not-in-mn-anymore

[not-in-mn-anymore]

New Zealand

Side note: Sorry I didn’t finish writing this until now, things got pretty hectic and now I’m back in the states (which is pretty lame. I’ll post about my adjustments at some point)

To start this off I’m going to say that though things didn’t go exactly to plan, this was the best trip I’ve ever been on. New Zealand is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been and everyone I met was so lovely. I took a few too many pictures. I’m afraid to even load them on my computer simply because I don’t want to deal with it out of sheer laziness, but also I have over 24 hours of travel time coming up to work on them so I’ll do it then. For now I’m going to enjoy Brisbane and worry about packing (dear lord.)

Alright so New Zealand adventures. I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Our uber picked us up at 5:30 am. I was awake until 4:30 am finishing an essay so I didn’t have to deal with it on the trip. I was planning on sleeping on the plane, but ended up being seated by a lovely German couple who I talked to the whole plane ride. New Zealand is a 3 hour time difference so we didn’t land until about 3:30 pm in Christchurch. We got to the lodge where we were staying, put our things away and got sushi. I was only going to take a nap, but fell asleep at 6 with all my makeup on and slept straight through til morning. Honestly best sleep I’ve ever gotten. I guess the trick is pulling all-nighters so you’re incredibly tired.

The next day we headed out bright and early for Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki (with a stop at a cookie factory.) I think that day had my favourite views besides in Cardrona, but that’s later. Lake Tekapo is the bluest lake I have ever seen in my entire life and has a huge mountain range behind it and a little chapel sat on a small hill overlooking everything . I thought the views couldn’t get better and then we got to the lodge we were staying at that night on Lake Pukaki. We had a beautiful private house with two people to a room and each had a sliding glass door leading to the porch. Looking out from the porch is the lake with another mountain range behind it, but closer, and New Zealand’s tallest mountain. The lodge was literally in the middle of nowhere, we didn’t have wifi or cell service. I wasn’t mad about it. I woke Lindsay up at like 1 am to go look at the stars since there was nothing around us for miles. It was absolutely insane I have never seen so many stars in my life.

The next day we headed off to Queenstown. Queenstown is a cute touristy place nestled in the mountains near Milford Sound. While we were there Lindsay and I took a bus and boat tour of Milford Sound. Technically Queenstown is very close, but because of the mountains and the lake it takes 4.5 hours to get there. Needless to say we had good naps and slept well that night. If you don’t know what Milford Sound is, it’s not actually a sound (those are created by rivers,) it’s a fiord (which is created by glaciers.) Basically it’s a carving through the mountains that’s filled with water that connects to the ocean. There was a ton of waterfalls and the captain of the boat drove us straight through one, and us being stupid stayed on the top deck and got drenched. On the way back since the sun was set and there was nothing to see, the bus driver played the most wholesome movie on the planet called “The World’s Fastest Indian,” which is based on a true story about an old kiwi who modified his 1920’s motorcycle and wanted to race it to set the world record. Lindsay and I cried it was so cute. Would recommend 10/10. The next day we walked around downtown, took the gondola up the mountain, and then got lunch and ate by the lake. There was a one footed seagull that was being bullied so while Lindsay fed it fries I chased away the other birds. While we sat there we kept hearing a dog howling and then we realised that there was a man playing his guitar singing and the dog was singing with him. The dog’s name was Happy. Just imagine that. A giant curly haired doggo singing. It was so wholesome.

After lunch we went to Wanaka and took pictures of the Wanaka tree (a tree that grows by itself in the lake on a fence post,) and went hiking. It looked like it was going to rain so I wore my beanie and coat and boy was that a mistake I just about died it got so hot. At least the view was worth it!

The next day we left for Franz Josef, but due to bad weather we got to about 20 minutes out of town in Fox Glacier and had to stop. There were a lot of slides and flooding on the roads to and past Franz which was an issue since we were going to take the train back to Christchurch. The train got closed for the next week so we turned around and headed back to Wanaka the next day. There wasn’t much to do in Fox since it was raining so we just played cards all night and left early.

Back in Wanaka, about 20 minutes out is a place called Cardrona. There was a gold rush there back in the day but now it’s basically all highland sheep farming. Lindsay and I went horse back riding and it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. It’s spring here so there were a ton of little baby lambs and we got to ride the horses through the fields with sheep and so we heard them go BLEEEEEEHH and saw them stick their little pink tongues out it was so cute. My horse’s name was Wally and he really likes to eat. Whenever he would stop to eat along the trail instead of follow the instructor would go “OH WALLACE” and then he would start walking again. It was also super cool that we got to trot and even canter in some parts! (If you don’t know what that is it is “second and third gear” for a horse. It was so speedy holy moly.) We also got to take the horses through streams and through the gold mining ghost town. It was so neat. Probably the highlight of the trip besides the lodging on Lake Pukaki.

After that we travelled back to Christchurch where the tour with the group ended. Lindsay and I had booked an extra day so we could go on a winery tour, but on the way to the winery our Uber driver saved us yet again and told us that by the time the tour was done there would be no drivers out that way, therefore no way back. So he was nice enough to give us pointers of what to do in the city. I geeked out and went to Rutherford’s den, which is where Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus. Lindsay was unimpressed. Once I was done in there we basically just walked around the city and played on this really cool adult sized playground. We headed back pretty early because our flight left at 6 am the next day, and being an international flight we had to get there extra early.  

[not-in-mn-anymore]

I don’t know what day it is anymore

This is going to be a quick little update. This week I spent most of it sick so the majority of the time I was asleep. Not kidding I slept until 5:30 pm one of the days. So because of this I was unable to cohost on 4zzz last Thursday, but Luci was kind enough to let me join her this week instead. The details are the same as last weeks post if you miss my voice.

Other than that I wasn’t up to much. Saturday Lindsay and I went to a concert that the bands Future Haunts, Sweater Curse, and Horror My Friend played. It was SO good and a ton of fun. Would recommend them. Sweater curse I know for sure is from Brisbane and maybe Future haunts is too? I know Horror my friend is from Adelaide. So check them out if you want. When I get back I’ll post a playlist of the songs I’ve found over here that I like so you can check that out later on.

Now before anyone is like “but missy you’re sick” yes I am aware I’m sick it’s just that Lindsay and I have been trying to get ourselves together enough to go to brunch since August and this was our last Sunday in Brisbane together. (We’re going to New Zealand next week.) Sunday Lindsay and I went to a restaurant called the Brass Barrel and they have bottomless mimosas and yes we ordered that. Was I sick? Yes. Am I still sick? Yes. But did I have fun? Yes. And that’s all that matters. A perk of day drinking is you take a nap and by dinner you’re perfectly fine with no hangover (not that I know what those are right?)

Other than that this entire week has been me forcing myself to try to write my last essay and fight sleeping during the day. I can’t believe classes are over and all I have left is 2,500 words. I will say it’s much easier to write a blog post than an essay on metafiction.

Since I’m going to be in New Zealand for 10 days there will be no posts until I get back. I still haven’t posted my pictures from Melbourne yet so either it’s going to be an overload of pictures posted or the pictures will be super late. I mean I��ve been home for a month since Melbourne and I still haven’t posted that so. Not a good track record.

See y’all later

[not-in-mn-anymore]

October 15-22

Well, this is it folks. The last week of classes. It’s crazy how quickly it went by and I’m confused as to how it did. But before I get into this week, as usual we’re gonna back it up.

Like just about every other week these last months, the start began with me procrastinating more homework and not finishing it until right before it’s due. Of course I’m sure many are not pleased with this, but I mean this is me. Y’all know how it is. After that, I had class Monday and Tuesday, and skipped class on Wednesday. Again, y’all know how it is. And I actually have a good excuse unlike the other weeks. I went scuba diving with my friend Bridgett.

Wednesday was pool training and honestly was very relaxing no matter how freaky it was to think “if I hold my breath my lungs will explode and I’ll die.” The group trained pretty slowly so there was a lot of down time so I laid on the bottom and watched the people in other lanes swim. Watching people swim in a public pool is an odd experience. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes, but the light reflects on them in a way that makes them look like they belonged in the pool as much as a fish would. Other than that I don’t have a very good way of describing what I was watching. I did find a floating bandaid though. That was gross.

Thursday was the open water diving trip. We went down to Currumbin where the river meets the ocean. If you haven’t talked to me recently then you probably don’t know that it has rained every day here for the past three weeks except Friday and today, so the river was pretty muddy. When we went diving the first few metres it was impossible to see anything, but then you hit the salt water and it was very clear except a little flake on the bottom. I found a shopping cart which had been pushed off the bridge and was covered in barnacles or something. I did not go near it. I did kneel on the bottom though and watch the fish swim right past my face. Fish really give no hoots. I’m excited to go and do it again. I only have one dive left and then I’ll be certified! That’s pretty sick. 100% going to go dive the great barrier reef again in Cairns when I go in a few weeks (a few weeks!)

The rest of the weekend was filled with rain, naps, procrastination (again,) studying, and Riverdale. (I told myself I wouldn’t jump on that band wagon, but I mean come on. Cole Sprouse.) And today I had two quizzes, and I have one class tomorrow and it’s over. No more class. I have an essay due Friday and an essay due in November (which I’m gonna crank out so I’m free) and my education here will be officially done. Insane.

You wanna know what else is insane, is that someone thought it was a good idea for me to co-host with them on the radio. So if you would like to hear my stuttering voice because you miss it so much or want a good ol dose of an Australian accent, tune into 4zzz on Thursday October 25th 1-3pm (Australian)/Wednesday October 24th 10pm-12am (Minnesotan. Time zones are crazy man.) The show is called Girls Can Tell, and the band Twin Peaks from Chicago will be performing. http://www.4zzz.org.au/

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week I don’t even know anymore but it was 8/10/18 to 14/10/18

This blog is going to be a bit shorter than the others. Since I returned from Sydney and Melbourne it has rained every day except one, and so things have not been super eventful. It also is finals season which is scary because it means that my time here is almost up. Instead of focusing on that and the fact that I only have 2 essays and 2 quizzes left and my education here is officially done, we’re gonna focus on the radio station I’ve been volunteering for, 4zzz.

But first let me back up because that didn’t happen until Saturday. One day I stopped at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. You’d think I’d be museumed out by now, but ya girl is trying to see as much art as she can because I know I’m probably never going to get back to these museums. Anyway, this art gallery had a cool thing going on where they provided easels, paper, pencils, and erasers for writers and artists to respond to the art pieces on display and then they could turn it in to be part of an exhibit later on. I tried drawing something but realised it looked like something a 5 year old was scribbling away near me. I did not turn it in.

Ok Saturday, (yes I know I skipped a lot but do you want to hear about the weird dreams I had during my naps about cat people knocking on my door thinking it was a hotel this week? Probably not.) Saturday there was an open house event in Brisbane in which people could go and explore various buildings around the city and learn more about them. If you weren’t aware, the radio station I’ve been volunteering at is in a really sick building and has a funny history I appreciate and hope you will too. Since my week was uneventful besides me selling merch and going to the museum, here’s a lil run down of 4zzz. (If you’re American and pronouncing it four zee zee zee, that’s wrong. It’s called four triple zed.)

-        4zzz began broadcasting at the university I’m studying at, University of Queensland (St. Lucia) in 1975.

-        It was the first radio station in Queensland (maybe Australia? I don’t remember) to play rock music due to strict media laws at the time. It was also one of the first FM stations in Australia.

