Speaking in Tongues

Laban Movement Choir

As part of the Mahler Project (a JCFA wide theme this semester, based on German art) the dance department is organizing a 1,000 person Laban Movement Choir. At a school the size of Butler, it was difficult to get a 1,000 people to participate so instead it's more like a 300-500 person choir.

The performance is this Saturday on the Butler Bowl (the football field). Over a few rehearsal sessions the participants learned the choreography and during the performance we will be moving to music and poetry.

The piece reminds me a lot of Whirl of Divine (a performance I was involved in through the Spirit and Place Festival in which we recited a Dada poem entitled Ur Sonata in collaboration with the dance department.)

If you are interested there is a short video on youtube about the movement choir. I don't think you can see me anywhere, but it gives you a taste of what the performance going to look like. Hopefully we'll get a good turn out. It should be pretty cool.

Time

I thought I had finally overcome my extreme messiness, but I just came home from an Alumni Convocation (for which we were supposed to look nice) and I realized my room is a disaster. However, I've concluded that my messiness isn't necessarily a result of laziness. At the end of the summer/beginning of the semester, my schedule was fairly light. I had spare time to clean up the messes I made along the way. Now I've got time to do my laundry. . . but it's been sitting in laundry basket, clean and unfolded, for a week.

Last week my Creative Arts professor was out of town. Instead of canceling classes (although senior-itis doesn't set in as much in college, getting to miss a 10am class is always preferred) she asked a woman to come in and talk to us about time management. Now, I consider myself to be a fairly organized person and I was already disgruntled that I wouldn't get to sleep in on a Monday morning, but I actually ended up taking a lot away from the lecture.

The lecturer asked us to fill out a chart with the amount of time we spent on various activities during the week. Did the time we spent accurately reflect our priorities? I know I spend way too much time on the computer. The other day I came on merely to check facebook and my email but ended up spending an hour looking a pictures from a photo contest about weddings. Not exactly the best use of my time. I had spent the previous two days meticulously documenting where I was spending my time. I was careful not to spend too much time on the computer, to actually spend a decent amount of time on homework and to try and get some sleep. However, by the third day I was tired of the tedious work and gave into laziness.

Although I can't spend my whole life noting how every little minute is spent, I do think I could use some more awareness. I was pleased to discover that the top three areas I spent my time in were sleep, classes and theatre. Despite my fairly balanced schedule, I still feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want. Especially since this is my last year in college, I just want to use the time to experience as much as I can. Do I really want to waste this precious time watching stupid videos on youtube? Sometimes, yes, I do need a break, but there is really so much more I could be experiencing.

My goal is to continue to monitor where I'm spending my time. I love going to bed at the end of the day or looking back on a week feeling like I was productive or that I took advantage of the opportunities presented to me.

The Rock Tour

A few weeks ago I made this video from pictures and short clips we took while on a tour in the Red Centre. Near the end of our time in Australia, Katie, Diana, Angela and I flew out to Alice Springs and joined a tour group to Uluru. We camped under the stars and did a lot of hiking. The video is a little long, around 15 mins because I originally made it as a memento for those of us who went on the trip. Eventually I'll be making another one with stuff from the entire trip.

Senior Year

This past Wednesday was the last first day of college that I will ever have. So far everything is off to a fantastic start. Already I'm way more stressed/busy than I ever was in Australia, but I still have really high spirits and I'm extremely excited for the semester.

My class schedule isn't too taxing. I'm taking five classes, although most of them aren't in my major. To fulfill an art history requirement, I'm taking a class called Perspectives in the Creative Arts. Although it's mostly about 2D and 3D art, I think it's going to be a valuable class. I think the class will help sharpen my artistic eye, which will be helpful for directing. We are even going to get to create three different projects.

The worst part of my schedule is my Astronomy class. It meets everyday and we've got a 2 hour lab once a week. Science is not my cup of tea and apparently this class is full of math. . . another not-so-strong point of mine. Luckily another senior theatre major is taking the class as well, so hopefully that will make the class a little more bearable. I am kind of excited to get to look through the telescope.

One of the coolest classes I'm taking is Video Editing. (Which reminds me, I haven't posted the link to my video yet. It should be coming soon.) I'm hoping this class will help me improve my video editing skills and help me decide if this is something I'm interested in pursuing.

My two theatre classes are Stage Movement 3 and Stage Management. Unfortunately, I might have to drop the Stage Management class because we are required to SM a show this semester and I really don't think I'm going to have the time. I was really excited for Movement because that class usually puts on a performance, but I guess we aren't going to this year. Melli always has really good classes so I'm sure it will be awesome anyway.

Katie and I finally (after 3 years!) have a class together. We are taking a Spanish class which is based on experimental/avant garde poetry/literature/music, etc. The professor is Argentinean and doesn't speak much English. I have little trouble understand her, but I have the worst time attempting to communicate myself. I'm hoping Katie will be able to help me struggle through. It's my last Spanish class I need to get the minor.

I'm also working as a Lab Assistant again. I tried to cut back on the amount of hours I'm working, but I also want to make sure I'm making some money. The job isn't bad, especially because I can do homework most of the time.

The majority of my time is going be taken up by my senior project. The cast list for the main stages go up on Monday so I'm going to hold my own auditions sometime next week. I'm a little nervous, because I'm not super confident in my directing abilities. I'm really passionate about the play though.

My living situation is still going great. We are all a little messy and since we are all so busy the place has been a bit of a disaster. Tomorrow is going to be cleaning day. Luckily my job is mowing the lawn, which I don't mind doing. We also have some new additions to our household. Amanda originally had a little bunny but had to return it because her boyfriend was allergic. She now has a little guinea pig. I decided to get two little gerbils. I haven't really named them yet, because honestly I can't tell them apart. I just call them 'my girls'.

It's going to be a crazy busy semester, as usually. I'm having a really great time meeting the new first years, reconnecting with old friends and taking advantage of all the opportunities I can.

New Beginnings

It's been a little over a month since I left Australia. The trip home went fairly well, although people got noticeably ruder once we arrived in San Francisco. It took awhile to get re-adjusted to simple things. Light switches, flushes on toilets, traffic direction. And of course I had jet lag for several days.

It was good to be home, but it quickly got boring. I was happy when I had the chance to go down to Indy for the weekend and then shortly after that we left for our family vacation to Michigan. I really love Conger family vacations. I feel really lucky that we get the opportunity to spend time with our grandparents and cousins on a fairly regular basis.

While on vacation, I got an offer for a part in an Indy Fringe show. The play is rather strange and my part is small, but I jumped at the chance to have something to do. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to move into my house until the 15th, so I've been spending the past couple of days at Jeff's house. My second day in Indy, my new MacBook Pro arrived, which has provided me with hours of entertainment. I LOVE my new computer. Of course I stayed up way too late, playing with imovie and now have a sinus infection. I hope I can get rid of it before school starts.

Tonight I was able to move into my house early. I haven't unpacked much yet, aside from kitchen items. The house is a lot older than I remembered, but it's a good size and the landlord is really nice and helpful. This year I'm living with Katie (again) and two theatre majors, Shivani and Amanda. I think (hope!) that we will all get along well.

