Roommates

I cannot remember if I have ever talked about our roommates, Lizzy and Henry. I'm sure I have mentioned them once or twice before but never spoke much about them.  Lizzy is from Indonesia and works across the street at the Indonesian consulate. Henry is from China and is also in school at UNSW.  Both of them are very nice, and probably the best roommates one could ask for.  Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves and I really don't see them too often. In fact it is so rare that I see Lizzy that I am convinced she doesn't even really live here.

My one complaint about roommates is that they always seem to be the bathroom when you need to go.  At least our toilet and shower are separate so if someone is in the shower another can go to the bathroom. But for whatever reason it seems like any time I really have to go, Henry is in there leaving me dancing outside the door and trying not to think about it. In fact, the inspiration for this post came from this exact dilemma I already faced once this morning.  The shower doesn't seem to be a problem because we are all getting up and getting ready at different times. It has happened only a few times where wanted to take a shower and it was occupied, but it is rare. 

The difference in food and cooking is another interesting aspect of our roommates. Neither Henry or Lizzy eat pork so Adam and I have to be careful about how we prepare a dish using that ingredient and to remember not to serve it to them (not that we all sit and eat together anyway, but in the casual offering of food sort of way). It is amazing how vastly different our dishes are to there's.  Adam and I have similar tastes and makes stuff that we would make in the States i.e. steaks, chicken, with veggies, etc. Henry makes mostly noodles or some type of rice dish. Although, Henry has some dish that requires him to toast pepper seeds or something in the skillet before he adds everything else. I personally hate it when he makes this dish because I'm cannot breath the air in the apartment without going into a fit of coughing. I'm pretty sure I'm breathing in toxic air when he makes that crazy dish. Lizzy makes stuff that smells really good, but I have no idea what it is. It usually entails a lot of egg.

In keeping with the topic of food, Henry has recently found it really funny to have me try some of the things he thinks are delicious and uses in his cooking. The other week he had me try tofu that had been marinated in blue cheese. Now, I like tofu and I like blue cheese however I did not like this stuff. My first warning should have been the smell. This stuff smelled absolutely terrible. I tasted it and immediately seized up in disgust. Henry just stood there laughing because he knew I wouldn't like it. So mean! There was something else he had be try the another day, but I cannot remember what it is. All I know is that from now on if Henry asks me to try something I know to say NO!   

All in all, Lizzy and Henry are great roommates and I enjoy living with them; except when I have to use the bathroom and it's occupied and when Henry is making his toxic air dish.

Last semester courses!

Again, for those of you who care to know here is a list with their descriptions of the classes I am taking in my final semester.  This semester is a little different from the previous two because I only have two physical classes that I have to go to each week.  The other two are comprised of my internship and research paper.  These I complete on my own time.  I am two weeks into the semester and so far everything seems great. I am really happy with the two classes that I am taking. They seem really interesting and are taught by people who actually seem to know how to teach (unlike some classes last semester). That reminds me that I should have posted about how things turned out last semester, but I was too stressed with school and flying home to write about it at the time. Oh well. It is in the past! I am looking forward to completing my final semester. I cannot believe I am almost done! Crazy!!

Marketing and Promotion
This course focuses on issues in marketing for those working in arts and related fields. Topics covered include methods of audience research and ways of undertaking group surveys and their implementation. How to define the unique qualities of a target institution and create a public image around this separateness are issues explored, together with detailed studies of promotional and fundraising strategies.

Education and Public Programs
This course covers issues surrounding public programs and education in the context of art galleries, museums and related institutions. It addresses questions to do with the identification and definition of audiences, examines the needs of non-specialist communities as well as educational institutions, and takes account of the practicalities of budgeting and planning. The development of programs using volunteer guides (and their training), floor talks, lectures, seminars and conferences is presented as a subject for practical purposes as well as critical consideration. Also included is a consideration of exhibitions for purely educational purposes.

Research Paper
This project allows for the focusing of investigative, analytical and theoretical skills. Topics must relate to the broad area of the internship and are chosen in consultation with a supervisor who will guide and direct the project. The 10,000 word study may include the use of film, video and audio tape or photographic documentation where relevant. While it may draw directly on experiences gained during the internship, the research paper must be treated as an independent project.

Internship*
Students undertake a project-based industry placement internship consisting of a minimum of 240 hours. This may involve more than one host institution. Internships enable students to gain practical, supervised experience of gallery management, curatorial practice, public programs, art writing and other work areas related to the course. The internship is ungraded but successful completion requires the submission of reports both by the host institution and the student. Students are also required to participate in an on-line discussion during their internship and their final report is posted on the WebCt site.

*I am doing my internship at the Sydney Dance Company. More to come about that!

Whales!

It is whale season here in Australia and I had my first whale spotting today! Very exciting. I went to visit my friend Mel and as we were sitting outside* chatting all of a sudden out in the distance we saw a big thing jump out of the water and fall back in. WHALE! It was massive and made a huge splash.  We think it may have been a mom and baby-I'm not really sure why we thought that.  Mel said it was and since I do not know anything about whales I went with it. Nevertheless it did it again and you could see the arm and tail sticking out at times.  Even though we were really far away you could also see the water being sprayed from its blowhole.  Pretty amazing and cool.  After that I stopped listening to Mel (sorry Mel!) and started intently watching for whales.  Soon after those initial two jumps they swam away from us and we didn't see them again. Sad.  It was almost like they were trying to get our attention, which they did, to say hello and then swim on.  Mel and I are planning an official whale watching day so hopefully I will get to see them up close, but today was a nice surprise. I wish I had a picture to post, but I didn't have a camera and we were too far away to get a good picture anyway.

*We were over at Mel's boyfriend's parents house and their porch overlooks the ocean. Nice huh?

America!

Seeing as I have now been back in Australia for almost two weeks, I thought it was about time that I write a quick post about my trip home.  Adsy and I had a great time.  In fact, Adsy keeps saying to everyone that it was the best trip of his life so far, even better than the one where he met me! Oh well, I'm glad he had fun.  I had a great time seeing family and friends and like usual I felt like there wasn't enough time.  It is frustrating how quickly trips go by. One minute you are on the plane heading there and then next you are a plane heading back home.  Good thing it should not be too much longer until I arrive back in the good ole US of A!!

I will take a minute to apologize to those of you who I either didn't get a chance to see or didn't get a chance to see you very much.  Obviously, I wish I could have seen everyone for long periods of time, but alas that is not how life works.  Until next time I am home!

Now back to the trip.  Adsy and I had a great time-duh. I was so happy to see so much of my family.  I think my favorite part was being at my parents house-especially when Thanna, TR, and Sam were all there.  TR has grown up so much since the last time I saw him in December.  His many new tricks, like walking, kept us entertained for hours.  I cannot wait to see what else he starts doing-like forming real words and talking!

I had a great time in Austin as usual. Although, I had one less friend there due to the fact that she is too cool for school and moved to Aspen.  Nevertheless it was great eating BBQ and tons of Mexican food.

Another highlight was going to Orlando, Florida and hanging out at Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. I am such a dork that I almost started crying when we walked into the gates for HP.  It's was all so magical-minus the thousands of other tourists. After spending a long day at Universal I realized that I don't ever want to bring kids to a place like that. I was exhausted being there with 5 other adults. Imagine having three kids with you. No wonder the park sells beer everywhere...After Universal we spent a couple of days at the beach recovering. I found out that the stretch of beach we were on, New Smyrna Beach, is one of the top beaches in the US for shark attacks. That was a fun fact to learn. 

Hogwarts at Harry Potter world Universal Studios Florida=Pure awesomeness

From there, Adsy and I split off and went in different directions. He to Washington D.C. to hang out with his cousin, I went back home to Conroe.  It was good that we split up because we both got to put in some good family time.  Overall the trip was a great success! I wish I could have had more time at home, but it wasn't possible because I had to get back to school. 

The good news is is that I may be back in a few months! Don't ask me when though because I have no idea.  All I know for sure is that my visa expires March of 2012 and unless I figure someway to stay, I have to leave.  I don't want to get deported!