-        In 1988 the UQ student union turned right wing and decided that the radio station didn’t fit their ideals and tried to kill 4zzz. This forced them to move into a caravan and broadcast from Mt. Coot-tha near the transmitter for a bit, then to Toowong, and then the building they are now in in Fortitude Valley.

-        The building in Fortitude Valley was built in 1936 by a man who ran a small parts shop in the basement, and because he belonged to the Communist Party of Australia he rented out the top two floors to them.

-        The floors the Communist Party of Australia rented were used for a printing press and a communist bookshop. Later on after the party rented the whole building, a level was used for punk bands to rehearse.

-        In 1972 the carpark stairs were bombed by a local fascist.

-        In 1991 the Communist Party of Australia dissolved.

-        In 1992 4zzz bought the building from the Communist Party of Australia.

So there’s a bit of goofy Australian history for ya. If you wanna listen to some sick jams or just enjoy hearing an Australian talk (I know I do) check it out http://www.4zzz.org.au/  Who knows you might hear me on there soon

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Melbourne

After I was in Sydney I flew over to Melbourne for a few days. I met Lindsay’s family (who I love they’re super nice people) and tagged along on a little road trip. We went to the twelve apostles and the great ocean road which was insanely beautiful. When we first got there it was sunny, so we walked down the path to take pictures and it immediately started hurricane-ing on us. There are some pretty funny pictures from it and also probably some water damage. We all looked like drowned rats the rest of the day. After that we decided to make a run for it back up the path, we get to the end and it’s sunny again. Of course. So we took a different trail that went by a bunch of sheep and went to the other apostles. After that we got in the car and it immediately started pouring and hailing again and this time it didn’t stop. It was fine with me though because that just meant I got to sleep in the car to the sounds of rain which is always nice. One thing about spending so much time in the car is that it has officially goofed me up. After being here for about a month and then I’d watch an American tv show I’d only get tripped up for a minute as to which side of the road they’re supposed to be on or which side to get into the car, but now it’s hopeless. I was watching a movie with a car accident because someone was on the wrong side of the road and I still couldn’t tell who was at fault and had to figure out whose fault it was based on context. Guess I won’t be driving for a bit when I get home. Catch me turning left on a red and driving faster in the right lane than the left lane to pass.

After the road trip I headed into the city for a couple days. This was basically me walking around taking pictures of street art and sitting in various cafes (the typical Melbourne trip.) Lindsay and I went on the Skydeck which was 88 floors up and my ears popped in the elevator like they did when I was at the restaurant called R2L in Philadelphia. (Also shout out to the vikes this weekend rip eagles) (pretty much only brought up the restaurant in philly to bring up the fact that the Vikings won) Anyway. The next day I spent wandering around St. Kilda and sat on the pier reading for a bit then went to a beach bar and had mussels and a pina colada for dinner because it was my last day of my trip. I went back to the pier and sat in the café and watched the waves and drank tea because it was a bit chilly out and I had to wait for sunset. Sunset is when the penguins come out. Yes. Penguins. The St. Kilda pier is the home of the world’s smallest species of penguin and they come out to eat just after sunset. I stood outside for about 2 hours in a temperature that is considered cold for me coming from Brisbane, but probably tolerable for just about everyone else. I waited until I saw a penguin and then immediately ran away because I had had enough of that weather. The penguin was ADORABLE as you could probably guess. Please google them if you are having a bad day, you will not be disappointed.

So that just about wraps up my spring break! There was no easing back into school after that though, I had a lot to do but you know what I’m ok with it because all of my projects and quizzes are done the week before Halloween except one so I’ll have over a month of just chillin and traveling. My next trip is to New Zealand with Lindsay from Nov. 3 to Nov.12, then sadly it’s move out day on the 18th. But hey my family comes to visit me then and I get to show them around Brisbane and then we get to go back to Cairns which I’m super excited for. Oh yeah and speaking of Cairns, I’m getting my divers certification this week! (Cairns reminded me of it because that’s where the great barrier reef is and the first place I ever went diving.) I guess I’ll update you guys if I don’t drown in the process of how that went.

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Sydney

Holy moly was that a neat trip. First of all I’m going to start by saying yes I am writing this instead of my essay that I have not yet started that’s due tomorrow at 5 pm because I simply do not want to write it and also I was going to upload pictures first but then I realised that I took over 1,000 pictures so it’s going to take a while to go through and edit. Second of all because I’m supposed to be writing that other essay I’m going to split this into two parts. Also it was a big trip and there’s a lot to say.

I started my trip off in Sydney. I had an essay due the day I left and I submitted it 3 minutes before my Uber came to pick me up for the airport. But I got it done and that’s all that matters, AND Lindsay and I still got to do our wine and cheese night before I left. (Priorities amiright?)

The first day in Sydney I basically just walked around. I ended up stumbling upon all of the places I wanted to go to because thye were in the same area so they were easier to get to when I actually went to them. I was in the Royal Botanic Gardens the majority of the day taking pictures and it was beautiful. I’m pretty sure I have more pictures of plants than I do of any landmarks from this trip, but hey they’re tropical and we don’t have them in Minnesota so I’m not mad at it. This was pretty much the only day with good weather so I’m glad I got to be out and about instead of going to a museum like I was originally planning on doing.

The second day I spent doing the Bondi to Coogee walk. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a path that follows the ocean for 1.5 miles and connects a ton of beaches along the way. I got a lot of cool pictures of cliffs and beaches and rock formations along the way. There’s also this huge really old cemetery on the path and I think it has some of the first graves in Sydney because Sydney was established in 1788 and I saw a bunch of graves from the 1800s. Honestly some of the graves should be in museums because the statues were very large and intense. The statues were probably taller than the people were in the graves. Also funny story I was facetiming Allison and my mom and while I was on the phone with them (in the graveyard, I was trying to show them the gravestones and the sheer amount of them as well as the view,) some guy started hitting on me. IN A GRAVEYARD? Who does that it was so funny. I don’t think he  realised I was on the phone and so when he’d ask me a question Allison would tell me to say something and we felt like we were doing the skit on Ellen when she talks in the ear piece. I then immediately ran away because I’m ya know. Me.

