Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, with plenty of wonderful gifts, food, and friends/family. I had all that as well, albeit in a more unorthodox fashion.
First, though, I feel I should describe our time spent as migrant workers on banana plantations. We wake up at 4:45am each morning, silently getting dressed in our work clothes (filthy shorts, filthier shirt, baseball caps, long black socks, tall black rubber boots, and about a gallon of sunscreen), and catching our rides at 5:45. Shana worked at a different plantation than Julia and I did, and her ride was an actual legitimate bus. My transport was a white utility vehicle with benches nailed in the back for all 10 of us to cram into (only Julia and I spoke English natively.) A silent 30 minute ride ensues. Once there, we are assigned to do any number of things. Julia was on the stringing team, which meant she tied trees together with twine for 8 hours. I was on the irrigation team, which meant I walked around and fixed sprinklers all day. I also made a brief foray into the leafing team, which consisted of me holding a scythe (a la the Grim Reaper) and cutting leaves off banana trees. It's kind of fun, actually, except that it gets really hot, and also myriad spiders/snakes/frogs (all poisonous, I hear) live in the grasses. The only time Julia and I spent together was when we did a banana-sorting shift in the packing shed. Giant bananas come down a conveyer belt filled with water, and either Julia or I break them apart and the other inspects them and picks out the bad ones. I hate it. It's really boring, and breaking banana bunches apart is pretty difficult, surprisingly. I may or may not have carpal tunnel and new spider veins pop up every 10 minutes or so. Our day ends at 3:10, when we pile back into the truck. A silent 30 minute ride, smellier than before, ensues.
We count ourselves lucky, though, because the Banana Barracks owner has taken an extraordinary liking to us and got us jobs within 24 hours and also letting us bartend in exchange for free accomadation. So we are in high spirits, I'd say, both because of our good fortune and also a really nice Christmas. We got a teeny tree, put up some lights in our shanty, and bought each other cheap little presents (Julia got me a toothbrush, for example, and I got Shana a new loofa). The whole hostel all got together for a Christmas buffet lunch, and it was really neat to just be sitting around with people from dozens of different countries. Also we accidentally got pretty drunk, which was weird and somehow seemed wrong on the birth of Our Lord. Nevertheless we pushed on, going to bed at 6am and waking up at 8am to go to Dunk Island and drink more there-- it was really fun. I drunk-dialed Mom (sorry).
We're leaving Tully on Monday, headed for Cairns for New Years Eve (we'll be in 2009 16 hours ahead of you, weird.) Then who knows. Sorry I haven't been in touch with anybody, but there is only one computer for about 100 of us. Anyway, thanks for the Christmas emails/updates, and have a great New Years!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Adventures Galore
Yikes, it's been a LONG time since my last update, and a lot has happened. Shana, Julia, and myself embarked on whirlwind tour of adventures that only now has the promise of settling down. I guess the best thing to do is highlight each adventure by location....so here we go. I hope you're ready for a long read:
Brisbane: Where we started, obviously. Spent a lot of time planning our ensuing adventures, spent even more time swapping stories about barmaiding.
Cairns: Flew to Cairns last Saturday, really hungover- I don't recommend it. Skydived on Sunday, which was really cool. We jumped from 14,000 ft., freefell over the Pacific for 60 seconds, then floated over the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef for 10 minutes or so before landing on Mission Beach. We spent the rest of the day playing in the ocean, which sounds refreshing, but the water was warmer than my shower water. Shana purchased a DVD of herself skydiving, ask nicely and maybe she'll show you. After skydiving, there was nothing else for us to do in Cairns but pick up our cute little white hatchback rental car (we named her Lucy) and head to Port Douglas, about an hour north.
Port Douglas: We bought a shitty 2-man tent for all three of us and decided it was a great idea to stop at Dougie's Campground and campt there. The only problem is that Port Douglas is in the tropics, so the temperature hovers around 90 degrees, with 80% humidity. Also it's monsoon season. So we "woke up" (oh wait, we never slept) soaking wet and laying grimly side by side. Awful. Luckily it was all worth it, because that day we went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef! Awesome, absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done. We did three 1/2 hour dives on the Agincourt reefs, each one cooler than the last. Actually, I don't remember much about the first dive because I was so nervous (I'm afraid of deep water.) When you jump in the first time, you hold on to a rope underwater and they make you take your regulator out of your mouth, drop it, find it again, and put it back in your mouth (just in case it happens deeper down.) That was the only time I sort of freaked out, because I just kept swallowing sea water and couldn't get the thing in. But I calmed down, worked out how to swim around, and then could appreciate everything around me. The first thing I saw was a reef shark. We also saw a couple turtles, a ray, a lot of clown/lion/angel/trumpet/trigger fish. On my last dive, I went through a coral tunnel into a coral cave that looked just like Ariels grotto, minus the snarfblatts and dinglehoppers. This underwater heaven made going back to Dougie's & the nightly monsoon that much harder....so we left the next day.
Crocodylus Village: A totally empty hostel in the middle of the Daintree Rainforest. Like actually in the middle. We stayed there for four nights and went on hikes in the jungle during the day and ate meager rations at night (because there was no grocery store....because we were in the middle of the jungle, duh.) Our biggest adventure was hiking Mt. Sorrow, which was 3.5k and 6800 ft. high, which creates a rather dramatic slope. It took 6.5 hours, and was horrible. Oftentimes it was hand over hand climbing up vines and rocks, and there were giant spiders and leeches everywhere, I pulled off at least 50. We were sore everywhere, but are very proud of ourselves. Julia has some very dramatic photos of us that I'll make her post later. We also found something called the Blue Lagoon, which is like a jungle oasis, a swimming hole filled with the clearest, bluest water I've ever seen. We don't think there are any crocodiles there. Crocodylus was really cool/surreal, but it was nice to leave and get back to civilization again, ie. eat more than museli and peanut butter for every meal.
Tully: We left Crocodylus with no plan and now find ourselves in Tully, QLD, waiting to secure a job packing bananas. We were going to camp, but we drove into the "campsite", aka an open field, aka a refugee compound, and decided it didn't look safe. There were too many people crouched under tarps, eating noodles out of a pot and shooting us wild-eyed glances for my liking. Now we are more comfortably ensconced in a glorified shanty village named the Banana Barracks Hostel. Our home is a small clapboard shed with a flickering light and a leaky sink, named Mambalo No. 5. Hopefully we'll get some work for a couple of weeks so as to have a little extra money and some good stories.
What a life.
Brisbane: Where we started, obviously. Spent a lot of time planning our ensuing adventures, spent even more time swapping stories about barmaiding.
Cairns: Flew to Cairns last Saturday, really hungover- I don't recommend it. Skydived on Sunday, which was really cool. We jumped from 14,000 ft., freefell over the Pacific for 60 seconds, then floated over the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef for 10 minutes or so before landing on Mission Beach. We spent the rest of the day playing in the ocean, which sounds refreshing, but the water was warmer than my shower water. Shana purchased a DVD of herself skydiving, ask nicely and maybe she'll show you. After skydiving, there was nothing else for us to do in Cairns but pick up our cute little white hatchback rental car (we named her Lucy) and head to Port Douglas, about an hour north.
