EPIC FAIL 2

Once more studying rant before my final on Friday. I've been working on this philosophy paper for the past week, and I just realized I've completely neglected my zoology final, which from 2 pm - 4:30 pm on Friday. My philosophy paper is due 5 pm on Friday. I should have studied for my zoology final first, and now I have a whole semester's worth of work to catch up in 1.5 days. I took shit notes. I should have taken better notes. Why is Australia's assessment system so lame? They shouldn't have everything based on one test or paper. I would feel much better if I knew that my zoology exam was worth less than 70% of my grade, but unfortunately it isn't. I better damn well get a H1 on my philosophy paper. Fuck.

I hate how when I'm not paying attention to a phone call, I go "Uh huh... yes... uh huh." That kind of absent-minded agreeableness bit me in the ass today. This guy called me (I usually screen his calls, but since he hadn't called for awhile, I failed to check the caller ID first and just automatically picked up) and started rambling about how finals was going. Let me first say that this guy is some bank official who helped me open up my account and then shamelessly flirted with me. Anyway, I was tricked into giving him my number (long story, message me if you want to know) and the next thing I know, I've been getting random calls/emails from him. Anyway, so he's talking about how we should meet up and I'm not really listening at all, so I go into auto-pilot mode: "Uh huh... uh huh.... yeah... uh huh," while I'm chatting with a friend online. The next thing I know, I hear him say, "Great, so I'll see you this Saturday then!"
What?
It turns out I had just uh-huhed my way into a date this weekend, which is..... incredibly bad. I stammered and tried to think up some last minute excuse, but he hung up before I could utter the words, "Wait a minute." Shit.

Bastard

"Bastard": I'm pretty sure it means the same thing in Oz, however the term is used much more casually and with affection. If a friend calls you a "stupid bastard," he/she means it with as much love as possible (if that makes sense).

Stathi: "So I heard that 'bastard' is an offensive term in the States. Is that true?"
Me: "Yeah it's actually an insult."
Stathi [with a traumatized expression]: "OH MY GOD, NO WONDER SHE LOOKED SO INSULTED!"
Me: "Um...should I even ask?"
Hahah poor Stathi.

Okay today is officially Day 3 of writing my sports paper. I spent the whole day writing it, only to find out during office hours that I went off in the wrong direction. -_- I can't believe my friends took only five hours to do this. It also doesn't help that my roommate and her girlfriend have a tendency to have extremely loud sex. Yes, you read it correctly, loud sex. It's so loud, in fact, that it pierces through their closed door, travels down the hallway and sneaks under my closed door. It's finally gotten to the point where my other roommate yelled, "Oh my GOD, keep it down!" Unfortunately, they either didn't hear her or chose to ignore it. In retaliation, my roommate turned up her very loud American music (they seem to really like clubbing songs here). Needless to say, this is not a very papering-friendly environment. It seems tonight I have to forgo another bar experience in favor of finally finishing my paper. :( At least I'm saving beer money.

I called my boss yesterday, and to my surprise, he actually answered. After I stammered out a question regarding my recent lack of work (damn you, insecurity!) he replied, "I thought you said you couldn't work this week."
WHAT!
I politely said no, I stated in my note that I was unavailable next week, but am free this week. "I'm sorry, was my note unclear?" I asked tentatively. My boss ignored my question/apology and gruffly said that he would call me next Saturday to let me know of my new schedule. I was a bit upset that he was so stupid (I'm pretty certain that my note was very clear) but at least I still have a job. Kind of.

I've always considered myself to be "realistically optimistic," or in other words, "zen." What's meant to be will happen. If it doesn't, there's always a silver lining or another open door (or window). However, sometimes I can't help but wonder if this mentality is just a way to trick ourselves into feeling better and believing that whatever we lost wasn't worth it anyway. Maybe in actuality, the cloud doesn't have a silver lining but a fuzzy grey one. I know it's incredibly pessimistic, but I just wanted to voice it and see what you guys think. Undoubtedly, if we all thought that way, the suicide rate would go through the roof. It's much better to believe that all our losses were for a reason and hopefully, a bigger pay-off.

Stuff Up

"Stuff up": depending on how it's used, it can either mean "mistake" or "mess up." I've only heard it used to mean "mess up."

"Does the internet always stuff up like this?" (My roommate's friend asking my roommate about our dodgy internet signal.)


School's drawing to a close. I finally turned in my biology labs, so all I have left is my sports paper (due on Friday), my philosophy paper and my zoology exam, which are two weeks from now. I think I'll take my biology notes with me to New Zealand so I can study during the downtime. Hah, let's see how that goes. I'm actually a little scared to go to New Zealand, because it's just my friend and me in the dead of winter, in an already very cold country. To make matters worse, we're planning to drive ourselves around because we can't really afford a tour bus. I've already half-forgotten how to drive, and now I have to do it on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, in a foreign country. Dear God.

