fumigation

i really don't think i spelled that right, but i don't really care about my spelling. anyways, in the ressies i live in they are spraying for pest control today, so they're making us be out of the buildings from 10-2. not too bad i suppose. woulda been better if they sprayed my block yesterday for a couple of reasons. one is that i was still in sydney or on the bus back to canberra. and the second is that tuesdays are cheap movie days so i coulda gone to a movie while they were attempting to kill all of the pests. i really don't think there were any mice or anything in my building but i'm not completely sure on that.

in a way it works out that they're spraying today. it makes me take care of some things that i've been procrastinating on. one of which is i need to get $50 to one of the volleyball people (because of the fundraiser we did, which was saling entertainment books). for those of you who don't know what entertainment books are, you one don't live in a big enough city or 2 you haven't had to do very many fundraisers. i was just surprised that they had entertainment books here as well. oh and for those that are still confused about what entertainment books are, they are a big book of coupons for various things like restaraunts, fast food, amusement parks, etc.

well, all of the other americans/international students have left canberra to either go home or to travel australia before returning home. not to mention that the ressies feel really empty as basically everyone else went home as well for the winter break (they don't actually call it winter break, but it's winter and we're on break, so i'm gonna call it winter break even though there isn't any snow where i'm at). i'm curious for when the new international students get in so i can laugh at them (and myself) for the things they'll do when they get here, as i know i most likely did the same.

speaking of international travel, hope you're having a good time in russia ashley (if you get a chance to use a computer to read this). and then when do you leave for turkey (that's where you're going isn't it) ashli? that brings up something that's kinda fun to ponder. who would have thought last year that with the group i hang out with at Tech, that one of us would be in Australia (me), one in Russia (Ashley), and one in Turkey (Ashli).

well i think i've wasted enough time on a computer (at least for now, as i will most likely be back as there is nobody on campus!!!). hope everyone is doing well and having an awesome summer so far.

sydney

heading to sydney for 5 days, so don't expect any blog entries until june 29 at the earliest. laters

last final exam

so i have my last final for this semester in about 4 hours. i don't think its going to be all that hard. its for my Truth, belief, and science class. for the exam we have to analyse an urban legend (saying what parts make it an urban legend), decide if several arguments are valid or not and explain, and then have paragraph answers on a reading. i think the fact that we are allowed a page of notes and they gave us the reading already is why i'm not all that worried for it.

other than that, nothing much is happening. been rainy/cloudy the last couple of days. oh yeah there was going to be a surprise going away party for john (he's from colorado as well) tonight, but that's 'cause everyone thought his last exam was also today. however his last exam is tomorrow, so it got postponed until tomorrow night, so he'd be able to study and get a good nights sleep for the exam. although tues nights are usually going to the movies (as it's 1/2 price on tues nights), oh well.

well i think i'm gonna go over my notes once more (actually i have time to go over them at least 3 times) just so i won't have to use the cheat sheet all that much.

boo coldness

there's this big stereotype that all of australia is warm all year and i'm telling you now that all parts of australia are not warm throughout the entire year. granted it doesn't snow (so i'm told) except for in the "mountains". the last couple of days it has been cold, well kinda, it's still well above freezing, but i think i had gotten accustomed to the warm weather so it feels cold now. plus its been rainy and windy as well. ok so that's my little complaining for a while.

have one final left which i think shouldn't be too hard. we get to have a sheet of notes (hand written ones) and a dictionary if we want. not sure what good the dictionary would do, unless there's going to be words on the test that we've never seen before.

want to go see batman begins, but i really don't want to pay full price to see it. i guess i'll just have to wait for a cheap movie night (which are tuesday nights).

also can't wait for my foot to be all better. the bruising colors are going away, but it still hurts/aches every now and then. it is starting to be a bit more flexible as well. i should probably go and buy an ankle brace or whatnot instead of just wrapping it up.