Port Douglas: We bought a shitty 2-man tent for all three of us and decided it was a great idea to stop at Dougie's Campground and campt there. The only problem is that Port Douglas is in the tropics, so the temperature hovers around 90 degrees, with 80% humidity. Also it's monsoon season. So we "woke up" (oh wait, we never slept) soaking wet and laying grimly side by side. Awful. Luckily it was all worth it, because that day we went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef! Awesome, absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done. We did three 1/2 hour dives on the Agincourt reefs, each one cooler than the last. Actually, I don't remember much about the first dive because I was so nervous (I'm afraid of deep water.) When you jump in the first time, you hold on to a rope underwater and they make you take your regulator out of your mouth, drop it, find it again, and put it back in your mouth (just in case it happens deeper down.) That was the only time I sort of freaked out, because I just kept swallowing sea water and couldn't get the thing in. But I calmed down, worked out how to swim around, and then could appreciate everything around me. The first thing I saw was a reef shark. We also saw a couple turtles, a ray, a lot of clown/lion/angel/trumpet/trigger fish. On my last dive, I went through a coral tunnel into a coral cave that looked just like Ariels grotto, minus the snarfblatts and dinglehoppers. This underwater heaven made going back to Dougie's & the nightly monsoon that much harder....so we left the next day.
Crocodylus Village: A totally empty hostel in the middle of the Daintree Rainforest. Like actually in the middle. We stayed there for four nights and went on hikes in the jungle during the day and ate meager rations at night (because there was no grocery store....because we were in the middle of the jungle, duh.) Our biggest adventure was hiking Mt. Sorrow, which was 3.5k and 6800 ft. high, which creates a rather dramatic slope. It took 6.5 hours, and was horrible. Oftentimes it was hand over hand climbing up vines and rocks, and there were giant spiders and leeches everywhere, I pulled off at least 50. We were sore everywhere, but are very proud of ourselves. Julia has some very dramatic photos of us that I'll make her post later. We also found something called the Blue Lagoon, which is like a jungle oasis, a swimming hole filled with the clearest, bluest water I've ever seen. We don't think there are any crocodiles there. Crocodylus was really cool/surreal, but it was nice to leave and get back to civilization again, ie. eat more than museli and peanut butter for every meal.
Tully: We left Crocodylus with no plan and now find ourselves in Tully, QLD, waiting to secure a job packing bananas. We were going to camp, but we drove into the "campsite", aka an open field, aka a refugee compound, and decided it didn't look safe. There were too many people crouched under tarps, eating noodles out of a pot and shooting us wild-eyed glances for my liking. Now we are more comfortably ensconced in a glorified shanty village named the Banana Barracks Hostel. Our home is a small clapboard shed with a flickering light and a leaky sink, named Mambalo No. 5. Hopefully we'll get some work for a couple of weeks so as to have a little extra money and some good stories.
What a life.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Back in Brisbane
Hooray, we are finally reunited! I left Aramac on Saturday, which was actually sadder than I thought. Friday night was a fun last night, though, with a lot of shot-taking and all the bonding that entails. I'll miss Axelle, who ended up understanding my sarcasm and being pretty funny. Upon leaving, I was presented with a genuine Aramac Hotel cap and a homemade pumpkin pie, in honor of Thanksgiving. Wonderful! (side note: nobody here has ever heard of pumpkin pie. weird).
I got to Tambo on Saturday evening to hang out for Julia's last night and meet the main characters of her barmaiding experience. Pretty fun, nothing too wild. Tambo has TWO pubs, THREE gas stations, and a real grocery store-- it was like a metropolis! All that was missing were the stoplights and teeth in people's mouths. Anyway, we finally left the outback on Sunday evening, via a 14 hour Greyhound journey. The all-night bus ride was obviously a good time, but nothing compared to seeing Shana again. We're all happy to be back together and are excitedly planning our imminent trip to Cairns for snorkelling and whatnot. We have found, however, that the novelty of drunken backpacker bars has worn off somewhat, and I personally am happy to leave the cities and just explore the dozens of national parks.
This was very general, but the next couple of weeks should be a frenzy of travelling/seeing beautiful places. Look forward to it.
I got to Tambo on Saturday evening to hang out for Julia's last night and meet the main characters of her barmaiding experience. Pretty fun, nothing too wild. Tambo has TWO pubs, THREE gas stations, and a real grocery store-- it was like a metropolis! All that was missing were the stoplights and teeth in people's mouths. Anyway, we finally left the outback on Sunday evening, via a 14 hour Greyhound journey. The all-night bus ride was obviously a good time, but nothing compared to seeing Shana again. We're all happy to be back together and are excitedly planning our imminent trip to Cairns for snorkelling and whatnot. We have found, however, that the novelty of drunken backpacker bars has worn off somewhat, and I personally am happy to leave the cities and just explore the dozens of national parks.
This was very general, but the next couple of weeks should be a frenzy of travelling/seeing beautiful places. Look forward to it.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Final Aramac Report
Nothing to report this time. My time in Aramac ends in the slow lane. Merv took my on another motorbike ride, which nicely bookended my time here, I think.
It's good we're (Axelle & I) leaving, I think, because several men, young and old, have taken to knocking on our door/trying to get in at night. They're harmless, but we nevertheless barricade ourselves in and draw the curtains tight. Sigh. It's such a burden to be so coveted. I'm joking, it's not a burden. (I'm joking about that too).
We had another breakfast on Sunday-- Judy made us omelettes with lots of vegetables that I never usually like (ie mushrooms and cooked tomatoes), but it was delicious. My body sang Hallelujah at the nutrients it was receving. I had also mentioned that I had a sweet tooth, so Judy surprised me with a banana coconut cake (I am allergic to coconut) (and also I hate it). Obviously I ate tons of it anyway...rough.
I could go on, but I don't want to bore you with these trivialties that only I find interesting. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and eat extra portions for me. I'll celebrate with a king-sized Snickers bar, maybe cutting it Seinfeld style to make it seem more special.
It's good we're (Axelle & I) leaving, I think, because several men, young and old, have taken to knocking on our door/trying to get in at night. They're harmless, but we nevertheless barricade ourselves in and draw the curtains tight. Sigh. It's such a burden to be so coveted. I'm joking, it's not a burden. (I'm joking about that too).
We had another breakfast on Sunday-- Judy made us omelettes with lots of vegetables that I never usually like (ie mushrooms and cooked tomatoes), but it was delicious. My body sang Hallelujah at the nutrients it was receving. I had also mentioned that I had a sweet tooth, so Judy surprised me with a banana coconut cake (I am allergic to coconut) (and also I hate it). Obviously I ate tons of it anyway...rough.
I could go on, but I don't want to bore you with these trivialties that only I find interesting. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and eat extra portions for me. I'll celebrate with a king-sized Snickers bar, maybe cutting it Seinfeld style to make it seem more special.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
10 Days Left
My time in Aramac is winding down, which is sad because I'll never see these people again, but in all honesty my chief emotion is excitement at seeing Julia and Shana again and finally heading to the Great Barrier Reef. I received letters from both Shana and Julia in the same day (which left me smiling for hours) and they seem to be feeling the exact same thing. The plan is for me to Greyhound it for three hours to Tambo on the 29th, where I'll spend the night at Julia's Club Hotel, then we'll continue on the Brisbane and meet Shana on the 1st-- a very glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle.
