First, on May 17 it was Carlos' birthday so a huge group of us went into Civic for some karaoke and then to Uni bar where it was Woodstock and everyone was dressed up like hippies. Karaoke was soooo fun! It was an older crowd and creepy old gay men kept trying to dance with all the guys but we still had a blast! And Mandy, a girl from Saskatoon who I took French with and who is a friend a Jaret's was in town for a few days. It was so cool to see a familiar face.
Next, on May 25 was the Op Shop Ball which is an event put on by the Residential Students Organization where everyone goes to op shops (thrift stores) and buys the most hideous outfit they can find then we all hop in a bus go to a bar have dinner and drinks and dance to 80's music. I have to say I need to bring this idea back to Canada. It was so fun. At first I wasn't going to go because I wanted a quiet weekend to work on some papers but as everyone was getting ready to go I was wishing I was getting ready too and couldn't focus on my schoolwork. So I went down to Maki's room (who also wasn't going) and found all the other Mexican girls there making her go and it didn't take much convincing to get me to go too. I ended up wearing Maki's rainbow striped leggings and her sweater because I didn't have an outfit and left most of my wardrobe at home. After much confusion trying to find the place (we missed the bus) we arrived just in time for supper. It was a blast!
The next day Cindy, Carlos, Gooder and I borrowed Jack's car and went to Telstra Tower which stands on top of Black Mountain (more or less a large hill) in the middle of the city. There is an amazing 360 degree view of Canberra from the tower and we arrived just in time for a beautiful sunset. It was a perfect way to spend the evening.
A few days earlier I had been talking to a guy on my floor who is a huge AFL fan (Aussie Rules Football) and he mentioned there would be a game on the weekend and I told him I wanted to go (understanding AFL was one of my goals in coming to Australia... that and cricket which I have yet to master). As an illustration of how much this guy loves AFL his nickname is Vic which is short for Victoria which is the "homeland" of AFL. He is nuts for AFL. So anyway, I put together a crew of curious international students and Vic took us all to the game. It was the Sydney Swans vs the Western Bulldogs. The Swans destroyed the Bulldogs 100-54 or something like that. I officially love AFL! It is the coolest game and I think it would be sooooo fun to play (it's like rugby and soccer put together). And, I made friends with the most adorable little girl named Claire who was siting next to me in the first half. It was a great afternoon! Thanks Vic!
The whole next week was crazy for me at school. I had two 2500 word essays, a 20 min. presentation, an exam, and a 1000 word paper. I thought I was going to die from lack of sleep or information overload or something. However, I got an extension on one of the papers until today from my awesome literature instructor and the internet went down on Thursday afternoon so I was unable to do the other huge essay. This however, was seriously, seriously bad news and I am furious at the whole situation because my instructor does not live in Canberra and so she has no contact phone number which means that I had no way to contact her and tell her my dilemma. So, when the internet got back up and running again (which was after the paper was already due) I sent her an email asking her what I could do. She replied and told me she could not mark my paper and I would not receive a grade for it. This paper was worth 50% of my grade for that class and I have now failed the class. I am truly furious about this and am trying to contact student advocacy to see what can be done about it but in the meantime I just have to focus on my exams. I really am not a fan of the University of Canberra and would not recommend it to anyone.
So anyway... after my miserable last week of classes a big group of us went to Civic for supper and to check out the nightlife. We had supper at at Thai food place called Lemongrass which is rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in New South Wales by the Lonely Planet! It was pretty cheap and really really good. After supper we went to our favourite karaoke bar, P.J. O'Reily's to sing a few tunes and then to the Canadian inspired bar Mooseheads (there is really nothing Canadian about it besides the name) and finally we went to King O'Malley's Irish pub for a pretty good live band and a nice pint. It was a great way to unwind after such a hectic week.
2 comments:
you do karaoke??????????
Dionne,
once again I say you are amazing.This morning I went on your blog closely checkng out your plans for mexico,and to my amazement you have such a great heart for the world around you.Evidently your ability to not only want to volunteer,but to take a gift to an HIV/AIDS care home for children is pretty remarkable.Coming around you has always left me with the question of why would someone your age,young and lovely,somene who could be doing smething else, just decide to get out there and wanna care for the needed even while you travel.I mean you go out on an adventure and quickly identify the loopholes in the society around you.For example, you told me about the aboriginal guy in Australia and how those people feel marginalised.I want to say though you may think what you do is regular,I wanna sound the trumpet that it aint regular,you have a passion to do things beyond yourself and you have to see where exactly that energy must be channel.The mere fact that you sit down with such amazing inovation,and even go mounting climbing,breaking them leg but still carrying on,exploring yet still wanting more is indicative of the fact that you have a something in you and girl you gotta get it out.I will keep intouch ,and come around sometime.You take care as you always have.Isaac
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