how do i become a member of the love bite club?

hoot hoot to all my ChiO loves

Shout out to all of CHI OMEGA for my amazing care package. Can't wait to do the word searches on my multiple flights across Australia! I was stressing in the library today when I got the email saying I had a parcel, so great. The notes made my day and the stickers arrived just in time for Halloween. Love you all!

Lets see. I always feel like blog-worthy events don't happen too often and then I start typing and realize just how adventurous the simplest days can be. Today for instance...I woke up and went to class, well what I thought was class, the room was empty so I am assuming class is over for the semester? So strange. I missed class last week Monday so maybe that is when she announced the schedule since I also went to class last week Wednesday and there was no class. Who knows. I then decided to go to the library to get a jump start on my paper, which is due Thursday, so less of a jumpstart and more of a late start. Of course once I got situated I realized I didn't have my student id and couldn't get any books out anyway. Then I got the email about my ChiO package and decided to leave the library and go get it. Then I sat in the dining hall and wrote out postcards. (If you want a postcard message me your address, the store on campus just got really fun ones!)

Boubar logo

After lunch I decided I needed to bike to mail a very special package to a very special Little ChiO Sister of mine for Little Appreciation Week. ( I hope it makes it there in time!) I borrowed Lyndal's bike (isn't her name so pretty!) Unfortunately it was a very dodgy bike and apparently it might have been permanently borrowed and was not in prime condition. The back wheel was a bit low and the brakes were basically non existent. It was not a stress relieving ride to say the least. After dealing with the crazy hard to understand postal woman I biked to Boubar Cafe for the ultimate stress relief an iced mocha. It has ice cream and other deliciousness in it. YUM. Boubar was a great discovery brought to my attention by the lovely girls of Currie. So great. Their logo is a little creepy but their drinks are delicious so I'll roll with it. :)

scrum? skrum? sckrum? rugby?

Last week we walked to Matilda Bay where the Currie Hall, Tommy More, and St. George's boys took on Trinity College in a rugby battle. Our boys did their best but were sadly defeated by Trinity. Wah. They played really well and it was really exciting to watch. I have no idea how rugby is played or any of the rules, but it is way more manly and tough than American football. They don't wear any padding except some of them where funny hats to protect their ears as well as look very fashionable *cough*Julien*cough*.  The field they played on was massive and the river was on the one side and it was really pretty, the sport was rough but the scenery was calm and relaxing. Minus the flies, the flies in Australia are HORRIFIC and they have no sense of personal boundaries, they will go in your mouth, in your ears, all over the place, so rude. All in all a fabulous afternoon.

my fave little creatures :)

On Tuesday night we had a girls night at Little Creatures. My favorite brewery in Fremantle. They have the BEST cider and amazing pizza. My favorite is chorizo, feta and corn. YUM. We were sick of Currie Hall food and really wanted to hang out with Amanda and Kiara from Murdoch University so we got on the bus and headed off. Unfortunately it was "rush hour" and it took us over an hour and half to get to Freo. Totally worth it. Our waiter dropped a pint glass on our table and it shattered everywhere so he gave us free pints of cider! We saved $90 because our waiter was a klutz. So great. Then we took the train to Claremont where we would have to catch a bus back to Perth. (I'm becoming a public transportation pro, who knew?!) When we got to Claremont we decided to say we missed the bus and had Ron come pick us up. We didn't actually miss the bus but we really wanted to drink more cider and he had offered us a ride SO we may have slightly taken advantage of his offer. Sorry we're not sorry. ;)

Friday night was our Currie Halloween Party. Another amazing party if I do say so myself. Great job Stevie and all of her helpers! The party was at a bar called the Basement which is within walking distance from Currie. We had a room to ourself that was decorated with webs and spiders, filled with our fabulously costumed friends and lots of yummy food. We got 3 free drinks and as previously mentioned delicious food all for the price of our $5 ticket. Epic. There were a lot of really great costumes, I went as a witch, aka wore a witch hat. Dressing up is not my favorite. I did buy some pretty fabulous spider tights, which the package said were one size fits all, apparently they were one size fits all midgets since they came up to approximately my knees. Bummer. It was a really great night and I had lots of fun!