Obviously this past week has been pretty tame, since I spent my opening paragraph carefully itemizing my future plans. The highlight was that Axelle made Judy and me breakfast on Sunday, and we spent a leisurely hour sipping coffee, eating banana pancakes, and gossipping. It was the closest I've been to sitting in a cafe in weeks, and I loved it. The other major occurence was the arrival of my Christmas gifts from Mom & Dad-- hooray! hooray! How wonderful! Regretably, customs seized the enclosed popcorn-- I suspect they just wanted it for themselves. I opened the box in the pub, and since the three people in there were curious, I gave each of them a couple of the treasured Goldfish crackers Mom stuck in there. I walked away to throw away the box, and when I came back 30 seconds later, Ampy has run over to the Goldfish and is about to stick his grimy, unwashed hand in to grab more! I hope you are all as shocked as I, placing his actions in the same unforgiveable category as murder. Needless to say, I am done with Ampy. I used to be a little nice to him (since he's in the pub 9 hours a day), but lately he's been saying weirder and creepier stuff, and this stunt with the Goldfish is the last straw.
Looking back on this post, I now realize that it was pretty unnecessary. But I also realize that your thirst for news about my life is unceasing, and is it not my duty to quench it? (hahaha, you like that line?) Even though this entry is mind-numbingly boring, I've got a lot of time on my hands and will make some additions to the cast of characters:
Dude (pronounced "Duuuuuuude!": young guy who has a really bad stutter and gets wasted off of 2 shots. Asked me on a date...I think. I declined, so he put Shaggy's "Angel" on the Jukebox and serenaded me- "Baby you're my angel, you're my darling angel, closer than my peeps you are to me" (insert stutters). For the finale, he jumped on the bar and tried to kiss my cheek. I countered this by kicking him out, and I haven't seen him since.
Mary Anne: Bitch who owns the only cafe in town. One of those people that you'll say hello to and she'll look away and not reply. She has started being really nice to me, which I can't figure out, but still hates Axelle. Her mother is the exact same way.
Luke: Nice guy around 29, one of my favorite people here, probably because he's the only sarcastic person in town.
Ella & Teagan: Two teachers from Brisbane who have a 3-year contract in Aramac. I made friends with them and found out that they hate it here, can't wait to leave. I guess after you go shearing and all that, the novelty can wear off pretty quickly.
Georgie: My best friend, Greg's dog. I take her for walks a lot, and she loves me.
Yank, America, Good Girl, You Look Really Good: A sampling of my nicknames.
Sweet Tits: Axelle's nickname....she has large breasts.
Obviously this past week has been pretty tame, since I spent my opening paragraph carefully itemizing my future plans. The highlight was that Axelle made Judy and me breakfast on Sunday, and we spent a leisurely hour sipping coffee, eating banana pancakes, and gossipping. It was the closest I've been to sitting in a cafe in weeks, and I loved it. The other major occurence was the arrival of my Christmas gifts from Mom & Dad-- hooray! hooray! How wonderful! Regretably, customs seized the enclosed popcorn-- I suspect they just wanted it for themselves. I opened the box in the pub, and since the three people in there were curious, I gave each of them a couple of the treasured Goldfish crackers Mom stuck in there. I walked away to throw away the box, and when I came back 30 seconds later, Ampy has run over to the Goldfish and is about to stick his grimy, unwashed hand in to grab more! I hope you are all as shocked as I, placing his actions in the same unforgiveable category as murder. Needless to say, I am done with Ampy. I used to be a little nice to him (since he's in the pub 9 hours a day), but lately he's been saying weirder and creepier stuff, and this stunt with the Goldfish is the last straw.
Looking back on this post, I now realize that it was pretty unnecessary. But I also realize that your thirst for news about my life is unceasing, and is it not my duty to quench it? (hahaha, you like that line?) Even though this entry is mind-numbingly boring, I've got a lot of time on my hands and will make some additions to the cast of characters:
Dude (pronounced "Duuuuuuude!": young guy who has a really bad stutter and gets wasted off of 2 shots. Asked me on a date...I think. I declined, so he put Shaggy's "Angel" on the Jukebox and serenaded me- "Baby you're my angel, you're my darling angel, closer than my peeps you are to me" (insert stutters). For the finale, he jumped on the bar and tried to kiss my cheek. I countered this by kicking him out, and I haven't seen him since.
Mary Anne: Bitch who owns the only cafe in town. One of those people that you'll say hello to and she'll look away and not reply. She has started being really nice to me, which I can't figure out, but still hates Axelle. Her mother is the exact same way.
Luke: Nice guy around 29, one of my favorite people here, probably because he's the only sarcastic person in town.
Ella & Teagan: Two teachers from Brisbane who have a 3-year contract in Aramac. I made friends with them and found out that they hate it here, can't wait to leave. I guess after you go shearing and all that, the novelty can wear off pretty quickly.
Georgie: My best friend, Greg's dog. I take her for walks a lot, and she loves me.
Yank, America, Good Girl, You Look Really Good: A sampling of my nicknames.
Sweet Tits: Axelle's nickname....she has large breasts.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Branding and Mulesing and Shearing, oh my!
What a week! After incessantly pestering all the cowboys to take me along, three of them finally relented, giving me three full days of adventures.
Day 1: Branding. I woke up at 4:30am, and by 5:15, I was waving a big plastic stick and yelling "Yi-hep! Woop woop!" in my deepest, most intimidating voice, herding the 400 cattle from pen to pen. It was kind of scary to be surrounded by enormous, two hundred pound animals, but apparently they can sense fear and will consequently start bullying you. Hence the deep loud voice/bravado.
The calves are shoved, one by one, into a contraption that flips them sideways and pins them so all the their legs are in the air, allowing the cowboys to do what they need to do. It's hard to explain, but I'll upload a video soon. Anyway, once they're rendered helpless, a cowboy steps up with basically a large hole-punch and rips a few pieces out of their ears and shoves a tag in. Another takes a small, sharp blade and quickly cut off the balls, tossing them aside for the dogs, or, in one instance, to land neatly on my sneaker. Then comes the branding, and finally, somebody takes a big blade and slices off the horns (so they don't bruise the other calves, rendering their meat worthless.) Throughout all of this, the calf is snorting and and mooing in pain, and all of the other calves in line are stamping and flipping out, seeing what's in store for them. Finally, with blood dripping from their head and nether-regions, it stumbles around, bamboozled, not knowing anything except that he's less of a man than he was 45 seconds ago. I had no idea all of this was involved, and I almost threw up the first time I saw it. Nevertheless, I branded about 20-30-- it's pretty easy, actually, and I told myself that it probably didn't hurt too much. Then, so I didn't look like a wimp, I tried cutting off the balls...but I could only do one, and then a cowboy named Luke grabbed my hand and finished the job. I also tagged an ear. We had steak sandwiches for lunch, and I very nearly became a vegetarian. Then I remembered that it was 3pm and we'd been working for about 10 hours, so I dug in with renewed carnivoric gusto. Mom has already told me that I sicken and disgust her. "Don't worry," I said. "I'll never do anything like that again." But oops, lo and behold...
Day 2: Mulesing. The process is much simpler and quicker than branding, though no less gruesome. The sheep are shoved into little metal traps on their backs, with their legs bent back to their heads, exposing their tail/ass region. A man comes and snips off their tail, then cuts off the skin around the anus. Blood spurts everywhere. They do this to prevent against the blowfly, which causes maggots to devour the sheep from the inside out-- a very slow, painful death. Yes, I did this too. Yes, it was horrific and I was covered in blood. I only did it once and spent the rest of the day running around, catching runaway sheep, which, although I was essentially delivering them to torture, felt more humane to me.
Day 3: Shearing. Much less horrific, much less to explain. Just like giving it a haircut, except harder to do because I couldn't tell where the skin was. I nicked one and it bled everywhere. Axelle came with me to this one, and and I thought she was going to cry (vegetarian, remember?). I, however, am now an emotionless monster and didn't blink an eye.
