Mare

PS

marge — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:12:00 GMT

PS I think I'm going to go to Ghana for a semester next year.... hahahaha JUST KIDDING....

'Last night I was east with them, and west within...' -Ben Folds

marge — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:50:00 GMT

So it's 4am. That's a pretty good accomplishment on my part. I've been trying SO hard to stay awake for MOST of the night so that I'll be WIPED on the plane and maybe I'll sleep. I'm terribly excited about inflight movies. I love inflight movies. And all the free food, though lets be honest it's never good, but you always feel like MAYBE it will be just this one time.

Things I'm not excited about?

Leaving.

This doesn't mean I'm not excited to come home, it just means I don't want to leave.

I'm sitting in our almost completely empty room, where I've lived for the past 5 months with Lindsay (and let's face it, practically with Paris and Danny and Grace as well, since our room was basically the common room) and it's depressing. The walls too white where our pictures used to be. We pushed our beds together so we can all sleep in here, which makes the furniture placement awkward and and not what I'm used to.

Grace is sitting on the floor, straightening Lindsay's hair for the trip and I'm freezing, waiting for my sweatshirt to come out of the dryer. In 2 and a half hours, I will basically leave Melbourne behind. I don't consider a taxi ride and waiting in an airport STILL BEING in Australia, no more than going to the Houston airport means I've been to Texas.

This is the last time I'll sit on this bed with my lap top and hang out with these people. We're a bit ridiculous all hanging out at 4 in the morning. Danny has to sleep because he works tomorrow. He pretends like he's real badass and isn't going to be too torn up about us leaving, but I think he likes us pretty well and will probably miss us when he stomps up the stairs tomorrow afternoon and realizes we aren't there when I don't peak my head out to say "Do you HAVE to stomp EVERYWHERE?"...he may get sad even earlier if he showers and fondly thinks of us lecturing him on how he needs to hang the bath mat up or we'll get another mushroom.

Paris has the horrible task of going WITH us to the airport and then sitting around for four hours waiting for HER flight. I mean, on the plus side she's saving on transport, on the downside she has to sit and think about us till she goes home. I told her to make sure Spider and Annabel don't judge us based on the movie I made.

Gracie has to stay in the house and all day and think about how we're not here, though, knowing her and Jewell, they'll sleep all day : )

I have a feeling the 14 hours to LA will feel like I'm leaving something, and from LA to Chicago to Dayton will feel like coming home. I hope that my excitement beats out my grief, at least for the first few days so I can get used to the idea.

I'll miss talking to Paris through my wall and coming up with ridiculous stories/words to see if we can convince Danny they are real. I will miss greeting Danny when he comes home from work (sometimes with candy if he's had a good day and wants to make sure we are happy too). I will miss finding Grace buried in my bed when I come upstairs, leaving behind the BEST smell in the world when she climbs out. I will miss being able to roll over and ask Lindsay what she thinks happens when someone dies when I can't sleep at night. I will miss Jewell and her DELICIOUS doughnuts she always brings home from work. I will miss hearing "Are you okay baby?", "Baby, are you there?" from Sean and Tish's room downstairs. I'll miss how easy it is to hop on a tram. I will miss how pretty Melbourne is at night. I will miss the lulling effect of a trip to the city on the tram with a book. I will miss standing at the top of the hill in Burwood and being able to see the perfect skyline of the city. I will miss excessive movies about dance teams and trying to pretend like we know how to stomp the yard.

Gracie girl is curled up on my bed now. "You can stay if you want" she offers. HaHa. Thanks.

Blah blah obviously I will miss it all.

But still, it doesn't feel real. Right now it just feels like I'm going on a cab ride. It doesn't feel like I'm leaving a country I have lived in for five months.

I guess I'll probably realize it at some point in the next 29 hours.

I'll see you in the US of A.

"How easy...know the place I'm leaving, and the rest is just gone" -Guster

marge — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:10:00 GMT

So I'm approximately 87 hours from arriving in Dayton.

Three days and maybe 16 hours until I'm sitting in my house with my family and my friends and my dog and my big comforter.

I'm only 60 hours from getting into the taxi in front of 129 Burwood Hwy, Burwood Ghetto, VIC Australia and leaving for good.

I'm just 39 hours from my final exam that I have yet to study for because I don't want to waste the time that I could be spending with Paris and Grace and Danny and Jewell and Sean and Tish.

Lindsay and I are pretty much all packed up. We left out the essentials and are hoping our bags zip up. I don't think it's possible to hit the weight limit since we pretty much only have clothes. I guess the good news is that I don't need to pack for my new apartment. I already have a lot of it stored away. So that's good...

Soon I'll be home. And it will be warm. And I will be happy. I will be so happy.

But I'm also really worried about leaving. Because to me, I'm coming home to all the people I haven't seen in 5 months and all the places I haven't been and all the things I haven't done and I'm leaving behind all the people I've met and all the places I've gone and all the things I worked so very very hard for...and to everyone else, June 28th is just the day that Mary and Lindsay come home. Two little girls. Pretty small, pretty important, but just two people. We fit in easily for everyone else. But it will be so weird for me.