The third day I went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. If you aren’t caught up on Australian geography New South Wales is the state that Sydney is in. There are 6 states in Australia, Queensland (that’s where I am,) NSW, Victoria (that’s where Melbourne is,) South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia. Any way I had a really good time and I was excited they had an Australian artist section. I don’t know why I didn’t think about the fact that they would have that. I mean we have American art sections, why shouldn’t they have Australian? I guess I just didn’t associate Australia with art besides Aboriginal art. After that I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. It was very interesting and I’m pretty sure that it had an exhibit that used 3d effects? As you’ll find out I spent the majority of these trips in art museums and coffee shops. How hip.

The next day was probably my favourite. As if I wasn’t being touristy enough, what did I do? I did one of those hop on hop off double decker bus tours. It was fun to hear more about the history of the city. I also got a lot of cool pictures because I was higher up. And you know what? It was dang nice that I didn’t have to walk everywhere. I got 30,000 steps every day and my feet were so sore. I literally broke both pairs of shoes I brought with. Anyway. I went to this delicious French bakery in the rocks and I’ve been dreaming of going back ever since. I actually did like 2 hours later because I decided I wanted a snack and I’m pretty sure it was the same lady working and she gave me a look like “weren’t you just here and got the same thing?” After that I did a tour of the Sydney Opera House. That place is insane and now I can spew a bunch of random facts about it if you ask me. For example did you know they have one of the-if not the- largest pipe organs in the world? It has like 120 something pipes showing and another 10,000-yes 10,000- pipes behind it you can’t see. I mean that’s impressive but also why do you need 10,000 pipes? After the tour I had dinner at Portside, which is one of the restaurants at the Opera House, and had dinner overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Oh my god was it amazing. I had a souffle, salmon, and banana pudding with a glass of wine (because I’m classy, but also because it was part of the meal anyway, but mostly because I wanted to pretend to be classy. I was surrounded by retired rich white people and I’m pretty sure I was the youngest one there.)  After the delicious dinner I saw a show there called The Misanthrope. It was an updated version of Moliere’s play. He was basically the French Shakespeare. It was SO good and very funny because it’s a production only being done in Australia so it made fun of Australia a lot.

The last day it rained, like it did every day except the first day. Only this was a problem because this was the day I was going to spend at Manly beach. I went anyway just to say I was there and to check it out. I really wish it was better weather because it was really cool and I think it would have been a lot of fun to spend more time there. It was cold and when it was raining I hid in a coffee shop and read my book for my English class. Then I went back near my hostel and went to a different coffee shop and hid there. Then I went to the State Library because I found out they had history galleries and some of the first maps of Australia which I thought would be cool to see but the galleries ended up being closed by the time I got there. So I just hid there and did more English homework. Honestly not completely mad about it because I did need to get stuff done and not walk 10 bajillion miles like I had every other day this trip. It was nice to relax and also I was sick the whole trip so I needed to chill. It was a cool library though. It had floor to ceiling books with ladders and huge skylights, and that was just in the one room I was in.

There’s a little update on my trip to Sydney. I spent basically every meal in a café or if I needed a break from walking and I think my body is now 87% tea. I also want to know why it’s so easy to write over 1,000 words about stupid things like cafes and tea and not Onychotillomania.

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Weeks 10 and 11

Since this week and last week haven’t been too exciting because I’ve been working on my midsem projects that are worth 35% of my grade each and I’m getting ready for my trip to Sydney/Melbourne, I figured instead of telling you about my week I’d share observations about Australia.

1.      This one is probably the most important, we even learned about it in one of my classes. The proper saying should be “Throw some PRAWNS on the barbie,” not “throw some shrimp on the barbie.” The only reason he said shrimp was because the directors wanted to Americanise it because they wanted to sell more shrimp in America because they were sponsored, and people wouldn’t associate prawns with the brand, they would associate shrimp.

2.      Out of the city, people actually do say “g’day” all the time. I cannot tell you how many times someone said G’day to me when I was hiking Mt. Ngungun. It was a lot though that much I can tell you.

3.      Starbucks is not a thing in Australia except in cities. Australia has a really big coffee culture, but like cute local cafes. Starbucks had to close the majority of their locations here.

4.      NORMAL BREWED COFFEE IS NOT A THING. Everything is made with espresso. The closest thing I can get to a nice black coffee is called a long black, and is just espresso and water. I tried ordering a brew coffee somewhere when I first got here and they were confused so I was like black coffee? And that’s what I got. I was warned “iced coffee” was just coffee with ice cream in it, but I was not warned there is no such thing as brewed coffee.

5.      Australians really like their subway. Like the restaurant. Apparently it’s very good, but I wouldn’t know I haven’t tried it here.

6.      KOOKABURRAS SOUND TERRIFYING. Imagine waking up to this all the time in the middle of the night because they like the tree off your balcony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqdRQxgtZtI

7.      If you’ve noticed me spelling a lot of words wrong like “realised” or “favourite” it’s because I have my computer keyboard set to Australian English. This makes my English class a bit tricky but I figured out that if you throw in a random u and never use a z and replace it with an s, you’re pretty much set. So there you go now you know how to spell like an Australian.

8.      “Down under” by men at work is the unofficial official anthem of Australia. It’s played at the majority of public events I’ve been too and they just play it everywhere in general.

