For those who were unaware, Libby decided to join us up for the Australian University Games in the Mixed 4's Beach Volleyball league. The Australian University Games is equivalent to the Olympic games of all the Uni's. It is a huge deal in Australia and there are only 3 Americans going from Bond for sure, and possibly in the whole tournament. Considering I only playing intermurals last year with the Crib Clubbers, my technique and skills were limited to being hungover and not very good. We would start training twice a week immediately and hopefully improve by the time Perth came along.
The first training session we had went well. My self esteem was up and I figured if I can play with these people I should be fine to play in the games. They also told us that we were D2 so we were not going to be playing the hardest people in the league, but they weren't going to be easy wins. It turned out, the people we played with at first were schoolies (in high school) and that our competition was going to be harder than them. That is when we noticed the girls playing on the other court. They were beast. No tanks. Made for destruction on the court and we were going to be their first victims. I could smell the blood in the air already. We hesitantly questioned our trainer, Robert (who's real name is Glenn by the way... isn't that unusual?), and he calmed our fears immediately. They were on the national tour team but went to Bond. One just got recruited to play in Sweden and the other as a coach in Europe. Thank god. We would never see them in a match and I rejoiced inside.
So when we played beach volleyball on the beach the next day, my self-esteem was high enough to play with all the guys. I should have stayed laying out. I swear I got worse as I played more. It was not a good sign for me.
The next day in training we met our teammates. Benji is from Western Australia and is on our Mixed 4's team with us. He is good and will probably hold his end up and most of mine during these tournaments. We also met Felipe, a guy from Chile who lives in Broadbeach. Felipe is really good but is playing in pairs with Aaron who he claims is "fat around the middle and we are trying to get him to lose it." His words, not mine. There are also some people from Germany who are playing with us, but we cannot figure out if they are coming to Perth, or just want to train in hopes of joining the team next year. It is still to be determined. Robert fixed our form, got us out of the mindset of indoor volleyball and said we were continuing to improve.
We have training twice a week an are getting better every time. Sometimes training is really serious with drills and patterns, and other days there is just enough people to play a game and we have matches instead of training. That is when Robert told us to go to indoors tonight. We figured, eh, we are already sandy, already sweaty, why not? I will NEVER again go to an indoor volleyball session. The ball is a lot harder than I remember, the spikes are that much more intense, and I fear i will break my nose like Ben Stiller does to that poor girl in "Meet the Parents." We played with girls on Griffin University indoor volleyball team. They were trying to set up who would be setter and who would be hitter and so forth. Like I had any idea what that meant. Don't we all do every position at some point based on rotations? This was so different than what I was use to. When we finished our matches, Libby and I made up the first excuse in our heads and high tailed it out of there. My arms were purple the rest of the night from the intensity. I learned very quickly I should stick to beach volleyball, plus I can get a tan that way :).
Practice yesterday was hilarious. It was Libby, Robert, Ben who is in high school, and I. We played pairs the entire time and were taking nothing serious. I kicked every other ball and were throwing them all over the place instead. We make a great team let me tell you. I had a flashback to senior year of high school when obnoxious noises and obscenities were cool. I would make the most random noises out of nowhere when I had to run to the other side of the court. I was the butt of every joke that day.
Needless to say, I am loving playing volleyball. I am meeting so many people I would never have met. I cannot wait for Perth this weekend. It is going be PERTHection
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What to do on a rainy day?
We woke up after pub crawl to look outside and see it was a not so nice day. We attempted to go to Broadbeach to have some fun and take some photographs for class. It was so windy and cold (aka in the 60's) I wore a sweater on the beach as I read and lounged around.
The following day we planned to go the Wildlife Conservation. We were so excited to hold koalas and pet kangaroos. It was a great disappointment to see it was down pouring outside and it looked like we would not be able to go see some animals. We decided to head to Surfer's Paradise in the daytime and without alcoholic beverages accompanying us. We jumped on the bus and headed somewhere new.
Surfer's Paradise is a lot like Miami, Florida. There are high end shops, boutique, touristy thing, and outdoor cafes. It was so much fun to walk around and shop and have it be okay to look like the tourist we are. Then we find a winery which was the greatest find all day. $6 box of wine and $2.99 bottles of wine. The cheapest wine we have found since arriving and we immediately grab a box and a few bottles as the girls decide they want to go back and into the hot tub. The guys decided to stay and bowl, which is an activity is perfect for my mood.
I buy some snakes (who can bowl without candy?!) and some cruisers, while the guys pick up a case as we bowl. The bowling alley was all in black light and cosmic, and music videos were playing on the big screen. It was kind of like a club, but bowling instead of dancing, and family members instead of drunken idiots. The first game, only one of us broke 100 (way to go Adam), and some of barely broke 50 (keep practicing Stephen). The second game we decide to make team and place a bet on the table. It was Fink, Adam, and I vs. Jeff, Jon, and Stephen. The goal was Fink stay with Stephen, I stay with Jeff, and Adam stays with Jon. Needless to say, we got our ass kicked. And we now owe them a case. Great Job team, I mean we all fell short of our marks. But overall it was great fun and something I hope we do again soon.
The bus ride back it started down pouring again. Right as I got off the bus, my bag ripped open and I dropped my $2.99 bottle of wine. I was actually quite upset because I was intrigued on the taste and quality. It was all you can eat sushi that night, but the horrific downpour kept us from attending. So after a fun rainy afternoon activity, we took it easy on Sunday night and prepared for week 2 classes and what was to come.
The following day we planned to go the Wildlife Conservation. We were so excited to hold koalas and pet kangaroos. It was a great disappointment to see it was down pouring outside and it looked like we would not be able to go see some animals. We decided to head to Surfer's Paradise in the daytime and without alcoholic beverages accompanying us. We jumped on the bus and headed somewhere new.
Surfer's Paradise is a lot like Miami, Florida. There are high end shops, boutique, touristy thing, and outdoor cafes. It was so much fun to walk around and shop and have it be okay to look like the tourist we are. Then we find a winery which was the greatest find all day. $6 box of wine and $2.99 bottles of wine. The cheapest wine we have found since arriving and we immediately grab a box and a few bottles as the girls decide they want to go back and into the hot tub. The guys decided to stay and bowl, which is an activity is perfect for my mood.
