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!!! =)
The PlatyBus Crew!!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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!!
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!!
Friday, October 8, 2010
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
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
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