July 30

Not sore today, so thank goodness, but I slept like crap. Kept waking up every few hours.. Got to talk to my boyfriend a bit about his birthday festivities, then showered and ate breakfast. I renewed my stay at the hostel for another 2 weeks because I had only paid until the end of July. I guess it’s OK living here. I’m getting used to it. Don’t really have any other options and haven’t felt the desire to look for other options. If I can stand 2 weeks, I can stand another few. I spent some time on the computer, skyping my mom and helping Jillian with some research.. It was a pretty boring day. Then I went to the grocery store and took a nap. Cooked dinner and came back downstairs to research a bit for my thesis and then relaxed by trying to play chess. I haven’t really tried to play since I learned as a kid (and only played one or two games then). So, I put the computer on beginner and tried to practice a bit. Lost one game, won the 2^nd. I think I’m just too impulsive for Chess. I am so reactive and only think of one or two moves ahead, if that! I’m sure it just takes practice, but man, it is tedious! I’m not sure I enjoy it. Anyway, then it was bedtime, so went to sleep. Boring day.

Roommates: The Aussie girls moved out, but the girl from Denmark stayed. I thought she was only staying one or two nights, but she has more stuff than I do, so maybe she’ll be my roommate for longer than I thought! Oh well. She’s nice enough. 

July 29

Tried to sleep in, while everyone moved out. Then called my boyfriend to wish him a happy birthday and tell him about my night. Then I called the taxi company to report the accident. The guy was pretty rude and basically said that the drivers are not employed by him, they are independent and just affiliated with the brand. He recommended I fill out a police report because it’s between me and the driver, not me and the taxi company. Fine, whatever. So, I got ready to go to campus and stopped by the Police station on the way. I asked to fill out a police report and he asked me to explain what happened. Then he told me that if I want to file a report, I’m making an accusation and the driver has the right to contest it, so basically it has to be proven that he was at fault, get witness testimonies, and a judge will decide, in court. 3-6 months. Kind of ridiculous. I said I didn’t want to go through all that trouble, I have no bodily injuries, just wanted to document it. He said that was the only way, so I guess I will just drop it because obviously it’s not worth it and say no harm, no foul and mistakes happen. Oh well.

Went to campus and got the rest of my prescription at the pharmacy. The pharmacist seemed really sad to see me go and asked me all kinds of questions. It was really nice, but I had no clue she even knew who I was before then! Weird. Anyway, then I went to the library and turned in my photo essay for the Italy class, which I feel OK about. It’s not due until Monday, but I’m not going to make any more changes, so I’d rather just get it over with and not have to worry about it anymore. Then I sent Clare some of the photos I didn’t use because she lost her camera. Seems like a lot of shit happens to her that prevents her from doing assignments. Whatever, I’ll bail her out this time, because losing a camera is pretty shitty and could happen to me. Then, I researched a bunch for my independent tourism report topics and tried to narrow them down, but got stuck... Ugh. I really can’t decide! Oh well. Then I headed home and made some dinner and read some more about the topics.

I’m a little sore today, not sure if it’s whiplash or just being out late and sleeping in a crappy bed... Whatever, I’m sure it’ll go away tomorrow.

New Roommates: One girl from Denmark who just took her ex-boyfriend of 5 years to the airport. She says she misses him. And two Aussies in town to visit friends. They “dolled” themselves up, which means they ended up looking like trash and went out. I don’t understand girl’s style these days. It just looks really cheap and trashy to me. Every day, new people make the following observations about the room: 1. They make fun of the plastic pillows and 2. They are baffled about how to get up to the top bunk (there are no ladders, basically, they are just two beds stacked on top of each other). They debate about the best tactic and sometimes I offer advice. Sometimes they climb up the foot of the bed and OVER the high footboard, sometimes they stand on my bed or the edge of my bed, sometimes they do a combination... This time I didn’t and the Aussie girl tried to literally hurdle herself up by jumping. She failed and hit her foot against the side pretty hard and then TRIED AGAIN! What!? I told her to just stand on my bed next time so she doesn’t hurt herself. Very weird.  

