LIVEALITTLE

What a beautiful age -- 19! The best birthday to you, Li! May you have many more years of NY Times, Economists, high end fashion, high class days and friends in low places! ** mwah **

Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594125989871/

So another birthday rolls by. For the first time I didn't feel like celebrating. Not sure if it was because I felt a surge of home sickness to celebrate with my buddies there or if I feel further entrenched into an age group I don't want to be in or I was just fearful of being asked 'How old are you now?'. But I was definitely elated that people I had only known for a measely three months were willing to put aside their super busy schedules (with a paper noone was ready to submit yet) to spend an evening with me. THANK YOU NATALIE, V, JUSTIN AND BRIAN! You guys are super-tastic!

I need to become a real student again. Midterms, quizzes and papers are around the corner (starting Thursday). This may be the last blog entry for a while as I isolate myself from society. I need to find replacements for the sustainance I used in my first uni life... Hawaiian Punch, Cheetos, Vivarin, mom. Being a student the second time around is definitely MORE painful since I've tasted life in the blue yonder and know that life could be more stable, more relaxed and less stressful if I stayed in my settled job. But the continued encouragement has kept me excited of my prospects.
I'd been prepared to die after my Africa and Euro-jaunt in 1999 feeling I had done enough in my life to move on. But since starting this new nursing life, I've become more cautious with risks realizing I've become more fragile (in my advanced age) and determined to follow-thru in this endeavor. I wonder every day I'm here if it is the right choice and if I'm just delusional to think that this will give me life fulfillment. I'm glad at least it's given me a new appreciation for the wonderful thing that is "life" and to cherish every breath I've been able to take.

Maybe it's because I got my wallet picked early on in my tenure here in Sydney, because every passing day has been sweeter than the previous. I went out to dinner with
my roommate this evening for a catch up session since I'd been in Tasmania the last 10 days. Incredibly, the two guys next to us decided to pay our $40 dinner bill for no particular reason than to be nice. Nervous, we apprehensively offered to buy them a drink in return but our offer was declined. Their act of charity was purely without strings! Although the restaurant kicked us out shortly after conversation initiated, we did find out they were in the city to pitch a very cool idea to the government. It's a new superannuation (pension) scheme whereby the government would give every 18yr old $20,000 to go to uni, start up a company, pay for a mortgage, etc. I thought the idea was a brilliant way to motivate kids and keep the population in the country. Vee and I felt so lucky we went hunting for a lottery booth. Maybe it was a sign but none are open at 11pm apparently. For now, I have put the $50 bill I was to pay for dinner away for safe keeping.
Makes me wish I had a Kindness Project token (http://www.austinist.com/archives/2005/06/20/want_to_help_change_the_world.php) and makes me wonder if there are any in circulation here... It's Earth Day as well. Have _YOU_ done anything kind today?

My first vacation within a vacation with the perfect travelmate. Brian, I can't imagine agonzing through the frigid, wet, unsufferable tundra of Tazzie with anyone else! Thanks for being patient and tolerant with my attempts of driving on the wrong side of the road for the first time, turning on the windshield wipers when I want to signal for a turn, being to lazy to change gear coz my left hand was lethargic, insisting to park so we get to watch sunrise conveniently, not showering (but I didn't SMELL!), "spot" checking, ambitious driving schedules, carrying the packs even though they didn't fit on your back comfortably and snoring. AND, I loved that you introduced us as being from Sydney! I really felt like I belong in my new home...

