Nov 2006

Had my Aussie party last night. In the couple of days leading up I was wondering what had possessed me to suggest this party. Apart from it being the most expensive party I have ever thrown, I was afraid it was going to be a failure... and I was stressed out from going shopping and searching for beef sausages (which I couldn't find) and beetroot that wasn't pickled!

But I was worrying for nothing as it actually turned out to be a great success. And my pavlova even worked! It was a hit in fact!

Craig, a fellow Adelaidian, who worked as a chef for 8 years, came in handy with his ingenuity and makeshift bbq cooking skills for the (pork) sausages and meat patties, on a baking tray on the stove top with two forks as tongs. He was great - did all the cooking for me! Thankyou Craig!!

I think about 20 people came in total, which was a challenge to fit into a five person kitchen, but we did it! (This photo shows most of the people, but it was taken later in the night when a couple of people had had to go already)

Rougly L to R: Craig (red shirt), me, Gen (green shirt) (the three adelaide people), Rodrigo (spain), and Olive (england) hiding behind him, Sophie (england) behind them, forgotten the name of the blonde haired guy (I just met him that night), Maisie, (the red haired girl in front of him) the American me, Mat (england) next to her, Felicity (england) behind them, Blandine (france - black top), Lydia (france - red top), Bjorn behind her, Mat (france - blue shirt), Tom poking his head up behind them (Chinese but has lived in England for many years), Laurence (france - pink top), and in the front another guy I just met and have forgotten his name too, sorry!

I put up the list of Aussie Facts I posted on here earlier on the wall, as well as a few pages of aussie terms and phrases translated
Eg:
Beat around the bush: to not get to the point
Buckley's chance: no chance at all
Happy Little Vegemite: a happy and contented person (from the old advertising slogan)
Mate's rates: cheaper than usual for a "friend"
She’ll be Right: it'll be all right
Shonky: dubious, underhanded
Stubby holder : polystyrene insulated holder for a stubby
Zebra crossing : broad striped white paint lines across a road as a pedestrian crossing

re: the zebra crossing - we (Gen and I) almost had a couple of people convinced that there were zebras in Australia. This started from the zebra crossing thing and also telling them that there are in fact camels in Australia. They didn't believe that at first either, but then came to see it was plausible, but that didn't quite stretch to zebras.

I also put up a blank map of Australia that just had the state borders drawn in and dots where the capital cities are, then made labels of the states and cities, sticking them on with blue tack. So I gave them a little australian geography test. Hmm, some people went alright, but many couldn't get past the ones you can work out by logic (ie Western Australia is probably that big part that is the entire west of australia). But with a collaborative effort they got there in the end. (But to be fair, if they gave me a geography test of England or France I probably wouldn't be much better!)

The pavlova was a favourite and now everyone wants the recipe. Too bad I made it from a packet and don't know the recipe. (I wasn't game to make it from scratch on my first ever attempt at making pavlova.) So if anyone has a good pavlova recipe, please send it to me so I can pass it on.

My "Welcome to Australia" sign on the flat door - I asked them to show there passports :p

Gen, me and Craig - the Adelaidians

Two panoramic views of Edinburgh. I'm afraid the photos don't do these veiws justice as it was a lot more beautiful than it looks in these pictures. And of course the pictures are small to fit on the screen, so if you want to see them bigger look in my picassa gallery or I can send them to you.

Veiw from Edinburgh castle, looking out to the sea:

View from the top of the hill:

I'm back from Edinburgh, so I'm going to attempt to write a blog now while its all fresh in my memory. This could be interesting because I'm a absolutely exhausted and my brain is functioning at about 2% I think, but I'll give it a go...

Firstly, I received my Contiki pack the other day, hehe

Anyway, back to Edinburgh. First thing I noticed - it was absolutely FREEZING. Everything was quite grey for much of the weekend, grey skies, grey buildings. But in its own way, it was really beautiful like that. And I loved how there were so many contrasts. There is a lot of tradition, old buildings, people in kilts, old pubs, contrasted with some modern buildings like Scottish Parliament building and all the modern shops. We were in a large city, but then right by the sea, and by green hills and rocky cliffs, and castle in the centre of the city.

