Today marks the last day of lectures for the semester. In each of the last classes
we really have gone over what our marks are thus far, what we need on the final
examinations, and what material will be covered-- except for one class where we
have not gotten a single grade back yet (very very frusterating). People have been
celebrating the end of classes this week, and after a paper that was due tuesday, I
have been taking it easier. I felt a little bit under the weather towards the end of the
week, but feel much better now following a lot of sleep.
Today we are going to a very popular beach north of Perth- Scarborough- for the day following class, as we wait to head out tonight. We have a week off to recharge our batteries before
finals start, and we are going to travel during it. It will be a group of four, consisiting
of myself, kevin from ND, Keaton from ND, and Nicole from Sacred Heart. We leave tonight around 11pm, and our traveling is as follows:
Saturday- middle of Monday--> Adelaide, South Australia
Mid Monday through late afternoon tuesday--> Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Tuesday through early friday morning --> Melbourne, Victoria
Friday--> Hobart, Tasmania
Early saturday morning--> back in Perth
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Etc.
Last week was a rough one for sleep. I had to finish my economics essay, which took me a long time. It seems like sometimes in this blog there is this impression that it is all fun and games down here, and we certainly do have a good time, but we are still in school and have work accordingly.
I have never written a paper as long as the one that took over my life last week. It was 26 pages, 6,402 words and had 72 different sources. I am not sure what the longest paper I have ever written up that point was, but I believe it was at least a third shorter. It was an analysis of how the Austrian School of Economics Business Cycle Theory was the underpinnings of the macroeconomic theory of the Skyscraper Index. It probably took me about 40 hours over the course of last week-- which was accounted for with many hours up until 4 or 5 am. I am glad to get that out of the way. I have one big essay left for this week that will be cranked out over the next two days on the evironmental sustainability policies of the Vatican City state and their whole systems outlook towards climate change. Later in the week I will finish my final asignment, which is a short paper.
Friday night we went to a bar in Perth called Mustangs. It is an American themed bar, and serves a handful of American beers (sam adams, bud, and a couple others). It brought a tear to my eye when we went in though, because they have ESPN on the tvs, and I watched Sportscenter for awhile as the band was playing. Later in the evening, a baseball game was starting and I got to watch that as well. It is the first time that I have seen ESPN or baseball action since I have been here -- the longest such stretch in my life most likely.
Saturday a friend from O'Neill Hall back at ND came to visit. He just graduated, so he was able to tell me more about the conflict revolving around NDs recent graduation preceedings. He is spending a year in Australia to play minor league Aussie Rules Football for a team down south (by Albany where we visited a month ago). It was good to hang out with him and catch up on all things ND over the last semester.
It is also Peppy's 21st b-day today, so we went out to celebrate last night, and will do something cool today for the holiday.
My morning ritual is always to wake up and lay in bed while pulling up the internet and checking on any new news from ESPN. Lately this has been nice because the Tigers are winning and it is always a good way to start my day by watching their highlights. Rick Porcello, Detroits rookie pitcher, is 20 years old and the guy who lives next to me went to high school with him and knows him from there. It is weird for him when I start talking about how pumped I am for Porcello to grab another win, and he was a year older than him and saw him in the halls at school.
It started to get colder here for the first time this week. It rained three of the days, and coming off the ocean, the rain was rather intense. Lets hope that it gets a little warmer this week and stays dry, before we head out east for our next trip.
I have never written a paper as long as the one that took over my life last week. It was 26 pages, 6,402 words and had 72 different sources. I am not sure what the longest paper I have ever written up that point was, but I believe it was at least a third shorter. It was an analysis of how the Austrian School of Economics Business Cycle Theory was the underpinnings of the macroeconomic theory of the Skyscraper Index. It probably took me about 40 hours over the course of last week-- which was accounted for with many hours up until 4 or 5 am. I am glad to get that out of the way. I have one big essay left for this week that will be cranked out over the next two days on the evironmental sustainability policies of the Vatican City state and their whole systems outlook towards climate change. Later in the week I will finish my final asignment, which is a short paper.
