Outback Steakhouse. Last week for our weekly dinner outing we went to Outback Steakhouse! We were surprised when we first arrived in Fairy Meadow to see what we thought of as an American chain. Nevertheless, we had to check it out, just because we thought it was hilarious. From what I could tell it was pretty much the same as our Outbacks, but Foster's Beer was not on the menu. Despite what most Americans think, nobody here drinks Foster's! I haven't seen it once since I've been here.
May Day. May Day is one of my favorite holidays! I love ding-dong ditching people with baskets full of candy, and when I mentioned the holiday here no one knew what I was talking about, so I decided to introduce everyone to the tradition. My roommate (Sarah), friend (Katie), and I made baskets out of paper, filled them with lollies (aka gummies), chocolate, and flowers. After we dropped one off at our friend Tom's room and were running away so we didn't get caught, I tripped over my own feet, crashed into the cement, and got a bloody knee and elbow. We were all laughing so hard at my clumsiness that we couldn't really move, and we got caught. It was a May Day failure, but really fun anyways. The other two deliveries went well, and no one had any injuries like the first one.
Stanwell Park. Last Saturday Katie and I took an excursion up the coast to a town called Stanwell Park. It was an awesome day in a beautiful place. We just hung out at the beach all day and explored. Some locals came up to us and asked if we were tourists because we were the only ones laying out in our swimsuits...everyone else was in sweatshirts (it is Autumn here after all). We also went up to an overlook where people were hang gliding. It was a wonderful view of the coastline.
Illawarra Dragons. Last Sunday a group of us went to a Rugby League game here in Wollongong. The team represents the whole Illawarra region and are called the Dragons. They were playing the New Zealand Warriors. After watching this game, I don't think I ever want to watch another American Football game! It was so fun to watch because after one play was done, another play instantly started. The guys on the team were massive and quite studly. Our team won 12-11, and it was a really exciting game to watch. I hope I can make it to another match before I leave! I'm planning on going to an Australian Rules Football game when I'm in Melbourne this weekend. All the different sports get kind of confusing here because there's Rugby League, Rugby Union, and AFL (Australian Football League). I still can't keep them straight, but hopefully by the time I leave I'll have it figured out.
Musical toilet. On Wednesday I went on an 11 mile run with Allie and Tom. During the run I had to use the toilet, and luckily we found a public one along the beach. This toilet pretty much just looked an aluminum structure with graffiti all over it, but it was so much more. I pressed a flashing green button-the door opened. I pressed another flashing button inside and the door closed and locked. A recorded voice told me that I had a maximum usage time of 10 minutes. Then piano music started playing "What the World Needs Now is Love" and to get toilet paper I had to press some more buttons. I could not stop laughing at how hilarious this ghetto/musical public toilet was. I wonder what would happen if you went over the 10 minute maximum?
Physiotherapy. Here in Australia they call physical therapy "physiotherapy." Since I think that I might be interested in going to physical therapy school after I graduate, I need to get some experience hours. I e-mailed some practices around the area and one of them e-mailed me back. I went and met with them on Friday and I will get to volunteer 5 hours a week starting this week! I'm really excited for this opportunity. The head physiotherapist seems very friendly and I read on their website that she was a physiotherapist for Australia in the 2000 Olympics! Very cool.
Taronga Zoo. Yesterday I went to Sydney for a field trip to the Taronga Zoo. This was for my ecology class and we had to observe social behaviors of primates. It was a really fun day! To get to the zoo you have to take a ferry across the harbor, which had some wonderful views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge. The weather was perfect, and I saw lots of cool animals. My favorites were probably the giraffes. Did you know that their tongues can be half a meter long? I have a hilarious video of their tongues that I'll put up here, check it out for a good laugh.
Words of the week:
Jelly=Jello. So instead of saying peanut butter and jelly, we have to say peanut butter and jam. (They think that PB&J sandwiches are really weird though.)
Capsicum=green peppers. This is on menus a lot for pizzas and stuff.
Doona=duvet or down quilt
cuppa=cup of tea or coffee
onya= abbreviation for "on you" and people say "good onya," meaning "well done."
I leave for Melbourne on Thursday night and have the half marathon on Sunday morning along the Great Ocean Road. It should be spectacular! Hopefully I make it to the finish line!!
Love!Love!Love! xoxoxoxoxox
Cheers,
Kelly
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