home sweet home

I have returned to good ‘ol VA.  Interestingly enough it has been two weeks since I’ve arrived but yet has felt like two months.  I am still trying to adjust to being back since I had just begun to finally adjust to life in Australia and now things are strange again!  After traveling for a good day and a half I got home only to find out that I had caught something on the plane and instead of hanging with friends and catching up with family I was forced to stay in my bed for three days with a puke pan and ginger ale.  No fun.  I have seen a few friends and that has been nice but haven’t really had a chance to go out properly yet.  I did manage to head down to the Outer Banks (aka my favorite place on earth) to my wonderful family timeshare with Amber, and we soaked up some sun and hit up some thrift stores.  We also went on a drive along the beach in search of wild spanish mustangs, which we found 7 of.  Beautiful.

I have no idea how long it is going to take me to adjust.  I thought that I would be totally excited to be home but now that I am home I am feeling really lost and confused.  I have managed to get my old job back which is amazing because at least I will be making money and be able to go to the doctor while I am lost and confused.  I think most of it stems from being taken away from the one person I have grown to be very close to in the last 7 months, and then not knowing when I will be able to see that person again.  There are a few obstacles in my way that are important for me to deal with properly before I can attempt to think about leaving again, and that in itself is frustrating because these obstacles have been quite difficult for me to deal with during the last few years of my life.  Without going into detail I will just hope for the best and see what each new day brings.

I bought the new book that is edited by Jeffrey Eugenides entitled “My mistress’s sparrow is dead” and is a book of “love” stories.  So far so good.

Goodnight.

eeeee

I am now coming home on the 14th. 

Matt is sick with some sort of allergic reaction that has taken us to the ER twice in the last two days.  He is sleeping and I’m a bit upset knowing that he’s fallen ill the last couple days I have here.  That sounds selfish but sorry!

I just emailed my former boss about possibly getting my old job back, even though I have no idea what my plans are when I get home.  (just knowing that I will need money and definitely health insurance).

I can’t wait to come home and play with my dog.  My world is going to be turned upside down for quite awhile.  I suppose it already has been.

Wireless mouses are cool.  Ibook chargers, not so cool. 

I am thinking of getting a tattoo when I return, who wants to come with? EEEEEEEEEeeee.  Australia is too far away.  I can’t decide which is harder - living here or leaving here?

time flies

Sooooooo that’s it!  The 3 week vacation is over and I’ve officially driven up the eastern coast of Australia and stopped at all the little towns and sights in between.  I now feel like I have a pretty good taste of this country, and although I didn’t make it into the technical “outback” outback, I think this was a pretty good start. 

I arrived back in Melbourne today from our flight from Cairns.  When arriving in Cairns we turned over our beloved campervan that became so near and dear to our hearts (never though I would like sleeping in a van so much!) and spent a good 5 nights in this touristy city on the coast.  Cairns is most known for its easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, so it was undeniably the most touristy place that we visited the whole way up on the trip.  This meant that there were a) tons of annoying international backpackers and b) lots of overpriced food and cheesy Australiana souvenirs that were actually “made in Korea”. 

I should start off by saying that the one thing that is interesting about the tropical northern part of Queensland is that the Great Barrier Reef travels down most of it, making the beaches not so beachy and not really good for swimming in and/or surfing in.  This area is too dangerous to swim in because of “stingers” or basically jellyfish that can be fatal and are invisible to the naked eye.  When we went out snorkeling or diving, we had to rent “stinger suits”, or basically special wet suits, so that we wouldn’t have to bother with deadly stingy monsters.  Yikes!  A few beaches are swimmable but only because they have roped in one little area with stinger enclosures to keep the stingers out.  Everywhere else is pretty much swim at your own risk.  No thanks!

