Alice Springs

I'm going forward before I go backward, but I want to document my observations of Alice Springs before I forget them.

Alice is incredibly silent.... if it wasn't so noisy. While that sounds completely impossible, it's the easiest way to describe this small Outback town. There is no noise on the roads or sidewalks, few people are walking around, and the only noise made is by insects, which are deafeningly loud. It's already pretty hot here, which I expected, about 38 today, with temperatures dropping in the next few days. Trust me to arrive just when they get lots of rain and flash flooding, but it means that the land is surprisingly green, even if the Todd River is still dry as a bone (which it is most of the year). The flies here aren't as bad as I expected, nor are the mozzies. The neighbourhood in which I'm staying reminds me a lot of home in the summertime, strangely enough. Quiet, with a park in the center that was deserted all day. I've missed summer and the heat, and am lapping it up.

The town is surrounded by mountain range on two sides, hills really, as there are no true mountains in all of Australia. There is also a significant Aboriginal presence here that I hadn't experienced in any other city, including Cairns. Most anyone else walking around will be tourists, either arriving for their Uluru tour or just returning. I will most likely venture into town after I return from my tour, to take in dinner at a pub with the people I've met, as most people do, but otherwise I don't think I'd feel entirely safe wandering around at night. It's a different kind of discomfort that I felt in a city or in King's Cross (a strip club and gay mecca in Sydney that, by both day and night, is a mixture of seedy and gentrified). You can't blend in with the locals like you can in a city, and since it's not a busy place in general, I stick out way more.

The hostel I'm staying in is quite lovely, though certainly not at first glance. It looks rundown, but the rooms are spacious and clean, the beds new and incredibly comfortable, and a back patio with a pool that is perfect for outdoor barbecues. Several people were grilling burgers in the Aussie style tonight for dinner that smelled unbelievable. Their kitchen is also incredibly clean and well-equipped, so I cooked dinner for the first time in a long time, and loved it.

Tomorrow I leave bright and early (6am) for Uluru. I'm really excited, as most of the people I've talked to today have said good things and mentioned lots of hiking. There's also cliff-jumping possible in the Garden of Eden, at the bottom of King's Canyon (since they've gotten so much rain recently), which will be welcome after a 4-hour hike down. I cliff-jumped in Cairns before I left and loved it, so I'll be glad to repeat the experience (I have pictures of that I'll post later).

Cheers mates!

Cairns

I'm currently in Cairns, QLD, reading to get to the Great Barrier Reef and see some amazing things.  I will be traveling for quite some time, so I won't get to update this blog until I'm settled somewhere probably.  Look forward to tons of pictures and stories. :D

Onward to the Reef, Sydney, Alice Springs and the Outback, Adelaide (for the last time), LA and the Palm Desert, and finally, New York!

Election Day

Today is Wednesday, November 5th. I am at least 15.5 hours ahead of you, America. I will be watching, with the rest of the world, as the results come in from this historic election. (Most likely I will be in a local pub for the whole of the afternoon, drinking a pint with the bartender bribed to tune in to CNN.)

I never fully realized, until living on the other side of the world, exactly how important we are. As I've mentioned in these previous months, the people I've met here are well-versed in American politics, culture, current events, and history. I don't think it's just because I'm surrounded by educated people; the general interest of the nation is palpable. There was an excellent post that summed it up very well on Daily Kos today, which I highly recommend reading if you want to know how they feel.

Americans have influence they know not of. Sure, we say we "know", but truly you don't until you witness it firsthand. People have come up to me and asked me if I've voted. People who, with trepidation, ask me if I voted for Obama, worried that I will say no. People who tell me they wish they could vote too, and that my vote is also for them.

Our politics is no longer confined to ourselves or our shores. We have come to a time when our vote counts for more than just us, but for Aussies and Brits, Indians and Iraqis. They hope, as I do, that our country will finally be put on a new path, a better path, one that respects, aids, and collaborates with the world. One that can finally break loose of the confines of the isolated past, and move into a 21st century, global society. Our vote matters most to us alone and always will, but increasingly, and forever, it will matter to them.

Election Day, November, 1884

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and
show,
'Twould not be you, Niagara--nor you, ye limitless prairies--nor
your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite--nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic
geyser-loops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,
Nor Oregon's white cones--nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes--nor
Mississippi's stream:
--This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name--the still
small voice vibrating--America's choosing day,
(The heart of it not in the chosen--the act itself the main, the
quadriennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous'd--sea-board and inland--
Texas to Maine--the Prairie States--Vermont, Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West--the paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling--(a swordless conflict,
Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern Napoleon's:) the
peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity--welcoming the darker odds, the dross:
--Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify--while the heart
pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.

- Walt Whitman

You are more powerful than you realize. Do it for yourself, do it for you family, do it for your country, and do it for the world. VOTE.

The Great Ocean Road: Day One

Continuing from Melbourne...

Tuesday dawned overcast and cold. And by dawned, I truly mean that I arose at sunrise. For the next three days I would be travelling back to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road, a stretch of coastline that is famed for its beauty, and we started early. Because it is incredibly popular, many tour groups routinely take this route back and forth from Melbourne to Adelaide, and I joined one run by Groovy Grape. It turned out to be a great decision, because the size of the group was smaller than other tours, and the people I went with were amazing. Everyone was young and international: I met people from Holland, England, Belgium, South Africa, Germany, Austria, and Quebec (she was adamant about that point). My friend and I were actually the only Americans. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing the camaraderie of people in their early-to-mid 20s until I was surrounded by them again; Adelaide as I’ve known it really lacks the 20-something crowd.

As we left Melbourne I knew the weather would not be on our side; it started to rain before we even got very far. We stopped at a small diner for some breakfast and continued driving until we hit Bell’s Beach.

Bell’s Beach

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Bell’s Beach is internationally known as one of the best surfing spots in the world; it is home to the Rip Curl Pro Surf and Music Festival, the longest running surfing competition in the world. One glance and you can see why; the waves seem perfect for surfing, and this is coming from a person who has never surfed.

