New Bed

Today, I get a new bed. A longer bed! Thank the lord jesus. No more sleeping in the fetal position or having to let my feet dangle off the end at the ankles. In other news, life is starting to move quickly. There is so much swirling around I am ready for a break. Last friday, we went on a tour of Fremantle prison (closed only in 1991). It was a bone-chilling experience at times, especially in the gallows, staring down the hangman's noose wondering what manner of napes had been cut short on its foul fibers.

I also am competing in Uni-games! It's a nation-wide sports competition that runs for about 10 days with all different sports and teams from universities all over Australia. This year it's being held in Perth at UWA (University of Western Australia) from September 27th to October 3rd. Murdoch is the defending champ for tennis so I gotta take it pretty seriously and get training. I also gotta bust out my sliding shoes because it's on none other than red clay. I am really excited at the opportunity to be able to represent the US at Uni-games as well as help defend the title for Murdoch. It should be too much fun!

Tomorrow, I embark on a 10-day backpacking trip through the Northwestern outback and I am looking forward to the break and welcoming the opportunity for time to slow down again! There has been so much on my mind lately and I need a chance to just sit back and let it all sift through my brain. To all my loved ones, acquaintances and friends back in Madison I wish you all heaps of luck moving in and starting the semester off on the right foot. Until next time.

Where Waves Come From

I think tears,

(The word previous could be pronounced one of two ways: either the plural of tear, meaning to rend or separate in a jarring or abrupt fashion, or the plural of tear, referring to the saline fluid that falls down cheeks when experiencing large amounts of emotion.)

they come from the same place as waves.

I plucked
a conch shell from the sand and held it to my ear.
It did not give me your voice
as I had hoped
it would.

It gave me the sound of the waves
crashing
& crashing.

"What's happening now? We won't know until tomorrow or six month's time, and we won't know then, we'll have forgotten, or our imagination will have attributed quite false characteristics to today. A moment is sucked away and distorted, often even at the time of its birth."

-Harold Pinter, playwright

Vernacular of the Nighttime Variation

notes = paper money

Maccah's = McDonald's

barbie = BBQ

gettin' pissed = getting drunk

I'm so pissed = I'm drunk as hell

gettin' root = getting pussy

root = pussy

How yeh goin? = How are you?

Good on yeh mate = ???

Skull it = drink the rest of whatever you're holding in your hand

Hungry Jack = Burger King

Have a feed = Get food

goon = box wine

marrow = mary jane

no worries mate = I just made a poor life decision

mark = a successful catch in Aussie rules football

Keeping the Faith

"Keep the faith and keep your
antenna up for the open door. It comes to those who are tuned in. Think of
it as a strap on a trolley car that you can grab. You are not alone. You
know, I am only a text or call away. When you wake up each day as you splash
your face say to yourself "God loves me"."
- A quote from my Dad (found when cleaning out my email)

AFL

Going to watch some Aussie rules football today. The Brisbane Lions vs. The West Coast Eagles! It's such a strange game and I'm really interested to see how it works. That and rugby are huge over here, expanding the sports knowledge with some live action, and of course, a pint is always a welcome way to spend a saturday afternoon! Our CIEE coordinator Paul Hollick is taking us, prolly one of the coolest coordinators (aside from Chris Walker) on the planet to this day.

Woke up really missing these two parts of my life today. Loads of love to them both ;)


Also shout out to Tracie my RA who lives down the hall. She came over this morning and we sat on google maps showing each other hometown geography for like an hour. I also showed her what a real UW-Madison snowball fight looks like. She likes vegemite though, so I don't know if she can be trusted.

Vegemite is the most disgusting thing by the way. It's concentrated yeast extract... If Epicac had a spreadable option that you could put on toast, it would definitely be Vegemite. All the Aussies that I've met so far like it and I'm not sure why....