Those are the highlights of the past week. The rest is the same old stuff. November 4 was the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops a nation." Literally. Everything in town was closed except for, of course, the pub. People came out of the woodwork to place hundreds of dollars in bets and spend hundreds of dollars more on alcohol. I placed a $15 dollar bet, just so I could play along, and won $15, even though I don't know anything about horseracing. It's hard to watch some of these people. They probably spend $1000 a week in the pub, betting, drinking, and complaining about their financial woes. Oh well, they seem happy, I guess, so whatever floats your boat.
Finally, huzzah for Obama! I was thrilled to discover that Australia was as interested in the election as I was. However, many of the hillbillies in the pub are alarmingly racist, saying things like, "How could you vote for that n****r? I bet he's assassinated within a month." I would try to explain to them how ignorant they sound, but I was terribly outnumbered. Oh well. Go America!
Day 1: Branding. I woke up at 4:30am, and by 5:15, I was waving a big plastic stick and yelling "Yi-hep! Woop woop!" in my deepest, most intimidating voice, herding the 400 cattle from pen to pen. It was kind of scary to be surrounded by enormous, two hundred pound animals, but apparently they can sense fear and will consequently start bullying you. Hence the deep loud voice/bravado.
The calves are shoved, one by one, into a contraption that flips them sideways and pins them so all the their legs are in the air, allowing the cowboys to do what they need to do. It's hard to explain, but I'll upload a video soon. Anyway, once they're rendered helpless, a cowboy steps up with basically a large hole-punch and rips a few pieces out of their ears and shoves a tag in. Another takes a small, sharp blade and quickly cut off the balls, tossing them aside for the dogs, or, in one instance, to land neatly on my sneaker. Then comes the branding, and finally, somebody takes a big blade and slices off the horns (so they don't bruise the other calves, rendering their meat worthless.) Throughout all of this, the calf is snorting and and mooing in pain, and all of the other calves in line are stamping and flipping out, seeing what's in store for them. Finally, with blood dripping from their head and nether-regions, it stumbles around, bamboozled, not knowing anything except that he's less of a man than he was 45 seconds ago. I had no idea all of this was involved, and I almost threw up the first time I saw it. Nevertheless, I branded about 20-30-- it's pretty easy, actually, and I told myself that it probably didn't hurt too much. Then, so I didn't look like a wimp, I tried cutting off the balls...but I could only do one, and then a cowboy named Luke grabbed my hand and finished the job. I also tagged an ear. We had steak sandwiches for lunch, and I very nearly became a vegetarian. Then I remembered that it was 3pm and we'd been working for about 10 hours, so I dug in with renewed carnivoric gusto. Mom has already told me that I sicken and disgust her. "Don't worry," I said. "I'll never do anything like that again." But oops, lo and behold...
Day 2: Mulesing. The process is much simpler and quicker than branding, though no less gruesome. The sheep are shoved into little metal traps on their backs, with their legs bent back to their heads, exposing their tail/ass region. A man comes and snips off their tail, then cuts off the skin around the anus. Blood spurts everywhere. They do this to prevent against the blowfly, which causes maggots to devour the sheep from the inside out-- a very slow, painful death. Yes, I did this too. Yes, it was horrific and I was covered in blood. I only did it once and spent the rest of the day running around, catching runaway sheep, which, although I was essentially delivering them to torture, felt more humane to me.
Day 3: Shearing. Much less horrific, much less to explain. Just like giving it a haircut, except harder to do because I couldn't tell where the skin was. I nicked one and it bled everywhere. Axelle came with me to this one, and and I thought she was going to cry (vegetarian, remember?). I, however, am now an emotionless monster and didn't blink an eye.
Those are the highlights of the past week. The rest is the same old stuff. November 4 was the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops a nation." Literally. Everything in town was closed except for, of course, the pub. People came out of the woodwork to place hundreds of dollars in bets and spend hundreds of dollars more on alcohol. I placed a $15 dollar bet, just so I could play along, and won $15, even though I don't know anything about horseracing. It's hard to watch some of these people. They probably spend $1000 a week in the pub, betting, drinking, and complaining about their financial woes. Oh well, they seem happy, I guess, so whatever floats your boat.
Finally, huzzah for Obama! I was thrilled to discover that Australia was as interested in the election as I was. However, many of the hillbillies in the pub are alarmingly racist, saying things like, "How could you vote for that n****r? I bet he's assassinated within a month." I would try to explain to them how ignorant they sound, but I was terribly outnumbered. Oh well. Go America!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Aramac, Week 2
I've been in Aramac for a week and a half, and I still stand by my initial opinion (see earlier post). I'm having a good time doing cool stuff and I'm never really bored-- it's just that there is nobody that I have anything in common with. Example: nobody has heard of Kanye West. When I mentioned that country sucks and rap is way better, a cowboy named Davo winked at me and said, "I think I know what you want", then walked over to the jukebox and played Coolio's 1995 hit "Gangsta's Paradise" & Eminem's 1999 ditty "My Name Is." So as you can see, it's really no big deal, but little things like that make me miss civilization.
I've already met 90% of Aramac's inhabitants, and will now begin to introduce them, beginning with the major players:
Greg: My boss, 40 years old, prematurely grey. He's so nice. He doesn't care about money, just casually drinking and hanging out with everyone. He's great.
Judy: His fat wife-- like, enormous. She spends most of her time sitting in her house, because she hates drunk people. Ironic that she owns a bar, huh?
Axelle: My 30-year old roommate. She doesn't speak much English and thus my sarcasm is beyond her capacity-- I think she just thinks I'm a bitch sometimes. We get along fine, though. I taught her the word "sucks"-- as in, "man, the produce in this town sucks." She is a vegetarian, and is heavily judged by the locals for it. She likes to complain about her weight a lot, and barely eats anything.
Merv: 30 year-old townie who has made it his mission to take me on adventures. He loves to show off/brag about how tough he is- chauvinistic, like most of the guys here. They think they're always right and girls are always wrong. Which, obviously, doesn't sit well with me.
Ampy, Finchy, Marco, and Graham: Old dudes who come into the bar every single day to suck down alcohol, bet on horses, and make lude comments towards me. Example: Kelly: "Can I grab something for you?" Finchy: "I can think of something you can grab, and it's right down here." Graham (who has wild grey hair/beard & a glass eye): "Yeah, do you like sex?" And so on and so forth.
Kym: Toughest gal in Aramac, around 25. Tried to intimidate me away from Merv (people think we're dating, which we're not, yuck), but decided that she like me better. Bought me tons of drinks and hung around me for hours. I have just discovered that she is a bisexual prostitute. Yikes!
There are many, many more that I'll introduce in later posts. My days are uneventful but relaxing. I work pretty much every day, either from 10-4:30 or 4-10:30. If I'm at work, I serve the drunkards and try not to kill myself as they play that Kid Rock songs for the 5000th time. If I'm not at work, I usually go for a run, swim in the creek, read, or watch VHS's. Or adventure, sometimes. Merv took me to Lake Dunn the other day, and I got to ride on an inner tube behind a speedboat. Today I have just gotten back from a run, but have realized that there is no water in the whole town. Like none. I don't know why. So I can't shower. I smell bad. I'd go to the dry goods store to pick up some water, but it's only open for about an hour a day. Maybe I'll hydrate with a cold beer. Sick.
A couple other little things:
1. I clean rooms for extra money, which makes me feel like a pauper.
2. I said that I was rooting for the Chicago Bears, and the Aussie folk laughed for at least an hour. Apparently "rooting" means having sex. Charming. Australians are so crude.