We continued driving, and the ocean front that opened before us was beautiful. We arrived at the entrance of the Great Ocean road by mid-morning. The road was built in memory of the “Diggers”, or Australian servicemen, who died during World War I. The construction of the road, starting in 1919 and lasting until 1932, also provided much-needed work to those returning from the war. The road also opened the coast to the rest of Australia. Previously, travel between the coastal towns of Victoria was incredibly difficult, relying mostly on water commerce and travel. The road made these towns accessible to the outside world.

Sign

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

We made a short stop at a nature preserve, where we saw koalas hanging out in the eucalyptus trees and colorful and very gregarious birds.

Can you find the koala?

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Koala

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Birds

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

After eating lunch in the town of Lorne, we drove into the rainforest of Otway National Park. It’s surprising to find a rainforest in this part of the country; I’d expected them to be confined to the more tropical northern and eastern coasts. We took a short hike through a bit of the place, and I learned that this temperate rainforest is home to the Australian mountain ash, a species of tree that grows to a massive size, and some of the largest ferns in the world. Lovely place.

Rainforest

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Driving again down the coast, we made our way to the first of the coastal rock formations we would visit on the trip: The Loch Ard Gorge. The gorge itself was not incredibly impressive, though interesting. However, the story of its naming made the visit worthwhile. I won’t relate it here, but for those who are interested...

Loch Ard Gorge

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

At that point, the clouds that had been threatening us intermittently all day finally released, and we got soaked. Rather than going to our next destination, the Twelve Apostles, and freeze while we waited for sunset, we decided instead to stop and unload our things in Port Campbell, our accommodation for the evening. After doing so, we hauled ourselves back into the bus to watch the sun set on the Twelve Apostles, the world famous limestone rock formations on the coast.
It was bitterly windy and cold, and the group of us huddled together for warmth and a respite from the biting wind. Because of the heavy cloud cover, the Apostles didn’t get a chance to “do their thing”; the rocks change color during sunrise and sunset, and it is supposed to be stunning. Despite this, they were still very impressive.

Twelve Apostles

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

We returned to our accommodation, a small house very near the water, and ate dinner around the fire we had built. The evening was spent in good conversation with my new friends, followed by a warm and comfortable bed; the next day we’d be getting up early to go back to the Twelve Apostles.

Sunset

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Best Picture Ever

What does this picture show? It is not just that, if trends don't markedly change in the next 48 hours, Obama will be winning the Presidency by a huge margin (touch wood), nor the more novel fact that Virginia is going blue...

It is the fact that Arizona is leaning Republican. McCain's home state isn't even a strong bastion for the candidate. Two more days...

Melbourne: Part Two

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

The last full day I had in Melbourne started out just as cold and overcast as the previous one. We got up early (to clarify, I took this trip with my friend Christie) and spent part of the morning at the American Consulate, an unassuming office in a large building on St. Kilda Road. (Christie had lost her passport, the motivating reason for the visit in the first place). Luckily, it didn’t take long, and I was able to have a leisurely breakfast of… a bagel and cream cheese! While there are bakeries everywhere in Australia, very few if any actually sell bagels. Yet another craving satisfied.

One of the more frustrating idiosyncrasies Australia has is that shops close incredibly early nearly every day. In Adelaide, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a retail store that stays open past 5pm; in Melbourne, they’re open until 6pm. This presents a problem, because virtually everything else you would want to see as a tourist holds the same hours, so you end up rushing to fit everything in. We decided, due to the restricted shopping hours, to visit more stores in depth and look through the Magnificent Seven – the seven major arcades in the city center.

Block Arcade

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

By midday the sky was clearing up and it was slightly warmer, which made for much more pleasant city walking. We had lunch at an Indian place, after scoping out the dismally small Chinatown and finding nothing appetizing (disappointment). At this point we were on the west side of the CBD, close to some of the older buildings like the State Library and Parliament, and both of us wanted to see the two major cathedrals of Melbourne: St. Patrick’s and St. Paul’s.

Parliament

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Spring Street

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

St. Patrick’s was far more magnificent than St. Paul’s; photographs can’t really capture its size. The inside was a true-to-form cathedral, with small alcoves and chapels ringing the inside, and a lovely organ and choir pit. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures inside, because a mass was about to start, but I didn’t realize that until I was leaving anyway. St. Paul’s was under construction, unfortunately. A lot of unsightly scaffolding marred the beauty of its interior.

St. Patrick's

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

St. Paul's

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Some of my friends had told me that I couldn’t miss the National Gallery of Victoria, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It is the oldest, and largest, art gallery in Australia, boasting some very fine works from all the major periods, including those famous artists like Rembrandt, Picasso, and Rubens, along with Aboriginal and modern Australian pieces. We took a tour of the gallery with a knowledgeable docent, who gave us more information than we ever could have gotten of both the pieces and the building’s history.

National Gallery of Victoria

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

The building itself would have been worth the trip. It was designed by the Australian architect Roy Grounds and completed in 1967, and renovated in 2003 by Mario Bellini. One of its main features is a water wall as you enter the building, flanked by steel sculptures of an entire town of people (8 in total), from Arnhem Land in the Center. Another is a large stained glass ceiling, designed by Leonard French.

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

After spending time at the gallery, we made our way to the Chapel Street Precinct, a hip shopping place where you can find both upscale stores and trendy, bohemian boutiques. After spending time shopping in both the city center and Chapel Street, we now know why Melbournians are so well-dressed. Dinner was at a Mexican-fusion restaurant on Chapel Street, where the food was excellent, if not very authentic.

Chapel Street

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

By this time, Christie and I were even more footsore than the day before, so we stopped back at our hostel to recuperate before heading back into the city for drinks with friends from Adelaide who had just arrived in Melbourne. Before we left, however, I needed to make a stop at the famed Monarch Cake Shop to see if their desserts lived up to their reputation. And with a slice of flourless chocolate cake, I got a little bit of heaven.

