Thailand Part 1: Bangkok

It has been a long time since i last blogged, but this post and the next will surely make up for the wait. The reason i haven't written in so long is because the month of may was extremely busy school-wise. Here in australia they pile on all the essays and assignments in the last month of school, meaning i had anywhere from 1 to 3 papers due every friday in may. obviously we all did not have time for any trips and just hung around the freo/perth area the entire time. going to another footy game (dockers-bulldogs) and also a rugby match (the local western force vs some NZ team). however the first week of june finally rolled around, meaning the end of classes and a whole week off before exams so we all took off for a week long vaca in thailand. there were about 20 people total in our group, about half from port lodge and half from P&O, the other dorm. our port lodge group was comprised of notre dame, iona, and sacred heart students and the P&O group are all from st johns/st ben's in minnesota. but we have all been hanging out all semester so there weren't any divisions.
we flew from perth at nighton friday may 30th, at 9:30 i think, with a long stopover in singapore until around 5 or 6am. but before we left perth i realized i didnt have my wallet with me. luckily i phoned our shuttle service and they had it; apparently it had fallen out of my lap while i was collecting everyone's money. they dropped it off back at the dorm but it was too late for me so i had to borrow money from everyone all week.
singapore was pretty uneventful. we ate, realized we were minorities, and were surprised that english is the country's first language. we had to go through customs tho, even though we weren't leaving the airport, which was a bummer. our next short flight got us into bangkok around 7am. the bangkok airport was absolutely massive, the biggest many of us had ever seen. makes sense tho, as the city has about 9 million people in it. after collecting out bags and going through immigration we got our introduction to thai heckling, as we entered a lobby and about 5 cab companies accosted us. we got two big vans and were soon on our way. driving on the highway was crazy, there were big billboards saying "long live the king" and the city seemed to never end. boline and i listened to thai radio on my zune. it was my first experience being in a country that didnt speak english.
we arrived at the Prince Palace Hotel around 9:30am and checked in. the place was absolutely massive, with four big towers and what seemed like miles of richly furnished lobby space in between them. i forget the exact number but there is between 650 and 700 rooms in all. murph and i were in a double and thus in a separate tower from the rest of the group who were in suites so we dropped our bags off and explored the hotel. it had 2 pools, several restaurants, a spa, gym, you name it they had it. seriously the hugest hotel ever. and the cool part was that there were such awesome views from every location. every room, every elevator lobby, and especially the pool areas looked straight out at the city, since it surrounded us.
once everyone was settled in we went out to find brunch. we ended up in a mall type thing next door to the prince palace going up to the food court, but a few of us were eager to go experience the real bangkok so eddie, trish, and myself split off from the group and set off exploring. we got our first tuk tuk ride (three wheeled motorcycle taxi) and did our first bargaining, paying a mere 20 baht for the ride, which is about 60 cents (30 bahts in 1 US$). we went to the Golden Mount (labeled elsewhere as the golden mountain, mount was probably an english typo, there was incorrect english everywhere even in official pamphlets and signs), also known as Wat Saket. Wat is the thai word for temple, and this one was a big pure gold temple on top of a big hill. after a long climb we got to the top and were offered breath taking views of the city. you could walk 360 degrees around the top of the mount and it really made us realize just how massive bangkok is. there were big buildings as far as the eye could see in every direction. it was a great view. it was also cool to see people worshipping in it, there were numerous shrines or something where people would kneel and pray. oh yeah, and it bears mentioning that all of these wats were buddhist. next we walked to the next closest wat on the map. we walked over one of bangkok's numerous sewage filled, disgusting smelling canals before arriving at (wat?) Loha Prasat. it had both the typical golden oriental looking decorated temple and also a big black and white one. we took a spiral staircase in the center of the building all the way to the top for more great views. this one was cool because all 5 or 6 floors had walls that were arranged in a sort of a thatch-work or crosshatch pattern so that at each intersection you could see the outside in 4 directions and a the end of each 4 directions was one of the many buddhas that lined the outside of the complex. its difficult to explain...
on the way to our next stop we walked past a leafy alley where there were a few food carts set up. It looked good and fresh and not iffy like a lot of the other food stands so i insisted we get it. the lady didnt speak any english so we pointed at what we wanted and were served some absolutely amazing stuff. it was chicken stir fried with diced chilis and some leafy thing maybe basil? along side a fried egg and on top of steamed rice. it was so good and really spicy. i was glad bottled water was only 10 baht (30 cents). probably the best food i had on my entire trip.
we then walked further and passed by the big democracy monument, four prongs sticking up into the air in the middle of a traffic circle. interesting to note since i believe the king seized power within the last few years for a certain amount of time before handing power back over. currently they have a constitutional monarchy, and everyone loves the king. i guess he has given a lot of money to the burma disaster but we also wondered if everyone was just saying that they love him because i think it is illegal to speak ill of him.
next we walked to Wat Suthat and the giant swing which was used for ceremonies in past times. there was some sort of organized prayer going on, with a bunch of people inside and prayers being broadcast on speakers outside. Buddhism is very strange, from watching people at all of the temples i still can't figure it out. it involves burning incense, laying flowers at shrines, putting money in donation boxes, kneeling on prayer rugs in front of statues, shaking the incense sticks inside of their case, pouring water on one's head and possibly in tubs of lotus pads. also there were crazy amounts of buddha statues of all sizes at every temple. it was strange also that they let us walk around and do whatever as they worshiped.
our next stop (wow we did so much in this one day) was Khao Son road, where a lot of westerners and other tourists congregate due to the shopping, eating, and nightlife. here we got our introduction to the thai vendor, every stall you walk past has someone come up to you and try to shake your hand and talk to you and basically suck you into looking at their shop. same goes with tuk-tuks, if they see a white person walking down the street no matter where you are about 3 will run over to you and see if you need a ride. also, many try to trick you by saying the place you want to go is closed and that they know of a place that is open or a place that is better. or while you are on your way they try and take you to a suit shop or something. this is because they have connections to certain shops where they can get commissions. but anyways back to khao son road, there was all the knock-off and illegal merchandise that you could imagine, from brand name clothes, bags, and shoes to dvds and music. all for dirt cheap if you bargain right. i didnt buy anything though, and on a whole did not get much throughout the week as it was just too much of a hassle to keep asking people for money.
