WHOA- It's been a little over a week since my last post- and I'm sorry for it. School has been crazy (when is it not?), but 'Uni' here in Australia has proven to be much more stressful than I could have imagined. Not only have I been absolutely swamped with papers and projects, presentations and postings, most of these determine 20-40% of my grade. And the way they grade here, you're lucky if you get above an 85 (which constitutes "HD" or "High Distinction")- maybe a handful of people in all my classes get above an 85. So I have to work hard and not only get my work done, but try to get it done good, and not just good, but GREAT!
BUT- back to recounting the past few weeks, ummmm...
The one event that comes to mind: the Full Moon Party.
Some hippies and new-agey folk host this party down on the beach every time there's a new full moon, and there's a drum circle and fire-dancer/twirlers, and it's all done under the light of the full moon, which is pretty darn bright here in Australia. I took my camera and got some cool photos of the fire-people at a slow shutter speed:
I've been cooking for myself since I've been here (and no oven!). Trying to keep it simple, as I've been busy- couscous, tuna fish, salad (Mom and Dad, I'm sure you'll love that), ground beef (mexican, indian, etc.), chicken, chili, etc. And, of course, THANK GOODNESS THEY HAVE TORTILLAS HERE. I'm not sure that my life is possible with those round, flat, and oh-so-delicious mexican bread-substitutes. The one thing I found I was missing, though, was bagels. The Aussies love their breakfast, but they just don't know what bagels are- like they haven't been introduced, see?
Wandering the aisles of the local Woolworth's, I happened upon a particular aisle I hadn't been down before. 'Well, let's see what bounty lies within these metal shelves,' I thought to myself. And, lo and behold, on the very bottom, mashed between naan and some sort of Aussie bread, two packages of bagels. REAL bagels! Now this was cause for celebration- and I grabbed the two bags and held them up in both hands, threw my head back, and laughed a hearty laugh, hugging the two bags to my chest. People stared. But I didn't care- I had found my bagel babies. Oddly enough, despite having some sort of bagel drought here, Woolworth's carries cream cheese, and not just any cream cheese, but Philadelphia cream cheese. I've seen the commercials! Why the hell do they have cream cheese and no bagels? This makes no sense to me, but why question it, I thought, grabbing the cream cheese off the shelf. As soon as I got home, a bagel went into the toaster and into my mouth (with cream cheese on it), and it was the best bagel I've EVER tasted. Actually, it wasn't, but the fact that I had been so bagel-less for so long made it seem that way. I cried, real tears, and then ripped my shirt off as I yelled to the heavens "BAAAAAYYYY-GAAAALLSSSSSSS!!!!" It was a beautiful moment.
ANYWAY- I met the United States Consul-General from Sydney. I was one of about 10 students 'chosen' to meet her, and ask her some questions about her job and U.S.-Australian relations (we're apparently super-tight). In fact, she told us that Australia and the U.S. actually have one the best relationships, if not the best, of all other U.S. relations. A fact put sadly in perspective when two American girls asked her why no one in the U.S. has ever heard of anything in Australia besides Kangaroos, Aborigines, and boomerangs. But it was a cool experience, and I must say, the Consul-General was extremely smart and she really knows what she's talking about.
OKAY- That's enough for today, I think. I'll end with another anecdote about food- this time, completely true: I find myself calling "fries" (freedom- or french-, they're still fries) 'chips,' as they call them here. Which is a bit confusing, as potato "chips" are also called 'chips,' and the ones that go well with ketchup are just called 'hot chips' when one feels they must be more specific. (Sadly, they only have ONE brand of tortilla chips and they're basically Doritos with no cheese powder stuff)I guess I do it as an effort to make it easier for others to understand what I'm saying- if I say "anyone want some fries?" I get blank stares and odd looks. But when I say "let's have some chips!" everyone gets excited at the prospect of some hot, delicious, and lightly salted fried potatoes. To be honest, who cares what they're called- they're amazing, and the Aussies have like 6 different condiments, at least, to put on these things! (see if you can name them...*) Let's end with a cool photo of an Australian tree! Yes!
*Hot Chili (a weird kind of hot sauce), Sweet Chili (a weird kind of sweet-and-sour sauce), Barbeque Sauce, Tomato Sauce (i.e. Ketchup), Sour Cream, Gravy, etc.