Here are a few photos that would have been more appropriate in the previous blog but weren't available.

Julien and I at his ball. 

Me posing as a person intrigued with the photo. Cristina said I looked smart but I think it was the glasses...The Art Show was amazing and this was a fabulous piece! Congrats to all the participants and winners!

My next Fall challenge for all of you in the US with access to such delicious things as pumpkin spice lattes, etc. is to find this ice cream and tell me if it is any good. I feel like they might not have it by the time I get back to the US, so search for it, try it and let me know!

Happy Halloween from Australia! :) I went as a witch, and I wore these fancy fake eyelashes. They were a hassle to put on but luckily I had the eyelash expert Katrina Dickens on hand to help me out. Hopefully they survive the trip back and I can rock them on another occasion. ChiO plan a mixer that would be acceptable for silver sparkly eyelashes. :)

Hope you're all enjoying that snow and cold weather. Its beach weather all week here...sorry, I'll soak up enough sun for all of us! Love you ALL. xo

I reckon its time to "live it up"

First off, blog shout out to Nara for getting a pumpkin spice latte and telling me about it! You're the best! :)

Currie Jail

I hope you all are enjoying fall...it is really starting to get warm here...like my room is a sauna warm, and Currie isn't as kind as F&M and our rooms are not airconditioned. I will surviveeee. The worst part is that the room we always hang out in and watch movies and tv in is getting knocked down tomorrow as part of the renovation and construction. No matter what I can't avoid construction. Its becoming more and more like a maze at this place. There are new fences every day and our route to and from Uni is so messed up, I feel like I'm in jail! The gaps in this fence in the photo have since been filled in and we are completely blocked in.


Things have been pretty busy since we got back from Bali. We only have about 3 weeks left of classes, then a week study break and then finals. I was sort of hoping to have all early finals so I could possibly come home for Thanksgiving but unfortunately my exams are the 17th, 18th and the 26th...bummer. But its okay...now I have more time to travel. Since coming home is no longer an option I have begun to have a lot more fun here...funny how that works out. I think after finals I will travel to New Zealand or maybe just go to Sydney and explore the east coast. On December 16th I am going to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge with my friend Katrina for her 21st birthday! SO excited!!! On December 17th Vince and I will be flying to Mauritius and a few days later I will be reunited with the fam! YAY!

Oktoberfest!

Sundowner

Last week Friday was Oktoberfest at the Tav on campus. So fun! We all just hang out and drank cider/beer and played drinking games and just had a grand old timWe started drinking at around 2pm and continued til 5 when we walked back to Currie and kept drinking at the Sundowner. The Sundowner was kind of a lame party, but it was nice eating outside. The Sundowner was a party to celebrate the knocking down of the buildings. I think they are getting knocked down sometime this week, not sure why we had the party so early but it was pretty fun. The booze was gross and the pizza was not so good but ya can't win 'em all.

Skye & I :)

Last Saturday, Julien was kind enough to invite me to the Tommy More Ball. It was awesome! How can you not love drinking, delicious food, dancing and the company of lots of great people? The ball was at the same place the Currie Ball was and the food was just as delicious. Their ball had a live band which was really great. Unfortunately once the band was done their source of music was an ipod that the songs kept being changed every 45 seconds, kind of annoying. And yes, they did the Eagle Rock and everyone dropped their pants and I was just as uncomfortable as the first time it happened. So funny. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of Julien and I but I managed to find one of me and Skye this crazy fun girl who I sat next to at the ball. We were dancing buddies, as well as bathroom buddies, I didn't really know very many Tommy people so it was nice to have someone there to hang out with. She kept things interesting to say the least. ;) Overall an awesome night, I'm so glad Julien invited me! :)

mad coloring skillz.

