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.