Don’t Judge
Listened to this song today walking back to the apartment, and it gave me chills. Not because its that great of a song, but the lyrics, the idea, and the knowledge of who it came from just blew me away. I’ve heard it many times, but every time it just gets me high. I’ll post who its by after the lyrics, please read them. This is a song by a dad written about his daughter. (Lyrics have been edited)
“Hailie’s Song”
[Intro - Spoken]
Yo, I can’t sing
I feel like singin’
I wanna sing
Cuz I’m happy
Yeah, I’m happy
Ha Ha
I got my baby back
Yo, check it out[Verse 1 - Sung]
Some days I sit, starin’ out the window
Watchin’ this world pass me by
Sometimes I think theres nothin’ to live for
I almost break down and crySomtimes I think I’m crazy
I’m crazy, oh so crazy
Why am I here, am I just wasting my time?But then I see my baby
Suddenly I’m not crazy
It all makes sense when I look into her eyes[Chorus]
Somtimes it feels like the world’s on my shoulders
Everyone’s leanin’ on me
Cuz sometimes it feels like the world’s almost over
But then she comes back to me[Verse 2 - Sung]
My baby girl keeps gettin’ older
I watch her grow up with pride
People make jokes, cuz they don’t understand me
They just don’t see my real sideI act like (stuff) don’t phase me,
Inside it drives me crazy
My insecurities could eat me aliveBut then I see my baby
Suddenly I’m not crazy
It all makes sense when I look into her eyes[Chorus]
[Verse 3 - Rapped]
Man, if I could sing, I’d keep singing this song to my daughter
If I could hit the notes, I’d (sing) something as long as my father
To show her how I feel about her, how proud I am that I got her
God, I’m a daddy, I’m so glad that her mum didn’t abort
Now you probly get this picture from my public persona
That I’m a pistol-packing drug-addict who bags on his momma,
But I wanna just take this time out to be perfectly honest
Cuz there’s a lot of stuff I keep bottled that hurts deep inside o’ my soul,
And just know that I grow colder the older I grow
This boulder on my shoulder gets heavy and harder to hold
And this load is like the weight of the world
And I think my neck is breaking should I just give up,
Or try to live up to these expectations?
Now look, I love my daughter more than life in itself,
But I got a wife that’s determined to make my life livin’ hell
But I handle it well, given the circumstances I’m dealt
So many chances, man, it’s too bad, coulda had someone else
But the years that I’ve wasted are nothing to the tears that I’ve tasted
So here’s what I’m facin’:
3 felonies, 6 years of probation
I’ve went to jail for this woman, I’ve been to bat for this woman
I’ve taken bats to peoples backs, bent over backwards for this woman
Man, I shoulda seen it comin’, why’d I (get her pregnant)?
Woulda ripped the pre-nup up if I’d seen what she was (sleeping with)
But (screw) it, it’s over, there’s no more reason to cry no more
I got my baby, baby the only lady that I adore, Hailie
So sayonara, try tomorra, nice to know ya
My baby’s travelled back to the arms of her rightful owner
And suddenly it seems that my shoulder blades have just shifted
It’s like the greatest gift you can get
The weight has been liftedNow it don’t feel like the world’s on my shoulders
Everyone’s leanin’ on me
Cuz my baby know’s that her daddy’s a soldier
Nothin’ can take her from me[Outro - Spoken]
Woo!
I told you I can’t sing.
Oh well, I tried
Hailie, ‘member when I said
If you ever need anything, daddy will be right there?
Well guess what?
Daddy’s here.
And I ain’t goin’nowhere baby
I love you! (kiss)
This song was written and performed by Eminem. aka Slim Shady. aka Marshall Mathers. One of the greatest rappers of all time.
There are a few coarse lyrics, but man, its an amazing song.
QVB, Cubans, Gardens, and Monks
Today was a good day. Didn’t have class, so I decided to go into the city. Took the new Epping-Chatswood railway link, which is free for the first 100 days, then I had to take the Chatswood-Wynyard train. Took about a half-hour or so, and round trip was a little over $4. Dulce txted me that she was buying a camera and that she would call me when she was done, so I explored the city. Found the Virgin Mega store, which was alright, then went to the QVB building (Wikipedia site), which was just incredible! Checked out Versace, which was CRAZY! The architecture of the place was absolutely incredible, so stunning and beautiful.
Inside the Queen Victoria Building
This is the style of the building. Just incredible stained glass!
Yet again another shopping center! Then I found a cigar place, and bought my first Cuban cigars! IT WAS AWESOME! Gonna smoke em with Ryan a little later tonight, I’m pumped for it. Hopefully I can handle it!
The tiny tobacco shop.
I then headed down towards the Royal Botanical Gardens. Passed by the Channel 7 News building and watched the taping of the news; they had a glass window where you could see everything behind the scenes, then also a TV on the outside where you can see the actual broadcast. I’m guessing this is common in big cities, but for me it was a first, and was pretty cool.
You can't really see her due to the glare, but she's in there! And yes, they were reporting on Obama...!
The botanical gardens were incredible. Never been to Central Park in NY, but I’m guessing its like that. Just an oasis in the shadow of a bustling city.
I don’t know if you can see it, but the lower label says Royal Botanical Gardens, and the upper label says The Pond I have a Picture of (which is below).
HUGE trees, hibiscus plants, tropical garden areas, ponds, POMEGRANATE TREES! Very cool. Also saw a few ducks in the pond (REPRESENT). A part of the area overlooks the harbor, as well as the Opera House.
LOVE this tree!
For my mommy. A yellow one!
The tropical plant pyramid/greenhouse.
Next time I'm bringin my macro!
I heard some weird screaching, so I looked up in the trees trying to figure out what it was. I finally saw it, BATS! Hundreds of them, clustered in the trees. I began shooting them, hundreds of shots, and realized that there were pairs of them, hugging…THEY WERE MATING! It was crazy. and kinda weird. But I got a few good shots, so that was cool.
BAT!
So many of em. They are HUGE!
I'm not the only Duck here...
Incredible setting!
I spotted some asian men in orange robes down by the Opera House and assumed that they were monks. I thought it would be a great shot if I could get them in front of the Opera House, so I went down to where they were and sat by them. I was gonna just take a shot of them, but felt kinda weird about it. So I just kinda chilled there, and saw that they were taking pictures. I offered to take a picture of them all, but they said no. Then we began to talk. They were Buddhist Monks from Thailand, the main guy I talked to was actually the Abbot of the Watpangha (if that means anything to y’all). I told him where I was from and he told me that he had a friend that was visiting here, but lived in Massachusetts. So he ended up calling the friend and having me speak to him! I think they are here on a mission trip kinda thing…the friend on the phone was also a monk and asked me if I was interested in Buddhism. I told him that I was interested in it as a religion, but that I wasn’t really looking to become Buddhist or anything.