So yeah, we booked three different amazing tours when we arrived and they all turned out to be fantastic.  The first day we went out on a boat called the Ospry V to the Great Barrier Reef, and it was a perfect day to see all the beautiful coral and marine life that lives within.  The tour boasted offered an introductory scuba dive for just an extra thirty dollars, so I signed up for that even though I was scared out of my mind to actually do it.  I figured what the hell, and as we were traveling out to the reef, our guide gave us some brief instructions about how to dive.  When we arrived, we were giving all our gear, lowered into the water about one meter, and then asked to prove underwater that we were able to clear our masks and also able to clear our mouthpieces.  This meant taking a deap breath, removing the mouthpiece, blowing out the air, then shoving the mouthpiece back in while simultaneously yelling the word “TWo” to blow out any water that may be in the mouthpiece.  After proving we had that down, we all linked arms and began our descent down.  We only went 10 meters, which is about 30 feet, which doesn’t allow us to be certified, but it was a good way to get a feel for diving.  It was totally weird being underwater and totally unnatural, especially trying to swim around coral with big flippers and a huge tank strapped to your back!  But it was fun!  While down there I got to sit at the bottom of the reef and hold a sea cucumber - I also saw lots of clownfish (nemos!) and lots of other fish.  The worst thing that happened was my ears kept popping and at one point my left ear wouldn’t pop out and it hurt so bad that when I arrived back up to the surface it was ringing and it still hasn’t returned quite to normal yet!  Such is life.

But yeah how cool is that!  After the dive I had the option to dive again but I didn’t really want to spend the money so I snorkelled instead.  There were huge flourescent colored fish that you could actually hear eating the bits of coral.  I’ve never seen such beautiful colors of marine life ever!  Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Second day we took a sky cableway gondola type ride to Kuranda, a small village about 35 km from Cairns.  We then took the scenic railway back that meanders through the rainforests, waterfalls, etc.  While there we went to an Aboriginal Park called Tjapukai which tells the history of this aboriginal group that lives in the area and their beliefs and such.  There was a man playing the didgeridoo and I got to throw a spear and a boomerang.  Little did I know that I was doing it wrong my entire childhood by throwing it like a frisbee, when really you are supposed to throw it over handed with a flick of the wrist (and it actually does come back!)  The nice aboriginal man gave Matt a boomerang for being able to get it to return all the way, and then he let me have a few more tries when everyone else left.

Third day we took a bus tour up to the Daintree rainforest which is another World Heritage area along with the Reef.  We walked around a bit and learned about the rainforest and how it differs from other rainforests, and we evern went on a crocodile river cruise (and actually spotted 4 crocs! crikey!)  hehe.

After that we were exhausted so we did nothing yesterday, and now we’re home and I’ve got to figure out everything I need to coordinate in order to come HOMe home!!  aghhhhhhh.

I’m going home now, because I’m still not home home.  It’s cold in Melbourne and I miss tropicalness.  ciao ciao!

 

Hello!  We’ve escaped the rain for the moment and are in sunny Noosa in Queensland.  This place is adorable.  I decided to be brave and take a surfing lesson today and guess what - surfing is really difficult!  I think the hardest part was actually getting my board out to the freakin wave!  After that it was alright.  So, after two banged knees, thigh chaffing, and a butt sand plant, I managed to stand up twice on my board.  This makes me happy.

But now I ache and I’ll be lazy and then tomorrow it’s more driving to go.  Final destination - Cairns/Great Barrier Reef fun.

Spent a few nights in Brisbane where we found a cool cocktail bar that spun missy elliot tunes and I was happy once more.   Met up with a buddy from my Contiki tour and walked around - I think any city with palm trees is fine enough.

I just realized that as I am sitting here typing I”m getting the sensation of water pulling me out so I think this may be my cue to go get some food (at the supermarket at the moment paying top bucks for pricy internet! 

I Just realized today that I”m’coming home in about 3 weeks.  I can’t believe it’s been over half a year.  I suppose I’ll write more and reflect and all that good stuff later.  Right now, snags on the barbie (sausages!)

 

you’ll linger longer in yarrawonga

They’re a mighty team from yarrawonga.  ha. Today is day 6 on our fantastic journey up the coast of eastern Australia.  I am on a ridiculous computer so will keep this short.  Our camper van is big but I am able to drive it and being that I am not a native that says a lot for my self esteem as of late.  We haven’t named it yet but maybe soon.  We spent two days in Canberra which is the capital for all you morons reading (oh wait i didnt know that until last year so dont feel bad).  A mob of kangaroos greeted me on  my walk through the botanical  gardens and I saw Parliament and all that good stuff.  Port Macquarie then for two nights and I pet a koala named Clancey.  In Byron Bay which is hippie haven but very pretty.  Rainy and chilly at the moment but hopefully will turn nice once we pass the tropic of capricorn in wonderful (fingers crossed) Rockhampton.  I have not thrown Matt out of the vehicle yet but you never know what might happen.  Saw a big banana, a big prawn, and a big merino (sheepY!).  Weird.