that night (keep in mind, still the first day, saturday), after some serious nappage a few of us went to a muay thai boxing arena. originally all 9 or so of the guys were going to go but it ended up just being murph and steve and i. for 2,000 baht (60 bucks) we got transportation there and back and 9 fights. we got a bite for dinner in a little hole in the wall restaurant by the arena. it was the kind of dirty little place that absolutely no one would eat at in the US or australia, but hey when in thailand. the boxing was awesome, for those who don't know muay thai boxing is thailand's national sport and an absolute brutal mix of kick boxing. we had ringside seats and there were 55 baht (approx $1.20) beers, which was dirt cheap compared to what we are used to in australia. the fighters were kind of young, clearly not professional but still the fighters got older as the fights advance and thus more disciplined. we made friends with our beer server, named Kunk, and she actually gave us a free ride home when the night was over. the three of us went to one of the pool decks and enjoyed the views of part of bangkok's skyline lit up at night.
FINALLY we got a good nights sleep, although on sunday we did have to wake up early. we got an amazing continental buffet breakfast and then 14 of us piled into the vans and were driven out into the country to the famous floating markets. after an hour drive we arrived and were given two 7 person boats with drivers. it was really cool we drove through palm forests and past people's shacks on the canal until we go the market which we stalls that we could barter and buy from right from our boat without getting up. all i bought was a little thing called a thai pancake which was like melted marshmallows with citrusy pepper inside a taco shell. only 5 baht (15 cents?). we got to a larger central part and it appeared that people had arrived on land at restaurants where the cooks had paddled up from their houses and were making food on the water. after the long drive back during which most of us fell asleep, i and some other relaxed at the pool.
for dinner dan, steph, jess v and myself were hooked up by our hotel concierge with a ride to a nice clean restaurant where we enjoyed good thai food and some thai dancing. after wards we came back and hung out with everyone in the big group before grabbing tuk-tuks up to Khao Son road to see what the night life was like. we went to a place called Lava bar, where lots of crazy things happened, included one guy (jeff), being handed a thai baby by its parents to hold outside the bar at 3am as we were leaving.
on our last day, monday, we were supposed to go on a huge scenic tour set up by the concierge of the grand palace and some other places but 7 of us slept in too late and missed both breakfast and the tour time. but we decided to make the most of our day and go to the grand palace on our own. one stayed behind so the 6 of us went next door to the mall food court for brunch. it was my first time there and it was actually pretty good and of course, really cheap. and i got those candy chocolate and strawberry sticks that we used to buy at the hong's food store, which was fun. we took a couple tuk tuks to the grand palace, first stopping off at a suit store since our driver gave us a free ride if we looked inside for 10 minutes (he got free gas out of it). we decided to get a guided tour of the grand palace complex and i'm very glad we did since it was such a massive place with more temples and royal buildings that we really had time to see. i really cannot describe everything we saw, everyone there had their breath taken away and we all agreed that words and pictures just could not do it justice... luckily i took some video... there were a bunch of temples, some holding sacred buddhist scriptures, some holding relics, some holding ashes of former kings, one holding a dolid block of jade carved into a buddha, also there was the coronation building, the royal reception hall, the royal guest house, and others. oh and we also got to see the royal collection of weapons. it was a bunch of old weapons, no firearms, but it was still cool. i mean, what guy doesnt like weapons? of course i thought of rj this entire time, i feel like the royal collection of weapons is something you would excitedly blog about too.
after about an hour and a half, maybe two hours, our tour was over. the st johns guys headed back to prince palace and myself and eddie, trish, and jesse o decided to go on a boat tour of bangkok's main river. it was kind of uneventful, esp since i had already been on a boat in the floating markets but this was still cool because the river was so big and there were big ships around us and big buildings. it took us to bangkok's most famous temple, Wat Arun (temple of the dawn... feel free to wikipedia any of these names), and also to the reclining buddah, which was a golden statue of budda lying on his side. the thing was about 30 yards long, just unnecessarily big but cool just for its novelty.
after the hour boat tour it was late afternoon and the 4 of us again went to khao son road. they got massages but i was out of cash for the moment so i wondered around my myself, getting pad thai from a street vendor for 20 baht (60 cents!) sat on the curb and people watched. i realize i keep mentioning prices but i still cant get over how cheap everything was. i got a tuk tuk home by myself and pooled it for awhile with the people back from the tour i missed in the morning. i dont remember what everyone else was doing that night for dinner but whatever it was steph, jess v and i wanted to walk around a little more so we tuk-ed it back to khao son road. we ran into some other from our group who were eating at an italian place but i thought that was a cop out so steph and i went across the street to and indian restaurant (a lot of indians have immigrated to thailand, along with chinese). it was soo good, i have been wanting to get indian food for awhile and this was the real deal. i got some sort of dish with mutton it was very good and spicy, i also took a tiny bite of this mini pepper on steph's salad and a few minutes later my mouth was on fire. i had to order some naan (indian bread) to save my life. after that we shopped for a little while and i finally bought something, a Polo brand polo shirt for only 6 dollars after some haggling. steph got all 4 seasons of entourage and 3 movies, 16 disks in all, for the equivalent of just over 3 dollars each. on the way back we stopped at mcdonalds and i got a cup of iced milo which was absolutely fantastic. Milo is a hot chocolate type drink made in australia and it was amazing served cold on ince, which you dont ever find in australia. that monday night i packed. 11 of us were going on to phuket for the rest of the week and the rest of them were staying in bangkok. it was at this point that i realized my 30gb zune was missing and the front desk wasnt too helpful in assisting me ing finding it. it was most likely stolen out of my room, since i didnt use it elsewhere. i guess there actually was a reason for having a safe in every room afterall.
anyways i had a late night looking for it and then we had to get up at i think 4:30 am to check out. check out was also an adventure as the front desk tried to scam a bunch of us, saying we took things out of the mini bar that we didnt, and broke things that were never used such as a coffee maker. it took over 45 minutes and we were still arguing with them but we had to catch our flight so we just said screw it and left. i guess we were not safe from the bangkok spirit of haggling even inside our supposed 4 star hotel. we were pretty steamed about that but in all the trip was really eye-opening and probably the craziest i will ever go on. to be in an asian country, where there is little english spoken and i was in a vast minority of people was so different and great.
well this post covers only friday night thru the wee hours of tuesday morning, and i still have to cover tuesday thru friday in the resort island of Phuket. For the sake of your eyes, my fingers, and also my grades since i have a final tmr, the phuket blog will be worked on at a later date in time. enjoy the pictures... remember click to expand:


