Hot! Hot! Hot!

Classes start soon and I actually have to say I am looking forward to that if anything only for the air conditioned buildings. It was HOT!!!! today. 36 degrees was the high and we all pretty much did nothing all day.

Anyway on Friday there was a BBQ for all of the residence's. I went with the people in my flat and I didn't realize until we were there how much I lucked out when it came to the variety of backgrounds that people are from. Also the upside to that is I am going to know how to cook so many foreign dishes (Indian, Malay and many other Asian foods). And I am going to learn how to cook them properly.

Completely off topic...I watched most of that last Grey's Anatomy on YouTube and my roommates thought I was quite weird cause they could hear me sniffling. But I am sorry that last minute just got to me....I am a sucker and I am ok with that.

Anyway, on Thursday a bunch of us went to the beach. I got a weird sunburn on my back. Basically every where I couldn't reach was burned. My one complaint was the beach that we went to Cottosloe didn't have big waves. That's why I am happy that the plan at the moment with the roommates is to go to Scarborough beach next weekend cause the waves there are massive and that's what I want.

Will post again once classes have started.

Pictures finally

Well...I finally have an internet access that is not the free one that the university has that is so closely monitored that you really can't do anything but check your email. I got a severe restriction becuase I used skype for 2 hours in the middle of the night....BASTARDS!!! Anyway here are some picks from my time so far...I will put more up soon as well.

On the way to the airport Melissa and I were fooling around with my camera and decided to take a picture of us. This is one of them that turned out....is it goofy enough....I think so.

Just after landing in Fiji....it was a balmy 23 degrees according to the pilot...yeah right...it was so humid that my glasses and my camera fogged up. Anyway...the picture with the dark sky is from when we landed. The light sky was just before take off. If you look in the distance at the dark blue line between the sky and the grass...well that's the ocean.

Well this is a pic from my first full day in Sydney. It's the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park. If you didn't know the Anzac's are the Australian military. I just think it looks nice.

This is St. Mary's church which is just on the out skirts of Hyde Park.

A statue of a boar? Yes it is. It's located in front of the Syndey hospital and apparently if you rub it's nose it will bring you good luck

This is of a statue of an Australian explorer by the name of Matthew Flinders. If you look closely in the back ground you can see a statue of his cat.....How cute and cool is that.

This is of an old tree at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney...it just looks cool.

This is a picture of the Sydney Opera House and it has to be one of my favourite photos that I have taken ever.

It's a pic of the Opera House that just looks kind of wrong but I like it.

This is of the shore opposite the Opera House....It just think it looks cool.

I will definetly post more pictures but I didn't want to put everything up at once because that would be boring and take too long.

Contacting me in Australia

I just finished a very amusing conversation with my sister, brother and mother using Skype. So what I am going to do is just let you know some ways to contact me. My msn is musicluver1869@yahoo.ca and on Skype I am using the same email address and my name is listed as Karen in Oz.

All I can say is that Skype is a wonderful invention and it is soooooooooo cool to talk to home for free.

Smiles on around after that convo with the family

In the Army Now

Just thought I would drop a note of congrats to my brother who is off to Quebec on Friday for Basic Training. This now means no children at home for my parents.

I am off to downtown Perth and the beach today. At the moment the plan this weekend is beach all day on Saturday and Freemantle on Sunday. Then on Monday since I have no classes I am going to the dollar store to get the stuff I have left to get.

Rudolph isn't the only one with a red nose

Well, I’ve had an eventful few days....first off I am sad to hear that the Vball team lost.....but at the same time not suprised either.

Anyway on to Perth, I will say it again but I really like the campus. It is big and unique looking. Going back to Ryerson is gonna be hard with all that grey. Well on Saturday I went on a tour of the Perth Area. At 9am we were at a chocolate factory trying chocolate...I’m sure many of you have the same reaction that Melissa had and that was "bitch!". Anyway after that we went to a winery which for me was boring since I don’t drink wine...it’s only liquer for me....as some of you well know (Vodka being the drink of choice).

We then went to Hilary Harbour where the aquarium is located and I went to another aquarium since I also went to the one in Sydney. Going to an aquarium so totally makes me want to snorkel and also move to Australia which I think will happen in the long run. Anyway after the aquarium Caren and I met up with another Aussie girl Jess and some international students she had met and we all went down to the beach. I had a little issue with determining how big a wave so I got quite wet.