I buy some snakes (who can bowl without candy?!) and some cruisers, while the guys pick up a case as we bowl. The bowling alley was all in black light and cosmic, and music videos were playing on the big screen. It was kind of like a club, but bowling instead of dancing, and family members instead of drunken idiots. The first game, only one of us broke 100 (way to go Adam), and some of barely broke 50 (keep practicing Stephen). The second game we decide to make team and place a bet on the table. It was Fink, Adam, and I vs. Jeff, Jon, and Stephen. The goal was Fink stay with Stephen, I stay with Jeff, and Adam stays with Jon. Needless to say, we got our ass kicked. And we now owe them a case. Great Job team, I mean we all fell short of our marks. But overall it was great fun and something I hope we do again soon.
The bus ride back it started down pouring again. Right as I got off the bus, my bag ripped open and I dropped my $2.99 bottle of wine. I was actually quite upset because I was intrigued on the taste and quality. It was all you can eat sushi that night, but the horrific downpour kept us from attending. So after a fun rainy afternoon activity, we took it easy on Sunday night and prepared for week 2 classes and what was to come.
"Bond Behind Bars" aka the longest day of my life.
I have heard nothing about good things about Pub Crawl. From the random waitress in South Beach that told me to go, to local Aussies, even the high schoolies that we train for volleyball with all recommend us to go. The second later Pub Crawl sold out within a few hours and by the time we bought our tickets we got on the 2:30 pm pub crawl. The best part about Pub Crawl is that it is sponsored by BUSA which is the equivalent of SGA at SLU. It is the student government and a huge fundraiser for the school. It was going to be 5 bars, tons of people, lots of drinks, drunken idiots, and hopefully no bodily fluids that didn't reach a toilet on anyone's part.
We grabbed lunch at Bond Cafe before the crawl so that we had some substance in our stomach before a long day of drinking ahead. We jumped on the 2nd bus in front of Don's and headed to the first bar Robina Tavern. When we arrive we notice that there are kids playing in the playground outside. This is not normal. So we hurry inside to hide our shame of day-drinking. We were welcomed into the door with a shot of mixed drinks in hopes of us buying the drink at the bar. We walk to the bar and ask for the specials. The bars are super smart and only allow people to buy pre mixed drinks that do not have a very high alcohol content. Libby and I make a rule that I insist on following for the sake of my reputation and my liver. Absolutely no more than 2 bars per bar and a water bottle at each. So I start out the day with a white wine spritzer called West Coast, a surprising choice on my part that will soon become a go to drink of choice. The guys find the greatest thing ever in their minds. MAN-weisers. For a very low cost of $5.50 a stubbie. That is actually one of the cheapest beers/drinks in the bar and to everyone's embarrassment they stand in a single line saying the pledge of allegiance, happy to not only have an American beer (which it isn't anymore mind you) but a St. Louis beer as well. That is when I spot him. PAULY-D from Jersey Shore. ok ok don't get your panties in a bunch it wasn't the real Pauly-D, but it looked IDENTICAL to him. I knew we would be fast friends, when he falls off his chair. I restate that to, IF he makes it far in the crawl, we will become fast friends. That when the prison-guards blow their whistles and we are bused off to the next bar.
We next head to the ever popular CBD as our second stop on pub crawl. I FINALLY get to meet Pauly-D, who to my disappointment, is actually named Shaun, but I refuse to call him anything but Pauly-D all night. He and his friend Wes start talking to us and buy us the next round. They order a round of shots and I say a silent thank-you that the bar won't serve them. It is only 4 and I should not be taking shots. So I stick to my drink of choice and stay with it all night. We here a bunch of commotion coming from the corner of the bar, and just shake our heads when we see all of our friends from SLU playing Zumie Zumie and flip-cup in the the corner of the bar. We have to go join for a least one round. After a few rounds of Zumie Zumie, Libby and I take a lap to meet new people. We find some girls on our floor and chat for a little when Pauly-D comes up to me again. He wants to dance of course. He being a drunken stumbling idiot, and myself laughing at his stupidity. My response? Sorry, I do not know how to dance I was never taught. Granted, for those who do not know me, is quite possibly the largest lie I could ever tell and just a down-right insult. He claims he will teach me, and I again respond, sorry I've tried and it's an impossible task sorry! And silently think to myself this better not be a persistent thing. I excuse myself to go "smoke," even though I refuse to smoke and hate the smell of cigarettes. Luckily the prison guards blow their whistles shortly after as we leave CBD for the next bar. On the way out they hand out stubbie coolers (coozies, so I grab 3 naturally) and a bottle of water and I run onto the buses.
It feels unnatural to arrive at East when the sun hasn't even set yet. But the familiar bar feels right as the music is pumping. Pauly D continues to try and dance with me, and it gets to the point where I see him on one side of the bar and I RUN to the other side in order to avoid him at all cost. The best part of East was when i saw him being escorted out of East for being entirely too intoxicated. My heart fluttered with excitement as I skipped back to my friends and joined in on the festivities. That is when the great thing in the world happened. The Asian foreign exchange students were taking an obscene amount of pictures together. I knew I had to get into this picture and befriend them all. Yes. I know NONE of the people that are in this picture and yes I am newly found friends with every single one of them. I am only disappointed that the crazy American jumped in our picture. (no not me, the only other one). And as the whistles ring, we jump on the bus to the next bar.
The bus ride to Mermaid Beach Bar and Grill was by far the funniest thing ever. We were screaming chants with all of the South American kids. Classic soccer (or futbol I should say.) chants like OLE OLE OLE OLE and then we started the SLU chants. The SLU fight song is rung throughout our bus as we lead everyone is singing the song that get the half full chafeitz arena every basketball game. Then Jeff leads high school football chants that gets everyone together. I didn't even realize when we arrived at the bar for our next stop. As we were waiting to get into the bar I felt a sudden immediate pain on the 4th toe of my right foot. I look down to see a cigarette, face down, on my toe. My precious 4th toe that is the main victim of anything that happens with my feet. I scream at the top of my lungs at the male who dropped it and demand that he buy me a drink to compensate for my pain. It didn't work. He said sorry and ran away. oops! Mermaid was an interesting bar. The upstairs was full of bondies, but the downstairs is a much older male crowd. And the waitress/shot girls were in just racy lacy underwear. As a female, I was uncomfortable. As someone under the age of 35, I was uncomfortable. As a person that doesn't like to be objectified, I was really uncomfortable. We learned quickly to stay upstairs. We were playing games and having fun and I didn't even notice Shauna grabbed my arm. Apparently some people wanted to meet us. That is where I met these guys who shall remain nameless, that turned out to be stage 6 clingers. I am still dealing with that in hopes to break free of the cycle. I was all okay with heading out to the next bar.
