The final days

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Hey everyone,

Less than a week before i make my triumphant return to the states! But before i get into that, updates and randomness from the past few weeks.

I am finished with exams! Only one more semester ever of exams. That is such a great feeling.

In the last update i kind of described the setup of the examinations. Now that i have taken them i can go into a bit more detail. USC is hardcore trying to prevent cheating here. Once you enter the gym you cannot talk at all. The exams are sitting on the tables and you get a number when you walk in. There can be nothing on the table except for you pen/pencil. I couldnt have my watch or sunglasses next to me. How would i cheat with my sunglasses? When you finish you have to raise your hand and someone walks up and takes your exam from you. Now in all of this preparation to prevent cheating they made one giant mistake. They sit the same class all together! Anyone else find it strange that they go through all this trouble just to sit the same exams next to each other?

On the final thursday i had my exam at 9am. Or so i thought. I arrived at the wrong time for my exam. I was lucky enough to have confused my time for one that was later that day. But i freaked out for a little bit thinking i had missed my exam. That meant i was taking my last exam during the last possible scheduled time to take an exam for the Uni. This meant that everyone else i knew had finished days ago (some of my friends actually finished all of their exams before i even took any of mine). And during this last exam there were less than 40 people in the entire gym. Why couldnt our exam have been scheduled earlier in the week? Strange.

Rugby grand finals are going on right now. (think world series for the states.) I have watched all of the games so far and Oz dominates every team they play. Its like having a pro football team (excluding the lions) play a college team. There was one game where the Oz fans and even the commentators started rooting for the other team to score at least one point.

I celebrated Thanksgiving two weeks ago with the other Americans here and a few other folks. There ended up being around 20 people. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we dressed up. It was the fanciest dinner i have had here (not saying much). We didn't do a turkey but two other guys and i roasted some chicken. Another guy brought a bucket of KFC. I was telling some of my non-american friends about it, and they had no idea what i was talking about. I had to explain the history of the holiday and why it is significant in our history. So much food was leftover. And since it was bar night, coming home was great b/c there was already food made.

It rained and rained and rained for almost a week straight. And i am not talking little sprinkle showers. I mean almost constant pounding rain. There was major flooding in some areas nearby. It looked like you could surf in the streets b/c the water level was so high. But now its back to the debilitating heat.

I was working on my computer a few days ago and my adapter/converter suddenly died on me. Now i can deal with no internet since i can just head over to the library. But no computer? I barely survived for the 40 hours. I wrestled with the idea of buying a converter or not (i am only here for another week, but having the computer while traveling would be a huge plus). But instead of buying one, i turned into MacGyver. I took one of my american power strips and bent the plugs to fit into the Oz outlet. Really smart, i know messing with electricity. But it worked!

I have been saying goodbye to people for a few days now. A lot of internationals left during the middle of the week (when i still had exams) to travel to other areas of Oz. There is still a decent group of people here and i have been hanging out with them. Just relaxing and spending my last few days doing absolutely nothing at all. Its been nice.

I decided that traveling abroad in terms of friendships is a lot like freshmen year at Uni in the dorms. All of sudden you are thrown into an environment where very few people know each other. At first everyone does everything together in huge groups. But as time progresses you begin to find the people that you actually want to spend time with. So you start to grow apart from the original friends. But then there are the people who you have become great friends with; the ones i will continue being friends with for the rest of my life.

Random things...
I got a haircut the other day. Oz and USA use the same blade lengths for clippers. I would have thought there would be a difference since everything else needs a conversion chart.

I was riding home with a friend and i realized that i have no idea how to get anywhere. If i was given a car and told to drive to the beach, i dont know if i could do it. Thats really kind of sad.

Its just over a month from christmas. Its weird for me to think that people can celebrate the holiday without snow. But the really funny thing is their decorations and cards still have snow in the pictures.

I had the most tasty snacks last night from Norway. "Smash" is like a bugle covered in chocolate and put in the fridge/freezer.

My fraternity brothers have initiation for the new guys this weekend and our Grand Sage (essentially the head of sigma pi) will be there. Kind of cool.

I still am not used to the fact that i serve as an english tutor here. People ask me grammer (please someone get the humour right there) questions all the time. And i know that scares some of you english perfectionists back home.

I have over $20 in change, and most of it is 20 cent pieces. I need to get rid of it, but i dont want to carry around half a kilo worth of coins in my pockets.

When walking from Central to Uni there is only one way; a sidewalk next to housing that connects to a wooden boardwalk that connects to another sidewalk next to Uni. Both of the sidewalks were widen to allow extra room to walk. But then there is always a bottleneck at the boardwalk section. I keep hoping someone will get pushed over and fall into the grass. Knowing karma, it will be me.

I had asked my dad to try and videotape the Lions Thanksgiving Day game just so i can watch football when i return. I didn't realize that the Lions would be playing the undefeated Titans. Awesome. At least there will be one good football team on the field.


Headed home.
I leave for the states in less than a week! I know i will miss things here (kangaroos, the beach, the relaxed attitude, the people, my friends, the food, etc) but i am more than excited and ready to come home. A few people have been wondering what i have missed/what i am excited about. Its mainly a lot of little things...

Driving a car. Just the simple joy of driving not to mention the ability to drive to go get groceries.

Having good internet. Non-quota based will be amazing.

Not overheating. I realize in the dead of MI winters i will miss the heat but i look forward to actually using the covers on my bed.

Having good cooking equipment like sharp knives, real pots, and fresh ingredients.

Stores actually being open past 6pm.

Movies coming out "on time".

Watching football! Lets go Spartans!


I have had such an amazing time here. Australia is an incredible place to visit and live. I have met people who i know i will remain friends with for years to come. I am very lucky that i was able to spend so much time here. I will not forget my adventures from Oz.

Thanks for reading. Hope all is well.

Cheers,
Malcolm

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