Did I mention that my boss is avoiding me? That bastard, after he said, "Okay, I'll call you to let you know when's your next shift," he never did. Whenever I called him over the past 2 weeks, I've always gotten one of my coworkers, who would tell me, "Oh yeah, I'll let him know you rang and he'll get back to you." -_- Well, you're not getting away from me. YOU ARE GOING TO PAY ME MY ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DOLLARS (and fifty cents)!

Ugh, I just realized that I spent my entire entry complaining. Ever since an acquaintance had told me, "Man, you complain a lot," I've been trying to cut down on all the negative things I say. It's kind of difficult actually, since my casual remarks tend to be complaints as well. No worries, I will work on it. Oh, and one more thing. I've decided to get a tattoo here in Melbourne. I've always wanted a tattoo of a pair of angel wings on my back, and I've finally decided that now's a good a time as any. I'll post up pictures of the wings I want once I find it.

Alright, I'm off to do my paper.

Sweet-as

"Sweet-as": a slang term Aussies use instead of "cool" or "awesome." I've also heard the phrase "cool-as," which I assume means the same. The first time I heard it, I thought the person said "sweet ass," which would have been completely inappropriate.

Professor: "The school is going to pay for our trip to Brambuk, so you guys don't need to worry about transportation costs or anything."
Classmate: "That is sweet-as!"

Yesterday was the first night I've gone to the bar in a month. May has mostly been a month filled with procrastination and last-minute cramming (and still is, I'm sad to say). This upcoming week will be my last week at school, and then I have a week off to study. Luckily, I only have my zoology final to cram for, because I just have papers to write for my sports, philosophy and aboriginal history class (perhaps I'm not as lucky as I thought...) Anyway, last night was a third of a series of bar-hopping events Evan and I dubbed, "Birthday night." I'm not sure if I've discussed the significance of 21sts in Australia in my previous posts, but I'll do a quick run-through in case I haven't. See, in Australia, turning 21 is a huge deal. In the past, it would be the American equivalent of a debutante. Nowadays, it's just a super-fancy party in which everyone dresses extremely nice and rent out a hotel ballroom or something. Being the mischievous girls we are, Evan and I thought we'd try this thing where we'd don party hats, bar-hop and yell that it's one of our 21st birthdays. The ultimate aim is to score free drinks. Unfortunately, I missed the previous 2 birthday nights, but was finally able to make it to the third one (I almost ended up staying home to do my paper instead). We went to this bar in Fitzroy called Bimbo's, in which the main decorative component was naked baby dolls. It was kind of creepy, to say the least, but still interesting. We decided that it would be Evan's birthday and managed to score a couple of beers for her. It was fun, but my mind was still stressing out over my papers. >_<

Tonight I had my first home-cooked meal in a long time. My roommate's mom (mum?) came to stay with us for a couple of days and made dinner for a bunch of my roommates' friends and me. It was absolutely delicious and made me wish my mom had culinary skills as well. That's it, when I come back home, I'm going to practice my cooking so I can make delicious home-cooked meals for myself/future family.

I've stopped working at Il Carretto, mainly because my boss got irritated when I told him that I was going to be gone for a week in June. The loss of income has hit me hard. Thailand is unrealistic now, sadly enough. It's okay, that just means I'll have more time to tour Australia (if I can scrape up the money in time). There so much I still want to see and experience. I never did understand the people who didn't like traveling or exploring. Sure, I understand how one would become attached to their home. I enjoy my creature comforts as well; my clean house, my couch in front of the tv, my soft blankets and bed. However, even that's nothing compared to the horizon and all its possibilities. I want to see new sights, blaze trails through unexplored territory, taste exotic foods, talk to different people and absorb their cultures. I want to live a life of adventure and thrills, just like the heroines in my fantasy novels. Perhaps that is what my wanderlust really amounts to - the desire to escape to somewhere better. I'm perpetually looking for that white rabbit to lead me down a tunnel to a new world of possibilities. It's not a surprise, since my future doesn't seem top desirable right now: 2 years of preparatory JC classes and 3 years in an accelerated nursing program, and that's if I'm lucky.

Damnit all, I don't want to leave Australia. If only I could stay. Well, back to papering.

Zed

"Zed": what they call the letter "Z" here. It's not pronounced as "zee," but "zed."

In Australian Wildlife Bio lab:

Professor: "So if you want to make your possum relax, you should use an anesthetic. The popular once of choice would be Zoletil, which is zolazepam-tiletamine."
Me: "Um.... what?"
Professor: "Here, I'll spell it out for you so you can write it down. Zed."
Me: "....what?"


Again, apologies for the tardy updating. I've been trying to get my papers done on time, so I really haven't been able to blog as often as I would have liked. Alright, I lied, I could have blogged when I was procrastinating, but then I figured checking Facebook would probably take less time than if I were to write an entry. I was so very wrong. I didn't really have anything that interesting to write about anyway. I'm reaching the end of the semester. Next week would be the last week of classes, and already two of my classes are having their last sessions tomorrow. It's quite sad actually, because I enjoyed thinking of myself as a Melbourne Uni student. I must save up some money to buy a hoodie before I leave (over here, they call them jumpers/sweaters).

