How you going? This job sure is hard yakka! I hope the tucker's good.

Again, sorry, sorry, sorry for the late updates. I swear, on the days I don't have anything going on, I don't think it's worth updating. Then the next thing I know, I'm so busy that I don't have time to even sit down and type out a sentence. When I do have time to write an entry, I don't have time to finish it and blogger just deletes my draft if I don't post it. It sucks because I've technically written three entries, and they've all been deleted by the stupid site refreshing itself. Blogger totally doesn't save my drafts automatically. What lies.

Anyway, I've included three Aussie terms to make up for the three entries. Just a warning, this is going to be a stream-of-consciousness entry because I'm running short on time.

"How you going?" Aussie slang for "What's up?" or "How are you?" I was first exposed to this phrase by a grocery clerk. My response was, "Um, by... tram...?" Needless to say, it was the wrong response.

"Hard yakka" means "hard work." Yakka is an Aboriginal term. Ex: "It's hard yakka digging an echidna out once it has burrowed into the ground," (taken from my Wildlife bio professor).

"Tucker" means food. "How's the tucker?" "Delicious!!"

Oh man, so much has happened and I absolutely ran out of time to post entries (sorry, Carol!) Even now, I'm on Easter Break (Aussie equivalent of Spring Break) in Brissy (Brisbane) and furiously typing out an entry in the internet cafe. Easter Break has been going well so far, with the minor detail that Fraser Island is now scrapped. :( To get to Rainbow Beach, a location near Fraser, it's $68 by train. I'm willing to drop that much money, but my travelling partners can't afford it. I may have to go there on my own some other time. I AM DETERMINED TO SEE WILD DINGOES!

Despite the minor mishap, I love Queensland and am currently staying at a friend's house. Brissy is seriously like Hawaii but more wild. There's giant spiders, wild turkeys and tropical birds everywhere. Apparently, geckos get into my friend's house. I'll try to take pictures of them. I love the weather, it's so warm! If I could move here, I totally would. Oh, and I also spent two days on Moreton Island and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Crap got to go, will update again relatively soon.

Blokes and Sheilas

"Bloke": a common term used to refer to a man, usually in his teens or twenties.

Ex: "There's a bloke upstairs waiting for you."

"Sheila"(not really used as often amongst today's young generation): a term used to refer to a woman, usually in her teens or twenties.

Ex: "What do you think about that sheila in the red dress?"

While I was wandering around Melbourne CBD last night, it just suddenly hit me that it's already March. It's March, you guys. That means I've already been in Australia for a month and I have five months left. Time is flying, and even though I know my stay is short here, I'm positive that it'll be July the next time I look. I'm propelled by the urge to make every minute count, which strongly clashes with my more academic commitments. If I can just get a job here that would be able to support me...

Anyway, onwards to the recollection of yesterday's activities. I woke up bright and early Sunday morning to catch a tram to the Uni, where I met up with my MUOSS club. I was then briefed with the day's itinerary and informed of a photography/scavenger style competition. Basically, I was to get into a group of 5 and take photos with as many zoo animals as possible. The catch is that every group member has to be in the photo and we all have to reenact the animal as creatively as possible. The group with the most creative photos wins a free trip to the Eureka Tower, tallest building in Melbourne. That's not all - the group will also be able to go into this glass room that extends out from the building, so you basically have a 360 degree view of the sky, the skyline and the street/buildings below.

Of course, once Evan and I heard of this competition, we immediately knew that we HAD to win. Losing wasn't even an option. Since I was so set on winning, I was a little worried that the group of girls we were with would be a freaked out about our intensity, but they turned out to be real troopers. Even though it was scorchingly hot at the zoo (in the lower 90s), incredibly difficult to squish all of us into a self-taken photo, and my battery died (and Evans... and the camera of another teammate's...) we somehow still managed to tour all over the zoo and take pictures of the fauna. I thank the friendly Australians who were willing to humor our pleas for a photographer. No fear, these pictures will soon be available on facebook for your viewing pleasure.