The head monk that I was talking to got pretty excited talking with me, and asked me for my email address. He gave me his card. (He said, “I’ll give you my person card.” “Business card?” I asked. He said, “No, not a business!” We had a laugh about that.) Then I asked again if I could take a picture for them, so I did, and asked if I could take a picture for myself. I did, a few of them left, and the remaining two of them and I continued to talk.
SO awesome!
After a little while I said that I had to leave, and they wanted picture of each of them with me! I took pictures with them, then asked a tourist if he could take a picture of us. It was awesome! They had alright English, it surprised me!
One of my favorite pics as of yet. Nicest guys EVER!
I tried to be careful so that they didn’t think I thought they were weird or ‘the other’ by wanting to take a picture of them. I hoped they didn’t think that, but in their group shot it kinda looks like they weren’t too pumped about it. Or maybe they just don’t smile in photographs, that might be it…
Oh, and Dulce txted me back at around 5:50, while I was in the gardens, to say that we should chill, but she was going out with her flatmates at 7. I told her we should reschedule for Sunday. I’m glad the way the day went, I had a great time, made some new Monk friends, and had fun photographing! A successful day! (as you can see, its up and down! haha) Alright, I’m gonna turn in the keyboard for the nite…
P.S. This post took FOREVER…you’d better enjoy it! 
LATER EDITION–Apparently, according to Wikipedia, those are Grey-headed flying foxes, a type of bat, and are a threatened species, level vulnerable (highest threatened level). Read more about them here. I found it quite fascinating.
My Fate is in Your Hands
What should I do next weekend? Whatever you all decide by Friday Morning, 12:01am on March 6 (Australian time), I promise to accomplish and post photographs of that weekend.
If you do not know of the locations, visit the links below…
The Blue Mountains
Taronga Zoo
Bondi Beach
Gideon and the Absence of Itching
My AUSTRALIAN GIDEONS BIBLE!
I’M SO PUMPED ABOUT THIS! Look at it! So Aweseome! I got it yesterday on campus, man I love it. I think it will actually be one of my most prized posessions from AUS. Amazing how many times the most inexpensive things mean the most! Flipped it open last nite, and read this Proverb…
A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgement-Prov 18-1.
It just spoke to me, straight to my core. Being abroad its very easy to do one of two things: Isolate yourself or go out, hang out with people and make many new friends. Many times I am pulled towards isolation, and it usually ends up in depression or me doing something that I didn’t wan to do. So many times I have just flipped open the Bible, and its just spoken straight to me, kinda like Danny’s messages. One of the ways that God shows himself to me, that HE is REAL.
Oh, MY ITCHING IS GONE!!! It’s such a godsend and I’m so happy!!! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, refer here… The End of My Coolness. *Shrug*. Fourth paragraph.
Drugs Across Cultures
Was going through my Drugs Across Cultures lecture notes, and found this interesting. Wanted to share it all with ya. Would love to start a conversation…
- Refuting the myth that drugs are chiefly defined and determined by their pharmacological properties: look how medical science has changed its classification of drugs over the years.
- Example of caffeine.
- Example of tea
- Example of opiates
- Example of cannabis from Himmelstein (“From Killer Weed to Drop-Out Drug”)
- The divide between legality and illegality is socially and historically determined, not based in some neutral, objective ranking of the dangers of drugs. (Marijuana is less addictive than alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine; cigarettes are implicated in more deaths than every other legal AND illegal drug combined.)
- So this class will be looking a lot at the social context surrounding drug classification and use, and by looking historically at how this changes over time, we can start to really appreciate that drugs and their effect on individuals can only be fully understood by taking into account the particular social, cultural, political, and economic contexts, in addition to their pharmacological properties.
First Day of Classes and Absinthe
Well, today was my first day of class. I had class at 11, so I woke up around 9 to get ready, which was WAAAy early for me. I’ve been gettin’ to bed at around 3 and 4am and waking up at around noon, so it was quite a shock to the body. At first I had Drugs Across Cultures, an interesting class that will cover legal and illegal usage of drugs in different cultures. It was in a brand-new auditorium that had about 200-300 students in it. The university is pretty dang high-tech, the lectures are both audio-taped and video-taped, then streamed on the internet. It’s pretty sweet, and pretty darn lucky for me, because I have to leave halfway through that class to get to my next class, Biology 114.
Biology was pretty cool as well, but kinda boring because I think its gonna be similar to AP/IB Bio. It was mostly full of first-year students. I sat next to two girls, and by the end of the class was friends with them! Directly next to me was an Australian named Mona (actually Iranian, moved here when she was 4) and a 22yr old named Robin, from Bondi. She had been nursing for a while (I mentioned you, Nick) but got tired of it, and felt the need to head to school. After that I had lunch with Robin and her new friend, as well as my relatively new friend Joanne. It was over 80 degrees, we were sitting in the sun, and the sweat was just poring off of me. Crazy, such a contrast from two weeks ago!
Joanne and I headed to the Mac Centre to get some school supplies, then I went back to campus to head to my Critical Thinking class that I had in the same room as Drugs Across Cultures. I had this class with Ryan, and it was nice to see him there.
During my little lunch break I perused the courtyard, where a few hundred booths were set up that housed representatives from school groups, religious organizations, and businesses. I got a flier and signed up for the Macquarie Ultimate Frisbee team, and I’ve gotten kinda excited about that, actually. I need to exercise, but just running for running really doesn’t do it for me. And I actually kinda DO love the sport of ultimate. Tryouts, or workouts or whatever, is on Thursday at 4. I thought about bringing my cleats, but said no to that idea; now I’m regretting it. Now I’m trying to figure out whether it would be more cost effective to ship my cleats or buy new ones…the only catch is that they don’t play American Football here, and football cleats are the best for ultimate, in my humble opinion. Ryan’s also interested, so it should be fun!
Critical Thinking was pretty boring, not sure if its cause it was 3-4pm and I was tired, or whether the material was boring. Classes here are much more independent back in the states, with very little homework, just reading, and big exams and papers. We were also told that class is supposed to be much harder than in the states…however to get the equivalent of an A all I need to get is 75% or more, i believe.
After class I just came back here, chatted with a few peeps, skyped the parents and said happy birthday to mom, then watched a bunch of videos of Conan O’Brien. I love that man’s humor, so freakin’ funny. Went on a run, and ended up doing more of exploring neighborhoods and parks and such, it was pretty fun. There are so many different kinds of beautiful, bright birds here, just randomly on the ground and flying, as well as A TON of rabbits hoppin’ around. I came upon a group of them today, it was pretty cool to see em all, bout 4-6 of em. I was too slow to get some for stew tho… ;(.
