As Close as You're Going to Get to a Virtual Tour

This post is for Grams as well, she wanted to see my flat.  So, without further adieu, I welcome you to apartment 133.

  Here is our living room/kitchen:  

Official invitation to our Kenyan dinner party next weekend :)

  

 Meet Balu, our couch potato (and yes I named him): 

 

Here is our hallway and bathrooms, 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms:

Here's my bedroom.  I thought about cleaning it before the photo-shoot, but I thought, "Hmmmm, how realistic is that?"

Now we will go out of doors,  top right orange is our living room, and top left red is my room:

 

Now for the view from our balcony/walkway.  The top picture is of Mount Lawley Senior High School, and below is our view of the ECU Student Village:

Alright, the virtual tour is now coming to an end, you're welcome back any time though mate!

 

Band of Backpackers

Alright, my grams wanted to see pictures of the people that I talk about when I call home, so I will show you some of the amazing people that I've met abroad and that I am now fortunate enough to call my friends.  We have quite the variety of people in our group right now (and I apologize in advance for the blurriness in some of the photos):

This is Charity, one of my roommates and closest friends here.  She is from Kenya and here at ECU working on her Masters degree in business.

Next we have Asle (AJ) and Marte, the best Norwegian friends a girl could have.  AJ is at ECU working on his Masters in business as well, and Marte is earning her Masters in communication.  If you're interested in listening to some Norwegian, YouTube Marte Marengs.  She has written and recorded a song entitled "Shake Rompeflaesket Laus" which means either shake all you've got or shake your ass in Norwegian, I'm not sure.  Marte is singing as well as playing piano in the video, and she has beautiful voice, however she is shy about her music so I will not post it on here--look it up if you're interested, I promise you won't be disappointed!

 This is Mercy, also from Kenya and currently earning a degree in aviation.  I met her through Charity--they came to Australia together.

 

Here is Wesh, from Kenya as well and working on his undergrad at ECU.

 

Finally, our new recruits, and I hope we make a regular habit of seeing them.  Meet Frank (left) and Andy (right).  Frank is from Nigeria and here at ECU working on a Masters degree in technology I believe, and Andy is a Scotsman working on a degree in film.

Every day I meet someone new, so hopefully our circle will grow.  Maybe I can even get my other flatmates to join :)

Who's Land is it Anyways?

Today in my Themes in Australian History class (taught my a Scottish-Australian by the way) we discussed the rightful owners of the land called Oz.  I do not wish to generalize, but it is politically correct to say that some Aboriginals believe that the land was and always will belong to the Aboriginals.  The clashes between white settlers and Aboriginals is almost inevitable because each views the land so differently from the other.  For example, above is a map depicting Australia broken up into states, and below is a map broken up into tribes:

Also, I have previously stated that the terms Aboriginal and Indigenous are interchangeable.  While this statement is true, it is not politically correct to call Aboriginals Indigenous, as it offends certain tribes, so from here on out I will be referring to them strictly as Aboriginals.

Ode to the Writer

 

Working diligently to bring you insight on life in Australia.  The red lipstick helps the creative flow.

Day Trip to Fremantle

Last weekend I attended a boat show in Fremantle, a booming coastal suburb of Perth.  Freo, as it is called by locals, is still a working port today with 2 miles of docks.  Coming into the suburb by train, you are greeted by massive cargo ships, and having never seen one up close, the size was astonishing to me:

Founded in 1829, it still retains some its colonial architecture: 

 Fremantle is also known for its historical criminal and maritime past, but those are adventures for another day.  Today was the boat show, which included but not limited to the following: dinghys, jetskis, yachts, inflatable boats, seajets, fishfinders, propellers, cabin boats and speedboats.  I was clearly out of my league here, as most of the browsers were either younger blokes hoping to someday own a boat of their own or older blokes who were taking the bidding seriously.  So, I settled for being the wide-eyed, touristy girl taking pictures of commonplace things such as propellers and kayaks:

   

More on Fremantle is sure to come, I promise!  The Fremantle Prison (a prison built from convict labor) is a must see tourist attraction, as well as the Western Australia Maritime Museum, so stay tuned :)

The Phrases of Down Under

I have three new phrases for you:

1. "Bits" --Bits of this, Bits of that, A bit further, Bits and pieces, A bit more, Bits everywhere


2. "Have a look" --Have a look at it, have a look here, I'll have a look when I get there


3. "Heaps"  --There were heaps of them, everywhere,  I have heaps of homework, just heaps and heaps,  There is heaps of sand in my hair

**Note to self:  an eccentric writing teacher who sports her bohemian spirit proudly with long flowing skirts and unkempt hair is a universal trend.  Picture Professor Trelawney at Hogwarts and you've got my language and writing teacher. 

Flatmate Bonding

I love when my Kenyan roommate makes dinner: