Lazy Days are here again!

The next morning we awoke at 11:30. Ahhhhh… so nice to sleep in! It has become a tradition in Todd’s apartment to make pancakes with loads of stuff on top whenever there are guests, or it is a Sunday, or a Saturday, or if anyone feels the urge ;) and so I began to make pumpkin pancakes from a mix that Liz sent me in that amazing box of goodies. The pancakes were divine with bananas, syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon sugar and pretty much everything else sweet in the cupboards. Once we stuffed ourselves with pancakes and episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Anna and Todd proceeded to kick Steph’s and my bum at tennis. This form of entertainment didn’t last long as it was too much exercise for our still tired selves. We concluded this amazing day by buying prawns, salami, cheese and crackers at the store and going to Burleigh Heads to watch the surfers lap up every last bit of sunlight possible!

Monday and Tuesday we spent in true Surfers Paradise style. We went to the beach, watched the sunset over the canals and chatted for hours on end. I was fighting a cold and feeling quite sluggish but my naturopath roommate came to rescue once more with powdered vitamin C that managed to kick the cold (for the most part) right out of the park. I am going to fast forward a bit and say that today is the second day of Passover and I miss flying home from Berkeley for the holidays. One of the most memorable Pesachs I have ever had when we went to Grandma and Grandpa Sherry’s and Nancy made that INCREDIBLE chocolate mousse with pistachio crust… I still dream about that stuff, can you tell? ; )

I have also loved having friends over for Pesach (specifically non Jews) because they always get a kick out of the service and I love sharing my super rad religion! It definitely is harder celebrating Pesach and following the rules of kashrut without others around me doing the same but Todd has been very helpful and Becky (a friend I have known since pre-school!) is coming tomorrow so then we can make fun pesadic treats ;) Becky and I --->

With that I must get back to work. I have a final due date for my paper and it is due 66 days from now! Eep… I will discuss our AMAZING time in Sydney soon. Seriously, incredible city; look at my pictures on facebook if you don’t believe me! xox

The first 24 hours of Steph and Anna’s whirlwind trip to Australia!

I am taking a break from my unrelenting research in order to start reminiscing about my amazing week with Anna and Steph. I am afraid that it may take me a few days to get through it all because we did SO much and I am constantly working on my dissertation that is beginning to move from research to outline mode :)

Steph and Anna (as previously noted) arrived early Saturday morning. So early in fact that when we drove to Brisbane (with Todd getting lost for about 20 min ;) ) the shops were STILL not open. To pass the time we walked around this really awesome outdoor market that was slowly awaking (a market that I visited with Steff and my sis when she was here, don’t you just love when you stumble upon an old location just by chance?). At this point it is only 10am or so and we are all pretty exhausted already… bad news. So it was decided that we would just keep running all day in order to make it through!

Our next stop was the Lone Pine koala sanctuary where we pet kangaroos, wallabies, held a koala and gawked at various animals in cages such as Tasmania devils, lorikeets and a dingo. Anna and Steph were very impressed that we jumped straight into an “Australian adventure!” This adventure plunged us into a drowsy state and so the girls slept while I kept Todd awake and headed in the right direction ;) Our next stop was my apartment where the girls called their parents, boyfriends, siblings, other important people on Skype which gave Todd 20 min or so to have a much needed nap (I am not exaggerating about our tiredness…).

Coolangatta was next, the beach town south of Surfers that boasts the Gold Coast airport, amazing surf conditions, and an amazing burger joint that has gluten free buns (Todd’s idea of heaven). We spent a relaxed afternoon in Coolangatta: watching surfers, walking on the beach, eating amazing burgers and watching Todd attempt to catch the very slight gusts of wind with his kite (for kite surfing) but to no avail. The next step in our plan to keep everyone awake was to go home and get dressed up in order to go out in Surfers that night.

None of us are huge partiers but experiencing the club scene in Surfers is a must. It would be like going to Vegas and staying in your hotel room the entire time. After a fun evening of dancing at a place called Waaxys we all fell into bed at 2am. No one can ever say we didn’t make good use of our time! :)

Wooooooooooooooooooooooot !