Walking to the tram stop that night on the Southbank of the city, we passed by a fire show that happens twice each night. There are huge columns placed down the river that shoot up fireballs, synchronized with one another. I so wish I had brought my camera. To stay warm while we were waiting for the tram, we jumped in to the Casino quickly, a massive place that is fairly busy even on a Monday night. We couldn't stay to play (not that I would really want to), because the next morning we had to get up bright an early to catch our bus for the Great Ocean Road, where we spent three glorious days....

NEXT UP: The Great Ocean Road – Day 1

Melbourne: Part One

Let me just clarify the tone you will be hearing throughout these next few posts: Melbourne is amazing. The next few paragraphs (well, many, actually) could possibly be considered a “gush” of just how awesome my previous week has been.

It was the first trip I’ve taken outside Adelaide since I’ve come to Australia, and it was incredibly overdue. A few friends had gone in August, and I definitely regretted not joining them, but it worked out excellently regardless. Melbourne is the closest city to Adelaide in Australia, and that’s saying something: it’s a 10+ hour drive. Luckily, the flights there are cheap, which the exchange rate makes even cheaper, and flying domestically is a breeze in comparison to the US; there are no liquid restrictions, you don’t have to strip down to your knickers going through security, and I wasn’t asked for ID once.

The city itself is much, much larger than Adelaide and in vibe and style very European. It was influenced by a heavy immigration from Italy, Greece, the UK (of course), and more recently South Asia. I stayed in the small suburb of St. Kilda, about a 20-minute tram ride from the heart of Melbourne and right on the beach. It’s considered a young, hip place catering significantly to backpackers. Lots of bars and great restaurants, the beach a 5-minute walk away, which during the night provides a starry view of Melbourne’s lights down the bay, and Luna Park, an historical theme park with a wooden rollercoaster, games, and the gaping face of a clown through which you enter.

Acland Street, St. Kilda

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

St. Kilda also boasts some of the best bakeries in Melbourne, including the Monarch Cake Shop, the oldest patisserie in Melbourne (more on that later). The hostel I stayed at was excellent; full of young international people traveling around Australia, clean and well-kept, and it also helped that in staying in an all-girl’s room we received free towels, shampoo, and champagne every evening.

I have to mention the public transportation system because it factored so much into the ease of seeing Melbourne. A mixture of electric trams, buses, and trains criss-cross the city, and in the center they have digital signs which indicate the time remaining until your tram reaches the stop. If only our cities could provide such an efficient service. I have a feeling that this will not be the first indication that our infrastructure is woefully in need of updating.

I got into Melbourne Saturday evening, just in time to have dinner and a quick walk down the beach. The next day we decided to get up early to explore. Unfortunately, the weather had taken a nasty turn (which remained for the rest of the trip) and we were cold the entire day. We walked through the Sunday morning arts market, where local artisans sell their wares every Sunday, on the way to the tram stop. Heading into the city, we decided to explore Queen Victoria Market, the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere.

Queen Victoria Market

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

There were hundreds of small vendors selling anything and everything, from produce to clocks to clothing. I’ve never been good at haggling, so it was probably best I didn’t buy much. I did, however, eat poffertjes, which are these unbelievably delicious Dutch pancakes, covered in either sugar and lemon juice or cream, jam and fruit that I’ve found in Adelaide as well.

Poffertjes

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

After perusing the market, we walked into the city to wander. The shopping in Melbourne is so good; they have many beautiful arcades (basically throughways through buildings lined with boutique shops) that are as historical as they are lovely. Most of the shopping in the city center was far to high-end for me to afford, but it was good to see what was on offer. Collins Street is the premiere shopping street for those who can afford the clothing. We decided to take a ride on the free tram which circles the city from the south end to the north end, both to learn a bit of the history of the most well-known landmarks and to get to our next stop: Lygon Street.

Lygon Street marks Melbourne’s Italian precinct. As I mentioned previously, there is a large Italian population in Melbourne, and this is marked by great eating. There we found a small restaurant to eat lunch, and I discovered that great pizza can really be found in Australia (I had, by this time, an incredible craving since Adelaide’s leaves much to be desired). Since Lygon is located very close to the Melbourne Museum, we decided to check it out.

Melbourne Museum

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Royal Exhibition Building

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

The Melbourne Museum is a large, spacious, and thoroughly modern building, designed by Baulderstone Hornibrook (I kid you not), and is the largest museum in the southern hemisphere and located right next to the Royal Exhibition Building, an immense pavilion and a World Heritage site. It contains exhibitions of ancient, modern, and natural history and boasts an IMAX theatre complex. We had just enough time for a quick walk around some of the exhibits before the start of The Dark Knight. It might sound like a silly thing to do, see a movie both of us had already seen in theatres in a city as great as Melbourne, but the movie was phenomenal, IMAX is great, and by this time we were so footsore and chilled that any place to sit and be warm for a few hours sounded very welcome. And it was totally worth it to see in the IMAX.

After the movie finished, it was time to get back to the hostel in St. Kilda, grab some dinner (an excellent veggie burger with lots of toppings, but thankfully no beetroot this time) and made it an early night, well, after briefly wandering into a packed pub.

NEXT UP: Day 2

Just Right

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Feta, Spinach, and Roasted Capsicum

I know this is not the traditional day for doing this list, but Thursdays are not the only day to be thankful!

From McLaren Vale Wine Tour

- Wrapaway, for providing me with tasty and healthy lunchtime alternatives
- my camera, which is good enough to compensate for my novice photographic abilities and captures memorable moments with great skill
- the springtime, which is glorious in Australia
- Boost smoothies, for being YUM
- getting American mail, most notably my absentee ballot!
- the internet for keeping me in touch with family, friends and American news
- The West Wing
- JB Hifi, for having a copy of Season 2 of The West Wing for a modest price
- the beach, and the pier on the beach. Who cares if the water could have sharks in it?
- being so close to amazingly beautiful (and tasty) wine country. I have gained such a greater appreciation for fine wine.
- my friends in Australia, with whom every adventure is fun and always hilarious
- the American exchange rate, which is now low enough to make Australia livable
- the next two months, which I anticipate to be jam-packed with fun and wonderful memories
- my family, who have been so supportive and understanding with me being so far away, and my mom for learning IM lingo (she uses "lol" now!)
- having a family vacation in the desert when I return to the States
- barbecues on Sundays

The Real Great Depression

I recently stumbled upon this interesting article by Scott Reynolds Nelson, a history professor at the College of William and Mary and Williamsburg, VA. It compares the current financial crisis not to the stock market crash of 1929, but to the Panic of 1873 and subsequent 4-year depression that followed. There are a surprisingly large number of parallels to our current situation, even from over 125 years ago, most poignantly being the unregulated issuance of mortgages in Europe that ultimately led to a liquidity crisis and meltdown of hundreds of banks. The author also attributes many events in the following decades to stem from this (brush off the dust from your American and world history knowledge, folks):

- The Gilded Age, including the reign of Rockefeller, Carnegie, and others
- Anti-Semitism in Russia and Eastern Europe
- Increased religious fundamentalism
- Collapse of unions
- 1877 railroad strike

You can extrapolate from there, to see the ramifications of this depression in decades to come...

Photo Dump

I've finally uploaded all of the photos I've taken in Australia in the last two months to Picasa! Because my internet is so incredibly slow, it's like pulling teeth, but I managed to get through it at last. Of particular note are the photos from my most recent winery tour of the McLaren Vale, which goes down in infamy.... Enjoy! I know I did. ^_^

Adelaide Botanic Gardens



McLaren Vale and Maslin Beach



Adelaide Hills Wine Tour



Morialta

One Amazing Weekend

This weekend was pretty awesome, so I figured I'd share it with y'all.

Friday:

Impromptu pub crawl, starting out with free Asahi beer (tasty!) at a swanky pub down the street. They were doing a promotion, and because I knew the bartender, we kept getting additional vouchers to drink more. Then on to a tour of the East End pub scene, basically. I met up with some friends, and joined them for actual pub crawls, and finished the night at a pub I'd been to and didn't remember. It was good to finally see it.

Saturday:

Lazy morning, followed by casual lunch and shopping on Rundle. It's good to just get out and see all the fashions I can't afford. Then, because of the major partying done the previous evening, we sat in to watch movies and tv shows. Once, a movie I'd been wanting to see, and now know that it so lives up to the Oscar it received, and Blades of Glory, for funsies.

Sunday:

The pinnacle of this weekend. It was a perfect day, mid-20s with a cool breeze and not a cloud in the sky. I walked through this amazing arts market that happens every Sunday in Adelaide: food and crafts and great stuff for sale. There's a place called the American Candy store, which sells cupcakes of all varieties. Not quite up to the level of Dozen, but still great. And pofferjees, which are these great Dutch mini-pancakes, which you cover in cinnamon sugar or confectioner's sugar and cream. Yum!

The good food didn't stop there. The walk through the market was shortened so we could get to the real attraction: Cheese Fest '08! It was packed with people. Cheese makers from all over South Australia (and one from Tasmania) came to provide tastings of their best cheeses. There were a few SA wineries that were also there (Nepenthe, check it out, because it's awesome!). Imagine the best cheeses you've ever tasted, in one venue, and you just walk to stall after stall trying them all out, with a glass of amazing SA wine in your hand, the sun shining, and live music playing in the background. We met up with a few American friends, and sat in the grass after we had fully sated ourselves with cheese and drank wine until the sun started setting.

The only downside, if there is one, is that I got sunburned for the first time in a year. It's pretty brutal here (no Ozone layer and all) and so I have to remind myself continually from now on to apply copious amounts of sunscreen before all outdoor excursions. Also, I didn't bring my camera, so there is no documentation of these events. In future I need to do so.

Summer has arrived, and as my mother just perceptively said, "it's good for the soul to be in the sun". If you want to find me in the next three months, that's where I'll be.

OMG: Gas prices increase 5 cents!

While I am no longer in the US, I still try to keep up-to-date on American news. I'm not abroad for very long after all, and since we are the largest exporter of media in the world, it's actually hard to stay disconnected for long. In fact, as I've probably mentioned before, the people I meet here (albeit a highly educated, largely international, and therefore fairly biased sample) know more about American lifestyle, politics, policy, and history than many Americans. Since coming to Australia, I have definitely gained a lot of perspective as regards home; funny, how leaving a place can make you see it more clearly. The price of gas and oil: while its near-constant increasing price is hurting everyone in the US, and will more than likely hurt me when I get home, I doubt it will be nearly as high as here (about $1.50/litre) or elsewhere like Europe, where it is even higher. The minimum wage: we've just increased it to $7.50 per hour, set to occur in 2009, and Australia leaves us in the dust with a minimum wage just increased to over $15.00 an hour! And our election system: is this extended campaign period that the US is known for, which lasts over a year and racks up a bill the size of many small countries GDPs, really necessary?

While it has grown clearer that no government is perfect, and that every country has its problems, embarrassments, and controversies, we could all stand to gain a little perspective. This refreshing snippet from the Senate's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Bipartisan Energy Summit caught my attention:

SENATOR SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (RI): Gentlemen, we’re in the middle of a near total mortgage system meltdown in this country. We have a health care system that burns 16 percent of our GDP, in which the Medicare liability alone has been estimated at $34 trillion. We’re burning $10 billion a month in Iraq.

This administration has run up $7.7 trillion in national debt, by our calculation. And there is worsening evidence every day of global warming, with worsening environmental and national security ramifications. In light of those conditions, do any of you seriously contend that drilling for more oil is the number one issue facing the American people today?

(Long silent pause during which nobody answers.)

WHITEHOUSE: No, it doesn’t seem so.

While I am certainly taking his soapbox speech with a hefty helping of salt, I do hope that our government, and what's more its people, will open their eyes and focus on what really matters.