July 28

I thought the Lesbian couple was going to stay because I heard them mention something about being here Friday, but they moved out. I quickly got up and left for school, and ended up being 30 minutes early. So I withdrew the very last of my money and bought a chai latte and waffle for breakfast. Then walked to class with Manuel. After about 15 minutes into our class, our professor still hadn’t showed up. Weird. Everyone else seemed content to wait for him, chatting, but I figured out that he must be in the wrong room.. So, I used the room phone to call for help. They confirmed that we were in the right room, then transferred me to the BEL faculty, where the Advisor said she had seen him leave 30 minutes ago! I told her to call him, so she called me back and told me he was on his way. Weird. Anyway, class started and I forgot how much I like this professor. He’s kind of no-bullshit, but also laid back and talks to us like real people, and explains things fairly well. He just talked to us about what we were scared about, regarding the upcoming report and then through that gave us some structure and beginning points. He also treats us like masters students. He doesn’t baby us and he skips over major parts and says  “I expect you to figure this out because you’re in a masters program.” Anyway, it was good, but I need to have my topic by next week, so I’m a little scared. It’s moving fast. Good thing I can concentrate on this class!!

After class, I went to the library for a bit and got a few books on the topics I am interested in, then I headed home and read for an hour or so about each of the topics. Showered, tried to skype with both my mom and Steven, but that failed because the internet was too slow or something. Then made some dinner and took a 20 minute nap. Then I got ready to meet Lina for Salsa dancing at Cloudland. I headed out around 7:30 and as I was crossing the street to meet her at the barracks, I got hit by a car!!! I waited for the green walk sign, was halfway across the intersection and then I heard people on the sidewalk say “LOOK OUT!” I turned and saw a taxi cab coming straight for me. He was breaking, I screamed, and took a couple steps away, but I knew it wasn’t enough and I thought, Oh shit. This is going to be really bad. Hospital, death, paralysed?! I put my hand out and braced myself because I knew he was going to hit me. I’m not quite sure what happened when he did hit me, I think maybe I put my hand out and bounced off with my hand, because I don’t feel the impact of it anywhere on my body. He did hit me though, because I went flying, half way out of my shoes and for a second I thought I could land it. I thought I could just stumble forward and not fall, but I stepped on the heel of my shoe wrong and suddenly I was falling. I got up pretty quickly because I didn’t want to be in the middle of the street and because I was flashing onlookers with my short dress. They all asked if I was OK and I screamed at the taxi driver to pull over. He pulled over immediately and then a bus behind him pulled up and blocked the intersection, honking. But I wasn’t going to let the taxi go any further and I demanded his information. He pulled it out quickly and I started to copy down the information into my phone. Other people got the cab number and license plate. By this time the other side of traffic had a green light and were honking. The taxi driver asked for my information, but I told him I was going to the Barracks and he could go around the block and get it from me there. Then a man gave me his name and number (a witness) and so did one of the other young people. The young people walked me to the barracks and waited a bit with me... I was still shaking and the adrenaline was rushing. I let them go to where they needed to get to and Lina came a few minutes later. No taxi, so I left with Lina and told her what happened. I can’t believe it, but I have no scratches, no bruises, nothing! I feel pretty lucky to have escaped this experience with ZERO injuries.

Anyway, then off to the Valley, where we met up with some of her friends (who are from Phoenix) and Christian came. Dancing, drinking (me mostly watching the dancing) and catching up with Lina and Christian. At one point this guy came and sat down, but when I came back from the bathroom, he got up. Then when I was sitting alone and everyone else was dancing he came and sat down again. Most people ask “hey, can I sit here, or can I sit here until your friends get back”, but he didn’t. Then when everyone came back, he still didn’t move. I went to go to the bathroom, when I came back, I said, excuse me, that’s my seat. He ignored me and pretended not to hear me. Then Christian was trying to level with him and I was still talking to him and he said to me basically, something like fuck off, I’m talking to him. Lina shouted “Don’t talk to my friend like that!” And then I let him have it. I yelled at him some more and he continued to ignore and say that he didn’t have to move. I went outside and got security, who at first made fun of me for my Californian accent and then helped. He ignored them at first and then finally they were able to kick him out. Pretty funny. But I think Lina and I scared the others with our sudden bitchiness. Oh well. Don’t mess with us!! The rest of the night was good, then Lina drove me home and I stumbled into a full room of sleeping people...

