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Published: June 30th 2008
Aquarium
The underwater tunnelTravelblog
“Friendship isn’t just one thing. It’s a lot of little things”
I have realized both through reading some of the weekly journals I send to my teacher and old blogs (one of which I want to apologize for- it was meant to be private because it was just me griping.) that I have become irritable. I used to be laid back and easy-going. Not too much annoyed me. Once my brother and I grew up, I feel like I started letting more things go and stopped letting petty things bother me. But over the past several months (before I came here until now), I feel like I’m reverting back to that.
I don’t want to be that person again. You have to trust me. I was such an unpleasant, moody person and I can’t believe I even had friends the way I acted sometimes.
Being here, and realizing that I’m letting the negative outweigh the positive in my blogs and my attitude has really hurt me. I am a positive person. I always tell people “I’m that glass-half-full girl.”
So. That being said, here’s to the next week here, and the rest of my life
Starfish
I actually got to touch one of these and a stingray :] being a huge project on staying optimistic. Seeing the sunshine beyond the rain and realizing that without rain, there would be no rainbows (I think I had a shirt that said that, haha CHEESE). I know that I’ve grown and learned more about myself here than I ever could have imagined. And I need to embrace THAT instead of dwelling on what I did NOT get. That’s what is important.
So… to catch you guys up this is going to be a long entry… so you might need to fix yourself a snack or take it in chapters, ahaha
After I wrote last time, I believe it rained for quite some time. It messed with some of my plans for going to the beach and outdoor things, but I opted to get some work done on my resume, projects, and just relax for a bit. I even took a nap once! Haha.
Aside from the rain, the last couple weeks have included me craving vegemite, me becoming obsessed with hot wasabi peas, beginning to go to the WAFL oval for practices with Jon Tan, having an entire office to myself (and being relocated), daily lunch with
This is a fish!
Some sort of seahorse or something that supposed to look like leaves... It was so neat Annette, one house mate left and a new one arrived, I watched the Celtics win game 6, visited the Aquarium, went out with some chiropractors/students, went to Rottnest Island, went and “worked” a boxing tournament, and successfully made plans for the rest of my time here!
First things first:
Vegemite: It’s hilarious really. The amount of Aussie slang that I’ve picked up and now I want vegemite… this yeast spread that is so salty!? I don’t even enjoy salty food! But, it’s decent. Only once a week maybe, a change from a piece of toast with peanut butter or some oatmeal I guess. Also, I hard boiled eggs and sliced it and put them on top of the toast and that was good. I’m bringing some home, so no worries YOU ALL can try it
Hot Wasabi Peas: Not really much to report about these. I’m sure they sell them in the States; I just will need to find them. Who thought peas could be such a pleasing and savory snack? They’re perfect when you need something crunchy.
WAFL/Jon: Jon contacted me, which I think I already wrote about. But anyway… I went out to
practice with him twice now. It’s definitely interesting. Here, “trainers” don’t have to be educated. It’s a term more so than a profession, like “certified athletic trainer”. There are also Physiotherapists who work there. They are more like an athletic trainer. They kind of combine what we do with physical therapists and even some chiro. It’s definitely a strange dynamic in their training room. And then of course, there is Jon, a chiropractor and a few students coming and going. I will paste this next part from my weekly journal… It’s what I found interesting about the interaction between professionals and not-so-professionals working in such close quarters:
Jon took me over to the oval and introduced me to the staff. Alby has been the “head trainer” for over twenty five years. His title is “Training Coordinator” now, but he’s been around the longest and is respected by the staff. The actual head trainer is a woman named Tanya. She was friendly. There were a few other trainers who worked on more of a voluntary basis, and a few sports physio’s as well. I was surprised to find two students there from sports science departments of other universities obtaining hours for
Lobster
These guys were massive field work experience.
It is my understanding after my visit that to be considered a “trainer” here you don’t need any formal education. You can opt to take a weekend course, but it’s not required. This meant that Alby and Tanya, who were essentially in charge of the training room (I don’t use “athletic training room” or “athletic trainer” because that would signify an educational background in the field, they are just “trainers”), have no certifications or qualifications. Jon and I discussed this later on, because I could tell that the dynamics of the training staff weren’t ideal for him, and I had questions about it myself.