Our hectic Tazzie breakdown:
12/4 W Arrive in Hobart 10:35a -> drive and cold camp in Lake St. Clare (Brian gets too comfortable with me and knocks me out with a supersonic fart! Also, the zero degrees sleeping bag leaves me shivering the entire night. I'm gonna have to report his poor investment!)
13/4 R Start Overland Track and hike a freezing, wet 5 hrs to Waterfall Hut. It was great to see snow though.
14/4 F HAPPY EASTER! Hike 3 hrs to Lake Will (pbly took us alot longer since we totally missed the obvious sign to the Lake initially). Hike 3 hrs to Scott-Kilvert Hut (Packers we met in the Waterfall hut raved about the stupendous warmth which eminanted from the Scott-Kilvert stove -- needless to say we didn't feel much of it. Clothes had to lie directly on the stove to get dried. And we shiver-slept again.)
15/4 Sa Hike back to the car via Dove Lake and Hansons Peak. My right shin hip hop dance injury pops up and Brian chivalrously mounts my pack as well and I hobble for 2 hours. We swing by Devonport for a gander, then rented a caravan for the night. Being trailer trash was way fun!
16/4 Su @ Mole Creek, we spelunked Honeycomb Cave -> Leatherwood Honey tasting -> drove 2 hours to Low Head to watch the fairy penguins come ashore for the night
17/4 M @ Launceston -> strawberry picked -> cheese tasting -> "apple picking" -> Tamar Valley wine tour -> Cataract Gorge
18/4 T zip to the east coast for Bay of Fires -> Mt Elephant pancakes we'd been anticipating since we got the business card on day #1 -> 3hr hike of Wineglass Beach -> luxurious dining and sleeping in the car facing east into the sea in anticipation of catching the sunrise
19/4 W occluded sunrise -> Russell Falls @ Mount Field -> Ocean Beach -> Henty sanddunes -> another night in the car sprinkled with tales of horror and death to tingle our nerves every time a car would drive by us on the major road.
20/4 R Gordon River Cruise -> Petrol station where attendant remarked we had been sleeping in the car because we were too damn cheap -> Hobart -> drinks with our newfound Wine Tour friends Pauline and Adam -> we accept their invitation to crash on their livingroom floor for the evening
21/4 F Refreshing hot shower at Pauline/Adam's -> Cadbury too-much-chocolate tour -> Antarctica exhibit at the Tasmanian Museum -> Royal Botanical Garden stroll -> Whiskey tasting -> gorged ourselves with a Domino pizza pie EACH (luckily they are only 8") -> quick nap to digest the pizza -> Penitentuary Ghost Tour where Brian spooked me by blowing into my ear.
22/4 Sa HOME!


Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594115804580/

I pulled a muscle in my shin last Monday whilst in hip hop dance class (yeah, I said "hip hop dance class") and have been limping since. It's been a bother to deal with the pain, a greater bother to smell like my grandfather (housemates gave me vaporub), yet not quite as big a bother to finally walk slowly in my new found home. I'd been concerned that I may not heal in time for my trip to Tasmania tomorrow- which I probably won't be- but Brian has offered to carry me and I am sure he can do it! In any case, for once I wasn't rushing around to do this or that but took time to wait for the traffic lights to change, looked at the stores around the neighborhood and admired the pretty people. I seriously think the people here are prettier. Most people are quite slim and fit. It gives me encouragement to get fit again. The sizes here don't help with self-esteem either. In the states, I'm a size 4, but here I'm a size 10. Damn! ...Tassie here I come!

It's true when they say: A friend in need is a friend in deed. Surely Brian is a friend in deed indeed! He practically carried me a mile home after a drunken night at the Imperial Hotel. No cabs would take us because I was in such a horrible state. I was in a worse state this morning... afternoon actually, when I woke up. Nothing tasted good and my head was pounding.
Thanks Brian for being patient, sitting with me for 2 hours on the curb waiting for me to sober up, dealing with my spew (ew!), getting me safely home, getting me into bed, taking off my shoes... I'm sure there is more since I blacked out so often.
I've only been in Sydney for 3 months yet I feel totally at home. I've been too lucky to meet the perfect people. Maybe it's Sydney...

Finally we had a reason to throw a house party. It was my roommate's bday on March 31st. Some people couldn't participate because of upcoming tests. Sorry if we caused too much noise! In any case, it was great to spend time talking to our neighbors, the neighbors we pulled off the street and good friends. Cheers!
Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594096599794/