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. ^_^