So once again I have turned away from this form of therapeutic venting and had to deal with the unnecessary mental anguish. Grrr. I am back to blogging because it keeps me sane in some regard. I am currently watching an old Friends episode about these 20-something girls getting drunk and worrying about how they don't have a life plan. I believe the word Phoebe used was that their lives were "Floopy" which I think describes what I am feeling pretty perfectly.
Being 22 and out of college sounded like a dream come true. However, I am starting to agree with the idea that youth is wasted on the young because we have no wisdom to live life to the fullest by any degree. Here I have been sitting in OZ and I have been anything but joyous. I have not "found myself" and most of the knowledge I have acquired so far seems to be pretty depressing. This was probably to be expected. Following your ideals into a fantasy world has got to crash and burn sometime. At least I am not being relied upon as a responsible adult by any means at the moment.
Time is flying by and already I am considering an early departure from this holiday. More time home getting in touch with my roots may do me some good before shipping off again. I guess I am just searching for love and even if that is just from my family I am ok with that. It's not here and I am not feeling any more alive than I did at home.
That is not to say that this experience is over yet. I have a lot of traveling to do and a lot of self-seeking to do. I am hoping to get to Tasmania and the Great Barrier Reef asap. Luckily I have some pretty sweet friends who want to accompany me. I am pretty blessed for the support and companionship to say the very least.
I think my major deficit right now is that I feel spiritually depleted. I miss the days were I could go on some religious retreat and renew whatever hope I had in this world on a deeper level. I am not saying I am seeking religion, just an inner compass. I feel like in not knowing myself, I also don't know who I am or where I know I am going.. roughly.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
What happens at Pinewood, stays in Australia
Life in Australia cont.
So I am sorry first and foremost that I have left this blog un-updated for such a very long time. I can't really explain why I have been so lazy, but I think I just didn't feel so much like voicing some of the things I was feeling. Beyond that, it has been a pretty busy few weeks and I am happy that I did not have as much ample free time to blog away. I will try to make the updates brief and exciting. So here goes nothing :
Valentines weekend I spent in Sydney with camp friends Steve, Nicole and Jenna. It was a truly pleasant get-a-way and the weather being rainy didn't stop us from having an amazing time. We explored the city a bit and I got to take some classic photos with the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge as my cliche Australian vacation backdrop! We did some shopping and had a crazy, boisterous night out at Kings Cross where we boogied down for Steve's friend's (mate's) birthday. We saw some chick OD-ing in the corner by 10:30pm and ended our night at a McDonalds (Mackers) where Nicole thought it was ok to sit at the only open seat with some randoms and make friends. Oh yeah, this is after Jenna went on a flashing spree and showed half of Sydney her granny panties just for kicks. I love my friends.
Steve was a fantastic host and even had a bbq complete with lamb and footy on tv for the pre-party. His family was also very hospitable and sweet. I got to see Bondi beach and a few other beaches from the car due to the rain. The next two days we spent at Jenna's in the Blue Mountains which are outside Sydney. We saw the famous tourist site the Three Sisters which are rock formations legend to be aboriginal women turned to stone. Our tour down on a cable car was pretty cool and being the only non-asian tourists was a unique experience. All in all a good time. We also got to meet a recently excepted Pinewood counselor and went aqua-golfing with her. She must have thought we were crazy with our stories of camp parties and conversations centered on bowl movements. It's a camp thing. Anyways, great trip. We will forever remember the stinky aboriginal woman on the bus who sat in between us, reeked like she hadn't showered in weeks, had hairy legs and talked to herself. Oh yes, and the ear-less man she somehow couldn't remember she was friends with but later high fived. Crazy golden moments.
After Sydney, I got back into the swing of life in Ascot Vale and met a few more of Trent's friends whom I really enjoy. We have spent two evenings with Sandra and Jason who throw some fun and mellow house parties and were extremely welcoming. I turned them onto Captain Morgan and managed to carry on a complete conversation with Jason in spanish by about 3am. I still got it!
I have also spent more time trying to get out on long walks and have found a nearby park I love to adventure to. I have become addicted to anything with sweet chili sauce and have learned to love lamb meat. I received news that my college diploma had arrived in the mail back at home and my WorldTeach Ecuador acceptance packet came via email. That reality is just on the horizon and I am so excited!
Another interesting experience was learning how tomato (pronounce to-maw-toe) sauce is made Wog-style, aka in huge vats in the backyard over huge bondfires. T.'s friend J. and his family were nice enough to invite us over to watch and help make the sauce that would last them the entire year. I was also lucky enough to acquire some sauce to take home. Can't wait to show grandma Tony!