3. The stars are really pretty here. I wish I could let you see what I see, but a photo just doesn't capture it.
4. We just got a slushie machine!!! The whole town came out for its debut. The guy who installed it is basically a travelling salesman and is full of stories, jokes, and little presents (candy!). I was forcibly reminded of the tin salesman from Farmer Boy, for those of you who enjoy Laura Ingalls Wilder...it might just be Dad who gets what I'm talking about.
5. I have uploaded some photos. Mostly of Aramac, for Mom & Dad's benefit, but there are a couple of Brisbane & Sydney. They're pretty boring, but here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31757538@N08/
All for now. I like reading updates about other people's lives, too, so please email me!
I've already met 90% of Aramac's inhabitants, and will now begin to introduce them, beginning with the major players:
Greg: My boss, 40 years old, prematurely grey. He's so nice. He doesn't care about money, just casually drinking and hanging out with everyone. He's great.
Judy: His fat wife-- like, enormous. She spends most of her time sitting in her house, because she hates drunk people. Ironic that she owns a bar, huh?
Axelle: My 30-year old roommate. She doesn't speak much English and thus my sarcasm is beyond her capacity-- I think she just thinks I'm a bitch sometimes. We get along fine, though. I taught her the word "sucks"-- as in, "man, the produce in this town sucks." She is a vegetarian, and is heavily judged by the locals for it. She likes to complain about her weight a lot, and barely eats anything.
Merv: 30 year-old townie who has made it his mission to take me on adventures. He loves to show off/brag about how tough he is- chauvinistic, like most of the guys here. They think they're always right and girls are always wrong. Which, obviously, doesn't sit well with me.
Ampy, Finchy, Marco, and Graham: Old dudes who come into the bar every single day to suck down alcohol, bet on horses, and make lude comments towards me. Example: Kelly: "Can I grab something for you?" Finchy: "I can think of something you can grab, and it's right down here." Graham (who has wild grey hair/beard & a glass eye): "Yeah, do you like sex?" And so on and so forth.
Kym: Toughest gal in Aramac, around 25. Tried to intimidate me away from Merv (people think we're dating, which we're not, yuck), but decided that she like me better. Bought me tons of drinks and hung around me for hours. I have just discovered that she is a bisexual prostitute. Yikes!
There are many, many more that I'll introduce in later posts. My days are uneventful but relaxing. I work pretty much every day, either from 10-4:30 or 4-10:30. If I'm at work, I serve the drunkards and try not to kill myself as they play that Kid Rock songs for the 5000th time. If I'm not at work, I usually go for a run, swim in the creek, read, or watch VHS's. Or adventure, sometimes. Merv took me to Lake Dunn the other day, and I got to ride on an inner tube behind a speedboat. Today I have just gotten back from a run, but have realized that there is no water in the whole town. Like none. I don't know why. So I can't shower. I smell bad. I'd go to the dry goods store to pick up some water, but it's only open for about an hour a day. Maybe I'll hydrate with a cold beer. Sick.
A couple other little things:
1. I clean rooms for extra money, which makes me feel like a pauper.
2. I said that I was rooting for the Chicago Bears, and the Aussie folk laughed for at least an hour. Apparently "rooting" means having sex. Charming. Australians are so crude.
3. The stars are really pretty here. I wish I could let you see what I see, but a photo just doesn't capture it.
4. We just got a slushie machine!!! The whole town came out for its debut. The guy who installed it is basically a travelling salesman and is full of stories, jokes, and little presents (candy!). I was forcibly reminded of the tin salesman from Farmer Boy, for those of you who enjoy Laura Ingalls Wilder...it might just be Dad who gets what I'm talking about.
5. I have uploaded some photos. Mostly of Aramac, for Mom & Dad's benefit, but there are a couple of Brisbane & Sydney. They're pretty boring, but here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31757538@N08/
All for now. I like reading updates about other people's lives, too, so please email me!
Monday, October 20, 2008
We're not in Kansas anymore.
Whoa. I just reread my last blog post and benevolently shook my head at how ignorantly hopeful I sounded. I've been in Aramac, Queensland, for 5 days, and after approximately 1000 moodswings, I believe I've experienced enough to give an accurate point of view.
The ride here was miserable. Greyhound, 16 hours, I still had the flu, you get the picture. Aramac is exactly like I pictured. It's completelely desolate, with red dirt everywhere, and dust billowing behind the bus, which I noticed as I looked back, hoping to see civilization. In the downtown area, there is my pub, a butcher, a library, a cafe, and a dry goods store. ...That's it. I almost cried when I walked into the dry goods store. You know the dry goods store on the Oregon Trail computer game? It's just like that. There's some feed for the cattle, some clothing, and various non-perishables. Even now, after I've calmed down, I still firmly believe that I will starve. No vegetables. I eat two peanut butter sandwiches a day, and I think most of my calories come from the beer I drink every single night.
It's funny, because before we parted ways, Shana, Julia, and I talked about how little we'd probably drink. Stupid. I share a small room with a french girl named Axelle, and this room lies about 4 feet (not-exaggerating) from the pub's deck. She and I are the only two employees, so both of us are together all the time, with one of us working behind the bar and one of us on the other side. I wish I could be her friend, but she doesn't understand English very well, and thus doesn't understand sarcasm, and also she doesn't drink. Luckily, I do drink, and this has helped me get to know people better. I've discovered that I'm actually pretty quiet around people I don't know...but not when I'm drunk. And so, I've gotten pretty drunk every night, because the pub is the only place open past 5pm. Now people like me a lot, because I beat every boy/man in the pub in a skulling (chugging) contest on my first night. I felt awful the next day, but I guess it's worth it. The last girl that was here, a Canadian named Liz (leaving today), said that she was drunk every single night, which I hope to avoid, because I can't see that being healthy.
It sounds trashy that I drink so much, but it's actually a social necessity. People view Americans as being very arrogant and stand-offish, but now they just see me as arrogant (because I said I'd beat every guy at skulling). Now that they like me more, they've taken me to some cool places. One guy, Merv, took me on a motorbike ride through the outback, and within ten minutes, we were riding in the middle of a kangaroo herd. Ten minutes later, we were being chased by a bull, and ten minutes after that, we were tackling wild pigs. Last night I was invited to a barbie, where I ate as much meat as I could, hoping to store protein like a camel stores water.
There's so much else to write, since I can't share it with anybody else. My job is pretty easy, but I hate it because I hate making small talk with the locals. And while everyone is really nice, they're rougher than I'm used to and I'm get lonely/bored. The six weeks is going to go by quickly, but I'll be glad to reuinite with Shana and Julia and move on. There's an old but clean kitchen, so I'll be able to cook some plain pasta (no tomato sauce here), and the bathroom's fine too, except that there's no soap anywhere.
Could you tell that I'm drunk as I write this? Some dude named Bob took me sightseeing in the outback, and then to thank him for his kindness, he wanted to get drunk. So here I am, in the Aramac public library, drunk and updating you all about my life in Australia. Who would've thought? Anyway, I'm going to try to upload some photos soon, so you can see the simple life I lead. I'll also try to update regularly, but the librarian has been sick, so it's been closed until today. Yes, there is only one librarian. Until the next post...
