Semi Charmed Life

Although to me, it seems like nothing exciting (or blog-worthy) has happened in my life recently, I started listing things that I want to tell people at home and the list kept going so I figured I should probably update. This might be long, I’m just warning you…

Oz (what they called Australia, not Austrailia, Emily… :) has really begun to feel like home. My job at Hog’s Breath has kept me busy and I really like it. I just started waitressing this past week and the people I work with are really great. It actually kind of reminds me of the dynamics of when I used to work at DQ. Hog’s Breath is this big Australian chain that also has restaurants in NZ. The best way I’ve found to describe them is that they have food like Outback Steakhouse (they’re known for their Prime Rib) but with the casual feel of an Applebee’s. Both of which happen to be 2 of my favorite restaurants, so it all works out. I ride my hot pink bike there and back 6 miles… let’s just say, I better be fit when I come home.

Since the school work doesn’t keep me too busy, I usually go over to my friends’ apartments to hang out. Two other Americans (Daniel and Lauren) live in an apartment with 2 guys from Germany (Alex and Steffan) and the Student Village Apartments maintenance guy, Dev. (Don’t feel like you need to worry about all these names…) Trina, another American girl and this couple (Michelle and Casey) from Canada and I all usually hang out at the apartment most nights and play cards. Clearly, our lives are thrilling. Although, having been raised in a card-playing family, I’m shocked at all the card games I’ve been taught. The nice thing about having friends in the apartments is that they will let me cook over there. So I’m planning on going to Aldi soon and buying ingredients for Puppy Chow (because I miss baking SO much!)

It was Dev’s birthday the other day and apparently, it’s an Indian tradition to have all your friends come over, give you cake, and then have each person feed it to you, ala wedding cake. Except a lot messier. I’m talking cake going EVERYWHERE, including Dev’s hair and all over the floor. Needless to say, it was a very interesting birthday party…

Daniel, Lauren, Emma (an English girl from Hong Kong) and I are in the process of planning our trip to NZ, which is all very exciting. We were going to take a bus tour around the 2 islands, but now we are thinking about renting a car and then going to all the same places we would’ve gone on the tour (AKA: following the bus) because it’s about half the price and we are all very budget conscious (see Mom and Dad?)

Other happenings in my life down under: Last Tuesday there was an Inauguration Dinner for all the people who live on campus. All the awards were somewhat boring, but my Chicken Kiev was delicious and I met some people from my dorm which was nice. After the dinner, Trina, Lauren, Michelle and I had a girl’s night involving bruschetta, brownies and my personal favorite movie, My Girl which was really fun.

I know the last thing you probably care to read about in my blog is my feet, but I need to tell you. They are ALWAYS dirty. ALWAYS. You know that red dirt I was telling you about? It gets on the bottom of all of your shoes and you can’t walk around without having this film of red dirt everywhere. I’m gonna need new socks soon because this stuff does not come off in the laundry.

It’s always the random little things that I want to tell people from home so here they are: Jell-O is not Jell-O here. What we call Jell-O, they call jelly. What we call jelly, they call jam. All very confusing. Also, they rarely use preservatives (you can’t even buy bread WITH preservatives) which may sound all nice and organic, but when my garbage smells up my whole room because of the moldy bread I had to throw away, it’s not as nice as it seems. Oooh Toowoomba….

The city of Toowoomba is kind of a joke around here. It’s this backwoodsy city which has a reasonable population and size but is very small town in feel. Most of the people at USQ are commuters and/or have lived here their whole life. At work, one of the girls asked “Why the HECK would you come to Australia to study in Toowoomba?” So we all just try and laugh at the decision we made to come here and study rather than somewhere on the beach. Hindsight’s 20/20, people.

Also, for all you Grovers, you will happy to know that I received my package yesterday and want to thank you all SO much! I got it on my way to the apartment and Lauren and I opened it in her kitchen basically in tears about how great my friends are. So, good work, you’ve made everyone here jealous of the awesome friends I have. :) I especially liked the music video. A LOT.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now. No, that’s a lie, I could write about a lot more, but I’ve got to go to work and have a fabulous Saturday night! Miss you all lots!