Friday night we went to a bar in Perth called Mustangs. It is an American themed bar, and serves a handful of American beers (sam adams, bud, and a couple others). It brought a tear to my eye when we went in though, because they have ESPN on the tvs, and I watched Sportscenter for awhile as the band was playing. Later in the evening, a baseball game was starting and I got to watch that as well. It is the first time that I have seen ESPN or baseball action since I have been here -- the longest such stretch in my life most likely.
Saturday a friend from O'Neill Hall back at ND came to visit. He just graduated, so he was able to tell me more about the conflict revolving around NDs recent graduation preceedings. He is spending a year in Australia to play minor league Aussie Rules Football for a team down south (by Albany where we visited a month ago). It was good to hang out with him and catch up on all things ND over the last semester.
It is also Peppy's 21st b-day today, so we went out to celebrate last night, and will do something cool today for the holiday.
My morning ritual is always to wake up and lay in bed while pulling up the internet and checking on any new news from ESPN. Lately this has been nice because the Tigers are winning and it is always a good way to start my day by watching their highlights. Rick Porcello, Detroits rookie pitcher, is 20 years old and the guy who lives next to me went to high school with him and knows him from there. It is weird for him when I start talking about how pumped I am for Porcello to grab another win, and he was a year older than him and saw him in the halls at school.
It started to get colder here for the first time this week. It rained three of the days, and coming off the ocean, the rain was rather intense. Lets hope that it gets a little warmer this week and stays dry, before we head out east for our next trip.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Staying Busy
The last week was a very busy week academically for me. I had to turn in two projects and gave three presentations. In terms of school work, I still have two major essays and one paper, but that is it until finals. This week will be tough also because of those two major essays that I need to turn in.
One of the presentations that I had to give involved participating in the Model United Nations. I have never anything like that before, so it was a new experience. Kevin and I worked together as a nation, and we chose to represent the Vatican City. This was a good choice. As it turns out, the research for the Vatican was very easy, and it was not very hard to make sure to take their stance on issues when debating in the General Assembly. The Vatican does not get a lot of power in the UN, and therefore we didn't speak or debate very often. The topic was on sustainable engery sources, and a resolution was put forth. As the Vatican, we did put an aditional proposition to the resolution that was actually passed (almost nothing was passed) and did so with 0 No votes (although 3 abstentions). I can now say that I have participated in a Model UN.
Wednesday night, I went with a large group from our dorm through a tour of the Fremantle Prison. It was built during the 1800s and open until 1991. It was supposed to be a scary tour and is supposedly the third most haunted building in the country. I didn't think it was scary, but it was a nice tour of the prison- not a place you want to end up.
Saturday I actually had a weekend here for the first time in a long time, and I decided to go to the Perth Zoo. It is a very nice zoo and really well done, although not huge. They are very much like Disney with fake rocks and amazing landscaping really hiding the zoo part. Unlike the Potter Park Zoo, which is kinda random in its organistion, this was sepearted into different continent themed areas. The Australian Outback was cool because the kangaroos and wallabees just wander around the paths and can go anywhere and right up to you. I enjoyed the zoo. I also wandered around Perth for awhile and saw most of the things I had not seen. It was a nice day off.
There are many birthdays this weekend, so we went out to celebrate them. Some are turning 21, others 22. A lot of them are packed together, but we have had fun celebrating them.
One of the presentations that I had to give involved participating in the Model United Nations. I have never anything like that before, so it was a new experience. Kevin and I worked together as a nation, and we chose to represent the Vatican City. This was a good choice. As it turns out, the research for the Vatican was very easy, and it was not very hard to make sure to take their stance on issues when debating in the General Assembly. The Vatican does not get a lot of power in the UN, and therefore we didn't speak or debate very often. The topic was on sustainable engery sources, and a resolution was put forth. As the Vatican, we did put an aditional proposition to the resolution that was actually passed (almost nothing was passed) and did so with 0 No votes (although 3 abstentions). I can now say that I have participated in a Model UN.
Wednesday night, I went with a large group from our dorm through a tour of the Fremantle Prison. It was built during the 1800s and open until 1991. It was supposed to be a scary tour and is supposedly the third most haunted building in the country. I didn't think it was scary, but it was a nice tour of the prison- not a place you want to end up.