One year ago today....

Wow time flys.  It seems like only yesterday my parents and I were racing to San Antonio for the birth of Thad Rossmann.  Now he is turning the big ONE year!  It has been so much fun having a new member in our family.  Watching him grow and learn new tricks everyday is incredible.  It has also been amazing seeing Anna transition from sister/daughter/wife to sister/daughter/wife/MOM!  I love talking with her on skype during 'play time' and just watching the two of them interact.

I hate that I have not been able to be around TR as much as I'd like, but at least I do get to skype with him a lot!  I am looking forward to seeing him in about two weeks! Hurray!



Gosh he was so little. Amazing how much he has changed!



'The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades...'

Or not. What a happy boy!

Bath tub=fun time!

Best friends!! This is the image I put up on my webcam anytime TR gets a bit fussy.  He LOVES this pig.  BFFs!

Thad and Anna you are so lucky to be great parents to a sweet little boy. Congratulations on keeping him alive for a whole year! Looking forward to many more birthdays that I'll get to actually participate in!  I love you all very much! Lots of love coming to you from Australia!!

TR-Sorry I'm going to miss your first birthday party! I'm sure it is going to be a blast! Hopefully this will be the only one I miss.

P.S. I am bringing home that kangaroo that TR has been asking for. Hope it doesn't get put in quarantine...

Adsy's surgery


First of all sorry for the bad quality pictures. We took them on Adsy's iPhone and then I stole them off of Facebook. 

Totally unimpressed with these wounds. It doesn't even look like he had surgery!

About to take his first shower in three days!

Adsy had his surgery on Thursday and everything went well.  We got up to the hospital at about 7:15am and then he went in around 10:30am.  He was a good sport and was not too nervous. The only thing that bothered him was that he was so hungry from having to fast since the night before. 

After the surgery I went back up and stayed until it was time to go, but then I went back up early on Friday morning.  He was released around 11am and as we were trying to get him into the car we got in a fight with a taxi driver which was amazing.  Long story short: The taxi driver got mad because he said we stole his spot, Adam called him a not nice name, the taxi driver got out of the car as if to come and fight Adam (who mind you is drugged out of his mind and on crutches, Adams uncle Paul yells to the guy to get back in the car.  Overall it was astonishing and unbelievable that this guy got so mad and got out of a car to fight a guy on crutches who literally was leaving the HOSPITAL!  I must say I just wrote an amazing and scathing email about it to the company.

Anyway, it is now Saturday and Adsy is doing really well. He has gotten the hang of using the crutches which he'll be on for at least the next two weeks.  He is still in a lot of pain, but only if he moves his knee or I bump it-which I have done accidentally a couple of times.  I look forward to him getting better and being able to do more things on his own!

Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support you have shown.  Adsy is now officially on the road to recovery for his knee and he is happy about it!

It's that time of year again!

It is officially time to travel back to the year 1901 and pull out the hot water bottles as the main way to warm my self while I sleep! For those of you that do not remember or did not read it, I have already posted on this topic once before (I also used the same picture!)

It has gotten so cold in the last couple of days. It is fine during the day when the sun is shining, but at night and in the morning it is super cold.  Thank goodness for the hot water bottles to keep my feet nice and toasty at night. Technically you are not supposed to put boiling water in them, but we do because they do not get as warm if you don't. Let's hope that I don't wake up with 3rd degree burns on my feet from a melted bottle.

If only we had central heating to warm us up...One day, one day.  Until that day comes, I'll be warming up with my cool water bottles. 

One month to go!!!

It is officially one month until I fly back into sweet sweet Texas!! **Technically it is less than a month for me because it is now May 11th as I am writing this, but when I wanted to write this post yesterday-so that it would be May 10th in both countries my blog was acting up. 

I am super excited to come home again.  It is amazing that even though I love it here and am having so much fun I still find that I miss home a lot.  Thank goodness I will be spending pretty much a whole month there to soak all my family and friends in! 

