End of the Australian Road (for now): Part 2

Perhaps one of my favorite things that I’ve learned while in Australia happened Friday night: longboarding. It’s basically skateboarding, but the board is longer. Go figure! Kathleen, Annabel, and I went out with two bikes and Rob’s board, which Annabel and I shared. Let me start by saying that before I got here, I couldn’t stand on a skateboard without it literally jumping out from under my feet, leaving me laying flat on my back. So many people ride here that by goofing around I learned to stand alone and even managed not to fall over while being pulled along the road. So, I decided to take my dare-devil skills to the next level and try the actual thing where you push yourself and then move to stand. And it worked! After watching Annabel, I got on and took advantage of the very slight downhill to get comfortable while moving on a board and eventually progressed to pushing myself and legitimately skating! After I don’t even know how many laps around the block by I-House, we ventured out to a smooth spot Annabel knew about and rode around for a bit.

I boarded on the way back, which I hadn’t realized was mostly downhill. Before I knew it, I was going too fast to be able to jump off, which was especially unfortunate since we were probably less than a third of the way down the hill. Knowing there was no turning back, I figured I’d make the most of it and finally felt the rush of barreling downhill and being in control of the board. Annabel rode ahead to make sure the coast was clear since we were about to reach an intersection and, luckily, it was. She yelled a warning about the bumpy road just before I reached it, and thank God she did because good grief was it bumpy. You know the feeling when the car veers over the line on the highway and you hit the rumble strip (or whatever it’s called…I think that’s it?) and everything vibrates? Going over this road on a longboard was like that, but all the vibrations are concentrated in your legs and then you start thinking about a pot hole or big rocks that could send you flying, at which point you force yourself to stop having a panic attack and just bend your knees and go with it. Which I did! And what a rush it was. I just might have to put a longboard on my Christmas list this year.

On Saturday, Mitchel, Kathleen, Ole, Mark, a few others, and I trekked up to Sydney for one last hurrah and souvenir stop. We ate lunch in Chinatown at the same place we went on my first visit to Sydney during O-Week, and I ordered the same dish Celli made for Jenn and I when we went to his place to cook, though I think Celli’s homemade laksa was still better! I did manage to get some good last photos of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, which still take my breath away. I can’t believe I’ve really been to the Sydney Opera House and have gotten to walk around such an incredible city.

The souvenir shopping went really well, my favorite purchase being the hand-stitched photo album that I plan on filling with my 300 favorite pictures from my time here. I don’t know how I’ll pick so few (since I keep managing to take 150 a night when we go out), but it’ll be a great keepsake to hold on to. I had most everyone sign it over the last week like you would a yearbook. Turns out goodbyes make me tear up like nobody’s business and there have been plenty recently. I finally mustered up the strength to read everything people had written on the second day I came home, because what else are you going to do at 5am when you're battling jetlag, can't sleep, and miss your friends? I'm happy to say I laughed more than I cried (okay, at least as much!) and can't tell you how much all you I-House people have meant to me. More on that later.

We came back from Sydney with our pockets considerably lighter and our arms weighed down with more shopping bags than we could count. We ventured out to one of the few house parties I’ve been to for a twenty-first birthday celebration that night. It was a quiet Sunday on the beach, followed by a similar Monday and Tuesday of chilling, movies, and more beaching! Monday night was actually spent at the beach with a good thirty or so people from I-House spread out on blankets, sitting and talking or walking along the beach. It was a perfect way to continue relaxing and enjoy what I realized has been a month-long vacation in the best place imaginable with the greatest people I could have asked to meet.

Wednesday, however, was in no way calm. I had a leisurely breakfast and slowly packed my things up before meeting our group of six to walk to the beach for…SKYDIVING! The adrenaline was rushing as we walked to the little beach house where we would be suited up and scooped to go to the airport. We paid, received our harnesses, got the safety talk, and then – waited for over an hour. We’d already been postponed because of the weather that morning and were still anxiously waiting our turn when a group came in with gnarly-looking welts on their hands and faces – the only exposed parts of their bodies – from hitting the rain on the way down. We’d already been given the option to reschedule for a nicer day and after that, we gladly rearranged our plans. What a rollercoaster of emotions!