The other thing I got that day was a sunburn. My nose and forehead hurt so much....at least I now have colour in my face.

Anyway after a long day Jess and I went over to Caren’s and sat and watched Mean Girl’s which is kind of sad since I am in Australia and I am watching an american movie.

On that note though I found out something exciting. There is an australian program that I used to watch back in Canada and while I am Australia I will be able to download them legally. That means just before I leave here I am gonna download this last season so I can watch them at home. The other thing that makes me happy about that is that new TV season starts end of Jan/start of Feb so basically I am here for most of the season.

Even though classes haven’t started yet I have already learned something about myself. And that is I will not live in Scarborough next year. Unless something drastic happens I am gonna move downtown and live with other people or on my own I really don’t care I just need to get away from the relatives and have a place to myself. I am 25 goddamnit! I shouldn’t be stuck there and living in residence here has totally shown me that if I go back to Scarborough I will be completely and totally miserable and I don’t want that.

Pictures will be up as soon as I can get the internet to allow me to upload pictures. However if you are on facebook I have posted some pictures on there. That’s what the internet would allow me to put up before kicking me off.

Tomorrow is my orientation and I get to get my student card. This is gonna be fun and I actually can’t wait for my classes to start. Most of my choices of classes weren’t available which makes me sad. For english I am taking Narrative but the books we are reading are quite cool. I am taking Australian Studies which rocks. And for my 2 RTA type classes I am taking "Thinking about TV" and "Experimental Film and Video". It should be fun.

I wil get pictures up I promise....and my time at Curtin.

So I am at university now. The residence's here are nothing like they are in Toronto (Ryerson and U of T). My room is huge and I could just go on and on about how nice the residence's are. The campus is nice looking to and it's huge which is a big difference.

Another thing that kicks ass about Australia is the shopping. I am seriously loving it and will probably come home poor and with a new wardrobe which is awesome.
Anyway I picked my classes. I am taking: Experimental Film and Video, Australian Studies, Thinking about TV and Narrative for my English (which is actually much more interesting than it sounds). We get to read Fight Club which is always awesome for me.

I’m gonna be busy the next while. Tomorrow is a tour of Perth which includes an animal sancuatry, and whine, cheese and chocolate. On Sunday it’s a Chinese New Year thing and then on Tuesday is City and Surf which is another tour thing. Monday is orientation for exchange students and then in a week and half I finally start my classes.

About my roommates....Well there is Michael who is Australian. Then there are Hannah and Lorenz who went to high school in Singapore but neither of them are actually from there. Another person that is here is Josh who is an American exchange student. However Michael saw him the first night he arrived and hasn’t seen him since.
There are still some more people that are returning to the residence from last year. One of them is Indian and from Mauritius. See...other people do come from that country. Another roommate is Malaysian, another Indian girl who went to school in Singapore and then an unknown roommate.

I’ve made some friends already since I’ve been here. The amusing part about that is the name of the person who I would say I get on with the best. Her name is Caren (yes it sounds exactly like my name) which is odd cause it sounds like I’m talking about myself in the 3rd person. Anyway I think we bond over the fact that we are older than everyone else which is nice.
So just to keep you updated. I will get pictures up however I am having issues with the internet here. I’m having trouble uploading pictures. Because I am tired and am restricted for the rest of the day I am going to try uploading my pictures to Flickr tomorrow and then just put a link on the blog. But I will keep you updated.

Mango Smoothies

I am having issues with the heat. I find that its more cost effective to have a smoothie becuase it's healthy and it's cold. Anyway the Aussies are totally awesome at smoothies. Well today when I was at Paddy's Market I went upstairs to Market city which is the mall located above the market. Anyway I decided to have a smoothie called "Cool Sunrise" and you'll never believe what the main fruit in the drink was............................MANGO!!! I know, I know but it was so good and there were other fruits in it.


Also once I have access to a good internet connection I promise that I will post pictures.

Walking, Walking and more walking

So yesterday and today I've done a lot of walking. Yesterday me and Jenny, a Scot that was in the same room as me went to Paddy Market, which is a market that is located underneath a mall. We kept getting lost but it was interesting none the less. I didn't buy anything but I did go back today and get a big bag becuase unfortunately I need it for the flight to Perth.

