Holiday

Not vacation.. going on Holiday.

July 4

Well I found out that for some reason the Aussies don't celebrate the day America gained independence from Britain. What's up with that?

Interestingly enough the USS Kitty Hawk docked on Tuesday so there were american sailors everywhere! But I only met a few Aussie navy guys. They were friendly enough to say the least.

The cool kids in my group hit the town in search of some BBQ.. but we couldn't find any so most everyone just got pissed (as the aussies say.. or completely plastered).



I opted not too.. I'd like to say it was because I was being responsible.. but mostly because I had no money. A navy guy bought me a drink and that was it for me.



My roommate on the other hand was out of control! She beat the guys in a drinking contest which was good. But when we got back to the hotel she freaked out because her earrings were gone so we flipped over the bed and turned the room inside out. But when we got back to the our hotel room she found them on the dresser.. it was pretty crazy. Then she vomited all over the bathroom, which she has no recollection of and sense I had to take a shower I had to clean it up. Happy fourth of july!



Other random days this week

I haven't done anything too terrible exciting. The past few days I've been going from bank to bank in search of someone that can help. .my ATM card broke last friday and I've been peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and dinner for a week! But today I finally found a solution.. so first thing I did was hit Chinatown and get some grilled prawn.. mmmmm..

So for lack of specific exciting stories here are some fun things about Australia.

Words..
They lazy bums shorten everything:
Uni (university
Ut (truck.. short for utility)
Barbie (bar b que)

and so on. Some things that have really thrown me off
Jumper - pullover. Someone said, 'you should have worn a jumper' and I thought they were suggesting I wear a denim type dress. But in fact they just wanted me to be warmer..
Pissed - drunk. Someone came in the hotel screaming "I'm so pissed!!" and I was like.. I wonder what he's so mad about.
Rugged up - dress warmly.

Everyone also says "How you going" I guess a mix between how's it going and how are you.
And you don't go running over here.. you go for a run. You don't look at something you have a look. You also don't go to the bathroom.. you go to the toilet or the loo.

Anyways.. the cars here are really really small.. and in very neutral colors. I've seen about 6 red cars and one yellow.. the other thousands have mostly been black or grey.





The birds here are pretty crazy too! The cockatoos are everywhere! And there are lorakeets which are like big parakeets. They're like birds you'd pay thousands of dollars for a pet store.. but they are everywhere down here.







Actually that last one was a bat.

Anyways, the Aussie superbowl was Wednesday and I went over to my travel agents house to watch the action. It was rugby league, which is a litttle different than rubgy union. But the guys were betting on everything! Who would score, how much they'd score, who'd come out of the game, who in the room would pass out first. You name it, they'd bet on it.

Our group did go down to the Uni tuesday.





The guide told us that it looked so much like Cambridge that the school in London often sends their photographers down here to take pictures since it's always rainy up there.. and no one can tell the difference.