It took about 5 hours to get there, with only a short stop in Newcastle on the way. When we finally arrived we were all thoroughly ready to get off the bus and find some food. But first we had to check in to our hostel. Sounds simple, but add a dose of disorganisation and about 100 tired hungry people and you don't get a quick check-in. I think it took 2 or 3 hours for everyone to get their rooms. Fortunately we were one of the first groups, but it was still 9.30 by the time we got to eat.

When all the meals came, I noticed Lydia had ordered the fried Gnocchi. I didn't tell her while she was eating, coz I didn't want to put her off, but I had noticed on the menu it had a Haggis sauce... :s She didn't mind when she found out though, since she had liked the meal, and actually ordered Haggis, Neeps and Tatties for dinner the next night.

Other people tried some Scottish sort of meals over the weekend, but as neither internal organs nor fish nor game meats are really my thing I'm afraid I didn't. I did try a Scottish dessert, which contained whisky, so thats good enough for me!

The first night, after we finally ate, we went for a bit of a walk around Edinburgh city centre just generally acting like fools, taking photos and looking at the sights. It is really beautiful at night. We found a tiny Scottish pub where there were two guys playing music on a guitar and a violin, and went in there to get out of the cold for a little while. (Did I mention that Edinburgh is absolutely FREEZING!) Then we went back to our 12 person dorm to get some sleep, so we could get up early the next day.

None of us slept particularly well, but we did get up fairly early and made the most of our free breakfast by eating lots of toast.

Then, although intially horrified by the 10 pound entry price (thats over $20), we went to Edinburgh castle, which is at the top of a hill in the middle of the city and is connected to Holyrood Palace (the Queen's official Scottish residence) by the Royal Mile, a series of streets between the two. (And the main tourist centre probably too). The castle was interesting, and gave great views over Edinburgh so we weren't too unhappy about having to part with so much money.

A view of Edinburgh castle in the rain:

We spent the rest of the day exploring the streets of Edinburgh - well I say the rest of the day but in reality, by 4pm we were exhausted and it was already dark so we sat in a coffee shop for a few hours, then went back to the hostel to lie down for a while! For dinner we found a pub called the Office that served the cheapest and largest meals we had found all weekend which was good. There was Karaoke here too, but I managed to avoid getting up to sing until the last song, and that was with the whole group anyway.

Then we went back to the hostel, and the others went to bed, but I stayed up and played pool in the hostel's bar with two other Australian's (also from Adelaide), a german guy and an Italian guy, also from Leeds Uni, and a Polish guy who is working in Scotland and we just happened to meet as he was staying in the hostel.

The next day, after only 4 hours sleep, I for some reason decided to climb the big hill you can see in photos below. The path was really steep at first, but then leveled out and it really wasn't as difficult and didn't take as long as we first thought it might. But after that, and a bit more wandering the streets, the cold and the lack of energy was getting to everyone and ended up sitting in a coffee shop again for a while.

So I didn't see a lot of things from the inside since everything was too expensive for us, but I did walk past most of the main attractions and see them from the outside. And the places we did go gave great views. Even being freezing cold, and having damp shoes from the rain on the Saturday was all part of the experience.

Some more photos:

Edinburgh Castle

One of our many breaks indoors to get out of the rain at Edinburgh castle. It was cold and windy and our shoes were wet! (But then a few minutes later it would be blue skies.)

The hill I climbed (once I've stitched it together I'll have panoramic photo of the view from the top to put up here):

The Edinburgh Botanical Gardens (I didn't actually go here as I was climbing the hill, but its a pretty photo taken by the french girls so thought I'd put it up.):

Apparently I resemble a psycho penguin:

At a Scottish pub:

L to R: Blandine, Mai, Me, Mat, Laurence, Lydia, and Rodrigo is behind.

And what trip to Scotland is complete without a kilted bagpiper?

Many more photos, but no space here so go to my Picasa/Google web album to see them. (There will probably be more coming too, once I get all the photos off others.)

And re: the subtitle "So many languages, so little time" - after I meeting so many different nationalities on this trip and realising I know none of their languages, I feel like I should be learning them. I think its a pity that in English speaking countries there is not much importance placed on learning languages, not like there is in other countries on learning English. And I guess thats understandable since there isn't the same need, but I still wish it wasn't like that.

