The Week I Almost Did a Lot of Things

Due to the monotony of a routine, my posts seem to be spread further and further apart. By now you should all have figured out that on Mondays I sit around like a bum and on Tuesdays I have class all day. Its a very thrilling lifestyle, really. The highlight of my Tuesday was receiving my English quiz grade from the prior week; I got a 19/20 (which is really good because that quiz is worth 20 percent of my grade overall for the class). We also got out very early from class on Tuesday evening, so I managed to make it home just after seven instead of after eight.

When I got back, we had a meeting scheduled with our RA. It wasn’t about anything we didn’t already know, just a formality so we could meet her. She was very nice though and I actually got to meet my fourth roommate for the first time. Her name is Erin and she is a business major studying abroad from Taiwan. She’s very nice; I guess the reason that we didn’t see much of her at first is because she got the flu right after arriving here and didn’t want to spread it to us. She seems very quiet, so I hope we don’t scare her off!

On Wednesday I was back at Nudgee Beach doing the same program I did my first week there with preppies. I also helped Kerry set up some stuff for the day and make some preparations for Thursday. When we’d finished, he gave me a high five, so we’re obviously on our way to becoming best friends. Actually, since a lot of the odd jobs I get there involve helping him we talk quite a bit throughout the day. I am very ok with this arrangement, as Kerry is a very interesting person.

On Thursday the weather threatened rain, so I got jobs that inolved being in the office. Amy asked me to fix a PDF file with the tide times for next year so that they could be made into a calendar. I really just had to separate the times and dates into two columns; it wasn’t hard, just tedious and monotonous. After all, there are 4 tides a day, so I sorted through roughly 1400 rows of data. It took me the entire day to complete (I took breaks to finish other small projects and break up this task so my head wouldn’t explode). In the end, Amy had actually given me the wrong data; the dates and times given were for the wrong time zone and nowhere near Nudgee Beach. She was very apologetic (and she’s so nice I find it very hard to be angry with her) but it turns out that I will have to do it all again next week. Oh well.

On Friday it rained some more, so my philosophy class became very boring. Usually, its a very interesting class, but I was having trouble keeping myself awake. After my tutorial finished in the afternoon, the weather had greatly improved, so I met my roommate Carla at the mall to do some shopping. We walked around looking at lots of stores; I ended up getting some new tops, a pair of boots, and a little fisheye lens for my phone. Overall, it was a very successful trip. We walked back to our apartment over the bridge and saw a really beautiful building called the Treasury Hotel and Casino. Even under construction the architecture was stunning. We also made sure to stop to take pictures of the city while on the bridge.

That evening we decided to get dressed up and go out. We went to a bar nearby that had a live band for some drinks and dancing. The bland played lots of 90s rock, so we had no complaints. On the walk home (again over the bridge) I managed to take another picture of the city at night from the same vantage point. I went to bed right when we got home because we planned to go to the aquarium in the morning.

Despite our late night, we rallied and got ourselves on a 9:00 train to go to the aquarium. However, when we reached a certain stop we found that the tracks were closed for construction beyond that point so we wouldn’t be able to go further. After determining that a bus wouldn’t be able to get us there in a timely fashion either, we abandoned our mission and headed home. A group of us decided to go to the farmers market, as per our weekly routine. This time I bought less food and spent more time looking at different craft tables with Claudia. We also saw a lot of dogs while we were there, so overall it was a very good afternoon. After getting back, I took a much needed nap before going to the gym and ending my night.

Today, (Sunday) we were going to go to the art gallery, but ended up at the science center instead (they’re right next to each other). We spent some time walking around the center looking at the dinosaur/fossils exhibit and a large room with stuffed animals and models of local wildlife. It was a very cool place and I’d definitely like to go back there soon.

After the museum, Claudia and Jess went on the the gallery and Kelly and I decided to go to the market down the street. We walked around for a bit and picked up some drawings and candles made by local artists. When we got home I ate some lunch and did my chores so that my Monday would be completely free (I’d like to actually go somewhere tomorrow).

Overall, none of the time I’ve spent here has really been boring. I still learn and see a lot during my day to day schedule. Even if I didn’t, I’m very glad to have made the friends I have while here. That in itself is a wonderful experience.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Luisa