And it didn’t stop there, because just a few hours later, we were getting ready for our last Wednesday night out in Wollongong. It also happened to be the last night of exams, so everyone was out and keen to have a good time. We had a hectic bus ride out, complete with the I-House cheers that I finally managed to record (but due to content probably shouldn’t post here!) and the night was off to an amazing start and the first few hours were probably some of the best of any night I’ve had out in Wollongong.

End of the Australian Road (for now), Part 1

Well, I'm home in the states. It feels weird to say home, because Australia/I-House became home so quickly, but now that I'm back this feels right too. Guess it's not a bad thing to be so comfortable and love two places so much that you'd give anything to be there with those people. A quick thanks to Abby, Allie, and my parents for the airport greeting. Now I know what it feels like to be tackled at the gate of an airport :) It was definitely a warm welcome home, and I got to begin sharing the nine packs of Timtams with the family already. Surprise, surprise, they were a hit!

Anywho, I managed to write and catch up with most of what has happened in the last month, but I didn't really have access to the internet while I was writing and since it's so long and there's so much to tell and show, I'm breaking it up into a few different posts that I'll put up over the next week or so.

After Nerf wars and the start of noise ban, I went home with Charlotte for a few days to Batemans Bay, a bit south of Wollongong on the coast. What a gorgeous place!! It was so nice to get to chat with Charlotte on the drive down and just hang out at a house. I hadn’t realized how much I missed a full-size bed, lounging on a couch with movies, or home cooked food. Over the few days, we chilled with her dad (who I met once before when he came to I-House to talk about being a police officer in New South Wales – such entertaining stories!) while munching and watching movies and went op-shopping, or shopping at secondhand stores. I’ve never really done much of it back in the states, but it’s something I’m going to have to keep up with. There are so many cool, funky clothes and it’s so inexpensive. I got a skirt and dress for under ten dollars! Yay. Other highlights of the trip: some of the most beautiful views and beaches I’ve seen yet, seeing wild kangaroos on the side of the road that proceeded to jump across the road in front of the car when we were driving, and – wait for it – real life BOXING KANGAROOS. Yes, that actually happens. Two kangaroos standing a few hundred metres away, standing on their back legs and punching with their little fists. Except the fists didn’t seem so small with them going at it so viciously. Either way, it was hectic and a great Australian experience to add to the list.

Charlotte and I came back to Wollongong on Thursday, at which point Kathleen and I began our own little project. Kathleen had the brilliant idea to “photoshop” Mark’s romance book, complete with Fabio-esque cover art, with Mitchel’s face (see below). Proud of our handy work, we decided to go one step further and continue to plaster Mitch’s face around I-House since he was still visiting New Zealand and we missed him. This led to us printing various sizes of Mitchel’s face seventeen times and taping it over whatever faces we could find around I-House, including the stick men on the fire warning signs, the kitchen chef that gives warnings, an ad for the free uni bus, and a promotional ad for biking around campus. After people found out we didn’t have exams and were finished with schoolwork, I swear I started hearing evil whispers of “stupid arts degrees” behind me whenever someone passed by. Despite the 10,000 words I wrote in the last few weeks of school, I was absolutely thrilled to be finished so early and have time to relax and spend time with people.

On Friday night, I rode bikes to the beach with Charlotte and Annabel where we had some cheeky celebratory drinks and chatted for half the night,until the rest of the group turned up to barbeque a few hours later. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but Australians don’t “grill out” or put hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, but rather “barbeque”. This always means sausages, and it also usually means on a slice of bread as well as absolutely covered in barbeque sauce. I’ve never met anyone that uses more barbeque sauce per meal than an Australian. That may be one of the few things that I’ve never really come around on. Anyway, I digress. The three of us biked it back to I-House eventually and hung out in the Red Room where we camped out saying hello to anyone that walked past, which was a surprising number of people. Turns out exams are a great time to wander the halls looking for ways to procrastinate! Saturday, I got to play 2v2 soccer with Phil, Ross, and Dylan, some of the soccer boys, on the lawn at I-House, which was so much fun. It’s been so long since I played any kind of short-sided game, and the boys I played with are all so good it was a real challenge to not get schooled every time! Turned out to be a great workout, and I’m really keen to keep playing soccer at home in some way shape or form.