Shooters. The Final Bar. They dropped us off in the middle of Surfer's Paradise, and we had to find our way to the bar. After running through the shopping areas and just trying to stay with the people who were dressed like us, we finally found our way. Shooters was a sweet bar and very efficient to be on their VIP list. There was dancing and craziness and around 11/1130 we all got very tired and tried to find the bus back. The bus was in the most bizarre location and it took around 10 minutes to find it's location. Once we did, the bus driver was not present. So Libby and I got behind the driver seat and honked the horn pretending to drive it. After we finally got his attention, we drove back to Bond in a hopes of getting a great night sleep.
It was finally time to rest my liver, body, and most of all my wallet.
We grabbed lunch at Bond Cafe before the crawl so that we had some substance in our stomach before a long day of drinking ahead. We jumped on the 2nd bus in front of Don's and headed to the first bar Robina Tavern. When we arrive we notice that there are kids playing in the playground outside. This is not normal. So we hurry inside to hide our shame of day-drinking. We were welcomed into the door with a shot of mixed drinks in hopes of us buying the drink at the bar. We walk to the bar and ask for the specials. The bars are super smart and only allow people to buy pre mixed drinks that do not have a very high alcohol content. Libby and I make a rule that I insist on following for the sake of my reputation and my liver. Absolutely no more than 2 bars per bar and a water bottle at each. So I start out the day with a white wine spritzer called West Coast, a surprising choice on my part that will soon become a go to drink of choice. The guys find the greatest thing ever in their minds. MAN-weisers. For a very low cost of $5.50 a stubbie. That is actually one of the cheapest beers/drinks in the bar and to everyone's embarrassment they stand in a single line saying the pledge of allegiance, happy to not only have an American beer (which it isn't anymore mind you) but a St. Louis beer as well. That is when I spot him. PAULY-D from Jersey Shore. ok ok don't get your panties in a bunch it wasn't the real Pauly-D, but it looked IDENTICAL to him. I knew we would be fast friends, when he falls off his chair. I restate that to, IF he makes it far in the crawl, we will become fast friends. That when the prison-guards blow their whistles and we are bused off to the next bar.
We next head to the ever popular CBD as our second stop on pub crawl. I FINALLY get to meet Pauly-D, who to my disappointment, is actually named Shaun, but I refuse to call him anything but Pauly-D all night. He and his friend Wes start talking to us and buy us the next round. They order a round of shots and I say a silent thank-you that the bar won't serve them. It is only 4 and I should not be taking shots. So I stick to my drink of choice and stay with it all night. We here a bunch of commotion coming from the corner of the bar, and just shake our heads when we see all of our friends from SLU playing Zumie Zumie and flip-cup in the the corner of the bar. We have to go join for a least one round. After a few rounds of Zumie Zumie, Libby and I take a lap to meet new people. We find some girls on our floor and chat for a little when Pauly-D comes up to me again. He wants to dance of course. He being a drunken stumbling idiot, and myself laughing at his stupidity. My response? Sorry, I do not know how to dance I was never taught. Granted, for those who do not know me, is quite possibly the largest lie I could ever tell and just a down-right insult. He claims he will teach me, and I again respond, sorry I've tried and it's an impossible task sorry! And silently think to myself this better not be a persistent thing. I excuse myself to go "smoke," even though I refuse to smoke and hate the smell of cigarettes. Luckily the prison guards blow their whistles shortly after as we leave CBD for the next bar. On the way out they hand out stubbie coolers (coozies, so I grab 3 naturally) and a bottle of water and I run onto the buses.
The bus ride to Mermaid Beach Bar and Grill was by far the funniest thing ever. We were screaming chants with all of the South American kids. Classic soccer (or futbol I should say.) chants like OLE OLE OLE OLE and then we started the SLU chants. The SLU fight song is rung throughout our bus as we lead everyone is singing the song that get the half full chafeitz arena every basketball game. Then Jeff leads high school football chants that gets everyone together. I didn't even realize when we arrived at the bar for our next stop. As we were waiting to get into the bar I felt a sudden immediate pain on the 4th toe of my right foot. I look down to see a cigarette, face down, on my toe. My precious 4th toe that is the main victim of anything that happens with my feet. I scream at the top of my lungs at the male who dropped it and demand that he buy me a drink to compensate for my pain. It didn't work. He said sorry and ran away. oops! Mermaid was an interesting bar. The upstairs was full of bondies, but the downstairs is a much older male crowd. And the waitress/shot girls were in just racy lacy underwear. As a female, I was uncomfortable. As someone under the age of 35, I was uncomfortable. As a person that doesn't like to be objectified, I was really uncomfortable. We learned quickly to stay upstairs. We were playing games and having fun and I didn't even notice Shauna grabbed my arm. Apparently some people wanted to meet us. That is where I met these guys who shall remain nameless, that turned out to be stage 6 clingers. I am still dealing with that in hopes to break free of the cycle. I was all okay with heading out to the next bar.
Shooters. The Final Bar. They dropped us off in the middle of Surfer's Paradise, and we had to find our way to the bar. After running through the shopping areas and just trying to stay with the people who were dressed like us, we finally found our way. Shooters was a sweet bar and very efficient to be on their VIP list. There was dancing and craziness and around 11/1130 we all got very tired and tried to find the bus back. The bus was in the most bizarre location and it took around 10 minutes to find it's location. Once we did, the bus driver was not present. So Libby and I got behind the driver seat and honked the horn pretending to drive it. After we finally got his attention, we drove back to Bond in a hopes of getting a great night sleep.
It was finally time to rest my liver, body, and most of all my wallet.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The parties NEVER stop.