Saturday I actually had a weekend here for the first time in a long time, and I decided to go to the Perth Zoo. It is a very nice zoo and really well done, although not huge. They are very much like Disney with fake rocks and amazing landscaping really hiding the zoo part. Unlike the Potter Park Zoo, which is kinda random in its organistion, this was sepearted into different continent themed areas. The Australian Outback was cool because the kangaroos and wallabees just wander around the paths and can go anywhere and right up to you. I enjoyed the zoo. I also wandered around Perth for awhile and saw most of the things I had not seen. It was a nice day off.
There are many birthdays this weekend, so we went out to celebrate them. Some are turning 21, others 22. A lot of them are packed together, but we have had fun celebrating them.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Surf Camp
This past weekend myself and three girls from our dorm went to an overnight surf camp. We got up at 5 am and took the train into Perth to catch the shuttle to Lancelin, which is a beach community about 1.5 hours north of the city, and well known for its waves.When we met the shuttle we were suprised to be picked up by the quintessential hippy. Hydrogen peroxide dreadlocks, hemp shoulder bag, no shoes, etc.
As soon as we got up to Lancelin, we got wetsuits on and immidiately headed to the beach. There were 13 total students. The beach waas Edward Island Point Beach. This part had relatively low waves and was a good place to start. There were two instructos, and we got onland and in the water instruction. We surfed from about 9 - 11:30 when we had a break for some snacks, and then continued again from 12- 1:30. I could get up on the first day and take waves a little bit, and was the only one of the four of us that could do that.
At 1:30 we headed back to the camp site for some lunch, and relax after a tiring session. We grabbed some food and then took a little nap. Following we sent up our tents, and we decided that all four of us could sleep in a tent designed for two people.
We went to the nearby and popular Lancelin sand dunes. They are off of the water, and they are very large. They are the begining of a desert that stretches to the east. At the dunes we watched large 4x4s trying to get over the hills, and we sandboarded down the dunes (much like snowboarding but with sand). It wasnt too bad and was a lot of fun. There was a full moon and a sunset simultaneously while we were up there and it was very picturesque.
We headed back to camp and had a good dinner and played cards with the other people in camp. Following we went to bed, and realised that four people in that tent may have been a stretch. I had a good nights sleep, but noone else seemed to.
The next daywe got up early and had a light breakfast. It was cool in the morning and took some motivation to get up and into it. We headed to a different beach with much larger waves. We worked with the instructors with much the same schedule as the day before. The waves and the rips were much stronger and you took a pounding, but you could also get a better ride with more 
force behind you. There were a lot of really good surfers out also farther out and we could watch them getting thrown around as well.
force behind you. There were a lot of really good surfers out also farther out and we could watch them getting thrown around as well. It was a lot of fun, and I am really glad that I did it. I might be able to rent a board and work on some beaches around here for some more surfing. It was one of the things that I really wanted to do while I was down here, and really thought it was a good time.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Cinco de Mayo
I thought St. Patrick's Day was bad. I really did - I mean the Australian's barely knew what that was, or celebrated it. I mean there was green beer at some places and some people partying, but as a whole, not many locals - most were visitors.
Well if that was bad, Cinco de Mayo is completely nonexistant. We went to the bar to say "Happy Cinco de Mayo" to people a
nd they had never heard the phrase or the name of the holiday before.
nd they had never heard the phrase or the name of the holiday before. Not that many study abroad students went out, as we have a ton of school work due this week and next, but being that I am friends with three people of Mexican herritage, and one actual Mexican citizen (remember he is the one that didn't initially make it through customs when we entered the country with his Mexican passport), I agreed to go out for one drink.
It was very low -key, hardly anyone out, and was nice. They have Corona here, which is a familiar taste, but they drink it with lemon instead of lime. I have mentioned before how they LOVE lemons here. They do not have limes hardly anywhere, and it takes an upscale bar to even have limes on the premises. My Mexican friends agreed that Corona is not as good with a lemon rather than a lime, but it still was good. I also had some of a Margarita to complete the Mexican 
theme. We couldn't stay long because I had to get back to work, but it was nice to celebrate the Mexican holiday with some Mexicans.
theme. We couldn't stay long because I had to get back to work, but it was nice to celebrate the Mexican holiday with some Mexicans. I put more photo albums up. I know that these are not in chronological order. I know that these are not really edited or screened. I also know these aren't all that I have- and not all of them have me in them because I haven't swapped to get other people's cameras. Finally, I know that these aren't the main ones people want to see (Bangkok, Broome, and Albany). They are, however, a start. And they should take awhile to look at and keep all of you off my back for a little while - just kidding.