I guess there is still plenty of time for me to learn, but I have to make the effort. And which language to I learn? The majority of my new friends are French, so it might make sense to learn French. But I have the best basis for learning German, since I did it in high school and would have the most opportunities to practice it home, since I know other people learning it. But I also like Italian and Spanish. Perhaps I can start with German, since that will be the easiest for me. Then I can move on to French, and then from there pick up some Italian and Spanish, as there are similarities between French and Italian and Spanish that might make it easier to learn one after learning another.

Hmmm, somebody hold me to this so I actually learn at least one language in my lifetime!!

Hope everyone is going well in Australia, and enjoying the warm weather and long daylight hours. (By 5pm here I feel like I should be going to be soon already!)

xx

http://www.oldaussierecipes.com/aussieslangandhumour.htm

I think last time I forgot to mention Guy Fawkes Day which was on the 5th of Nov. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it might be. Mainly because the fireworks were on Friday night (the 3rd) for some reason and I was in a film when they happened. Oh well. Its not like I haven't seen fireworks before.

3 more films to report on:

- 'Colour Me Kubrick', based on the true story of a man who went around pretending he was the director Stanley Kubrick, and managed to avoid prosecution for everything he did. This starred John Malkovich. It was slightly weird, but because this guy was more than slightly weird himself, and funny. I'm pretty sure its coming out generally soon, so I'd recommend going to see it.

- 'Like Minds' - this was filmed in Leeds and Australia (apparently though I don't know which shots were in Australia since it all looked very English) and starred Toni Collette. It was the UK premier so two of the main actors were there, but no Toni Collette unfortunately. That would have been cool! It was an OK film, entertaining, but nothing that really grabs you about it. I'd still say see it, but wait for it to be on DVD, rather than pay for it at the cinema.

- A third film, which I wasn't planning to see but ended up going to - 'The Penalty King' based in Leeds and about a footbal club and a guy who loves football but went blind through a sporting accident. It was the World Premier which was cool, but not a great film. A few laughs but the cast and crew were in the audience and they were doing most of the laughing and cheering for themselves! (May have meant more if I knew more about English football/soccer teams)

And the final film I'm going to for the festival is 'Requiem' tonight. Soon actually, so better go in a minute.

First some more news - turns out the trip I've booked myself into with Contiki is 16 days not 12. Not quite sure how that happened but I'm glad it did now because that means more time in each place and it takes me through Christmas and New Years, so I have very little time to be lonely :p

So the revised Itinerary will be:

Tue 19th Dec - London - Amsterdam
20th - Amsterdam
21st - Amsterdam - Rhine Valley
22nd - Rhine Valley - Lucerne (staying in the highest hotel in the Alps and you take a cable car to get there. (Weather permitting though.)
23rd - Lucerne
24th - Lucerne - Innsbruck
25th - Innsbruck - Venice
26th - Venice - Rome
27th - Rome (originally I was going to be here Christmas day, so hopefully now things will be open, but still a bit doubtful.)
28th - Rome - Florence
29th - Florence - Nice, French Riviera
30th - Nice/French Riviera
31st - Nice - Lyon
1st - Lyon - Paris
2nd - Paris
3rd - Paris - London

Still soooooo excited!!

And going to Edinburgh tomorrow! (Which is today in Australia)

Lastly, answers to emails and comments: (its easier to write it here than email because I have use the Uni email online to send and it keeps timing out and other annoying things like that.)

I'll definitely try to get to see the Camera Obscura while I'm in Edinburgh. There seems to be so much to see, I wish I was there for longer than two nights, but I'll try and cram as much as I can into the day and a half I have.

I'm afraid I have no idea where I found that list of Aussie facts now! I came across searching for Australian food and recipes I think, but can't remember. If I find it again I'll let you know.

And answers to Mum's emails:

yes the video worked when I clicked it. How cute :p And also, I did order a Kath and Kim DVD to show people here, but it was out of stock so I didn't get it. Which is probably just as well actually, because UK dvd's have a different channel or something and don't work on my computer anyway.

Anyway, thats all for now. More when I get back from Scotland!!

Oh PS: the weather is getting colder and colder :s Last week, we had 3 of the clearest days, not a cloud in the sky, but they were some of the most absolutely freezing days also! I've really had to start layering up my clothing now. And its only going to get worse...