I've been planning and earning money for and organizing and worrying about and going through and experiencing and figuring out and living eating breathing Australia for over a year, and now it's over. All that planning, all that stress, all that hard work. The whole thing is over. Full stop.

And I'm excited about chicken fingers from Chumps with Valerie, and I'm excited about being in the same room as Josh and Chris and Casey and Monica all at once, and I'm excited about earning money and I'm excited about getting to see my whole family on vacation and I'm excited for the seasons and the weather and the manners and the attitudes and the food that I'm used to knowing but I've been here so long that maybe I'm used to this way of living too.

It was strange moving out of the Honors Dorm because it was my room with Monica for so long. And it was strange leaving 3D because SO MUCH had happened there and it was strange leaving Cristina's because we MADE our room there.

It's going to be the worst leaving 129 though, because inside are Paris and Grace and Danny and Jewell and Sean and Tish and the things that made being here worthwhile.

After June 28th, Australia just becomes another pin on my map. Maybe I'll put two there to emphasize it's importance.

There are the ups and downs to everything though and Australia both all at once. Like how I won't miss the crazy weather or the insistent happiness and simultaneous rudeness of Australia.

I'm home in THREE DAYS and I can't WAIT and I could wait for ever.

Regrouping, coke addict penguins

marge — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:42:00 GMT

We got to see Nick and Brett yesterday which was strange. Since you know, I'm on the other side of the world. We had lunch and ice cream and all sorts of fantastic things and talked about how DUMB Monica is (hahaha only kidding...) but I DID get to talk TO Monica. She screamed and did her Sheri voice for Lindsay and I was 1,000 times over excited.

THEN we saw the penguin parade. I wondered more if it was the people parade though, that penguins come out of the ocean to watch.

What happens is you go through this museum thing with a bunch of really morbid stuffed penguins (as in dead, not like furry stuffed animals), I guess so you get the general idea of what you're supposed to be looking for. They have a big model of a shark eating a penguin and a caption talking about how hard life is for a little penguin out in the ocean. Then there's little holes you can look through with a "penguins eye view" and you discover that all they see is trash, hands reaching for them and a really nice Canon Rebel with a gigantic flash going off. In one hole, someone set the stuffed penguins up so you can see what they look like when they have sex. I'm not sure why that's important but but I think it's so if you see it happening out in the real world, you know to avert your eyes and be politely quiet.

Further down was a hole you could look in and there were two little REAL LIVE penguins in their burrow huddled together, shivering like they'd just done a line of coke. It was pretty cute.

Then what happens is, you walk down to the edge of the ocean and you wait till it gets dark. Then you hear a description of the penguins and what they do in like 5 different languages. And then, all of a sudden you see little groups of tiny itty bitty "Little Penguins" (formerly known as "Fairy Penguins") floating in on the waves. Then they regroup, test the sand, maybe go back in the water for a second if they are scared. If they think it's safe, they waddle up the shore and to a designated climbing spot and climb through the grass and up the hill to their burrows, all the while screaming at each other and waddling along in a parade like fashion.

This is what's supposed to happen. What really happened for us was our penguins were retarded. All the other watching spots, their penguins came out of the water twice, maybe three times, making sure it was safe and then began their parade. OUR penguins floated up, regrouped, came out of the water, saw a giant seagull and went back in. Then they came out of the water, seagull still there, and went back in. Then they finally all decided the seagull was not harmless and came out of the water, all ready to march up the sand, and then a little one in the back got scared and turn around and ran back into the water, probably screaming ABANDON SHIP!!! and everyone followed suit. And then they regrouped and this time they decided the seagull looked menacing again and retreated. About another 15 times until finally, one of the penguins in the front said "This is bullshit" and charged up the beach, with a considerable group behind. The rest of the penguins waited for a different group that was a little less willing to sacrifice their lives for a seagull. I don't blame them, seagulls can get nasty.

Then they all waddled around, one particularly stupid one waiting on the hill for god knows what. We finally gave up on him and left. They did this weird relay thing, where a group of penguins would come through and leave one behind, and then when the next group of penguins would come through the left behind penguin would join up in the front and a different penguin from the second group would stay behind for the next group.

We watched all this in the cold rain.

Surrounded by umbrellas and some really nasty Scottish uni-brows down in front.

The bottom of my jeans looked like I had gone swimming WITH the penguins. I used my scarf as a babushka which helped and then it started to pour. And then it didn't help anymore.

Then we all broke into Kyle's house and waited for him to come back with some fish and chips.

He, in fact, did come back so we ate the fish and chips and made fun of Monica some more (haha kidding again, except maybe we did mention your popcorn burning abilities once) and went home.

Seis days till I leave the land down under. Does that make sense? That it should be over already? I don't think it does.

The grossest conversation ever.

marge — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:59:00 GMT

Danny: Chick's poop isn't supposed to smell!!!

Paris: At least I flush!

Grace: It pooop! It supposed to smell! It doesn't matter who. Guy, chick, baby, old, granny, grandpa, big, little...dog, bitch whatever! If girl's poop smelled good they'd sell it in the market like perfume...scent "girl's poop".