bargaining with tuk-tuk driver

view of the prince palace hotel (big compound middle of picture) from the Golden Mount

democracy monument
inside of wat suthat
wat suthat

about to shove off at floating markets

floating market canal
grand palace complex
one of our pools
view from our elevator lobby

Kojonup: Small Town Australia

So a few weeks ago in April (maybe 2 weeks after the Broome trip) I got to spend a weekend in rural Australia. My friend Sara took me home with her to the town of Kojonup. I was excited to see this side of Australia, as so far I've only been in the city and outlying suburbs like Fremantle; after all, only 4 australian cities have 1 million people or more so most aussies live in non city-settings. It is common for young australians to move to the city after graduating from their country high school to go to uni or work, which is what she did. So Friday late afternoon i caught a bus out to her apartment in Como (a suburb between Freo and Perth) and we loaded up her car and set off. Unfortunately we were leaving during rush hour so we got stuck in the Perth traffic and then we had to put gas in the tires (or "tyres" as they're spelled here). So after the 4 hour or so drive we didnt get to her old house until 9 or 10. Her mom made us some fried steak and salad and we watched footy on tv for a little while until bedtime. We also had Milo (like hot chocolate) and Tim-tams (quintessential aussie chocolate wafer cookies). The first difference i noticed between the Perth area and Kojonup was the temperature. Koj is in the southwest of WA, which means its further away from the equator and thus closer to antarctic, so it made sense that it was colder. Also, as its going into Fall in australia now so that factors in. There were big blankets on the beds and they had an old-fashioned wood fired stove that pumped heat into all the rooms through vents like central heating.
Anyways we got up fairly early saturday morning to get our day started. It was pretty chilly compared to even the night before, i had to wear jeans and a hoodie for the first time this whole trip... haha terrible, right?... my buddies who were in europe can relate to that... After breakfast of eggs and aussie bacon (its much thicker and wider than US bacon, but also less crispy) I finally got to see where the heck i was since we had driven there in the dark. The house was on a bunch of farmland (called a paddock) and we looked around at everything for a little bit. There was a red-backed spider in her garage, which is one of the most poisonous spiders in all of australia which is really saying something cuz they have some dangerous things over here. So that was neat to see, bc i had read about them before i came. Then Sara drove me around the little town center, I got to see what Kojonup was all about; definitely a farming town, there were sheep everywhere. Wool is one of Australia's biggest "crops", and has a lot of historical significance in the forging of Australia's national identity and economy. For those readers that have read In a Sunburned Country, you might recall the part about all the big tacky statue things, and appropriately, Kojonup has a massive wool-wagon. We also checked out the fresh water spring that originally drew white settlers to the region. So then we came back to the house and set off with her mom and her mom's boyfriend on our big adventure of the day. We drove further into the southwest, stopping at a bunch of little towns along the way such as Bridgetown (where we saw the old "gaol" the old time spelling of "jail"), Pemberton, Denmark, and Manjimup. There was a bunch of driving between each place, 1 to sometimes 2 hours with nothing but farmland in between. It made me realize how big australia is... our 1-2 hour drives to columbus and cincinnati would be no sweat to an aussie. Along the way we got to see lots of natural wonders too. From town to town when not in farmland we were traveling through several national parks and our first such attraction was the Diamond Tree. A huge karri eucalyptus tree, you can climb up rungs driven into the trunk of the tree in a spiral all the way to a tree-house type lookout at the very top. It was awesome to climb all the way up... it was like a bigger version of the fire lookouts in the Smokey Mountains, except on top of a tree! And that's exactly what it was used for too in the past, a fire lookout. The top was chilly and windy and it was cloudy and sprinkling a bit but the view was amazing. We later went to the Gloucester Tree, which was the same deal in a different location but it was too crowded with annoying little kids and I didnt want to hold us up so we didn't climb that one. I did get to see a bunch of bright green parakeet-type birds there, they looked like something from a pet store in the US but apparently are a nuisance to the locals and Sara and her mom laughed at me for taking pictures. I guess it would be like watching someone take pictures of sparrows... weird. We next went to the Giant Tingle Tree. Tingle trees are another type of giant eucalyptus trees, and the one in question was hollow at the bottom and large enough to drive a car through. It is closed off to cars now, so we hiked down a short trail to it. Along the way i got to see a fantastic forest.. granted it was only in the upper 50s but it had just rained so it was all wet and there were lush ferns and huge trees everywhere, it was probably the closest to a rainforest that i'll ever be. I was reminded of the temperate rainforest in the US's pacific northwest (or at least pictures of it). Silly as it may seem, that walk was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Our last stop was the famous Tree-Top walk but unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. Silly, it was only 4:45 too... everything closes soo early here. But it was ok, b/c the Diamond Tree was good enough for me, and cooler too from what i've heard. It was a pretty long drive back to Kojonup, prolly another 2 hours, as we had driven fairly far south. I got to see lots of kangaroos, though, which is always fun. It seems like they are very similar to deer in that aspect, coming out of the forest into the fields at dusk.
It was night by the time we got back to the house, and after dinner we again watched australian rules footbal on tv. Can i just say now that i love footy! both games we watched were really exciting, coming down to the final minute and all teams scored over 100 points. it also helped that the Rowe's had an HD tv... ok dad, now it's your turn. after that Sara and I watched Transformers (also superb in HD) before turning in fairly early; we were pretty exhausted from all the driving.
Sunday we headed out to Sara's aunt and uncle's farm. Formerly run by her Grandpa and Grandma, her aunt and uncle took it over when they retired. They are a wool farm with what seemed like hundreds of acres. we had a real aussie barbeque with lamb chops, sausages, and onions on the barby. while everything was cooking sara and i poked around the farm and checked out the shearing shed and the "chooks" (chickens) among other things. after lunch her uncle took Sara, her mom, myself, and the two little cousins out to the dams to check for koonack. Now i'm sure you all are wondering what the heck i'm talking about so let me explain. Every single aussie paddock (pasture) we passed while driving had a "dam", which is are square man-made ponds. whether used as a watering hole for animals or just water reservoirs i'm not sure but they all had them. Many farmers stock them with koonacks, which are big crawdads. We checked all the traps and got a big haul to take back so everyone could eat them later. that was pretty much the end of our trip to the farm, but Sara drove me out to a big lake they used to go camping and boating on, lake towerrinning. it was interesting to see such a large body of water in such a dry place. but it was still pretty chilly so we couldn't get in. That was pretty much it for our trip, we had to leave sunday afternoon to get back to the city since I had early class monday and she had to go to work. All in all it was a really nice trip, relaxing and nice to get out of the city and see a part of Australia that I had not experienced yet.