My Holy Charge

A friend of mine introduced me to the following article in the latest edition of GQ, and I loved it so much I thought I'd reproduce it here. I hate that I'm missing the season!!!! But I'm going to search for the games on FoxTel and in pubs here, and spawn new Steelers fans internationally. ;)

Because the Cowboys may be America's Team, but the Steelers are God's Team.

A Steelers game is a holy war, a fight for what is virtuous and right. To live here in Pittsburgh, where Heinz Field sits like a fat temple bursting with kielbasa-loving believers, is to know all there is to know. Unflinching, unconditional, ours is a faith handed to us from Grandpa or Great-Grandpa, the guy who first got the season tickets and passed them down through generations. (The waiting list for season tickets is ten years long - you have to wait until someone dies.) Divorcing couples have been known to wage custody battles over season tickets; ex-husbands give in and sit with ex-wives, sharing nachos and a cold Iron. Hey, it's the Steelers.

We are born into our religion, and we are baptized, and we receive our Communion. A Steelers fan never strays. You move to Denver, or to some fancy Sunbelt place, or even to California, you stay a Steelers fan. People say the Cowboys are America's Team, and we think that is so adorable. So very precious. Listen, people: The Steelers are God's Team. Hometown boy Bill Cowher having passed along to sainthood, we embrace a new messiah, Mike Tomlin, trusting in the guidance of our holiest family, the Rooneys (because they're from Pittsburgh). And now, of course, we have big Ben Roethlisberger, who can make us more than a tiny bit nervous, and Hines Ward, with his eternal smile (he smiles, we think, because he gets to play for Pittsburgh), and Troy Polamalu, who embodies the sort of humanity we expect of our Steelers. Good people. Good people. Hey, they play for Pittsburgh - a rusty promised land where there is so little left to be proud of. So we will sit and wave our terrible towels and battle the gray chill that cuts to the bone, wave that towel, wave that towel in praise. We will do this because it is our life's work. We will continue to give birth to baby Steelers fans, and we will continue our charge to take over the world, to convert you and you and you. We are missionaries charged with leading you toward the light of Steeler Nation. It's probably a rule in the Bible somewhere. Oh, it probably is.

An Election of Firsts

As nearly everyone with access to daily news has been aware of for months, this 2008 election year in the US is making history, with the first viable black candidate the country has ever seen. There has been so much hype about Barack Obama's candidacy, and so much hype about the hype that it's exhausting and a tad numbing. Being in another country, I've avoided much of it, but even all the way on the other side of the world, people keep asking me "Is this election over yet??" (Incidentally, it seems most Australians and other ex-pats I've met can hold an intelligent conversation about American politics.)

Much of the news this past week has gone to the Democratic National Convention, held in Denver. But today John McCain stole the spotlight by announcing his landmark choice for a running mate: Alaska governor Sarah Palin. At first, it seems like an astounding choice for him to have made, one no one really saw coming. However, she is young and female, and in this tough election of firsts, he made a unique choice that can rival Obama's campaign for change and better secure that elusive female vote. Not to mention her ties to the oil industry and right-wing agenda as governor of Alaska attest to the fact that she fits in well with the GOP candidate's campaign platform. No matter the outcome, McCain has ensured that this election will set a record for the United States. I just hope that this isn't all the election will come down to....

Onkaparinga Gorge

Today, I went hiking (walking, to Australians) in Onkaparinga Gorge. It's incredibly close to McLaren Vale, a main winery area that I will be going back to at some point for wine-tasting. It was less like walking and more like scrambling over rocks and wading through the river. While Australia is apparently going through a several-year drought, it didn't seem like it today, or for the last month, because of how much rain we've been getting. The river was higher than anyone had seen it before, and I was soaked from the knees down. Hiking in water-logged boots is never fun. However, I got to see some great Australian countryside. No kangaroo sightings yet, though!

Inspiration

Randy Pausch died yesterday morning, finally succombing to the pancreatic cancer he'd battled for several years. He was an inspiration to many, especially Carnegie Mellon students, for the wisdom by which he lived his life, and imparted to us in his final acts of teaching: his last lecture.

His speech at my commencement this past May was the best part of the ceremony, eclipsing even Al Gore. It is a memory I will cherish the rest of my life, and his words I never want to forget: you don't beat the Reaper by living long, you beat the Reaper by living well. "If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you."

Pictures Finally!

Finally, I am posting the pictures I took nearly a month ago. Enjoy!

I've been feeling rather antsy lately. It's been a month since I've arrived in Adelaide, and while I enjoyed that month, I'm getting to the point where I'd like to do more, see more of the area and Australia. However, I am severely limited by a very small budget and no personal transportation. In a few weeks some of my friends were considering a trip to Melbourne, which I'll probably end up going on. But I guess I'd really like to be more active in Adelaide, and do something other than drink on weekends.

Last week I attended a meeting of Adelaide Bushwalkers Club, hoping to finally meet some Australians my age and find a group of people to explore the outback regions with. Unfortunately, I was cruelly disappointed. While the group itself is very active, and the hikes they go on seem very fun, the average age of the group was mid-50s, with many people in their 60s and beyond. I invited a few of my friends along, and we were the youngest people there. I am not necessarily opposed to enjoying the company of older people, and I'm sure they have the energy and strength to do strenuous hikes, I would have preferred a much wider mixture of ages, and a few still in their 20s. I'll just have to keep looking for a group that suits my needs.

Updates from OZ

I finally got my act together and uploaded my pictures from Australia. They're of Adelaide and North Adelaide. I haven't gotten out of the city at all yet, but have plans in the works for a short winery tour and Great Barrier Reef snorkeling in the near future. Otherwise, life is good, better than good, despite the fact that I haven't been properly warm for any length of time in weeks. Something they don't tell you before you leave the US is that the rest of the world doesn't heat their buildings like the US in wintertime. My bedroom is consistently between 9-13C (50-58F), non-insulated, and with a completely inadequate space heater. Needless to say, I don't spend much time there other than sleeping.

