Some Good News!

Hello fine people! I've got lavishings of good news for you all.

-The compilation of video from this year's UniGames is on youtube!!! Not gonna lie, its pretty flash. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpjcGaRTME

-As of half an hour ago, I have completed all of this semester's assignments. ALL OF THEM. (about 8 total.) What sort of efforts did this achievement require?? One week of fairly consistent relentless pushing, reading empirical studies, attempting to synthesize that information into something sensible, and not punching myself in the brain. 3, count 'em 3, all-nighters pulled in the library 24-hour computer lab. (This means that the all-nighter has literally become a very ordinary, un-noteworthy event. Sad, sad day.) At one point I had slept for 2 out of 52 consecutive hours. I am now the official leading expert both on how perceived social supports affects one's perceptions and beliefs on political activism, and also on how interviewee gender determines how that person acts in a job interview setting. If you'd like to discuss these topics with me, let me know.

-Only ONE MONTH until I come home!!! =)

Halfway, already?? cont, cont.

Alright well by now this title is a misnomer... it is indeed 3/4ths done, already. A month and 3 days from I will be exploring the intimate features of downtown Sydney.. but you'll have to wait til then to hear about it!

This week has been lovingly devoted to one thing: my research proposal paper for Psy 212, a statistics and research methods class. This paper was 2500 words (roughly 10-13 pages) and required 25 sources. It entailed investigating the past studies conducted on my topic and synthesizing them into a logical history that makes an argument for why I would be doing the study that this paper is proposing. This paper transformed me (and my friend and fellow psych undergrad Leigh) into a library hermit from the hours of 7 pm, Wednesday, to 3 pm, Thursday, break taken only for potty, snacks, breakfast, and 8:30 am lecture. Not for sleep, as you may have conspicuously noticed. Turns out that, in fittingly psych staticians' words, the amount of tipsy-level symptoms of behaviour increase proportionately as an increase in amount of hours sleep deprivation. Interesting!

Outside of this joyful event, the weather has been warming up to us all like a friendly neighbor. My various jobs (bartending, reffing, and helping out with the kids' day program) are simply excellent and provide nearly instant gratification; pay goes through within a week in general here, as opposed to the two-week delay we're used to in the States. My bedside wall is filling up with post-its of things I learn every day and my favorite photos from home. I just finished reading Obama's The Audacity of Hope (really excellent, regardless of what party you claim... he is very knowledgeable and provides an easy-to-read overview of our country's political state) and am still working through Sylvia Plath's journal compilation (absolutely brilliant, and equally dysfunctional) and Ravi Zacharias's thought-provoking Christian book. Not having immediate access to a laptop or a TV compels one to much more reading and artsy things, I've found... I like it!

I've become the unofficial Village haircutter.. at least for the fellas. Word must've gotten around that I can manage to decently clean them up for free because I'm averaging two haircuts a week these days. Mom and Dad I hope this works as reassurance that, if both of my majors and other skills absolutely fail me, I will at least have a cosmetologist future in stowage.

Next Tuesday is the Sports Awards ceremony for UniGames, an event that raises widespread excitement less because of the awards and more because of the two hours of pro bono happy hour on behalf of the Vice Chancellor. Rumor on the street, however, is that our girls' basketball team has been nominated as the Team of the Year... and that we have a good shot at getting it!! I certainly feel like we deserve it, what with such a helter-skelter roster including a Mom of 37 and training equipment that would be more accurately described as junkyard decor and an undefeated record.

Some golden music nuggets I've discovered/been introduced to lately:
the John Butler Trio (basically the Jack Johnson of Australia)
Metric
the Be Good Tanyas
Mumford & Sons
Obadiah Parker's Hey Ya cover
Brother Ali
Florence and the Machine

Halloween fast approaches and legitimately snuck up on us Americans this year... its just not advertised!! There's an event in the Village and people do, apparently, dress up with eagerness, but I was disappointed to hear there will be no trick-or-treating. Not even for little kids, much more taboo for teens and twenty-somethings... what a shame :(. Some costume ideas I'm toying with: The Nothing from The Neverending Story, an Oompa Loompa, a geisha, some sort of inanimate object, Steve Irwin (+stingray barb?), a backpacker, or a black person. Any clever recommendations, let me know!

