My Aussie kitty!

One night when Adam and I were pulling into his parking spot at the apartment we spotted a kitty sitting nearby. Me being a lover of all things furry and cuddly I quickly ran over to pet the sweet kitty. A sweet kitty it was, it let me sit and pet him until Adam made me come inside. I was dying, this cat was awesome. It would jump up on its hind legs to get to my hand and everything.

After that first night we would see the cat every now and then. We would be walking up to the apartment, and all of a sudden we would hear meow! Adam sees him more than I do, because he is out cat’n around early in the morning when Adam leaves for work.

I was lying in bed reading a book on Sunday night when Adam came and told me he had a surprise for me. He had been outside putting clothes on the line when the kitty came up to him. Adam coaxed the cat to follow him up the stairs to our apartment door where I found him. Needless to say, I was a happy kitty!

Sunday Drive with Adsy

On Sunday, Adsy and I went shopping for items that he needs to put together a helmet cam for his new fancy camera. He wants to be able to take it into the surf with him and make cool videos from his videos. On our way home, I was telling Adam about how on Sundays we used to take a Sunday drives.

In the Rossmann family this was almost a Sunday tradition to have Dad drive us around the neighbourhoods on our way home from church. I never understood why we did it. I guess it was just nice to have that extra time together before pulling into the driveway, with us kids jumping out of the car, running up the stairs, and plopping ourselves on the couch to sit and watch TV for the rest of the day.

It was such a nice day on Sunday and we did not have anything else to do so I asked Adam to take me on a Sunday drive. We drove along Maroubra beach and then got out to go walk along the beach. It ended up being really cold and windy so we just stopped and looked at the water for a bit. Good thing Adam had his camera with him to capture the fun moment.

I was sitting on this post and I looked down and this was carved right where I was sitting. Pretty funny!

Semester half way point

Six weeks of school have gone by already and I cannot believe it. We are now to the half way point for the semester. This past week of classes was my last before a two week break in the semester. The first week is considered a COFA research week so not everyone at UNSW has it. The second week is the university wide mid-semester break.

Some of the girls I was with last weekend were all talking about what they were going to do for the break. When they asked me what I was doing I realized I had not even thought about it. Now that I have been thinking about it, I probably still won’t do much besides work on all of the papers I have due when we get back. That first week back from break I have two major papers and a presentation due. Boo, no fun!

I was thinking I could also continue playing the part of the tourist by going on some tours or just taking the time to explore random parts of Sydney more. If anyone has any ideas of what I could do on my two week break, I am totally open to suggestions. I wish Adam didn’t have to work so he could go and play with me, but he is a busy bee!

Everyone knows communication is the key

This morning I was woken up by a phone call from my Dad. It was good that he called because it was 9am, I kind of slept in a little today. Anyway, as I was laying in bed talking to my dad on the phone I realized I was laying in bed in Australia, talking to my dad in America. How crazy is that? I found it amazing and natural to be talking when we are miles and time differences away from each other.

It got me thinking, thank goodness for the amount of technology we have these days to keep in contact with each other. Cell phones, email, gchat, Skype, Facebook, and all the others I have forgotten or have yet to be invented. Since being here, I have thought a lot about explorers who left their countries and families to go discover new lands. What it would have been like for them and their families to have no idea what is going on between the two. I cannot imagine. I am no explorer and I do not think I could have done it. Even coming here let’s say 15 years ago would have been hard. I would definitely be a lot more homesick than I am now. Not to say I don’t get homesick, but I don’t get it too bad because I feel like I am still instantly connected with everyone back home. It makes a huge difference.

With this, I must also add it is no fun when our great technology acts up. This morning I also tried to talk to my sister on Skype, but it was malfunctioning and not allowing me to call her. As much as I praise it when it works, I curse it just as bad or more when technology does not work. Overall though, I am thankful for it because I get to stay in contact with all of you and to me that is very important, especially for my mental health.

Videos from the koala park sanctuary

Did you know cockatoos can talk? Neither did I. Listen carefully as this polite bird asks us if we would like a cracker.

This koala was searching for the perfect leaf to munch on. Did you know koalas can smell the different levels of toxins in each leaf. They won't eat leaves with a high toxin level. Interesting.

Adsy goes to the snow, Becca plays a tourist

Adam went to the snow this weekend. He’s been dying to go all season. I think I’ve heard about how much he wanted to go a million times. Finally, the stars aligned for him and he left at 1am this morning to drive 7 hours to the snow. (This amongst other reasons is why I didn’t want to go.) Instead, I hugged and fed kangaroos and koalas, no big deal. Three other girls and I ventured out to the Koala Park Sanctuary to see all of Australia's creatures. It is amazing how many places around Sydney offer this opportunity. Off the top of my head I can think of four, Taranga Zoo, the reptile park, Koala Park sanctuary, and some wild life adventure park. I’ve been to all of them except the adventure park. I have seen most of these animals in the wild already so I think I’ve had my fill of paying to see Australia’s wildlife. Plus, it took us two hours even get to this place so I think it is safe to say I won’t be going there again.

Now time for pictures!!

We got to feed and hug on the kangaroos!!

Hello Mr. Wombat

The dingo ate your baby!!

Cassowary!!

Jack talk Thai, Jack talk Thai real well

This post may need to come with a disclaimer, I in no way intend for it to come across as mean or racist. As with all blog posts, I am merely informing those who read them of my time spent here. So if any feel uncomfortable with my choice of words, just pretend you didn’t read it.

Many people have had their experiences with Spanglish, but what about Chinglish? I have spent pretty much this whole week in a Chinglish mess. It’s been funny at times, but also very very frustrating.

In my Management and Organization class our first assignment is a group project where we have to come up with a project and fill out a grant proposal to fund said project. My partner is a nice Taiwanese girl who was pretty much forced upon me. Not a big deal. This project has been a major pain in the ass, not because of my partner, but because the project guidelines are so vague and the teacher provides no help. It’s almost over, and I am counting down the hours until I get to hand it in.

My partner and I have met several times at the good old campus library to discuss the workings of the project. The last couple of times I left frustrated and mad, again mainly because of the project itself, but also the language barrier crept in and made it hard.

Example conversation between my partner and myself:

Me: Do you think it should be this way or that way?
Partner: Yes
Me: No, which one?
Partner: Uh huh
Me: Okay this is not working……

Today I found myself spending the day going through and correcting Chinglish grammar for our project proposal. My partner and I split up the work to try and make the project go faster, and we sent each other our parts after we were done. I won’t give any specific details of what I had to read, try and figure out the meaning to, and then fix because that would be mean. All I know is I spent a good amount of time just sitting and reading a sentence over many times before I realized what she was trying to convey in the message.

I must say, I have to give the girl credit, because it definitely has to be hard for her. I do not think I could go to China and take classes in Chinese and expect to make good grades. This has for sure been a learning experience, and I am happy this project is almost over-did I mention that already? Me love you long time (said in Chinese accent of course)