In the near future I will be racking up many new pictures, once I get around to hiking with an organisation I discovered through a co-worker. However, being completely unprepared for this kind of cold weather, I might not start hiking until it warms up a bit (oh, to have days of 17C again!).

EDIT: My internet is so bad here that I think I'll forego posting these pictures until I get a faster connection. One hour for only 25% completion is certainly too long.

In OZ

For those of you anxiously awaiting my first reports from across the world, I'm sorry it took so long. For those who haven't been on the edge of their seats, well, ok. I've been in Adelaide for 5 days, and this is what I've learned:

- be careful crossing the street; the cars come from opposite directions here
- it's pronounced PREM-ier, not pre-MIER
- Australians don't use central heat
- everything is expensive but sushi, laundry, and wine
- it's pronounced BRIZ-bon, not Bris-bane
- they don't use cheques, or checking accounts
- they take occupational health and safety very seriously
- international students are very nice
- I need to start including myself when I speak of international students
- their $2 coins are smaller than their $1 coins
- people love American media, and know more about US politics than many Americans
- Vegemite really is eaten often on toast
- they eat pumpkin as a vegetable, and rarely use it in dessert
- there isn't enough water in the toilets to see it flushing the opposite direction (sorry!)
- the birds here are CRAZY loud
- music tastes stink
- what they consider the depths of winter really feels like October
- did I mention how incredibly expensive everything is?? A 12-oz Coke can be AU$3.00


I have really been enjoying myself so far, barring the first day when I got hit with an unusually high dose of homesickness (rare for me). I'm trying to quickly learn the metric conversions for everything, but it's a challenge. It's fun to be an ex-patriot, surrounded by other ex-pats. I live in a graduate-only college, and most of the people who live with me are international as well. There are very few Americans, which is unsurprising, but I have met, other than the ones who came with me, a botanist from Duke, and a Canadian. The rest are from Europe or Asia. You find that people quickly segregate into smaller communities: the Chinese eat together, Continental Europeans all hang out together, though they all speak in English to one another, and what I can fondly refer to as the "Commonwealths" (English, Irish, New Zealanders, Australians, Canadians, and Americans) have been spending time together. As always, I'm one of the youngest, but it doesn't really matter.

I've already taken lots of pictures, but as I don't have access to internet in my room, I haven't uploaded them. Once I do, I'll post them here and on facebook. It's a beautiful city, if smaller and more suburban than I had been expecting, and I'm looking forward to spending 6 months here. Stay tuned for more updates! I'm sure there will be many, and illustrated!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

In 14 hours!!! Two days from now, I will be across the world in Australia for the next six months! How excited am I!? Well, very. And a bit nervous, anxious, and worried too. I suppose this is often what happens at the onset of a possibly life-changing adventure. I haven't been this far from home in my life, and living in another country will be an adjustment. Also, the fact that my layover in Detroit is short enough that it's possible I could miss my connecting flight to LA if I'm delayed, and that I just got hit (as in today) with food poisoning that had the potential to be severely debilitating to my travel. But I'm so pumped anyway! The sickness is gone, I'll run across the airport if I have to to catch that darn LA flight, and god dammit this time two days from now I'll be looking out onto an Australian beach (albeit incredibly jetlagged and travel-weary).

I'm living my dream baby!!! Wish me luck!

Triple Digit Days

Can you believe it? And it's barely June! We're sweltering here in the Upstate, and have been reduced to sheltering in our albeit very nice basement. It's way cooler. It is now two weeks until I leave for Adelaide, and boy is it craaaaazy stressful. I still have many preparations to make, and am feeling the pressure. I'm sure it will all work out, and in two weeks and two days (it's a two-day trip) I will be an official ex-pat! (Well, kind of)

One Year (plus a few weeks)

Can you believe it? It's been over a year since I've started this experiment in vegetarianism. I haven't faltered at all, either. It has ceased to be something foreign and new to me, and has become so natural that the reasons for which I started this have no meaning anymore, really. People still ask why I've done it, and I respond "discipline, primarily, but there are also environmental factors", but in truth, they don't even matter anymore. I am a vegetarian because I don't eat meat. I love it, and it's become part of my identity. I may go back to eating meat eventually, but I don't see it happening in the near future. If I can live at home for a month and not be tempted (no mean feat, I tell you), then it doesn't even register as part of a normal diet for me anymore. This, coming from a girl who used to LOVE meat, and started this planning on it lasting only the summer! I'm pretty surprised it was as easy and natural as it was, and is. But, as it is so fun and easy for me, I'm pretty certain the only way I'll go back to eating meat is on a whim. I don't think anything else will make me. Go vegetarianism!

EDIT:

Zavo asked me two interesting questions I thought I'd share the answers to. First, I honestly don't remember the last meat meal I ate. I know it was a special one, because I consciously chose to become vegetarian, and decided to on a Monday. I had been thinking about making the change for a few months at this point, and thought it would be easiest to start after moving to my summer place, with classes over and most of the stressers in my life gone. I want to say it was lamb curry, but who knows!

And since I don't know when I'll want to start eating meat again, I don't know what my first meat meal will be. An educated guess might be chicken wings or a cheeseburger, because those are the things I miss most. Go figure, right?

Commencement 08

Pictures courtesy of my uncle.



I finally (well, not really finally, because it came all too soon) graduated from Carnegie Mellon last Sunday. Even only a week later it feels like ages ago. The ceremony itself was incredibly well done, and the best I've witnessed yet. I was fortunate for it to be mine. Al Gore gave a great speech for our keynote address, but it was the surprise visit of Randy Pausch, finishing the Charge to the Graduates, at the end of the ceremony that made it immeasurably special:

Do I?

Do I have the courage to make myself vulnerable? Can I take the risk of exposing my inner thoughts and feelings to another, or dive into uncharted territory? Today at least, I think I proved not. Let's see if I can find it tomorrow.