Jasen & I, love the masksss!

This week Currie definitely kept us busy. I had an architecture paper worth 60% of my grade and microeconomics paper both due on Friday, but luckily I managed to get both of them done and enjoy all the activities this week!Wednesday was International night and it was very fun! It was really well organized and the decorations were so cool. The theme was Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and some people dressed up and looked really great. When we got our invitations there was a skull picture to color in for a door prize. I colored mine in for probably 3 hours. It was a pretty epic afternoon. If there was a profession where all I had to do was color pictures in I would definitely attempt to get into that field. I might have to make that happen...just saying.Every table setting had a really fancy mask to wear and a skull bead necklace, awesomeeeenesss. At the beginning of  international night there was a parade of flags with a representative from each country carrying their flag. (great work Liz, ya did America proud), then there was a Tai Chi sword performance, which was a minor struggle since the stage wasn't big enough, still pretty cool though. There were also several band and singing performances, Manny sang "Candy" by Paolo Nutini and it was really well done.

GNO <3

back of the shirt

Friday was GNO 2011 ( Girls Night Out!), I stayed in Thursday and finished both of my papers...I even handed them both in early on Friday, go me! GNO was so much fun! The boys had BNO and we went on separate pub crawls and then met up at the last bar. Not only were our shirts FABULOUS but everything was really fun and exciting. Everyone had challenges they had to complete throughout the night, the first one to complete it won a prize. Liz had to propose to a stranger and managed to propose to the bouncer at the first bar...go Liz! Katrina did an EPIC interpretative dance in the middle of the dance floor and it RULED. My challenge sounded easy but took a lot of scoping to complete. I had to find a guy in a purple shirt, go up to him and say "Oh look we're twins!" Ryanne and I searched all over the bar and finally saw a guy in a purple shirt, the DJ! So I managed to complete my challenge at the first bar and then didn't have to worry about it anymore! Apparently alcohol makes me a kleptomaniac because when I woke up on Saturday morning I had 2 guys belts, one of them was Armani! Oops. That's what they get for climbing on our party bus and taking off their belts!

hey mr dj.

Saturday everyone was pretty hungover and it was pretty hot out so we planned on just hanging out and not doing much. Then of course Victor my RA asked me to play in the interhouse volleyball tournament and I can't say no to that boy so I did. B House ended up winning! We rule. It was so much fun. I think the best part was that at no point was anyone rude or meanly competitive. We literally had a great set of games and everyone had a great time. There was music, hotdogs and fruit and it was a really great day. My arms are still pretty sore but it was super fun and even better I didn't get hurt!

I don't have any work due for the next few weeks so that is exciting. I have a research paper due the first week of November on the Australian economic depressions that I then have to give a presentation on in my tutorial. I think I'm going to start researching it this week because I don't want to leave it til the last minute because then I get stressed out...we'll have to see how well that turns out.

partnerz in crime.

Last but not least, shout out to my best friend, partner in crime and adorable sister Alanna! I can't believe you are 15 already, you are growing up way to fast! I hope you have an amazing birthday, I love and miss you so much!  Can't wait to come home and go on DD runs with you! Hugs and kisses and lots of love from OZ! :)

bali bali bali.

best door mat ever.

A few weeks ago when everyone was talking about where they wanted to go for study break I was miserable and homesick. Given the option I probably would have flown home even if it was just for a week. Don’t get me wrong, I love Australia and I’m having an amazing time, but lets be honest my family is awesome and how can I not miss those precious people every once in a while…or every day. Anyway, a bunch of the other exchange students were planning on going to Bali but I wasn’t convinced. I talked to the parents and they told me to go for it. I am so glad that I did. It was an incredible adventure and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to visit such an amazing island.

beachh

money money moneyyyy

Our flight wasn’t until nighttime so we had all day Friday to finish packing and getting all our stuff ready. We had to exchange our money, which was exciting because over night we were all millionaires! $100,000 rupiah is about $10 Australian. (***photo credit to Liz, I sadly didn't have the brilliant idea to take a picture of my money and by the time I thought of it I had obviously spent it all.) The money was so complicated and a bit of a struggle but by the end of the week we mastered it.