Good Morning

Yesterday was my first day of classes! I had Writing for the Stage and Aboriginal Studies. Writing for the Stage looks to be really fun and open. The professor is quite the jolly old fellow who seems bent on conducting the class with the most relaxed air of learning possible. I like that. It's going to be awesome to work on some material and hopefully finish the semester with a brand new, shiny piece of work. Aboriginal Studies seems a bit more like the traditional class. Our professor is aboriginal himself and started class off with an introduction and a song on his digeradoo to call the good spirits into the room. And if you clap after the song, you scare them away. I scared them away... But the digeradoo just sounded so cool! Today I have one more class, Criminology in the afternoon and that's it as far as time in class goes! I find that here, the contact hours are much less and you have to do a lot more of your own learning, but I don't mind the whole class only 2 days of the week thing! Fuckin sweet.

On monday Jonathan took me grocery shopping with him and I introduced him to cookies & cream ice cream. I think I might have changed his life. Also found bagels and cream cheese! Which they didn't have at the other grocery store. Staple diet here I come! Woo! That is all for now angus.

Trip to Denmark

I have just returned from one of the most amazing weekends of my life. I don't even know where to begin so I guess the beginning makes sense. Friday morning our whole CIEE group, I think there are about 18 of us, piled on the most uncomfortable bus at 6.30 in the motherfucking morning and took off for Denmark, which is one of the most southwestern cities in Australia. About 3 hours in, we stopped in Kojonup at the Kodja Place. It was an informational center illustrating the evolution of two Western Australian societies here: the Noongar, or native people and the Wadjela or "White fellows" as we are called here and how they grew together through time. Our tour guide was a Noongar elder by the name of Jack. He took us through the tour very quickly and then made us some "Billy Tea" around the fire which was quite scrumptious. After, we walked around the rose gardens (not in bloom) and Jack followed us around and told us some amazing stories. As he talked and we listened I realized how much he reminded me of my Grandfather. How he could use the power of story to take you out of this world entirely and put into the one he created. He was also a complete jokester and made us all laugh ceaselessly. Man, I really miss my gramps sometimes...

After that we dropped our stuff off at our cabin, which was awesome by the way, we headed down to the South Ocean where we swam in Greens Pool. It is a little inlet protected from the raging surf by a series of rocks that were amazing to climb on. The clouds were patchy and as a rainstorm left, a double rainbow appeared end to end right above where we were swimming. At that moment, my breath shortened and I knew he was there. I let Pawp's spirit wash over me like the sound of the surf through my eardrums. I haven't felt him that strongly since the day he died.

Then we climbed back on the uncomfortable bus bus and went to pet kangaroo's and koala's and all other kinds of fuzzy shit. I got sexually assaulted by an Emu. That was an experience.

The next day it was up at 7.30 for a four mile hike up one of the small mountains led by the owner of the cabin, Iliya. We hiked at a rather breakneck pace (Iliya was really crackin' the whip) through a temperate rainforest full of gumtrees bleeding sap and shedding bark. At certain points, there were rather large rock scrambles and we would get tot the top of one and find the view incredible! Once we reached the top of the mountain, it was rather amazing. The best view I have ever seen in my life. Hands down. I would have liked to spend another 3-4 hours there just gazing off into the distance watching the earth creak and sway with the passage of time.

After a brief lunch and power nap back at the cabin we drove down to the Valley of the Giants which is home to the world's third largest tree, the Tingle. We went on a treetop walk through the canopy of the tingles that was built so people could still see the giant trees without eroding their shallow root systems by walking on the ground. Soo we went on a treck that would through the tops of these trees on a catwalk made of galvanized steel that bounced while we walked on it a couple of hundred feet in the air. Shit was nuts! We saw good ol' grandma tingle, who is a whopping 450 years old! she kinda looked wrinkly actually. And I don't know exactly how trees can be hers, but it's cool.

All in all, the weekend was truly amazing, something that definitely changed my life and renewed my belief in the power of nature's awe inspiring beauty to be a catalyst for that change. As this journey goes on, I can't wait to see more and I'll definitely have my camera with me to share what I can of the experience. If you wanna see pics from this trip, check my facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=244644&id=676896404

until next time!