Roommates: Lesbian couple out, 2 German girls and 1 Aussie in for one night. 

July 27

The Irish girls moved out and left their straightener! SCORE. I ended up sleeping until about 12:30! Ugh. Then I woke up and thought – shit! I am supposed to help out TSA with their booth! So, I got up, got dressed and headed over there, making apologies on the way for only coming for the last couple hours. But, it was OK. At least I showed up (I thought about flaking since an hour and a half isn’t really worth it). Some of the others totally flaked – bad! Ugh. Anyway, I didn’t have to do much, just stand around. And then walk with them to put away stuff. At the end of the day, I took the new member sheets and said I would input them into the computer. I didn’t attend last year, so Katya did this (and did a crappy job, I might add), so I figured what goes around comes around, and it was my turn. I picked up a couple assignments from last semester. Then went to the Pharmacy to get a sleep aid. I can’t keep doing this and tomorrow I have class in the morning, so I need a good night’s sleep. Surprisingly, they asked me a bunch of questions, I guess they didn’t want me lying or something.

Got back to the hostel, made a quick lunch/dinner and entered all of the new members into a database. Then I watched a movie – Nanny McPhee. I’m surprised how many guys watch these really dumb movies. They must be as bored as I am! Haha Got a snack and then headed downstairs to write for a while before bed.

New Roommates: They moved in after I was asleep, a lesbian couple. They were pretty loud and woke me up. There was also a bunch of noise in the hallway until late that kept me up. But one of the new girls started eating chips and it was probably the most annoying thing ever, jamming her hand into the crinkly bag, pulling out one chip and then chomping on it loudly with her mouth open. Chew with your mouth closed, woman. And put a bunch of chips into your hand, don't go reaching into the noisy bag EVERYTIME. Have a LITTLE respect!!! Then, pretty awake and annoyed, they had the nerve to start fooling around. That's the last thing I want to hear - kissy noises and girly giggles! UGH. But luckily, after a while, they stopped and I finally fell back asleep. 

July 26

Got up, ate some breakfast and then decided to head to school a few hours early and do a couple things before my class. As I was walking there, Jillian texts me and invites me to Guzman y Gomez with Lina. Too bad I just ate. But I went anyway, because I wanted to catch up with them and wasn’t doing anything better. So, I met them at the McDonalds in Milton and Lina picked me up and we went over to eat. I didn’t order anything but it was nice to talk to them and hear about their lives. It seems so weird that we were once super close and knew everything there was to know. Now, it feels so distant. Very sad. Anyway, then Lina was nice enough to drop me off at campus, and I still had a couple hours to kill before class, so I downloaded some articles.. My class started at 4pm, and it was weird being in a different major. Many people knew each other, I had to explain to every new person I met that I was just taking the class as an elective. I sat between a girl from Iran and a girl from Pakistan. Pretty crazy. The class seems good and I like the teacher. I asked a few questions. I will definitely attend the lectures in addition to reading the material because it is a good review of what is important. The Education classes seem easy, but I shouldn’t judge, I’m not exactly taking the most difficult curriculum either. On the way home, I met a guy from Afghanistan. He has a background in Public Health and is studying Public Policy here at UQ. He hopes to take the information back to his country and make it a better place. Sounds really inspirational! I felt a little guilty saying, hi, I’m from the US. My people bombed your people. Sorry about that! =( Oh well, then I made some dinner and watched the 9 o’clock movie – Prince of Persia. Then, bed. Or at least I tried. But I couldn’t go to sleep until around 5:30am! Ugh. This is really bad.

Same roommates – the Irish Trio. But it felt like I had the room to myself because they didn’t stumble in until 5am! 