Liz and I decided to hit up the Tav happy hour before we left just to calm our pre-flight jitters, mostly my jitters, but cider does wonders for the mind and body. We were lucky enough to get a ride to the airport and everyone checked in and we met up with Amanda and Luke who were coming with us. The flight was uneventful and after four really boring and antsy hours we made it to Bali. Upon arrival we had to buy $25 visitors visas and then check in. After checking through we went to claim our baggage where we had to fight with the clerks who tried to scam you by taking your bags for you and then making you pay them for their services. After wrangling our suitcases away we were ready to go…or so we thought. We were still waiting on Amanda, and we kept waiting…Amanda was travelling with a passport that expires within 6 months which is a pretty serious no-no. The airport agent informed us that she was being sent back to Perth the next day at 2pm and would not be allowed to stay in the country. Luke volunteered to go home with her and suddenly our group of twelve was down by two. We didn’t really know what to do, so we kept waiting for them to come out. Finally, someone came out and said she was allowed to stay and we got our bags and got in a taksis. (yes that’s how its spelled in Bali) We made it safely to our hotel and checked in. Amanda was one of my two roommates for the week, the other being my fab friend Liz. When we got to our room she informed us that the only reason she was allowed to stay in Bali was because she paid a “secret fine” of $150. Shady. But at least she got to stay and enjoy the rest of the trip.

the pool/hotel/BAR

We really lucked out with our hotel. We were a 5 minute walk from the beach, 2 minutes from shopping and lots of restaurants and about a 20 minute walk from the clubs. There was a pool bar in the smallish pool outside our hotel that had happy hour from 5-8, amazing. We also got complimentary breakfast every morning as long as we were there before 11am and it was DELICIOUS. All of this and fresh towels and our rooms cleaned every day for about $130 for the week. Not too bad at all.

WIN!

The first few days we just went to the beach and relaxed…or at least attempted to. We met a really nice guy named Win who every day we went to the beach provided us with chairs and umbrellas. He also would provide us with beer and other cold beverages. He was definitely a great asset to our week of relaxation. Unfortunately there were also crazy ladies trying to sell us sarongs, bracelets and shirts. All day long they would harass us to get our nails painted, to get a massage, to buy things even if we already purchased them. It really put a damper on the whole relaxation thing. But once you either bought something or told them to leave you alone they left you be to enjoy the day in peace.

most unwanted massage ever

The first day they were relentless. We bought bracelets and sarongs and they still hung around. At one point I got a massage that I clearly said I didn't want. It only cost $5 but the fact that I said I didn’t want it didn’t really make it very enjoyable, that and all the sand made it more of a scrub than a massage. Despite my Debbie Downer attitude about the beach ladies it was AMAZING and I loved every minute of it. The beach was beautiful  and the ocean was way warmer than in Perth and a bath compared to the water in Marblehead. The waves were really strong and if you spent too much time in the ocean you would feel pretty beat up.

posers.

A few people rented surfboards and boogie boards and did that for a few hours. I probably would have gone boogie boarding but I was sleeping that day. Amanda and I did pose with surfboards just for the photo because our bathing suits were not surfing appropriate. Maybe next time we go to Bali we can tackle surfing.

dancer

monkeys!

