I've been absolutely swamped with school work for the past few days. I've been working ahead a little in preparation for my Easter Break, which I finally have planned. I've booked flights to Brisbane and Cairns, and I'll be gone for a total of 14 days. I am going with Donald, Jeff, Jess, and Brandon.
We are flying to Brisbane on the 4th, and spending 5 days there. We'll spend a night in Surfer's Paradise, and check out Steve Irwin's zoo. I've been told that the zoo is incredible, and to plan to stay there for the whole day. We're flying out on the 9th, and heading to Cairns. Once we get there, we'll pick up the rental car (I'll get to drive on the opposite side of the road!), and drive to Port Douglas. We're spending 4 days there, and it is supposed to have some of the nicest reefs in the whole country. Hopefully I'll get to do a little SCUBA Diving. We're heading back to Cairns and finishing up there. We fly back on the 17th.
As far as the train accident goes, I, along with everyone else, am fine. I was in the first car, and all I felt was a little bump and then it just felt like we were slightly derailed. We were all pretty worried when they told us that we'd hit a car on the tracks, but about 10 minutes later they said that there was nobody in the car. Apparantly, it was a brand new car (just bought a few days earlier) and the driver stalled it on the tracks at the intersection. They bailed, and got away before the train hit. It was late at night, and delayed our trip by about 2 hours, but I didn't mind. We actually had a pretty good time of it.
The water polo match was a great time. I've never been to any sort of international competition, and it was a lot of fun to see all the different countries represented by their fans. I don't have all the scores right now, but the US played Croatia and lost 8-10. Serbia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, and China were also there. I still don't understand why there are so many Serbians and Croats in Australia. They were all over the place, and were really good at water polo.
I'll start putting up pictures when the internet gets better, which is supposed to be very soon. I've also found out that grocery stores have a whole aisle devoted to "haberdashery". It's fantastic.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Alive and Kicking
I'm sorry again for not updating, but the internet is basically nonexistant at the Carlton. I hope that it will be better at the beginning of April, when the Carlton buys new bandwidth for the month. I am at school right now so I can't write much, but I'll give you a very quick update.
I went to the airshow at the Avalon Airport, and new pictures will follow on Flickr when I get the chance. On the way back from the airshow, the train I was on ran into a car that was on the tracks. Nobody was injured, but I'll leave you intrigued. The next day, I went to watch some world-class water polo at the 12th FINA World Championships. I'll tell you what teams played and what the scores were when I have some more time. I can tell you now that Japan played, and they played horribly. It's okay though, it was a capital effort. After water polo, I met Lindsay (the girl on the plane ride here) in Melbourne completely by accident. Strange, the way that works.
Hopefully I can elaborate soon, but I just wanted to let you all know that, I, contrary to popular belief, am not dead.
I went to the airshow at the Avalon Airport, and new pictures will follow on Flickr when I get the chance. On the way back from the airshow, the train I was on ran into a car that was on the tracks. Nobody was injured, but I'll leave you intrigued. The next day, I went to watch some world-class water polo at the 12th FINA World Championships. I'll tell you what teams played and what the scores were when I have some more time. I can tell you now that Japan played, and they played horribly. It's okay though, it was a capital effort. After water polo, I met Lindsay (the girl on the plane ride here) in Melbourne completely by accident. Strange, the way that works.
Hopefully I can elaborate soon, but I just wanted to let you all know that, I, contrary to popular belief, am not dead.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Mmm, Power Ballad
So much for updating on Wednesdays I guess. The internet here at the Carlton is about as reliable as, well, my updates. Lately, I've been working on balancing school with travelling and getting all my plans together.
Easter Holidays are coming up, and we get a week off from classes. I wanted to fly up to Cairns and take a 14-day bus tour all the way south to Byron Bay, which I think would be absolutely amazing, but I can't find anyone to go with. Instead, I think I am going to Brisbane for the week with a few friends. I will be close enough to Byron Bay (2 hours) and I might even recruit someone to take a 2-3 day trip up to the Whitsunday Islands. Google it, and you'll see why I want to go there. You know what, I'll even Google it for you.
I've booked a trip to Tasmania for the weekend after Easter break, and will be there for 5 days. We have a pretty large group, and are renting 2 Holden Commodores, so I'll get to experience driving on the opposite side of the road. I am also in the process of booking a trip to New Zealand, which is heaps less expensive than I expected.