MAKE SURE YOU FLUSH IT DANNY! Count it!

Danny: (from inside the bathroom) I think I'm up to 34.

Lindsay: Stop....hahahhaha

Danny: (out of the bathroom) Look at my acne. You guys need to go home! I'm breaking out!

I think we've lived here FAR FAR too long. hahahhahahahhaha.

Grace is the cutest person ever.

Lindsay: Grace you're my little wombat. I'm going to call you my little wombat.

Grace: You know the wombat so fat?

Lindsay: haha! I apologize, you are no longer my little wombat.

In other news, Sean and Tish said that no one ever comes in and does the "spring cleaning" that we paid $130 for. hence why we have to clean the ceiling fan and the window sill and the corners and vacuum and everything. It's ridiculous. She said we have to wash our sheet and she'll "wash them again" after we sleep on them that one night but I doubt that since she wants us to do it so badly and that grosses me out that our sheet probably weren't washed before we used them.

BLECK

I can't wait to be back in clean land.

One week.

We went out to eat with the boys today and then into the city and then tomorrow we're going to spend the day with Nick who is here and I think Brett is with him? Maybe? We'll see. I mean we're definitely seeing Nick, maybe on the Brett part. At least this Saturday outing we don't have to worry about wether or not this person is ACTUALLY a friend of Nick's or if they are some impostor pretending to be friends with Nick so they can steal us, because this will really be Nick.

My knee is KILLING me. I've been wondering about the whole teaching thing and being on my feet all day. Hopefully this knee thing gets better or my whole future career will be in jeopardy. I'll be using a walker by the time I'm 24. Oy!

See ya'll in a week.

One week and no internet.

marge — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:39:00 GMT

Almost out of internet.

Figures.

And I still have a final to study for with all the info online.

Going to dinner. At "6:30" but it's already 6:40 because the of the girls (Tim, Dave, Ryan, and Darryl) that are taking 20 years to get ready. Three girls with one bathroom got ready faster.

AND showered.

Well, see you in a week!

"Uhh no speak engish tram officer"

marge — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:46:00 GMT

HAHAHHAHA

so Grace got caught on the tram without a ticket and tried to pretend that she didn't speak English to get out of it

hahahahhahaha

of course then it didn't work and she still got a ticket but she had to keep the act up until he was done explaining everything and had to pretend that couldn't understand when he asked for her address.

it took her like 20 minutes to get through the whole process because she had to keep pretending like she didn't understand and that she was searching for the right English words and she missed her stop and had to back track

hahahahha...she's so funny

The food. La comida.

marge — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:04:00 GMT

Jewell: I didn't want to tell my mom why I really want to come home. I mean, I miss my family and my friends...but what I really miss...is...the food...

HaHa

She's so funny.

Don't worry, I miss my friends and family more than the food but I can't lie. I would kill for:

Mac and cheese, Qdoba, Casey's bean dip, that rice stuff with veggies and cream of chick on top, and ham and cheese and potato casserole.

Those sound delicious.

And the first thing I want to do is have a big glass of milk (and not have it upset my stomach) and a big glass of water (and not have it taste like crappy city water).

Ummm...my mom wants me to write about Airlie. It was fun. Ummmm we went on a boat trip and I snorkeled and I cut my knee open on coral, but it's mostly healed now. Ummm I just don't know why but I'd rather talk about it when I get home, or I'll have nothing to talk about besides these people haha. Not that that's not enough.

Currently Jewell is teaching Paris Mandarin, Paris is teaching Grace French, Lindsay and I are throwing out some Spanish, Grace is throwing in some Indonesian and let's be honest, everyone is working on their English while Grace makes fun of the Australian accent and tries to determine between "warm" and "worm".

I think there's like five million versions of Happy Birthday going around while Paris does contortion and Grace tries to copy.

Only 10 days till we leave here. Which is nuts.

Soon I'll be lying in my living room with my besties and my family and Mark and eating mac and be barely awake but won't really notice because I'll be SO excited to see everyone.

Jessica (Josh's sister) is inviting me to her wedding. It's my first wedding of someone my age-ish. I'm so excited! She's so adorable. She's inviting Lindsay too so "the whole gang" can come. I swear she may be the sweetest person ever.

Grace is IN LOVE with Chris Carper based on the pictures on my wall. Josh be jealous ;) haha she thinks he's the most GORGEOUS boy in the world and she LOVES Josh's eyes and always talks about how big me and my friend's eyes are. HaHa.

Linday's whole body is peeling off after a sunburn, like a snake.

Father's day

marge — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:27:00 GMT

Sorry I've been too tired to write abut Airlie beach...

but I wanted to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Ciao

marge — Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:48:00 GMT

In about three hours I have to be awake again to catch a cab to the airport.

Sigh.

I'll be back in connection on Thursday though so fill my mail box with love and cross your fingers for sunny skies and stress free fun.

At the very least I'll get to finish my second Watergate book haha.

And then three weeks from now I'll be catching another plane, one that will matter at lot more than this one.