pics--click to maximize
real aussie verandah
deadly red backed spider
the paddock and house
wool wagon
diamond tree
view from top
on way back down, looking up
tingle tree
koonacks
lake towerrinning

Aboriginal for a Week: Broome and the Kimberly

For this post I'm going waay back to the beginning of april; we had a mid semester break (i would call it spring break but its fall here!) during which our whole dorm (about 35 people) went on a field trip for our Australian History Course. On this trip we flew way up north to Broome and then drove out into the bush to stay on Aboriginal land for four nights.
Our flight out of Perth was delayed so it was dark once we arrived in Broome. It bears mentioning that as Australia is moving into fall, daylight savings time has ended so now it gets dark around 6... bummer. Anyways since it was dark we couldnt go tour around Broome, which is a former pearling center and currently popular tourist destination. we spent the night at the NDAU Broome campus and got to see an australian possum while we sat outside and watched tv. completely unlike the american opossum. brown with a hairy tail, it looked exactly like something we would see at the nocturnal house at the cincy zoo, which was awesome because i love the nocturnal house. i suggest googling it. at the crack of dawn we woke up to meet our trip guides, the aboriginal Morgan family. They run a tour group called Wundargoodie Aboriginal Safaris and have been working with NDAU leading these field trips for ten years. We piled into their 4 wheel drives and set off for the Kimberly. The Kimberly region is a large area stretching across the top of Western Australia and is roughly the size of California. It is one of the few parts of Australia that is still mostly inhabited by indigenous people, and the point of this trip was for us to be immersed in and learn about their culture. The roads were all dirt which made for a bumpy 3 or 4 hour drive. They said that in the rainy season the road gets so bad that the drive can take 10 hours. We stopped off for lunch at a friend of Morgan family's house, which truely seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. She talked to us about all the mining going on in the area, as much the massive mining that is fueling Western Australia's economic boom goes on right in the Kimberly. It was our first experience hearing about the modern legal battles for land between natives and government. It is a sad fact that these and other indigenous people do not legally own the land where they have been living for over 50,000 years. In order to attain status as Traditional Land Owners they have to go to court and prove their continuous habitation and indigenous culture. Unfortunately many of the Aboriginals were sent to missions and driven off their land in other ways, only returning within the last 50 years. Also, their culture and language were suppressed in such a way that most can now only speak English and their children have to rely on special cultural days in school to learn about their heritage. All of this makes it extremely difficult to win legal rights to their land in court, opening the way to easy exploitation by mining companies and other whites. Fortunately, the Bardi-Jawi mob (tribe) which inhabit the Dampier peninsula we were driving to had won their case in the last and were finally legal owners of their land. Anyways after a lunch of sandwiches and damper, simple bread made of yeast and water cooked in the fire, we were back on our way. We stopped at the old Beagle Bay mission to see the old church. It was built entirely out of native materials and the inside was decorated beautifully with oyster shells, natural paints, and pearls. At some point during the drive we saw a frilled neck lizard run across the road, which was really cool. It runs on its hind legs and stood about a foot and a half tall with a big frill around its neck like the dinosaur that kills newman in jurassic park. Also, i forgot to mention that on our easter break trip to Exmouth a huge goanna crossed the road in front of our car. Goannas are the largest lizards in australia, kind of like a smaller komodo dragon. Anyways, after a little while longer we arrived at our camp site at Mudnunn, which was a small home site owned by friends of the Morgan Family who run small tours of their own. The rest of that night we set up our tents and went to bed after a dinner of beef stew. Its worth mentioning that the weather in the Kimberly was stifling. It was super hot during the day and never cooler than the 7os at night and very humid. It was difficult sleeping that first night in a cramped sweaty tent with 2 other guys and dawn could not come soon enough. we soon found out that what little relief the night brought in terms of heat was erased as soon as the sun rose, with it jumping back up into the 80s by 6:30 in the morning. The next three days-Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday-would start with us listening our main guide, Colin, talk about Aboriginal culture and his experiences being a native Australia. Unfortunately much of white australia is very racist still which is something we American students sometimes struggle with (something i'm sure Carrie can relate to). For instance it was only in February when we arrived when the central government formally apologized for the Stolen Generations (the decades when it was official policy to relieve native families of their children and attempt to "westernize" the kids. indeed it was a common belief that the whites could breed the aboriginal genes right out of the children by ... master race darwinism b.s.), and this simple apology is hugely controversial. It was refreshing to hear Colin's unbiased opinion on treating everyone equally. Later that sunday morning they took us to see something truly amazing. Out on some coastal rocks there are 11,000 year old human footprints. They are from men running out to hunt sea turtles and are followed by women's footprints which were visibly deeper due to the children they carried on their backs. It was so cool to see these prints, especially when you realize the pyramids are only 5,000 years old. These footprints are so much older than the pyramids and we saw boys walking along the same beach, hunting turtles with spears just as they used to. Granted the kids were wearing jean shorts and basketball jerseys, but still... It was interesting to learn that these footprints were vital pieces of evidence in the native title case, helping to prove the continuous habitation criterion. After lunch we went swimming while the aboriginals stayed on the beach to watch for salties, huge man eating crocodiles that live in the Kimberly. An interesting fact about aboriginal culture is how respectful they are; every speaks very quietly and have unassuming personalities. We were not allowed to swim until the local boss, Uncle Bundy, had officially welcomed us and given us his permission. The same went for pictures, we had to be officially welcomed to an area before we could take anything. In some instances we would be standing right by sacred ground and those were especially off limits for pictures.
