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!