I hope that is an adequate collection of the random goings-on in my days... they are consistently full and always pleasant. But I am sick for home.

Halfway, already?? cont,

Here I am not even 24 hours later, as promised. Though I do have to work again tonight, so our time is short!

I'm a little bit sorry to say that, after two months of solid adventure and eager exploration, that initial magical sense that makes the world around you glow a little more intriguingly has faded. Each Gang member has settled into his or her personal routines, is more often subtly content to stay home and get personal obligations accomplished. While it is inevitably disappointing to see such a potent, energetic feeling dissipate some, I remind myself it is a truly good thing. And its not to say that I've grown sick of those I've met here or of Australia as a whole; no no, I'm still very much in love with this place, still making daily discoveries large and small and growing as an individual. But.. homesickness, it seems, has marched in belligerently. And not just for me; quite a few of my friends express the same feeling.

So let me tell you all back home that I cannot wait to see you again!! Its turned out that instead of extending my trip by a couple weeks to explore the east coast (as I'd originally imagined), I'm going to simply move back my Perth-to-Sydney flight by a couple days to check out the big city. Qantas Airlines is letting me do this for a meager $80, not bad hey?? And after doing extensive research on hostels, attractions, and transportation, it looks like I'll be able to thoroughly explore downtown Sydney for very little money. Items at the top of the list: see a play at the Opera House, walk for hours around Darling Harbour and through the Royal Botanic Gardens, experience what its like to sleep in a 16-bed hostel with fellow travelers, visit several landmark museums, and take a highly-recommended FREE 3-hour walking tour. Yay Australia!!

Hmm.. looks like we'll have to come back with a Part III. Stay tuned!!

Halfway, already??

I can barely believe it -- only a measley six weeks until I'm headed home sweet home. What an amazing 2+ months its been already.. ahh!! Let's update on recent events:

Two weeks ago was our second study break of the semester, which of course was almost exclusively dedicated to participating in UniGames. For anyone I haven't explained this to, UniGames is basically an Olympics-style gathering of universities across the entire country representing a huge variety of sports, from footy to water polo to kendo to tennis. For me this of course meant basketball.

The team, whose first UniGames appearance happened just last year, was made up of nine ill-assorted girls. 6 Aussies, 1 Indian, 1 South African and 1 American; most of us around 20, 1 of us a 37-year-old supermom (who totally dominates by the way, she is 6'1 and AMAZING). Our coach was Vince Kelly, an intimidatingly large but incredibly gentle black man who played ball at the U of Colorado and professionally here for years. Somebody found him delivering mail and doing security around campus, asked him if he'd be interested, and voila! we have a legitimate authority figure. Now, Murdoch in general is considered sub-par when it comes to sports... all of our funding tends to go straight to the impressive vet program or environmental causes. So I must say it was rather a shock to the community when we girls went UNDEFEATED to win gold!!!!!! That's right friends and family - 7-0 (and one draw, boo, but we won't count that) to become the most successful Murdoch team at UniGames. Oww owww!!

As was expected the week was full of nightly parties hosted by various clubs in Perth, open only to those with UniGames participant passes. I'm glad to report that our team made much smarted decisions than most others, but we did have some excellent team bonding over a jug of beer or tequila shot. And Friday's theme, "Go For Gold," left us with no choice but to sport our gold medals out and about... I believe we received an equal number of stinkeyes as we did congratulations.

This week, consequently, has been an urgent catch-up for the studying I failed to do during study break. On top of that, I've been helping with the Quenda kids sports program in which 5-12 year olds are welcome to get dropped off with us for the day because of their current school holidays. A couple of us leaders spend sunny afternoons playing dodgeball and settling frequent quarrels and, in my case, learning how to play cricket from a team of 10 year olds. I have to say though that Australian kiddos are much better conducted when it comes to sports... while still competitive, there's little of the heartless demeaning for the last-picked or the screaming at the less talented that American kids are so keen on. These kids are quick to pick up on what's going on around them or new rules to be learned; they're very knowledgeable in all areas and generally a joy to hang out with. There are definitely still your standard troublemaking pair of boys, yes, but all in all its a pretty great experience.