July 25

Sleeping schedule is still off. Check out is at 10am, so I got woken up by roommates moving out from 9am-10am. Then everyday at 11am, this girl comes down the hall: Knock, Knock “Room Check” Knock, Knock “Room Check”.... etc. I think I get about 4 of those before she comes to my door. It’s one of the most annoying things ever, but it’s a good wake-up call. I think I’ve been asleep almost every time she’s done it. Then, around noon or a little after, the cleaning lady begins to clean the bathroom and goes room by room “House Keeping” in the same fashion as Room Check girl, emptying trash and vacuuming. I usually get out of bed by the time this happens and try to exit my room so she can do this without me watching.

Today’s goal was to send a card and possibly gift for Steven’s birthday. So, I took his present down to the post office. Bought a card and some wrapping. Wrote a letter and the card, waited in line at the post office, and got to the front of the line. She asked me what I was shipping. I told her what the present was and she said “Oh we can’t ship that. It’s considered Dangerous Goods.” I was flabbergast. Uhh what?! Well, what am I supposed to do, I asked? It’s a gift! She said she didn’t know, but they definitely couldn’t send it. She suggested I try an outside courier service (like DHL or FedEx). I’ve seen both trucks around Brisbane, but there are NO offices except for at the airport. UGH. I was almost in tears, but she said there was nothing she could do. Then, to make matters worse, I was about 40 cents short on the cost of the stamp for the card and the stupid box that I now didn’t even need! She let it slide, but clearly I was her problem-customer at the end of her shift. I felt bad. I called FedEx and made sure they would ship my item. They said yes, because it was only one of these “dangerous goods”. Stupid Australia. But, there were no offices, I would have to call to schedule a pick up. He gave me the location of a mail boxes etc, but after a wild goose chase, it wasn’t there. I think it’s just a pick-up location, not an actual shop. Ugh! Hungry and irritable, I went back to my hostel and searched online for the cost to ship it with FedEx. Their quote: $100. WHAT?! The thing is small, how can this be!? I’m now kicking myself because what I should’ve done is just bought it online and had it shipped from the US to Steven in time for his birthday, but I got anxious and wanted to buy it in Dubai when I got the idea (plus, it was a little cheaper in Dubai). But now all of this is making me regret it, because he won’t have anything to open on his birthday. He says he doesn’t care, but I do and I’m a tiny bit worried he will buy this for himself in the meantime. Anyway, Now, I’ll have to hand-carry it back to the states, what a pain in the butt.

Then, I went to the grocery store and bought a couple items I was missing, showered and made myself an early dinner. I edited my photo essay (I think it’s nearly complete?). And, I read for my online class, which starts tomorrow. I initially thought the work-load was daunting and that it would take much longer than anticipated to do, but it only took a few hours to read through most of the material.

New Roommates: 3 Irish girls with names I can’t pronounce, staying 2 nights on their way down to Sydney.

July 24

Slept in for a while, then made some lunch and found that something had leaked in my bag, I guess someone moved it and the pesto sauce tipped over making everything oily. Cleaned that up, then made some lunch. Then I worked on my photo essay for a while and cleaned the room and stored my two big bags to make room for new roommates. Then watched the end of Gabriel (really bad) and the evening feature: Love Actually. I remember not being as impressed as everyone else and still kind of wasn’t, I think because there were some really downer love stories, but I guess it was OK. Anyway, slow day, slow night. My hostel life pretty much consists of trying to achieve one or two things per day. Today was to crank out my photo essay before school starts and get those bags out of my room.

Full house of Roommates: Girl I went to Colombian Party with, plus two girls from London.

July 23

My current sleep pattern due to jetlag is quite annoying. I go to sleep anywhere from 10-midnight, then wake up at 3am, can’t sleep until about 6am, then sleep until around noon. Ugh. Anyway, I worked on my photo essay during the day, then went to Rosalie for a late lunch at the Burrito Bar, a new place I was excited had opened up while I was gone. It wasn’t good, which I was relieved at because it means I won’t want to go out of my way to Rosalie for it very often.

I got a new roommate who mentioned she was going to a Colombian Independence Day Party! I don’t know how I always end up doing Colombian stuff, but I texted Christian and asked if he wanted to go with me. It sounded fun – DJ, Dancing, Colombian Food, bar, etc. So, I got ready and went with her to that! It was in the West End and we walked there, which was actually a lot closer than I thought it was going to be (but still pretty far).