Just had a great sandwich for dinner, finished watching Desperate Housewives with Jennya, and now I’m just chillin…
Oh, I forgot to mention kinda a highlight of friday nite. As I was at the bar getting some water I saw a guy next to me getting shots of Absinthe. WHOA! It was bright green, looked beautiful, and greatly intrigued me. Can somebody tell me why its illegal in America? I’m not trying to start a discussion or argument, i really don’t know. I think its thought to have hallucinogenic properties, idk. I’d kinda like to try it, see what its all about. It is legal here, so I’m thinkin it can’t hurt you too much….Oh, and I haven’t found cuban cigars yet, that can be my next little escapade. Alright, I’m out. School starts at 2 for me tomorrow…YEAH!
—-THIS ADDED AFTER ORIGINAL POST–Apparently as of 2007 it is now legal to purchase Absinthe in the U.S.A. Thanks wikipedia!
DSC_0395bw
DSC_0395bw
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
Is this shot too busy? I’m kinda on the fence about it…please give me your opinions!!!
UGHHHH
Bad news…….apparently they charge the internet by megabyte and gigabyte usage, meaning that Skype and uploading to my blog is costing quite a bit of money. this is the case because Australia is still a developing country…it’s very frustrating! Before we arrived Heat had the usage at about 25 megabytes, but then changed it to 25 gigabytes for when we were to arrive. He was a few days late, however, and we went over, costing us all $234/4. VERY FRUSTRATING! (because we didn’t know!)
Well, class starts tomorrow, and I’m not looking forward to it. A little anxious, but mainly I don’t want to start. School is dumb. Not really, but I dislike it. So that’s the next chapter in my book that is THIS. I’ll have to see how the increase in gigabytes goes, and see if I can still upload everything. If not, I may have to stop the videos and pictures, we’ll see. (But I highly doubt it will get to that…I may just have to compress stuff…) UGHHHHHh
Sydney Opera House Detail
Sydney Opera House Detail
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
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DSC_0143noboatcropbw
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
American Boy
My theme song here in Australia…”American Boy” by Estelle, Feat. Kanye West
Crazy Weather
This video is for all of you who are jealous of my weather…may help ya feel a lil bit better. But keep in mind it was 75 or so while it was happening!
In the orange shirt is Heat, along with Vasya and Jennya.
Orientation, Cruise, Friends, Dancin’ & Iraqis
Well, last nite was freakin awesome. Started out with orientation, which was pretty boring, but lunchtime was awesommmme! My friend Stephanie, from Jersey, came over with her roommate, Joanne, and she brought over her friend Dulce. Stephanie and Joanne left and Dulce and I chatted for half an hour. It was freakin great! It was so easy to talk to her…and it was so cool just being on the same wavelength with somebody, if that makes any sense. She goes to college in Mexico City.
After registration I went back to the pad, then left for the city with Ryan. We had a cruise in the harbour at 7, and had to get there on time or we’d miss it! We made it, and man was the cruise awesome! We set off right at the Opera House and circled around the harbour a couple of times. I had quite a bit of anxiety because the last time I was on a boat of that size I was in Alaska, where I got seasick, and I have a pretty big hang-up with vomiting. I did alright tho, only got sketchy a few times and I just prayed a bit and He helped me through it.
On the boat they had two bars, as well as a dance floor on the bottom deck. For most of the time I was just sightseeing, but i talked with a bunch with friends and danced a bit. To tell you the truth, I was paranoid most of the night that I would get sick, checking my phone for the time, and making sure I was outside and on the bottom deck. Neurotic, I know, but I believe that every little success that I have helps me get closer to defeating it…or maybe its just my bag, ya kno?
It was so incredibly beautiful, and pretty awesome, because we got to see the differences between the harbour in the day and nite in just 3 hours. Boy was it beautiful at night! Everything all lit up, and it was warrrrm!
The pizza was alright, and MAN, I hadn’t seen as many pizzas in one place as I saw last night. We made a special trip to the wharf by the Harbour Bridge to pick the pizza up, it was kinda funny. Tourists were there watching us, made us feel special!
Look at all the pizzas!
I met a group of new friends, Daniel from Colombia, who was Dulce’s roommate, as well as Marcos from Brazil. And if you know me, you know that we talked about Colombian (an a lil brazilian) politics. I even had the balls to bring up the question of whether there was a rift between black people and latino people. (Because I was wondering how they felt about obama, of course!) Daniel denied it and said that there was no rift, just that latinos didn’t like obama at first because he was against NAFTA. I was suprised at how educated he was on the election. We broke it down on the dance floor towards the end of the cruise, it was great!
After that I went out with Joanne, Dulce and Daniel to a really cool, chic lounge/bar/nightclub on the wharf. We just chilled, danced a little bit and had a good time! A bunch of her other friends met us, and it was great to meet them all. Then we headed to a Latin dance club, and man, was that fun. Great dancing, and great, GREAT salsa dancing. So much fun! Also on the wharf, so it was just spectacular.
The view from the lounge.
It’s just so amazing how quickly and intensely you make friends when you’re abroad. I met Dulce and Joanne earlier that day for the first time, and after the cruise I ended up going out with them and hanging out til about 130am. They are wonderful people, and it kinda felt like we became best friends in 10 or so hours.
The dancing was so much fun! I really don’t know what I’m doing at all, but I just got into it, chilled out, and let the music take me, ya kno? It was just such a blast, and great excercise! I’ve been dancing 2-3 times a week, and sweating like crazy, havin a ton of fun. One of my fav parts of the nite was when they played Em’s Real Slim Shady, sooo much fun!
Dulce and I
The Latin dance club/bar
Ryan was also in town, so I txted him to see how he was gettin back to North Ryde, and he txted back saying that he had taken the last bus! That was a little frustrating! So I just chilled a lil bit more, then said goodnite and caught a cab. It cost me $60 AUD, which majorly sucked, but I did meet and talk to the driver, who was Iraqi. It was very interesting talking to him! We talked a lil bit of politics (he was glad America removed Saddam (“Worst family in the world”) but that America shouldn’t leave now. “We don’t have any police now! Who will protect the border???!”) I told him that I was in Animal Sciences to become a vet, and he got excited! He told me that in Iraq he was a poulty veterinarian (“I made as much money as human doctors!”) but the economy crashed. He then moved to New Zealand (“very beautiful, but very boring”). After that he came to Sydney, and he’s been here for 3 years. Told me that he really didn’t like to drive cabs, but that he needed to. He was a very nice man, and I kinda want to say that the $60 was worth the experience. He was awesome!
Great, GREAT nite!