As far as classes go, I'm really enjoying CAD. I really like to sit in the library with my MP3 player and figure out how to efficiently create a 3-dimensional image of some random mechanical entity. And, also, if you haven't noticed, I'm into the whole HTML thing.
I'm looking for someone to buy some Dave Matthews tickets with me for the concert in Melbourne on May 1st. If anyone reading this wants to go with me, leave me some lovin' here or give me a call. I now have a cell phone so I am considered to be "in existence", according to Donald.
I emailed the guy that gets people together to play hockey on Wednesdays and Sundays, but I haven't heard a response back from him yet. I was hoping to be able to play tonight, but I don't think that it's going to happen. Possibly on Wednesday, because I only have his work number and work email. I'm getting excited though, because I don't feel like ice hockey is too far out of reach anymore. In the wise words of Cinderella (the band, not the princess) said: Don't know what you got till it's gone, I guess.
Easter Holidays are coming up, and we get a week off from classes. I wanted to fly up to Cairns and take a 14-day bus tour all the way south to Byron Bay, which I think would be absolutely amazing, but I can't find anyone to go with. Instead, I think I am going to Brisbane for the week with a few friends. I will be close enough to Byron Bay (2 hours) and I might even recruit someone to take a 2-3 day trip up to the Whitsunday Islands. Google it, and you'll see why I want to go there. You know what, I'll even Google it for you.
I've booked a trip to Tasmania for the weekend after Easter break, and will be there for 5 days. We have a pretty large group, and are renting 2 Holden Commodores, so I'll get to experience driving on the opposite side of the road. I am also in the process of booking a trip to New Zealand, which is heaps less expensive than I expected.
As far as classes go, I'm really enjoying CAD. I really like to sit in the library with my MP3 player and figure out how to efficiently create a 3-dimensional image of some random mechanical entity. And, also, if you haven't noticed, I'm into the whole HTML thing.
I'm looking for someone to buy some Dave Matthews tickets with me for the concert in Melbourne on May 1st. If anyone reading this wants to go with me, leave me some lovin' here or give me a call. I now have a cell phone so I am considered to be "in existence", according to Donald.
I emailed the guy that gets people together to play hockey on Wednesdays and Sundays, but I haven't heard a response back from him yet. I was hoping to be able to play tonight, but I don't think that it's going to happen. Possibly on Wednesday, because I only have his work number and work email. I'm getting excited though, because I don't feel like ice hockey is too far out of reach anymore. In the wise words of Cinderella (the band, not the princess) said: Don't know what you got till it's gone, I guess.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Updates, Classes, and Fire Alarms
Sorry for my recent inactivity... I just started class last Monday, and I've had a little bit of trouble keeping up with the blog. I know that I will at least make a post every Wednesday, since I have off that day. Wednesday really means Thursday for everyone that is reading in the States. Hopefully I'll be able to make more than one post a week though, I feel bad when I don't write in here for a while.
I keep telling myself that I'll do a ton of things once I "get settled in", but it still doesn't feel like I am. There is always laundry to do, food to buy, or homework to do... Very rarely am I just hanging out in my room. I suppose it's a good thing though, because it doesn't really leave me any time to be homesick. I still manage to feel a little homesick at times, but it's usually only at night when I am talking to friends online or writing emails.
Classes started last week, and I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if the professors were more strict, or what the format of a normal class was. After a week, I've found that it is pretty similar to college in the US. There are a few differences, but for the most part, it's the same thing. There are 3 different types of classes; lectures, tutorials, and practicals. Lectures are just like the lectures I am used to at home, with a professor speaking in front of the class. Tutorials are more interactive, with a much smaller class size and are occasionally given by graduate students. Practicals are laboratory experiments that last 2-3 hours. It isn't much different, and consistent with uni back at home, books are more expensive than they need to be. If I buy all my books this semester, it will cost me about $565.
