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 :)