Procrastination

No matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to find the will to do my work. These are the only two days of the week I actually have deadlines, and I can't seem to make them. What is wrong with me??!! Perhaps it's the gorgeous weather.... or the fact that I'm a senior graduating in less than two weeks (grad school notwithstanding).... or the wonder that is Hulu. Whatever the reason, instead of doing my work I'm doing everything but. Hence why I'm writing for my blog, and not my ten-page paper, the rough draft of which is due today, or studying for my last final, which is tomorrow.

I think I'm just ready to be done, though the fact that I can't seem to do work consistently has me worried that I won't transition into the working world well. I haven't worked a true full-time job in several years, and I'm worried I won't be able to focus to do it right. I feel like it's gotten worse as I've gotten older; I used to be able to dive in and spend six hours studying. I actually remember working on Fridays and Saturdays, which I've refused to do since sophomore year. My hope is that it's just a disillusionment with college and college work, and that next year I'll be revitalized to make the final push to finish it, and the transition to a job will motivate me more. Will I really be able to go to a job, though, work 40-hour weeks month after month, with no change and fewer vacations to punctuate the passage of time? I guess I'll have to find out, but I'm very afraid of failing.

Yesterday was my last Soundbytes rehearsal ever. It felt anti-climactic, to be honest. It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I won't be singing with them anymore (or singing and performing consistently, woah). It'll be the first time since I was 13 that I won't be in a singing group of some kind, and it's not likely I'll join one for at least another year. Crazy thought. The transition has begun, and I'm more ready to let go than I thought I would be at this juncture (though part of that is because it was forced on me, I think). Still, it's really hard, and it will be a change for all of us, regardless of if that registers on them yet or not.

This has been a really random post, and you can probably see why it's been so hard for me to write my paper! I'm so ready to let go of all this pent-up anxiety over a ton of things, both conscious and subconscious.

New House is to be named!

I received an email last night that New House, the newest dormitory on campus, will actually have a name other than "New". While it hasn't been revealed, people are starting to wonder what it will be. The most interesting suggestion I've heard so far is Gore House, for Al Gore. He's this year's commencement speaker (très passionnant) and so it's possible for the announcement to coincide with his speech. I suppose it's fitting, given it was the first LEED-certified dormitory in the country and he is such an environmental activist. However, he really has no other affiliations to the university, so I find it odd that he would donate that much money for his name on a building at a college to which he has no connections.

Anyhoo, keep a lookout for that announcement. It will be weird to have New House under a different name. I lived there three years ago, and to all who lived there it will forever be just New House. And to think, the Orientation Leaders and Counselors will have to come up with all new cheers for the building.... ^_^

Let's Get Purple!

Carnival was really fun this year. I spent a lot of time with a ton of different people, and the booths this year were pretty great. It was also a record-breaking year for buggy, as SDC and Pika both broke the speed record set by Spirit 20 years ago several times. Soundbytes alums also came back, and while I didn't get to hang out with them as much as I would have liked, it was good to see them.

Also, I attended Holi for the first time, which was incredibly fun. I was nearly unrecognizable by the end, and so was everyone else. Now to just get the color off me.... (which will probably take a while).

Winter melts into spring

Winter is officially over. It has been for a while I guess, but the weather has been so gorgeous lately I just needed to punctuate it with a reminder that it is truly the height of spring here in Pittsburgh. And lest we forget, Carnival starts tomorrow; officially Thursday, but no one minds celebrating early. Unfortunately, only one of my classes is canceled for the rest of the week. Heinz doesn't observe our little holiday, but I will anyway. I'm still an undergraduate in name!

To reminisce a bit, I'd like to recall my previous three Carnivals. (I honestly can't believe I've been here four years).

Year 1: I ended up getting sick, so right after seeing The Shins concert, and feeling very under the weather, I slept through the rest of Carnival on Niquil. It was also my first Carnival concert with Soundbytes, where we had pictures taken of the group I will probably have with me forever. I <3 those amazing people.

Year 2: The first time I got drunk. I was a late-bloomer, but I eventually learned to enjoy alcohol. ^_-

Year 3: This year was a doozy. I dove whole-heartedly into the festivities unlike previous years and enjoyed myself immensely. I participated in booth for the first time (Fringe Trap won third place!!) and also got to see buggy for the first time. The best Carnival yet, and there are certainly some unforgettable memories. Even if I forget, I'll still have the pictures....

Year 4: Starts tomorrow! We'll see how it measures up. I don't expect to get nearly so drunk or participate half as much (if you've seen buggy once, there's really no need to see it again), but I think I'll still have fun.

Also, last Saturday was Soundbytes first annual No Instruments Aloud Invitational Concert (we're still trying to come up with a name for it, defaulting on calling it NIA which is a definite misnomer). We spent the majority of the semester collaborating with members of The Originals to put together a huge concert, inviting groups we've performed with or know from other colleges. In total, we had six who performed: Soundbytes, The Originals, and Counterpoint from Carnegie Mellon, Cornell's Key Elements, Penn State's Savoir Faire, and the University of Pittsburgh's Sounds of Pleasure. It was unbelievably packed; we sold out McConomy, which I hadn't expected, especially given the fact that there were at least three other large events going on that evening. We usually don't charge for concerts, which made it all the more incredible that we got the crowd we did.

One of my favorite parts about the concert was the film. We decided to theme the concert and film skits about a cappella life, in the vein of The Real World and The Office. It was called Real World Pittsburgh: True Confessions of an A Cappella Group. They ended up being absolutely hilarious, and probably made the concert. If you'd like to see it, look up Soundbytes on facebook; it's listed as "No Instruments Aloud 2008 video". I have a pretty large part in it. :)

The groups we invited turned out to be great people. I spent most of the time with members of Key Elements, who rock. Hopefully we can invite people back next year, and expand the concert to make it a yearly, well-attended event.

In other news, my plans are underway for going to Australia. I still can't believe I'm going, but I'm so incredibly excited!!! I'm going to schedule my classes next week, and this weekend during my down time I'm going to begin the visa process. I also need to nail down a place to live and a summer internship, but I'm hoping I can smooth those out pretty quickly.

