It is still snowing. I am just hoping that it won't be a problem when i fly out for New York next week. I gladly made lunch yesterday using fresh Chicken that we got an this amazing International market the other day known as Jungle Jim's. This supermarket has food from all over the world (including Australia). IT is fresh and cheap. They had quite a few varieties of asian vegetables like bok choy and english spinach. I was almost in heaven. They also have about 2 dozen varieties of NAan breads. I bought some Lindt chocolates to give to my [View Full Entry]

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Today is a GREAT day. I have logged onto the ISIS website to get my results everyday for the last two weeks and saw that my results were delayed. Today however it said.... Drumroll..... H1 Honours first class. It is just midday so when i let out an audible gasp and then asked Randy and Jacob if they could open some Champagne they obliged. It's been in the fridge for a few days. Thankyou so much to everyone who suffered with me. It is a miracle. 7 weeks ago i was in hospital. Today i have my results and i am [View Full Entry]

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Today was a day of contrasts. I went to Randy's Church in the morning at Forest Park, Cincinnati. This is the church where Randy works and i got to see him conduct an orchestra performing Mozart's Coronation Mass. Not exactly the drums, guitars and saxophone i am used to. It was really lovely. Two walls of the triangle shaped main church space were made up of large panels of stained glass that told the story of the bible and history. It was realitively contemporary so after a while you could make out large skyscraper lik buildings and a space shuttle. [View Full Entry]

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I owe everyone an apology. For being a student of English Literature my abilitiy to write of late has been appalling. Please excuse the grammar and paragraph structure. Not so good. Don't have much time to proofread. Thanks for the messages - keep them coming. The relief of arriving in Cincinnati was only surpassed by the joy of taking off from Chicago O'hare airport. Randy and his girlfriend Bronwen met me at the airport. I was so excited to meet Bronwen after hearing so much about her. Apart from anything else being South African means that there is alot of phrases [View Full Entry]

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Reading back over the posts from the last few days it just occurred to me how middle of the road and boring this trip might seem to other people. For the large part that is most likely to be True. But simultaneously i am completely unashamed of that fact. This blog will contain many details and useless pieces of information (to other people). This sojourn is not particularly about adventure, or risk taking or third world countries. For someone with a really good camera i am appalled at the level of photography i have displayed on this blog so far. Not [View Full Entry]

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31 degrees this morning….Farenheit not Celsius. -1 in other words and raining. It is a little cold here this morning. I slept in, a little bit by accident but I didn’t have any appointments this morning so it is fine and I feel good. I missed breakfast though at the hotel so I had to get some on campus. Food here is to say the least a tricky thing for me. There is intrinsically a great deal of Fat involved. So I’ve been eating waffles, fruit and coffee with fake creamer (therefore no milk….some advantages for the lactose intolerant like me). [View Full Entry]

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I walked around the campus this morning listening to the bells of Pat Neff hall. They were playing a Christmas carol i don't remember the name of. I saw a really lively squirrel on my travels. morning tea at ABL I made my way to Armstrong Browning Library this morning. One of two places that Simon Haines told me i had to visit. The other was the bear enclosure that i saw yesterday. ABL is the most spectacular building on campus. Very, well, magnifcent. But it isn't very old so after a while it occurs to you that everything is a [View Full Entry]

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0650h: I'm excited, wired, nervous and tired all at the same time. I am listening to a radio station called Lonestar 94 Country. A local texan country radio station. It's definitely an insight into loval culture. Very lighthearted. "Every day you're walking around is a day more before you die...." whatever that means. It was really cold outside - about 0. The day My first impression of the university was the wide buvelard streets lined with footpaths, trees, and buildings. Large stretches of grass ... though the grass is a little white because it has been so cold. The building ar [View Full Entry]

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I love the international dateline. It is the closest thing to time travel that i will ever know. Left Tamworth a few hours late courtesy of Qantas. Sometimes you think it will be the BIG things that will trip you up but i almost didn't make it off the ground at the first hurdle. Apparently being on an international flight isn't any kind of priority giving reason - a Qantas connecting flight to Melbourne (of which they are 50 a day) is of greater import. It worked out and i managed not to be stressed. But there was one moment where [View Full Entry]

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Well, i'm leaving tomorrow and it is all a little surreal. I arrived back up here about 10 days ago. If it wasn't for my mum and Cathy i never would have made it out od Canberra - Thanks! I've lost and found many things this week. I've managed to get almost everything that i needed to do done, even some Christmas presents.. no cards though - sorry about that! I will be leaving tomorrow at 0945 out of Tamworth Airport for Sydney, then Sydney to LA. To keep me company i will have Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, [View Full Entry]

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