My plan is to try and keep this blog updated throughout the year. So be sure to check back periodically. I'd like to update at least once a month and I'll probably write more often when I need to procrastinate :)

My original intent was to post the video I made. . . but for some reason the music is a little off. Once I fix that I'll post it ASAP

Final Goodbye

It's five in the morning here in Adelaide. I decided not to go to bed the night before leaving Australia so I would be good and tuckered out for the flight. I'm not sure if this was a wise decision, but I had a really good night saying goodbye to my friends. A bunch of the Drama Centre students came to Nate's apartment tonight to drink some beer, play some guitar hero and enjoy our last night together.

I feel very conflicted about this whole leaving Australia thing. On one hand I'm extremely excited for starting my senior year. (Living in our own house, directing an Aussie show, the mainstages, and other general senior excitement) It'll be good to see all my friends and family again after being away from home for so long. However, I've really grown to love Australia. It's come to feel very much like home to me. So much so that I don't even really feel like I'm leaving. I imagined that I would feel much sadder on my last day, but instead it doesn't really feel like I'm actually leaving at all but only going home for the summer vacation.

I know I've said it before, but I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible for me. It was so comforting to know I had everyone's love and support back home. Also, thank you to everyone who read along with my journey. I hope to continue this blog in the future in order to update my friends and family on my comings and goings. I am also planning on putting together a short video with pictures and video clips from the trip. I'll try and upload it here eventually.

Goodbye, Australia! I've grown so much since I landed here four and half months ago. Thank you for the wonderful memories, the beautiful sunsets and the new friends.

Goodybe, Diana!

This morning we (Katie, Angela and I) woke up early to say goodbye to our friend Diana. It was a beautiful morning and the sunrise was gorgeous. We lugged her suitcases up to uni and hopped on a bus to the airport. When we got there we all said a tearful goodbye before watching her go through security. Although I didn't get to know her as well as I would have liked, I was sad to see her go. I've had a really good time with her and Angela, especially over the last few weeks, and I look forward to seeing her again in the future. (We've already all promised to road trip to each other's uni's next year.)

After saying goodbye, the rest of us decided to go get breakfast at the nearby Ikea. We were all excited because brekky at Ikea is super cheap and we all love looking at furniture and dreaming of decorating our own houses someday. (Ok, maybe Katie wasn't as into it as Angela and I.) About half way to Ikea it started to pour. We all huddled under Angela's umbrella, while trying to shield ourselves inbetween the cars in the carpark. Once it settled down, we took off again, until I said "Good thing it only rained for 30 seconds." The words weren't even fully out of my mouth when the downpour started again.

We finally made it to Ikea, soaking wet, only to discover that they were having a blackout. They were letting people into the store and they still had food left. So we bought our delcious cheap breakfast and sat down to eat. Three minutes later and employ comes up to us and tells us we have to leave because the store is running on emergancy backup power and they had to close. So we scarfed our food down as fast as possible and went back out into the rain, all the way back to the airport where we caught the J7 bus back to Flinders. . . or so we thought.

Fourty minutes later we stop at a shopping centre and the bus driver looks at us and says that this is as far as he goes. After a minute of confusion we discover that we took the J7 bus going in the WRONG direction. So we were now about an hour and 15 mins from Flinders. Luckily the correct bus came shortly after and we headed back to Flinders in the right direction.

To put the cherry on top, I was supposed to get my hair cut today and was heaps excited. But for some reason the stylist wasn't there! I don't know if one of us got the time wrong or if something happened. Hopefully I'll get it cut tomorrow because it's been driving me crazy! It's getting too long in the back and my bangs are insane.

Looking forward to dinner and a movie night with Katie and Angela.

Pictures from the red centre!

Check out some more pictures from my trip on facebook! Be warned there are a lot!

The Outback

Tuesday, June 23

Finally finished with finals, papers and projects, Katie, Diana, Angela and I caught an early morning bus to the Adelaide airport. Between the four of us, we had one large suitcase (35lbs limit) and each person had a backpack. We arrived at the airport quite early and passed the time drinking Farmer's Union Iced Coffee and eating Pods. While we were chatting, a woman approached Katie and asked her why we had chosen Tiger Airways as our airline. (Cheap flights for poor exchange students!) She was a journalist for a newspaper and after asking us some questions, her camera man took our picture. Hopefully I will be able to find a copy of the article. The woman told us she would email us the pictures, but we haven't heard from her.

After a fairly short flight we arrived in Alice Springs, which is almost directly in the centre of Australia. We got off the plane and were greeted with fairly warm weather, compared to Adelaide's rainy chills. A shuttle bus from our hostel took us to Toddy's, where we would be spending the night. Luckily the room had only four beds, so we had it to ourselves.

We were all pretty hungry so we walked down the street to Woolies and got snacks for our trip and then found a little Italian Restaurant for dinner. Walking back we saw many Aboriginals sitting in the streets and going through garbage cans. It's really sad how their culture has been destroyed and the people have been trampled on, much like what has happened to the Native Americans. Only recently has the government been making attempts to rectify the injustice done in the past. I don't know heaps about the history, but Aboriginals were forced out of their lands and the 'half-caste' children were taken away in what is known as the 'stolen generation' in order to teach them how to be 'white.' There also was once a law that identified Aboriginals as animals and made it legal to shoot one if he/she came onto your land. Luckily, efforts are now being made to respect the Aboriginal culture.

After dinner we returned to Toddy's and had a couple of drinks at the hostel's tavern. The girls bought me drinks for my birthday and when we got back to the room we ate cupcakes at midnight. Knowing we had to wake up early, we didn't want to stay up too late. I had a terrible time trying to go to sleep and ended up just laying there for most of the night. I finally drifted off about an hour before we had to wake up at five.

Just after midnight!

Wednesday, June 24

I started my birthday with a freezing cold shower, which was helpful in waking me up. At 6am we got on the tour bus and were introduced to our tour guide, Ryan. Everyone got up and said a little bit about themselves. There were about 20 of us, several people from China, one from Scotland, a couple of Aussies, some Germans, a Mexican and someone from Brazil. Almost everyone was leaving Australia within the next two weeks. A lot of the group had been studying abroad in Australia but a couple had just been traveling around.

We had a pretty long drive to our first destination so everyone mostly slept. Around lunch time we arrived at Kings Canyon, where we ate lunch. Our adventuring started with a three hour hike through the sandstone domes of the canyon. We hiked up 'heart attack' hill and I immediately regretted only bringing one pair of jeans. It was surprisingly hot, but at least it wasn't cold and rainy!
After climbing Heart Attack Hill

The hike took us around the canyons and gorges, presenting us with spectacular views. The scenery reminded me a lot of the hike my family took over the volcano in Hawaii. Only this time everything was red. The middle of Australia is called the 'red centre' because all the dirt is a beautiful deep red color. Our group moved along pretty slowly because everyone kept stopping to take pictures. Luckily we had time to go to the Garden of Eden, which was a murky pool of water.

