This Is Awesome in so Many Ways

Sunday, March 21, 6:40 pm

Today has been a semi-lazy day here in Brisbane, Australia. I could not fall asleep last night to save my life so I am slightly tired this arvo but there is not a whole lot going on so I reckon it is ok. This morning, Casey, Troy, and I got up and went back to the Brisbane Church that meets behind Women’s College, which is one of the dormitories at uni. I reckon it is at least a half hours walk from our apartment there and about a mile and a quarter so we get in a good workout just walking to and from church. Speaking of church, the most ironic thing happened to me today. Yesterday, I went to Queen Street and bought some clothes and a beach towel. I wore my new shirt to church today, and during the break, some kid comes up to me and says he likes my shirt. I was like thanks...? Then he asked if I knew what it was for and I was like no.... So now I am wondering what is going on when he tells me it is a Socceroos’s shirt, a football team here in Australia. This is just my luck because I hate soccer, yet I buy a shirt that looks really cool and it turns out that the logo on it is for the local soccer team...just my luck. When we finally made it back to the apartment, I made a marinade for some chicken breasts that consisted of soy and teriyaki sauces, onion, garlic, and pineapple so we’ll see how that turns out either tonight or tomorrow, I have not decided when I am going to make that yet. Then for lunch, I still had one chicken breast left and just a little bit of ham and one slice of cheese so I decided to try my hand at a little “chicken cordon bleu.” Turns out I am quite the chef and the meal turned out ok. I also sautéed some green beans with some salt and pepper and those were delicious as well.

Right now, I just sat down at the computer to, hopefully, start working on my Public Administration final that I still need to send back home to finally get a grade for one of my classes. I was lucky enough that the professor gave me until April 20^th to do it, but with going to New Zealand and everything coming up so fast I figured I had better start working on it now, especially with all my different essays and other assignments coming due here in Australia. I have found myself being able to relax a good deal more than if I would have this schedule with these assignments back home, but the fact that I am in a foreign country with so much to experience really does not make me want to focus on school work so hopefully I can get by enough to take credit back home.

Last night, Casey and I went to see a movie at South Bank, which is where the lagoon is and also a bunch of restaurants and whatnot. Our original plan was to see Matt Damon's new movie Green Zone. However, when we showed up, the movie was sold out and all that was left to see was The Hurt Locker, which was also a good movie as far as movies go, but realistic and militaristic-wise it was about 20 miles off centre. That is one thing that surprised me about the other night, even though Green Zone has been out for a while, it was still sold out and we were unable to get in.

Overall now, I would say things are starting to get better for me day by day. I have been getting more used to the way of life here, especially the part that you really do not have to worry yourself over a lot of nonsensical issues. The biggest thing I have learned here is that whatever happens has happened and there is nothing you can do to change that. Also, the way things turn out are the way they are going to be and if nothing can be done to change it, whether it be a policy or some other outcome, the best you can do is put it behind you and move on.

These next two weeks of class before break should be fairly easy; I do not have any assignments due and all I have the week before we leave is a short quiz in my anthropology class, which is a total joke because our professor is not a real professor, just someone they brought in to teach the class for a semester while the real professor just takes a quarter off. But I have an essay due the day after I get back and then that Thursday I have two group projects due so I will have to be diligent once we land again. Until next time, everything continues to be fun and the weather awesome. In April, when we will be in New Zealand, the effects of being ‘south’ in the Southern Hemisphere will be felt as the average high temperatures are 64 degrees and the lows 46 degrees. Talk about your average temperature range...