After our swim we were driven to One Arm Point where we listened to an old lady named Auntie Irene talk to us about her experiences at the Sunday Island mission on an island across the bay. I never realized how many islands there were off the coast of Australia... there are thousands just in the north west where we were. She told all sorts of yarns, which is Aussie slang for stories, including many about her and other old timers' efforts to re-teach their culture to the younger generations who were deprived of it. It was also here that we first learned about the tides in the area... the area is home to the second highest tide in the world and as we stood there the water was rushing past-back out to sea-like a river which was amazing. We learned that the area is also a huge producer of trocha shells which along with tourism form the main money makers for the locals. We also heard about the problems with poaching, as Indonesians boat down and illegally take trochas, shark fins and sea cucumbers. Apparently it is a big, big problem... I didnt realize how close Indonesia is to Australia.
Every night after dinner we would all sit around the fire and play word games, which were fun. On monday after our usual talk with Colin we got to learn how to make a boomerang. A local aboriginal named Brian with the cool long white hair and beard started making a boomerang with hand tools and we all got to have a try at forming it with the hatchet. After we all had a whack he used power tools to save time and finish it off. After that Uncle Bundy showed us how to make spears out of long 8 foot sticks. You have to heat them in a fire to be able to peel off the bark and make it easy to bend and therefore straighten. After that we all got to try throwing the boomerang and our spears at a target. The boomerang was pretty hard to get right, and no they don't come back that's just a myth. They do, however curve through the air. They are traditionally used not for hunting but for settling disputes. When two men had a dispute they would go out into the outback and throw boomerangs until one was hit, then it would be over and they would drink tea together (albeit one with a broken leg or arm!)... The curving path of the boomerang made it tricky to dodge. it was in this way that conflicts were settled and there was no war between tribes. The spears were more fun to throw. The four guys had a big spear throwing distance contest and I ended up getting second. Later I speared the target from about twenty yards away on my first try which was awesome. That afternoon we went swimming again. That night one of Colin's sons, Robert, put on a didgeredoo demonstration. While people in the West Kimberly didnt traditionally play it, he had picked it up and of course we were eager to learn. After some brief instructions he passed around 2 of them so we could try our luck at it. After a lot of experimentation i was able to get it... Dan was really good and able to even do the dingo and other animal calls on it like Robert whereas all i could get was the base standard sound but still we were the only two that got it down. Then Colin told us creepy ghost stories around the camp fire, which would have been corny but it was about about the spirits he has seen and other creepy things experiences students have had with spirits on prior trips. Again, like the surfing trip the stars were amazing with the milky way in full sight. My favorite thing about this night besides the didg playing was when he showed us a massive emu in the sky. Not a constellation, it was rather a massive dark spot in the sky that formed an emu with one star as its eye that stretched across almost half the sky. Later after everyone had gone to bed, myself, Greg (guy from Iona) and Dan stayed out by the fire letting ourselves be transfixed by the stars which led to a great conversation about the meaning of life and other such deep topics.
Our last full day, Tuesday, started with a 6am wakeup to go crabbing. We drove out to a massive coastal plane, mud as far as the eye could see. We divided up into groups with one Aboriginal per group as a guide and went hunting for crabs. It was really neat to be walking on the ocean floor as with the massive tides, the area we were walking in would be under 30 feet of water in a few hours. We got to see depressions where stingrays had sat and even got to see croc tracks where it had walked along the ocean floor. The many rock outcroppings were where the crabs hit when the tide went out. We used long metal hooks to pull them out and wooden spears with metal rod tips to spear them once we got 'em out. We walked for hours in mud sometimes sinking up to our calves or knees but it was so worth it; i got to battle with and finally hook a crab and got to spear another one. As you can see in the picture these were the real deal: mud crabs sometimes two feet across. We also learned about a plant that the natives use to catch fish. Called fish poison, they mash it up into a paste and drop it into tidal pools where it deoxidizes the water, knocking out fish so they can just grab them with their hands.
After crabbing we went for our standard afternoon swim, our saltwater showers as greg, dan, and myself called it. Haha we chose not to shower the whole trip, 6 days! Needless to say everyone stayed away from our tent...
Tuesday afternoon we went to the Lombardina-Djarindjin community to visit the school. originally one settlement, it is now a divided community with a Catholic side and a secular side. The school was surreal, it reminded me of my friend Christina's pictures of African schools... there's really no other way to describe it. The the little kids were so cute, i wish i could have taken pictures but its frowned upon as the scars of the Stolen Generation and kidnapped kids still run deep. It was kind of sad to see the class sized dwindle as we visited older kids; we were told it gets difficult to keep older kids in school as they start to see no point in education... suicide and alcoholism are a huge problems in aboriginal communities. On a lighter note we gave gifts of sporting equipment, games, and coloring books to the kids and they sang us a song which was so cute. That night, our last night in the bush, all the local men who had been our guides throughout the week brought their kids to the campfire and we had a big thank you barbecue. I was able to sit down with Colin and talk with him and his family one on one for awhile that night. We talked about funny stuff like sleepwalking, yes Carrie i told them all about your adventures, but then switched to the more serious issues i was wondering about. It was really nice to talk to them and see what their thoughts were on all the aussie race-relation problems after hearing only white opinions for months. That night i was awakened by dingos howling which was terrifying at first but then cool when i realized what i was hearing... we saw their tracks on the road the next morning.
Wednesday i put on a clean shirt (haha) and we drove back to the Broome airport and flew home to perth.