Jon (and the chiropractic community as a whole, probably) feels like he is a qualified professional who shouldn’t be working underneath someone who just has an interest in sports training. Using old school “remedies” and knowing a few strapping techniques along with a lot of speculation isn’t sound medical practice. And with no formal practice, it’s hard for me to trust that they know what they are doing. I noticed that about eighty percent of the athletes who came in went straight to Jon or another chiropractor or a physio. The
Strange Fish
These guys had the weirdest looking texture only reason anyone saw Tanya or Alby was to be taped or massaged. After it died down a little, I talked to Alby about my internship and told him that when I come back next I would be more than happy to help with taping and stretching and sports massage. He said that would be great and asked if I could teach him how we tape! I laughed and said “Of course!” He was such a funny guy.
Jon explained to me that the physio’s that come in deal with the more acute injuries. They are the staff that runs onto the field. Jon expressed that in the beginning it irritated him, because he’s just as qualified to deal with acute injuries and felt he should be doing it (Physio’s also go to school a year less than chiropractors). After a year or so, however, Jon said the he just realized that in different settings when different professionals are in the same area, he just needed to take his role and make it his own. So, while he’s working with this team, the physios will deal with the acute problems and he and the other chiropractor help more with
maintenance and chronic problems.
I couldn’t help but think about the relationship between physical therapists and certified athletic trainers. We’re both capable of doing very similar jobs, and we both want to do that job, but in an environment where there are both professionals, if it’s impossible to work alongside each other and accept the differences in treatment approaches, it might be better to have a working relationship like the chiropractors and physios here do. I wouldn’t like that though. (Unless the physical therapists dealt with the chronic injuries and ATC’s handled the acute stuff!)
Anyhow, practice went well. Jon leaved half way through the training session because that’s when the physios arrive and the room just gets to be too full. I guess the pay is very minimal, so most of the “trainers” are there on a voluntary basis or receive very little pay. The chiropractors and physio’s get paid, but it’s not much, I was told.
I asked Jon about the budget, because I noticed that they had supplies and a cabinet. He told me that Subiaco Oval (the Fremantle Football Club) had about fifteen thousand dollars a year. I’m not sure if he meant
for just their supplies or if that included salaries and travel and other things. He said that they just go to the athletic supply store and pick up what they need. It’s not like at Central Michigan University or anywhere else where we order huge shipments and keep it in a store room. Of course, I imagine our budget being much larger than theirs.
One of the coaches had spent some time in the states visiting different university’s football stadiums. He said he was blown away by how huge they were and how much our coaches make. Here, even a good football player in the AFL might only make one million a year. Our professional athletes make tons compared to that! He went on for quite a bit about different things related to money and salaries. He mentioned a stadium in Texas that some Michael Miller (?) donated fourteen million dollars to for a rebuild, and another that sold its box seats for 220,000 dollars a season. I’m not sure if these were facts or not, but it was fun listening to him talk about it.
After we left the Oval, Jon was hungry so we stopped off
This fish was so sweet
I think it was called a Clown Fish at his house to eat before he took me home. I was hoping Janine would be there so that I could thank her again for setting it all up. I will admit it felt a little weird to be having her boyfriend making me dinner while she was gone. That’s the culture here, though, I have noticed. Everyone is so friendly and I haven’t noticed much jealousy flying around. I was just happy to be talking to someone closer to my own age.
Jon had spent a few weeks in the states in Arizona and Seattle working with some minor and major league baseball teams a few years back and so we shared stories about things we had found/were fining strange about each other’s countries. Every Australian that I have met that’s travelled to the U.S. has said that they were shocked at how many different kinds of ice cream we have! I found that funny. I never really thought about it, but you do generally just find vanilla, chocolate and neopolitan here. Suzette picked up some crazy gumdrop ice cream once, but that was as wild as it got as far as store bought stuff. We also both
Cuddle Fish
Cute,,,yet so strange found it strange that the brands are so different. For example, Kraft makes peanut butter here. There is no JIF. And the peanut butter here is terrible! Everything just tastes different if you can’t find the brand you’re used to. We exchanged some storied and then he dropped me off. I told him that I would enjoy going to the game on Saturday.
Well, I didn’t end up going that Saturday; however I went to a game this past weekend. It was interesting. The dynamics are just so different from what I am used to. I didn’t stay past half-time because I wasn’t doing anything. I finished watching the game from the stands with Simon (the guy I went to boxing with…I’ll talk about that later)
Relocation: I had a visit from Brian, the head of the department. He came in and was kind of taking an inventory of what all is in Mark’s office. I asked if he was planning a remodel or something and he said, “No, we’re moving Mark.” I guess that they’re moving his office to another building…and they’re doing it while Mark is away. They didn’t plan it like that, but that’s how
it happened. The thing is, Mark is anal. Everything is in its perfect place and he knows if it’s moved. Annette and I gave him a hard time one day after I saw his apartment. It was spotless. And by spotless, I mean immaculate. Not one thing was out of place. It didn’t even look like anyone lived there it was so neat.