As I’ve been editing, I found myself going off on a tangent. I thought that I would bring it down here. I never have really understood how powerful America is and how the election of the American president is somewhat the election of a sort of Universal President until now. It seems as though everybody that I’ve talked to here was somewhat or deeply into the 2008 presidential election. Talking to Daniel, as well as Vasya and Jennya (my russian housemates), random Australians, has really shown me how we are the leaders of the free world. We have random Australians come up to us and start talking about Bush and Obama because we are Americans. And its pretty interesting, people just assume that we are Obama supporters for some reason (which is a good reflection on America, in my opinion (not meant to be an insult, believe me!!)) And what I’ve also come to realize is that well-adjusted people do not dislike Americans, but rather the American government. Once again, I learned this from Vasya and Jennya, as well as Daniel. They both made separate comments that are equivalent to “In every country you have the government and the people; these are two very separate entities.” Most people understand this, and it is a huge relief for me. I am beginning to stop feeling guilty for being an American and instead feel proud of the positive change that I have helped to enact that will effect the rest of the world. Alright, I think its time for this to be done…
Oh, just thought of one more thing. Saw on the Huffington Post today that the routes for high-speed railway systems across America, due to the Stimulus Bill, have been announced. I’ve dreamt about it, and it seems to have come true: there will be a line between Eugene and Portland! One question, to be answered by those willing…if those who opposed the Stimulus Bill use the high-speed railway system, are they hypocrites?
Macquarie Global Leadership Program – Macquarie International – Macquarie University
They told us about this program at Orientation, i think I’m gonna do it…pretty pumped about it. Here’s the text from their website…
Macquarie’s Global Leadership Program
Stand up for global issues – and stand out from the pack
Graduates able to demonstrate an understanding of cross-cultural concepts through their own international experience will have a strong competitive edge in today’s global marketplace. Employers will look beyond your academic transcript for the additional skills you have developed including communication, creativity, leadership and initiative. Industry demands graduates who have proven their potential for a leadership position.
As part of Macquarie’s commitment to internationalisation and innovation, the Global Leadership Program (GLP) allows students to enhance their Macquarie degree and develop their potential to become a global leader.
Macquarie’s Global Leadership Program can equip you with the leadership potential, professional skills and international experiences to pursue a truly international career.
Explore our web pages to find out more about the program.
via Macquarie Global Leadership Program – Macquarie International – Macquarie University.
Short Cruise Vid
From left to right we have Ryan from Marquette, Ryan (my good friend) from Chicago, Caroline (sitting down) from Marquette, Corey (sitting down) from Marquette, Kalyn and Devon from Marquette and Stephanie from New Jersey.
1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Over 1000 views!!! WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I’M SO PUMMMMMPPED! Thank you guys so much for reading and referring or whatever, it’s great fun to actually have an audience and for ya to care about what I write, it means a lot to me, and is adding a great deal to this adventure/experience. Whaddaya think, can we make it to 10,000??!!?!?! EORIWEJRLSIJO!!!
(Tomorrow I will post something of substance, as my nite tonite was absolutely mindblowingly awesome, the best night in Sydney as of yet. But its 3am (and 70 degrees!..irrelevant, but awesome!) and Im need to get some sleep. Last nite was 3 as well, ugh. GREAT TIMES! nite, or morning, i guess, for y’all in the states…whatev, NITEEEEEEe)
Opera House/The Rocks
It’s actually BUSH fire, don’t know why I said brush…and I didnt get those tix, got different ones…so yeah, haha
Tea, Town, Tix
Well, yesterday I took it pretty chill. Visited the mall, bought some stuff…I found some looseleaf tea for Vasiya and Genia, which I was super-pumped about! They had been looking for it for a while, and couldn’t find any, so I was totally stoked when I found some. Also made friends with the tea woman/girl, so that was sweet!
Went into town again today trying to get tix for the Victorian Bush Fire benefit at the Opera House for Vaisya, Genia and myself, but they were sold out. Just kinda perused everything again, then came back. Wasn’t a wasted trip because I took the bus and found all the stops and such, which is kinda difficult in a city like Sydney. I was proud of myself! Oh, and had some great prawns for a snack downtown. Was gonna have McDonald’s, but I rememberd Vaisya, who is trying to get me to eat healthier, so I ate the prawns instead.
When I got back we all looked through the Opera House calendar and settled on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Mendelssohn and Shakespeare”. Here is the description…
Madness, mayhem, music! Vladimir Ashkenazy opens the Sydney Symphony’s 2009 season with a magical concoction of Mendelssohn and Shakespeare.
A midsummer night. Madness. Mayhem. Music. Our new Principal Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy opens the 2009 season with a magical concoction: Mendelssohn in the full flight of genius and Shakespeare at his comic best. Mendelssohn composed his miraculous Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at 17. Years later he returned to the play, adding more enchantments – from fairy songs and a poignant Nocturne to a fleet-footed Scherzo and the triumphant Wedding March. The play ends with three marriages. In this concert there’s a fourth – the marriage of music and theatre. Wait, a fifth! Come join our revels and witness the forging of a musical partnership between Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony.Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture and complete incidental music with an abridged presentation of Shakespeare’s play
I’m superpumped! We got pretty decent seats, so it should just be incredible. I also got some nice clothes at the mall yesterday, so it will be fun dressin all up! The show’s on the 28th of Feb!
Also bought tix to the 2010 World Cup Qualifier of Australia vs. Uzbekistan, which will be played in Sydney. I’m goin with my buddy Ryan and another friend we met, also named Ryan. It’s on April 1st in the Olympic soccer stadium. holy crap.
Well, I’ve been talking a lot with my Russian housemates, and its been just freakin great. We’ve talked about pretty much everything, especially politics, which is interesting. I asked them what they thought about Obama, and they said that he seemed good, but they don’t know anything about him. They also confirmed the notion that Medvedev is a puppet for Putin. We talked about the South Ossetia conflict, and it sounded like we were completely fed propaganda to fuel our dislike for and the feeling of ‘otherness’ towards Russia. These people now are my good friends, and they have no reason to lie to me or try to shape my thinking. I don’t exactly remember what they said actually happened in South Osetia, but if y’all are interested, lemme know, I’ll ask em again, and post it on here.
One last thing. Everybody says that Aussies are amazingly nice and everything, and they’re RIGHT. There’s no way to convey just how hospitable they all are. I am never nervous about getting lost or anything because i KNOW that anybody will answer whatever question I have, and it even feels like they’d give me a ride home if i got lost. Ive asked probably 10 different people in the mall where certain stores are, and all have gone out of their way to help me. It’s just amazing. Maybe its because I’m American, I don’t know, but man, everybody feels like family here…
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This is just a vid of what downtown Sydney is like. I was tryin to give y’all the gist of the city, idk….
