Hello everyone,
Deep apologies for the severe lack of updates recently. For those of you who don't know, my computer's motherboard finally kicked its last bucket, which lead to lots of complications and left me computerless for longer than was desirable. Contrary to the belief that all first world countries are at the same level technologically, America is waaaay ahead of Australia. None of us really anticipated this. Consequently, I have not been able to upload any new photos. Some of the photos in this blog were stolen from the awesome peeps who're enjoying the Perth scene with me. Since I haven't updated forever, I thought I would fill you in on some of my regular activities, with a few gems thrown in.
First of all, since I'm basically never in class, I go to the beach. Its super. Second of all, Perth loves public art. When we arrived it was the beginning of the Perth International Arts Festival, which consisted of art installations all over the place, concerts, international films shown at the outdoor theater on campus, lots of plays, and authors brought in from everywhere to talk on campus. Part of this meant sculptures at Cottesloe beach, and they were literally on the beach in the sand and everywhere.
Further participation in the festival included watching an Italian thriller at the outdoor movie theater, which I wouldn't have gone to had I known it was going to be scary, but turned out to be an excellent film. People bring picnics and wine and dine on the grassy areas around the theaters, saving seats with pillows and blankets. We also saw a play that was part of the festival called Waltzing the Wilarra. It tells the story of the one bar in Perth in the 1940's where Aborigines and whites could mingles, addressing racial tension and domestic violence. The second half portrays a hilarious and ironically politically-correct attempt at 'reconciliation', one of the many policies Australia has instituted over the years. It was an amazing play. I cried...surprise, but I also laughed my pants off. All the music was original and written for the play. Here's some more info on it if you want to check it out:
Here's a picture stealthily snapped by Anna.
Going back to the public art I mentioned before, Subiaco has some great public art. Subi is a suburb neighboring Nedlands (where my college is), pretty yuppified, great book stores, a farmers market, and bars. Here are some of the beauties I spotted around the place (that's Anna and Amanda enjoying a Gaudi-style lizard bench):
The climate here is a little easier on the joints than my beloved Pacific Northwest, so I've been enjoying running by the river everyday. I've also discovered the joys of free yoga from Lululemon stores twice weekly. Life is pretty relaxing, which I'm ok with. One of the best things Willamette has done for me, was to pay for a sailing class that lasted 5 weeks. It was amazing to get out on the water and sail. Plus they're so incredibly chill here its ridiculous. They pretty much put us in a boat, give us a course and send us out onto the river. It got a little stressful when there were races going on, but I thoroughly enjoyed every sail. Thank you Willamette. Last Saturday was my last class, and my boat happened to spring a leak. We had to be towed all the way across the river back to shore. It was pretty exciting having to bail out my own boat! Here are a couple before and after pics courtesy of Anna (that is me lounging in the middle trying to balance out our crazy boat):
Last but not least, I thought I would put up a couple pictures from my 21st birthday for those of you who did not get to see them yet...
Next week we head out on a road trip up to Exmouth to hopefully encounter camels, dolphins, whale sharks and other marine life for our 'Spring Break'. Super stoked for it, but I have to say I miss this just a little...
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