I am so sorry, here, but I need to run home to shower and change before work... for those who aren't doing the math at home, that means my shift starts at 10:30 pm. Awful?? Sometimes it feels like it, but inevitably every single time I get to the bar and kick things off, it feels so much better. Everyone in the building is happy happy happy (of course they are, its a nightclub) and my coworkers are generally good company. If I'm fortunate enough to be scheduled on an upstairs bar, I get to rock out and shimmy to golden oldies of the 70's and 80's, all while collecting a decent amount of tips. Pretty great gig, hey?! Sooo I promise I will write again soon!

All my love to friends and family at home... I miss you all like crazy <3

Seeing the real thing

Yes, I know you've been wondering: Where in the world has Sammy been?!? The answer to that my friends is, quite simply, across the span of the great state Western Australia (which is saying something, really -- it's approximately the size of four Texases). This mighty excursion took place over ten days through a trip planned by our study abroad coordinators. No fears here, it was during the semester's first of three 'study breaks,' lovely facets of Australian education during which Australians actually study and everyone else travels.

Here's the opening scene: 7:00 am Friday morning, 36 students gathered to hop on two massive white vans + trailers that will soon become our beloved dayhomes. My absolutely wonderful Gang all eagerly claimed the first bus, quickly dubbed it the PlatyBus (clever, hey?) and met our designated driver/tour guide Libby, a totally rockin` lady who knew her stuff but also was able to chill around like one of us. Within approximately half an hour we were comfortably situated and rocking out to golden oldies and Disney Classics. A Whole New World, in fact, became our wildly enthusiastic daily anthem.

The PlatyBus and the KoalaBus (its only fair to include them, I suppose, even though they admittedly did not majorly contribute to any of the trip's events; they were aptly named because it appeared the only times they woke up were to eat.) led us first up the western coast. As became customary, we stopped for sandwich lunch at a pleasant park in Anytown, WA. We enjoyed beautiful sandy beach shoreline, various lookouts, and whalesightings before our first major stop: Kalbarri National Park. We got to do some leisure hiking on well-kept rocky landscape as well as take endless near-identical pictures in the geological awesomosity 'Nature's Window.' Further north we reached one of WA's highly promoted sites called Monkey Mia. Imagine your standard civilized campsite: trailer lots, grills, simple admin buildings, nearby water.. plus daily dolphin feedings!! By some phenomenon they have become so used to human company that the wild dolphin population scoots on by a few times a day just to see what's up and get a delish fish treat. Way cool!

After this we moved on to Coral Bay, a true highlight of all my experiences here. There are a few reasons for this:
1) Upon our early-evening arrival, my bloated and utterly sedentary stomach compelled me to promptly go for a jog on the dunes that lined the campsite's curving sandy shoreline. It was solitude wonderfully refreshing, and I was moved to tears while watching the pure, shining beauty of the sunset-- just me and the Big Guy Upstairs.
2) That evening a small group of us walked back to the beach around midnight to see what an Australian night sky has to offer. Blankets, spread-eagled bodies and cups of Goon clustered on the beach as we tried to make sense of the vast, solid array of glowing stars and constellations we had never seen before. Big Dipper? Northern Star? Nope. Just the Southern hemisphere's big one, the Southern Cross, and the Milky Way flowing a thick path among countless, countless lit pinpricks. It was breathtaking.
3) The following day was spent at our discretion, which took me and seven others on a day-long boat and snorkel tour. We cruised around renowned natural wonder Ningaloo Reef, stopping twice to explorkel (explore-snorkel, I just made it up hehe) amidst a foreign planet of boulder-sized coral formations, clear turquoise water and fish fish fish of every shape, size, color!! Beyond that, this tour's specialty was an additional snorkel with manta rays -- Ningaloo Reef is one of only five locations in the world where mantas can be found year-round. Do you know what a manta looks like?? Check the picture to the right, but don't be deceieved: THEY ARE HUGE. Humbling, actually, to realize we humans are so frail in comparison.

Coral Bay was the northwestern tip of the iscoseles triangle our route formed. The crossbar was quite short, relatively, a 500 kilometer drive interrupted only by the town of Tom Price, Finally we hit our triangle's northeastern tip - Karijini National Park. Here a whole day was dedicated to hiking, wading, climbing, jumping down numerous well-kept trails that reminded me very much of Sedona, Arizona. At the bottom of sheer, red-rock walls wound patted-down paths and trickling creeks pleasantly garnished on the sides by ferns, white-bark trees, and a wonderful variety of wildflowers. We swam rambunctiously in naturally-formed pools and felt our backs and necks bake pleasantly in the sun.

