Top Ten Things of the Semester

There comes a time in every blogger/internet journalist in which a top ten countdown is absolutely inevitable and this feels like one of those times.  I have currently completed half of my six exams as of today and have a couple days off before my next one so I thought I would update my blog since I hadn't in a while due to studying for these finals. I have my psych, vertebrate zoology theory, and human reproductive bio lab done, and am looking forward to bio theory, zoo lab, and sports psychology next week.  I have an exam Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and then leave Thursday night for Cairns.  So without further ado since I know you don't really care about me finals I give you the top ten things I have learned/done/have happened to me since I have been here. I figure I will make a blog post about my post-semester travels after I do them so they will not be included in my top ten.

I learned that I hate flies (at least in Australia). I already commented on this in my last post but when you end up swallowing flies and having them crawl up your nose your disdain for them grows.  I really hope my hate for them dwindles when I get back to the states.





When you have the same things over again (some kind of meat, potatoes, steamed veggies, cut up fruit) for dinner every night it really makes you appreciate other dinners. I really am not complaining since I don't mind Tommy dinners as much as some others on the trip, but it makes you appreciate South Dining Hall and laugh remembering when you and your friends went through saying "there's nothing for dinner tonight!" On a related food note, I have cooked out or barbecued here on three separate occasions for groups of people and have enjoyed cooking kangaroo steaks, lamb, and sausages for people immensely. Kangaroo is especially good.

DC.  I love DC. I thought one 320 GB hard drive was big enough to bring here. Boy was I wrong. I am down to my last 50 gigs and have been very selective about what I download.  I love getting new music, movies, and tv shows.







I have learned a whole bunch of Australian words and lingo since I have been here and would just like to share a couple of my favorites as well as some just plain weird ones.  Favorites:  Heaps - meaning large amounts of anything, "I [hopefully] have heaps of friends back a Notre Dame reading this right now"    Arvo - short for afternoon, "Hey can I borrow your homework this arvo?"    Cheers - thanks, goodbye, basically the best way to end an email    Annoying ones: Starting out any answer to any question regardless if it is answerable with the word 'yeah',  Me: Hey how ya going?  Australian: Yeah, good thanks.    Saying 'hey' an obnoxious amount at the end of any sentence.  "They're playing so bad hey" or "This is so good hey"

I have also learned that most Australian accents are not that cool and just really annoying, especially the females.  Really not all they are hyped up to be. Trust me on this one.








I miss volleyball a lot.  After going a semester without playing it competitively for the first time in eight year it really dawned on me how much I love the sport.  I knew it was easily my favorite sport to play but it just hit me how much I do like it and gave me a taste of what will happen in a year and a half.  I think I miss the camaraderie and my teammates more than the sport itself however. That is what really makes being on a team fun, not the sport itself.



I have learned that taking time out for oneself is harder than it sounds. I have never really had this much free time during a semester without all of my normal activities, like sports and work, so trying to fill that time has been a bit of a challenge for me. Or at least was at first. I have gotten a hang of it as the semester progresses and when it comes time to have almost everything scheduled into my day again it will be just another thing I have to adapt (or should I say revert) to




 Not having a cell phone (kind of). I do have a cell phone that I bought here to contact my parents since our internet sucks back home and therefor cannot Skype, but I hardly ever use it here. I do not carry it around with me at all during the day and is just pretty liberating not being attached to one at all times.  It will come in handy for travels however.



Card nights in the JCR.  One of my favorite activities of the semester has been getting a group of friends, my computer for music, and heading down to the Junior Common Room to spend an evening playing cards.  I would much rather sit around playing cards than watching tv most nights and after teaching a handful of people the greatest card game in the world, Sheepshead, and learning a couple new ones myself we were set for the semester.  It was a great way to spend a lot of nights here getting to know people and just hanging out in general.

 And number one.  Some of you may have guessed it by now since it hasn't come up on this top ten list yet or in my blog in general really.  The best thing that has happened to me since I have been here is finding someone special to share all the experiences with.  Yeah I am not going to get all mushy on you guys but seriously meeting my girlfriend Kelly Nickodem has made the trip that much better.

No man is an Island

In addition to Australia I have been to a couple islands in the last week or so.  Last week a group of us (Alan, Andrew, John, Kevin Bell, Derek, Zack, and Mary Kate) took the Saturday off from doing work and took a journey to Penguin Island.  "How did we get to it?" you ask.  A. Ferry  B. Swam  C. Flew  D. None of the above.   For those of you playing along at home the correct answer is D. None of the above.  We actually walked to this island through roughly 700m of waste-deep water.  I was a fairly cool day with the wind, but once we got in and started walking it wasn't too bad.  The island itself was pretty small and we only saw one wild penguin because most of them usually only come on land during the months of December and January to molt their feathers.  We walked all over the island and ended up on the beach while a group of people went snorkeling. I had the foresight/powers of observation enough to see while we were walking around that there would be nothing cool in the water to look at so I spent my time watching a penguin feeding and laying on the beach instead.  We saw people kite-boarding which looked super fun.  Basically it involved hooking onto a wake board like item and being pulled around by the wind, all while jumping high into the air being pulled up by the kite.  So that day was a success.  I use the term success loosely because we still got trounced by Navy that night, but I have come to expect us losing (helped by our game this weekend versus Tulsa).

In between that trip and the next island trip that I took today I finished up classes last week and am now in 'study' week.  They seriously give us a week off for studying and then proceed to spread out our exams over two weeks.  A huge change from Notre Dame where we get Friday off before one week of exams.  Don't get me wrong, I will be studying during this week and even started yesterday, since exams are worth so much here but I thought it was fine just to take a break today and head out to Rottnest Island since a group of ND kids had gone earlier in the year and were raving about it.  I was hesitant about going just because I want to save money for traveling after but it wasn't too expensive and got persuaded to go.  The was one huge difference between when the other group went and when we went that we didn't account for: flies.  There were so many flies on that accursed island that it made the trip pretty unbearable for the most part. 

This island was quire larger than Penguin Island and a pretty big tourist spot for Perth.  The scenery was actually very nice around the entire island (we rented bikes and were thus able to circle it) but the flies were just terrible.  I thought there was not another creature that I hated on this planet as much as mosquitos but flies have made a strong case for second place after their showing today).  We eventually ended up wrapping towels, shirts, or in Spencer and Will's case, boxers, around our faces in an attempt to keep them at bay.  It must have been pretty comical looking.  It was such a disappointment to go to this nice island on a beautiful day and get it ruined by these little bugs, but I do kinda regret going.  On the bright-side our trip to Rottnest will be unforgettable; that much is true.  

It was Erin's 21st birthday yesterday and while most of the other ND kids are off on trips to Bali or up north, the group of us that were still here (mostly guys) went out to the Deen to celebrate.  I was privileged enough to be able to buy her first legal (in America, which is a semi-moot point since we are in a country where the drinking age is 18) drink, and went with the house special mango daiquiri.  She had a fun night which was the only thing that mattered.  Erin's birthday also signaled the first of November meaning that our trip after is only 17 days away, 16 now.  Its getting so close I cannot wait. Got to bear down and focus here for these 16 days and then Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef here I come.