April fools

Today I got hit by a motorcycle. No, no, I’m ok! However, it would have been a lot more fun if the guy had gotten off his bike and said “April fools!” But no. That is not how it happened. Basically I had the pedestrian walk sign and I began to cross the street after the cars had been stopped for quite some time. I believe this motorcycle man was behind me trying to turn into the street I was on and didn’t see me about to cross so he turned left. After falling to the ground (no injuries), and him falling off his bike which was leaking green fluid, I asked him if he was alright. Why do I seem to be the one who feels like it is my fault when accidents happen, even when they’re clearly not my fault? This man looked very perturbed and said “I looked and it was clear, you need to watch where you’re going”. I said “well I looked and I had the walk sign!” Why do I still feel like I must apologize for this mans lack of skills? No matter what I had the right of way. He left after checking out his bike and giving me a quick “just be careful next time” comment. Oh, how lovely thank you!!

Blah. Tonight I made my grandmother’s recipe of hamburger meat, elbow macaroni noodles and peas. Oh, and lots of butter! This might sound unappetizing to most but my grandmother made it all the time and it became one of my favorite of her meals. It is just a small taste of home in a home away from home.

I’m bored. I am trying to stay in lots so I don’t spend money before the trip, but I’m starting to get restless. I watch too many movies and sleep in too late. I eat too much random food and don’t do anything productive. I finally was able to do my taxes last night so that is good, but I need to start planning what I want to do on this trip of mine. Surfing? Skydiving? Do I have it in me? Time will only tell…

OH YEah almost forgot - I saw the British comedian Stephen K. Amos and he was great! He started paying out on (making fun of ) Americans and of course I raised my hand for him to belittle me and he made all the cracks from pretending like I talked like a valley girl to helping me pronounce my name correctly in his british accent. It was pretty fun. I will try to see at least one more comedian before the week is over - why? because I can!

domestic bliss

Amy + no work + new house = domesticity.  Errrrr what?!  Not working has given me time to sleep in, watch lots of Miami Ink, and enjoy things like ironing, making cole slaw, and mopping the bathroom.  What is wrong with this picture?  Yes, that’s right - I am enjoying being a domestic lady.  I’m guessing this phase will last for two to three weeks so don’t be too concerned.  And don’t think that this means I’m an anal neat freak or anything - I’m still way messier than Matt and he hates it, so perhaps I am just trying to make up for my lack of organization while he is at work.  I dunno.

I have the house to myself tonight which is awesome.  Happy Easter!  I didn’t do much today to celebrate the holiday except eat a huge chocolate egg.

I went to my first Australian footy game at the MCG which is the largest stadium in the southern hemisphere.  There were 72,000 people there!  It was Richmond vs Carlton, two Melbourne suburbs, and I was trying to stay neutral, even though the team was Richmond (seemed fitting to go for them doesn’t it, especially since their team colors were yellow and black (VCU!)).  Australian football is much easier to understand than American football - it’s pretty fast paced, the men aren’t weighed down by lots of padding and are in really good shape, and Richmond won! woohoo.  Wrong Richmond but who cares!

I met with the Gift of Life Victoria (organ donation) people and had a chat with one of their coordinators about how they do things.  Amazingly enough organ donation numbers are pretty darn low here and maybe I should start an organization to change that!

I went to the top of the Eureka Tower yesterday, the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere (are you catching on to the trend yet?)  I got a good view of Melbourne.  It really is a pretty city.

Off the topic of anything, let’s talk about Mcdonald’s.  You should be able to go anywhere in the world and know that your maccas (as called here) burger should be made anyway you like it and taste pretty much the same as you’re used to, right?  Well, I like my cheeseburger with just meat, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise.  That’s it.  No ketchup, no mustard, no pickles, whatever.  Just those four things.  Easy right?  Well unfortunately they screw up my order every time.  So, after the game and a few drinks I order this cheeseburger, and of course it’s just a plain cheeseburger.  Normally not a huge deal, but I’m hungry so I go back to request the extras.  I get my burger handed back to me with a “I’m sorry but we can’t fire up the grill right now”.  Wait, what?  What does that have to do with anything?  I decide this really isn’t something to dwell on, and there are a few people in line, so I just make a weird face and huff and puff off.  Matt grabs my burger, goes up to the lady who took my order, and requested a new burger while this woman shot me dirty looks and I laughed and hid in the corner.  Of course, he got the correct burger - fuck hamburger helper, he’s my new hamburger hero.

