Tuesday February 21st - Trivia Night

     Trivia Night, The theme was to dress as something that started with a D. I dressed as The Dark, which, as I am Canadian, means I am afraid of myself (HIMYM reference). My team was called Team Double Domino Dark Drag Dinner Douche, or DoDoDaDrDiDo, as we had 3 double agents, a set of dominos, myself, a drag queen, dinner and a douche (the popped collar kind). Canada was the answer at least twice and we won. Largely in part to Frankie (our Drag Queen's) very impressive thighs. We swore if we won we would re name ourselves after them. We did win and my next team names will reflect my respect for Frankie's zen wall squat.

Drag and Draco (Frankie and Smiley Simon)

 Dead, Dominos and Double Agent (Stacey, Alex and Sam- he is wearing another colleges shirt underneath ours)

 Double Double Agents and Drag (Ash, Jordan or Jaden, I can't tell, and Rhian)

 Deakin Hall

 The Dark (Callum and Myself)

 Dino (Josh)

The Cheering Section  

 Aforementioned wall sit (the one it pain is Saber)

 A true man can win a test of strength while in a dress and be proud of it.

There's no place like...

Monday February 20th - The Deakachu

     Today was get as much free crap as you can day. If you had purchased the MSA card (which, due to the MSA's history I have not purchased) most of the clubs were free. To coax you into joining things they offered you booze. Sign up for the physics club- get a jello shooter. Put your name on the mailing list for the history team - here's a beer. Join the skiing society with three others you line up and take a shot off a waterski. Wait, what was the point of this again? I only signed up for clubs that allowed me to try it first without paying for anything. Maybe I'm a stick in the mud and too sturdy in my resentment of asking people to pay for things they don't know about and maybe I should just sign up for things to meet ppl but I'm already broke so I just don't think I can.

     Oh wait, update: You are looking at the newest and proudest member for the Monash Club for Juggling and Firetwirling.

     No, I do not know anything about any of those things but they are going to teach me, and it, and I, is going to be awesome.

     In the evening we had the option of attending Host Scheme night (guess who organized that one?) for $23 or free laser tag and bowling... So off to the latter we go. 4th in laser tag (my lowest score in a tag event ever) bowling was entertaining though less then flattering to my sportsmanship. In addition there was an arcade (similar to Dave and Busters) in which a couple of Deakin kids suggested we pool our resources to receive a giant Pikachu for the low low cost of 10 000 tickets. This suggestion snowballed as we took over the entire arcade finding the games that consistently delivered the most tickets for the cheapest cost. With 5 minutes to go we were at 9000 tickets as 20 of us ran around attempting to achieve our goal. We did it. Behold THE DEAKCHU.

     Its big and silly and childish and wonderful and I don't care how immature I look. You don't stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing. I will not stop playing.


There no place like...

Sunday February 19th - Scav Hunt

     Sunday was a trip downtown to do a scavenger hunt. Many of the other rez's were also doing a similar events and it was then that The fear dawned on me that Deakin may be the snobby college. We look like a soccer or physics team when we all get together. Thought I will admit the shirts are cute I miss my over sized red cut up and drawn on boss tee.
     We were to take pictures of these things. Some highlights:

3. Get a picture with someone famous (this guy was on Hey Hey Its Saturday... whatever that is)

He posed like this just for me, how did he know?

6. Human pyramid on public transport PLUS 14. Find a horse and carriage 

4. Have a pot (half pint) at Young and Jackson's PLUS 7. Buy something while on piggyback PLUS 26. Order something with a box on your head

12. Get drenched (this is the Yarra Ruver, from what I'm told its the most disgusting river known to man, there is a safe limit of fish you can eat from it before all the pollutants and fecal matter build up to toxic levels in your body, I believe its 3 a month, I really think it should be zero)

These two brave souls are Sean (Eyebrows) and Josh. 

 Josh's face in the picture above gives you a good idea of the water quality. 

20. Most people in a phone booth (we got 9)

22. Find the window that is never dry

23. A first year must eat spam PLUS 25. Photo at Melboune Gaol (Old English for jail)

17. Suit up (we went the extra step and birthday suit up, [sort of, not really])

Good fun, very tiring. Slept well Sunday night. (Did not win though. :( )

There's no place like...

Thursday February 16th - Saturday February 18th - Catch Up

Thursday Feb 16th
     Daytime did more international stuff, Later pre-drank for the uni pub called "The Nott" -The Notting Hill Pub, I wish it was called The Knot but whatever. One of the RA's (like a don) provided a tub of goon punch for everyone. Goon is cheap sweet awful boxed wine but it's the most affordable thing to drink down here. When mixed with juice it's not bad but it certainly hits you the wrong way. The Nott a huge loud pub that is very bright. All the lights are on to help the staff make sure people are fondling each other in the corner or passed out on the floor. Pitchers here aren't half as big as the ones in Canada and only cost $12 but it doesn't even out. It's about a 2km walk from rez but everyone goes in a group and on the way back there is a Macker's (as they call it here, it's a McDonalds) for your late night hunger buzz, I prefer it as hangover food. Nothing of note to report.