Kings Canyon

After the hike, we all got back in the bus and drove for several more hours to our camp site. On the way we stopped to pick up some firewood. The tree branches we were gathering were poisonous so we had to be careful not to get any splinters. Later, we made a stop for a last opportunity to use flushable toilets and to buy some alcohol. Katie and I decided to split a six-pack of Coopers (A South Australian beer we like a lot).

At the camp site, Ryan started a fire and began cooking food for us (rice, veggies and meat). Everyone sat around the fire and chatted while we waited. I thought it was going to be freezing cold, but the weather was surprisingly pleasant. We had to bundle up, but it wasn't uncomfortable. After eating dinner, a group of Aussie girls brought out a piece of cake they had bought for me at the last stop and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was really sweet of them!

Diana and Angela sitting around the camp fire

It was pretty late by this time so everyone started getting ready for bed. I had drank two beers and really had to pee. Unfortunately, my only option was to go in the woods. Katie and I walked away from the camp site and squatted behind some bushes. It was heaps more difficult than I realized. I don't think I was doing it right, because I ended up just taking my pants completely off. Luckily it was pitch black dark!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to sleep under the stars at night. Everyone was provided with a swag and a sleeping bag. A swag is kind of like a sleeping bag. I think it's made of canvas and it's got a cushion on the bottom. You can pull the head flap over and make it into a mini tent, but I preferred the open air. I was surprisingly warm all night and moderately comfortable. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy out, but everyone once and awhile the stars would shine through. I slept soundly and didn't wake up until 5am when it was time to start getting ready to leave.

Sleeping in our swags under the stars!

Although I was a little disappointed I couldn't celebrate my birthday in the proper turning 21 fashion, getting to sleep under the stars, hike through canyons and even pee in the woods for the first time all made for a memorable birthday.

Thursday, June 25

Thursday morning disaster struck. Everyone was rolling up their swags and sleeping bags and eating some brekky. Diana had just walked towards the fire with her swag and got into a minor entanglement with a little tree that was near our sleeping spot. I had started to roll up my swag when Angela suddenly tripped over the tree herself, not having seen Diana do the same. I look over and Angela's left leg is stuck in the branches of the tree and she's sprawled out like superman on the ground. Her pants were caught, so I went over to help untangle her. We rolled up the leg of her pants and discovered a huge gash on her shin. Seeing the deep wound freaked her out and I ran over to find Ryan. We had to carry her over to the fire and Ryan cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. I was really impressed with how brave Angela was handling her injury because I probably would have passed out!

Everyone cleaned up the camp site quickly so we could get Angela to a doctor (the nearest hospital was about an hour away). However, it turns out the hospital didn't open until 9am so we drove to our next camp site and put Angela in a swag on a table. Ryan took the rest of us to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and went back to get Angela and take her to the hospital.

The Cultural Centre was interesting but lacked detailed information. In the Aboriginal culture, only some things can be disclosed to the public. There are things that only men can know about, things for just the women and stuff that the children get to learn. Unlike our society where everyone gets to learn and we pay to get an education, an Aboriginal must prove him/herself worthy before becoming initiated. The Centre gave a little bit of information about the various sacred sites at Uluru (Ayer's Rock). We got to hear the 'creation' stories about the different features on the rock. However, we didn't get to learn about what sort of rituals happen at the spots. The Aboriginals strongly discourage people from climbing the rock because the spot where tourists climb is considered a very sacred site. Originally the government came in and took control over Uluru and kicked out the Aboriginals. Recently a contract was made giving the rights back to the Aboriginals. However, it came with the requirement that they lease land back to the government for 99 years and that the climb stays open. The contract is renewed every five years and people are hoping that the climb will soon be closed permanently.

After a couple of hours, Ryan returned with Angela. Turns out she needed to get six stiches! She seemed to be doing well, but was sad because she wouldn't be allowed to go on any of the upcoming hikes with us because she had to keep the weight off her leg. We all ate lunch and then drove to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). We all felt really sad to leave Angela alone in the bus.

Standing in front of Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta is similar to Uluru, but instead of just one giant monolith there are 36 different domes. Our hike led us through the domes and into the Valley of the Winds. This was another one of my favorite parts of the trip. The scenery was beautiful and the hike was really fun and interesting. Ryan didn't have a lot of information about Kata Tjuta because it's such a sacred place for the Aboriginals that they do not disclose any information. About half way through the hike the domes suddenly opened up on a breath-taking view. The group decided to carry on without Ryan (who turned around at this point) and hike down the valley. The weather was beautiful and the sun hitting the rocks was gorgeous. We were supposed to have done the hike first thing in the morning, but due to Angela's injury we went to the Centre first. This worked out in our favor because it had rained all morning and the other tour group got soaking wet.

Gorgeous view on our hike through Kata Tjuta

Picture we took for Angela on our hike

When we got back to the bus, we headed towards Uluru to watch the sunset. At first we thought it wouldn't be a very good one because it was very cloudy and the sun wasn't able to hit the rocks. It was slightly sprinkling and suddenly a double rainbow appeared right over Uluru. At one point the sun peaked through the clouds and the effect was beautiful!

Sunset over Uluru

Once it got back we returned to our camp site. This time we had access to showers and real toliets! We showered up and then enjoyed the camp fire. The other tour group (from the same company) was also spending the night in the same area. One of the guys was very loud and outgoing. We immediate thought he was from Texas because of his accent, but it turns out he is from Canada. He has been traveling around the world and said he has drunk beer in 20 different countries! We toasted some marshmellows, but couldn't make any s'mores because they don't have grahm crackers in Australia! I guess s'mores aren't a camp tradition in Australia.

Tonight the sky was clear and we could see heaps of stars. It was a little bit colder, but I wasn't overly uncomfortable. I wasn't too happy when I had to get up in the morning, though. It was much colder and I was pretty tired.

Friday, June 26

Our last day of the tour! The day started as we watched the sun rise over Uluru. It wasn't nearly as spectcular as the sunset, but still amazing. Next we drove to Uluru and got to hike around the base of the rock. Once again we had to leave Angela behind. The path was flat and fairly easy, but it was about a two hour trek and she didn't want to risk ripping open her stiches and getting an infection.

Posing in front of Uluru

Tourist shot! Some of the sacred sites were very similiar to this

We couldn't take pictures at various spots around the rock because they are sacred sites for the Aboriginals. The walk itself wasn't overly interesting; however, I had a really good time talking with Diana and Katie. When we got back around to the beginning we saw heaps of people climbing the rock. I was rather conflicted about whether or not I would have climbed it. (No one else in our group climbed the rock and it wasn't really an option for us because we were dropped off at a different point on the base walk.) Part of me would really like to experience the climb. I'm sure it would be gorgeous and bring personal satisfation and enjoyment. However, I would want to respect the wishes of the Aboriginals. Climbing the rock would be disrespectful. Also, it looks heaps dangerous. There is just a small railing and the climb is extremely steep. Many people have slipped and died.