A few weeks back I had a lovely Friday afternoon attending a movie. This, however, was not your average cinema show. T. and I saw Shutter Island from the Gold Class room at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Basically a VIP theater complete with lounge chairs and food and drink service. The best part was skipping out on the gourmet fingerfood and having the waitstaff bring us candy and popcorn instead. At $30 a ticket, I am not too sure if this sort of service would fly in the states, but it was definitely a cute and special day out.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Queensland, which is the state equivalent to California or Florida. Humidity here I come! Of course, just my luck, it rained the entire time. Lucky for us, Brisbane is not completely underwater like the flooded regions of Queensland that are currently in a very bad state of affairs. Nicole met us at the airport and put us up in her lovely abode for the weekend. Waking up on a basement floor sprawled out with five of your best friends on mattresses is a pretty good gig. Especially after a late night jump in the pool fully clothed. Falling asleep drunk after making a Vegemite sandwhich made me feel like a true Aussie. Nicole was proud.
The next night we attended Patty's 21st birthday at his house. I am pretty sure 21sts here are waaaaay better than at home. When the drinking age is 18, 21 marks someone's true arrival into adulthood, and is a family affair. Patty's parents, family and many, many friends were all as lively as he is and it was truly touching listening to his lengthy birthday speeches, complete with skits and songs to roast him completely. We laughed pretty hard when many references were made to his run in with the drunken Mexicans at the Hendersonville, NC BestWestern which landed him with 11 stitches in his head. We headed out in maxi-cabs (the equivalent to a party-bus cab) to the bar called Fridays which overlooked some pretty bridge and water way I regret not learning about. I danced until I could not feel my toes and realized it was 4am and I had had the longest night out of my life. Luckily I wasn't in the state that many of the fellow party goers were in, spewing (as the Aussies like to say it) at the bar and on everyone's shoes. Really very classy. Our night concluded with making the cab stop at Mackers for breakfast and passing out on the floor once again. It was a great Camp Pinewood reunion, but I plan to go back to Queensland to actually see the famous beaches and hopefully go to some of the islands my fellow St. Petersburg expatriot Tiffani was boasting about. Definitely more adventures in store.
Back in Melbourne, it has been raining non-stop. I forgot to mention earlier that I luckily and thankfully acquired employment working for T.'s Dad's company. I am cleaning offices nightly and currently have only cleaned the Mattel building, which is a distribution center for Mattel toys. The smiling Barbie dolls on the walls somehow make cleaning the toilets more enjoyable. It's a humbling experience, going from living in a house with a cleaning lady, to being one. But I am actually really thankful for the job, the pretty decent pay, and the pleasure of being treated like family by my boss. It is also pretty good to be more active than I have been and hope to increase my arm strength as my mopping skills grow. Last night after our plane landed at 1am, I had the opportunity of learning what T. really does for work. We got a phone call at 4am from M. "The truck no function" and we were off. I had to come of course because I needed to drive. We wandered into late night downtown Melbourne in the rain and had to drive all over delivering a new worktruck to M. and eventually fixing the part that had failed. Although I was only half awake, I had a lovely three hours watching T. empty bins and clean the tram stops. At one point I had to hide from a tram driver who looked nosey. I was not allowed to be there with the workers. It was an interesting experience and I got to see how valuable the people are who really keep the city running. The secret workers of the night are what I call them. Plus I got to drive on the tram lines which is normally illegal. Sweet.
I hope you enjoyed this update. Next time I will have more substantial things to write about and with more depth. Wish you all the best.
Natalie
So I am sorry first and foremost that I have left this blog un-updated for such a very long time. I can't really explain why I have been so lazy, but I think I just didn't feel so much like voicing some of the things I was feeling. Beyond that, it has been a pretty busy few weeks and I am happy that I did not have as much ample free time to blog away. I will try to make the updates brief and exciting. So here goes nothing :
Valentines weekend I spent in Sydney with camp friends Steve, Nicole and Jenna. It was a truly pleasant get-a-way and the weather being rainy didn't stop us from having an amazing time. We explored the city a bit and I got to take some classic photos with the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge as my cliche Australian vacation backdrop! We did some shopping and had a crazy, boisterous night out at Kings Cross where we boogied down for Steve's friend's (mate's) birthday. We saw some chick OD-ing in the corner by 10:30pm and ended our night at a McDonalds (Mackers) where Nicole thought it was ok to sit at the only open seat with some randoms and make friends. Oh yeah, this is after Jenna went on a flashing spree and showed half of Sydney her granny panties just for kicks. I love my friends.
Steve was a fantastic host and even had a bbq complete with lamb and footy on tv for the pre-party. His family was also very hospitable and sweet. I got to see Bondi beach and a few other beaches from the car due to the rain. The next two days we spent at Jenna's in the Blue Mountains which are outside Sydney. We saw the famous tourist site the Three Sisters which are rock formations legend to be aboriginal women turned to stone. Our tour down on a cable car was pretty cool and being the only non-asian tourists was a unique experience. All in all a good time. We also got to meet a recently excepted Pinewood counselor and went aqua-golfing with her. She must have thought we were crazy with our stories of camp parties and conversations centered on bowl movements. It's a camp thing. Anyways, great trip. We will forever remember the stinky aboriginal woman on the bus who sat in between us, reeked like she hadn't showered in weeks, had hairy legs and talked to herself. Oh yes, and the ear-less man she somehow couldn't remember she was friends with but later high fived. Crazy golden moments.