Phuket Part 1:
Phuket Part 2 + Kuala Lumpur Malaysia:
Archaeological Dig:
AQWA, King's Park, Professional Football (Aussie Rules Footy) (AFL), and Cottesloe Beach:
Random Perth Photos:
Monday, May 4, 2009
Margaret's River
This past weekend we decided to take a trip to the south to one of the finest wine producing regions in Australia - Margaret's River. They produce about 45% of the premium wines for the country.
We took the bus down after class on Friday, and it took about five hours to get there. Along the way there was a terrible movie, but at least we got to lay back and stretch out our legs. By then it was night and we found our hostel and hung out before heading to bed.
Saturday we got up early and our rental car was delivered to the hostel. We had to drive to drop the guy off, and when we reached his house he asked us if we liked kangaroos. He had about 40 wild kangaroos in his yard-- he said they just came there because they would eat food around his property. The car was a 91 Mazda that was barely big enough for the four of us. All decisions were quickly made about who was going to drive when because we found out that it was a stick shift and I was the only one who could drive a stick (thanks Grandpa for teaching me that one). We could have been in real trouble.
We started our trip by heading north about an hour to Bussleton. It is the home of the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere at over 2km long. We grabbed some brekky (breakfast) and went west to Cape Naturaliste. There is a lighthouse on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and the hill had a wildfire relatively recently. The cape is pretty bare with the exception of the lighthouse, but it has great views of the ocean.
Our next stop was the nearby Ngili Cave. We decided just to see the information centre and museum and keep going because there are many caves in the area. As we continued to head south, we stopped at a couple of wineries. The two notable names were Clairault and Moss Brothers. Clairault was a giant estate and very very nice. They had a nice tasting area and some quality wines. Moss Brothers was much smaller and not as nice, but the wine was great and they were very friendly. They had nicer white wines than Clairault did.
We continued south to Mamouth Cave. We decided to go through it on a tour. It is very large and the formations and colours inside are very impressive. It was a great tour to go on. Not much farther down the road was Cave Works which was a museum about caves with interactive displays, as well as another cave -- Lake Cave. We went up and explored the mouth of the cave and the entrance, but decided not to take the tour in order to allow ourselves enough time to make it to our next destination.
At the southernmost portion of that part of the continent is Cape Leeuwin, just past Augusta. It is home to the tallest lighthouse on the mainland of Australia. We took a tour of it, and the views around the coast and the point were some of the best of my entire time here. The lighthouse is the dividing point between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean (which apparently is now one of the oceans of the world, although I do not remember learning of this one when I was in elementary school). There were other lookouts and sites around the area.
We went to Hamelin Bay Beach to watch the sunset, and the colours were very nice and relaxing. As we headed back towards Margaret's River, we were taking a road through some of the impressive and large forests, when one of the most scary moments of my life took place. Standing in the middle of the road as I came around a corner was the biggest kangaroo I have seen yet. This is very common, much like deer back at home, but this roo was enourmous. It would have totaled our little car at best. Luckily, and with a little help from above, I was able to pick up what I was seeing in the dark quick enough to make a quick evasive move and miss it. As we went along it, it jumped toward the car in panic, but we just made it away with no contact. I feel very lucky that I was driving, as someone who has driven with the idea that deer could be in the road since I got my liscence, and that I was paying attention and picked up the depth in the dusk that quickly. It adds adventure to the story but it took me a little while to calm back down after it happened.
I found driving to be fun after it has been so long since I have been behind the wheel. I didnt find it hard at all to adjust to the other side of the road or the car (with the exception that the turning signal is on the wrong side and the wipers as well - they are flipped). I am glad that I can say that I drove on the left side of the road.
We got back to MR and had a nice dinner before getting a treat and heading back to the room. We had a little bit of a party and bonding time before calling it a night.