Hi everyone

I decided to do an update now, before I go to Edinburgh this weekend, or I would have to spend hours going through everything when I got back.

Not that I have been a doing a whole lot of anything but studying in the last few weeks anyway! But heres what I have been doing... (and I'll warn you I'm finding anything I can to avoid writing my essay, so you know this will be a long blog! You might want to read it in parts :p)

It has been the Leeds International Film festival here this week (Nov 2-12). Bjorn has been going to an average of four films a day (!) thanks to his film pass, and I have been going along to a few with him. It has been my first introduction to a film festival and it has been fun. Though I have discovered I don't very much like rating films. (They give out little slips as you go in and you have to make a tear along one of the lines depending on what you want to rate it, from 1-5 stars.) Plus, I also have to explain my rating to Bjorn as well, who as a budding film maker has well developed opinions on not just the overall feeling of the film as most of us probably think about after seeing it, but on everything, the style, the cinematography, the editing... So film discussions with him are often him talking and me listening. I'm a listner anyway so I don't mind, and I do manage to hold my own.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, the films I have seen so far are:

- 'Ahlaam', by a film maker who studied in Leeds, originally from Baghdad. He went back during the war to make this film about the experiences of patients in a mental institution. Bjorn had film makers criticisms but I appreciated it for the human side it showed of the people in Baghdad as it showed that the people who were (and are) affected by the war are real people, human beings.

- 'The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell'. A bit of a silly, but fun story about America somewhere around the year 2096 when it has pretty much been destroyed and there are only a scattered amount of people left, and the conflict between bands of people who want to be in control. A bit too much blood and stuff for me, but I'm sensitive :s But I still liked it and it was funny, and even agree with Bjorn that it was a great film stylisitcally.

- '37 Uses for Dead Sheep' is a film about the Kirghiz people who have been forced to move from the homes and travel over miles and miles over the last 30 years to finally settle away from their old home and make a new home in Turkey. This was an interesting documentary and also well made. My favourite part was when one of the old men was talking about having to pull out all his teeth with string as the only way to deal with dental problems - all except one. And then he grinned with his one tooth. It was so funny. And then he was embarrassed about showing it, and tried to hide it from camera.

- 'Bejing Bubbles' was a documentary about the punk music scene in Beijing, China. I agree with Bjorn that it wasn't a particularly well made documentary, but he said it was good to see to learn a bit about China, which is why I went to it. In China punk isn't accepted or the norm like it has become here. There these musicians really are doing something different, rejecting the expected school, marry, work pattern.

- 'Esma's Secret', one of my favourites so far. About a mother and daughter living in a community in Sarajevo still recovering from the Yugoslav wars in the 1990's. I think this would have had an even more significant impact if you were from there, but it was still a really good film knowing nothing about it previously. Even if I can't relate to the war aspect, I appreciated the affect it has had on them, and I could still relate to the mother, daughter relationship, the aspects of being a woman, and the identity and family issues. So good. If you find this film anywhere, definitely see it.

- 'Princesses' is my other favourite so far. It is a Spanish film about prostitutes. So, you may be thinking, ok, whats that going to be like. I was expecting something a bit dark and depressing, but surprisingly it wasn't. It was often light hearted, without treating the subject casually or flippantly. It was serious and moving, with some hope. And it didn't pass judgement on the characters (but by no means condoned it either.)
Following this film I had a discussion with Bjorn about prostitution - interesting topic to discuss with someone from Holland where prostitution is legal (and unfortunately somewhat of a tourist attraction.) But no one will ever be able to convince me that prostitution can or ever should be considered 'just a job'. I don't care what you say. Its not, and shouldn't be treated that way.

Well that was my little rant.

• * It's intermission now... go to the loo, get yourself a cup of tea, or maybe some popcorn and come back in five **

oh your back? Ok, well still to come at the film festival: 'Colour Me Kubrick' (about a man who imitated Stanley Kubrick I think), 'Like Minds', which was filmed in Leeds and stars Toni Collette, and Requiem, based on the true story of a girl in Germany who died while undergoing an exorcism ritual. The recent horror film 'The Exorcism of Emily-Rose' was also based on this, which I didn't want to see. But this one is not so commercial and differently addressed I think (I hope) so I'm curious to see it.