Day: Tuesday
Time: After volleyball
Things to do: Apparently go out.
We bought tickets to "Illegally Bond." A party for the law school students to raise money and fundraise. I could think of no better way to raise money than throw a huge party and sell tickets to kids on campus. All I know is that this would never happen on SLU campus. It is almost taboo to drink (from the viewpoint of the Law School or SGA) let alone have these organizations selling tickets to their parties. Then again that is probably why America has huge underage drinking problem. The more taboo it is, the more kids want to feel included and participate. Anyways... off my soap and back to the party.
The buses were suppose to leave around quarter to 8 for the law party, and of course none of us were ready. The guy were not back from class yet, and I hadn't even jumped in the shower yet. Around 8:15 we decided we didn't want to go and sold all of our tickets to people who were dying to go and be apart of this "illegal" fun. I think it took us all of 5 minutes to sell at least 5 tickets, and we even got all of our money back so it was beneficial for us too! So we stayed in the dorms playing games until it was a more appropriate time to go to CBD's. We even met some new friends tonight! Mallory and Mackenzie heard us playing games and came to join us. And while playing Zumie Zumie, our new friend name Greek heard us playing down the hall and came running to join. Apparently she love this game and was so excited that others knew how to play, she threw away the insecurities of a room with absolutely no one she knew, and joined us immediately. We left for CBD with some pit stops for pictures in front of the fountain that turned out all of us mid-laugh, and quite humorous.
CBD was really fun that night. We got a few tables and were talking and laughing all night long. That is when I noticed it. Stephen walking around outside, by himself, aimlessly, looking way more confused than he should have. I notice this from the table and run outside immediately in my brand new black strappy heels that were not meant for running. He had been asked to leave CBD (well not allowed in would be a better description) and was trying to go home. I open the back door and told him I would meet him inside anyways. Around 20 minutes later, I see the security guard talking to Stephen and he was being escorted out of the door. "Time to go home early I guess," is my first thought. I accompany Stephen back to the AC and start getting ready for bed myself. Then Libby calls me saying come back and it is really fun and I will be missing out if I go to bed now. Knowing very well that I hate to miss out, I make a quick phone call to Kevin to walk me back to the bar since it is around 300 meters away from campus.
When it CBD was closing, we all started to walk back. Kiley grabbed my hand and was like let's take this taxi back Marisa! Thinking to myself, 1. I am lazy. 2. I do not have to pay. 3. Quicker to campus. All signs point to yes of a taxi (even if it was only 300 meters) and I told the others I would meet them at campus and quite literally jumped into the taxi. As I am getting to know my cab-mates, I see the beautiful Bond Uni whiz by me in the taxi. Now really confused where we are going I finally ask my new friends. "Surfer's Paradise Naturally." Oh naturally, was my first thought too. So off to Melba's with Kiley and our new cab-mates, Brennan and shaggy-dog boy.
Melba's was surprisingly fun, even though I didn't want to be there. There were a ton of Bondies there, so it felt like I was there with a ton of people, even though I only went with Kiley. After taking a few laps and meeting some people I feel like I have seen 123093742458x but never met, I was so ready to go home and go to bed. I still had class at nine am, and the time was slowly reaching 2 am. After trying to find Kiley and others, we finally grabbed a taxi back and I finally was able to rest my eyes and get some shut-eye before my nine am.
Thursday night after an intense volleyball day, Libby and I run and get our Don wristbands before the long line so we do not need to wait in line when 10 o'clock rolled around. We get ready to go and the guys get very antsy waiting impatiently for us. We head to Don's where there are too many people as usual as we try and snag a table. There is a man that has to be AT LEAST 45. We quickly name him the professor and as strolls over to talk to us. He claims to be 28 and has to be the most awkward person I have ever met. Pulling the dancing by himself, trying to talk, and look cool all at once moment, I feel uncomfortable in his presence. Slowly we excuse ourselves and head outside to the guys.
While outside we spot from a distance Allie's friend, crazy Aussie from East. He is the one that tried to get his driver to drive us home instead of waiting for the bus like everyone else. Allie is mortified he is there as we all die with laughter as he strolls up to her to try and talk again. It was hilarious to watch and even better that we were snapping pictures as all of this was occurring.
On the other side of things the guys decided to make up their own frat, Beta Rho Omega Sigma, BROS as they call themselves with the symbol of hang loose. I didn't want to be the one to tell them a Rho is actually a P and their symbol looks like BPΩΣ. I mean I am not one to judge. It was all in good fun. After Don's a lot of people went to East, but being so exhausted from the intense school week I had, I had to go to bed early and finally get a good night sleep. After all, Pub Crawl was tomorrow and going to a disaster of a day starting well before 2:30 pm.
Time: After volleyball
Things to do: Apparently go out.
We bought tickets to "Illegally Bond." A party for the law school students to raise money and fundraise. I could think of no better way to raise money than throw a huge party and sell tickets to kids on campus. All I know is that this would never happen on SLU campus. It is almost taboo to drink (from the viewpoint of the Law School or SGA) let alone have these organizations selling tickets to their parties. Then again that is probably why America has huge underage drinking problem. The more taboo it is, the more kids want to feel included and participate. Anyways... off my soap and back to the party.
CBD was really fun that night. We got a few tables and were talking and laughing all night long. That is when I noticed it. Stephen walking around outside, by himself, aimlessly, looking way more confused than he should have. I notice this from the table and run outside immediately in my brand new black strappy heels that were not meant for running. He had been asked to leave CBD (well not allowed in would be a better description) and was trying to go home. I open the back door and told him I would meet him inside anyways. Around 20 minutes later, I see the security guard talking to Stephen and he was being escorted out of the door. "Time to go home early I guess," is my first thought. I accompany Stephen back to the AC and start getting ready for bed myself. Then Libby calls me saying come back and it is really fun and I will be missing out if I go to bed now. Knowing very well that I hate to miss out, I make a quick phone call to Kevin to walk me back to the bar since it is around 300 meters away from campus.