The steep climb up Uluru

The hike was the last main part of our tour. We got back on the bus and drove several hours back to Alice Springs. At first I kept falling alseep and would wake up uncomfortable and grumpy whenever we reached a stop. After lunch I decided to stay awake and chatted with Katie, which helped heaps. About an hour before reaching Alice Springs we stopped at a camel farm and got to ride camels around a little padock. It wasn't as cool as riding the camel in Israel, but this time the camel trotted a bit, which was exciting.

Once we got back to Toddy's we all had a chance to clean up and then meet for dinner at the tavern. During dinner I got to talk to Sky, an Aussie from Sydney. She is a drama teacher and is very involved in theatre. She was telling me that while it's extremely hard to produce a play in Sydney, the people in Darwin are really interested in hiring people to direct and produce plays. I have her contact information and if I ever return to Australia, she would be a great contact to get myself started.

After dinner a bunch of us headed over to Ryan's house because he was having a party for his birthday, which was on the 27th. Katie wasn't feeling very good so she didn't come and passed out at the hostel. Angela, Diana and I ended up staying until about five in the morning. We had a fun/crazy time which made for a nice ending to the trip. It was really cool getting to hang out with everyone one last time before flying back to Adelaide.

The bus ride on the way to Ryan's birthday party

Saturday, June 27

We woke up early and sadly packed up all our stuff. Everyone was really sad to be leaving, especially because it made leaving Australia seem even closer. Diana is leaving on Tuesday and Katie and I only have two more weeks. (Angela is staying another semester, the lucky girl!) We arrived really early at the airport and spent the time laughing about the night before and talking about favorite memories from the trip. Before we knew it we were back in Adelaide. We all ate dinner together and looked through all the pictures from the trip. I was so exhausted I ended up falling asleep in my clothes, with my lights still on.

I'm so glad that I got to go on this trip with the girls. It was really nice to get to see a different part of Australia (the semi-arid desert) and to have so many cool experiences. I think in total we hiked about 20 miles. It was really inspiring to meet so many people who love traveling and are spending time to just explore the world. I've been reflecting a lot on what I want to do with my life, especially once I graduate. In America it seems like there is so much pressure to get a good job, make heaps of money and provide for your family. I think I'm really fortunante that in my career I have a little more wiggle room to go where ever I want and experience as much as possible. Traveling is something that is important to me. I think I want to do my best to save up money and stop buying so much useless crap so I can spend the money on doing some traveling before I need to settle down. Ryan, our tour guide, only gets about one or two days off a week. He lives in a little converted garage and has hardly any material possesions. He is saving up his money so that he can travel around the world in a year. I think this is really inspiring. I am going to continue to do some self reflecting. I want to figure out what really is important to me and what I want to do with my life. I don't want to be at the end of my life and regret not truly experiecing life because I was too worried about making money and climbing the ladder.

It's rough

Jeff left for America today. I'm sad to see him go, because we had a really great time together. It's also hard because it makes going home seem so real and I'm just not ready yet. I have loved Australia so much and this experience has done so many wonderful things for me. I'm afraid to go back home because I'm worried that I will lose the feeling of being free again. I've been so happy here and I don't want to ever forget the memories I've had. I hate the thought that over time, they will fade. I hate forgetting. I really hope I get a chance to come back some day, although I know it won't be the same.

One more month

I can't believe I only have four more weeks left! I am getting fairly excited for things that are going to be happening back home (classes, shows, moving into a house, etc), but I get sad whenever I think about leaving Australia. I don't know when I'm going to have a chance to come back, although I hope I can someday.

It's been awhile since I last wrote! Class have offical ended. Today I took my final test in my screen studies class. Unfortenently, I don't think I did all that well. It's a lot harder to get motivated to study when I know my grades are only pass/fail and won't even effect my GPA. I know I'll get back to studying like crazy next semester. I think I got fairly high marks in my performance classes and I got good feedback in my interviews. My professors all said I need to let the audience in more and let the other actors effect my actions. Something I will try to take into account in the future.

Third Year class after our Stand-up Night

Last week was our stand-up comedy performance. I actually have a copy of it on DVD if anyone is interested. I was first and extremely nervous but I think it went pretty well. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the show. I was surprised how many people showed up, we had at least 80!

Rehearsal for my stand-up routine

The following week was pretty quiet. I mostly sleep a lot, watched t.v. and had a Lord of the Rings movie marathon with Jeff, Nate and Ken. On Wednesday, a bunch of us went to a dance club in the city called HQ. Wednesday's are themed nights called Flashdance because they play a lot of 80's and 90's music, which of course is right up my alley. Our friend Carissa had a goodbye party for us because Jeff is leaving in a week.

On stage at Flashdance

On Saturday Katie, Diana and I were treated to a surprise party by Angela. She has been planning it for ages and kept everything a big secret. At 7pm I went over to their apartment and we all got dressed up. We had to stay locked in Katie's room while Angela prepared everything. Her surprise was chocolate fondue! She had cut up different types of fruit as well as found our favorite kinds of candy. She made little oreo cheesecakes and a peach champagn drink. It was all extremely delicious. Afterwards we went back to HQ and danced so much we couldn't hardly walk.

In a week the four of us are going to be leaving for Alice Springs. We are taking a tour to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and will be camping in the outback. I'm sure it's going to be freezing, but I'm pretty excited!

Netball, Wine and Comedy

Last week, when I was working out at the gym, I was watching what I thought was a wimpy version of basketball on t.v. The baskets were much lower and whenever someone would go up to shoot, the other team would just stand there with their hands up in the air, seemingly not making much of an effort. The game is actually called netball and although it wasn't very exciting to watch, it's pretty fun to play.

Several people in Drama Centre have formed a team that plays against other Flinders students every week in a social tournament. The other night they were short on players so they asked Jeff, Nate and I if we wanted to play. Seeing as we didn't even know the rules before we started playing, we got crushed pretty badly. I played wing defense, which meant I got to run around after this really tall girl trying to stop her from getting the ball. The one time I finally got my hands on the ball I got so excited I jumped up and down. . . which is illegal. Once you've got the ball you can't take any steps.

Everyone was really nice and the refs kept trying to explain the game and rules to use. The girl I was defending tried to help me from doing illegal stuff. (Haha, At least I think she wasn't feeding me false information!) I don't know if they are going to let us play on their team again.

Last Friday I went to the gym to do a little bit of exercise. Turns out they were doing a photo shoot of some kind and my friend Ken asked if I wanted to be in it. Despite the fact that I had just been working out and was pretty gross and sweaty, I wasn't about to turn down an opportunity! Myself and a few other people had our pictures taken in the cafe, on the bikes, on the treadmills and in the weight room. In a couple of the pictures I was in a pretty prominent position. I guess the photos are for an international brochure they are putting together. I think they will be available online, so when I find them, I'll post the link here!

On Saturday, Jeff and I went on a Wine tour with the International Student Services in the Barossa Valley. I thought we were going to get a tour of the wineries but we only got to sample wine. One of my favorites was an apricot desert wine and a Shiraz Rose wine. I think we went to 4 wineries in total. We also go to see a giant tree that a man lived in for FIVE YEARS with his wife and three kids. We stopped at a toy factory with a giant rocking horse. (Apparently South Australia is he home for giant things, I think they also have a crawfish.)