Anyway, sorry if you have been bored wading through all my film talking. (Blame it on Bjorn's influence).

Apart the film festival, I have been looking forward to my trip around Europe in December!! It is all paid for now, so I'm definitely going! I went and bought a warm jacket the other day because judging by the dropping temperature even now in England, nothing I had with me was going to be sufficiently warm. Especially not in Europe in place like the Alps in winter! It was a fairly pricey little shopping trip to get this jacket. (I am reluctant to convert the price into Australian dollars in case I have a heart attack). But I'm thinking of it as an investment piece, as its good quality and I shouldn't have to buy another one for a long time (hopefully ever!). And I'm glad I did now because I just looked up the weather in the places I'm going to, and in some places the average december maximum temperature is just 2 or 3 degrees. And thats the maximum. :s But it will still be so amazing. And I will see snow!! yay

And coming up:

• tomorrow I am going out with my across-the-hall flatmates from flat 2.2 (im 2.3). That will be good to get to know the people around me better as the only social gathering we have had so far has been the fire alarm. The other day I talked to the guy from Brazil (Eduardo) and one of the Italian girls Serena, and her visiting boyfriend in the kitchen over dinner, as we were all in there at the same time. A rare occurrence. And I talked to the British guy a bit the other day when he came to my door (in a tshirt and boxers) t0 borrow my hairspray to do his hair for a halloween party.

• this weekend I'm going to Edinburgh, woohoo! Can't wait.

• and next Friday, I'm having an Australian party. I've ordered some aussie products like tim tams and bbq shapes and minties for people to try. I'm going to cook hamburger patties and sausages in a frypan simulating a bbq, and just have bread and sauce, with potato salad and stuff for dinner. A bit of a sausage sizzle really. Thats Australian. I also found on the website Pavlova magic, to make it easier on myself to make it.

Heres a list of some 'facts' about Australia I found and will put up on the wall for the party. (If you can think of any more let me know and I'll add them)

1. The bigger the hat, the smaller the farm.
2. The shorter the nickname, the more they like you.
3. Whether it's the opening of Parliament, or the launch of a new art gallery , there is no Australian event that cannot be improved by a sausage sizzle.
4. If the guy next to you is swearing like a wharfie he's probably a media billionaire. Or on the other hand, he may be a wharfie.
5. There is no food that cannot be improved by the application of tomato sauce.
6. On the beach, all Australians hide their keys and wallets by placing them inside their sandshoes. No thief has ever worked this out.
7. Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the plastic milk crate.
8. All our best heroes are losers.
9. The alpha male in any group is he who takes the barbecue tongs from the hands of the host and blithely begins turning the snags.
10. It's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to hold.
11. A thong is not a piece of scanty swimwear, as in America, but a fine example of Australian footwear. A group of sheilas wearing black rubber thongs may not be as exciting as you had hoped.
12. It is proper to refer to your best friend as "a total bastard". By contrast, your worst enemy is "a bit of a bastard".
13. Historians believe the widespread use of the word "mate" can be traced to the harsh conditions on the Australian frontier in the 1890s, and the development of a code of mutual aid, or "mateship". Alternatively, Australians may just be really hopeless with names.
14. The wise man chooses a partner who is attractive not only to himself, but to the mosquitoes.
15. If it can't be fixed with pantyhose and fencing wire, it's not worth fixing.
16. The most popular and widely praised family in any street is the one that has the swimming pool.
17. It's considered better to be down on your luck than up yourself.
18. The phrase "we've got a great lifestyle" means everyone in the family drinks too much.
19. If invited to a party, you should take cheap red wine and then spend all night drinking the host's beer. (Don't worry, he'll have catered for it).
20. If there's any sort of free event or party within a hundred kilometres, you'd be a mug not to go.
21. The phrase "a simple picnic" is not known. You should take everything you own. If you don't need to make three trips back to the car, you're not trying.
22. Unless ethnic or a Pom, you are not permitted to sit down in your front yard, or on your front porch. Pottering about, gardening or leaning on the fence is acceptable. Just don't sit. That's what backyards are for.
23. The tarred road always ends just after the house of the local mayor.
24. On picnics, the Esky is always too small, creating a food versus grog battle that can only ever be solved by leaving the food behind.

Thats all folks