PICS (click to maximize)
...somewhat out of order...


dirt road, made for fun 4 hour drive

beagle bay church
beagle bay
our ride
colin and i

djarin catholic school

playing the didg
huge mud crab
ancient 11,000 yr old footprint
one arm point, rushing tide
gum trees
homemade boomerang
spear i made, target i nailed
coastal plane where we crabbed

Easter in Exmouth

Wow, it's been way too long since my last post and I apologize for that! This post is about our easter holiday at the Ningaloo Reef.

We got Good Friday and Easter Monday off so the six of us decided to get out and see a little more of Australia. Since myself, dan, and shannon have no class on thursdays, we decided to set out a day early to get our bearings set and explore on our own. We had to get up at i think 5am to catch the first train to the city. from there we wandered the streets of Perth as the sun rose looking for our bus stop. from there we had a 40 minute bus ride out to the airport. after getting up at 5 or 5:30am, we finally arrived at the airport around 8 for our 9:45 flight... quite a trek in and of itself. instead of the usual little bridge from the terminal to the cockpit of the plane we had to walk out onto the tarmac and climb up into our plane, which made me feel a bit like a celebrity. also, our plane had propellers on it, which was different. it was a short 3 hour flight on which we received a lunch of a sausage roll and the most delicious milk chocolate bar ever, a cadbury bar. i also decided that from then on out i will accept tea when it's offered inflight hey, when in australia... we touched down in a really isolated airport (if you could call it that.. more of just an airstrip) in Learmonth. one landing strip, one room airport. baking hot, middle of nowhere right smack dab in the outback. we thought, whaaat did we get ourselves into? these fears were not assuaged after a 30 minuted bus ride through the bush to the town of Exmouth revealed a town of no more than a few hundred, a real desert town. our spirits were bouyed somewhat by our hostel. Exmouth Cape Holiday Park was a multi functionable place, it had villas, cabins, room for trailers and campers as well as our hostels, which were brand new and had air conditioning (a must as it was over 100 degrees). we went for a dip in their tiny, albeit really nice pool to cool off before setting off into "town". oh i almost forgot, on my way to the bathroom before i got into the pool i spotted my first emu strutting around the buildings. a 5 or 6 foot tall bird, it is the largest in the world after the ostrich. it was really cool to see, i ran back to get the others and it stalked right past us no more than 4 feet away. i christened her Edith the Emu and throughout our time in Exmouth we came to find they were all over the town, walking around with no one paying any more attention to them than we would squirrels.

we then bought groceries, hit up the visitor center, and then rented our car for a really cheap price from a really dodgy (nice aussie word there) company. it was funny that Exmouth had about 7 car rental depots, more than gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores combined. the rest of the day we planned out our next few days and went to the beach, where the water was really warm, the warmest i've ever felt, probably around 70 degrees. it was like a hot tub. that night we grilled hamburgers at the outdoor community kitchen, and with a seasoning that shannon bought combined with our long day, they were the most delicious ever.

the next day we got up around early and did some touristy things before the others arrived, such as driving up to see the wreck of a cattle ship from 1906 that is still visible offshore, going to the turtle center (where we found out you can only see turtles come up to the beach at night.. bummer), drove up this big cliff to see the lighthouse on the very tip of the cape, which had incredible views, then went to another beach which had the clearest water i had ever seen. then we came back and waited for bridget, elyse, and kate to arrive. not too much else happened that day, we drove over to the other side of the cape and scouted out our snorkeling spots for saturday. i must mention that driving on the left side of the road was frightening at first but we got used to it. the funniest thing that happened was when i went to put on my turn signal for the first time i switched on the wipers, as the signal bar is on the right side (closest to the door just like in the states, basically their cars are linear symmetrical to US cars). due to the vast distances in australia, we drove over 600km just going from exmouth to the reef and back everyday.

