A Swift Slap of Reality

 Well I didn't think that it was conceivably possible but I have actually hit a slump in Australia. I'm not sure if its the combination of not being able to breath/swallow or coming to the realization that I'm graduating when I return home but I guess you could say I've hit a wall. Granted it was a very low wall built most likely of sawdust as it was merely a half-day slump but one that I never saw coming regardless. I hadn't talked to Amanda in quite awhile but we skipped our uni responsibilities for the day and went into Perth to go walk around and enjoy. It was much needed "Amanda Time" but it also made me realize that I do have to go home at some point. I feel like I've lived in such a utopia since May and a glimpse of reality set in yesterday. This past summer was honestly the best one of my life and I think that it's completely attributed to the people I was constantly surrounded with as well as the complete euphoria of knowing Australia was only a few short months away. I went to work everyday with my best friends and came home to my best friends while back at home and then came straight to Australia which is completely undescribable. I have the best friends here as well, an amazing host family, and I have the chance to explore the world all on my own. However, reconnecting with Amanda made me realize that there is life after Australia and it's something I need to figure out sooner rather than later. In a little over a week I'll be going on an amazing 10 day road trip up the north coast with all of my best friends that will include everything from camping and hiking to surfing and whale watching. However, upon returning from the trip it will already be October and will mark a 2 month milestone until I have to return. Also, most of the nursing school applications that I've looked at are due in November which gives me little time comparatively to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. So after being faced with all these grand life decisions I was fortunate enough to have a night in with friends to put my mind at ease. Along the lines of everything happens for a reason, my friends host dad read my horoscope that basically read to the effect of "stop stressing about your life outcome and live for the moment". I've decided to take this as one gigantic sign pushing me into the direction that I've been leaning towards all along, I'll apply for a few nursing programs all around the country as a back up but apply for teaching english abroad programs as well as several nonprofits and just take a year off. I don't plan on finding an apartment for next year or making any type of living arrangements even though I no longer have a room at my house but I'm sure things will fall into place as that's the way that things usually work out. If all else fails I've resolved to get some sweet ass dreads and just backpack until work finds me.. fool proof!
 But anywho, this past week and a half have been pretty solid as usual. We were able to finally make it into a bar with everyone at one time which is no easy feat. Sorry to continue on about the bar scene here but it just completely bewilders me sometimes. I've already expressed my contempt at the price differences but the overall idea of being kicked out or not let in on the basis of having "too" much just baffles me. In good ol' Chambama the more plastered you are the better, it just means they can collect some innocent drunks $5, rely on them to think they're invincible and buy a few drinks once inside only to spill them and be carried home.. overall a great business deal on their part. Here however, if it looks like you've had more than two drinks prior to coming you aren't getting let in at all, they also check bags, do an iris or fingerprint scan, and take your picture. They also cut you off and wont sell you beer if they think you're within a few drinks of reaching your limit. Absurd. I've almost been not let in on numerous occasions because they think I've reached my limit based on how big my eyes are.. it takes one of my british friends to explain that that's just the way my eyes are and that I've just got the patented "glazed American look". This past week however we were able to see the differences in dress codes. Our friend Alex wasn't let in based on the fact that he was wearing khaki shorts. Seeing as there was a group of like 12 of us we decided it wasn't worth it to give up and go home so I donated my leggings I was wearing under my dress and he stripped down in the parking lot and put those on instead, fortunately the bouncers were so impressed at his attempts we got in everywhere we went.. such a good night! Especially since he put the leggings on inside out so his tag was sticking out, he was definitely one of the most popular people at the pubs :)

Stevo's package and all it's glory

 Also this week was Lindsey's birthday and words can't express how jealous I am that she gets to spend her birthday here, so I've decided to celebrate my half birthday.. whoo hoo September 21st! Only I've decided I'm no longer going to age so I will be celebrating the 6 month anniversary of my 21st birthday instead. Ingenious. Cards and tomato soup sent via mail are highly encouraged :) I also received my first package this week from Stevo which was a God-send. I had mentioned to him beforehand the bizarre phenomenon of them not having red solo cups here or cheap ping pong balls so sure enough, a few days later I get a little bit of heaven on my doorstep. I debated immediately chucking the gift at the sight of the last name he assigned to me (Stevo-you're still in trouble for that one) but upon reading the content description I couldn't contain my excitement any longer. I think Catherine was amazed at how happy a pack of 50 red plastic cups and a few dozen ping pong balls could make me but I don't think people not from the US or Canada fully appreciate their potential. So I plan on busting out my amazing gift this weekend :)
  This past weekend I also got to go surfing for the first time ever.. and I'm still alive! In one piece! I was a little bit concerned with my severe lack of balance and inability to swim but the instructors were super helpful and it's one of those "just go see what happens" learning techniques anyways. We made the mistake of going out the night before of course and had to wake up at 8am to go hop on a train to the beach so we were all a little groggy but it turned out to be an amazing day. The weather was perfect and they gave us all wet suits and a foam board to learn on. It was only $25 which included renting all the stuff and 1.5 hours in the water which is by far the cheapest we've found and ultimately a good thing considering. Phil, the owner guy, just operates out of his van that's parked in the parking lot by the beach and is really nice. After we all went surfing we just spent the day at the beach, playing weird british rugby type games in the water and had a huge barbie (there was about 20 of us) later on in the afternoon. Btw, they don't have hot dogs here, they think they do, but they're impostors, don't be fooled. We were all completely wiped by the end of day so we all just had a chill out night over a few bottles of wine and some good ol' mac n cheese.. which is totally different here as well. But we're going again this Saturday and then we'll be up the North Coast next Saturday for our term break trip and hopefully surfing up there. We also found a really great deal on kite surfing too so I picked up my broski and Jake some tickets for it as well for when they come down and visit.. super pumped!