First however, before I can really start getting excited I have to get through these last few weeks of school.  The pressure is really on now seeing as I have 4.5 weeks left of school and about 8 assignments to turn in. No fun! I don't mind the pressure, but it will feel really good when they all get turned in and I can get on that plane!

Anyway, the itinerary is still under construction but I'll give you what I know so far.  We fly into Dallas on Friday June 10th.  My parents are picking us up and we are staying in Dallas that first weekend.  My Dad told me he booked rooms at the Adolphous Hotel which when I googled it I found out it is haunted! OooooOOooooo!

After that we'll drive to Conroe and be in Conroe for a week/weekend because the next weekend is Father's day. Then I expect we'll head up to Austin/San Antonio area to party. After that we are not 100% sure. All I know is that both Adam and I plan to spend plenty of time with friends and family.  I'm guessing it will be a busy trip, but that is alright just as long as it is filled with fun!

Now, time to back to work on all of those assignments I have to do before I can plan more of the trip home! I'll try to keep people posted as we figure out more of our plans.  Feel free to ask me though in case I forget to update it on here.

THE coffee table!!

The coffee table is finished and in the living room! What exciting news, almost as exciting about yesterday's world announcement of Bin Laden's death....

Adsy and I have had a running joke about this coffee table since we started dating a year and a half ago.  "You know what would go great in the living room....." He started it last December and finished it last week.  Adsy got rained off of work for a few days last week and instead of pursuing his new hobby of filming/photography he was sweet enough to make sure the table would be finished in time for my Royal wedding watching get together. 

Here are the pictures of the beautiful new handmade coffee table in our living room.  I told Adsy his next project should be the dining table behind the couch, because compared to the coffee table it looks like crap.





 







Melbourne lane ways

The lane ways in Melbourne are famous for their graffiti art. As you can see every space on all the walls has been completely covered in paint, paper, etc.  Some spots are really cool, interesting, and really well done, others not so much. Walking along these lane ways you get the sense that there are a lot of talented street artists in Melbourne.  Here are a few pictures I took while we were checking them out.

Pretending he's a graffiti artist

Graffiti model!

Another graffiti model!

Run out of space to paint? Paint the trash cans!!

Posing with graffiti art

I liked this doorway.

Words to live by

Americans should keep this in mind when searching for terrorists. Maybe this is why we could never find Osama bin Laden, we didn't look for the guy in the flashy suit.

Aussie airport security

Adsy and I flew to Melbourne last weekend for a little weekend away from Sydney, but before I get into talking about all the fun we had, first let me talk about what it was like to go through the airports both in Sydney and Melbourne.

On Thursday night as we were driving to the airport I had a quick freak out moment because I did not pack my passport and I was not sure if I needed it to fly. I understand we were flying domestic, but I still was not sure if for whatever reason the Australian government would like to track my movement in their country.

Worrying was completely pointless, because not only did the girls at the ticket counters at both airports not ask for my passport but they also did not even ask for any form of ID.  In fact, at no point during my time at either airport did I once take out my drivers license to prove I was who I said I was.  Crazy!!

I also did not have to take off my shoes or pull out any liquids I was traveling with during the security checkpoint.  This must be what it felt like to fly in the 70s, 80s, or 90s.  Anyway, I thought it was worth sharing because it was so unexpected and totally opposite of how I am used to flying in the States.  It goes to show you how intense our security is when compared to Australia's lax system.

Ending Lent a bit early....

I did not mean to end Lent early, it just kind of happened. Oddly enough after 45 days of being good and not faltering with the things I gave up for Lent, I accidentally ended it all within a 15 minute time span. Technically it was not my fault.  This weekend Adsy and I traveled to Melbourne for the long weekend (I will post a separate blog on our travels with pictures, etc. soon).
We were out and about last Friday when we stopped to have a quick bite at a crepe place close to our hotel. We decided to get the crepes take away and go back and relax in the room. While we were waiting for the crepes to be made one of the guys working there came outside to deliver lattes to a table of girls.  A second later he realized he had made one too many. He turned around to go back inside, but then saw me and gave the coffee to me on the house.  At first I was mad because I restricted myself to "one coffee a day" and this would have made two.  After a few seconds of debating whether to drink it or not Adsy and I both agreed that it would be totally rude not to accept it. Plus, I figured I had not fully given up coffee so if I was going to break one sacrifice early coffee would be a good one to break. 