Fate Intervenes

I've never been a big believer in destiny. Maybe it's because I love thinking that I have some control over my life, or that I just don't believe in any higher power pulling the strings of our lives (or both). I also have thought it was an easy way to mask reality and find meaning in mere coincidence. However, some great things have been happening to me lately, that while I certainly don't ascribe them to fate or my innate destiny for greatness, they have certainly improved my life in ways I hadn't expected.

Mostly, this concerns one area: Australia. It is pretty common knowledge that I have been wanting to go on an exchange there next year. However, I recently have settled on plans that make this nearly certain (99%). Not only will I be studying in Adelaide for a semester, but I will also be working there from June-August before classes begin. The exchange is heavily supported by my school, to the point where they are actually giving me some funding! I have never thought it could work out so well or so easily, and I will be living there for longer than I anticipated, which is amazing. So from June to December, consider me an expatriate!!

It has been a dream of mine since I can remember to study abroad, and my commitments in Pittsburgh over the last four years made it impossible. This opportunity gives me an incredible end to an incredible college experience, and I think it's really lucky.

Everything works out for the best sometimes, I guess. I was sad that I didn't get the job in Portland, but this is so much better! And the rest of the semester is looking to be jam-packed with fun things to do. It's going to be a race to the finish, but I'm looking forward to [almost] every minute of it.

Also, I thought I'd share my senior yearbook photo. I'd gotten a bunch taken in February, and in looking over the proofs, this one was our favorite. There are a couple more I also liked, but we'll see if they make the final cut.

50 Days and Counting

It is officially 50 days until I graduate! How crazy is that? It still doesn't feel quite real, like it's not really going to happen, even though I've already ordered my cap and gown, and started looking at diploma frames.

This year has gone by quickly and slowly, simultaneously. I was worried in September that I wouldn't be ready for this, the final stretch culminating in the closing of the (nearly) final chapter of my education. I have loved college, and at that point wasn't ready to leave, and couldn't even conceive of a me that was ready. I'm both happy, and sad, to say that it is no longer true. I am not only looking forward to the future of a life when I'm not in college, but I almost can't wait for it to arrive. I say almost, because there's still a lot of uncertainty and fear attached to it. I don't know where I'll be, what I'll be doing, or if I'll be successful at it. However, I'm still enjoying the not knowing. I suppose it helps that I'm sticking around for a graduate degree, but even that is more of an expedient to get a better and higher-paying job than a real desire to stay. While I do love Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, it's getting to be time to leave. That's probably one of the reasons why I'm so excited for the opportunity to go to Australia. (While not set in stone, it's looking more and more certain that I'll be there for about 9 months). I think I would have very much regretted not studying abroad later in life, so it's almost fate that I am able to get everything I originally wanted from my college experience so easily.

As of right now though, I have a loose agenda for the final 50. I plan to spend as much time with the people I love from Carnegie Mellon as possible. Who knows when we'll see each other again? My four years needs a proper and happy conclusion, and I'll be damned if I let anything stand in the way. ^_^

4000

The Iraq War has just claimed the life of a 4,000th soldier. This has been all over the news, just as nearly every soldier's death has been marked by overwhelming press coverage. I recently got an email from the College Democrats informing me that there will be a vigil tomorrow night to speak out against the war and honor those 4,000 dead soldiers.

Perhaps I am being callous and unfeeling, and while I do feel for those families who have lost someone due to this war, to be honest I don't particularly care. Soldiers go into the military knowing full well they could be laying down their life for the protection of the United States. Their families know this too. And while we should honor them for doing this so selflessly, I don't think it should be called a tragedy, but perhaps a mistake.

The real tragedy here is that there is one figure that is NEVER reported, and that is far more shocking: the Iraqi civilian body count. It is estimated to be between 82,394 and 89,914. Look at this news from the IBC, just yesterday:

Sunday 23 March: 74 dead

Baghdad: rocket/mortar attacks kill 19 (4 children among them); gunmen shoot 7 dead, Zafaraniya; suicide car bomber kills 5, Shula; roadside bomb kills 1, Mansour; 6 bodies.

Diyala
Abu Saida: gunmen kill policeman and his driver.
Baquba: gunmen kill policeman; mortars kill 2; 2 children (8 and 10 years old) are blown up by bomb in playground.
Nahar Sabah: 15 (most from the same family) die in US air strike.
Muqdadiya: 2 bodies.

Kirkuk
Kirkuk: roadside bomb kills policeman.

Wassit
Kut: 3 killed by mortars; 2 bodies.

Ninewa
Mosul: car bombs kill 2; 4 bodies.

These aren't soldiers, these are children, civilians, workers just trying to go to their jobs. The IBC records the numbers of actual violent deaths, non-combatant only. And I am expected to feel bad for the 4,000th soldier who died doing his job, a job he or she accepted willingly? We don't have a draft in this country, our military is completely voluntary.

Am I sad to hear that 4,000 soldiers have died since 2003? Yes. Especially because I think this war has needed to be over for a while. But my reasons for wanting it to end are not just those, to put it bluntly, selfish reasons that have been bandied around for a couple of years now: the exorbitant cost, the cost of US lives, the lack of justification (now that the WMD thing has been proven false), etc. We invaded a country that was ruled by an historically vicious dictator, but their government was not much worse than any other in their region, and in many ways better than others (Sudan, North Korea anyone?). At least before the country had some semblance of stability. Now it is being torn apart by violent factions that our army doesn't seem to have any control over. Regardless of what we do, whether we leave in a year or remain for 50, the power structure of the Middle East is changed, and I don't think it will be in our favor. The only thing this war has increased are graves.

Bush should not be "express[ing] sorrow" over the US deaths, but for the over 82,000 Iraqis that have been slain and murdered as a result of the chaos we have created in their country, for the 74 killed yesterday, for the however many die tomorrow. As a reference point, the Iraqi count is more than 20 times the US loss in the last 5 years. More than 20 times. It's time our leaders get some perspective....