We then walked through the Pitt Street Mall which is an outdoor mall type area. I have to say that once you've seen one mall you've seen them all. Although they are kind of nice here. We then walked all the way home around 1sh. All I can say is that Rudolph is not the only one with a red nose. I now actually have to use sunscreen. Boo-urns!!

We also walked through Darling Harbour which is nice during the day. However, that evening I went back to Darling Harbour, with Shannon (from Hong Kong). There is such a cool atmosphere there and I have some good pictures. We then went to Chinatown. Can I say if you've been to one Chinatown you've been to them all although the one in Toronto is WAY bigger.

I have never walked so much in sandals before.

I'm liking Sydney

Well today is my second full day that I actually count in Sydney. The first one consisted of me sleeping so that doesn't count. Anyway yesterday was semi productive. I arrived at the hostel at about 9am and got my bed and what not. I had to walk through Kings Cross. All I can really say is that it's a unique area. I've definetely never seen anything like it anywhere else.


So I went and had a Kebab and wrote some postcards. I then spent most of the early afternoon in the TV room cause it was just toooooooo hot outside. At about 430ish I decided to head to Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. While going there I also went through Hyde Park and the Royal Botanical Gardens. When I got back to the hostel I went out for drinks with a Scottish girl and a girl from Hong Kong. The beer I drank was soooooo gross. Anyway the bar experience we had was interesting. A lot of drunk Australia sailors.......it was interesting to say the least.

Today I decided to go to Paddy Market with the Scottish girl, Jenny. I didn't buy anything today but I actually have to go back tomorrow and get some stuff. We then walked all the way back to the hostel. It took a couple of hours but it was fun and I did get to see Darling Harbour.

Something I have noticed is that the Aussies like their fruits and veg. Today I had the most awesome of drinks that was basically a watermelon smoothie but there was no milk products in it.

I promise that once I am in Perth and have regular access to a good internet connection I will post pictures cause I have a lot to post.

Also I am SOOOOOO moving to Australia. I haven't even made it to Perth and I've only been here 3 days but I already love the lifestyle but I am happy that I am going to Perth.

So....I finally made it to Australia

Well....It took a while but I finally made it but it was one hell of a journey. It all started at Pearson. I had the ultimate bitch as the person at the counter. She ended up charging me for only 9 pounds over weight. And she also wouldn't even give me a key to cut something open.

Then the flight in Toronto got delayed. At least there was an empty seat beside me so I could stretch out. Then because the flight was delayed we ended up arriving in LA late. We ended up arriving at 945pm when the flight was to leave at 1030. We still had to pick up our luggage, change terminals and go through security. We all ended up running and sweating but we got there and made it on to the plane.

The flight to Nadi, Fiji was very long. It was 10 hours and 45 minutes long. And I got stuck beside the only people on the flight going to Fiji for a funeral. It was sooo depressing. At least the airplane food was good. As we were getting to land at Nadi the pilot said that it was a balmy 23 degrees outside.

So that wasn't true. It was so humid and hot. We then spent the next three hours in line transferring to the connecting flight. It took FOREVER but at least I found some more people to talk with.

Once we flew into Sydney I was soooooo happy my mom booked me a night at a hotel cause I ended up sleeping from 4pm on the 8th until 8am on the 9th. I needed that sleep and it totally reset my body clock. This morning I went to the hostel and I really like it. The people are friendly and it's in a really nice area.

I haven't done much today cause I am poor at the moment but I get payed tomorrow so WHOO HOO. I might actually be going out tonight with a South African that's in the same room as me.

Anyway I will post again soon and put pictures on later. Expect postcards in the mail.

2nd last day of work

So I am sitting in the office finishing up this godforsaken manual that I have been working on for 1 and 1/2 months already. It's almost finished and I will be glad to never see it again. I have to say that working a lot has prevented me from going crazy. It's taken up so much of my time that I haven't had the opportunity to bounce off the walls yet. Also I think I am one of those few people who likes my job (most of the time). That being said I will be happy not to see another Volleyball or Basketball game for a while.

I think the fact that I am leaving will hit me on Saturday because then I will be done work completely and won't have very long until I am done.

Some Oz music

So I thought to prep for Aus that I would post some Aus music cause I felt the need to share.

Eskimo Joe: Black Fingernails, Red Wine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v44nj5Mbb6Q

Evermore: Light Surrounding You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en1rtrn464M