Tha City
Well, yesterday was pretty freakin awesome, so it should be documented. I decided that it would be my day to go into the city to see the Opera House and such, so I did! A friend told me that the best way was to take a taxi to Epping Station, then take the train into Sydney. I did that, and it was pretty cool, but it cost me a bunch! I’m really glad that I took the train cause…I did it all by myself (while asking a few peeps) and made it to and from, which gave me quite a bit of confidence. It was also great to see the other parts of Sydney. I saw the suburbs, as well as the dirtier parts, kinda like slums, then the city part, which was beautiful. It was a good decision to take the train, but not because of time or money…just sightseeing.
The taxi, one way, from my place to the train station was a lil under $9, and the train itself, one way, was about $5. Transportation cost me, total, about $30. ugh. What I’m gonna do next time, and maybe tomorrow, is just take the bus. It costs $5 one way and takes about an hour, which is about as long as the train took.
I got into town and headed down to the Opera House, i had to see it. When I saw it it was like it was holy or something, its hard to explain. Something as iconic and world-renown as the Opera House just kinda takes your breath away when you see it…I’ve seen so many pictures, but to see it with your bare eyes is just incredible. I took a bunch of shots, then headed up to a bar/pub/reastaraunt to get some food, and ordered my first beer! An Australian beer called Toohey’s…the bartender said it was the most popular. I had fish ‘n’ chips, which was waaay good! It was very…’grown-up feeling’ to drink a beer with a meal. I definitely would have enjoyed a coke much more, but the novelty of drinking my first beer with a meal was powerful…if that makes any sense. Just a milestone.
After that I went back down to the wharf, to edge of The Rocks area, which looks out onto the Opera House, and took more shots. Had a nice UK man take a pic of me in front of the Opera House, which was tight. I had a lot of fun trying to be creative with shots of the Opera House. It’s difficult to not get a cliche shot because literally EVERY angle of the Opera House has been shot before. I kinda started to try to focus on different things in the foreground and have the Opera House as an out-of-focus background-it’s so iconic that it doesn’t need even 1/8th of the frame for people to realize what it is. I saw a sea gull and focused a bunch on it, then did some shots of a pirate-esque ship which turned out aight. It was a lot of fun to try to get MY shot of the Opera House!
I walked under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was awesome, then walked back along the wharf. As I was walking back I came across a bridal party taking pictures in front of the opera house…what a perfect place to get married! I also saw a bridal party in a horse-driven buggy goin under the harbour bridge. I went to the Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) area and walked up the steps of the Sydney Opera House. It was incredible being there, just amazing being below those sales. It was Sunday so the Opera House was closed, but it was still wonderful.
Here, you can see what I'm talkin about...
I saw ANOTHER bridal party on the courtyard below the Opera House, so many weddings! I got a pic of the first bridal party walking past the Opera House, don’t kno how it turned out tho. So I walked up the steps so I was right there, next to the sails, sooo amazing! So freakin amazing.
After about 3 1/2 hours I headed back to the train station and took it back to the apt. What a great day!!!!!
Sydney Opera House Detail
Sydney Opera House Detail
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
Opera House
About 5 minutes before taking this video, the sky was cloudy but it was clear and dry. In less than 2 seconds, it went from slighly sunny to pooring, torrential rain. I quickly hid under one of the Opera House’s ‘sails’ and watched while thousands of people ran for their lives, like they were terrorized, trying to get out of the rain. It was pretty funny to watch, quite a sight!
P.S., I took 589 shots in the city in about 4 hours…most of them of the Opera House. At least a FEW should turn out! I’ll have em up soon, hopefully…!
Alcoholic Firsts and Nightclubs
Well, after last nite, today is a chill day, so I have some time to write about the happenings here. A couple nights ago I went to a lil party in Macquarie Village, where most of the international students are. It was with all Americans, but still fun. I met my friend Ryan there, as well as his roommate and his girlfriend from Milwaukie, Wisconsin. There was also a girl from New Jersey, a guy from Kansas and a girl from Missouri. It was many of our first days in Oz, and because of the drinking age of 18, everyone seemed compelled to bring alcohol. It’s interesting, here cheap beer is WAAAAY more expensive than cheap wine. Because of this we played wine pong, which was quite fun!
For those of you who don’t know, the game Beer Pong is HUGE in popularity in college all across the United States. But only the United States; they don’t know about it in Europe or Australia…pretty interesting. What it consists of two teams of two standing at opposite sides of a rectangular table. In front of each team is a pyramid of red SOLO cups partially filled with beer (but that night it was wine). Each team throws ping pong balls across the table, (but can’t lean over the table), and if they get it into their opponents cup, the opponent must drink the cup. The team that hits all the opponents cups wins. Now, I don’t want you all to be afraid that I’m an alcoholic or that I’m getting drunk all the time or whatever, that wine pong game was my first beer pong game EVER (believe me, i got a lil crap!).
Aight, well, yesterday was quite fun. At around 930 pm we met back at the village, at a different apt. (Stephanie’s place, the girl from Jersey). We were there for a bit, then got rides from her Aussie friend to a bus stop. We then took that into downtown, and I saw my first view of the Sydney Opera House! It was lit up, and looked just stunning! Saw it while we were crossin’ the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I do believe… We then took a taxi to a nightclub he recommended, called Bungalow 8. It was directly on the Sydney Harbour. Literally ON it, the club backed up to the wharf. It was pretty cool having them check ID at the door and being approved, kinda a first, ya kno?
There was a dance floor by the bar, then it opened up onto the actual wharf, with some overhangs and umbrellas (which was good because it was pooring, but still about 68 degrees.) Outside they had really cool chic 3/4 of a square couches with paper lanterns above, and a bunch of tables. The atmosphere was awesome!
We got there, and the guys ordered a round of tequila shots. I’d never had any before, so Iwas kinda nervous, but I actually enjoyed it. Ryan tought me the technique of licking the back of your hand and putting salt on it. Then, you lick the salt, throw back the shot, and suck on the lime. It tasted good and went down VERY smoothly. My first shot. I was kinda nervous about the effects and all, so that was all I had that night, but it was a good memory.
The night started off a lil weird, standing around, but soon we all got into it, and the dancing got CRAZY! All of us Americans were just dancin together and watchin the Aussies, it was pretty cool. The music and DJs were INSANE! They would do AWESOME mashups (on the fly! i think…) One of my favs was Kanye’s Stronger along with the Beastie Boys Intergalactic. Worked SO WELL!
Well, we all danced from about 12-230am or so, then tried our hardest to find a taxi. (thank goodness it had stopped raining by this time!) A few members of our group were pretty hammered, and taxis don’t pick you up if they think you’re drunk, so it was pretty hard to hail one. After a while some of us sober and mostly-sober ones broke away from the group and flagged down a taxi. It took about 15 minutes to get back to our neighborhood, whereas the bus took about an hour…(its not cost effective tho unless you have a full taxi…cost about 45 AUD). It was a great nite tho! I got home at about 3, ate a bit, and was asleep by 4..! jeeeeeeeze!
