Koalas and The Clap

Probably not a very fitting title for a blog but eh, can't win em all! So this past week flew by yet again and I feel as if I'm yet again sitting here in a daze trying to remember further back than just a few days.. must be something in the water. I still can't believe I've already been here for over a month now, totally just mind blowing. Also, we got an e-mail reminding us that we're nearing the halfway mark for the term, already 5 weeks down with only about 7 or 8 more to go which doesn't include the last two weeks which are dedicated to final exams. It's absolutely flying by and I'm just kinda left in a stupor trying to figure out how to pack everything I want to fit in before I leave into a few short months. I've been trying to figure out my solid plans for after schools out as far as travelling around for a few weeks and potentially moving back the date I fly home so I can backpack along the East Coast before I leave, however still not receiving my financial aid puts quite the damper on things. Ohh financial aid, you are my savior and the reason I can't sleep at night. I arrived into Perth July 20th, started school the first week of August, was supposed to receive my financial aid about 2 weeks into August since its disbursement goes by the U of I's class schedule and I'm sitting here the first week of September broke as a joke but happy as a clam. Fortunately, I have my mother on my side that has been calling for me seeing as making calls around 3am here to talk to someone during their business hours is a little tough. But after countless panic attacks and the sudden realization that I'm super broke halfway across the world everything is right in the world. I have applied for several jobs but seeing as I'm only here on a student visa for a few months it's not looking too promising. My next bright idea was to sell my eggs which I looked into in the States and you could make around $3000 for, however its illegal to pay egg donors here so there goes that idea. But if all goes as planned I will be receiving my financial aid tomorrow :)

  This last weekend was all in all a pretty successful one as most are proving to be here. We went to an AFL game on Friday night which was quite the experience. AFL is honestly the coolest conglomeration of sports as it combines American football and soccer with rugby and many rules that seem to only exist for this particular game. The game atmosphere was really cool and the stadium was absolutely packed even though the home team, Fremantle aka Freo, was expected to get absolutely annihilated which turned out to be the case. The final score was something like 150-46 pretty outrageous. But one of the major perks of the game are the super sexy players that rock short shorts :) The short shorts and capri look thats popular on guys is one that I am definitely starting to be a huge fan of. Catherine and I were so mesmerized when we were watching The Blacks lose to Australia earlier in the week, oh aussie boys how you have my heart... But after the game we followed the crowds and went to a pub downtown called Paddy McGuires that is quite possibly one of my favorites. They usually have a live band that plays and its just a small bar full of people just kicking back, drinking a pint, and just having a good time. Plus the last few bands have played The Killers and Kings of Leon which are obviously a huge weak spot so I might be a little bit biased.

Our super sweet sand castle after Maria took a fall into it :)

  The next day the guys headed out to start surf lessons so Maria, Lindsey, and I took the chance to go explore Fremantle a little bit. Fremantle is a really cool area that's about 40 minutes away from Perth that has a bunch of old buildings and a famous old prison as well. They also have a bunch of markets and little shops and there's always street performers on the weekends that are pretty entertaining to watch as well as people just chillin on the sidewalk playing the guitar and singing trying to make a few bucks. Last weekend when we tried to go we ended up going to the beach first and exploring but then we met up with the guys and some other people that had gone surfing that morning and ended up spending the whole day on the beach. Fortunately we had a chance to go walk around yesterday as it's really just a great place to go walk around and waste the day. We had what the UK friends call "proper" fish and chips which were aammaazing and there's also a famous brewery there called Little Creatures which is supposed to be to die for, however Lindsey forget her proof of age card so we had to pass on it this time.. epic fail.

Downtown Fremantle

Why yes, those are gigantic bags of every kind of coffee bean you could ever  dream of.. heaven.

Simone making Lindsey a 'respectable' mermaid after we buried her in the sand :)

 This weekend also marked days 2 and 3 of "Lindsey's 23 days of Birthday" as she turns 23 on Tuesday. We've been trying to rack our brains for American food that we could cook for people but really everything that's American is actually not American in the slightest so we opted to have Fiesta Friday and cook Mexican food seeing as that's something that's taken over the US. Maria and I stocked up on the essentials such as tequila (equipped with a mexican hat for a lid), a pinata, a sombrero generously loaned out for the night by my amazing host mum, a lemon sour cream cake also compliments of Catherine, and trash-staches drawn on the fingers to really get things going. The looks we got on the bus ride there were needless to say epic. But the night went really well and it ended up being a great night in with close friends.