Sadly this is not the end of the story.  Once we got up to the room to enjoy our yummy crepes I opened a bottle of cider that we also bought from the shop.  I took one sip and quickly realised something was not right.  Then I saw it, in a tiny little area on the far side of the label, the words Alc/Vol 8.6%. OH NO!! What I thought was a harmless bottle of apple cider was in fact alcoholic cider.  It was at this point that I officially gave up, I had now broken two of the three things I gave up for Lent.  I figured I had had a good run, so to make it an even three I popped a chocolate egg into my mouth to finish it all off.

To tell you the truth I am not at all disappointed with how it all ended, in fact I found the whole thing quite hilarious. The fact that I drank a coffee and then proceeded to drink alcohol right after could do nothing more than make me laugh. I am still pretty proud of how far I came with everything I gave up, and I am sure Jesus still loves me.

With all of this talk of Lent in mind I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday! For those of you who acknowledged sacrificing something for Lent I hope yours ended a little better than mine!

Blue Mountains Adventure Continued!

Here are more of the pictures I promised to post from our trip to the Blue Mountains last weekend. These were taken with Adsy's camera, but I think he reduced the quality so you cannot steal them you thieves!  Take notice that there are not any photos of Adsy on this trip except for the ones taken on my camera.  Oops! I guess that is what happens when you are behind the camera the whole time. Next time I'll be sure to take more pictures of him and also more pictures of the both us together. 

The Three Sisters!

Three Sisters from Sublime Point. It was great as there was no one out there. Usually you run into all the tourists on buses, but lucky for us there were not any at this spot

It was crazy windy and rainy, but you cannot really tell because I look so beautiful. Like a part time model.  

Adsy was loving the Blue Mountain fungus.

Hello!

I think I see a blue mountain animal ready to pounce.

Libby remember this bench and pose? I sure do, and I took this picture for you only!

So pretty (except for the dead body Adsy sees, can you see it?)

Awesome dog that I wish were mine.

Close up of the dead body. Can you see it now? There is something there, but I don't think it is a dead body.  Although you would totally die if you jumped from where we were standing. Good thing we did not jump, or did we....

A day in the Blue Mountains

Last weekend Adsy and I decided we needed a day out of Sydney, so on Sunday we jumped in the car and drove the 2 hours up into the Blue Mountains. We stopped and had breakfast in Leura which ended up not being that great because it took about a good hour to get our food (I became a hungry tiger which is never a good thing...).  Although at breakfast we ordered a "flowerpot scone" which was fun and delicious. 

After our long breakfast we headed out to some of the lookout points around the Blue Mountains.  I did not take too many pictures because Adsy's camera is much better than mine, but I have posted a few I took and will post pictures from Adsy's camera soon.

Yummy flowerpot scone

Flowerpot scone face!!

Taking pictures of each other taking pictures. We are cool.





Libby do you recognise these waterfalls?

Becca the photographer (using Adsy's camera)

We have better pictures of the scenery which I'll post soon.

We had a great time trekking around the Blue Mountains however, it was a big day.  Poor Adsy's knee was done by the time we finished.  We did not mean to go for such a big walk like we did, plus there were a lot of stairs which we didn't realise.  Nevertheless it was a fun day out of Sydney.  More shots of the scenery to come!   

Awkward class moment

The stress from school has been consistently rising now for a little while because I realise more and more that I have a lot to do in not a lot of time.  It mainly comes from my own problem with procrastination.  I would rather chat to friends and family back home rather than start working on schoolwork. 

With this in mind I had a dream the other night where I had to stand at the front of my class and answer questions on a project I had not yet finished. (The real life project for this class is due in three weeks) Anyways, in the dream I was being humiliated by my lecturer for not having the project completed even though it was not due yet. 