Friday Feb 17th
     Daytime did The Great Monash Dash. I really wish they had called it The Great Monash Casual Stroll - we did nothing but run for an hour. It was like the paintball episode of Community- they made the prize a fancy trip to see penguins and everyone booked it in order to try to win, my team came in 2nd. We got nothing. We didn't get to see campus at all either because we were too busy running around screaming "Think of the penguins! Do it for Happy Feet!" so the point of the dash was moot. Nighttime was spent at another very lame MSA event for the internationals, way too expensive, food and drink were meh, not all that was promised was delivered (a baked potato is NOT Australian finger food). I was still tired from the night before and called it in early (I'd been phoning it in most of the night anyway) Tried to get the Monash version of Go Safe home but the security guard had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't know what to do but the group I'd been hanging out with all night volunteered to walk me home even though they were ready to leave yet, it wasn't a long walk so they "walked the lady home" and went back to the party. Canadians are supposed to be the polite ones but I've had some very gentlemanly actions from the Sueds, French and East Africans (I think). Also interestingly enough I've discovered a pattern that only internationals want to call me "Kathy". It happened back in Canada as well a couple times with the guys from the corner store next to AWN. Somehow "Kathryn" is just too much. *Shurg*


Saturday Feb 18th
     Laid on the grass outside and did about  this much >< of anything... Had floor meetings and a chit chat about rez life, a Mayalasian style dinner and some games. 
Wow.  When you write things a week later it's really hard to remember anything exciting.


There's No Place Like...

Wednesday February 15th - 'Should' Verses 'Should Not'

• You should not go to any events hosted by the MSA

• Or pay 9 dollars for a pint of beer

• You should buy crazy kinds of sausages like Duck and Pistachio or Spicy Lamb, as well as sit by the river and take pictures of yourself in front of the next stop on your evenings to do list (even then the exposure never gets quite right)

 

• You should take lovely pictures of things along the way to said next stop, including a shot for the bridge pictured above looking back on the expensive resurant you were at, as well as a pretty street near the botanical gardens and arts center.

• You should not go to the Eureka Sky Deck for $10 an elevator ride

• Nor should you pay an extra $10 to go out onto The Edge, which is basically just glass floor and cheezey sound effect.

• You should take pictures of the screen they display your photo on instead of spending the $15 for a copy 

• You should not forget to adjust your camera settings to make sure they turn out

• You should not follow the crowd to the place that was on the original plan to go, being that it is just a casino and you don't gamble. Instead you should look for people you've met before and stick with them.

• When they try to make you go to The Crown anyway, you should refuse and insist instead that you go somewhere unique and elsewhere.

• When they him and hah, you should grab both of them by the arm and say - C'mon we're going this way, now.

• You should find a lovely little place under a bridge called "The Pony Fish"

• You should remember how poor you are and grab a hardly touched drink from a deserted table.

• You should joke about your peace pipe of a wine glass and Ramon's expressive eyebrows

• You should take amazing postcard photos of the Yarra River (though it might be a but crooked, you are drinking while doing so)

• When the choice to leave now and get on the last train back to school comes up or to grab wine and drink by the river comes up, you should take the latter.

• When you cannot find wine, you should go to the water anyway, look at the stars with your feet in the water (you should not think about what is in the river however) and muse about how these are new stars what you've never seen before (you will be told you are cute by your new German friends for thinking about such things)

• Then when Silvio sates that he does have Vodka you can have instead of wine at his place and that you should find some mix and do that instead of wine, you should agree to this plan, UNTIL you find how expenisve mix is and instead should suggest just to take it straight.

• You should to get to Silvio's place and meet his very attractive for his age German roommate (so many Germans!)

• You should then drink with everyone until the wee hours of the morning where you pass out on the couch after talking the night away

• Before you fall asleep however you should not inhale a shot of vodka, it is true pain to have Finlandia in your lungs.

• The next morning you will get home safely having had a fantastic evening because you made your own adventure (with no thanks to the MSA) and perhaps thrown in a 'should' where your mother might have suggested  or hoped for a 'should not'.

     There's no place like...

Wednesday February 15th - Aftermath

   
     I don't care if it hurts. It was worth it and that fact that my face is peeling now, although its about the grosses things I can think of, outweighs the thought that I am at school, in February with tan lines.


     There's no place like... 

Wednesday February 15th - Beach

   
     Orientation was less than an hour long, if you are going to get us all together for any length of time less than 3 hours, make it after noon. However it certainly worked out for the best. Hasseena (left above), who is also on exchange from York, and I thought it'd be nice to lay out in the sun for a while, and made plans to meet at my res after we both did some banking. Well when I got back to Deakin large group of residents were going to the beach, so once Hassena arrived at rez grabbed her hand shoved a bathing suit in it and told her we were going to the beach.  Josh was less than impressed that I'd pulled a 6th person into his car and sat on the floor the entire way there (which is illegal in Candida, VERY illegal here) but was a good enough sport about it (thank you, Ushwa). We arrived at St Kilda after being convinced that we were lost before anyone else did (thank you, Bane, who is right above) and it was beautiful. 
    
     Once we all got changed and took a few pictures, which you will see below, Hasseena and I ran into the ocean squealing and jumping with excitement. The water was great, perfect hot weather water (well, perfect when the last body of water you saw was frozen) and I couldn't have been happier.
   
     Once everyone else arrived we played Frisbee in the water and chatted. Saw a penguin! A real life penguin swam right up to us! Underwater, right through our legs looking for fish! It was amazing! The oil on its feather shone blue and it flashed through the water towards us. It was brief and magical and even the locals said it doesn't normally happen.Aapparently there is a rockery near that particular beach so the birds are not uncommon in the area, but to swim right up to people was a unique happening.
Hasseena and I walked along the pier.

The view of the city from the top of the pier, the golden topped building contains the Eureka 
Skydeck, which was that evenings excursion.

The view of the beach form the pier, approximately where the three yellow boxes are is where we were stationed on the beach.

Ocean, my foot looks weird.

Hasseena and the Marina.

Johno and Sam, RA's From Deakin. Locals.

Bane, our navigator and Eyebrows (Shawn) who is named such because he strokes his eyebrows when he gets drunk (or so I'm told) now because his eyebrows are particularly exciting/expressive. Locals.

Octavia and Rachel, Brits.

Oh yeah, did anyone bring sunscreen?


There's no place like...