Today I woke up at about 1230 or one, skyped a few peeps, and cleaned up my room. Then I headed towards the shopping center to pick some stuff up. I got there at about 630 or 7pm, and nearly every place was closed! On a SATURDAY! It was the weirdest thing! I got McDonalds (I like to see the differences of McDonalds across the globe. I wouldn’t say that I’m a McDonald’s conisseur, because I would lose respect for myself, but I DO like to see the differences in a pretty standardized chain…) and man was it good! The burger was quite a bit smaller, but the fries tasted like they were cooked in a different kind of oil than they are in the states. They weren’t as crispy as some, but also not as soggy as others…they were just perfect! The hamburger patty was also made from Aussie beef, without steriods or anything like that, and it said that the beef was from the same cuts that you would get in a supermarket. It was GOOD!
Alright, I just want to give kinda a disclaimer or whatever. I hope none of you are disappointed in me or are thinking that I am losing my way because I am trying alcohol. For some reason I feel that some of you may feel this way, but just know that I…how do I say this without sounding cocky…that I am smart, i guess. I’m just trying new things, and drinking is legal here, so I feel that it is acceptable to try out this different aspect of culture. There is HUGE stigma attached to drinking in the states by people under 21 (which is understandable, its the law) but please don’t apply that stigma to me here. Alright, thats it for my disclaimer or whatever. I’m off to the supermarket!
My Address
Hey, I would absolutely love to hear from all and any of y’all reading this! And I PROMISE to reply! Here’s my address…!!
Peter St. George
Unit 61 188-190 Balaclava Rd
Marsfield NSW 2122
AUSTRALIA
Campus Tour, Phone, Ease, and Pubs on Campus
Well, I’m pretty exhausted, but I felt the call to write. SO here it goes….
Checked my facebook at about 8 this morning and saw that my Chicago friend Ryan had messaged me, saying something about orientation or a campus tour at 1030 he was goin to, and said i should come. I tried to go back to bed but couldnt, took a shower and cut myself shaving, then spent the next half hour trying to stop the bleeding…UGH. I made it down to campus, and because I didnt have a cell phone, couldnt contact Ryan, so I just kinda thought I would see if I could find the tour by chance. I asked a few questions about where the tour would be departing from, found out that it was actually at 11, and found my way to the meeting place. I found Ryan, and just as we arrived, the tour was leaving. We jumped in and joined the tour; it was us, another couple from Moscow, and a woman from Canada. We were led by these awesome Aussies, Harry and Ashleigh. They answered a bunch of our questions and just took us around the campus, it was absolutely beautiful. I took some video of it, thats below, but it frustrated me that the splendor of the campus really didnt come through.
We had a bbq with them and other international students (actually, just other Americans…a foursome from Marquette, a woman from Jersey and a chill dude from Boston). We became tight with our tour leaders and actually decided that we would all go clubbing in the near future, which should be fun!
After that I headed to the mall to get a phone. Had a great schnitzel sandwich! The way they do cell phones here is really cool. You buy a phone (mine was $59), then buy a SIM card (mine was $29 for $150 worth of calls and txts). So, for less than $90 (AUSTRALIAN dollars, remember!) I had a phone and was set!!! I guess they’re starting to convert to the American system of calling plans because the phone companies make more money that way…
I love it here. Not to scare anyone, but I could see myself living here. They are maybe 5-10 years behind American in the annoying trends, such as commercialization, but ahead 5-10 years in ways like sustainability (very little water used in flushing toilets, natural gas on buses, switches next to outlets to turn them off and on). Well, my favorite mall is crazily commercial, so I guess that kills my theory, but it just seems BETTER here. Maybe that’s just cause its new. Maybe its the Vitamin D. But I can’t get over one fact, one feeling, an idea, that I’ve had; that living just seems easier here. Hard to explain it, but there it is.
Also skyped some friends and family today! It was awesome to see the parents, lemmetelluUUU! Great to see the Lundquists, Greigs and Devon and Blake as well! For those who don’t know, Skype is a FREE online calling service, where if you have a mic or webcam, or both, you can talk to or watch, or both, the person you are trying to reach. It’s freakin awesome. If you don’t have it already, download it and sign up, it literally takes no longer than 5 minutes, and I don’t misuse literally! My skype name is peter.st.george . Add me as a contact and we’ll be talking soon!!!
Oh, and a special shout-out from down under to my mother’s fellow social workers and my dads co-workers and gamma knife patients. If people who barely know me find this interesting, then I am happy!!!
A few random observations~
–theres a bar above the food court on campus. Drinking age here is 18. Guess if you have an hour between classes its enough time for a Foster’s, eh?
–there were these two-foot high birds that looked somewhat like blue herons with foot-long curved beaks (not as beautiful) walking around campus randomly. Apparently they are pests…i thought they were quite cool!
–theres a dentist on campus, as well as a travel agent in case one desires to travel inside Australia, a bank, and a tiny mini-mall type thing.
At Mac
Once I viewed theses videos they were kind of underwhelming, took the pop out of what I saw and felt…but its a representation of the awesomeness, i guess..
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
I really loved the juxtaposition of the ice rink and tropical foliage. This is at the shopping center that I visited.
Aussie Dough
P1010228
Originally uploaded by PeterJosef
Check it out! Transparent money!! kinda…look at the corner of the 50!
SO TIREEED!
So, I’m exhausted, and I’m not gonna type much here tonite, but I had an amazing day. After that last post I kinda got my bearings, then headed down to the most amazing shopping mall thats about a 10 minute walk from my place. Oh, and people drive on the other side of the road with the steering wheal on the other side as well! And the same when you walk, its kinda weird. When I would pass someone coming straight on at me, i would try to pass on the right, as is usual for me, but they would force me to pass on the left….really weird for me. same with the escalators, they were set up ‘backward’.
Alright, I might post some pictures on here, but all the pictures I’ve posted so far are here!!!
Oh, and I got a webcam, so I’m ready to skype!!!
I’m HEEEEEEeeeeere
Well, I’m here. I have internet in the apt, so that is freakin awesome. I share the apartment with a Russian couple from Moscow, I didn’t catch his name but her name is Gina, I believe. (i’m not making this up.) Also, there is a Japanese man named Heat that lives here, but he’s in Japan for some kind of conference thing.
The flights were pretty smooth, except during the end of the flight from San Fran to SYD. The last half hour was crazily bumpy and turbulent, thought I was gonna get sick. There was a kid behind me that wasn’t feeling good, so I put in ear plugs, began to meditate (kinda), prayed, and that helped me through it. And yes, Gina, I did walk around, twice, hope you’re happy!