oh yeah i have a doctors appointment on july 5 to get a physical type thingy done so i can get another student visa. not sure why they decide that in order to get another visa i have to see a doctor 'cause if i had anything before coming everybody has it already. although they also take a chest x-ray, not really sure why, but whatever.

its kinda sad seeing some of the other international students leave for home or for more traveling around australia. i should probably do more traveling, but i just have fun hanging out with the aussies. during the holiday (break between the semesters) i'll probably see some things as i'm suppose to go to a couple of people's b-day parties.

back to the cold weather, as my brain just though "oooo, coffee sounds good". i'm surprised i have bought any instant coffee mix stuff yet. not really coffee, but mocha or something that is chocolate and has caffeine in it, not to mention that its served warm/hot.

well that's that for now, laters all

study break

i've noticed that i tend to spend about the same amount of time in study breaks as i do in studying. isn't that how you're suppose to study though, so you don't fry your brain? actually i try get myself to study for about an hour and then take like a 30 or 45 min break (although the break i'm on now might be a little longer as all my stuff to study is in my room and i'm at the computer lab). that's really all i've been up to lately.

yesterday was a public holiday (Queen's Birthday). although australia no longer has a queen, and it wasn't even the real (britain's i think) queen's birthday. although fireworks were legal over the weekend (as long as you lit them off after 10pm and before 5am or something like that).

and yup, that's it, so i'm gonna grab something for lunch and then go back to studying.

lovely colors

my foot is now turning lovely colors of blue, purple, and in some small areas greenish. it doesn't hurt as much anymore, but i still have a little bit of a limp when i walk. also i still can't really pivot on it, can only bend the ankle back and forth with little/no pain. i'm just glad that it hasn't even been a week and it is already quite a bit better, still swollen though.

played charades last night. it was pretty entertaining. one of the funniest one's i though was a person had to act out a place (we were using the pictionary cards) which was America, so they pointed at me. the first time i had to act something out my team didn't get. i had to act out a stone. first of all i had no clue how to even start, 'cause how do you try to act out a stone? another funny one was a person on a different team had to act out a bald eagle, but she didn't know what it really was. i just thought it was hilarious 'cause that's one of the animals that all americans learn growing up.

and i'm tired of sitting at a computer right now, plus i have some studying to do. laters

1 down 2 to go

well just got done with my first final. they seem to be pretty strict with the testing. bags have to be either at the front or back of the room (not next to you) and you're not even suppose to have a cell phone on you (even if it is turned off). actually it kinda felt like taking the standardized tests all over again. i can't believe i can't think of the name of the test, i keep thinking they're the A.C.T's (or is that right, i can't think right now). luckly my next final isn't until the 15th.

last night i had a volleyball game again. we ended up losing, but it was against the A team (i'm on the B team). so it really wasn't all that surprising, especially since we barely had 6 people to play. we were going to play with just 5, but they wouldn't let us so our captain (who had rolled his ankle last week) had to change and play. speaking of rolling ankles, i did that as well last night. went up for a block and i either landed on someone else's foot, my foot, or just landed wrong altogether. currently i have it wrapped up but it was still swollen this morning when i woke up for my exam.

and yup thats about the extent of the news that i have. laters

Hog's Breath Cafe

wow its been a while since my last post. well i guess i'll summarize (kinda) whats happened since my last one.

on friday night after the international reception (to say bye to people and get their numbers/addresses) i went with 4 other international students to a restaurant called Hogs Breath Cafe. i guess its a chain and it started in the US, but its Hogs Breath Restaurant in the states. anyways, we were joking around with our waitress (anusha or something like that) and having fun (we got the coloring mat thingies that little kids get, and colored it in for anusha). anyways she asked the 5 of us to meet up with her on saturday night because the hogs breath employees were getting together as a couple people were leaving. i just thought it was weird 'cause to me its usually the group that asks the individual to hang out instead of the other way around (at least when you really don't know each other). i also thought it was funny that on saturday night the international students i was with said it was only like the 3rd or so time they've been into civic at night (about the opposite for me).