Typically, I'll head to Deakin early in the morning and stay until the last bus leaves at around 9:15pm. This gives me 10-12 hours on campus at least 4 times a week. I'll do homework, study, and just hang out in the dorms. During all this time on campus, something interesting is bound to happen. Last weekend, Nick was cooking dinner, and everyone was just watching TV and relaxing, and I was sitting at the kitchen table playing solitaire. It was a pretty quiet night with nothing much going on. Nick and April were bickering, as always, and April decided to put some ice down Nick's shirt while he was cooking. Nick pulled the ice out and turned to throw it at April. April ran away and ducked, and the ice sailed over her head and hit the little tiny pane of fire alarm glass behind her. The fire alarm went off in every housing unit in the vicinity. Everyone had to evacuate and wait while not 1, but 3, fire trucks came to the school. We all thought it was really funny, even the fire fighters were amused. Nobody got in trouble, and now it is really easy to poke fun at Nick and April... But mostly Nick.
I have been doing a lot of searching to find a place to play some hockey. I'm almost certain that the ice rink in Geelong has been taken out, and now the closest one is on the east side of Melbourne. I called them today, and the guy told me that it will take a 20 minute train ride from Flinders Street Station and then a 25 minute bus ride from the second train station. There is no drop-in hockey, only public skating. He did give me the number of a guy that has the ice on Wednesday nights, and always gets a group together to play hockey. I'm going to give him a call to see if he'll let me come out and skate with them. I haven't played for a month now, and it is really starting to wear me down.
I'm glad to hear that everyone enjoys reading my blog, and I'm sorry that it takes me so long to update sometimes. I haven't taken many pictures in the past week, but I'll try to get some of my older Lorne and Melbourne pictures up. Maybe I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Geelong to give everyone a better picture of the city that I live in. It is a great place, and I love living here. I'm doing really well and I am having a great time.
I keep telling myself that I'll do a ton of things once I "get settled in", but it still doesn't feel like I am. There is always laundry to do, food to buy, or homework to do... Very rarely am I just hanging out in my room. I suppose it's a good thing though, because it doesn't really leave me any time to be homesick. I still manage to feel a little homesick at times, but it's usually only at night when I am talking to friends online or writing emails.
Classes started last week, and I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if the professors were more strict, or what the format of a normal class was. After a week, I've found that it is pretty similar to college in the US. There are a few differences, but for the most part, it's the same thing. There are 3 different types of classes; lectures, tutorials, and practicals. Lectures are just like the lectures I am used to at home, with a professor speaking in front of the class. Tutorials are more interactive, with a much smaller class size and are occasionally given by graduate students. Practicals are laboratory experiments that last 2-3 hours. It isn't much different, and consistent with uni back at home, books are more expensive than they need to be. If I buy all my books this semester, it will cost me about $565.
Typically, I'll head to Deakin early in the morning and stay until the last bus leaves at around 9:15pm. This gives me 10-12 hours on campus at least 4 times a week. I'll do homework, study, and just hang out in the dorms. During all this time on campus, something interesting is bound to happen. Last weekend, Nick was cooking dinner, and everyone was just watching TV and relaxing, and I was sitting at the kitchen table playing solitaire. It was a pretty quiet night with nothing much going on. Nick and April were bickering, as always, and April decided to put some ice down Nick's shirt while he was cooking. Nick pulled the ice out and turned to throw it at April. April ran away and ducked, and the ice sailed over her head and hit the little tiny pane of fire alarm glass behind her. The fire alarm went off in every housing unit in the vicinity. Everyone had to evacuate and wait while not 1, but 3, fire trucks came to the school. We all thought it was really funny, even the fire fighters were amused. Nobody got in trouble, and now it is really easy to poke fun at Nick and April... But mostly Nick.
I have been doing a lot of searching to find a place to play some hockey. I'm almost certain that the ice rink in Geelong has been taken out, and now the closest one is on the east side of Melbourne. I called them today, and the guy told me that it will take a 20 minute train ride from Flinders Street Station and then a 25 minute bus ride from the second train station. There is no drop-in hockey, only public skating. He did give me the number of a guy that has the ice on Wednesday nights, and always gets a group together to play hockey. I'm going to give him a call to see if he'll let me come out and skate with them. I haven't played for a month now, and it is really starting to wear me down.
I'm glad to hear that everyone enjoys reading my blog, and I'm sorry that it takes me so long to update sometimes. I haven't taken many pictures in the past week, but I'll try to get some of my older Lorne and Melbourne pictures up. Maybe I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Geelong to give everyone a better picture of the city that I live in. It is a great place, and I love living here. I'm doing really well and I am having a great time.
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