The ride here was miserable. Greyhound, 16 hours, I still had the flu, you get the picture. Aramac is exactly like I pictured. It's completelely desolate, with red dirt everywhere, and dust billowing behind the bus, which I noticed as I looked back, hoping to see civilization. In the downtown area, there is my pub, a butcher, a library, a cafe, and a dry goods store. ...That's it. I almost cried when I walked into the dry goods store. You know the dry goods store on the Oregon Trail computer game? It's just like that. There's some feed for the cattle, some clothing, and various non-perishables. Even now, after I've calmed down, I still firmly believe that I will starve. No vegetables. I eat two peanut butter sandwiches a day, and I think most of my calories come from the beer I drink every single night.
It's funny, because before we parted ways, Shana, Julia, and I talked about how little we'd probably drink. Stupid. I share a small room with a french girl named Axelle, and this room lies about 4 feet (not-exaggerating) from the pub's deck. She and I are the only two employees, so both of us are together all the time, with one of us working behind the bar and one of us on the other side. I wish I could be her friend, but she doesn't understand English very well, and thus doesn't understand sarcasm, and also she doesn't drink. Luckily, I do drink, and this has helped me get to know people better. I've discovered that I'm actually pretty quiet around people I don't know...but not when I'm drunk. And so, I've gotten pretty drunk every night, because the pub is the only place open past 5pm. Now people like me a lot, because I beat every boy/man in the pub in a skulling (chugging) contest on my first night. I felt awful the next day, but I guess it's worth it. The last girl that was here, a Canadian named Liz (leaving today), said that she was drunk every single night, which I hope to avoid, because I can't see that being healthy.
It sounds trashy that I drink so much, but it's actually a social necessity. People view Americans as being very arrogant and stand-offish, but now they just see me as arrogant (because I said I'd beat every guy at skulling). Now that they like me more, they've taken me to some cool places. One guy, Merv, took me on a motorbike ride through the outback, and within ten minutes, we were riding in the middle of a kangaroo herd. Ten minutes later, we were being chased by a bull, and ten minutes after that, we were tackling wild pigs. Last night I was invited to a barbie, where I ate as much meat as I could, hoping to store protein like a camel stores water.
There's so much else to write, since I can't share it with anybody else. My job is pretty easy, but I hate it because I hate making small talk with the locals. And while everyone is really nice, they're rougher than I'm used to and I'm get lonely/bored. The six weeks is going to go by quickly, but I'll be glad to reuinite with Shana and Julia and move on. There's an old but clean kitchen, so I'll be able to cook some plain pasta (no tomato sauce here), and the bathroom's fine too, except that there's no soap anywhere.
Could you tell that I'm drunk as I write this? Some dude named Bob took me sightseeing in the outback, and then to thank him for his kindness, he wanted to get drunk. So here I am, in the Aramac public library, drunk and updating you all about my life in Australia. Who would've thought? Anyway, I'm going to try to upload some photos soon, so you can see the simple life I lead. I'll also try to update regularly, but the librarian has been sick, so it's been closed until today. Yes, there is only one librarian. Until the next post...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Outback
Tired, drunk, and beaten by Brisbane's jobless streets, we plunge into the blindness of spontaneity and hold on for dear life.
In other words, I'm going to be a barmaid in the Australian outback! Aramac, Queensland, to be exact-- a town of just over 250 people that boasts a pub and a common store and probably has more poisonous creatures than people. The real adventure, though, is that Julia and Shana aren't going with me. Julia's going to be a barmaid in Tambo, a few hours south of me, while Shana is much closer inland, in a place called Thangool. For six weeks we'll be apart- it could be awful or it could be the best time ever. Either way, it'll be an adventure. It also means that my blog will be updated more frequently, since I'll probably be bored out of my gourd.
My more intelligent readers will have done the math and realized that yes, we'll be alone for Halloween (we were going to be cutlery) and Thanksgiving. Sad. Lonely.
Obviously that's the biggest news. Julia and Shana are out partying right now, but I'm quarantined in my room, sick with the flu. I hope to be better by the time I leave for my 16-hr. Greyhound journey on Thursday.
Guess that's it for now. Julia and Shana just stopped in and give their regards. It will be exciting to reunite with them, because we'll all have saved some money and can finally do fun things-- skydiving and snorkeling first on the list. Brisbane's been great, though, and we're all kind of sad to leave our new friends (Colin's really sad we're leaving). Especially since I know that for the next six weeks, my only friends are the barflies, the snakes, and my blog.
In other words, I'm going to be a barmaid in the Australian outback! Aramac, Queensland, to be exact-- a town of just over 250 people that boasts a pub and a common store and probably has more poisonous creatures than people. The real adventure, though, is that Julia and Shana aren't going with me. Julia's going to be a barmaid in Tambo, a few hours south of me, while Shana is much closer inland, in a place called Thangool. For six weeks we'll be apart- it could be awful or it could be the best time ever. Either way, it'll be an adventure. It also means that my blog will be updated more frequently, since I'll probably be bored out of my gourd.
My more intelligent readers will have done the math and realized that yes, we'll be alone for Halloween (we were going to be cutlery) and Thanksgiving. Sad. Lonely.
Obviously that's the biggest news. Julia and Shana are out partying right now, but I'm quarantined in my room, sick with the flu. I hope to be better by the time I leave for my 16-hr. Greyhound journey on Thursday.
Guess that's it for now. Julia and Shana just stopped in and give their regards. It will be exciting to reunite with them, because we'll all have saved some money and can finally do fun things-- skydiving and snorkeling first on the list. Brisbane's been great, though, and we're all kind of sad to leave our new friends (Colin's really sad we're leaving). Especially since I know that for the next six weeks, my only friends are the barflies, the snakes, and my blog.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Cast of Characters
I've created a brief list of some of the more notable people we've met, starting with the stars:
Shana: Spends most of the day applying sunscreen and complaining about her blisters. Except for her minor breakdown in the horrible first hostel, she is good-tempered and easy-going. She loves dancing to rap and talking about soccer with all the European boys, who think she's cool for being good at "football."
Julia: Spends most of her time staring at coffee shop menus and walking around our hostel room in her underwear. She is also good-tempered, but gets crabby when she's hungry, just like a little kid. And so, just like a little kid, she always carries around little cheese and cracker packets to keep her happy. She loves dancing (to anything) and talking (to anyone).
Kelly: Spends most of her time with her face pressed to bakery display cases. Good-tempered if she gets the alone time she needs- otherwise crabby. She loves rapping loudly to Kanye.
John: First person we met in Australia, a Canadian backpacker travelling alone. He tried to hang out with us, which was alright until he revealed his clingy, annoying personality.
Jucy: The name of the bright green "campa" we hope to rent and drive around in. http://www.jucy.com.au/
Colin: Our roommate whom I already wrote about. He is convinced that in America we parade around with flags, chanting, "A-MER-I-CA, NUM-BER 1!" His greatest wish is to visit NYC and supersize a meal.
Tommy & Dan: Two English dudes who we've never seen sober. Every night they're not just drunk, but absolutely shitfaced, stumbling around and tackling each other in the streets. They don't actually have a room at the hostel anymore, so they pass out wherever- in the TV room, the hallway- I found Tommy in the elevator last night.
Chris: Cute, skinny English guy who looks a little like Justin Timberlake. He's really nice and we like him a lot. Instead of getting us a round of drinks, he got us some french fries, which made Shana and I completely fall in love.
Holly: Our new Canadian friend. She's travelling with a bunch of guys and appreciates having girls to hang out with. She is a lot more fashionable than the three of us, who toss on jeans and any sparkly top and pronounce ourselves ready.
Ashley: Cool girl who works at our hostel and hooked up with some sweet discounts. Unfortunately she's leaving to begin her own abroad trip....which means that we'll miss her and the nice discounts we so sorely need.