When it CBD was closing, we all started to walk back. Kiley grabbed my hand and was like let's take this taxi back Marisa! Thinking to myself, 1. I am lazy. 2. I do not have to pay. 3. Quicker to campus. All signs point to yes of a taxi (even if it was only 300 meters) and I told the others I would meet them at campus and quite literally jumped into the taxi. As I am getting to know my cab-mates, I see the beautiful Bond Uni whiz by me in the taxi. Now really confused where we are going I finally ask my new friends. "Surfer's Paradise Naturally." Oh naturally, was my first thought too. So off to Melba's with Kiley and our new cab-mates, Brennan and shaggy-dog boy.
Melba's was surprisingly fun, even though I didn't want to be there. There were a ton of Bondies there, so it felt like I was there with a ton of people, even though I only went with Kiley. After taking a few laps and meeting some people I feel like I have seen 123093742458x but never met, I was so ready to go home and go to bed. I still had class at nine am, and the time was slowly reaching 2 am. After trying to find Kiley and others, we finally grabbed a taxi back and I finally was able to rest my eyes and get some shut-eye before my nine am.
Thursday night after an intense volleyball day, Libby and I run and get our Don wristbands before the long line so we do not need to wait in line when 10 o'clock rolled around. We get ready to go and the guys get very antsy waiting impatiently for us. We head to Don's where there are too many people as usual as we try and snag a table. There is a man that has to be AT LEAST 45. We quickly name him the professor and as strolls over to talk to us. He claims to be 28 and has to be the most awkward person I have ever met. Pulling the dancing by himself, trying to talk, and look cool all at once moment, I feel uncomfortable in his presence. Slowly we excuse ourselves and head outside to the guys.
While outside we spot from a distance Allie's friend, crazy Aussie from East. He is the one that tried to get his driver to drive us home instead of waiting for the bus like everyone else. Allie is mortified he is there as we all die with laughter as he strolls up to her to try and talk again. It was hilarious to watch and even better that we were snapping pictures as all of this was occurring.
On the other side of things the guys decided to make up their own frat, Beta Rho Omega Sigma, BROS as they call themselves with the symbol of hang loose. I didn't want to be the one to tell them a Rho is actually a P and their symbol looks like BPΩΣ. I mean I am not one to judge. It was all in good fun. After Don's a lot of people went to East, but being so exhausted from the intense school week I had, I had to go to bed early and finally get a good night sleep. After all, Pub Crawl was tomorrow and going to a disaster of a day starting well before 2:30 pm.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wait, I actually have to attend classes here?!
Since it was the first day of school, I wake up the most excited I will be all semester to go to class. I shower beforehand and even wear cute clothes to class. I give this mentality one week before I start wearing leggings and v-necks everyday of my life again.
My first class was 8 am Monday morning. Great Narrative Literature. Surprisingly, Libby and I find our classroom relatively easy. Our teacher is an Feminist Atheist and she revolves her class around the Bible. Yes that is correct. A Feminist Atheist who teaches a literature class that takes modern day works and relates them to the Bible. She does not want us to look at the Bible for a theological stand point, but simply as a piece of literature that happens to shape our societies as a whole. The class as a whole should be easy. Write a paper on a book, do a presentation on another, and read the excerpts from each section so we can discuss and find the relationships between them. But as someone who has gone to catholic school my entire life (Actually Bond University is the first school I have gone to that is not Roman Catholic affiliated. But is is private.) I do not know if I can look at the subject objectively. Luckily, I am a good student that does what the teacher asks of me. The only bad part about the class is that it is a TWO HOUR lecture and at 8 am I hope my eyes can stay open long enough to actually learn something.
My 10 am photography is going to be a lot of fun. I am actually extremely interested in the subject and I really hope to become good at it, at least learn something. There is only problem. I know NOTHING about my camera. I cannot focus it, I cannot turn the flash on, and I certainly do not know how make things look artistic. And you can forget about self-timer, especially if I want it to take multiple pictures at once. Our first assignment is to take self-portraits of ourselves. 5 different poses/pictures but 10 pictures printed to bring to class. This is definitely going to be a lot of work for me. Luckily, Libby Kiley and a bunch of other sluzers (people that go to Saint Louis University) are in it with me! Our professor is a twenty-something year old and looks like someone we can party with more than have an intelligent conversation about cameras and lens sizes with. I am looking forward to it and pictures to come from my "works of art." My favorite from this week is shown here. I legitimately took this myself and is a spontaneous laugh!
On Tuesday at 8 am I have my abnormal psychology class. Otherwise known as Psychopathology to us in Australia. It seems really similar to the American class abnormal psychology and I am hoping around the same time commitment. I love psychology and it is a class that I can actually pay attention in and stay focused throughout the whole two hours. Nothing like learning about the abnormal to justify my craziness as normal. Otherwise I am just as much of a lunatic as I really thought I am! Our professor is a stereotypical professor. An older female that is way too intelligent for her own being. Just my kind of professor.
My favorite class by far this semester is Sex, Society, and the Movies. This class is not for the immature. In fact you have to be 18 years or older in order to even be enrolled in the class. This is going to be a problem for me and Stephen, who is taking it with me. We literally learn about sex and how it is portrayed in films throughout society and how it is changed. We have a two hour lecture, a one hour tutorial, and a 2 and a half hour av screening where we watch the movies. The movies included this semester are: Fight Club, Brokeback Mountain, Eyes Wide Shut, Crash, and my personal favorite Inside Deep Throat. YES THAT IS CORRECT. Inside Deep Throat. A pornographic movie that we are still debating if it is homosexual or heterosexual. Apparently it is legal, and even encouraged to watch movies like this for class in Australia. It shows how porn has changed the sexual ways of film and we need to witness it first hand to understand. Having never seen a porn movie completely before (vomit is emerging from my throat around 30 seconds of being turned on), I can only imagine it will be full of giggle and laughing fits, disgusted faces, and utterly complete embarrassment. Especially since it is a co-ed class and I know a bunch of new male friends in it. I can seriously only imagine what the semester will bring. Our professor is hilarious. First off, she has no idea what she is talking about. She reads everything word for word off of the paper in front of her. She has no idea how to work any piece of technology. Honestly she is worse than my mom with computers (Sorry mom! you know it is true though!) Then, when it came time for our tutorials, it was a complete disaster. She gets side tracked every five minutes and does not understand easy concepts. With 14 people in our tutorial, and groups of two to present, that leaves 7 groups. With 11 movies and 7 groups there are going to be some movies that do not have a group. She quite literally could not grasp the concept that there were less people that movies and demanded that every movie had two people. What should have taken 5 minutes to decide ended up taking 45-50 minutes. If every tutorial is like that, I will have to slowly rip out my hair in order to prevent from strangling her.