Oh man oh man oh man.

I saw Be Kind, Rewind last night and it was pretty good - I have to say it’s still going to be my least favorite of the Gondry films I’ve seen but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I had a raging headache for most of it so that may have affected my viewing, but I still liked watching Mos Def and Jack Black “swede” the Lion King. haha.

Tomorrow night we’re going to see comedian Stephen K. Amos at Melbourne Town Hall which should be fun - standup comedy is probably one of my favorite forms of entertainment when it’s actually funny. The hard part is a comic who can actually get me to belly laugh instead of fake laugh. Fake laughing is difficult and it makes my face hurt, so yeah!

parting is such sweet sorrow.

Nah, not really!  Ok, I’ve posted a few pics from the other night.  After a bottle of wine and a dance party in Jen’s apartment where we learned to “one-two step”, we meandered across the street over to Luke’s where we shared more wine and I fell into a closet.  I was all ready to go out on the town but by the time we got to our destination it was just Matt and I and I no longer felt like being out.  I just realized today that I have a knot on my head that may or may not have happened on this night. 

Last night was much more calm, I worked until midnight, then caught a taxi home.  Hailing a cab is a hard thing to do if you are not a) from new york city b) with other people, c) drunk and d) anyone but me.  I walked around for like 10 minutes before I bent down to a taxi driver at a stoplight and he waived me in.  Who knew!!  Plus, it was uncomfortable because we didn’t speak for the whole ride, because after 2 minutes of not speaking that window of trying to speak closes and then you just look like you’re forcing it.  Ah well. 

My actual last day of work today.  Glad to be here cuz its hot hot hot and I’m sure the house is a scorchin!  The Grand Prix is on this weekend and KISS is playing - I don’t know much about cars but people sure do seem to like ‘em. 

 There are airplanes flying over my office checking out the race or whatever they’re doing - they are super loud!

why I can’t complain about work.

Because when I came in to do my night shift tonight, the work wasn’t quite yet ready for us, and my boss divided us into 6 teams, passed out spaghetti noodles and marshmallows, and we each had 20 minutes to compete in building the tallest spaghetti marshmallow structure possible.  Not as easy as it sounds, but getting paid to play with food is never a bad thing.

Happy guy.

I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you about Happy Guy. 

Wow.

Yesterday my coworker Devin sat next to me and told me a great story.  He gave me permission to tell it so here I go - actually, wait, this looks like its off his cousins page, so I will copy and paste, woohoo!

“Seven years ago, my cousin Nate found a photo in the rubbish bin of a hotel room in Banff, Canada. He kept the picture with him, and returned home to Melbourne, Australia, where he posted the photo on his family’s kitchen fridge, and ever since that day “Happy Guy” has been smiling at the family from his spot in the kitchen. Everyone who visited the Sturdy house would always ask about the photograph, inquiring: “Who is that?”
“It’s Happy Guy” the family would respond, and then the story of how the picture of a complete stranger ended up on the fridge would follow.

So, why did Nate feel so attracted to this particular picture of a smiling stranger? For no other reason then simply looking at the picture made him feel happy, and how could it not?-!

Earlier this year, Nate and his brother Devin, started a group on Facebook called “Who Is Happy Guy?” The goal of this group was to find and meet the man whom they had formally nicknamed.
They started a “Happy Guy” website (http://www.whoishappyguy.com), and made “Who Is Happy Guy?” tee-shirts, and awarded them to anyone who made an extra special “Happy Guy” effort, and that was the beginning of their Global Search.

The result: Making millions of people happy!

Folks from all over the world started to post Happy Guy’s picture up and would take photos of it to show all the different places that Happy Guy’s smile had reached, and with each new photo you just couldn’t help but smile also, proving the age-old saying that “a smile goes a long long way.”
Recently, Happy Guy was found!

So yeah, apparently they’ve gotten all kinds of newspaper stories and such on this story, and I think it’s fantastic!  I just thought that would make you smile or laugh a lil, so there u go.

 Oh Happy day!