  Our "term break" (aka spring break) plans are finally starting to come along and I'm super excited! As of yesterday it was over 80 degrees in Coral Bay which is one of our stops along the trip. We officially have two station wagons booked and ready to go thanks to Lindsey. The shaggin wagons also come with a tent each, as well as cooking gear, mosquito nets, and a table and chairs and seeing as there's 10 of us going it was super cheap to rent them out for the full 10 days as opposed to shelling out for a plane ticket. We've also decided to decorate the cars too before we go so we've picked up some sweet as Australian flags to stick out the window. We've been looking for US, Canada, and British flags to fly as well so we're all represented but no such luck..shocker. Our tentative plans right now are to leave Perth around 4 or 5pm on Thursday night and start the 17 hour trek to Karijini National Park. We'll be stopping places both Thursday and Friday night to stay along the way but there are few concerns with the drive. The first one being the whole issue of not being able to drive at dusk, dawn, or night due to the overwhelming kangaroo problem, especially where we're going which is essentially the middle of nowhere for a solid 15 hours. There kangaroos are very similar to our deer, minus the fact that they're like 100lbs heavier and a few feet taller and can do way more damage to your car then turn around and roundhouse kick you to death. Well not so much the last part but I'm sure it's been done. But yeah, they travel in packs/herds of anywhere from like 30-100 so if we get caught in the dark during a kangaroo street crossing party.. could be disaster. Another disaster is the fact that I'm one of the 5 drivers. I looove driving and would consider myself a good driver considering I've never had a ticket.. a few warnings yes, but no tickets! But they drive on the opposite side of the road here on the opposite side of the car, I still find myself bracing expecting to go straight into oncoming traffic on the bus when we make a right turn, but there's a few brits on the trip so they can remind me and I'm planning on marking a big L on my left hand as a constant reminder. But our first stop on the trip is Karijini National Park which looks absolutely breathtaking
!

Coral Reef :)

 We plan on spending a few days there to hike and go see all the waterfalls and such. Camping will be interesting as you can't have fires at all so we're not quite sure how to work out the light situation seeing as we'll have no electricity whatsoever and the bugs are also really bad here so should be a good time eh? They also don't have treated water and its like $2 for a 40 second shower.. which I take to mean as (a) drink lots of beer to stay hydrated and (b) lots of swimming! But after that we'll head on west and slightly more north to Coral Bay which is park of Ningaloo.

At Coral Bay they have everything from snorkeling and surfing to whale watching as we're going at the perfect time of year I guess as far as marine life goes.. although I think we just missed the sea turtles laying eggs.. oh well maybe next time :) After Coral Bay we're just gunna wing it and see what happens. There's a lot of cool places down the coast on our way home and we'll have about 4 days to get from Coral Bay to Perth and it's only a 14 hour drive-ish so we're hoping to stop at Monkey Mia and the Pinnacles if time allows. We figure we can camp wherever and everything we've seen is super cheap, only about $10/night so thats about $1/person. We're not too concerned about finding a place to stay as much as we are about finding a place to fill up on petrol.. apparently petrol stations are scarce on the way up with the way we're taking.. which is the only way I might add.. so if you see a station you absolutely have to stop and fill up because you have no idea when the next station may be.. and although spending all of break camping out along The Great Northern Highway with the gigantic kangaroos seems like a blast, I really really wanna go hiking and surfing as well :) But we leave exactly one week from today and I'm super pumped.. Catherine and Ed are letting me take one of their sleeping bags and then all 4 of us girls are sharing one bag to put our stuff in as there's like zero room in the cars. The guys have already forewarned us that due to the heat they'll be living in their boxers the whole time (including the 17 hour car ride up) and not wasting the money on showering, alcohol only.. should be a good time.. until they die of sun poisoning and dehydration.. but alls well that ends well right?

My Superb Homework Helper :)

Hazel's Portrait/Masterpiece of me

 Sorry this blog is forever long, Jacob and Rhea here's your mini novel yet again. I also forgot my camera for everything this week so sorry about that Rheanna, you might actually have to read.. scary I know :) But I did get a picture of Hazel after we had our drawing session. She decided that she wanted to help me with my bioenergetics homework which turned into a mini drawing lesson. She has discovered my glasses that I wore for the Geeks n' Freaks bar crawl and thinks its crucial that she wear them to see, lens knocked out and all. She also has developed quite the affinity for my green satchel and likes to wear that around the house as well so I find it usually with a few of Aaron's toy cars and a rolling pin from her play kitchen upon it's return but she's absolutely adorable. She loves to look at my pictures before she goes to bed so we usually make a deal that she can look at 3 or 4 pictures before she goes "none-eyes". She loves the one with my mom and me at the airport before I'm getting ready to leave and any other picture which involves someone giving me a "cuddle" which is much better than explaining to her why I'm drinking so many cans of "water" in my pictures. But the only pictures I managed this week are from our mini drawing lesson.. sorries! But they're super cute so enjoy! 

  Miss you mom! Love you!