Four classes that is it! At two hours per lecture, we only have class once a week. To fulfill the third hour time slot, we have tutorials. Tuts (pronounce toots!) are like labs that break down our lectures and give us more one-on-one time with our professors to ask questions and have little activities. I personally do not like toots (I am sorry I have to spell it like this.) I prefer big lecture classes that requires little participation on my part and even less group activities and projects. Busy work irks me in the wrong way. I prefer the one test a month and quiz me on what I can study for the week before. That is why I started a loving relationship with note cards beginning of freshman year that I am not ready to give up. But at $3.95 a pack of note cards, my relationship will have to be on a little hiatus which means "hasta la bye bye" to my note card holder (ok that is a lie, I'll end up buying the note cards anyways. I love that thing too much and got a new one thanks to K Willie D)
So to sum it up, my semester educational-wise is going to be a real challenge. I actually do not know if I will physically make it. I may have to drop a class or two. It is even worse because I have at least one person from SLU in every one of my classes. Libby alone is in 3 out of 4 classes, and Stephen is in the other. These classes are going to be more of an social hour than classes. Seriously, the only problem is what does my grade transfer back to the states as. They have a differently mentality here and I need to start thinking like it instead of the American way. In America, we start out at 100% and lose points for everything we do wrong. Here, you start out with 0% and gain points for everything you do correct. It is almost impossible to get a 90% or above. Rough translations are 85% and up is High Distinction which is a A+. 75% is Distinction or an A. 65% is a Credit or a B. 50% is Passing or a C. and Anything below a 50% is Failing or an F. This is of course according to our photography professor. And of course, knowing me, I will cry if I get anything below a High Distinction, or even that because it is not what I would normally get in America.
Even though I will try my best. So much for perfection.
My first class was 8 am Monday morning. Great Narrative Literature. Surprisingly, Libby and I find our classroom relatively easy. Our teacher is an Feminist Atheist and she revolves her class around the Bible. Yes that is correct. A Feminist Atheist who teaches a literature class that takes modern day works and relates them to the Bible. She does not want us to look at the Bible for a theological stand point, but simply as a piece of literature that happens to shape our societies as a whole. The class as a whole should be easy. Write a paper on a book, do a presentation on another, and read the excerpts from each section so we can discuss and find the relationships between them. But as someone who has gone to catholic school my entire life (Actually Bond University is the first school I have gone to that is not Roman Catholic affiliated. But is is private.) I do not know if I can look at the subject objectively. Luckily, I am a good student that does what the teacher asks of me. The only bad part about the class is that it is a TWO HOUR lecture and at 8 am I hope my eyes can stay open long enough to actually learn something.
My 10 am photography is going to be a lot of fun. I am actually extremely interested in the subject and I really hope to become good at it, at least learn something. There is only problem. I know NOTHING about my camera. I cannot focus it, I cannot turn the flash on, and I certainly do not know how make things look artistic. And you can forget about self-timer, especially if I want it to take multiple pictures at once. Our first assignment is to take self-portraits of ourselves. 5 different poses/pictures but 10 pictures printed to bring to class. This is definitely going to be a lot of work for me. Luckily, Libby Kiley and a bunch of other sluzers (people that go to Saint Louis University) are in it with me! Our professor is a twenty-something year old and looks like someone we can party with more than have an intelligent conversation about cameras and lens sizes with. I am looking forward to it and pictures to come from my "works of art." My favorite from this week is shown here. I legitimately took this myself and is a spontaneous laugh! On Tuesday at 8 am I have my abnormal psychology class. Otherwise known as Psychopathology to us in Australia. It seems really similar to the American class abnormal psychology and I am hoping around the same time commitment. I love psychology and it is a class that I can actually pay attention in and stay focused throughout the whole two hours. Nothing like learning about the abnormal to justify my craziness as normal. Otherwise I am just as much of a lunatic as I really thought I am! Our professor is a stereotypical professor. An older female that is way too intelligent for her own being. Just my kind of professor.
My favorite class by far this semester is Sex, Society, and the Movies. This class is not for the immature. In fact you have to be 18 years or older in order to even be enrolled in the class. This is going to be a problem for me and Stephen, who is taking it with me. We literally learn about sex and how it is portrayed in films throughout society and how it is changed. We have a two hour lecture, a one hour tutorial, and a 2 and a half hour av screening where we watch the movies. The movies included this semester are: Fight Club, Brokeback Mountain, Eyes Wide Shut, Crash, and my personal favorite Inside Deep Throat. YES THAT IS CORRECT. Inside Deep Throat. A pornographic movie that we are still debating if it is homosexual or heterosexual. Apparently it is legal, and even encouraged to watch movies like this for class in Australia. It shows how porn has changed the sexual ways of film and we need to witness it first hand to understand. Having never seen a porn movie completely before (vomit is emerging from my throat around 30 seconds of being turned on), I can only imagine it will be full of giggle and laughing fits, disgusted faces, and utterly complete embarrassment. Especially since it is a co-ed class and I know a bunch of new male friends in it. I can seriously only imagine what the semester will bring. Our professor is hilarious. First off, she has no idea what she is talking about. She reads everything word for word off of the paper in front of her. She has no idea how to work any piece of technology. Honestly she is worse than my mom with computers (Sorry mom! you know it is true though!) Then, when it came time for our tutorials, it was a complete disaster. She gets side tracked every five minutes and does not understand easy concepts. With 14 people in our tutorial, and groups of two to present, that leaves 7 groups. With 11 movies and 7 groups there are going to be some movies that do not have a group. She quite literally could not grasp the concept that there were less people that movies and demanded that every movie had two people. What should have taken 5 minutes to decide ended up taking 45-50 minutes. If every tutorial is like that, I will have to slowly rip out my hair in order to prevent from strangling her.