From Karijini we were headed straight south through 1000+ kilometers ( miles) of the outback -- "the bush," as Aussies know it. A more concise description cannot be found. Five minutes into the drive, you take a look around and feel like you have been plucked out of the sky and dropped into the middle of Kansas. Kansas plus hundreds of thousands more miles of uninterrupted nothingness. Nothingness plus hundreds of thousands of bushes. And in a way shared by no other place, it is beautiful.

Throughout this nothingness our PlatyBus would, once every hour so, suddenly and powerfully erupt alive at the sight of a bouncing kanga, a roadkill kanga, a herd of wallowing camels, a Tropic of Capricorn sign, a jogging emu, or a spiked alienish gecko crossing the road expertly spotted by Libby. Other things that one would never even give a thought to in ordinary reality became, magically, objects of fascination: a 50-foot high bulldozer became our jungle gym; a simple overlook of a town became the perfect photoshoot venue; rocks became the equipment for a newfound favorite game, "Star Wars," in which the objective is to hit one big rock in mid-air with tossed small rocks. Sounds too simple? Go try it-- you'll play for hours. Seriously.

We were nearing the final quarter of our trip and my homework conscience had really begun to weigh on me. Fortunately, with fewer major sightseeing stops on this leg there was more bus time to put towards the unfortunate responsibilities of studenthood. All the while we PlatyBussers learned more and more about each other, through casual conversation and gigantic twenty-finger games of Never Have I Ever. Our last overnight stay was at Meekatharra, population 800. We scattered our tent colony over the barren red dirt of a sheep shearing station, and to our extreme disappointment never once spotted a sheep. Instead, we held a spectacular drag show as the grand finale of our escapade. Four handsome and impressively enthused dudes strutted their stuff as we mere spectators finished off the last of our precious Goon bags. Somehow four- and five-person pods ended up in the two-man tents to enjoy the relieving warmth of cuddle puddles.

All in all, the trip was an experience of a lifetime. It was one of those rare events which has weeks of anticipation built up around it.. and actually exceeded expectations!! Best of all, I was able to take in the broad range of what Australia has to offer, outside of urban Perth and into the incomparable feautures of the outback. It was ten days of adventure and pure elation, seeing the real thing.

On the Topic of Sports (and etc)

After a month's worth of observation, I've made an executive decision that there is absolutely no one who trumps America when it comes to competitiveness in sports. Seriously. We are so diehard for these games that we have built shrines to seat 80,000, we plaster the faces of our athlete-superheroes on sides of buildings, we get in fistfights over a single call in our petty intramural game. Some non-Americans come close... and I can vouch for this, being a ref at Murdoch's social basketball league. Yes, there's definitely intensity here also, but I can't say Aussies or any other nationality demonstrate quite the fanaticism of the States.

That said, Australian League Football (AFL) or just "footy" as it's more commonly known, is a massive source of pride and celebration in this country. I have yet to make it to a real match, but even in getting a feel for it on TV you can tell there's a lot of emotion riding high on it. Allegedly, the triumphant team's hometown's bars go absolutely crazy for the night... reminiscent of Wisconsinites and their Packers, hey?? (On a side note, I just heard Favre's back for another year. Shocker.)

Other BIG sports here that we know little of:
-Squash. Played in a racquetball court or something very much like it. Beyond that I have no clue whatsoever.
-Netball. If you could imagine an "Ultimate Basketball," this would be it. Same equipment, different rules. You cannot move when you have the ball, except for a step or two to pass; the court is divided into thirds and there are certain times you can and cannot occupy these; the more professional players have to shoot standing only on one leg... many other bylaws I can't remember. I've heard it is rather frustrating.
-Cricket. Here is all I know about this bizarre sport-- the pitcher must throw the ball with his elbow locked throughout the motion. Yeah, try that one at home. After this, people run bases for some amount of time.... and there are points. Yep!
-Footy. Footy appears to be a cross between rugby, soccer, and American football... The field is oval shaped. The ball is a sort of lopsided football. Play is continuous, like soccer; the goals consist of four posts which create three side-by-side zones. Kicking it through the middle posts is worth 6 points, through the outer posts is worth 1 point. You can run with the ball, shovel pass, or kick it.. and you can tackle freely at any point, EXCEPT for a player who's successfully caught a kicked ball-- they are "safe." Sounds confusing, maybe? If you ever get a chance to watch a game on the tele or something, go for it, its intense!