I realized that I have a serious issue with time management. It's always been an issue before, but now I'm getting to the age where I really can't afford to act this stupidly. I really admire those who can just sit down and pour out a paper, or set a schedule and actually STICK to it. Kudos you guys, I'm very jealous! As for me, I end up begging professors for extensions or regurgitating a really shitty piece of work. Sad, I know. Not only is this detrimental to my academics, but I really miss out on a lot of social activities. For example, today all of my friends are going to a famous ice bar in Melbourne. Me? I'm stuck at home doing a paper that was due three days ago. To rub salt into the wound, one of my friends called me to to offer me a ride there.

S: "Heeeey love, I'm just driving by and I'd thought I'd offer you a ride to the ice bar."
Me: "Aw, I can't go, I have to stay home and write a paper."
S: "What?? But this is the ice bar!"
Me: "I know, but it's due on Friday."
S: "Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. It's the famous bar made completely out of ice!"
Me: "Yeah, but -"
S: "Ice. Bar."
Me: "Well - "
S: "ICE BAR!"
Me: "I'M GOING TO GO DO MY PAPER NOW."

Sadface. I'm a hermit and I have no time management skills.

EPIC FAIL

I am in a shit hole right now. I literally have two 2,000 word papers on Australian sports and society, a biology lab report and a 2,000 Aboriginal history paper due all in the span of a week. How the fuck did I get myself into this. Oh, I know, I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL. Fuck.

Sorry about all the cussing. I just need to be slapped and then locked into a room with a computer. Wait, I've been doing that to myself for the past two weeks. Freaking a. I should have taken my classes pass/no pass like all the other exchange students.

I hate myself for having no time management skills, but I hate how energy drinks have no effect on me here. Stupid guarana, YOU LIE! Someone give me a pill that will keep me up all night. Or some ADD medication.

Avos

"Avos": short for "avocados." Aussies like to shorten everything when they say it.

At the farmer's market~
:"Love, just for you, these avos are only 75 cents each!"
Me: "Um..."
Grocery manager: "No good? Alright, I'll drop it to 25 cents apiece."
Me: "Okay, I want five!"

That was about a week ago. Unfortunately, I forgot about my lovely cheap avocados, and now they're all semi-brown and slightly moldy. It actually makes me really sad, because they're absolutely delicious on toast (and a much healthier alternative to butter). I didn't have the heart to throw them all away though, so I thought I'd turn the worst-looking three into guacamole. Unfortunately, that escapade didn't turn out well. Crappy avos make even crappier guacamole, as I soon discovered. After taking a few bites and almost harking it back up, I decided to add some blended spinach dip to sweeten it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work. I think it's the fact that the meat is just bitter all-around. No amount of chopped onions, salt, lemon juice or black pepper can change that. I was still unwilling to toss the whole thing though, so it ended up being Yuri's dog food. Maybe I can still find a way to salvage the last two avos...

Work at Il Carretto hasn't been going all that great lately. The boss hired some more new people, and these guys are actually real-deal experienced waiters/waitresses (not like my "oh yeah, I kinda/sorta/not really did some waitressing work at my Uni's cafeteria-style restaurant"). As a result, I've been restricted to busing tables and bringing out the food instead of taking orders. Now, not only am I missing out on the practice that I need in order to be a real waitress, but my tips are gone! While my actual salary went towards rent and utility bills, my tips paid for my food. Taking orders is like a privilege now. I have to work fast and efficiently if I want to prove to my boss that I can handle the tables. >:(

This weekend I went to Rumbalara on a field trip for a class. On the first day, we a middle schools that had a large number of Indigenous children. I gotta say, the school system here is much more efficient. The tests and projects were a lot more creative in assessing your comprehension. For example, instead of making everyone do the same project, the kids had an option of presenting their projects visually and/or orally through media, crafts/models, papers, etc. Sports are also a very important component of Australian education. In the States, our compulsory education takes the form of P.E. In Oz, the kids join some type of sport (netball, footy, cricket, etc.) They can also go on bushwalks or surfing lessons, which I am extremely jealous of. Seriously, these kids are spoiled. Surfing for P.E.?? It doesn't get any better than that.

We then headed to this secondary education center, ASHE (Academy of Sport Health and Education). Since Ozzie kids don't have to attend school once they hit 16, a significant number of kids stop their education at that age. Some kids drop out of school at age 12 and then return several years later, perhaps 18 years old but with the reading level of a middle-schooler. ASHE provides a cushion for these struggling kids (most of whom are Aborigine). They're kind of a preparatory school because they guide kids to where they want to go in life, whether it's to be a star footy player or to get accepted into Uni. Classes start at 10 a.m., so a free breakfast is provided to give more incentive to get to the Academy on time. They have Fridays off and the program is free, so the school is actually pretty popular. In fact, they made one of the entry requirements as being at least 16 yrs old. This is to discourage people from dropping out of high school so they can attend the Academy.

Alright, I'm pretty tired now, so I'll finish the rest of this entry tomorrow. XP