Four classes that is it! At two hours per lecture, we only have class once a week. To fulfill the third hour time slot, we have tutorials. Tuts (pronounce toots!) are like labs that break down our lectures and give us more one-on-one time with our professors to ask questions and have little activities. I personally do not like toots (I am sorry I have to spell it like this.) I prefer big lecture classes that requires little participation on my part and even less group activities and projects. Busy work irks me in the wrong way. I prefer the one test a month and quiz me on what I can study for the week before. That is why I started a loving relationship with note cards beginning of freshman year that I am not ready to give up. But at $3.95 a pack of note cards, my relationship will have to be on a little hiatus which means "hasta la bye bye" to my note card holder (ok that is a lie, I'll end up buying the note cards anyways. I love that thing too much and got a new one thanks to K Willie D)
So to sum it up, my semester educational-wise is going to be a real challenge. I actually do not know if I will physically make it. I may have to drop a class or two. It is even worse because I have at least one person from SLU in every one of my classes. Libby alone is in 3 out of 4 classes, and Stephen is in the other. These classes are going to be more of an social hour than classes. Seriously, the only problem is what does my grade transfer back to the states as. They have a differently mentality here and I need to start thinking like it instead of the American way. In America, we start out at 100% and lose points for everything we do wrong. Here, you start out with 0% and gain points for everything you do correct. It is almost impossible to get a 90% or above. Rough translations are 85% and up is High Distinction which is a A+. 75% is Distinction or an A. 65% is a Credit or a B. 50% is Passing or a C. and Anything below a 50% is Failing or an F. This is of course according to our photography professor. And of course, knowing me, I will cry if I get anything below a High Distinction, or even that because it is not what I would normally get in America.
Even though I will try my best. So much for perfection.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sure, I'll call myself a surfer.
We gathered the troops and our surfboards and walked to the beach. We spent the rest of the day attempting to surf. I stood up successfully on the board once! I knelt successfully on the board twice and literally sat on the board "surfing" the rest of the time. I was probably extremely bad but we were having fun and that is all that matter. The guys were way better. Some got up often, others preferred to lay on the board and sway with the waves. Either way, we were having a blast. The waves peaked at like a foot and a half but it didn't us. We even met a local male who was trying to help us surf. He was giving us tip after tip, but we were all still struggling. We are going to blame it on the lack of "swells," but in reality it is probably our lack of ability. After my lips started turning blue and the water started feeling like it was what the Titanic sunk in, I decided to call it a day. My body was starting to hate me for all the physical activity I was making it endure.
A quick nap on the beach with my surf board proved effective. The guys went surfing again and someone of decided to go exploring Mooloolaba. It is an adorable beach town with cute restaurants and shops surrounding the beach front. I even found an awesome vegan restaurant to buy a veggie and wild rice burger! (ok ok I was excited!) And then we found a sushi place for $2.50 a roll! We were so excited at that prospect that we immediately ordered rolls for all of us. Adam even experienced his first encounter with sushi and I hope it is a relationship he continues to pursue. It was then when we were about to leave that we decided to take a bunch of beautiful pictures on the rocks and scenery of Mooloolaba. We looked like the biggest tourist anyone could look like, and the best part is that we didn't care. Then I remembered that my camera could be completely submerged in water without being injured. I started trying to take pictures of the scenery underneath the water that no one really get to see. I was surprisingly happy how that turned out.
Sea FM Sunshine Coast Half Marathon
5:00 am- My alarm goes off. I have everything laid out so getting ready was a pretty easy part of the morning. I doubled, no triple checked I knew where I was going. La Bulsa Park, La Bulsa Park, La Bulsa Park. I repeated to myself over and over and I ran out the door of the hostel trying to be quiet and trying to find a taxi. I walked to the McDonald's on the corner looking for a taxi. I waited for like 3 minutes before I became impatient and called for one. Right after I hung up with the taxi cab company, I flagged down a taxi. Earl was his name and he was just finishing his shift. I begged for him to take me to La Bulsa Park. He reluctantly agreed and said it would be around $15 dollars. I informed him I had a credit card and $7.50 take his pick. His credit card machine was broken so $7.50 would do. (I will use this technique more often and haggle with taxi cabs since they clearly increase the prices.) Earl and I became fast friends as I told him about my life and the half marathon. He reciprocated and told me about his wife, 2 kids, and their life here in Mooloolaba. What seemed like an eternity later, we arrived at the park.
5:45 am- I walk up to the registration table and told them my name. They had no record for a Marisa Giangrasso to run today. But I named dropped the people I talked to prior to leaving for the Sunshine Coast and they let me re-register and run. I got my running bib pinned into place, my timer strapped around my ankle, my heart rate down to normal again, and started warming up. There were people everywhere and of all ages. Some look like really experienced runners and intimidation started to set in. I realized that people had different color bibs on and asked why. Apparently the course is not that wide and to prevent traffic jams and give us the best time allowed. I was in the dark blue group which was the 3rd out of 5 waves. Even though I have never ran a half before, I so desperately wanted to be in the 1st wave. The competitiveness within me was already showing and I was just stretching. The first two waves start with no problems and I really concentrate on slowing my breathing down before I begin. I won't get very far if I start already out of breath.
6:10 am- The 3rd waves gun go off as I push start on my watch and iPod. "Here goes nothing," I say to myself. I start running and pretty soon my mind wanders. Perfect, just what I want so I do not start counting miles as marks on my soon to be grave. It is then I notice the scenery. We are running next to the beach, around a harbor to begin with. There are huge yachts, kayaks, and sailboats all over this harbor. I want to stop and take a picture but that would defeat the purpose of running a half marathon. Then as we round the first turn, my breath is taken away. There is open ocean, beaches, and mountains in the background. This is by far the most beautiful run I have ever been on and it really occurs to me then that I am in Australia, running for fun, at six in the morning. There is no description of how beautiful this place is as I am watching the sun rise over the ocean. I take a deep breath and run a little faster. Once I got over the shock of the beauty of this place I start paying attention to my running and find myself a pacer. Around my 4th pacer, I am finally into stride. My first pacer was a midget around the age of 25, but she didn't last long. My second pacer looked like the girl in dodgeball that took the beaver tranquilizer. I thought she would be perfect for me but her boyfriend who she was running with was slowing me down. My third pacer was a very broad shoulder lady who I thought was around 25 years old, when I passed her though, she was really like 40. My final pacer to the end was a mom around 45 who is in a running league. She ended up being perfect pace and kept me motivated to keep going. The first 10k was normal, I was feeling fine and felt like I could run forever. Around the 18 kilometer (out of 21.2 for those on the American mileage) is when things started becoming a challenge. This was around the max I had run up until this point and I was starting to get tired. At the first moment I really wanted to stop, Dirty Diane came on my iPod. I have become recently obsessed with this song and helped me stay motivated. Then, around the 20th kilometer, I felt dead. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Then, Dream On by Aerosmith came on. It is my favorite song of all time, and a song that motivates my mother. I started thinking, if my mom can get the motivation to run to this song, I can run one more kilometer and finish this race.