got up early saturday to get our REAL vacation started: snorkeling! the Ningaloo Reef National Marine Park is considered the second best reef in australia after the great barrier, and better in the respect that you can swim right out from shore to see it rather than having to take a boat out like in the GBR. we rented our gear (only $10 a day) and hit the tides. there were three spots along the coast that we went to and the first one was the best in my opinion. we were swimming out for awhile and didnt see anything, got kind of confused. i ended up ahead of everyone and saw two big fish swimming around in a depression in the sandy floor. i dove down to get a closer look when i realized that the depression in the sand was a massive sandy-colored stingray. this puppy was around 5 feet in diameter so needless to say i went back to the surface as fast as possible... i didnt want any steve irwin-type shennanigans happening to me (side note: most australians view the crocodile hunter somewhat derisively for being so stereotypical.. no one ever says "crikey"). once at a safe distance, the ray was a magnificent sight as it swam away. eventually we found the reef and it was amazing. big colorful fish, schools of tiny fluorescent ones, all different types and shades of coral: green, purple, red, blue. just incredible. within the first hour i had seen that big ray, little ones, a sea turtle, and even a 4 foot shark which glided right underneath me. this was what we did all day saturday and sunday, get up eat a light breakfast, pack lunch for later, jump in the car and drive around the cape to the reef, snorkeling all day. what a life. also saturday we saw our first kangaroos, there were about 20 of them (a group of roos is called a mob) chillin the shade by a small lake by the beach. so cool, especially when they took off running, or jumping rather.

thursday night and to a lesser extent the other nights as well there were huge lightning storms (heat lightning?) off in the distance inside of banks of massive clouds, so most nights we would sit outside, have a few drinks, and watch the show.

other interesting things:
>i think it was sunday night we decided to drive up the range that divides the cape (which made us drive up and around to get to the reef rather than straight across every day) to a lookout to see the sunset. i was "lucky" enough to get to drive... picture this: you are in a toyota corolla with 6 people crammed into it, driving up a mountain on a seemingly one way dirt road (when in fact it was two ways), several hundred foot drop offs on either side with just a tiny metal rope lowly strung across the sides. it was extremely stressful and the lookout kinda sucked but coming back down as the sunset turned into twilight was worth it. one of those deals where it was scary at the time, but funny to think about now.
>in the grocery store i wanted to buy a gatoraide. there was a high school aged employee standing behind the register texting on his phone. after waiting awhile i asked "uhh can i buy this?", seemingly noticing me for the first time he said he would go get someone. great, thanks for your help. a woman came over to ring me up and exasperated with the younger guy, looks at me, rolls her eyes, and said "those damn kids". haha i thought to myself, geez do i really look that old??
>sunday morning we ventured over to the little catholic church for mass before going out to snorkel. it was a very interesting mass. a tiny tiny little church, the priest was straight out of poland with a very thick accent. apparently they come up from the bigger town of carnarvon several hours away for mass on sundays. most of the church goers seemed to be tourists, not too many catholics in exmouth. not surprising as there wasn't too many of anyone in exmouth!

we left early monday morning to head back. it was weird realizing that i was thinking of freo as home, it really hit me then i was a far way from my real home but for the time being fremantle was what i was familiar with, what i knew.

there is probably a lot i am forgetting about that trip, as it was two weeks ago but we are leaving for our midsemester break field trip in 40 minutes so that will have to do.
real quick, not much happened happened since then, just the usual classes, reading, and going out. the coolest thing was going to my first real footy game. i had gone to a preseason one earlier but this was the real deal. my Aussie friend Sara took me and we met up with her friend and that girl's boyfriend. the friend's parents were members of the club (read: season ticket holders), which meant all four of us got in for free! it was the Fremantle Dockers' home opener and they played the Hawthorne Hawks, who had just annihilated Melbourne 120something-40something in their last game. surprisingly, the Dockers kept it close and even pulled within a point in the 3rd quarter before eventually losing by 18 or so. it was really exciting and it was great that i could follow it and knew the rules from the practices for our study abroad team.

ok time to pack for Broome! next post will be about our time in the Aboriginal community.
cheers

Lancelin Surfing Trip (out of song lyrics)

...click on the photos to expand them...