Last night I am sitting outside the classroom in the little waiting area. I started talking to one of my classmates about the dream saying "I had this dream last night where John (our lecturer) was in my dream....." at which she replies "you know he is sitting right over there right and can hear you?" No I did not know this. I then had to start over and quickly tell the dream, but I don't think he got what it was about.  I'm pretty sure my lecturer now thinks I was dreaming about him when in reality I was dreaming about being publicly humiliated by him in front of the whole class.

Awesome. What a nice and embarrassing way to spend the next couple of hours in class.

Who knew birds like sugar?

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of an assignment for one of my classes. While I was there I thought I'd take a tea break at the cafe. Since the day was so nice I decided I would enjoy my tea sitting at a table outside.

My tea came with two packets of sugar which I had to keep away from the birds who kept eyeing them. Obviously I did not do a good job because this little guy got a hold of one of the packets and ate it.

It was amazing to watch him open the packet of sugar and then tilt it to get the sugar to spill out into his mouth. It was very clear he had done this before. Luckily I had my camera with me to take a quick shot. Too bad I didn't catch it on video, because it was really funny.

I bet he was up all night from all that sugar!!

Lent update

I must say I am very proud of myself for how my Lent sacrifices are going.  Besides the cookies I ate at the very beginning (remember it was a life or death situation) I have not cheated! 

Don't let me fool you, it has been extremely hard.  I thought alcohol was going to be harder than sweets, but I was wrong. It is amazing how often you come into contact with sugary sweet delights. Either at stores, cafes, or people offering them to you, sweets are EVERYWHERE!  So many times I have finished dinner and wanted "a little something sweet" but cannot have it.  My roommate Lizzy has really been putting me to the test, besides the devil like tiramisu she made, she made yummy looking pistachio cookies that I really want. They are currently sitting out on the table and I have to avert my eyes each time I pass.  So sad. 

Again I thought alcohol would be the hardest to give up, but really it hasn't been.  I guess it is because Adsy doesn't drink that much, and we don't go out to pubs or bars a lot either.  Those two things make it much easier to give up alcohol because I am not around it.

Anyway not that any of you really care about this, but I am proud of myself. Now only 17 more days to go!

Arts Interview

Many of you have probably seen my posts on Facebook and even Twitter (which I never use) about a thing called arts interview.  Arts interview is the brainchild of one of my past lecturers who wanted to bring more discussion into the Australian arts industry.  To do this she and another woman Kim recruited students like myself to help bring this project to light, and arts interview was born.  

What we hope to accomplish at arts interview is to interview people all across diverse art practices from high level executives of big arts companies to emerging practicing artists.  Every month is linked with an arts management theme in which each interview is centered around.  For example, the blog went live in March and the theme was should the arts act like a business? and April's theme is collaboration, etc.

I am very excited to be apart of this project.  I think it will be very helpful and inspiring to those in the arts community.  For myself it will also be beneficial for networking opportunities in and around Australia.  Maybe one day I'll start up an arts interview America edition!

P.S. I started this project back in February, but the reason I am just now posting is because my first interview was posted yesterday! Yippee be sure to check it out at www.artsinterview.com

Barbie Girl Jr.

UNSW has a school of Optometry which offers free eye exams to all students. Seeing as I have never had my eyes properly checked and I have been getting headaches after reading or looking at the computer I decided it was about time to get my eyes examined.

After going through the longest eye exam ever (at least they were thorough) I was told I should get some reading glasses.  Here are a few pictures of my new glasses that Adsy helped me pick out (no I did not get the big black ones he made me try on, and then posted on Facebook). 

On a side note:when I was picking them out I kept laughing because I have a pair of Vans shoes that look just like these glasses. Obviously that did not matter, because I got them anyway! 

                      

If I didn't look enough like her already, now I look even more like my Mom!!

Didn't you know you are supposed to match your reading glasses to your shoes?

As you can see I had a lot of fun taking pictures of my new glasses.

I have had these glasses since last Friday and I love them.  It took a little while to get used to them as I have never had to have glasses, but I can tell they help a lot. Now I can sit on the computer and read for hours without having to worry about straining my eyes to see! Lets just hope I don't lose or break them!