In the end, our group won the tickets to Eureka tower and our efforts were infinitely repaid with a breath-taking view of the city. Literally, breath-taking. Since the floor of the room is also glass, the staff made us wear little booties to prevent our shoes from scratching it. After we filed into the room, it began to extend out from the building. The entire room is enclosed with frosted windows, so my team and I had no idea how far we were from the building. After a few seconds, we stopped and the frostiness disappeared. Just like that, we were suddenly surrounded by clear glass, 92 stories away from the handful of Melbourians milling around below us. It's a very queer feeling to be so high up and to be able to see everything below you. My instincts were screaming, "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! RUN!!" but I managed to squash it before it made me do anything stupid. All previous sacrifices were definitely paid off.

Unfortunately, the gay bar plans fell through, but perhaps it was for the best. After all that hiking about, I was in no shape for a night of hard drinking and dancing. I'll save it for another day.

Fair Enough

[Before I explain the above-mentioned term, I wish to share a bit more of the Aussie lingo with you. In Australia, they don't say "university," they say, "uni." Ex: "I attend Melbourne Uni."]

"Fair Enough": a general response of agreement. It basically means, "that's true," or "you're right, I agree," and is used quite often.

Random Australian girl: "So what's your major?"
Me: "Psychology, but I'm not taking any psych. subjects here."
Girl: "Why's that?"
Me: "Well, I'm taking Australian cultural classes instead because I figured that I won't be able to take them anywhere else in the States."
Girl: "Fair enough."
Me: "...yeah."

Today (meaning Saturday, despite what the date on my blog says) was spent with my Melbourne University Overseas Student Services club. We played Laser War (basically Laser Tag) for about half a hour, and then toured around the city and bought some really expensive cake to eat ($9.50 a slice!) Afterwards, I went home to buy some salmon and then headed back out to the city to meet up with some friends. This week is a series of festivals called the Moomba Water Festival. I believe there's demonstrations of a couple of water sports on Yarra River during the day, but I wasn't intrigued enough to attend. I did go to the night carnival and watch the fireworks though. While I was wandering around, I suddenly realized that one of the things I miss about the U.S. are funnel cakes. It's kind of weird, actually, because I never even really bought my own funnel cake before. I always just mooched off my friends.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to the Melbourne Zoo, which is very exciting because I love zoos (yes, dorky side coming out). Afterwards, I'm supposed to head to an Aussie friend's house to preparty and then leave for this gay bar, where his friend is supposed to be singing. I've never been to a gay bar before, so this definitely will be a new experience.

Agro

"Agro": Australian slang for "aggressive."

"Sometimes the boys at this bar get a little agro, so watch out," (what an Australian friend said to me during one of my nights out).

I had my first Australian Wildlife Biology lab practical on Wednesday, and let me tell you, that was an experience. First of all, I arrived to lab five minutes late because I just came in from the city from trying to open up a HSBC bank account (transferring money from the States is amazingly hard. Come on, bank people, "it's my money and I want it now!") Upon entering the room, I was suddenly surrounded by creatures floating in jars and mummified animals. It was kind of unpleasant, actually, because some of these animals had been taken out of their containers and were soaking in open tubs of formaldehyde (I now despise that smell). What ensued was a three hour-long process of examining the animals, drawing and labeling parts of them in our sketchbooks, and then inferring what genus and type of species they were. Ordinarily, I wouldn't really mind doing all of this, but I did mind the fact that we really had no direction as to what parts of the animal should we sketch. It was essentially just the professor saying, "Okay class, sketch whatever animals you think are important." -_- Camille is definitely not used to independent learning.

Another one of my intriguing classes is Indigenous Culture and Learning, taught by an Aborigine himself. His name is Gary Foley, and apparently he was quite the rabble-rouser. Don't believe me? Google his name and see what comes up. My professor is amazing.

I realized that I'm burning money like no other because I'm over-booking myself. It stems from the fear that I'll never be able to repeat this experience again, so I'm going to do everything that is financially possible (never mind safety... mere trifles). Starting from this weekend, every one of my weekends is filled with field-trips and excursions until the end of May, which is when first Semester ends. I may be committing academic suicide. Hmm.... Also, in an attempt to garner more moolah to feed my traveling habits, I've been tram-hopping instead of paying for the tickets. I figured that I've saved at least $20 AUD, but I finally caved yesterday and bought a weekly pass. The reason: one of my friends got caught and fined $100 + by an undercover tram policeman. Yikes.

