Birdpoop Twice = Luck at the Casino

Let me explain. Last Sunday, a group of my new friends and I went to Penguin Island (we were supposed to go kayaking, but couldn't reserve enough kayaks so just explored the island). On our way home, they noticed that a bird had pooped on me. Luckily I threw on a tee-shirt before the bird decided to choose my back as it's toilet. Then on Tuesday, we were sitting under a tree in the campus quad for lunch and I felt a splatter. AGAIN, I was pooped on. In retrospect, it's hilarious that I was pooped on twice in one week; but at the time I wasn't very happy about it. Apparently, however, if a bird poops on you, you have good luck. So I thought I might give it a go at the casino. No worries mate, I'm just kidding. I have yet to hit up the casino and don't think I will. I'm living in Australia on a college kid's budget. I can't afford to leave my luck to the birds.

This week has flown by. It was our first week of classes, which was very interesting. We had a journalism lab, learned about public relations and documentary film making, and spoke with an Aboriginal man about his culture and history. The course I'm taking is called Spinning Yarns: Media in Australia and so, is a melting pot of media. Everyday we have two sessions, from 10-12 and 1-3, and each is a different lesson. I'm very familiar with the material and it doesn't involve a lot of outside work, so there are no complaints from me. And they give us three day weekends. Tough life, huh?

Friday we took advantage of the first opportunity to sleep in and then hit the beach in the afternoon. We made it a relaxing day because we had big plans for Saturday (and Thursday night was a lot of fun, if you know what I mean). On Saturday six of us woke up early to meet a Christian group, which consisted of about 35 Singaporeans (we were the only caucasians), at Murdoch's campus. The group organized a trip to Western Australia's Swan Valley, which is home to a wildlife park, wineries and a chocolate factory. We found out about the trip when we went to Murdoch's activity fair. It was $15 for the entire day (which is an awesome deal) so of course we signed up. We had no idea what an experience it would be - we definitely got our $15 worth.

In the morning, we went to Caversham Wildlife Park, where you can find all of Australia's favorite animals. We hung out with some kangaroos (it was our first sighting of 'roos!), pet the koalas as they ate eucalyptus, and saw several varieties of birds. I have to admit, it was a huge highlight of the trip so far. I was a little kid in a candy shop as we were among these creatures that I have wanted to see for so long. After a few hours at the park, we headed to a winery and tasted wine. Swan Valley is known for its wineries. Looking out the window during our trip (sidenote: it was weird being in a car for the first time- the driver was sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road!), we passed rows and rows of grape vines. It was gorgeous. I'll never admit to be a wine connoisseur, but I enjoyed the tasting. We had a lunch at the winery, which was prepared by a woman from a local church- it was traditional Singaporean food (yum!). Then, for those who prefered non-alcoholic beverages we went to a grape juice farm (it reminded me of Jones Farm). The juice was all natural and was absolutely delicious. Finally, we ended the day with a visit to Margaret River Chocolate Factory, where we indulged ourselves in some decadent chocolates. What a day! And we made some pretty fascinating friends along the way- all of who are studying in Australia from Singapore.

Then today, Will and I escaped the city and went about an hour north of Perth to go horseback-riding. It was an awesome way to spent the day. We arrived at the train station, where an old man, Ron, picked us up in his rickety old truck. He took us to the middle of nowhere, to his ranch, where he owns 1700 acres of land and houses about 55 horses. Will and I were set off with a 15-year-old guide into the dust and vegetation of the Australian outback. It was breath-takingly beautiful (descriptions don't even do it justice). As Will chatted with our guide, I fell about 20 feet behind with a lazy horse named Beauty (reminded me of Bobby in Ireland, for those of you who know what I'm talking about). I didn't mind though, he was just my pace. I soaked in the scenery and realized how fortunate I am to be here.

Right now I'm wicked tired. I had an amazing weekend. So maybe those pooping birds did give me luck, just not the form you can get at the casino.

Water, Water Everywhere

Have I got a funny story for you. My apartment mates and I have been living in Perth for a week now and tried doing laundry a few days ago. The washer wouldn't work, so we placed a complaint at the hotel's lobby. Only a few hours later I heard a knock on the door and a chubby, friendly maintenance man stumbled into our apartment and fiddled around with the washer. His conclusions were the same as ours- a broken washer. During his meddlings, water was poured into the washer and the draining wasn't working anymore. He's on his hands and knees chatting me up like non other (typical Australian friendliness) and I look down. "Um, sir, the water has leaked onto our floor." His reaction was absolutely priceless. Where in New York the man would be cursing up a storm, this maintanence man simply said "Oh boogers" and smiled at me. I did my best not to crack up. Too bad there wasn't anyone around to witness this with me. He tripped around a bit grabbing towels, taking his time, eventually cleaning up the problem and removing the old washer from the apartment. That same day, he returned with a brand new washer (the hotel has been treating us very well) and installed it. By this time, let me tell you, I knew the whole man's life story. I don't know whether he really enjoyed talking to me or if he wanted to slack off from working. Either way, I was eager to leave the apartment, which I did for the entire evening. When I returned with Will at about midnight, we walked into our apartment to greet another maitenance man holding a gigantic vacuum cleaner with a very distressed look on his face. Aparently our third roommate, Lauren, tried doing laudry, left the room and returned to find that the washer didn't correctly drain the water- instead it spilt all over our apartment. Witnesses said the water rose to about 3 inches high. So, Will and I were moved to another room for the night, while the staff of the hotel finished cleaning up. This however is not the end of my saga... The next morning, Will and I returned to our apartment to get ready for the day. I showered and was making a pb and j in my towel (I like to hang out in my towel, just ask LuAnn) when I heard a knock on the door. I yelled to my roommates asking one of them to kindly answer it, because I was indescent. They did and a third maitenance man walked in, fixed the drainage problem and stood next to me, as I was making my lunch (with only a towel covering me), and again began telling me all about himself. I've made many friends with the maitenance men at this hotel, which could be a good thing, but could be a creepy thing as well...