9.      The proper way to eat vegemite is to put a ton of butter on a piece of toast, and a very VERY thin almost see through layer of vegemite on top. You still will not catch me eating it.

10.   Grape jelly is not a thing here.

11.   America is massively lagging in the credit card technology department. Everyone always looks at me confused when I have to put my chip in instead of just tapping my card. Apparently neither of those things are new to them like they are in America. Just makes me feel even more American everywhere I go.

12.   They have women on their money! And not just the Queen! Also their money is colourful and they don’t have pennies. Also the sizes of their coins make no sense like in America, but at least they say the value on them.

13.   Bush turkeys walking under my balcony every night scare me because it sounds like someone is trying to climb on my balcony.

14.   One time something did climb on my balcony. It was a possum. It left me the gift of it’s poo right in the middle so I put a chair over it and pretend it’s not there. Possums also sound terrifying at night. Still not as bad as a kookaburra though.

So since I will be on my trip next week, I’ll make a post when I come home instead of doing it while I’m away. See y’all in a few weeks!

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week 9

Well. I was going to take a nap, but since I’ve procrastinated all my homework until the night before, I figured I better write this now so I’m not up until 4 am. I do really need a nap though, but more about that later.

This week was going to be filled with things that weren’t exactly exciting, and so since I’m feeling a bit better, I decided to change that. On Monday, one of my tutes got out early and so I went to the concert being held on campus. It poured. Probably wasn’t a good day to wear my white button up t shirt with fish on it, but it’s ok because I wore my grandma coat. The music was pretty good, and it turned out it was like a little preview of a music festival in Brisbane called “Big sound.” I looked at the time table and a bunch of the new bands I’ve been listening to were going to be playing and the festival went from Tuesday to Thursday, so I talked Lindsay into going with me on Tuesday because that’s when the majority of the bands we like were playing. So we get on the bus and head to the valley which takes about 45-50 minutes and we get to the venue and we had figured it would be cover at each place but no we had to go buy wristbands. So we wander over to the tent where they’re selling them, and they’re $40 aud. Normally I wouldn’t mind but we were feeling cheap and decided to not do it for some goofy reason.

We were stuck in the valley at 8 on a Tuesday night, so what’s there to do? Pad Thai. We went and spent $30 on pad thai instead of $40 on club entries. I guess we ended up winning in the end because we found a DELICIOUS spot, saved $10, and got home early. While we were there we witnessed the most insane drink called “Devil City” that’s watermelon and sugar slush with sparkling wine. The reason it’s insane is because of how HUGE that thing was. The menu said it serves 3-4 people, so Lindsay and I thought “yeah all 4 us” so naturally we went back on Thursday and had to try it.

Saturday was the big day and so I headed over to the 4zzz carpark and helped set up for the show. It was so much fun I loved every second of it, even though it mostly consisted of me laying cables down, moving speakers, following around Jaden, and standing around mildly confused. You know. The usual. Before the show started I got to meet a couple of the band members of the goon sax, and at the time (I’m such a dummy) I didn’t realise it. So I was just like chillin sounding like a goof not recognising them. That was neat. Anyway, I loved it and got a sick shirt of course (you know I always do) and am going to keep volunteering for them now! I’m super excited to see what’s gonna happen next with that.

ALRIGHTY. SUNDAY. (Dad if you’re reading this before I’ve told you I just want you to think about the fact that I’m not pregnant and appreciate that I’m a good student that hasn’t failed her classes and has only skipped twice this semester alright? And one of those days I skipped was to do homework!) So Sunday I wake up and was like “Today is the day” and so I called up City Body Art and they were like “Yeah we’re open if you can get here in 45 minutes” so I run to Lindsay’s room bust in and yell “TIME TO GO” and so we make our way down town (record speed for the public transport system) and we get there and the guy was like “sorry the wait time is until 3 now.” As frustrating as that was it’s ok because I got ice cream and a couple of books to settle myself down. So we go back and then I went and got my first tattoo. (Lordy I’m praying I told my dad before he got around to reading this.) I got an outline of an ibis, which is a bird also known as the “bin chicken.” It eats trash. I mean it’s perfect for me. Y’all know how many timtams I eat. Tbh the bird in real life ain’t that cute it has like a scaly head and Lindsay always jokes it reminds her of the grim reaper because it’s beak is shaped like a scythe, but I kinda like it in a weird way. I mean obviously I do it’s permanently on my body lol.

As if getting a tattoo wasn’t drastic enough of a change, I woke up this morning early before class, called the uni hair salon and chopped my hair off. The stylist said I got about 30 cm off, which translates to a foot. I mean my hair was below my boobs and now its touching my chin barely so makes sense. I promise I’m not having some sort of crisis it’s just that A) I’ve been planning on getting a tattoo for a looooooong time B) my hair was unhealthy as heck and C) it’s getting HOT out. I don’t need all that extra hair in this weather. Will I regret it to when I come back to -20 degrees? Probably. But you can always put more on you can’t take more off and Grace knit me a scarf so I think I’ll be fine.

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Condensed Week #8

Wednesday:

-        Shopping because my favourite shirts are getting worn out ☹

Thursday:

-        Wheel of Brisbane (and rant about missing wheel of fortune)

-        Fat noodle

-        I’m too poor to eat out someone please order me Uber Eats you can do it from America I think please I’m begging you I can’t do school food anymore

Friday:

-        Street art scavenger hunt!