On Monday we took a tour of the “real Bali”.  Our first stop was a Balinese dance show. It was…interesting. There were a few moments of uncomfortable sexual humor. We also didn’t know what they were saying so we lost out a little bit in that aspect. The story line was pretty easy to follow even with the language barrier. It was a unique experience to say the least. After that we went to the monkey forest. Which was incredible. Our tour guide gave us a bag of papaya leaves, which are their favorite, and they went mental. Monkeys always attacked whoever was holding the bag and if they couldn’t get the bag open they would just bite holes in the bottom. It was crazy, we were swarmed by monkeys. They were super cute and photogenic. After the monkey forest we stopped for lunch, which was soo delicious.

rice fields

sarongsss

 Our next stop was a temple. We all had to wear sarongs, including the boys because our legs needed to be covered. The temples were pretty cool, lots of stairs to climb and it was really hot but still pretty cool. On the way back we stopped at another temple and also saw the volcano. There was ash all down the one side of it and it looked really awesome. On the way back we were supposed to stop for dinner but our van lost the other van so we ended up just going to a pub by the restaurant. All in all it was a really eventful day, we saw so much and had a really great time.

volcano

Bintang!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Meaning my touring days were over, but it was still so much fun. Some of the group went on a tour that left at 3am (clearly I stayed in bed) to see the dolphins and sunrise...their pictures looked amazing and I probably should have dragged my lazy self out of bed but sometimes you just gotta keep sleeping. We enjoyed as much Bintang (the beer of Bali) as was humanly possible and just hung out.

Maria and Dili take over John Hardy.

On Thursday Lili and I went to visit the John Hardy compound, which was probably my favorite part of the trip. The set up was amazing and even though it took 3 hours and ten stops of asking for directions, totally worth it, even if the taksi driver was convinced our names were Maria and Dili. We got to go into the show room where we were allowed to purchase discontinued jewelry at a 30% discount and new and exciting jewelry at a 10% discount. We then were given a tour of the factory and saw the entire jewelry making process which is incredibly time consuming and impressive. Everything is made on site unless it needs jewels, those are set in Hong Kong but the rest is all completed on site. The place was incredible.

crammed in a taksi

On Friday we checked out of our hotel and went and had lunch. After lunch we decided to head to the airport just in case we ran into any difficulties, in an attempt to save money we crammed 5 of us in a taksi. Unfortunately the usual 20 minute ride to the airport took a very uncomfortable and cramped hour. But we survived.  We all made it through and even purchased some duty free alcohol that I hope lasts a while since alcohol is so expensive in Australia. We waited at our gate and when it was time to board we went through the tunnel, down some stairs, and then we were put on a bus and driving out onto the tarmac to our plane waiting in the middle of nowhere. It was a first, but I suppose that is how they stay efficient.

chicken for dinner tonight!

I'm really going to miss the dangers of crossing the streets filled with motorcycles, bikes and taksis. Seriously I saw a few that had like 6 people piled on one motorcycle. Unreal. They carry everything on those bad boys, from eggs, to surfboards, even chickens!

It was a wild trip. I can’t believe its over already. I would totally go back and keep exploring, even thought the island is relatively small we only got to see a really tiny part of it. Exchange reunion 2012? I think so.   

seaweed pringles. my jammm.

I was also a huge fan of seaweed Pringles which were only $2 as opposed to the Australian regular Pringles that are $6. The chips were green, uniquely flavored and fabulously delicious. I don't think they are available in Perth or the US for that matter.... Upsetting.

maps are opposite in this hemisphere. weird.
This was a clock map we saw at the airport. I think its crazy that maps are the opposite of what we see at home where the US is on the left and everything else is on the right. Here they are made so Australia is in the middle. When I first saw one I thought it was so weird but I'm sure to them our maps look strange. 

 Classes are lame, but based on my midterm exam scores I really need to step up my academic game. It’s starting to get warmer and I’m worried I might melt. They are also starting to tear down a bunch of buildings at our college so there will be the added joy of construction noise. Thrilled.  Post pictures of the fall! Someone go pumpkin picking and post photos. Someone get a pumpkin spiced latte for me. K great.  Miss you all! xo

everyone at the volcano