The title of this post was not only for that incident. We have been going to some absolutely beautiful beaches and unique fishing towns as of late. Perth is right on the coast so there are so many awesome water-related activities to do. Yesterday we went to a town called Rockingham, where off the coast is an island that houses the smallest penguins in the world. They were adorable! We've also been to Scarboro Beach, which has some massive waves, Cottesloe Beach, and Mandura, which is a quaint fishing town that had some great fish and chips. A group of my friends and I went to King's Park for sunset and played frisbee all night. Other nights we sit on the beach at night looking at the stars for hours on end. The city center of Perth was hopping on Saturday afternoon and we watched street performers for hours. And that doesn't even touch upon the night life here. We've found a perfect Australian bar in the city called Mustang and I totally dig it. I love leaning across the bar ordering a pint of Toohey's New (which is my favorite beer down here, by the way). I couldn't be happier, except for a sunburn I got yesterday. I love it here.

Classes started today and it was a bummer to be sitting in a classroom for 4 hours when there is so much I'd rather be doing. But, I guess the classes are why I'm here, right? We're learning about Australian media for our first class, so it's right up my alley. We're thinking about going to the beach after class tomorrow, how great is that?

GOOD NEWS! I booked a weekend in Lancelin (north of Perth) to learn to surf with 5 of my new friends for the end of the month. I am beyond excited!!!

So, a little water leaking onto my kitchen floor can't even begin to put a damper on this trip...

Jetlag? What's Jetlag?

So today is the first time I felt jetlag since I landed in Australia. I'm absolutely beat. It hasn't helped that we've been non-stop since we got to this amazing country.

The two-day trip went very smoothly but was very long. We arrived on Saturday to Perth around 3 pm to the apartments (I left my house Thursday morning!). I know, quite a trip. Luckily I slept a lot and I had no luggage problems (I always seem to loose my luggage).

I'm living in an apartment with my friend Will and I girl I just met named Lauren. Will and I get along great and she fits in perfectly. I've also met some awesome people while here. The apartments have everything we need (including a washer and dryer!). We had our first meal together tonight, which consisted of 89 cent pasta, 99 cent sause, salad and bread. With the cost of beer (6-7 dollars in the bars and 14 for a six-pack), I'm going to be pretty cheap with groceries.

Saturday night a group of nine of us went to dinner. After searching awhile, we decided to eat at an Italian place. So my first non-airline meal was pizza and beer. I was happy. Will and I searched around the city after dinner. Perth is a fairly small city. It's difficult to compare to US cities. It's so beautiful, I can't even describe it in words (you'll have to wait for pictures). And surprisingly clean. There are only a handful of sky risers and the city is surrounded by water, a lake (Swan Lake) splits the city up and the beach (Indian Ocean) is only 6 miles or so from the center of the city. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the water is clearer and the sun is hotter.

On Sunday I only burnt a little bit. We did so much. The same group of nine from dinner on Saturday night went to breakfast at Murdoch University (where we're going to studying) on Sunday morning. The campus, like the city of Perth, is gorgeous. Everything in Australia, I've noticed, is much more spread out. To walk across campus, it took quite awhile. But I swear it was like walking through a resort. The vegetation is like nothing I've seen. And everything is so colorful!

Breakfast was with all the international students at Murdoch University. Afterwards we went on a tour around Perth. We first stopped at King's Park, which is a park and botanical garden. There you can find a breathtaking view of the city. And it was a sunny, clear day. Doesn't get better than this. We drove from King's Park to Fremantle past the beautiful beach. Fremantle reminded me a lot of Ithaca. There was a fresh fruit market and cafes and cool shops. Some locals told us about a show that we attended Sunday night. It was certainly strange; it took place on Swan Lake and was some sort of French interpretive fireworks show. Pretty cool, huh?

Ok, I'm going to end here and pick up later. There is just too much to tell you!

We're down to the wire, people!

T-minus 2 days until I board a plane to Los Angeles. And then board a plane to Sydney. And then board a plane to Perth. Oy! What a trip! Can ya believe it's happening in 2 days? After all this waiting, I can now pack my suitcases and hit the road (or the air, whichever way you look at it). But, let's not talk about packing. You try fitting five months of clothing for weather that ranges from 90 degrees to 40 degrees in two less-than-fifty-pound bags. Oy again! And I won't begin on all the shoes I have to leave behind!

In all seriousness, I'm a little nervous to be leaving the comfort and familiarity that is New York. I am also leaving behind all the fantastic people whom I will miss very much. As much as this trip will probably be the most exciting part of my life thus far, I'm hesitant on leaving my current life. But as my mom always says, it will be waiting for me when I return (right?).

So welcome to five months of hilarity and insanity mixed with genuineness and coming of age. I'll do my best to share my experiences, including the (appropriate) juicy details. And please respond. I'll enjoy hearing from any and all of you.

And now I'm signing off from my first post. Peace!