View of Barossa Valley

Our last stop was at a place called the Whispering Wall. It is a dam that was built in such a way that you can hear someone talking to you from the complete opposite side as if they were standing right next to you. It was really cool because you could hear your voice traveling around the edge of the dam if you talked loudly enough.

Whispering Wall

That night I went to the Casino for the first time with Jeff and Felix. I ended up loosing $20 pretty quickly at a game called Casino Wars. At one point I was up $5, but that didn't last too long. I had fun, but loosing money that quickly really isn't something I'm too interested in.


Last night the third years all went out to a comedy club called The Rhino Room. We are going to be putting on a stand-up comedy show on June 2 and our professor wanted us to have a chance to see some live stand-up. We went out for dinner first and I accidentally ordered meat tortellini. Which I decided to eat anyway. It was pretty gross so I think my recent cravings for meat have been cured. I was hoping I could make it a whole year without eating any meat at all, but I think I've done pretty well. The show ended up being pretty good. It was an open mic night and most of the comedians were either first-timers or established comedians trying out new material. I'm not really a huge fan of stand-up comedy, but it's growing on me.

It's crazy, but next week is our last week of classes! I feel like time has just flown by so quickly

Happy Mother's Day and Thank you!

First of all I want to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom, grandma's and aunts. I love you all very much! Thanks for all the advice, little letters, hugs and kisses you've given me over the years. I know I can be an ungrateful pest at times, but I really do appreciate all you've done for me. Also, Happy Mother's Day to all the other mother's out there who have been reading this.

I'd also like to take the time to thank everyone who made this trip possible for me. Especially, my parents. Sending your child to a private school and then half way across the world can get pretty expensive. Also booting her off across the world for five months to study the oh so stable art of film and theatre is no easy feat. Thank you for being so supportive of me and my artistic dreams. (I'll be sure to remember you all when I'm famous!) I've loved every single moment here in Australia. I've had some great new experiences, made new friends, seen beautiful sights, gained a lot of confidence, and learned heaps about myself.

In other news, I've been pretty busy with school. We are working with a woman from Canada on Shakespeare in one of my classes. It's been going really well and I've renewed my appreciation for Shakespeare. The professor is really good at helping us understand the language and I've been reading of Merchant of Venice on my own and I was surprised at how much I was able to grasp.

In my Film Form and Analysis class, we broke into groups and edited some basic footage together. I did most of the work in my group (the others aren't really interested in film and are only taking the class as an elective) and we made a music video out of the clips. I wasn't that happy with the finished product but everyone in our tutorial seemed to like it, which was encouraging. I still haven't given up the idea of editing and I'm considering making a short film for my senior project.

Over half way done! I've got four more weeks of classes and then a month off to travel and enjoy Australia. I hope everyone is doing well at home.

Happy Mother's Day!

Holidays

Today is my first day back at Uni since my two week break. The weather has been a little bit foul lately and today it poured for the first time since I've been here. Of course today is the day I hung my laundry out to dry on our back patio. I'm not sure if being rained upon is really going to make them any cleaner, but they certainly aren't getting any drier.

I spent the first week of the holidays partying and hanging out in Adelaide. Katie turned 22 on April 17th so a bunch of us went into the city to go dancing. Unfortunately Thursday isn't a very big night downtown so we ended up back at a bar near Flinders. Despite our lack of success finding an open club we had a good time dancing at the bar and eating homemade cheesecake. The next night I celebrated my friend Tara's birthday at a hotel on the beach. We ended up staying awake all night long dancing, star gazing and relaxing in the hot tub/sauna.

Me with Katie, Tara and Cameron (All who had birthday's that weekend)

On Wednesday of the second week Katie, her roommates (Angela, Diana, and Cameron) and I woke up at five in the morning to catch a 10 hr train to Melbourne. Jeff and Nate decided to fly and met us in the city later that night. The train was really spacious and pretty comfortable. Katie and I packed enough food to feed everyone on that train and I ended up sleeping for almost the whole trip.

Traveling across South Australia into Victoria. Lots of brown and flat lands.

While we were in Melbourne we stayed at one of the hostels in the city. I had never stayed in a hostel before and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The girls in our room weren't very friendly but the place was fairly clean and there was a rooftop patio which had a spectacular view of the skyline. Melbourne reminded me a lot of Chicago, but it was much cleaner and more open. We saw a lot of really interesting architecture and walked through some gardens.

We woke up early Thursday morning and spent heaps of money at the Victoria Market. I got almost all of my souvenir and gift shopping done. That afternoon Katie, Jeff, Nate and I went on a tour of Carlton Brew House. We got to walk through the buildings where they make the beer and then watch the bottling process. This Brewery churns out over 2 million liters of beer a day (At least, I'm pretty sure that's what she said). They provide the majority of the beer for the southern half of Australia. Afterwards we got to sample four different kinds of beer. Carlton Mid, Fosters (which isn't very popular in Australia), Carlton Black and Pure Blonde. I had never really realized how different the different kinds of beer taste before.

Nate, Jeff and Katie on round one

On Friday we decided to wander around the city and ended up in the Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately, because it's approaching winter the gardens weren't in full bloom. We did visit the Shrine of Remembrance, which honors all the Victorian people who have served in the forces. A kind old man helped explain a bunch of Australian history and gave us a mini tour of the shrine.

Katie and I at the top of the Shrine of Remembrance with the skyline of Melbourne behind us.

While we were on the tram, on our way to lunch, a woman asked us where in the US we were from. She had heard our American accents and said she was from Ohio. We chatted for a bit and then we asked if she knew any place good for lunch. She immediately responded enthusiastically, saying she was on her way to meet her husband for lunch at an Irish pub and asked us to join her. She ended up paying for all of our meals and we all had a really good time. Terry and her husband Jeff (who is English) work for rival engineering company's and have only been in Australia for a couple of years. Their jobs had them traveling all over the world, such as Abu Dhabi.

Saturday morning we woke up early and got on a bus to drive down the Great Ocean Road. The weather was terrible, but it didn't dampen our enthusiasm or hinder our experience. The tour ended up being really great and the scenery we saw was beautiful. The Great Ocean Road was built after one of the World Wars to give jobs to the returning soldiers. The government has tried to keep it as underdeveloped as possible so real estate is not only limited but extremely expensive. (Between $5-7 million) There aren't any gift shops or hokey tourist attractions along the way. The road main follows the coast, but also goes through some jungle areas. We took a bare foot walk through the jungle and saw kolas sleeping high up in the trees.

The start of the Great Ocean Road. Katie, me, Jeff and Nate

We also stopped at a couple of famous places such as the Twelve Apostles and the London Bridge. Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs and we were all drenched.

Katie and I at the Twelve Apostles before the rain really started to come down.

The next morning we went for about a three mile walk up a huge rocky mountain to the very top. It was one of the highlights of the trip. The view from the top was gorgeous and the climb was interesting, if not a little dangerous due to the slippery rocks. Finally we stoped at some waterfalls and everyone sat down and put their bare feet in the freeing waters.

