Saturday, February 14, 2009

Stuff Going On Here

Happy Valentine's Day should be a question and not a greeting I reckon. I'll opt to present neither anywho and simply stop with that notion.

Well, life at Murdoch since last update is still quite neat. It's insane to me to think that I'm only half a month in. Still 4 months to go, which is longer than the 3.5 months of semester I am used to. Experiences will mount I am sure. However, thus far, I've already had plenty.

There's been a heat wave in Perth with temperatures reaching upwards of 40 degrees Celsius, roughly in the 110s F. It has made for plenty of time at the beach, aided by the fact that for some reason the pool is not yet open and won't be for a couple weeks. I've heard three reasons for this: some were caught smoking marijuana poolside, some were caught skinny dipping in the pool, and that the pool needs some piece that it doesn't yet have. I imagine the third is most likely but certainly not as entertaining.

I don't start classes until Tuesday, which will mark over 2 months since I've been in a classroom. While the break has been welcome, I'm excited to get back. Call me a nerd but the classroom is one of the places I feel most comfortable, plus I have terrific classes and they're only on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, none earlier than 11:30. I am taking Screen and Sound Production, Acting and Producing, and Australian Government and am quite excited.

I also have a number of writing projects going on right now that I'm quite excited about, including this blog. In addition I have two fiction stories with substance and legs, will be submitting something to the Boston Globe within a month or two, and have signed up to write for the student run magazine on campus, which should fulfill my father's desire that I have something published on this continent.

I continue to meet some excellent people. I've now met several Australians and multiple people from other countries as well as some neat Americans (it's interesting to note that just about every American I've met is very self-conscious about their Americanness; I actually find myself feeling the same way). I've made one friend who claims he can get me backstage to some concerts and will bring me to his friend's album release party which would be quite amazing. Even if it doesn't happen, the idea is exciting and that's half the battle or something to that effect anyway. I've also met two awesome Europeans who upon meeting seemed very suave and cool and all that jazz but after getting to know them I can vouch for their supreme goofiness and borderline dorkiness. Amazing what an accent can do for your image. They're very fun to hang out with, though. Not though. As a result.

Today was cool. I went on a bike tour in the Swan Valley, which is a bit outside of Perth and very, very rural. It is home to several vineyards and farms. The route being very scenic, I often found myself drifting off the road or into other people as I stared out at alpacas and sheep and vast vineyards and the mountains that once connected Australia to India and the red dirt and the awesome looking houses and the great number of images that just scream Australia. We stopped on the route at an awesome art house and cafe that, if it were closer, I would spend many hours at. I got an iced coffee. In Australia, coffee is very thick and iced coffee comes with vanilla ice cream. Apparently when Australians visit America they are shocked when they just receive cold coffee with ice. Funny I suppose.

Then we continued on to an olive oil factory where I learned how olive oil is made. Now I forget how. But the guy who ran it was pretty awesome and he had a cool dog. Also, his olives tasted delicious.

We biked back to our starting point and enjoyed a seven course meal with wine that resulted in supreme sleepiness and the nap I just awoke from. Next we went wine tasting and then to a chocolate factory. It was all a good time but, as indicated above, it put me right to sleep.

Quite a country they have down here. One thing that has me very interested in the early going from a political standpoint is the extent to which their Western base philosophy still allows for communal society. It nods to the notion of 'good capitalist' that is unfortunately not often seen in America and usually, as a result, dismissed as a myth. Australians, though, and with the exception of exactly one person I have met, hate discussing politics and moan and groan when they're brought up, so I will have to temper my enthusiasm.

Another thing I find interesting, but a bit shocking and perhaps even disappointing, is the amount of obvious racial tensions. The white people here say some things in generalization about the indigenous peoples that just would not fly in America. Like I said, it's a bit shocking and disappointing, but very interesting to observe, as I've grown up in an era where everybody is extremely careful with their words racially. To defend those of European descent here though, and with a tongue careful not to generalize, the heavy majority of Aboriginals, though not all, I have thus far encountered have been loud and foul, including one who threw her cigarette butt directly at my friend's bare shoulder. I hope to find that this is the minority, and again, I am very careful not to generalize (perhaps due to the aforementioned era?), but based on what I've heard, this is the majority. Sad to see, but I'll be interested in seeing what I can learn and gain from it.

Tonight, I will spend my Valentine's Day with some friends in Freo enjoying a beer or two and watching live music from a band that was extremely fun to watch last weekend. They're a cover band but they make every song they play very much their own with something of a blues base. The lead singer has an amazing voice and I think perhaps I'd make her my wife. Perhaps. P'haps, ho ho ho. Possibly not. Very talented singer is the main idea here, though, and all that need be taken away.

Yes, so I'd best get ready for that now. Just thought I'd get all ideas on non-paper before I forgot them.

Happy Valentine's Day?

5 comments:

  1. That biking sounds amazing. No politics discussions with the natives?! That is a terrible shame. Make her your wife.

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  2. RUNNING INTO PEOPLE ON BIKES, EH? SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

    -DAN ROSE

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  3. ho ho ho, that it does indeed.

    and jeremy is a good thinker all around.

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  4. Adam, we are sitting with your parents and talking about your adventures.
    Your blob looks good, your comments and observations are interresting, will read more later.
    Ted Titcomb

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  5. Wow, your classes sounds great! I'm jealous of that schedule haha. And that's awesome that you're hoping to get published there! Good luck on the writing endeavors (I need to start some!)

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