Well, I guess that this new office is going to be shared with two other staff members. That means that Mark won’t have as much room for his things (he has four filing cabinets, three shelves about fifteen feet long FULL of books and memorabilia, and two small book cases). Brian said that Mark will have to downsize to two filing cabinets and that he’s not sure if they can put shelving up because the walls are brick. He also said not to tell Mark they were doing it. Now, I don’t know Mark that well, but I’m guessing he’s not going to like the surprise when he returns. I can’t imagine he’ll like that all his stuff has been moved and touched, either. But I do think it’s funny, and I’m not going to say
a word!
Well, a few days later, they found out that the person moving into Mark’s office was coming the NEXT day. That meant that I had to get out as well. It was easy enough because all I have is a laptop and a few books. However, the trouble came into play because moving buildings here means re-applying for an IP address, which means that again, I have no internet. I hadn’t had it at home either (thus the infrequent updates). It was definitely frustrating, but I thought about it and decided to look at it positively: Without the internet I would get work done faster because I wouldn’t have email distractions. So, that was fun. I did apply for the internet, but it’s been a week now and I still don’t have anything.
Mark’s coming back Monday, so I’ll have to let you guys know how that turns out!
Annette: We’ve been eating lunch together everyday. It’s a nice relaxing time where we can both just chat about life. I feel bad because she’s the only person here I feel comfortable enough around to talk to about the internship situation, but I keep it short
Rock Fish
Can you see him? and simple. And it was just once. But I still feel bad. However, she agrees with me and confirmed that Mark isn’t the person that he tries to sell to people. So… after I got that off my chest, I did feel better. But I felt bad that I was complaining about being in such an amazing country in the first place.
Celtics: Jon invited me over to watch Game 6 of the playoffs. I was super excited because I haven’t seen any basketball or baseball at all since I’ve been here. And while basketball isn’t my favorite sport, it reminds me of home and Jay and all the things I was used to with living in a college town. Plus, I knew it meant that there would be people around to talk to. It was just Jon and two of his friends. I already knew the outcome, and so did two of the three guys. But it was still fun, and I got along with the guys pretty well. We ordered pizza. They had a supreme pizza, a Hawaiian pizza (which I had ) and then a really weird supreme-type pizza that had EGGS on it! Am I the
only person that things that’s a weird thing to put on pizza? Well, the guy ate the ENTIRE thing… haha. But thinking about it… I guess I would give it a shot. Seems like eggs would be good on a “breakfast pizza”… with like, eggs, ham, whatever else people eat for brekky.
Housemates: Soo moved out. It was a very non-dramatic ordeal. He packed up and just took his stuff with him in the morning when he left for school. There were some shaking hands, but that was it. No hugs, no tears, no nothing. I’m not even sure that Suzette said goodbye to him. He moved out on a Wednesday morning, and the Sunday prior we got a new student named Esther. She’s thirty years old from Zimbabwe. She is married to a man who left to study in the UK in 2005 and has two kids Natasha (I can’t remember her real name) and Nigel. They are so gorgeous. She is as well. The most amazing smile and bubbly personality. It’s great. And she sings in the shower and I love it She slept on a mattress in the back of the house for a couple
of nights, but now she has her own room. With the situation in Zimbabwe, I guess her and her husband are trying to become educated and get jobs so they can bring their kids out of the country (they are staying with their aunt). It would be so hard to be away from your family like that. She’s here for four years! I’m here for two months and I miss my family and friends and Jay like MAD. She talks to her husband on the phone a lot and texts, but she hasn’t been able to figure out the phone to call her children. (She doesn’t know the country code). But, I really enjoy having her around.
Aquarium: I finally made it! It was a lot of fun. It only took an hour, and I felt like I was taking my time and enjoying everything…So no complaints. I saw sharks, sting rays, touched a sting ray and a starfish! I saw some of the NEATEST fish ever. Salt water fish are so much prettier and vibrant than fresh water fish. I really enjoyed it. The coral was beautiful as well. The Aquarium is located in a Boat Harbour,
Hillary's
Beautiful! so I walked around and just watched the ocean for a bit. There were some shops around and I peeked through them all. There was also a Cold Rock Creamery… such a crime! It was set up exactly like Cold Stone. I didn’t try it, but that’s such an obvious copy, haha. Who knows, maybe that was first?