Later I climbed up on the that big rock to my left.

I have heaps more pictures but I'm getting pretty tired and I'm running out of battery. Hopefully tomorrow I'll provide a link to the rest of the pictures I took. (My cameras both died during the trip so most of the pictures are on Katie's camera, we took over 700!) Hopefully now that uni is starting back up I'll post more often and about my classes. Good luck to everyone who is approaching finals!!

Check out the pictures I took here and here. (These are just the ones from my camera. Katie should be posting her soon and I'll link them as well.)

Happy Easter!

Cleaning up after dinner

Yesterday, for Easter, Katie and her roommates invited me over for an Easter dinner. I was extremely proud of us because we actually pulled together a very nice meal. We had ham, broccoli cassarole, mashed potatoes and deviled eggs. It was all really delicious. Our mothers have taught us well!

Since the holidays have started we've all been taking it pretty easy. On Thursday we went to a party with the Drama Centre crowd and had a really great time. On Saturday we went over a to a friend's house and hung out in his hot tub.

I'm trying to organize a trip down to Barossa Valley, where they make wine. I'm also hoping to make it into the city again sometime this week.

I hope everyone had a great Easter! It was weird not being at home.

Funny Girl

Just two more days until the holidays!! I've only got a vocal warmup tomorrow morning and then my clowning class until 1:00 and I am home free. It's hard to believe we already have a break because it feels like we just got started!

My classes have been going really great. In acro yesterday I actually stood up on someone's sholders! It was terrifying and I wanted to come down but they made me stand up and put my hands on my hips. I had forgotten how much I hate wobbly heights. I'm getting better at my handstand, though. I can almost do one without using a wall.

For the past two weeks we have been learning about clowing from a man named Andrew. Although stand-up comedy is a lot more exhausting and scarier, I like it better than clowning. It's not really my kind of humor. Tomorrow we are putting on a show for the fourth years. I'm wearing a HUGE yellow shirt, bright green shorts, pink tights and pink leg warmers. Also a red nose. For the first part of the showing I am one of the ushers. We are going to make everyone shuffle around in their seats blow whistles at them for being too loud and pretend that one of them is a reviewer so we'll suck up to them a lot. For the next sequence I play the innocent/lower status clown who doesn't understand that her boss wants her to move a table. We go back and forth with her pointing to where she wants the table to me mimicing her actions. Finally she moves the table herself and I move it back. I'm very proud of myself :) We also run around with a sheet on our heads thinking the other one is a ghost. Silliness.

Clowning is actually pretty hard. I don't really get it. Clowns get into a lot of stupidness and my brain stubbornly remains too attached and logical. I think I'm better at stand-up. Last week we had an extra session. We each performed a bit about something tabboo. I talked about my experiences with being a minister's daughter. I think I'm going to expand on the bit for my five mintue routine that we'll be presenting in a few weeks. Anyone got any good stories?

Yesterday during my Video Tech class I asked one of the professors what he knew about film editing. He said that he would be willing to teach me some stuff about the programs editors use. I did a lot of research later that night and I'm really excited to learn more. I am going to be takinga video editing class next semester so hopefully I'll be able to figure out if it's something I want to pursue.

In my Video Tech class we would watch a scene from a TV show called Neighbors (Australia's soap opera) and then recreate the scene with the equipment in the studio. I've had a chance to run a camera, act, and be floor manager. We also did a "free-style" recording where we through out the cuts in the script and I got to "edit" the scene on the fly. It was hard because it was pretty fast paced and I only had a chance to run through the scene once, but it turned out pretty good.

After class I went to the movies with Jeff, Nate and some other friends. We saw Gran Torino, which I didn't think I would like very much but was pleasantly surprised.

Tomorrow the Drama Centre is having a First Year/Fourth Year party and we've been invited as honorary first years. It'll be fun to hang out with them outside of class. Last weekend we went to our friend Sara's birthday party. Jeff drove and we got lost about three times. Streets aren't always marked very clearly. It took us about two hours to get there. . . she only lives about 45 mins away.

Happy Easter everyone!

Enjoying Australia

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile. I've been amassing things to write about since I've been pretty busy with classes. If you aren't too busy with work or school feel free to write me and email or comment! I love hearing how everyone at home is doing.

Last week I went into the city and stopped at Hungry Jacks for dinner. When Burger King first came to Australia they couldn't get the rights to the name for some reason so they changed it to Hungry Jacks. I wasn't planning on getting anything but it turns out they have veggie burgers! Sometimes being a vegetarian can get kind of boring when you cook your own food and are trying to save money so it was nice to have something different. Australia is actually pretty vegetarian friendly. The other day we went to the Village's Path Party and they had some really delicious veggie burgers with melty cheese inside.

For the past two weeks my "acting" class has been focusing on big voice and comedy. Two days a week we worked with our professor, Caleb, on stand up and sketch comedy. Comedy is super nerve-wrecking and requires a suprising amount of energy. Sketch comedy is alot easier because we mostly worked on improv exercises, but stand-up is terrifying! The first day we had to get up in front of the class and tell an embarrasing story. (Lindsey, it was the "Getting a penny are we?" story) It's exhilerating when everyone laughs but awful when all you hear is silence. I was surprised at how well everyone in our class did. Apprently I have a dry humor persona.

I've been trying to read as many Australian plays as I can get my hands on. For the most part I haven't found anything that really interested me but the other day I read a play called Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell that I really loved. It told the story of two couples who cheat (or almost cheat) on each other with a person from the pair. The four actors change parts for each of the three sections and the story builds and twists.

I've also managed to aquire about 100 songs from various Australian artists. Most of it is really good. If you are interested and can find it check out Missy Higgins, The Living End, and The Presets.

The other day I got an email from John Green, the head of the theatre department at Butler, saying that he would be leaving at the end of this semester. I'm disapointed that he won't be at Butler for our last semester but I think it will be good to work with someone else as well. In a couple of days I have to start deciding what classes I want to take next year. I also want to look into various types of interships. I'd love to get an internship that would let me work with film editing but I don't know if there is anything available in Indy. Otherwise I think I'd like to do a stage managing or acting internship.

This past weekend I went to the beach and didn't burn! We went pretty late in the afternoon so the sun wasn't as hot. I was hoping to even out the awful streaks I've got on my right leg but to no avail. Later that night we went into the city with some of Jeff's roommates and went clubing. One of the clubs has a night called "Flashdance" and only plays music from the 80's and 90's, so I can grantee that we'll be going there soon.

Just two more weeks until my mid-semester break! We are still getting plans finalize but we will be spending some of it at Melbourne. This week in my acting class we are working on clowning. I'm not sure what that is going to entail but it sounds like it'll be fun.