I walked in and it kinda looked like a middle school dance. Empty dance floor a few people sitting, cheesy DJ lighting.... I texted Christian to let him know it might not be the most happening place, then got some food – delicious empanadas! Yummm.. The main event was of course dancing and that’s what my roommate came for, she even brought her dancing shoes. I don’t dance much, obviously and rejected about 10 guys that asked me. Finally, I danced with her friend, but was terrible. Man, I can’t even do a simple 1,2 step. What the hell is wrong with me?!

This 5 year old boy came up and said “You look very pretty tonight.” Then walked away. It made my head spin – what?! Who is that little man?! What a charmer! At least he’s not asking me to dance. Who taught this little guy these moves?! So suave. The rest of the night, he would walk by and stare at me. I even talked to him once and asked his name (Daniel, I think) and he looked down my shirt! WHAT?! He’s a ladies man already! Anyway, there were authentic dance performances and they sung the Colombian National Anthem, which was probably the best part of the night. Then as it was ending, we walked back to the hostel. We got back around 2 or 2:30, so of course I couldn’t go to sleep until around 5am. UGH.

July 22

Today, I went to go get my bags that were being stored at Matt’s house. Took my regular bus over to Bardon and as I had arranged with Matt, his basement was unlocked, so I let myself in and found the bags. I knew I had my giant bag and my backpack, but forgot about my school bag full of books! Ugh. The big bag was heavier than I remembered, but I got them out. I emailed my professor for my online course and asked when/how I would be provided with this CD of course material and then informed me it had already been sent to the address on file (Michael’s house!). Ugh. But luckily, both the professor and Matt got back to me around the same time, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Michael wasn’t home, but his employees were working in his office, so I knocked on the door and they handed me my package, too easy!! I took the bus back home and struggled up the hill (I think I can, I think I can) with my bags of stuff and loaded them into my small hostel room and began to reorganize them in order to prepare a couple for storage. I also worked on my photo essay for my Italy class and watched the evening movie: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

I got a roommate for the evening, some older woman who came to visit friends and while at her friend’s party, met some guy who talked about killing people. She got a little freaked by this weirdo and decided to leave the party and stay at a hostel. Very odd. I found her a little weird as well. I mean, I don’t blame her for her reaction, but just saying that strange things tend to happen to strange people... Weirdness attracts weirdness if you catch my drift. 

July 21

I arrived into Brisbane after midnight. By the time I got my bag and cleared customs, it was about 2am and the trains into the city had stopped running, so I booked the shared van. They waited for our entire flight to get out, so they could make one trip. I arrived at my hostel around 2:30am. They lost my reservation, so I showed them the email on my phone. The 6 person female dorm was booked, so they gave me the 4 person dorm instead. Good deal. Luckily, I was the only person in the room that night, so I didn’t disturb anyone when I got in. Maybe this would be a good sign and I’d be alone in this room a lot?! One can hope..

Anyway, I slept in until about noon. Then I got dressed and headed over to the University, signed some paperwork for the Financial Aid office, ate lunch, did some stuff on the internet, got a replacement ID card and then headed home. On the way home, I bought a beach towel (the hostel doesn’t give towels, you have to buy one for $10, plus I need one for the beach if I plan to go a lot in the next month). I also bought a new Student Bus Pass, then went to the grocery store for some food.

The hostel has a GIANT kitchen - 6 stovetops, 3 double-basin sinks, and a wall of refrigerator space, which was conveniently FULL of everyone’s bags of food. I labelled mine and crammed it into the fridge. I didn’t have any cash for the deposit for a set of dishes from the hostel (it seems they make you pay for a bunch of weird things), so I gave them my key in order to borrow a set for the evening. Then I returned them shortly after dinner. The hostel also has free movies (5 different features per day!), but I wasn’t interested in any of the features for this evening. Internet here is free, but doesn’t work in my room, ugh.

I got two roommates, one from Germany the other from Brazil, but they only stayed one night.