-        Stopped in at 4zzz (cool radio station) to find opportunities to volunteer

Saturday:

-        Burleigh Heads Beach

-        Sun burnt as heck

Sunday:

-        Suitcase thrift market

-        4zzz carpark rooftop show

-        Check out Sweater Curse (not spon)

-        Check out The Goon Sax (also not spon but they are going on an over seas tour so go see them if you can)

News:

-        Booked Spring break trip: Sydney 5 days, Melbourne 5 days

-        Booked Reading week trip: New Zealand tour 7 days and a couple extra

-  Volunteering next Saturday at a 4zzz Carpark show (Come if you’re in the area)

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week #8

Well it’s been another crazy week in Brizzy! Honestly it’s getting to the point I can’t keep track of which day I did what, but I’m trying my best and it doesn’t matter if I say Wednesday instead of Thursday right?

Wednesday I went shopping because what else am I gonna do? I have like 5 t shirts from home and I’m afraid of getting sick of them. Allison warned me not to bring my favourite clothes here because it was all I was going to be wearing for 5 months. Did I listen? Of course not. I’m not sick of them yet but also it’s really annoying doing laundry so……

Thursday Lindsay and I went downtown and went on the Wheel of (Fortune) Brisbane. (I really miss wheel of fortune and my mom better be saving EVERY. episode for me for when I get back.) We took a bunch of really cool pictures out the windows of the city. We walked across a bridge and just wandered around. Wandering around is one of the best things you can do in a city because there’s so much to see. After that we went out for dinner at Fat Noodle. It’s gotten to the point I just can’t do IH food anymore. Someone please mail me a care package or like order an Uber eats for me. I’m begging you. I love food too much to spend my short life eating poorly.

Friday was another good day. I found a map online of street art in Brisbane so Lindsay and I went on a scavenger hunt. The map had 52 spots, and we walked to 4 because the city is so big we underestimated how far between each spot was. But hey we got our steps in. Also the radio station I’m trying to volunteer at was listed on the map as a spot because it’s painted really cool. We stopped in because I hadn’t heard back from them yet and my time here is already half over! (Crazy!) So anyway somehow I managed talk to them and I’m volunteering at a carpark show this Saturday and I’m super pumped. I looked up the bands playing and they’re really good. The headliner is The Goon Sax, and I would 100% recommend. They’re doing an over seas tour after this last show so if you get the opportunity GO SEE THEM.

Saturday we headed down to Burleigh Heads beach again. I got so insanely sunburned I put my pants on today, tried to bend over to tie my shoes and almost cried. At least this is the first time I’ve gotten burnt since I got here. That doesn’t mean it’s pleasant though. Luckily it’s supposed to rain all week so maybe it won’t get any worse.

Sunday was another good day. Lindsay and I went downtown (again) (hey I’m not complaining if it sounded like it, it’s fun) and we went to a suitcase thrift sale. There’s like some I don’t know what to call it, square? That people can just bring whatever they don’t want in suitcases and set up blankets and it’s like a giant thrift store in the middle of the street. I found a couple cute dresses ($2??) a skirt and a bunch of buttons for my jacket. The guy made them out of vintage books and they look pretty cool. After that we walked to the valley and 4zzz (the radio station I’m volunteering for) was hosting a rooftop carpark show and it was SO much fun. The bands were super good. (Check out Sweater Curse.) Like I said before I’m super excited to volunteer this Saturday. All the places we’ve been too so far except the bar in Byron Bay have not been my kind of music, but now I found my way in and I’m excited to find more down here. You can hear their accents when they sing, and why wouldn’t you want that??

OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU!! EXCITING NEWS!! I booked my spring break trip and reading week trip this week! I’m going to Sydney for 5 days (and going to a play at the Sydney opera house!!), Melbourne for 5 days, and then Lindsay and I are going on a tour of New Zealand for 7 days but we’re staying a few extra days! I’m so excited y’all I don’t even know what to do.

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week #7

Well this one is a little later than the others because I needed to recover from recovery. But let me back up a second and explain. Before that I would like to announce a Grandma Warning will be happening later in this post so read at your own risk. (I will say it will be some what confusing but I promise entertaining.) Grandmas are good for now.

              Thursday I decided to wake up early and go on an adventure by myself. I hopped on the bus and took the train back to the Glass House Mountains and spent the day hiking up Mt. Ngungun. It was so much easier and WAY faster since I didn’t have to carry my whole weekend travel bag on my back this time. I sat there and meditated for a bit (shout out to Alivia for tricking me into doing it in La Crosse this spring.) Then I just kind of spent the day walking around the little town and stopped at a bakery for a meat pie for dinner. It was delicious.

              Friday was the start of the big weekend. (Grandmas you’re still ok.) The day was spent finishing an essay that I had put off until then (whoops) and then getting ready for the Ball. Basically if you couldn’t tell from pictures or what it’s called, Ball is basically prom but 10000x better. No awkward dates that don’t want to dance. No cat fights. No one gave a hoot and was just there to have a good time (oh and for the free unlimited champagne!) I loved seeing everyone get all fancy and everyone looked so good! The Ball was hosted at a venue called Cloudland, which was BEAUTIFUL. Go look at their Instagram (@cloudlandbrisbane). The food was also insanely fancy (edible flowers man! How does that not scream “classy”?) and I haven’t eaten that good in quite a while. After the dinner there was an awards ceremony which was pretty funny. Then a band from the college played and they were SO GOOD. I digged it. The rest of the night was spent running around and chatting with champagne giggles.

              Alright Grandmas time to stop unless you want to be thoroughly disappointed in me. I’m just going to point out everyone keeps telling me to go out and experience the culture here, and well, I’m doin’ it! Saturday morning. It did not start well. Would you want to wake up at 7:30 am after staying up super late and possibly quite tootsed on champagne? I think not. I sure didn’t. I was about to give up but I pushed through. Saturday was Recovery day. And I don’t mean recovering from a hang over by staying in bed all day. No, I mean getting up, dressing wack, and going to a bar at 9 am to drink some more. (And don’t worry, the story gets worse. Not in a “oh no missy you’re making poor life choices” kind of way, more like a “what on earth” kind of way.) So. If you haven’t looked through my most recent pictures, imagine this. A neon reflective worker t-shirt, blue shorts, rainbow tutu, rainbow sweat bands, and green kids sunglasses. Now imagine probably what 200ish+ people wearing crazy stuff like that? Now imagine them all lightly hung over standing in the blinding sun wishing they were laying down (some of us were) and now imagine being the bus driver to pull up to that. Yeah.