Don't forget to leave me a comment or write me an email! I wanna hear from you guys :)

Getting an Education

My butt is sore and my neck hurts but I absolutely love my classes! There is a lovely feeling of security that I get from knowing I'll only be here for a semester. I can relax and not become so consumed with grades and judgment and trying to work towards a goal that will mark me as a "better person." Instead I can simply enjoy my classes, try to hold nothing back, make mistakes. No pressure. I think in the end I'll get more out of the experience than if I was trying super hard to succeed, to get the A+++, to have the most credit hours, to cross the most things off my list. It's very freeing.

Monday mornings I have my Film Form & Analysis lecture. This week was all about editing, which I found fascinating. I never really realized how movies were filmed and cut together or things like the process of continuity. I'd really like to learn more about editing and possibly get a chance to edit some film on my own. (We will be doing a group project that involves editing together stock footage). I think if I don't go into acting, film editing would be my second choice. I think I would be good at it because it sounds like it would be something that's a little bit tedious (which I actually enjoy doing) and would allow for some creativity but would also have the guidance of the directors vision.

In the afternoon I've got my tutorial for the Film class. The professor (teacher's assistant, maybe? Not sure what the term should be.) seems a little intense and highly efficient. It's a fairly large group, but the people seemed intelligent and interesting.

The source of my intensely sore muscles comes from the acrobatics class I have on Tuesday mornings. Everyone in Drama Centre is split into two groups (First and Second Years/ Third and Forth Years) for movement three days a week. For an hour and fifteen minutes we wrestled, jumped, tumbled, cartwheeled, attempted funky backwards rolls, and did a couple of simple lifts. It felt good to be doing something physical again. I'm looking forward to the daily dose of extra exercise. I'm hoping to be able to leave the class being able to do a handstand and a round off.

This morning we had a dance class in the place of acro. I'm excited about this class because I'm a crap dancer and I'm hoping this will help me get better and faster at picking up dance routines. I joined the First/Second Year group today but I think I'd rather be with the Advanced group. I handled the first group pretty easily and I'd like to be able to challenge myself. Today we did basic contemporary like movement. Nothing too difficult. I only had trouble because I was near the back of the large group and sometimes had trouble seeing.

Fridays we get Yoga, which I'm super excited about because I love Yoga. I'm terribly lacking in flexibility and I'm hoping consistent practice will help loosing up my hamstrings a little.
For our "acting" class Jeff, Nate, and I were placed with the third years in the comedy/clowning class. We'll be doing 2 weeks of stand-up comedy and 2 weeks of clowning. I'm not sure what that's going to consist of exactly (I think we'll be putting on a performance during the break) because for the past two days we've been working with a woman on what they called "Big Voice." Basically she is working on helping us with our projection.

Flinders uses a different voice system than we learned at Butler so it's tricky trying to learn the new warm-up exercises and trying to understand the vocabulary they use. Some of the methods are really different from what we taught, but I think I really like their system. Today we had to perform a small monologue we prepared and after working it with the professor for a while I had an awesome break through. I think a lot of what I was saying at the top came into play during the class. I was less nervous because I wasn't putting as much pressure on myself. I was able to commit and go big. It was a really good feeling.

We've also been placed into a first year class called Video Tech. We will be working in the TV studio learning how to handle the cameras, boom and operating boards. I'm really looking forward to this class because we don't get anything like it at Butler (as theatre majors). I think it will correspond nicely with my Film class by letting me have a little bit of hands on experience.
It feels really good to be busy and in classes again. I was starting to get a little bored and homesick but today I was thinking about how sad I'll be when I have to leave Australia. I am going to learn so much and have so many awesome experiences in my classes. Sometimes I worry that I was foolish to pick theatre as a career but after class I can't stop smiling and giggling to myself. I may be exhausted and sore but I've got high spirits.

Pub Crawling

On a less educational note, last weekend I went on a pub crawl with the DJ Village and had a blast. I got to meet several new people and got to dance and party in the city. At the end of the night the bus took us to McDonald's (which they call Mackers here) and we walked through the Drive-Thru (I guess this is common here as well). Last night I was back in the city, at the Garden, celebrating the birthday of Carissa. (A third year at Drama Centre)

Katie and I are talking about going to see a Fringe show this weekend and I'd like to go back to the beach before it starts getting cold. I hope everyone had good spring breaks (or will have good spring breaks).

Recovery Breakfast after the Pub Crawl (Diana, Angela, Cameron, Katie)

Surprising Tastes

I really love to grocery shop. I'm not sure why, but I think it's really fun. Probably because I get to make a list. Grocery shopping is even more fun in Australia because the brands are all different. Things like mustard are hard to find and they are classified as "American Mustard". The other day I saw a box of pop tarts at a lolly shop for $9.95. At our last shopping trip I bought a can of peas and the other night Katie cooked up some Mac & Cheese and I heated up the peas. . . not the same as American food. I mean canned peas and Macaroni are not a delicacy to begin with but these peas were large and mushy and the Mac was tasteless.

My most unpleasant experience with Australian food happened on my second day. The DJ Village (the housing complex where I'm living) was hosting a breakfast for all the people who had just moved in. They had bagels and a bunch of different spreads out: Butter, cream cheese and a bowl of something dark that looked like Nutella. Thinking it was this really good (but terrible for you) hazelnut spread, I heaped it onto my bagel. I was expecting something sweet and chocolaty and instead was shocked with the bitter, salty taste of Vegemite. Vegemite is popular among most Australians and is something that will put hairs on your chest. It's made from yeast extract and is not something I will be trying again in the future. I guess you are supposed to spread it on sparingly. It is a taste you have to acquire.

Not all the food has been bad though. I've had some really good (but greasy) fish and chips as well as some extremely delicious ice cream. I found out that if you want a milkshake, you have to order a thick shake. Otherwise you are basically getting strawberry milk. I have yet to sample any kangaroo meat, but Jeff and Nate bought some and were going to make tacos out of it. I'm thinking about breaking my vegetarian diet to sample it.

Monday was the Adelaide Cup so a bunch of us went down to the beach for the day. Despite my application of sunscreen I managed to get pretty toasted. Australia has a hole in the ozone layer apparently. On our way back to the apartments, as we were crossing the bridge between the main campus and the housing village, we saw two guys rigging up some ropes onto the bridge. One of the guys was standing on the other side and was about to bungie off. We stopped to watch and take pictures and then the guys offered us a turn. I'm terrified of heights and knew even thinking about it too hard would give me a heart attack so I quickly declined. But to everyone's surprise Nate immediately accepted. At first they were just going to lower him down on the rope, but he decided to go ahead and swing off like the first guy did. It was pretty awesome and we got some great video.

Vacation Time

From my view in the library right now, I can see a baseball game going on, a ton of trees, the skyline of Adelaide, and a deep blue ocean. I love walking to school and being able to see the water. Too far to see the beach or anything like that, but it's still a gorgeous view.

Class started last Monday but until the 16th my schedule is extremely light. On Monday I had my Film Form and Analysis lecture. I thought the class was going to be about learning how to use a camera, edit films, etc. However, it's more of a discussion based class about the elements of film. I wasn't sure if I was going to stay in the class but I think it's going to be really interesting. The class isn't going to teach me the hands-on practical knowledge that I'm most excited about learning, but it will help me understand the thought process behind making films. It will give me a creative vocabulary and an understanding of film structure. The class consists of a 3 hour lecture/film screening on Mondays and then an hour long tutorial. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the tutorial, but I think it's basically a small discussion group.