Trevor: Douchey Canadian dude who wears puka shells and loves talking about how much he can drink. He also tried to emotionally connect with us by "reading" our personalities (Julia's been labeled the quiet one, I'm the wild, outgoing one, and Shana's the leader-- 0/3). Remind me to do an impression of his braying laugh.
Zara: English girl with the voice of a dude. Looks kind of like Rachel Ray, so I expect her to sound sweet and chirp things like, "Yum-o!", but every time I'm surprised when the gruff voice of a construction worker comes out instead. Shana, Holly, and I went to Hungry Jack (Burger King) one night after a club, and she came in a joined us, horrifying us all. She stuffed a double-cheeseburger in her mouth, leering all over the place, her eyes rolling around in her head, ketchup and mustard all over her face, lettuce clinging to her temple-- it was frightening. I was daintily nibbling a fry and made the mistake of asking if she wanted one. She lurched over, grabbed all of them- like, the whole box- and stuffed them in her face. Yum-o!
Obviously there are more, but these are the best of the supporting cast.
Shana: Spends most of the day applying sunscreen and complaining about her blisters. Except for her minor breakdown in the horrible first hostel, she is good-tempered and easy-going. She loves dancing to rap and talking about soccer with all the European boys, who think she's cool for being good at "football."
Julia: Spends most of her time staring at coffee shop menus and walking around our hostel room in her underwear. She is also good-tempered, but gets crabby when she's hungry, just like a little kid. And so, just like a little kid, she always carries around little cheese and cracker packets to keep her happy. She loves dancing (to anything) and talking (to anyone).
Kelly: Spends most of her time with her face pressed to bakery display cases. Good-tempered if she gets the alone time she needs- otherwise crabby. She loves rapping loudly to Kanye.
John: First person we met in Australia, a Canadian backpacker travelling alone. He tried to hang out with us, which was alright until he revealed his clingy, annoying personality.
Jucy: The name of the bright green "campa" we hope to rent and drive around in. http://www.jucy.com.au/
Colin: Our roommate whom I already wrote about. He is convinced that in America we parade around with flags, chanting, "A-MER-I-CA, NUM-BER 1!" His greatest wish is to visit NYC and supersize a meal.
Tommy & Dan: Two English dudes who we've never seen sober. Every night they're not just drunk, but absolutely shitfaced, stumbling around and tackling each other in the streets. They don't actually have a room at the hostel anymore, so they pass out wherever- in the TV room, the hallway- I found Tommy in the elevator last night.
Chris: Cute, skinny English guy who looks a little like Justin Timberlake. He's really nice and we like him a lot. Instead of getting us a round of drinks, he got us some french fries, which made Shana and I completely fall in love.
Holly: Our new Canadian friend. She's travelling with a bunch of guys and appreciates having girls to hang out with. She is a lot more fashionable than the three of us, who toss on jeans and any sparkly top and pronounce ourselves ready.
Ashley: Cool girl who works at our hostel and hooked up with some sweet discounts. Unfortunately she's leaving to begin her own abroad trip....which means that we'll miss her and the nice discounts we so sorely need.
Trevor: Douchey Canadian dude who wears puka shells and loves talking about how much he can drink. He also tried to emotionally connect with us by "reading" our personalities (Julia's been labeled the quiet one, I'm the wild, outgoing one, and Shana's the leader-- 0/3). Remind me to do an impression of his braying laugh.
Zara: English girl with the voice of a dude. Looks kind of like Rachel Ray, so I expect her to sound sweet and chirp things like, "Yum-o!", but every time I'm surprised when the gruff voice of a construction worker comes out instead. Shana, Holly, and I went to Hungry Jack (Burger King) one night after a club, and she came in a joined us, horrifying us all. She stuffed a double-cheeseburger in her mouth, leering all over the place, her eyes rolling around in her head, ketchup and mustard all over her face, lettuce clinging to her temple-- it was frightening. I was daintily nibbling a fry and made the mistake of asking if she wanted one. She lurched over, grabbed all of them- like, the whole box- and stuffed them in her face. Yum-o!
Obviously there are more, but these are the best of the supporting cast.
It's been a long time
I was waiting for something really great to happen so my blog won't be boring, but nothing extraordinary has happened yet. We are settling in nicely at our hostel, Base X Embassy, although there are some undesireable things. Like:
1. I found a cockroach in the kitchen cupboard.
2. Somebody stole my orange juice.
3. Julia got bed bugs from the TV room.
Obviously, they are ranked in horrifying-ness in that order. But those are tiny, inconsequential problems when we think about the hellhole we were in. Plus there are a lot of good things, like:
1. Our roommate Colin, who is the dorkiest dentist we've ever lived in an Australian hostel with. He's asked Julia to show him some dance moves for the clubs, "not too showy but enough to impress people." And he likes to play pick-up soccer with Shana, but sometimes he thinks it's rugby and just bumbles around the field knocking people over. Finally, everyone in the hostel knows him as "the milk guy", because when we're drinking alcohol, he's swigging milk.
2. Everybody is really nice to us, and we have about 100 new friends. It's nice to hang out with people other than each other.
3. We're right in the middle of the city, so we have ready access to a lot of restaurants, stores, and clubs....not that we can afford to actually go to any of them. Shana and I went to a delicious place called the Pancake Manor in a fit of hangover hunger, and it was worth every penny.
Much of the week has been dedicated to finding a job, which has proved to be a more formidable task than we though. We started out brimming with confidence, but soon realized that nobody really wants to hire a person who will only be around for a few months at most. Shana and I are on our way to go apply at the local grocery store, and the horrifying part is there is a very real chance that we may not get the job. Julia had a test run at Guess, which was an unmitigated disaster.
We've also been going out a lot, because we don't have any place to lay on the couch and watch TV (at least, a place without bed bugs), and also we're tight with some of the bartenders and get get tons of free drinks. Nothing much to say about that except that it's weird to have things stay open past 2am, and we regularly get home around 4-5.
Julia's working on getting pictures on her computer, which means that soon we'll put some on here. Keep checking back!
1. I found a cockroach in the kitchen cupboard.
2. Somebody stole my orange juice.
3. Julia got bed bugs from the TV room.
Obviously, they are ranked in horrifying-ness in that order. But those are tiny, inconsequential problems when we think about the hellhole we were in. Plus there are a lot of good things, like:
1. Our roommate Colin, who is the dorkiest dentist we've ever lived in an Australian hostel with. He's asked Julia to show him some dance moves for the clubs, "not too showy but enough to impress people." And he likes to play pick-up soccer with Shana, but sometimes he thinks it's rugby and just bumbles around the field knocking people over. Finally, everyone in the hostel knows him as "the milk guy", because when we're drinking alcohol, he's swigging milk.
2. Everybody is really nice to us, and we have about 100 new friends. It's nice to hang out with people other than each other.
3. We're right in the middle of the city, so we have ready access to a lot of restaurants, stores, and clubs....not that we can afford to actually go to any of them. Shana and I went to a delicious place called the Pancake Manor in a fit of hangover hunger, and it was worth every penny.
Much of the week has been dedicated to finding a job, which has proved to be a more formidable task than we though. We started out brimming with confidence, but soon realized that nobody really wants to hire a person who will only be around for a few months at most. Shana and I are on our way to go apply at the local grocery store, and the horrifying part is there is a very real chance that we may not get the job. Julia had a test run at Guess, which was an unmitigated disaster.