Got into Sydney at 730am local time. I passed the Duty Free shop will all kinds of liquor and stuff, and was SOOO tempted to buy some, just because I could…but didn’t… Went through customs, picked up my bags, then went through quarentine. After 20 minutes or so I found the Macquarie driver, who had about 10 other students, and after waiting for a few more we headed out. I met a guy named Ryan from Chicago, and we talked a bunch waiting for the van as well as in the van. It was really cool to find someone I could talk and chill with, it’s kinda relieving, especially after finding out that I’m in an apt with people of a different age…(the Russian husband is 43). He gave me his email, as neither of our phones worked, and I found him on facebook.
During the ride we talked a bunch with the driver, and he said that Macquarie makes their money from International students, out of the 25,000 students, there are probably 5,000 Aussies, he said. Most of them are Asian. That really bummed me out, I was hoping to meet and become friends with a bunch of Australians, but its looking like it may be a rarity to have Aussies in my classes. No offense to Asians, but if i wanted to go to school with asians I would have gone to Asia (that sounds offensive, still. but you know what i mean.) Ryan’s hooked up to this program called Meet a Mate at Mac or something, where he’s paired with an Australian girl from Macquarie and a European chick. I signed up for it, but was one day past the deadline…I’ll prolly be able to hang out with them.
It’s an incredibly weird feeling to be here, alone. ALONE. The learning curve will be steep, and I will figure out how to get around the city, but right now its just incredibly daunting. Need to take a shower but I don’t have a towel or faceclothe, have to call Macquarie because they didn’t give me a sheet when my orientation is, but I don’t have a phone…ugh, its stressful. I’ll get it figured out soon. I think tonite I’m gonna go to a shopping center that’s about a 15 minute walk from here, and hopefully get all that taken care of. Alright, I’m out!
Oh, also saw on the news that a man got attacked by a shark in the SYD harbor. If I surf, you guys had better think I was hardcore!
P
Last Night
well, its the night before, and things are weird! got most stuff packed today, and talked to a lot of people about leavin. I laid pretty low, just went to church, had lunch with lily, packed, and justin came over to say goodbye and chill. lunch with lily was good, at mongolian grill…(yeah gina, mongolian grill, again. its all i can ever think of!) she told me of her friend who went abroad. she almost didn’t go because a week before she left she got way nervous, threw up a bunch, couldn’t eat. so, with my throwing-up thang, that kinda threw me for a loop, and i was a lil nauseous after that. i got over it tho, and I’m ok.
Skyped with members from the WHOLE St. George clan, minus grandpa charlie, before dinner. that was cool, saying goodbye to everyone before the trip. Shout out to Chas, Camila, Lincoln, Jeremy, Matt, Ann-Marie, Annette, Char and Jeff. They were all on!
Dinner was weird. The parents asked me what i wanted to do for my last night, and I just wanted a quiet little dinner in, with my moms teriyaki chicken, a favorite I’ve had forever. I didnt want to sit down for dinner cause i knew it would be my last, but I did, and the food was great! We watched Lost and chilled with Justin, then started the grammys.
Just got off the phone with Gina, I’m gonna miss that girl a lot. We don’t hang out as much as we should, (cause I’m weird with it a bit) but our phone convo was great. She’s an incredible person, one of the most amazing people you can ever meet. She’s more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside, and she’s a gorgeous girl, so that’s saying quite a bit! She’s gonna hate me for saying that, and you’re prolly confused or something, but…hey, I’m weird. I love that girl, always will! Yeah, we dated, but we’re friends now, and JUST friends, from both sides. And she’s an amazing person, straight up! So there you go, I’m bein open, and theres that.
after that, said goodnite to the parents, and charlie, the last goodnite for a while, til they come in April, I guess. I head to the EUG airport at 4 tomorrow with the parents, (dads gettin off early to take me!), leave at 6pm, then get into Sydney on Wednesday the 11th at 8am in the morning. Im OUT!
P
Finals, Bush (the good one), Contacts and Books
Well, this post won’t be scandelous or controvercial, just givin’ an update. This week has been a very weird week, to say the least. A week of lasts…the last 24 that I’ll see in a while, last time working with the incredible people at Bush Animal Hospital for a while, last Monday, Tuesday, you get the point. It’s just weird. I’ve gotten waaay too little sleep, and with a lot of stress I’ve come down with a cold…and a small fever yesterday. sux. but whatever, you roll with the punches.
I can’t say enough about the people at Bush Animal Hospital. I usually make friends pretty easily, but at Bush I formed some really strong friendships (at least for me) in a really short time, it was amazing! I loved being in that hospital with those people, it almost makes my quest about whether I really DO want to be a vet more difficult because its hard to know whether I was there for the people or for the work. Whatever, I’m neurotic about that. But before I volunteered for them, I had no idea how lucky I would be. Bush is truly one of the best animal hospitals in Oregon with regards to state of the art equipment and animal care. Dr. Jerry Boggs is an incredible teacher, and amazing veterinarian, a wonderful person, and, frankly, I want to be where he is at some point in my life. He was patient with me, answered questions in the midst of surgeries, and allowed me to trail him almost everywhere. It wasn’t frustrating or anything that I wasn’t getting paid, I liked helping out, even doing laundry and cleaning cages, for those folks. I really hope I can head back there when I get back!
Today has kinda been crazy, I kinda gave myself (and my mom ;( ) the mission of getting contacts before I go, which is a difficult feat with less than a week before takeoff. I couldnt focus manually with my camera, cause I couldnt figure out where the tack sharp area was. That’s when I knew i needed contacts! I couldn’t find my old contacts, so mom got me an appt with the doc at peacehealth. Went there today, they did the checkup thang, and said I couldn’t get contacts by that time because they had discontinued my brand of contacts, and I would have had to have them refitted, which takes weeks. So my pupils are dilated and I’ve been feelin like crap! I tried to call Rainbow Optics with the perscription that Peacehealth gave me, but they couldnt do it without a contact perscription, and i only had a glasses perscription. I gave up and decided to get some in Australia, but then found two more contacts…mom was less than happy about that. I’ll still have to get contacts there, but I have a month to figure things out now.
Packing has so far consisted of throwing stuff in the corner of my moms room, but things should start gettin’ in the suitcase maybe tomorrow or Sunday. I leave at 6pm on Monday, so I’m not stressing (like my parents are). I have so much reading material! I started reading Octavian Nothing, then saw Capote, so i started reading In Cold Blood, then Kiyoshi gave me The Book of Animal Ignorance, which is awesome!!! and Scott gave me Mere Christianity. I think I should be set for a while!~
Oh, and I’m gonna be gone for 5 months…I guess I was counting wrong. My last Duck game is tomorrow, they better win! I think it would be the first time ever, in my 15 years of going Mac Court, that I will not have seen them beat a Pac-10 team. Better happen tomorrow! I’m out! Family going away party tonite, should be a grrreat time!