6:53 am- I crossed the finish line. :D 1 hour and 53 minutes after the gun. Quickly calculating the pace to around 8:40 a mile is a huge accomplishment for me.
7:05 am- I go to first aid for my knees. Preventative of course. Australian do not understand the concept of preventative treatment and continuously ask questions that I answer to the best of my ability.
7:20 am- I try to find a taxi back. I take the shuttle back to the mall where we were suppose to park our cars in attempt to find civilization and a taxi back to Mooloolaba. There is NO ONE around. I walk to the nearest McDonald's and go up to the nicest looking person I can find. I ask to use her mobile in order to call a taxi and she is immediately confused. Why was I at a McDonald's at 8 in the morning looking for a taxi no where near my actual destination and walking? A brief explanation clears up the confusion. She calls me a taxi and I wait like a homeless person outside. My taxi pulls up and is the nicest man to be driving a taxi at 8:15 am. He asked me about the race and how well I did, and I apologized for the smell that was most likely being emitted from my body. After what seemed like the longest car ride (there was absolutely no way I could walk back, which I contemplated), things started looking familiar.
8:25 am- I arrive back at the hostel and immediately begin banging on everyone's door to wake them up and go surfing. At this moment exhaustion starts to set in but I ignore it, shower, and gather the troops to get our surfboards and hit the beach as soon as humanly possible.
5:45 am- I walk up to the registration table and told them my name. They had no record for a Marisa Giangrasso to run today. But I named dropped the people I talked to prior to leaving for the Sunshine Coast and they let me re-register and run. I got my running bib pinned into place, my timer strapped around my ankle, my heart rate down to normal again, and started warming up. There were people everywhere and of all ages. Some look like really experienced runners and intimidation started to set in. I realized that people had different color bibs on and asked why. Apparently the course is not that wide and to prevent traffic jams and give us the best time allowed. I was in the dark blue group which was the 3rd out of 5 waves. Even though I have never ran a half before, I so desperately wanted to be in the 1st wave. The competitiveness within me was already showing and I was just stretching. The first two waves start with no problems and I really concentrate on slowing my breathing down before I begin. I won't get very far if I start already out of breath.6:10 am- The 3rd waves gun go off as I push start on my watch and iPod. "Here goes nothing," I say to myself. I start running and pretty soon my mind wanders. Perfect, just what I want so I do not start counting miles as marks on my soon to be grave. It is then I notice the scenery. We are running next to the beach, around a harbor to begin with. There are huge yachts, kayaks, and sailboats all over this harbor. I want to stop and take a picture but that would defeat the purpose of running a half marathon. Then as we round the first turn, my breath is taken away. There is open ocean, beaches, and mountains in the background. This is by far the most beautiful run I have ever been on and it really occurs to me then that I am in Australia, running for fun, at six in the morning. There is no description of how beautiful this place is as I am watching the sun rise over the ocean. I take a deep breath and run a little faster. Once I got over the shock of the beauty of this place I start paying attention to my running and find myself a pacer. Around my 4th pacer, I am finally into stride. My first pacer was a midget around the age of 25, but she didn't last long. My second pacer looked like the girl in dodgeball that took the beaver tranquilizer. I thought she would be perfect for me but her boyfriend who she was running with was slowing me down. My third pacer was a very broad shoulder lady who I thought was around 25 years old, when I passed her though, she was really like 40. My final pacer to the end was a mom around 45 who is in a running league. She ended up being perfect pace and kept me motivated to keep going. The first 10k was normal, I was feeling fine and felt like I could run forever. Around the 18 kilometer (out of 21.2 for those on the American mileage) is when things started becoming a challenge. This was around the max I had run up until this point and I was starting to get tired. At the first moment I really wanted to stop, Dirty Diane came on my iPod. I have become recently obsessed with this song and helped me stay motivated. Then, around the 20th kilometer, I felt dead. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Then, Dream On by Aerosmith came on. It is my favorite song of all time, and a song that motivates my mother. I started thinking, if my mom can get the motivation to run to this song, I can run one more kilometer and finish this race.
6:53 am- I crossed the finish line. :D 1 hour and 53 minutes after the gun. Quickly calculating the pace to around 8:40 a mile is a huge accomplishment for me.
7:05 am- I go to first aid for my knees. Preventative of course. Australian do not understand the concept of preventative treatment and continuously ask questions that I answer to the best of my ability.
7:20 am- I try to find a taxi back. I take the shuttle back to the mall where we were suppose to park our cars in attempt to find civilization and a taxi back to Mooloolaba. There is NO ONE around. I walk to the nearest McDonald's and go up to the nicest looking person I can find. I ask to use her mobile in order to call a taxi and she is immediately confused. Why was I at a McDonald's at 8 in the morning looking for a taxi no where near my actual destination and walking? A brief explanation clears up the confusion. She calls me a taxi and I wait like a homeless person outside. My taxi pulls up and is the nicest man to be driving a taxi at 8:15 am. He asked me about the race and how well I did, and I apologized for the smell that was most likely being emitted from my body. After what seemed like the longest car ride (there was absolutely no way I could walk back, which I contemplated), things started looking familiar.
8:25 am- I arrive back at the hostel and immediately begin banging on everyone's door to wake them up and go surfing. At this moment exhaustion starts to set in but I ignore it, shower, and gather the troops to get our surfboards and hit the beach as soon as humanly possible.
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