The following week or so was spent basically wandering around I-House and receiving death glares from the studious exam takers among us. I did crank out my last American lit paper that first weekend of November, but aside from that Kathleen and I continued to celebrate being finished. That Wednesday and Thursday night turned out to be fairly big nights with everyone blowing off some post- or pre-exam steam, making the party bus and nights out well worth while and heaps of fun. Thursday morning, a group of us had our last go at UniBar after Elana and Mitchel finished their exam. Best potato wedges EVER, by the way, especially with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. I have got to find somewhere that sells sweet chili in the US, because it has become one of my favorite must-have sauces. Possibly better than ketchup, but don’t quote me on that. The next few days proved to be lazy ones spent at the beach and bumming around I-House and just generally enjoying everyone’s company.

And I think that's where I'll leave it for tonight because one, it's 4am even though it feels like 8pm and because two, that's plenty to read! I'll be posting again soon, but I can't wait to see everyone here in the states, and I miss my I-House family HEAPS. Here's to our (hopefully soon) reunion!

Here and there,
Kiley

Two Weeks Left and Counting...

So, surprise surprise, it’s been a while again. On a positive note, SUMMER HAS STARTED! I’m officially finished with school and with exactly two weeks until I head back to the states, I’ve been making the most out of everything here. The week after my last post was spent glued to the computer as I finished my monster mini thesis for my writing theory course, taking some time off for Formal. And wow was Formal fun! It was held at a convention center here in Wollongong, so we had a party bus to come and pick us up before and after. A number of us girls got ready all together at I-House before catching our ride to the convention center where we mingled before taking our seats for the awards ceremony and dinner. I didn’t feel too well during the awards ceremony, but I perked up just in time as dinner was served. It was such a good dinner, too! Chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, and free drinks to go with the meal. After cafeteria-style college dinner for the past few months, it was a welcome and delicious change.




The rest of the night was spent dancing and having a good time like any other night out in Wollongong, but instead of an I-House group and a bunch of randoms, the dance floor was packed with 200 people you’ve had the pleasure of living with and getting to know over the past few months. Either way, we danced for hours before our time ended at the convention center, then caught the party bus out to the pubs in town. We made a quick stop at Glasshouse, a club that recently reopened, but left shortly after to catch retro night at Illawarra. After a number of people were refused entry by the bouncers (including one of our guys who’s never drank in his life – it made me question their judgment more than a little!) we all wandered over to the kebab shop before finding our way home. Once back at I-House, we put on Lion King in the Red Room, which I must say has only gotten better over time. We finished the night with Despicable Me, which I fell asleep to almost immediately. Such a good night!





It was back to the books for me over the next few days, and I finished my paper thanks to a six+ hour Skype date with my dear mother who graciously edited and slaved over my paper with me. THANK YOU MADRE! Highlights of the weekend other than homework were playing in the torrential downpour of a thunderstorm with Annabel and sliding around in the grass, Pete Rose style, as well as an epic Nerf war battle. My not-so-proud moment of that night would be about thirty seconds into the game when my team split into partners to capture the other team’s flag. I took off up the concrete stairs with Fish leading the way, stalking around the corner when I, um, lost my footing and somehow came crashing down, gun and face first into the stairs. I laid there, too embarrassed to move, and Fish just turned around to where I was laying mortified and just said “Did you fall?” Whoops. I had a scrape on my knee that I didn’t realize was bleeding until two games later and mass skinning and scrapes on my feet. Other than that mishap, the game went well and I even had some kills! Yay for real-life shooting games! Halloween was fairly uneventful for me since I played soccer instead of staying at I-House for the festivities.

The following week began “Noise Ban” at I-House, since there was no school the first week of November since it was study week before exams. Which means no noise in the hallways at any time, and the kitchen is open basically 24hours for people to camp out and study. It’s the weirdest thing: people actually start studying a full week before exams. Granted, finals here are worth literally fifty percent of the course grade, so that’s a bit more weighty than in the states, but still. Study here is taken heaps seriously. It was a good mode to get into since I had one more paper to do for my lit class, but either way it’s soo nice to be finished!

For now, I’m going to go learn to skate(long)board with Annabel and probably get in on a movie marathon in the Red Room. Realizing I only have two weeks left in Australia and one week before people start to leave, I’m desperate to spend every possible second with everyone doing as much as I can. Exciting news: I was accepted for my program in France! Europe-bound for the spring 2012 session! Little snippets for the next post: spending time at Charlotte’s where I saw kangaroo boxing, biking and barbeque at the beach, and a few good nights out. More to come with the next post. Hope all is well in the states, and I’ll see you all soon!

Here and there,
Kiley