              We got to the RE (Royal Exchange Hotel, a popular bar among the Uni kids because Wednesdays are $2 basics.) and here’s where everything went more downhill. (How could it go more downhill??) So. For starters. Free unlimited mixies. Of course since it was still morning I had screwdrivers. (I didn’t have my OJ with breakfast so….) Now the unlimited alcohol was not why it went downhill. It’s because of this crazy tradition that still mildly confuses me that I participated in and will definitely confuse you. Tubs of water with food colouring. Why? At 9 am? Why?? Well. Everyone finishes their drinks (so not to contaminate them,) grabs a plastic cup, fills it with the coloured water, goes on the dance floor and either A) throws the cup at someone or B) takes a big mouthful and spits the coloured water at someone. I’m not kidding. Y’all know I have a horrible immune system, so either I’m going to have the most consecutive diseases of my life for the rest of the time I’m here, or I’ll be cured and never get sick again for the rest of the time I’m here. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the first situation. Anyway, by the end of the day my white converse were thoroughly tie-dyed blue, and so was the rest of my body. My elbows are still purple and it’s now Wednesday. I wouldn’t trade it for the world though, I had so much fun. Honestly this weekend was my favourite weekend here so far, (and NO it’s not because of all the drinking mother.) It’s because it was just such an odd experience and I made a lot of friends through it.

In the great words of Jake Peralta, (repeated too many times by me and Lindsay this weekend,) “cool cool cool cool cool cool cool.”

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Condensed Week #6

Wednesday:

-        No Class due to public holiday (“Ekka” or “People’s day”)

-        Went to The Ekka (a much smaller version of the Minnesota state fair with no deep fried pickles or sweet martha’s cookies, but they did have churros)

Thursday:

-        Left for hiking trip

-        Spent the night in Caboolture

Friday:

-        Went to the Glasshouse Mountains

-        Was nearly lead to my death but Joan the Uber Driver saved us

-        Hiked Mt. Ngungun (Amazing but very. Very. Hot.)

-        Spent the night in Caloundra

-        Treated myself to a good meal (and boy was it worth it)

Saturday:

-        Went to Noosa Heads

-        Ate like a queen

-        Laid on the beach all day

Sunday:

-        Laid on the beach all day with some new friends

-        Travelled back to UQ

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week #6

Wow that week went by fast. Since Wednesday was a public holiday, most of my classes were cancelled so I only had to show up three times all week. That was pretty nice. I get asked a lot “Are you even studying over there?” and I mean I guess. Sorry I can’t help it that Australians like a nice long weekend!

The holiday that gave me such a blessing is called “Ekka” or “People’s Day.” They have something actually called “The Ekka,” which my friends and I went to that day and it’s basically a much smaller (disappointingly,) more laidback version on the Minnesota State Fair. It was a celebration of bringing the farm to the city. It literally was a tiny version of Minne’s. Down to the cows and pigs and everything. Unfortunately no deep fried pickles or sweet martha’s cookies, but they did have churros! What I mean by a laidback version is that the cows and bulls (like 800 kilo bulls. MASSIVE.) aren’t even in enclosed pens they just are chillin’ tied to a bar and y’all could just walk up to them and pet them. Every. Single. Animal. Except horses. But horses are scary tbh.

The biggest difference between Minne’s and Ekka is that the Ekka has a huge free show at the end of the night. It’s not like a grandstand concert, it’s just odd forms of entertainment. It started with a kid’s fireworks show (so they could go home and sleep if they were being crabby,) that had LED lighted horses running around the track and people riding motorbikes with actual flames shooting out of the back to a soundtrack of Australian music. Of course this included Down Under by Men at Work, and the Vegemite theme song. This was followed by horse races with weird buggies behind them that weren’t chariots but weren’t carts either. I have no idea what they were. Followed by monster trucks. Followed by guys racing on horses and jumping up to the top a semi truck like in that one movie I’m blanking on the name of that I haven’t seen but one of my friends told me that’s what it was from. Followed by a colonial re-enactment of a farm. And then there was something with ATV’s but at that point we’d been standing too long so we left. There was apparently other things going after including a second fireworks show.

The next day two of my friends and I left for our hiking trip. We stayed in a tiny town called Caboolture. There wasn’t much to do there but we went to a movie and wandered around and had a good time. We just needed a place to stay along the way.

Friday we left bright an early for the Glass House Mountains. When we arrived at the train station there, we all got confused as to which mountain we were supposed to walk to and which direction to go to get to said mountain, so we called an Uber. All I can say is God bless Joan the Uber Driver because she saved our lives. Maddy apparently had almost lead us on a death hike. “Mt. Tibrogargan! No no you should go to this other one, Mt. Ngungun! The only people that go to Mt. Tibrogargan are the boys that want to beat their chests and show off and usually end up having to call a helicopter because they either get stuck at the top and don’t know how to get down or else they fall and break their legs!” Thank you Joan the Uber Driver. The other trail was not as scary because people were hiking it with babies strapped to their fronts. But honestly as in shape as I am it was a near death experience carrying all of my weekend gear and cameras and whatnot to the top of that thing. I think I’m going to do it again this week as a day trip so I don’t have to carry all of that. But boy was the view beautiful. I was at the absolute highest point of a mountain and I had climbed it.

After the hike we took the train to Caloundra and treated ourselves to a GOOD meal. I had calamari and a fancy blue coconut drink and watched the beach from the window of the restaurant patio. I felt like I deserved it after that hike.