I am up 30 min before my alarm this morning. This is not because I have slept so well these last few days (lie) or last night (total and complete lie) but rather that I am so excited because Anna and Steph land in Brisbane in exactly 53 minutes!!!! Todd is still savouring his last 9 min of sleep but I figured my time was better spent sharing my excitement with all of you! Above is a picture of Anna, Steph and I from my graduation last May. Little background on them in case anyone does not know how special they are to me :) --> Steph, Anna and I were on staff together last year and were incredible incredible RAs and friends. I was also a clerk with Anna and Steph is just, well, my Steph :) The three of us used to get together (whenever we weren't slammed with homework) to watch Gossip Girl or Brothers and Sisters today and all living in the same building made hanging out incredible and super easy! They are incredible friends and I can not wait to show them off!! (I am sure they think they are coming here to see Australia but really they are here so my Australian friends can see that I have super cool American friends) :) Todd and I are picking them up from the airport and then we will probably see a little bit of Brisbane and then go to Lone Pine Animal Park so we can hold a koala... as you do... in Australia :)

Just Cause…

Last week I mentioned to my mom that I was on the way to KMART. “What!”, she exclaimed. “They have KMART there?” I guess I kind of forget sometimes about the massive influence American culture has on other countries. At times it doesn’t really even feel like I am thousands of miles away. These American companies in Australia have become commonplace. Of course my attitude towards these companies is completely different while I am here. For the most part I can proudly say that I had very rarely stepped into a KMART and had never stepped into a KFC but both of these claims reversed within a month of landing in Australia. KMART has become my go-to shop for most essentials like notebooks, bedding, photo printing etc and I have discovered a grilled chicken wrap at KFC that I am actually quite fond of… shocking, I know :)

Of course McDonalds is big here as always as well as Burger King which is called Hungry Jacks because when Burger King expanded to Australia there was already another company here with the Burger King title. Starbucks is Starbucks although it is not a place I frequent because of the huge cost that would incur! Wendy’s is kinda like a Dairy Queen (and not associated with the American chain in the slightest) and the biggest disappointment is the Australian Target. Yah no, don’t get excited. It is NOTHING like the Target at home. Ok maybe I didn’t need to make that all uppercase but still… nothing like it… Picture a Marshalls or T.J.Maxx that you are super excited to scour for good bargains and come up with didely… that is the Australian Target. It is funny because when I think of places I would like to bring my Australian friends Target and Costco immediately pop into my head… sick? Yah probably… corporate America brainwashing? Sure looks like it!

Ps. Here is a birds eye view of my apartment. It is the long apartments running off the left side of the picture and parallel to the top and bottom of the picture. Got it? :)

Pps. Anna and Steph come in 11 Days!!!!

Ready, Set... Finished Class!

Well school has begun again and to be frank it almost feels like Berkeley again. Of course that is attributed 100% to the consistently rainy weather we have been experiencing for the past month but any connection to Cal is nice ;) In other news, my classes have begun….. and ended. After going to classes on Monday and Tuesday my friend Steff and I discovered that our program had been changed for the 2010 class and one could now undertake a dissertation option for credit as a Masters student. Before this we were only allowed to write a dissertation if we stayed for a third semester and I had decided that it was not worth my time and money to complete this option. In any case, after approaching the head of our department and persuading her to bend the rules a bit I am now doing a years worth of work in the next 4 months and will be cramming my head full of useful knowledge- go figure. I have decided to research the past, present and my predicted future of film and television marketing. I want to focus on unconventional means of promotion and I am sure my topic will broaden and shrink many times in the next few months.

In other news my day was brightened immensely when I got a package of yummy food from Liz! She sent me some Trader Joes staples like pita chips, cinnamon puffins, pumpkin pancake mix, chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels and of course the best thing made by Mars: dark chocolate peanut M&Ms :) Snail Mail + Food = Paradise

The Adventures of Mr. Walker, Mr. Docke, and Ms. Smith

Let me just say: only in Australia...