LAME
I think I’m gonna see if I can do some vid stuff in Sydney so y’all can get a feel for what life is like there, so this is just kinda a test. just seein’ how wordpress can handle vids…
Incredible
This really has nothing to do with me or Australia, but it made me speechless…one of the cheesiest, most ’80′s videos you will ever see. Ran across it this morning. I also wanted to test out youtube videos for little vlog posts when im in AUS. Alright, there’s a somewhat graphic love scene towards the end, beware. and enjoy…haha. As Nick said, “It has one of the most full-frontal loves scenes I’ve ever seen in a music video”. (Ok, he didn’t say that, but something to that effect…) Oh, and I’m sorry about the first image that it puts up, idk why it does that… If you have a cheesier video, post the address in the comments! Then I’ll add it to this blog post. This is a challenge!
IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY LOVE SCENES, THIS VIDEO IS NOT FOR YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Electro-Boogie Yeah Yeah and Disrespectful Urination
Oh man, what a weekend! A couple of weeks ago I was in CORV picking up my 50mm with Nick, and went to coffee with him, Mary and Amy. Nick and Mary decided to throw a going away party for me, and they got to work on it. It was difficult, with a couple of locations falling through, but Mary found a place, the house of a fellow DJ. Nick and Jordan came up with me, and Kiyoshi took the bus down from Portland, which was tight! It took a little while for people to come, but when they did, man, they came by the carloads. Pretty soon the dance party was raving, with a DJ alternating between two ipods, dancing underneath a neon Pabst sign. Bodies were packing, it was impossible to move from one side of the house to the other, had to go out the front door and in the back door to get to the kitchen from the front of the house. I knew maybe 1/4 of the people there, which I was cool with. Mary invited a bunch of people I didn’t know, and the host of the party invited a bunch as well, which was cool with me. As long as everyone was having fun, thats all I care about.
It was pretty cool having a party kinda ‘in my name’, so to speak. People were there, it seemed, because of me, but not for me, which made me comfortable. People would come up and introduce themselves to me, and say, “Hey, I hear its your party” and wish me luck and everything; that was pretty cool and made me feel special. A few friends I hadn’t seen in a while came by just to make an appearance and say goodbye to me, which also meant a lot to me.
After a little while the Pabst light went off and the dancing got SERIOUS! There was a ton of alcohol being consumed (I had about 1 and 1/3 glass of rum and coke…so not too much. *I’ll talk more about this later), so the dancing got pretty passionate. The air got thick and hot, literally felt like it was maybe 95° in there or so. Most of the music was electronic, but Nick and Jordan fought to get some Dre on there, which the peeps dug. I also asked for Biggie’s Juicy, which was pretty awesome. It was just cool bouncing from one group of friends to the other, with my grade school homies nick and kiyo along with jordan, to my middle school/high school/college friends, which are the roomies, the girls, and, well, like I said, college friends. To have so many people you love around you just rockin’ out, havin’ fun, and bein’ goofy, its just a great thing.
Alright, with the rum and coke thing, I have something to say about that. I do know my audience on here. I DO know that it is friends and people that may not know me, but also my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. And I know that they may be shocked/worried that I have drunk alcohol at a party when I am under 21 (less than a year. I am forced to sign up for selective services in the case of a draft, but am forbidden to consume alcohol. Figure that one out). But please don’t give in to the knee-jerk reaction. I feel as though I am a smart person, mature, and I have observed the consumption of alcohol at college for a while. I understand how to be safe with alcohol, and my aforementioned phobia with vomiting really helps with drinking. I’m very careful with it. (As I’ve found out in recent conversations with my parents about drinking at these parties [initiated by me, i might add]) I am like my father in that we don’t like to consume too much alcohol because we like to feel in control. I haven’t been smashed, and I’m hesitant to say that I’ve been drunk, but I have definitely been altered. So theres that. Oh, and if I were to have problems, it wouldn’t be with substances. I’m not built like that.
So, why do I talk about drinking at a party if it could complicate things in any way? Well, for one reason, I am a fan of transparency, and I believe it makes this blog more interesting, as well as makes me feel brave, i guess. But here’s the more important reason, the one that is really making me say these things. I laid this out last week while I was having a discussion with my uncle, and I have yet to go away from it. It’s basic, but it feels like I’ve reached something big…idk. HERE IT IS —> I feel that I have relatively strong morals (relative in that they are strong, and rare, with todays culture, but weak compared to Jesus/perfection), and with this as a given, if I am doing anything that I am ashamed of, or would not want others to know about, then it’s not something I should be doing. Therefore, by writing about this here, in about the most public place possible, I’m practicing what I’m preaching (to myself). It has backfired on me though…i was talking with someone, and being open, and a week later was asked by someone else if I had a problem. This kind of frustrated me and discouraged my plan/idea of transparency, but I’ve just got to understand that people many times don’t completely understand the situation, make assumptions, and have different perspectives. Also, when somebody approaches one like that, it just means that they care for that person. It’s no harm!
Alright, time for a funny/embarassing tidbit. So, the party was incredibly packed, therefore there was a line of about 5 or 6 guys to get into the bathroom. I said screw it and went into the back yard to take a leak. As I was going, I heard the very obvious sound of pee-hitting-plastic. For some reason I continued, then finished, got out my cell phone, and examined what I had inadvertenly targeted…IT WAS A FRISBEE! For those of you regual folks, this would just be a mild faux paus, but for my ultimate brethren, this is sacrelige, the highest form of disrespect. I quickly went into the house and doused the frisbee with 3-4 cups of water. Then, to my huge embarassment, told the awesome party host, after the party, what I had done, just to avoid any urine-drenched-frisbee-tossing incidents. UGH.
Well, the party went on til about 130, til cops drove by the house, which freaked everybody out, and it just kinda fizzled from there. Amy had some car trouble I won’t get into, but we waited around to fix that, then Jordan, Nick, kiyo and myself got a ride home the the roomies apt. Nick attempted to get food for about 45 minutes until we figured out that every pizza place in CORV was closed, and we went to bed. GREAT GREAT nite!!! and GREAT GREAT TIME!
One more thing about the transparency issue. I am smart about it, and I do have limits. But PLEASE don’t punish me for being open and honest.
AIGHT, here are pics from the party! Thanks to Mary and Adrienne for snappin’ em!
Gina and I
YEAH!!!
Morgan DJ'in
Gina and Mary DJin
PACKED!
Nick had a good time...!
Nick and I
The DJ Rockin'
Charlie, Taylor and Myself
