That's Life

Irony: I was remembering my train trip today and my last morning on the train came to mind.  I woke up to the Dixie Chicks singing Wide Open Spaces on the radio, so as the lyrics, "She needs wide open spaces, room to make her big mistakes" were passing through the speakers, I was in the middle of the outback--doesn't get more wide open than that. 

From Every Corner of the Globe

Edith Cowan University is host to a plethora of exchange, study abroad, and international programs.  In fact, the ECU Student Village's population is 50% international students, and this is where I live.  I room with four other girls and all five of us have different nationalities.  I live with a girl from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Singapore, and Australia.  I have met people from Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, China, Canada, France, and England to name a few.  The diversity here is mind-blowing. 

Nerdiness

DESCRIPTION

This unit is an historical study of colonialism in Australian and its impact on

Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations. The unit will focus on Aboriginal responses to the

colonial process; European-Australian responses to Aborigines; state government

policies and legislation which impacted on Aborigines and how these varying interactions

have been interpreted by historians.

This is a description of one of my classes--Themes in Australian History.  I am pysched for this course :)

Rain

I have now been in Australia for 30 days, and tonight was the first time I have seen it rain here.  It was kind of a monumental moment.  I was at home in the student village when the drizzle started, and I had to go out onto my balcony just make sure I was really hearing what I thought I was hearing.  I looked out across campus and students came pouring out of their rooms and running to their windows to see the event as well. 

Need Air-Con

must...resist...urge...to cut...hair...so...hot...ahhhhhhhhhhh

Aussie Lingo

mozzie = mosquito 

sunnies = sunglasses

bloke = a guy, old or young

cheers = I've heard this used a couple of ways, such as "thank you" or "goodbye"

uni = college

bathers = swim suit

 and of course, mate

*There is no such phrase as "shrimp on the barbie" because they call shrimp prawns.

I'll let you know more as I learn them!

Sorry, America: Canada and Australia Have The Most Livable Cities in the World

Sorry, America: Canada and Australia Have The Most Livable Cities in the World

House vs. Holmes

To all of you who love "House", I advise you read Holmes: http://www.housemd-guide.com/holmesian.php

Only in Oz

Only in Australia, I believe, is it possible to work up a sweat while reading at 7pm while the sun sets.  Guess what I'm reading:

"while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition"  --?

                                              

My Refuge

Yesterday I located the nearest movie theatre--The Cinema Paradiso.  Reasons I love it:  the bus ride there involves no transfer, it's near Perth's Cultural Center, it's has air-con, and it gives student/unemployed discounts.  I saw "The King's Speech", and I highly, highly recommend it.  Mom--Colin Firth is now on my list of older men. 

Lionel Logue: [as George "Berty" is lighting up a cigarette] Please don't do that.  

King George VI: I'm sorry?  

Lionel Logue: I believe sucking smoke into your lungs will kill you.  

King George VI: My physicians say it relaxes the throat.  

Lionel Logue: They're idiots.  

King George VI: They've all been knighted.  

Lionel Logue: Makes it official then.

The Perth Zoo

This post is for my Camren; because I couldn't take you to this zoo, I tried to take as many pictures as possible.  I know there's a lot, but if I can hold her attention for a good three minutes I'll be happy :)

Pelicans

Cassowary

Tree Kangaroo

African Painted Dogs

Mufasa

Mufasa and Sarabi

White Rhinoceros

Look Gram, that turtle you booted across 24 said, "To hell with these Americans," and made it all the way to Australia.

Pygmy Marmoset

Lemur

Galapagos Tortoise

Tawny Frogmouth

A bashful Western Ringtail Possum

Bilby

Quokka, found off the coast of Perth on Rottnest Island

Blue and Gold Macaw

An Orangutan's jungle gym

An Orangutan!

The little guy

Permai (which means pretty) the elephant

Yes, Australia has native penguins

Perentie

Freshwater croc

Black-necked Stork

A Black Swan, found only in Western Australia

Black Cockatoo

Forbidden love :(

And of course, some 'roos

And koalas

Tasmanian Devil

This picture is called "The First Kiss", taken by an onlooker at the Perth Zoo, and is now internationally recognized.