 We danced to the mexican hat dance and watched various youtube videos and of course listened to the snl classics such as "I'm on a Boat" and "Jack Sparrow". It's still always really cool to me how a group of 10 people from all over the world listen to the same songs and watch the same awful youtube videos even though all of us speak different languages and have completely different backgrounds. I actually learned a lot that night such as how Italy doesn't have prom, Norway has a 40% sales tax and how that leads to Anders getting about $20,000 from his government to come and study in the Australia, and also random facts like how chlamydia runs rampant in the koala bears (seriously, google it). It's always really cool to hear about other people's home universities and governments are and how different and similar they all are. We probably had about a 20 minute convo about how screwed up the US government seems to the outside world and there's a few points that I've really noticed from being here. The first, is that everybody and their mother hates George Bush. The second, is that they all love Obama even though the only thing they really know about him is that he's black. I absolutely loathe arguing about politics most the time only because it's not like anyone is going to change their perspective or view and it's pretty much worthless. I will admit that there is a huge difference between arguing politics and just conversationally talking/learning about and I definitely love to hear other people's perspectives. Our friend from Norway was absolutely blown away that I would consider myself a Republican and couldn't for the life of him understand how people could want a small government as opposed to a large government that controls everything. Its amazing the media's influence on people's opinion and how certain things factor in. I definitely think Norway has got a great thing going over there as far as the government goes, but I just don't see it working for the US. Anders also pointed out that if you're from Norway and you can't grow a mustache you basically get kicked out, unless you can ski.. fun fact for the day. From the outside looking in, its so easy to see how people could view Americans the way they do. It's definitely not that I'm ashamed of my political party of choice or am extremely vocal about my contempt for Obama being elected even though in my opinion that election was a lose-lose situation, but it's nice just to hear other people's perspectives and how their governments work. 

Aaron and Hazel playing 'hide-n-seek'.. they're so inventive!

 On a lighter note, I'm finally starting to not get so agitated with the public transit here and have actually had a good couple weeks here. Seeing as I take the same routes practically everyday people have gotten used to the American girl on the bus and train and no one has asked me how it feels to be ignorant and in a financial crisis in quite awhile. One bus driver I've deemed my pseudo-grandfather while I'm here even. He usually only works the weekends but sometimes he'll pop up on Wednesdays too. But usually its just me and a few others depending on the day on the bus so he'll whip out his harmonica while waiting at stops and play a few songs. He gives me updates on how his piano and guitar lessons are going and I'm quite impressed that a guy that's probably about 65 is trying to learn new things, he's pretty cool to say the least. It's also Father's Day today in Australia so I made sure to pick Ed up some Heineken to celebrate :) Apparently they don't do presents here for stuff like father's day and mother's day but I figured it's the least I could do since they have been the most amazing host family ever. The next thing on my To Do list is to figure out how to fit Aaron and Hazel in my suitcase so I can take them home with me. Hazel made sure last night to remind me before I left to go out for the night to be sure and come home tomorrow for Father's Day for my daddy.. too cute :) 

  My next mission is to figure out my finances and how I can make backpacking up the East Coast for a few weeks before I leave a reality. I'm planning on sending a suitcase home later this week in hopes that it might get there by the beginning of December. Apparently you can rent out a crate on a freight ship and send it that way for pretty cheap. It's getting warm here even though it's technically winter still. Most days this past week hit 75ish which has been amazing for laying out on Oak Lawn with friends for hours however not so amazing for the lectures missed in the process, oh well, when in Rome... But I plan on sending home my "winter" stuff and stuff like my blow dryer, straightener, and all my clothes basically except for a few summer dresses I've picked up here and hiking clothes. Right now the ideal situation would be me continuing to live with my host family until mid-October, then living in a tent in the backyard of the Leed's boys house in Claremont which they have graciously offered up free of charge as long as we clean which is not going to be an easy feat, then finishing up exams around the third week of November, sending my last bag of luggage home which will have summer stuff so I won't need it for awhile, and just having my bookbag of essentials and backpacking around the East Coast until I leave. Please don't fret about the tent situation mom, Lindsey and I have it all figured out and it should save me an obscene amount that can be put towards my East Coast efforts. It'll only be for a little over a month and the guys have an empty living room we can keep our stuff in and an air mattress split between us isn't too bad in the slightest, plus it'll be warm by then. And plus, how many people can say they lived in a tent in Australia for a month? My point exactly. I'm hoping that once financial aid comes in I can figure out whether or not financially I can push back my plane ticket from leaving Dec 1 to maybe Dec 10th. This way I could go and see what Sydney and Melbourne has to offer and visit a few attractions along the coast. Lindsey and Maria are on board for it so we can all hopefully just bounce from hostel to hostel before taking off. But we'll see how that works out. I'm trying to figure out the shortest amount of time I need to recooperate both physically and financially before heading to India for three weeks on Dec 24th.. hmm so many things to think about!

 But as for now, I'm getting ready to go take my laundry off the line and head to church. I found the most amazing cathedral in Perth last Sunday but tonight I'm trying out one in Claremont so we can all meet at the pub right down the street afterwards for day 4 of Lindsey's birthday month. Unfortunately I won't be able to celebrate my birthday down here but I have every intention of celebrating my half birthday which will be while we're roadtripping across the West Coast over term break :)
 :But I definitely miss everyone at home and I picked up a bunch of postcards while in Fremantle so expect the first wave of postcards fairly soon! As always, I love you mom!! 

                                          

                                                                           ...please send tomato soup!