Saturday we left early in the morning again up to Noosa Heads. Noosa Heads is the type of place retirees, young families with small children, and families of retirees with kids that had young children hang out. It’s a really nice moderately touristy area. There were A LOT of food options. I treated myself to eggs benny for lunch. This was the weekend of eating like a queen. But enough about food, the beach! The beach was amazing. The water is so blue and the sand is so soft it squeaks when you walk on it. I haven’t found anywhere else in the world that happens. (Not that I’ve been all that many places yet.) We spent the day at the beach, and did the same thing the next day. There were some guys that used to live in IH Bridgett knew so we hung out with them. It was a lot of fun but a very tiring weekend. We took the bus and train from Noosa Heads directly to UQ on Sunday and it took about 4 hours.But the excitement isn’t going to calm down any time soon because this weekend is the Ball and I’m working on planning some trips! See y’all next week if I survive Ball

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week #5

So this one is going to be a little shorter than the other ones. I was still sick most of the week and so I didn’t do much. I had an ear infection that lead to a ruptured ear drum, a viral throat infection expected to last about 6 weeks, and I woke up this morning with pink eye. Doin great y’all!

On a more exciting note, I spent the weekend hiking! Friday a few of my friends and I took the bus to Mt. Cootha and hiked up the summit to see the view of the Brisbane skyline. It was so pretty and made me feel like I was kind of in La Crosse again except for the fact that the trees were a bit more tropical. Just a bit.

On Sunday we went down to Springbrook National Park and hiked a waterfall trail and it was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. It was so beautiful. I’ll be posting pictures soon, I’m going to wait until next week because a friend and I are going hiking through the Glasshouse Mountains up the Sunshine Coast this week so I’ll post the pictures all at once.

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Condensed Week #3

Monday

-        Class

Tuesday

-        Class

-        Zumba

Wednesday

-        My birthday!

-        IH in house party

-        Free drinks! Wow!

-        Free food! Even better!

Thursday

-        Bara Khanna (Formal dinner)

-        Pub Crawl

Friday

-        Poetry??

Saturday

-        North Stradbroke Island

-        Boomerang painting and throwing

-        Whale watching

-        Sand dune surfing (still finding sand everywhere)

-        Swimming at the beach

-        BBQ

Sunday

-        Kayaking in the mangroves

-        Whale watching

-        Gorge hike

[not-in-mn-anymore]

Week #3

This week has been crazy. On top of finishing my first week of classes, IH O week continuing, it was my birthday and I went on my first trip! IH had something planned for each night of the week and it just happened to be that my birthday was an “in house party.” This basically means that they have a security guard checking your ID in the basement of G tower and they give you a free spirit ticket, beer ticket, and unlimited goon (Australian wine that gets the job done and is cheap but tastes disgusting.) Happy birthday to me free drinks. The Red Frog (a volunteer organisation) was there and had a BBQ, fairy bread (an Australian delicacy of white bread, butter, and sprinkles) along with cupcakes. I had a pretty good time and 100% ate too much fairy bread but what can a girl do? It was my birthday so of course I was gonna treat myself.

The next night (my American birthday) IH hosted a “Bara Khanna” which is a formal sit-down dinner with a cocktail hour with appies and everything. This one was apparently a little different than the others (they’re hosted each month,) because it was a welcome dinner for the freshers. The food was actually pretty decent considering it was a banquet. Most banquet food isn’t always the best, and I’m used to the Medina’s food which is really good (nonspon) so I was pleasantly surprised.

After the Bara Khanna, IH had a pub crawl organised with a free charter bus so that was a plus. We went to 3 bars. At this point I don’t remember what they were called but that’s just because I just woke up from a nap and can’t pull the details from my brain at the moment. I remember at the last one they gave me a free birthday shot so hey who said alcohol in Australia is expensive! (Everyone. Everyone says it. Alcohol is expensive.)

Friday I spent going ham on reading some poetry book so I could take the quiz before I left for my trip. What an eventful day.

Saturday, some girls who live on my floor and I headed out to North Stradbroke Island. We had to take the bus and the ferry to get there and the ferry reminded me of being on Salt Spring Island in Canada especially because I had a ham and cheese croissant which is what I usually have there. Also I just realized that half my blog is me talking about food. OH ALSO my friends and I went out for sushi for my birthday forgot to throw that in there. Anyway. When we got there we met with an Aboriginal man and some of his kids. He gave us boomerangs to paint (mine is obviously a work of art. A beautiful kangaroo.) and showed us how to throw boomerangs too. I actually kind of figured it out so that was exciting. After that we went to lunch in “town.” It’s like one road with a few cafes. I got Barramundi (fish only found in the wild on the west coast of Australia,) calamari, and chips. We sat on top of the hill across the road and watched the whales. I have never seen that many be that active in my entire life. When we were done eating we went sand dune surfing. It’s a lot easier than snowboarding, but also a heck of a lot more of a work out. I don’t even like mild hills when I’m at the beach let alone trying to climb like mountain sized piles of sand for hours. I’m pretty sure I still have sand in my hair honestly. But hey nice exfoliator right? We tried getting the sand off by swimming in the ocean and it didn’t work.

Sunday we got up early and went kayaking through the mangroves with a different Aboriginal man who told us stories about the land and a bit of history behind it. For example it used to be Stradbroke Island,  but a ship that was filled with explosives crashed ashore and instead of moving it they just blew it up. Now it’s North and South Stradbroke Island. After that we went back to the same spot for lunch and went on a gorge hike. It was so beautiful and there was a sea turtle that was so big you could see it in the water looking down from the top. It was crazy.

Since last week was so insane I’m pretty sure that this week is just going to be napping and napping at the beach. I’m ok with it though.