Living Life Abroad --- Australian Style

The past few months have flown by heaps fast and a smorgasbord of things have been going on to conclude my first year in Aussie. At uni, I'll be going through my confirmation soon which ensures I get to carry on and keep getting funding. It is basically like a performance review for a job saying are you going to finish your PhD in time and have you been productive. To prove it to the Uni/Department by showing someone besides your supervisors what you've done for the past year. Other than that finally got into the new office which was just all refurnished so it's super nice. I don't have pics yet but maybe for next post.

Out of school I've had heaps going on since the last post when I went to Perth and I think the easiest and most meaningful way to explain it is in a photo stream. Before that I should also mention that I may be coming home via an RTW through Europe in Sept/Oct. Depends on what happens here with confirmation but I'm planning on spending a week in Europe hopefully for Oktoberfest. Then heading back home to the states for three or four. This is a Hint hint for those heading this way if they have the time it's not that much more to go through Europe doing an RTW than it is to go from the midwest or east coast to Aussie.

Since I've been here I've gotten a couple good pics of some of Melb'ns many famous alleyways. There are many other good ones but you'll just have to pay a visit to check them out.

Hoosier Lane:

Croft Lane:

On one weekend when we had some mates crashing at ours we took a day trip up to Phillip Island . It's about 2 and a half away from Melb'n and the main attraction are these mini penguins that come out from the water to there nests at dusk. They don't let you have cameras so no pictures but that doesn't matter because scrapped paying to see the penguins anyway.

Pyramid Rock:

Can I say flash mob pillow fight?? This was a massive flash mob pillow fight outside the Melbourne Museum. I'd say maybe there was 500 people there but maybe only 150-200 participated. People dress up in all sorts and come with pillows in hand. It was fun as and already keen on going next year.

Went to a footy game (AFL) recently and took my camera along. I'll try to explain some of the mechanisms of play through the pictures but it'd really take attending a game to grasp the rules and the play style.

Marks:

Referee's signaling a goal:

It's a very physical game with no pads so concussions are common. Before this year there was no rule saying you couldn't play after a concussion so players wouldn't even remember the game after suffereing one but would continue to stay out there.

Can say barracking or you support for a team. We all have North melbourne kangaroos gear here because I got free good seats through Uni but none of us are actually Kanga supporters.

Shows a cityscape of Melb'n from the port and the backside of Etihad Stadium:

We had a roast at a mates house for a friends going away. Planking was a fad going on here and still going on that I'm sure you've heard about but if not then google it.

A Roast Plank

One of my best mates on the way to the airport to head back to his homeland France. As you can see no one wants to leave Melb'n it's the bomb.com.

First off Crying is eyes out:

Head down in disbelief that it's over.

This was the last I saw of him.

The main square in Melbourne city is Federation Square and there is always something going there. I love the picture below because no one really lifts a finger at these two people walking through Fed Square like this and it was even during the comedy festival so it was heaps crowded.

Free Concerts in Fed Square for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Yes there is literally always some sort of festival going.

Sometimes I question what my roomies do in there free time when I come out of my room to witness this. Don't think I need to say anymore.

They also think this is funny to find a mouse trap on the light to your room when you come home in the wee hours of the morning from work and are tired as. Actually this was an ongoing Mouse Trap Wars we had going because we had a mouse and two mouse traps. The mouse went down quicly but then what else are you going to do with an extra mouse trap except place it in the most unsuspecting locations to have it snap when you least expect it. You basically go through a couple days of paranoia when someone finds it again. Then forget about it until something like this happens. Luckily, I ran my hand down the wall and hit the mouse trap before it snapped on my hand but since I got my roomy first and had it recorded in HD video in a similar matter. I know I have it coming to me it's just a matter of time especially since I'm the only one that hasn't felt the wrath of the mouse trap yet.

A shot down my street at night when it was super foggy which is irregular:

A birthday present from one of my roomies, lol. Heaps and heaps of peanut butter imported from the states. The one and only Peanut Butter Co. No doubt I indulged and ate all of them in t-minus three days. It was gross I know but don't think many of you doubt that occurred.

My attempt at making Sushi one night with a couchsurfer. It was good but didn't look like any form of sushi I've ever seen. You reckon you'd eat it? Yes, this was the final form before any was eaten:

Yes, I still get the time to get out especially since the roomies moving to the UK soon. You never know what the go's going to be in a gay club but this guy reckoned he was straight. I'll let you decide.

Cheers from Melbs

Visit me mates in Perth for 10 days that had stayed in our extra room aka our lounge for 6 weeks in Melbourne. As a side note a Perthanality is a Perth Socialite. We had a joke that we were going to make the Tram Fam (what we named ourselves after the Melbourne trams) into Perthanalitys.

While I was in Perth I also took a trip down to Fremantle which is just 30 minutes from Perth but where the Port for Perth is located. A up and coming popular spot for young people. From there I took a day trip to an island called Rottnest Island. Then the second weekend we headed up to my mates beach house in Lancelin. Lancelin normally has beautiful beaches excellent for surfing and very popular sand dunes that 4x4's trek across. Also it's popular to go sand boarding. In the last two weeks the wind had changed though, the water was full of seaweed literally 4 or 5 feet deep. I'd never seen anything like it and it would just get snagged on your board line.

One thing I find eerie about Perth is the weather. Unlike Melbourne your going to wake up and you know it's going to be sunny and hot. Not only that there is a 90% chance there is not going to be a cloud in the sky which I almost find disturbing. Other than that the West Coast is beautiful but rather dry as they don't get much rain in Perth or anywhere north of there. Here are some pics from the trip:

A riverfront park that runs the length of the city.