And finally, my souvenir, an elephant spray painting

Lawn Bowls

 My kitchen window looks down upon this patch of green, and for the last two weeks I could not figure out what these old blokes came to play every Tuesday and Thursday.  Today I had a breakthrough and discovered it was the game of lawn bowls.  The green is typically 37-40 square meters, and a rink (which is what one game of lawn bowls is played on) is between 5.5 and 5.8 meters across.  This spacing ensures that more than one game can be played at once on a green.  The game consists of two different balls, a bowl and a jack or kitty.  The while ball below is a jack/kitty, and the two black ones are bowls.  The bowls are not perfectly rounded, so that when bowled their path curves.  The game begins by the jack being rolled the length of the green (wherever is stops becomes the end of the rink), and then it is placed in the center of the rink and becomes the target for bowls. When bowling, the goal is to aim for the jack and not go past the end of the green.  As you can imagine, there are both offensive and defensive shots.  An offensive shot is called a draw shot, where the bowl is bowled with isolated placement being the goal.  Examples of defensive shots are the strike, upshot, and block--all are bowled with the goal of knocking another player's bowl out of placement or blocking another player's draw shot.  A round of bowling is ended when each player has bowled all of their bowls, and the bowl closest to the jack receives the most points.  There can be teams of 4 all the way down to a solo bowler.  

Australian History of Lawn Bowls:  The first recorded game of bowls occurred in 1845 at Sandy Bay, Tasmania, with the first club established in 1846.  1864 marks the creation of the oldest existing bowls club--the Melbourne Bowls Club.  Today there are interstate contests, and a World Bowls Championship which includes teams from Australia, New Zealand, Africa and various parts of Europe. 

WAtoday Rottnest Channel Swim

If I can rope my flatmates into going, I will be attending the 2011 WAtoday Rottnest Channel Swim.   http://www.rottnestexpress.com.au/promotions/channelswim2011.aspx

Tan Lines

You can't tell in this light, but I have a really obnoxious tan line from these sandals.

Growing Penicillin

Australians do not use preservatives as liberally as we do in the States.  Perhaps they are a little too lax.  This bread was bought Friday, and look at the state it is in by Tuesday morning.  Mom, Gram, or Aunt Sarah, before you email me and tell me to put my bread in the fridge so it will keep longer, don't.  I already figured this out the hard way. 

Thought of the Day

Tonight I spent a very productive night at home in Aussie, working on scholarship applications.  I'm looking up quotes to sprinkle in my application essays and came across this oxymoron in a quote by General George S. Patton:  ELOQUENT PROFANITY.  To follow up, he finishes his statement with: "As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, by God, get carried away with my own eloquence."  ---How eloquently put General Patton :)

Indigneous Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia

I haven't had much time to research Aboriginal art yet, so I am only going to do a quick intro to what I'm working on.  I went to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and fell in love with some of the Indigenous (Aboriginal and Indigenous are interchangeable) art.  I hope to find some history behind the Aboriginal culture, and how their art ties in.  For now, you'll have to settle with an Aboriginal painting I viewed in the art gallery.  Also, none of the pictures taken of art inside the gallery are mine, since cameras are not allowed.  

Artist CURRENTLY Unknown

Quote of the Day

Okay today we are going full-fledged Thorn Birds, so the quote (or passage) for today come's from the book: 

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth.  From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale.  One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles.  For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain . . . Or so say the legend.

The Thorn Birds

To anyone dreaming of coming to Australia, and I guess you have to be a female to truly enjoy it, read The  Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough.  McCullough is an Australian author, so you can be sure that her depiction of Australia is quite accurate.   It's one that you'll want to come back to as well, as I hope to be  re-reading it as soon as my care package from home comes in the mail :)

 

Decisions

I went back to Cottesloe Beach today, and I pretty sure it's official--I HAVE to live in a coastal town when I grow up. 

Western Australia Museum, Perth

I visited the Western Australia Museum in Perth, and luckily enough for me it is located right next to the bus station.  Entry is free, however they very fervently advise a $2-$5 donation at the museum information desk.  The museum consists of three levels: ground level (which has a range of collections, from Australian insects to jewelry), level one (which explores the history of humans in Australia as well as the animal life), and level two (which houses the museum's meteorite collection).  My camera died somewhere on level one, so I'm only able to show you what I found interesting in half the museum.  If ever in Perth however, do check it out.  Here's the URL:  http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/museums/perth/#perth/getting-here

There are an estimated 475,000 plant and animal species who call Australia home, 80% of which can be found no where else on earth.

Here's the Spectacled Hare-Wallaby

From left to right: Brush-tailed Phascogale, Greater Glider, and the Common Spotted Cuscus

Of course there had to be a dingo.

The Sloth Bear

The Mouse Deer

How clever these Australians are:

 

This is a skull of a Killer Whale.  Sometimes in life, the size of an object astounds you, and this was one of those moments for me.  The picture does not do it justice.

This is the "Golden Eagle", the largest gold nugget found in Western Australia.  It weighs in at 35.326 kilograms; that's 77.7 pounds.