I'm going to run out to buy groceries now, but I'll try to update my facebook albums soon with some pictures. Oh, and I almost forgot! A few nights ago, a fruit bat fell off the fig tree next to my window! I was just sitting in front of my computer, minding my business, when suddenly I heard a thump and the sound of frantic flapping. I ran outside with a flashlight and Yuri in tow, just in time to see an enormous flying fox struggling amongst the ivy. It saw me and started to desperately scrabble up one of the poles of the house, but since it's made out of metal, the bat kept slipping back down. I dashed back into the house to grab my camera and document its pathetic floundering. I did feel sorry for it though, but I hesitated in helping it because bats are notorious for carrying all sorts of diseases. Luckily, it managed to climb up the rosemary bush and take off right before Hero arrived at the scene. I'll post the photos up soon, along with pictures of my newly-decorated room. Look forward to seeing them!

Tazzy

(Btw, just so you guys can be Australian-ized a bit more, "Aussie" is pronounced as "Ozzie" and you drop the "r" sound when you say "beer," so it sounds like "bee-yah." Never let anyone catch you saying "Mel-BORN," it's "Mel-BEN.")

"Tazzy": Australian slang for Tasmania or a Tasmanian.

"Are you going to Tazzy for Easter break?"
or
"Meet Andy, he's a Tazzy."

Speaking of Easter break, I've realized that I've almost completely used up $2000 in one month, but that's because I spent a large portion of it on paying for trips. That, plus my field trip classes, have filled up almost every one of my weekends. At least I won't be bored! I am very concerned about the rate of my spendage (yes, my own word) though, so I've applied to five hospitality jobs on campus a few days ago. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I'm not sure how long should I wait before I start applying elsewhere.

A lot has been happening these past few days and it's nearly impossible to update you guys on all of them, so here's a general overview:

-I've got a fantastic new desk which I "stole" from the salvation-army-type store. Needless to say, it was not easy dragging it two blocks to home. In fact, I managed only to get it across the street and 1/4th of the way before collapsing in exhaustion. Luckily, a drunken Aussie volunteered to help (after taking home his case of beer). Unfortunately, he wasn't drunk enough to see that I hadn't taken the desk legally.
"I'll help you move your desk, but I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with it," he said, slurring slightly.
"Sorry for making you an accomplice?"
"It's okay, you're foreign."
"....Thanks."

-I awoke one morning, staggered to the bathroom to shower, and discovered a badly dismembered bird in the tub. No joke, it was disgusting - blood, black feathers and innards everywhere. Turns out Hero made a kill last night. It goes without saying that I decided to skip my morning shower and let my roommates deal with the mess (I did feel bad later, so I bought whoever cleaned up the mess a chocolate pastry).
Lucky for you guys, I took a picture to commemorate the event!

Wasn't that fun? It sure was when I saw it.

- I love, love LOVE Dr. Kath Hanasyde, my Australian Wildlife Biology teacher. Seriously, she is wonderful! She has this amazing quirky personality that totally shows when she lectures in class. Her passion is marsupials, but she studied fur seals in this little island between Antarctica and Australia. I think her whole persona can be summed up by her hair - it's generally short and fluffy, but near the back of her head, off to the side, she has this short little cute braid. It's so cool.

Okay now I'm running low on time, so I'm going to go. Until next time, kids!

Fairy Floss

"Fairy floss": cotton candy

Ex: "If you want some fairy floss, the engineering club is handing some out on the South Lawn."

Sorry for not updating in what, two weeks? Life has been picking up real quick now that school is getting ready to start - excuse me, now that school has started. Today was my first day of class, which is both a blessing and a curse. My Australian Wildlife Biology dooms me to class everyday. It's the only subject I have on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays (damn yoooou!) Otherwise, I would have a five-day weekend everyday. -_- Oh well, you can't win them all.

I'm also taking Indigenous Culture and Learning, Education in Natural Landscapes (a philosophy class which I'm a bit scared of) and Sport & Education in Australian Society. They're all first year level subjects (oh, btw they refer to classes as subjects, and majors as courses. I know, it confused the hell out of me too) which means that they're also ideally easy. Ideally.