island.  It was perfect, just what I needed.  After weeks of sitting in front of my computer it was absolutely fabulous to get outside and spend a day at the beach.  We took the ferry over around noon and it was an absolutely perfect day. Not too hot, but warm enough that the cool ocean breeze on the ferry ride over felt amazing. The ferry is only about 20min, so by the time we got to the island we took the bus to Horseshoe bay and had some lunch at the pub there....where I ordered calamari as my main meal!  Which, for me, is absolutely earth shattering.  The rest of my family has always loved calamari but I could never get into it...until that glorious afternoon at the Sydney fish market.  Anyway, after that we took a hike to one of the beached you can only get to by foot, Balding Bay.  This particular beach happened to be a nude beach....and there were some creepy men utilizing this "freedom".  Luckily they were on the other end of the beach, but still!  I just don't get why those bits need a tan, and if you really think they do, why you feel the need to do it in public?  Hmm, who knows.  To each his own.  We stayed there for awhile and then decided to hike back to Horseshoe bay to catch the sunset and maybe some dinner, though the restauraunt we had been hoping to eat at (a mexicanish one) closed early on Sundays.  We decided we would stay for the sunset and then head back to the mainland to get some mexican (well, australian-mexican) food at Cactus Jacks in town.  It was a beautiful orange sunset, a perfect ending to a mini island getaway!