My weekend adventure started when Al picked me up after work on Saturday afternoon and we drove back to his neck of the woods: Coolangata. I know I have mentioned this city before but just for a refresher, this is a beach city about 30 min south of Surfers. It is the home of the Gold Coast Airport and boasts some of the best surf conditions around. Al is an avid surfer and so on the way to his apartment we drove on beach roads in order to get a feel for the waves. In the gold coast surfing is like a religion and I am slowly converting and beginning to understand when the conditions are good etc... its kinda fun and makes me feel hip ;)

After a surf (for Al) and a swim (for me) Roman (our German companion) joined us to allow the weekend festivities to begin! We went to the store and stocked up on breakfast food and beer for the evening/ next day. After all the necessities were purchased we settled down to veg for the next few hours: beautiful! :) When we finally got up enough energy to shower and put on some decent clothes we headed into Kirra (a neighboring beach town) to have dinner at the Ivory. We all enjoyed food from their $10 specials and then headed to a bar called Bread and Butter where we proceeded to sample cocktails and dance the night away. I had such an amazing time with Al and Roman and it reminded me of all the fun I used to have with my guy friends back home :)

The next day the real adventure began...

The plan was as follows: utilize the small, inflatable boat Roman borrowed off his roommates in order to make our way to Cook Island (a small piece of land about a kilometer off shore) to snorkel. As we went to check out our launching spot we looked out over the beach and looked for a place where the swell did not seem so huge. Of course waves always look exponentially smaller than they actually are and Al (who has the most experience with the ocean) looked a bit scared but still said, lets go for it! We head back to the car, pump up the boat with a little cigarette lighter pump and proceed to carry the boat and 4 horsepower engine to the water. After many stops and much huffing and puffing, we place the boat into the water, attach the engine and prepare to set off. Now we were all a bit afraid that the boat would not make it over the waves and so we were all wearing our snorkeling gear in case 2 of us had to abandon ship to lighten the load. After much trepidation and encouraging words between us, Al started up the engine and we began to put put put towards the waves. Now I had no idea how SLOW a 4 horsepower engine would go and so let me explain... we could have walked faster. The waves were easily overtaking us and so we are all clinging to the boat, trying to equalize the balance while trying not to capsize and to top it all off, stepping all over each other with our huge fins strapped to our feet. I don’t think we could have looked any more comical and I am sure the life savers (life guards) watching us thought we were complete idiots...

After only one capsize scare we managed to make it over the waves and to the island where we hooked up to a buoy and slid somewhat gracefully into the water. I always forget how beautiful and peaceful the ocean is. We began to swim closer the island where the water was shallower and the fish more plentiful. The fish were beautiful and colorful but the real treat were the sea turtles. We first spotted two small sea turtles side by side and Al, Roman and I stared at them transfixed as we floated in the water. A few minutes later we spotted the first of four HUGE sea turtles that we saw that day. They were at least three and half feet long and two and a half feet wide and absolutely breathtaking. They slowly swam through the water and would occasionally sway side to side with the tide. It was such an incredible experience: we were close enough that we could have touched them and we all stared mesmerized at these beautiful creatures below us.

After a few hours and a few rounds of snorkeling we climbed back into the boat and made our way back to shore. Once again, the waves overtook us and we could have easily made it back quicker on a surf board. At least this time the waves helped us make it safely home.

Only in Australia could I have boarded a badly inflated boat that bent beneath us with two friends and had such an incredible day/ experience.

Mr. Walker, Mr. Docke, and Ms. Smith over and out! ;)

Countdowns....

For the past few weeks I have been in constant contact with two of my friends back home (Steph and Anna) who are coming to visit me in March! All the planning with them and Kate and Becks (coming in April) is making me extremely excited for this semester! I can not wait to show all my old friends my new place :) My brain really functions on numbers at times and so below is a countdown list with remaining days until said event in order to make it all seem more real!

Countdown List:

To School Starting- 12 day (meh)

To Oscars- 18 days! (cause even though I am so far away I will be damned if I miss this! )

To Steph and Anna- 31 days!!! (we have a crazy schedule while they are here- going to cram in everything possible!)

To Becks arriving- 43 days!! (I will have a friend and new roommate for a month! SO excited! ;)

To Kate and Debbie coming- 47 days! (yes another Debbie, and then I will be going to New Zealand with them in 53 days)

Mom and Jan need to get their schedule sorted out but they should be coming in July which will be incredible. We plan on travelling around off and on for a month or so and then I depart for home on August 11^th! It is crazy how soon everything seems now. I can not wait until my visitors start rolling in! Anyone else wanna add themselves to my schedule of visitors ;)