Catching up on the past month of my life
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2004
1
17
34
Trip End
Dec 18, 2004
Randwick,
Australia
Sunday, June 6, 2004
1 - Biking at the Docklands in Melbourne
. So we headed to one of those karaoke places where you rent your own private room (and therefore don't subject strangers to your off-key warblings). I suddenly found myself in karoke hell - both the Saudi guy and my drunken professor were hitting on all of us girls and kept trying to get us to dance with them. My fun professor morphed into this sleazy, sketchy old man... Daniela and I ended up hanging onto each other for dear life, but we did manage to have fun singing at the top of our lungs. The night went on way longer than it should have, but finally we got out of there. It was a very educational evening - I learned that my professor is a dirty old man and that the word "chunder" in the song Down Under by Men at Work means to throw up from drinking too much. I got a few hours of sleep and then headed to the airport to pick up Kevin.Meanwhile, I was also finishing up my teaching practicum at a private English school in Sydney. It went quite well - my students were awesome and they loved me. Plus my supervisor David was both laid back and helpful. Rina arrived a few days later, but I wasn't able to be a very good hostess because my assignments and grad shop job occupied most of my time. I didn't enjoy the uni work, but my job was kinda fun due to the crazy cast of characters I worked with. My boss was this loud, in-your-face, older Aussie woman who called everyone "doll" and used every bit of Aussie slang imaginable - I even heard her use the word "streuth"
2 - Attack of the Killer Black Swan!
! I'd NEVER heard anyone actually say that before! And I still have no idea what it means! Then there was this wonderfully dramatic Aussie uni student. He had every stereotypically gay mannerism, but I wasn't sure of his sexual orientation until he called the guy who works at Esme's Cafe "criminally cute". Then there were all these other student workers, and every single one of them was an international student from Asia. It was funny working there.Then, Rina and I took an extended weekend trip to Melbourne, while Kevin kept himself busy watching over my room and perfecting his Aussie accent in Sydney (Rina and Kevin weren't exactly getting along). When we went to Melbourne 4 years ago, we didn't have the greatest experience and left the city wondering what was so great about it. This time around, we had an awesome time and found a new appreciation for the city. A lot of the credit for our change of heart goes to Rina's friend Michael, who was the best tour guide you could ever hope for. As a Melbourne native, he was able to show us all the best bits of the city. So this time we saw more than just the clock that plays Waltzing Matilda in the mall and the fire show outside the casino. We biked all over the city, ate lots and lots of great food, took lots of coffee and cake breaks, and visited St. Kilda (a trendy seaside suburb) everyday. Oh, and I got to see the restaurant from the Australian reality tv show My Restaurant Rules
3 - Watch Out Rina!!
! Trust me, it was exciting. I also got to reminisce about Breckenridge when I went out to dinner with my former co-worker Simon, who's also from Melbourne. I enjoyed Melbourne so much I was almost questioning whether I should have gone to uni there instead, but I'll always be loyal to Sydney. We discussed the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry many a time during our trip and after much research decided that Sydney is good looking while Melbourne has a good personality. Melbourne reminded us a lot of Seattle, with its abundance of cafes and slightly grungy appearance. Plus everyone there seems very hip and fashionable in an artsy way. We often felt like we didn't fit in because we weren't quite cool enough. All in all, it was a great trip. I still have so much to say but I just noticed that this is becoming the longest travelpod entry ever, so I should probably wrap it up (if anyone's still reading by this point). So let's see... Rina, my pal Christina, and I had a crazy girls night out on the town the night before Rina left. Then I said farewell to Rina (see you at Mardi Gras!) and had one more week with Kevin. We had the greatest time doing all the Sydney things we hadn't gotten to do yet, like seeing lots o' Aussie animals at the Featherdale Wildlife Park (which Ian Ziering of 90210 fame has also visited!), eating fish and chips at Manly, seeing the most amazing sunset ever on the ferry back to Sydney, having no idea what the hell was going on at a Sydney Swans footy match (that's Aussie Rules Football), and walking along the coast from Coogee to Bondi
4 - Michael and Rina
. Unfortunately, Breckenridge was beckoning Kevin back so once again I was all alone. I miss Kevin... because now I have no one to take out the trash and cook for me. :)Since then I've been trying to catch up on all the uni work I ignored for the past month. The semester ends next week and all my assignments are due the following week, so I'm freaking out about getting everything done. Especially since I am now teaching five days a week at the same language school where I did my practicum! A couple weeks ago they offered me a job as a casual relief teacher (basically a substitute teacher), but recently offered me my very own class! I really should have said no, because I have no time to get my uni work done, but I couldn't resist the opportunity (and the money!). So all of a sudden the school director is referring to me as "the newest member of staff" and I even have my own mailbox! I actually started teaching while some of my classmates were still doing their practicum there - one of them even taught my class a couple of times! And the weirdest thing is that I'll now be co-teaching a class with my former supervisor! Oh, and the best part is that I'm making twice as much money an hour than my grad shop job (which is over now that the graduations are done)!!
So yeah, basically I have no time to breathe anymore
5- Scary Luna Park!
. Things will be much less crazy in two weeks when all my assignments are done... I just don't know how I'll get them done by then because lesson planning takes up most of my time. Hopefully I'll be a bit less stressed when Pam comes to visit in a month. We're thinking of taking a nice relaxing beach holiday up in Queensland - I could really use one! A few last things... Alias is all caught up to when I left home, so I finally get to see the episodes I missed! I was extremely excited to hear that the O.C. will be coming to Australian TV soon!! I can't wait to be able to watch Seth Cohen again! In local news, Krispy Kreme just opened a shop in Sydney. And the Olympic torch was run all over the city a couple days ago. I didn't get to see it in person, but it did cause lots of traffic during my morning commute to work. The big talk of the country has been how very proud everyone is of the girl from Tasmania who married the Prince of Denmark and the Aussie girl who just became Miss Universe. The other big news has been Prime Minister John Howard's trip to the US to talk with Arnold Schwartzernegger (of all people!) and George Bush. Everyone's been joking that no one over there has any idea who John Howard is. Gotta love that self-deprecating Aussie humour. The sad thing is it's probably the truth. 
