Easter on an Island

I will be heading out early tomorrow morning (the 21st of March) to Phillip Island for my four-day spring break solo excursion. What will happen? Will I get to hold a koala? Will I get to take a photo of an epileptic dwarf penguin? Will the V-Line ticket that I bought actually get me to where I need to go? All these questions will (hopefully) be answered soon enough, with pictures to prove the credibility of my adventure. And maybe, just maybe, a smuggled fairy penguin as well, stashed deep within the vacated laptop compartment of my backpack.

Metric system-- No Worries

After a week, I feel good to say that I've gotten used to Australian lifestyle-- at least enough to get by. Of course, because Australians speak English, this transition was pretty smooth. But it's not without its exceptions. For instance, Australians have many different sayings for various things. I was thinking about compiling a list, but I bet there's already one online somewhere. Even so, here's some I discovered on my own: (English meaning is first, followed by the Australian)

1.) Pitcher of beer = jug of beer
2.) Raisins = Sultanas
3.) Peppers = (i forget this one but it's weird)
4.) Sweatshirt = Jumper
5.) To Puke = To Chunder (my personal favorite)

So, apparently Durgel's name is spelled Dougal, (like Doug) but his Australian accent makes it sound like the former. I've just been calling him "Durg" for short, and I guess I still should... it's probably too late to change now anyway. Phonetically, I must sound really weird to him-- speaking in an American way and only saying his name in an Australian accent.

Yesterday I went to the zoo. Here are some pics (some are blurry... oh well):

There Will Be Busking

So, I applied for a license to busk in downtown Melbourne. Maybe I can make some money on the side, who knows. It's raining today, so I'm thinking about writing some new songs to busk. That's such a fun word: busking. I will be a busker busking buskingly. Busk.

First Post

Well, I don't leave for another month, but I thought that I should at least start a journal before I leave. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't-- but I want to try to keep a record of my semester abroad.