The next day we turned the car in and wandered around MR for the day. We went in all of the shops and went to a nice cafe for awhile. We spent some time in the Visitors Centre/ Vineyard Museum, and relaxed enjoying a weekend market. We chilled in the park before catching our bus back to Perth. It was a great weekend and I am glad that we did it the way we did because it was at our own pace and we got to see what we wanted to see.
See photos by clicking on the two albums below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020498&id=1260810014&l=1316723e7c
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020499&id=1260810014&l=9eb97644f1
We took the bus down after class on Friday, and it took about five hours to get there. Along the way there was a terrible movie, but at least we got to lay back and stretch out our legs. By then it was night and we found our hostel and hung out before heading to bed.
Saturday we got up early and our rental car was delivered to the hostel. We had to drive to drop the guy off, and when we reached his house he asked us if we liked kangaroos. He had about 40 wild kangaroos in his yard-- he said they just came there because they would eat food around his property. The car was a 91 Mazda that was barely big enough for the four of us. All decisions were quickly made about who was going to drive when because we found out that it was a stick shift and I was the only one who could drive a stick (thanks Grandpa for teaching me that one). We could have been in real trouble.
We started our trip by heading north about an hour to Bussleton. It is the home of the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere at over 2km long. We grabbed some brekky (breakfast) and went west to Cape Naturaliste. There is a lighthouse on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and the hill had a wildfire relatively recently. The cape is pretty bare with the exception of the lighthouse, but it has great views of the ocean.
Our next stop was the nearby Ngili Cave. We decided just to see the information centre and museum and keep going because there are many caves in the area. As we continued to head south, we stopped at a couple of wineries. The two notable names were Clairault and Moss Brothers. Clairault was a giant estate and very very nice. They had a nice tasting area and some quality wines. Moss Brothers was much smaller and not as nice, but the wine was great and they were very friendly. They had nicer white wines than Clairault did.
We continued south to Mamouth Cave. We decided to go through it on a tour. It is very large and the formations and colours inside are very impressive. It was a great tour to go on. Not much farther down the road was Cave Works which was a museum about caves with interactive displays, as well as another cave -- Lake Cave. We went up and explored the mouth of the cave and the entrance, but decided not to take the tour in order to allow ourselves enough time to make it to our next destination.
At the southernmost portion of that part of the continent is Cape Leeuwin, just past Augusta. It is home to the tallest lighthouse on the mainland of Australia. We took a tour of it, and the views around the coast and the point were some of the best of my entire time here. The lighthouse is the dividing point between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean (which apparently is now one of the oceans of the world, although I do not remember learning of this one when I was in elementary school). There were other lookouts and sites around the area.
We went to Hamelin Bay Beach to watch the sunset, and the colours were very nice and relaxing. As we headed back towards Margaret's River, we were taking a road through some of the impressive and large forests, when one of the most scary moments of my life took place. Standing in the middle of the road as I came around a corner was the biggest kangaroo I have seen yet. This is very common, much like deer back at home, but this roo was enourmous. It would have totaled our little car at best. Luckily, and with a little help from above, I was able to pick up what I was seeing in the dark quick enough to make a quick evasive move and miss it. As we went along it, it jumped toward the car in panic, but we just made it away with no contact. I feel very lucky that I was driving, as someone who has driven with the idea that deer could be in the road since I got my liscence, and that I was paying attention and picked up the depth in the dusk that quickly. It adds adventure to the story but it took me a little while to calm back down after it happened.
I found driving to be fun after it has been so long since I have been behind the wheel. I didnt find it hard at all to adjust to the other side of the road or the car (with the exception that the turning signal is on the wrong side and the wipers as well - they are flipped). I am glad that I can say that I drove on the left side of the road.
We got back to MR and had a nice dinner before getting a treat and heading back to the room. We had a little bit of a party and bonding time before calling it a night.
The next day we turned the car in and wandered around MR for the day. We went in all of the shops and went to a nice cafe for awhile. We spent some time in the Visitors Centre/ Vineyard Museum, and relaxed enjoying a weekend market. We chilled in the park before catching our bus back to Perth. It was a great weekend and I am glad that we did it the way we did because it was at our own pace and we got to see what we wanted to see.
See photos by clicking on the two albums below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020498&id=1260810014&l=1316723e7c
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020499&id=1260810014&l=9eb97644f1
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