So this past week has been interesting. I was pretty frustrated with dorm life a few days ago, but it's all good now. I think living with two hallways of people was getting to me. One night, I was trying to go to sleep, but the State of Origin game had just ended (apparently it's the best out of 3...Queensland won again) and everyone came banging on our door to rub it in Erin's face since she was for New South Wales. She was working on an assignment and didn't want to be bothered, so they kept banging and I tried to fall asleep to my iPOD. The next morning, I was still trying to sleep and Erin left the door open when she went out, so all the noise in the hallway got me up. Plus, one dormie wouldn't leave me alone and I really just wanted to lock myself in my room and yell, "Leave me alone!" Then everyone kept asking to borrow my milk and I had just bought it. It's not cheap and I had to buy more yesterday because mine only lasted 3 bowls of cereal. This time, I bought 3 liters. But after the milk, the same people decided to ask to use my Internet over and over. And for some reason, finding ants all over your cupboard doesn't help a bad mood. I hate when people don't wash their dishes and leave messes all over the place. And I was just about to scream when every time I walked into the bathroom, I was convinced more and more that the guys on our hall have no aim. I know the things that bother me are tiny, but they add up and I'm definitely one who likes my space. Does it really not occur to people that they should be considerate of everyone else when living in a dorm?
But anyway, I'm over it now. I'll have my own room back soon enough.
Last Tuesday, I went to the Panthers club with one of my media ethics classmates, Adam, and his friend. It's a big restaurant thing with a game room and a big open area where they have trivia every Tuesday night. We had dinner (free because they had vouchers from winning trivia!) and then engaged in some trivia-playing. One round had to do with logos and the first one on the sheet was for Hushpuppies. I told them that's what I thought it was, but then changed my mind and said maybe it was Bassett furniture. I was right the first time. After that, we had a paper airplane contest and mine went the farthest! I don't remember how that started...Then, onto a game of air hockey. Yours truly was the reigning champ, but keep it on the DL.
Later that night, I went to Fret Fetish at the Uni Bar because a girl in my dorm, Haley, and a guy from my Aboriginal studies class, T.J., are in bands that were performing. I really enjoyed it, but I must say T.J.'s band was better. Shh, don't tell.
On Wednesday, Fiona (the international student advisor) invited all the students in for tea. We talked about our travels, going home and how fast it's gone by. She gave us packets with suggestions for things to do before we go back. One was to get a reference from a professor, so I asked my Aboriginal studies professor for one and he said he'd be happy to write me one. It would probably be better if I had a lecturer from communications or criminal justice, but I didn't get to know them as well.
Friday, Pete and I headed to Katoomba and met Kat for her birthday. Big 1-8, legal age here. It was good to get to see her before I go back, but it was sad, too, because I had to say my first goodbye. We went to the RSL with her friends, mom and sister and it was a lot of fun. I ordered some Chinese at the restaurant in the RSL and the guy gave me one of those buzzer things. I had to go to the ATM and as soon as I sat down to wait for my food, it buzzed. I got up, assuming my food was ready and the guy told me, "You pay before we cook." Ha ha ha, can't blame him I guess. After we ate, we played pool and hung out. Then I had to say bye because Pete and I were going to get up early to see the mountains. (By the way, RSL stands for Returned and Services League of Australia and was started for those who have served in defense forces. You have to be a member to get in, or let someone sign you in if you're visiting).
It was raining when we left and in the morning, it looked pretty miserable. Foggy, rainy and extremely cold. I went to take a shower and the bathroom floor was like ice. The water took absolutely forever to warm up and I've never shimmied into my clothes so fast in my life. We braved the cold anyway and had breakfast (brekkie) in a cute little cafe. I saw two people walk by in kilts while drinking my hot chocolate.
We were going to take a bus to see the Three Sisters, but weren't exactly having luck catching one. By this time, I couldn't feel my toes, so we went back to the hostel so I could double up on socks. We went into a few shops, I tried on some silly hats and then finally caught a trolley to Echo Point, which is where you're supposed to be able to see the Three Sisters. It was SO foggy that we couldn't even see the mountains...And they were RIGHT THERE. It was really windy and my umbrella kept flipping inside out. I was sad because even though I've seen the mountains, Pete hasn't and that was half the point of going to Katoomba. This is what it looked like the first time I went to Echo Point and then this past weekend.
But we went into the gift shop where he found a lot of souvenirs and we got to hug a giant stuffed koala, so it was worth it. Next, we hopped back on the trolley to go to Scenic World. That's where Shy, Nichole, Astrid, Megan and I went back in March. It was quite different this time. I think the guy driving the trolley felt bad that the weather was so horrible because he didn't charge us fare. It was still fun, though...quite the experience. At one point, Pete put 20 cents into this old candy machine - the kind with the metal claw - and I've never seen someone so happy to get a piece of candy out of a machine in my life. I took a picture, but it doesn't do the overjoyment justice.
By this time, our train still wasn't coming for another 3 hours so we went back to the hostel and hung out in the living room type thing. I put my socks over the fireplace and some random guy came in, saw them and made a weird face. Alright. Like no one has ever done that before.
Meanwhile, it's been flooding in some parts of the state. There's a huge ship that's been stranded on a beach in Newcastle, about 5 hours from here, and some parts are under several feet of water. The news said that the wind is supposed to get up to 110 mph in Sydney tonight. The pictures are from a slideshow Erin sent me.
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