On the level of amateur sports, I recently received an unofficial invite to play on the Murdoch women's basketball team here. I was stoked!! But don't be too impressed-- basketball is definitely not quite on the same level as collegiate ball in the U.S. I've been to a practice (they're held only weekly) and it feels more like a club team... which is perfect for me :). The girls are extremely nice and we have a coach, an intimidating black guy named Vince, who played for the University of Colorado back in the day. Most importantly, being on the team (and a solid $200) means I get to represent Murdoch at the Uni Games, essentially an annual Australian Olympics that is held in Perth this year. It takes place over the second study break; a 7-day period of competing and cheering during the days, then party party party (with water and veggies trays of course) during the nights. I am already so stoked for this adventure!!! What an awesome opportunity :) :)

Well, some of my friends have revealed a nerdy streak and are currently watching Avatar, the original animated show out in the living room. I should probably join them. First, though, I think I may have to scoop some cookies from my flat... they are Momma Peterson's and despite 10 days' and 18000 miles' travel, they are still delicious!!! Love you Mom :D

We all live in a blue Jackaroo, a blue Jackaroo, a blue Jackaroo!

The Jackaroo. Pictured above. Our Gang's collective mode of transportation-- a slightly squashed creeper van-like vehicle that has only two seats but easily seats ten. It is four wheel drive and diesel and a tank and absolutely perfect for our needs, all thanks to its owner Steve. Just last Sunday he and Fiona (another car we teamed up with) hauled us to go beach-hopping all the livelong day! We looked like a genuine traveling hippie band, complete with Aussie flags for curtains and PB & Js packed for lunch. Over a span of 8 hours and 4 different beaches, we soaked up the "winter" sun while kicking around a soccer ball, exploring the coastline, and for myself, taking my first-ever attempt at surfing. And by this I mean my Finnish friend Tommi put forth a truly impressive effort to teach me how to get out to the waves. SO hard, but so fun!! My only legitimate time spent on the board totaled at one ride in on my belly.. but hey, there's many weekends to go!

Let me enlighten you with some real Aussie vocabulary:
"brekky" = breakfast
"hey?" = either, "what?" or, as in, "The weather's probs pretty great out today, hey?"
"mabes" = maybe
"probs" = probably
"totes" = totally
"sausage" = brat
"rubbish bin" = garbage can
"sugarknickers" = my roommate Tom's nickname for any female friends
"uni" = class (whereas "course" = major and "class" means nothing)
"cheers!" = thanks!, good day!, sure!, hi!, see you later!, or basically any and every word you'd like to use it for
"dodgy" = shady
"chewie" = gum
"avo" = afternoon
"no worries!" = no worries!

One of my most engrained habits is one of list- and graph-making. In addition to "The List of the Lost" (items) and "the Gang Family Tree," we've come up with some "Weekend Excursions Ideas." These include, but are not limited to, a day trip kayaking, snorkeling and biking around Rottnest Island, going kid-like crazy at a totally rad looking arcade in Freo, choreographing a dance routine and performing it for money in the Perth city square, and finding an island with supposed wild kangas in the middle of the Swan River in Perth. Sorry for only adding more anticipation to hear about these endeavors, but be sure I will write about them as soon as they come to fruition!

One more piece of good news on the job front: I officially have a job at a nightclub in Fremantle called The Metropolis. Apparently its a pretttyyy ritzy place and, given that I have no bartending experience whatsoever, I am slightly baffled why I got the job... but no worries! I'm stoked to see my first Australian paycheck. I'm also hoping to get some hours at a restaurant/bar that's only a ten-minute walk from campus. I met a DJ there, Andy, and he was generous enough to talk to his manager about available work. And! In my mass distribution of resumes and application in desperate search for work, I put my name in for this interesting but slightly dodgy-looking Actors/Extras ad. Do I have any experience acting whatsoever? No! Did they call me up the next day? You bet your sugarknickers. I have no idea where this is leading, but as long as its not down a dark ominous path that screams SCAM or worse, I'm willing to give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe I'm about to discover a flair for theater that I never had before!

Time for bed, you keep me up too late! Good night :)