on sunday nothing really new happened. had volleyball practice from 1-4. got some bad news i guess on sunday though. for the next v-ball game (on wednesday) my team isn't going to have any centers (taller people that attempt to block spikes) as they are injured. so now the average height of the team i'm on is about 1-2 inches taller than me. this is really going to be wednesdays game interesting, especially since we're playing for 3rd place.

after volleyball practice played soccer for a little over an hour. it was fun 'cause we had about 20 people. i think next time i need to remember to take my cleats with me so i'm not sliding all over the place (although everyone else is as well).

and that's all really. just been studying for my exam on thursday. already had one 2 hour tutorial or whatnot today to help get ready for it and have another one in 45 minutes. at first wasn't sure i knew the stuff all that well, but now i'm thinking i do. yup that's it for now. laters

bump, set, spike into my face

the volleyball games went well last night for only having 6 players (no subs). we ended up playing 8 sets in all. the first game we lost but i think we're going to get the win as the other team wasn't all in uniform and the league is being really uptight about that now. the second game we won the first 2 sets and then the 4th one (barely 26-24). in the first game i really could have gone without being reminded of what it felt like to get the ball spiked in my face. luckily there's no ball prints on the right side of my face this morning/arvo (afternoon). the 4th set of the 2nd game was full of anxiety (not sure if thats the right word). we were losing 12-22 or something like that and then came back to 22-24. they were one point away from winning and had spiked the ball, me and another person on my team went to dig the ball. the other player got there first, hit the ball, the ball somehow went off my knee and deep into the other teams court, therefore giving us the serve. we then ended up winning the game 26-24. i was dead after the games as we had started playing at 6:30 and got done around 9:45.

i guess one of the international coordinators has a fractured pelvis. all i know is that it happened when she was riding to work on her bicycle. don't know any other details other than that. probably know more by tomorrow night, as there is a reception thingy for the international students tomorrow night.

yesterday for one of my classes which was going to be just a review of stuff we should know for the final exam made me kinda angry. the review was more of just 5 tutorials cramed into 1.5 hrs. the lecturer went over tutorial problems, but he went over them very quickly (meaning he read the multiple choice question, the possible answers, and then said the answer). some of us were trying to write down the questions and the answers and he even said that there wasn't time for us to copy it 'cause we had a lot to get thru. personally i would have rather had class/review on tues (the tues class was canceled) and yesterday so we would have had time to write the questions and answers. well thats my ranting for a while.

and once again my stomach is telling me its time to eat, but i can't think of anything else to write anyways. laters

'Roos at 1am

surprising i just realized that the best time to see kangaroos is around 1am (i should have figured this out earlier, but i really don't pay all that much attention to the actual time when i see them). also do you know how freaky it is to be walking on the sidewalk just thinking of what needs to be done the next day and then suddenly realize that you are now within 10 yards of a dozen or so kangaroos (a couple that are even just a couple feet away), all of which that are starring at you. luckily these animals have been on campus so long that they just kind of sit and watch you until you pass them, or just go back to eating the grass.

tonight i have vball games at 6:30 and 8:15, with each game being the best of 5 different matches or whatnot. meaning that i could potentially be playing 10 games if time permits. i think i'm going to be dead after playing. speaking of volleyball i had to buy a pair of navy shorts today because the black shorts weren't good enough anymore (at the beginning, they said that black or navy were fine). i wasn't the only one though that didn't have a navy pair as some people were wearing royal blue shorts to the games. oh well the shorts were only $25, which i was happy about 'cause i was expecting that they'd be over $30.

what else is new??? well i've been trying to go see the international coordinator people to ask a couple questions (one being if either of them would like to buy and entertainment book (a $50 coupon book) as for volleyball everyone is suppose to try and sale one and they're the only non-students i know) but everytime i go they're not in their office. the problem could be that i try to go see them around lunch. i also need to give them my passport number so i can get another CoE code so i can extend my student visa.

well that's it for now