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.