I didn't have another class until Friday. On Fridays I've got Contemporary Australian Drama with Nate, Jeff and the fourth year drama students. It's a fairly small sized class and should be really interesting. The classroom itself opens to a courtyard so when it's warm out we can have the door open and enjoy some sun. I really like the way the class is set up because I think it takes into account various learning styles and doesn't seem like one of those plug and chug kind of things. Every person is assigned one play to research and one play to direct a one hour rehearsal. We are required to give a presentation on the play we research and then write a short paper. At the end we will write a longer paper about any three plays we wish (of the ones covered in class). It's a nice system because you are able to read as much or as little as you like and you can choose to read plays that interest you. I plan on reading as many of them as I have time for. The library has most of the plays on our list along with a ton more. I think it would be beneficial to have read a plethora of Australian plays because it will give me an interesting pool to draw from when and if I decide to direct something someday. I'm hoping to maybe find something to direct in my senior year.


Downtown Adelaide

Yesterday Diane, Angela, Katie and I went into the city to see the South Australia Museum. It was pretty small and not one of the better museum's I've been to. The part about the Aboriginal culture was interesting, but vague. They also had some stuffed animals, but they weren't nearly as nice or as plentiful as the ones in the Field Museum.


Katie kissing a llama.

After the Museum we walked around Rundle Mall for awhile and then ate dinner at a little cafe/restaurant. Most of the restaurants on Rundle Street didn't open their kitchens until 5:30. The system for ordering food is also different. Instead of having a waitress you order your food at the counter. Someone will bring you food and fill your drinks, but it's not as personable. I think this practice is pretty common at most restaurants in Australia. You also aren't required to tip the servers because they get decent pay.

Tomorrow is the Adelaide Cup Day (which I think is a horse race) so we don't have any classes. I think we are going to go to the beach and enjoy the sun and warm weather. Once my other classes start I'll let you know more about them. I don't have class again until Friday so I'm hoping to use this week to explore some more of the city, go to the beach, read, and hang out with my friends. It's nice to have this break to be able to settle in and get used to Australia before I have to start doing work!

Haven't gotten to homesick yet but I miss everyone back home! Hope everyone is doing well! Anything going on exciting for spring break? I hear the weather is pretty nice at home.

Fringe Fest and Wildlife

It’s been a week since I arrived in Adelaide. Sometimes it’s almost hard to remember that I’m half way around the world because things are really similar here. The landscape could be somewhere possibly out West (never been so I can’t be too sure), everyone speaks English (except for my roommates), the food is pretty much the same (different brands and the shopping cards have strange wheels and are really hard to steer around corners).

The other day we went grocery shopping and we noticed that they don’t always refrigerate the eggs at the stores and most of the eggs are brown. The people seem to be pretty big on ‘going green.’ Currently a ban on plastic grocery bags is going to be starting soon and Katie’s roommates told us not to buy Australian made rice because the industry is drying up the already low river.

There is this bird that I think sounds a little like Count Dracula from Sesame Street. I think it’s a mocking bird. It sounds like he’s laughing at you and at the end of the day they sound Dracula-esq.

On Friday we went into the downtown city of Adelaide. Katie’s Australian roommate, Cameron, has a car so he drove and gave us the tour. We went to the Central Market, which is basically a farmers market with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Katie and I got some ice cream at a place called Wendy’s which is a chain ice cream shop in Australia. And then we ate lunch at one of the food courts in Chinatown.

Similar to the bean in Chicago. They called it the balls of Rundle Mall.

The streets were getting pretty crowded because it was the opening night of the Adelaide Fringe Festival. People were doing previews for the various shows that are happening during the next month or so. We walked through an open air mall and then watched a street performer at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. He was funny but his tricks weren’t very impressive (he kept dropping things and he mostly did a lot of fluff before doing the actual trick).

At 8:00 the Fringe Parade started. We were at the very end and it was so crowded we couldn’t see that well. The parade was pretty spectacular. I tried to take some pictures but it was getting dark and people were in my way. (I’m kind of short) The costumes and bikes they rode around on were amazing. People were on stilts and unicycles and rolling around on huge hamster wheels. There was a woman in a huge lift singing opera. They had a bunch of people dressed up like characters from Alice in Wonderland, there was Latin dancers and musicians, people wearing huge baby heads and girls on roller skates. It was one of the best parades I’ve ever seen. The crowds were enormous. I was exhausted by the time we finally got home.

Performers in the Adelaide Fringe Parade

Saturday was fairly lazy. Katie and I braved the bus system on our own and went grocery shopping. We didn’t really think our purchases through very well because we had trouble getting home with so many groceries.

On Sunday we has signed up to go on a trip planned through the International Students Office on campus. Our first stop was the Cleland Wildlife Park and is probably my favorite experience so far. The park was like a petting zoo but with Kangaroos and Wallabies. Once you entered the park, you walked into a gated field where kangaroos roamed free. Katie and I bought a bag of pellets and the roos bounded up to us and ate from our hands!! I couldn’t believe that we were allowed to get so close to them. They were adorable and extremely soft. They had a bunch of different kinds in different gated areas; It was crazy how many there were. My favorite was a little wallaby. He hopped over to us and hung out with us for a long time. He kept putting his paws in my hand. We took a zillion pictures.

I love the look on both their faces.

We also got our pictures taken holding a koala bear. Katie and I got lucky because the koala’s were only out for about an hour. They have to keep switching the koala’s because they sleep something like 19 hours a day and they would get fussy if they were out too long. Apparently they can’t see very well during the day and see mostly in shadows so their hearing is extremely acute.

We saw a Tasmanian devil, who was running around in a huge circle. We saw these little guys that looked like huge mice. One of Katie’s favorite animals was the emu who was walking around freely.

After the wildlife park we went to Mt. Lofty, which is the highest point near Adelaide. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy so we didn’t get very many good pictures. Our final stop was at one of the beaches in Adelaide. It was too cold and windy to go swimming so Katie and I got some fish and chips for lunch and walked along these rock cliffs.

We had a really fantastic time on the trip. I’m glad we decided to go. Hopefully we’ll get to go back some time before our trip is over. I also heard about an open range zoo where you drive around in tour buses in the animal enclosures. So we might go there some time.

Today was our first day of classes. I only had one class today: Film Form and Analysis. I originally thought this class was going to teach me out to shoot film and edit together movies, but it turns out it’s more of a discussion based class. I think I’m still going to like it a lot though. I think this class will provide me with some interesting vocabulary and knowledge that will be helpful for not only film production but theatre as well.

I don’t have any class until Friday this week because Drama Center doesn’t start until next week. I don’t know what my performance classes are going to be yet, but I’m excited to find out.

Hope everyone is doing well at home. I know spring break is coming up soon! You guys are going to be done with school before I’ve hardly even started. Thanks everyone for the messages and picture comments and skyping.

Check out these pictures from our trip: Here and Here.