We've also been going out a lot, because we don't have any place to lay on the couch and watch TV (at least, a place without bed bugs), and also we're tight with some of the bartenders and get get tons of free drinks. Nothing much to say about that except that it's weird to have things stay open past 2am, and we regularly get home around 4-5.
Julia's working on getting pictures on her computer, which means that soon we'll put some on here. Keep checking back!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Creepy thing of the day
We are staying in a 4-person hostel. Obviously, we are three of them. We hadn't met our other person yet, so we snooped at all of the stuff scattered on the floor and decided that we all knew and loved him. Also Julia "fell" into his suitcase and came out with several pairs of his underwear dangling on her feet. Creep.
Brisbane>Sydney
1. We made new friends!
2. Driving on the left side of the road is a lot harder than I thought.
3. Brisbane is a lot nicer than Sydney, we've all agreed on it.
Yes, it's true! All of Julia's super-lame forum posts paid off, and we hung out at Bondi Beach on Tuesday with 2 guys from the US and 1 from Wales, playing rugby, eating sushi, and drinking the beer they bought for us. All three are really nice and attractive. We hope we see them again, since having other company buoyed our spirits.
From the last two facts, you can ascertain that we've made it alive (barely) to Brisbane, after a harrowing twelve-hour drive (sidenote: we saw tons of kangaroo grazing on the side of the road!) We drove in exhausted and dirty at 11pm, only to realize that our hostel was the grossest thing we've ever seen, in the worst neighborhood in Brisbane. Shana cracked-- I thought she was going to cry--and identified it as the worst day she's ever had. Julia found blood on her pillowcase. I slept on my beach towel. Luckily we booked it out of there at 6am the next day and found a way better place. Now we're in downtown Brisbane, a place with tons of outdoor cafes, live music, and sunshine. Now we're in the process of looking for a place more permanent than a hostel, and a job as well. Once we have some capital, then the real exciting things can begin.
The three of us are getting along pretty well. We squabble a lot, but once we eat food, we're better again. We talk about food probably 80% of the time. Also we realized that it's homecoming weekend this weekend, and all of our other friends are together at school. I'm jealous! Send some emails with a minute-by-minute recap of your weekend.
2. Driving on the left side of the road is a lot harder than I thought.
3. Brisbane is a lot nicer than Sydney, we've all agreed on it.
Yes, it's true! All of Julia's super-lame forum posts paid off, and we hung out at Bondi Beach on Tuesday with 2 guys from the US and 1 from Wales, playing rugby, eating sushi, and drinking the beer they bought for us. All three are really nice and attractive. We hope we see them again, since having other company buoyed our spirits.
From the last two facts, you can ascertain that we've made it alive (barely) to Brisbane, after a harrowing twelve-hour drive (sidenote: we saw tons of kangaroo grazing on the side of the road!) We drove in exhausted and dirty at 11pm, only to realize that our hostel was the grossest thing we've ever seen, in the worst neighborhood in Brisbane. Shana cracked-- I thought she was going to cry--and identified it as the worst day she's ever had. Julia found blood on her pillowcase. I slept on my beach towel. Luckily we booked it out of there at 6am the next day and found a way better place. Now we're in downtown Brisbane, a place with tons of outdoor cafes, live music, and sunshine. Now we're in the process of looking for a place more permanent than a hostel, and a job as well. Once we have some capital, then the real exciting things can begin.
The three of us are getting along pretty well. We squabble a lot, but once we eat food, we're better again. We talk about food probably 80% of the time. Also we realized that it's homecoming weekend this weekend, and all of our other friends are together at school. I'm jealous! Send some emails with a minute-by-minute recap of your weekend.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Quote of the Day
"Oh my God, flying trains!"-- Julia, seeing a monorail for the first time. Hillbilly.
The First Few Days in Sydney
We made it! It's hard to believe that last year at this time I was sitting at srat lunch, frantically studying for the LSATs, and now I'm sitting in a Sydney internet cafe, planning a road trip to Brisbane. Weird.
We've been here 3 days so far, and generally spent them walking around. The first day we were all suffering from a terrible jet lag (Sydney is 15 hrs ahead of Chicago-- so am I talking to you from the future?) Nevertheless, we dragged our bodies to the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Botannical Gardens, and some art Museum. In the Gardens, we spotted a large winged creature that Julia identified as a wombat hanging in a tree. Wrong. A wombat is actually a furry, boulder-like, ground-dwelling animal, as an elderly Australian gentleman kindly informed us. What we actually saw are the largest bats I have ever seen-- like, the wingspan of my arm.
The second day was largely devoted to finding a grocery store, a feat in which I can proudly say we were successful . A bottle of coke= $2.50. A Snickers= $1.85. What a joke. If anyone wants to send us a Christmas present of chocolate, let me know and I'll gladly send you our address. Wine, however, is rather cheap, so we celebrated our supermarket victory by purchasing two bottles of Liquorland's cheapest wine and a rotisserie chicken. Twelve hours later, we woke up, one hour past checkout and sweaty with hangover fever. Turns out a). our tolerances aren't what they used to be, and b). rotisserie chicken isn't enough to soak up alcohol. Thus our third day of in the glorious land down under was spent in a darkened hostel room, reflecting on our poor decisions and wishing for Panera Bread.
Right now we're planning to rent a camper and head up towards Brisbane, stopping wherever we feel like. If there are no more posts on this blog, it means we broke down or got lost on the outback. Soooo....hopefully I'll post again soon. And hopefully people are actually reading this.
We've been here 3 days so far, and generally spent them walking around. The first day we were all suffering from a terrible jet lag (Sydney is 15 hrs ahead of Chicago-- so am I talking to you from the future?) Nevertheless, we dragged our bodies to the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Botannical Gardens, and some art Museum. In the Gardens, we spotted a large winged creature that Julia identified as a wombat hanging in a tree. Wrong. A wombat is actually a furry, boulder-like, ground-dwelling animal, as an elderly Australian gentleman kindly informed us. What we actually saw are the largest bats I have ever seen-- like, the wingspan of my arm.
The second day was largely devoted to finding a grocery store, a feat in which I can proudly say we were successful . A bottle of coke= $2.50. A Snickers= $1.85. What a joke. If anyone wants to send us a Christmas present of chocolate, let me know and I'll gladly send you our address. Wine, however, is rather cheap, so we celebrated our supermarket victory by purchasing two bottles of Liquorland's cheapest wine and a rotisserie chicken. Twelve hours later, we woke up, one hour past checkout and sweaty with hangover fever. Turns out a). our tolerances aren't what they used to be, and b). rotisserie chicken isn't enough to soak up alcohol. Thus our third day of in the glorious land down under was spent in a darkened hostel room, reflecting on our poor decisions and wishing for Panera Bread.
Right now we're planning to rent a camper and head up towards Brisbane, stopping wherever we feel like. If there are no more posts on this blog, it means we broke down or got lost on the outback. Soooo....hopefully I'll post again soon. And hopefully people are actually reading this.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Here we go!
Welcome to my blog! If you're reading this, it means you a). love and miss me, or b). are incredibly bored and none of the other, more interesting websites have been updated. This first post isn't too interesting, since I technically haven't embarked on my Australian adventure, but I thought I'd better get in some practice posts before the real thing. Hopefully this will work better than those long, boring, I'm-abroad-and-thus-will-recount-every-single-thing-that-happens-to-me-emails. I leave in approximately 15 hours: more exciting posts will follow, but to wrap this "test" one up, I'll leave you with a somewhat applicable quote I found in Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
"The end he had been born to serve yet did not see had led him to escape by an unseen path: and now it beckoned to him once more and a new adventure was about to be opened to him."
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