After Sydney, I got back into the swing of life in Ascot Vale and met a few more of Trent's friends whom I really enjoy. We have spent two evenings with Sandra and Jason who throw some fun and mellow house parties and were extremely welcoming. I turned them onto Captain Morgan and managed to carry on a complete conversation with Jason in spanish by about 3am. I still got it!
I have also spent more time trying to get out on long walks and have found a nearby park I love to adventure to. I have become addicted to anything with sweet chili sauce and have learned to love lamb meat. I received news that my college diploma had arrived in the mail back at home and my WorldTeach Ecuador acceptance packet came via email. That reality is just on the horizon and I am so excited!
Another interesting experience was learning how tomato (pronounce to-maw-toe) sauce is made Wog-style, aka in huge vats in the backyard over huge bondfires. T.'s friend J. and his family were nice enough to invite us over to watch and help make the sauce that would last them the entire year. I was also lucky enough to acquire some sauce to take home. Can't wait to show grandma Tony!
A few weeks back I had a lovely Friday afternoon attending a movie. This, however, was not your average cinema show. T. and I saw Shutter Island from the Gold Class room at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Basically a VIP theater complete with lounge chairs and food and drink service. The best part was skipping out on the gourmet fingerfood and having the waitstaff bring us candy and popcorn instead. At $30 a ticket, I am not too sure if this sort of service would fly in the states, but it was definitely a cute and special day out.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Queensland, which is the state equivalent to California or Florida. Humidity here I come! Of course, just my luck, it rained the entire time. Lucky for us, Brisbane is not completely underwater like the flooded regions of Queensland that are currently in a very bad state of affairs. Nicole met us at the airport and put us up in her lovely abode for the weekend. Waking up on a basement floor sprawled out with five of your best friends on mattresses is a pretty good gig. Especially after a late night jump in the pool fully clothed. Falling asleep drunk after making a Vegemite sandwhich made me feel like a true Aussie. Nicole was proud.
The next night we attended Patty's 21st birthday at his house. I am pretty sure 21sts here are waaaaay better than at home. When the drinking age is 18, 21 marks someone's true arrival into adulthood, and is a family affair. Patty's parents, family and many, many friends were all as lively as he is and it was truly touching listening to his lengthy birthday speeches, complete with skits and songs to roast him completely. We laughed pretty hard when many references were made to his run in with the drunken Mexicans at the Hendersonville, NC BestWestern which landed him with 11 stitches in his head. We headed out in maxi-cabs (the equivalent to a party-bus cab) to the bar called Fridays which overlooked some pretty bridge and water way I regret not learning about. I danced until I could not feel my toes and realized it was 4am and I had had the longest night out of my life. Luckily I wasn't in the state that many of the fellow party goers were in, spewing (as the Aussies like to say it) at the bar and on everyone's shoes. Really very classy. Our night concluded with making the cab stop at Mackers for breakfast and passing out on the floor once again. It was a great Camp Pinewood reunion, but I plan to go back to Queensland to actually see the famous beaches and hopefully go to some of the islands my fellow St. Petersburg expatriot Tiffani was boasting about. Definitely more adventures in store.
Back in Melbourne, it has been raining non-stop. I forgot to mention earlier that I luckily and thankfully acquired employment working for T.'s Dad's company. I am cleaning offices nightly and currently have only cleaned the Mattel building, which is a distribution center for Mattel toys. The smiling Barbie dolls on the walls somehow make cleaning the toilets more enjoyable. It's a humbling experience, going from living in a house with a cleaning lady, to being one. But I am actually really thankful for the job, the pretty decent pay, and the pleasure of being treated like family by my boss. It is also pretty good to be more active than I have been and hope to increase my arm strength as my mopping skills grow. Last night after our plane landed at 1am, I had the opportunity of learning what T. really does for work. We got a phone call at 4am from M. "The truck no function" and we were off. I had to come of course because I needed to drive. We wandered into late night downtown Melbourne in the rain and had to drive all over delivering a new worktruck to M. and eventually fixing the part that had failed. Although I was only half awake, I had a lovely three hours watching T. empty bins and clean the tram stops. At one point I had to hide from a tram driver who looked nosey. I was not allowed to be there with the workers. It was an interesting experience and I got to see how valuable the people are who really keep the city running. The secret workers of the night are what I call them. Plus I got to drive on the tram lines which is normally illegal. Sweet.
I hope you enjoyed this update. Next time I will have more substantial things to write about and with more depth. Wish you all the best.
Natalie
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