A few weekends ago we went to a weekend surfing camp up to Lancelin, which is about 2 hours north of Fremantle/Perth. For only $180 we got two days of instruction, all meals, and even sunscreen. 8 of us US students went in a group, 6 domers and 2 girls from Sacred Heart who live in our dorm. There were also a collection of Brits, Irish, Swiss, and a German. We had to get picked up at 6:30am saturday morning, which was terrible as some of you know i am by no stretch of the imagination a morning person. we arrived at our destination after picking up the europeans in Perth and driving for around 2 hours. The drive was fun, as we finally were out in the bush. It was a mix of completely brown dead looking grassy pasture, and exotic looking shrubbery. We may or may not have seen our first kangaroos, as it looked like a herd of them were in a field off in the distance but they were so far away that they might have been farm animals instead. actually on the way back we saw one for sure, but it was roadkill. Apparently kangaroos are pests, the equivalent of deer back home, getting hit by cars and eating people's gardens.
Anyways we finally got there roughly around 9, applied sunscreen and zinc (a very aussie form of sunscreen... it comes in neon colors in a stick and you put it on your nose for extra protection), got issued our boards and rashies (rash guards) and wetsuits to those of us who wanted them and hit the beach. There was a really bad smell around the whole area which was most likely due to the mounds of seaweed washed up on shore but luckily we walked about a mile down the beach to get to the sandy non-smelly part. We got some instruction, some of which i knew already from surfing in hawaii, and some of which was actually very helpful. We then went out to try our skillz and then the fun began. With the new tips that i got combined with my prior, albeit brief, experience i found it to be so much easier than in hawaii. I stood up on one of the first waves i caught and i think i was the first one in the group to get up. After that we had morning tea, which was just a snack of fruit and granola bars to keep our energy up. The main instructor came over to me and had me switch to a shorter board bc he said i needed to challenge myself more, which of course made me feel special. He took me and another guy (an Irishman who surfs in Ireland a lot, go figure) out to the back of the lineup (past where the waves were crashing) to try and get the really big waves. It was a lot harder but it was cool to get a wave right when it was cresting and surf down the front of it. But then i would wipe out and get thrashed around underwater which wasnt cool. Then we had lunch, a classic Aussie sausage sizzle.
That afternoon they drove us inland to a massive sand dune area where we attempted sand boarding, which was basically snowboarding but with sand. The scope of the area was just massive, there was acres and acres of massive dunes like the one in the picture and they formed a sort of bowl in the middle of them all. people were riding dune buggies and motor bikes all over them. apparently scenes from the famous movie Gallipoli were filmed there. also, further down there is a section fenced off that the aussie military uses as a bombing range and also for war games. our instructor, Phil (one of the coolest guys around), told us that when US aircraft carriers come by on their way to the port they launch jets that are allowed to bomb there also. i really hope i get to see an aircraft carrier, he said its so big it looks like its own island city out on the water. the rest of the day was ours to do with as we pleased so while most of the europeans stayed back at the camp we went back out surfing to get our money's worth and came back right as the sun was setting. we all pitched in to make a dinner of spaghetti bolonese and salad which was amazing. after that we sat around and hung out, drinking a few beers and looking at the stars which were absolutely incredible. i've been out in the country in ohio and thought there were a lot of stars there, but that can't hold a candle to what we saw that night. I really can't describe it but it was just incredible to see millions of stars, it was more intense than a planetarium. there was a certain part that was packed more tightly with stars that ran across the whole sky, it was like we were peering out into the galaxy. we slept outside in swags, which are very aussie; they are traditionally what workers out in the bush slept in, basically just a canvas sack that you put your sleeping bag in.
sunday we got up early around 8:30 and surfed until around 2 with breaks for morning tea and lunch. i did really well that day, riding a few reallly far in; one i got out in the back and took it literally all the way in, it had to be around 100 yards. one time murph and i caught one and rode it standing side by side for around 60 yards, which was sick.
that's about all ive got on the surfing trip, it was a great time altho my feet, knees and hands got really torn up and i screwed up my elbow. we got back to freo around 5pm, ate dinner, and passed out from such a tiring weekend.

originally i was going to post about surfing last week but i never got around to it (oops), so now ive gotta throw in a little about this past weekend. there was a huge concert in the esplanade (the park across the street), the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival. it was a 2 day deal with multiple stages but the tickets were 125AUD for a one day pass, so i passed on that. luckily we could watch from the roof so i got to see OAR saturday morning and then sunday night we grooved to John Fogarty of CCR. it was exciting to have music and people around all day, and since we are so close you could hear it no matter where you were in the dorm, but its nice to have some peace and quiet for once.
this past sunday the our RS's organized a bus trip to caversham wildlife park. it was great, we got to feed kangaroos, pet koalas, and hold a big fat wombat. i'll post pictures eventually but as of right now it looks like there is a 5 pic limit.
thursday morning we are taking off for our easter holiday trip to the ningaloo reef and coming back monday so my next post will be all about that. sorry its been so long between posts, i know you are all craving to hear from me haha

Early Update

first off: your lack of facebook has forced me to do this on a public forum, sooo HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY JONAH BAUTISTA!! we'll celebrate both of our bdays at college park come august... not as good as last year's joint bday hawaiian bbq at north plains beach or wherever but it'll have to do

now that that's taken care of, a few updates... earlier this week dan and i joined the local footy club for only 30AUD. we are now card carrying members of the South Fremantle Bulldogs. yesterday we both utilized our membership for the first time. he lifted and i did a lot of running around the oval (field), which is realllly big. i did all that running b/c i realized i was out of shape after we played the australians in american football, or gridiron as they call it here, on wednesday. The Friendship Cup is a series of sporting events throughout the semester between aussie and american students. Unfortunately Dan and I were the only American guys who knew about this first event, so the teams were about 14 really athletic australian guys against dan and it, several US girls, and some aussies that the athletes didnt want on their team. needless to say it was quite a mismatch... but we pulled out with a tie so it was a moral victory. it was funny to see them play, they set the rules in the beginning so they knew what they were doing for the most part but then they would pitch the ball forward or keep going after an incomplete pass. While I'm on the subject of football, this afternoon we have our first training session for the study abroad footy team, so that should be interesting.

Yesterday was the first cloudy day since we got here two and a half weeks ago. It was nice though, since it was not so hot. This morning (i'm writing at 7:30am) we are getting a lot of rain, there was even a little thunder and lightning. I think the change in air pressure or whatever happens when its going to rain kept me from going back to sleep, i could tell something was different even before it started raining.

well thats about it for now, i should go eat something and maybe shower before my 8:30 class. looking ahead, tonight all the study abroad guys on the footy team (dan, myself, one iona guy, and then the 15 or so guys from st. john's in MN in the other dorm) are going to go see the West Coast Eagles, Perth's AFL team, play in their big stadium after practice tonight. Then my group is getting picked up at 6:30am saturday morning to go on a weekend surfing trip to Lancelin, which should be great. Also, we booked our trip for the easter holiday last night... we are going up the coast to Exmouth to explore the Ningaloo Reef national marine park, the second best reef
in oz after the Great Barrier.

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!