You Better Run, You Better Take Cover

fremantle markets building
cottesloe beach (x2)
sunset at bather's bay in freo, 2 minutes from our dorm



This past week was the first week of class. i'm sure i've said this before but its just crazy to me that i have only a single week of class under my belt and my ND friends are home for spring break. madness.

anywho before i talk about classes i have to say that last weekend we went to cottesloe beach for the first time. its off the train between freo and perth and def worth the ride, no need to describe it, just look at the pics! that night we went to metro's back in freo. it was different, as so far we have just gone to bars and pubs, but this was a legit club with techno, strobes, neon lights and what not. it's pretty funny to watch australians dance; in the states guys just kind of dance with a girl or not at all, whereas here its perfectly acceptable for a bunch of guys to dance with each other in a group, which is very humorous to all of us. the club experience was, well, an experience and i prefer the more low-key bar scene i must say.
sunday we went back to the fremantle markets. they are open on weekends and i feel like it will become a sunday routine to go there. i did a lot better, buying apples, carrots and bell peppers which pretty much serve as my only side dishes throughout the week. (i also did a lot better at the super market this week getting deli meat and cheese and eggs, pasta and all that good stuff... i think i'm liking making my own meals) i also got the same delicious cheap malaysian plate of food at the markets. playing music or singing or whatever in the street for money is socially acceptable here and is called "busking". its odd to see a couple of really well dressed guys doing it, but i like it. on our way back from the market we saw a guy dressed as a pirate climb 15-20 feet up a pole and eat a flaming sword on top, it was nuts.

i was just scratching my head now and i realized ive had sand in my hair for at least a week now. it wont come out and probably is there to stay!

so classwise i am taking australian literature, strategy and security in asia, aussie theatre and cinema, early church history, and australian history and society. classes are 2 hours often followed by a 1 hour tutorial so i usually have 3 straight hours of a class which i really hate. it allows the professors to ramble off course often, which makes it difficult to discern what is important and what isn't. also although we get a short break halfway through each class sitting that long really irritates my back. the first week of class really wasnt bad, tho, just a lot of course outlines and professors pounding proper citation rules and sources into our heads. i feel like australia is just coming on board with using proper accredited academic sources, since it was all old news to us but it seemed like it was a new thing for the australians since they were stressing it so much. first week was pretty uneventful, we still went out most nights since we weren't doing anything in class. i do have two 8:30 am classes so once the course work sets in i'll be staying in those nights! one noteworthy thing during last week getting "middies" at the Orient wednesday. middies are like half-pints, i would guess, and the Orient, the on campus bar, has afternoon specials on them so some of us went up there one afternoon and just sat at the sidewalk tables taking it easy. these two old guys behind us started talking to us, one was english and the other irish. both had been in australia for over 30 years. they talked to us for awhile about anything and everything. the irishman quizzed us on us state facts and told us about ireland and stories from when he was in the RAF (royal air force). he oncer flew a plane under the golden gate bridge and at one point in the cold war they were "seconds away" from taking off on their bombing runs before the order was cancelled. it was really interesting to hear his stories and he was a funny guy so it was good fun to joke around with him.

this past friday night we took the train into perth and walked up to the part of it called northbridge which is a good spot for nightlife. it was a girl's 20th birthday here so she picked a club called geisha house... again not my scene but there were a few aussies there who were clearly on some type of pill and in a trance so it was really funny when bridget and i went out there and tried to dance like them. on the walk to northbridge i had a close call with an aboriginal. we were walking past a group of them in a pretty well lit area just across the street from the pub district when a younger guy came up and grabbed my shirt, spun me around, got in my face, and started yelling things at me like "listen up, f__ing wanker!" another of them pulled him away pretty quick but it really caught me off guard... another example of the racial tension simmering under the surface over here.

ooh also friday i went to my first australian rules football (aka footy) game. there is a large group of american guys from st. johns in minnesota staying in another dorm and they joined the local footy club (all sport teams are "clubs" that have club houses and stuff that anyone can join... they are basically social clubs that field a team. even the major league teams are clubs). dan and i, along with another port lodge guy from iona, met up with them and took in the first game of the season for the south fremantle bulldogs, which are in a semi pro league. the game is most easily described as a cross between soccer and rugby, its really crazy. we are going to join the club... for only $30 we get access to their gym, bar, and get to learn how to play. every year the study abroad guys get taught how to play and compete as the Yankeroos... i think we are going to be training twice a week starting here soon.

saturday was a lazy day, as most people went to cottesloe beach but my friends and i took our time and just went down to south beach to relax for the day. that night we went to final showing of the fremantle film festival and watched a movie at a little impromptu outdoor theater. it was a western australian filmed movie about a nerd in college who learns shakespeare to get a girl... ive already gone into too much detail about it... it had its moments though. after that the ND girls headed back and dan and i went out with the iona students from port lodge, who are all fun to hang out with.

wooo this post is getting long but i've gotta write about today before its over... today we got up and met up with the americans staying in the P&O (another dorm) and the big group hopped on the train up to cottesloe beach for some beach volleyball organized by our RS's. the waves were the biggest they've been so far, so we did some body surfing after volleyball. i ate my first meat pie today, kind of bland, nothing remarkable but it did hit the spot. sunday is a big going-out day for aussies, so we headed up the street to partake in our first "sunday sesh" (session) at the ocean beach hotel... i dunno if i've said this yet but "hotel" = bar here. we all just grabbed a pint and hung out there before coming home for dinner, since we were all really tired. for dinner tonight i ordered my first fish and chips, about time since this is a port city after all. they were real good... and now here i am utterly exhausted and hitting the sack for some well earned rest before my 8:30am class tmr.

thanks for all the comments and updates... keep 'em coming!