Going Out: This time going out I dressed up a little more, which was unnecessary. Go figure! We went to a place called The Shed. There was a live band playing tons of great music. I had ONE drink that was decently priced and I took the train in so I think I spent maybe ten dollars, which is far better than the last time I went out. It was a girl’s birthday that I knew, so they all invited me out. I had fun; it’s always strange going somewhere dancing with people you aren’t totally comfortable with at first. But I enjoyed the band and thought about all my friends who would love it and eventually loosened up and enjoyed the night!
Rottnest Island: Such a wonderful day! I finally made it to Rottnest Island. It’s just off the
Rottnest Island
This is when we were elaving coast of Perth. It was a thirty minute ride from Fremantle to the island. While I was inline to get my ticket, there was a boy in front of me who was definitely American. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, but I keep reminding myself that I will NEVER see these people again, so I may as well be as outgoing as I would be at home. He ended up being from New Jersey. His friend was from Bali. Their names were Josh and Subi, respectively. They ended up being a blast. We hung out on the ferry and talked about all the funny things we’ve noticed in Australia and how things just aren’t the same. He said something I thought was funny about how Australia is now fatter than America. Something like twenty four percent of Australians are overweight. I believe that part, but I think that more than twenty four percent of America is overweight.
When we got to the island, we separated because they just wanted to walk around and I wanted to get a bike and ride around the island. Because of the fairy schedule and the delays I met on the bus,
Rottnest
We stopped near here to pick up some people I only had about three hours to explore the island, which I found, is not enough time. I hopped on my bike and actually did make it around the entire island. It was a good two hour ride. I didn’t get to stop and enjoy the scenery or beaches like I had planned, but it was still amazing. I have never seen something so gorgeous in my life (even if I had stopped to take more photos, it wouldn’t have done it justice at all). On one side of me were endless ocean and beaches and coves. The other side of me was just bush and little lakes and trails. The sky just felt endless. When I would get to the top of a big hill, it just felt like you were actually on the top of the world. It was such an amazing feeling.
After the bike ride, I was exhausted. It was a lot hillier than I had expected. I turned in my bike and walked through the one tiny gift shop on the island. They had really fancy souvenirs, some of which were gorgeous, but nothing that would be easy or safe to get home in
one piece. I was satisfied just knowing that I saw the island in all its nature-y goodness. I walked through the general store and then sat down to eat some fruit while I waited for the last ferry of the day to come- I didn’t want to miss it!
On the way back, I found Josh and Subi again and we talked some more about Australia and Bali and how we’re finding Perth. I guess they haven’t really seen much (and they’ve been here almost four months!). They both work at a Restaurant in King’s Park called Frasier’s. I guess it’s a nicer restaurant. Josh is here on a school internship for a culinary degree. He is going into food service and is working as the cook at Frasier’s. Subi is working at the restaurant in more of the party-planning area. He set-ups and organizes the functions that happen. He is here for a four year period!
When we finally got back to Fremantle on the ferry. We all hopped on our buses and headed home. We exchanged contact information in case we’re in each-other’s neck of the woods back home ever. It was a fun day. Rottnest
Sunset
Leaving Rottnest Island embodied the Australia I was hoping to be exposed to. I’ve come enjoy the city and the outskirts, but my heart belongs to nature. I love being outside and seeing trees everywhere and animals and lakes/oceans. I think that seeing Rottnest was good for me because I hadn’t gone hiking in a while. It helped me to remember that Australia does have the “outback” I was expecting and looking forward too. It was a perfect ending to the week.
Rest of the Time: Tonight I am going to Annette’s to watch Harry while she goes to the movies with some girlfriends. Harry is fine when Mark is not around, so I’m not too worried. I think we’re going rollerskating. I also get to drive Annette’s car again! Whoo, it’s so fun. Just because it’s opposite. The ignition is still on the right, but the gears are on the left and the indicators are on the opposite side. So, that’s tonight. Tomorrow I am going to the Footy game with Jon and Sunday (weather permitting) I am going to King’s Park.
**Well… Saturday was quite the day!
I did go to Footy with Jon as mentioned above. But
Coastline
Rottnest is nothing but bush, ocean and coastline...Gorgeous afterwards I ended up being invited to a kickboxing tournament with Simon. It was easily put into the top three things I have done/seen here. There was so much ritual and tradition in the way they prepared for the fights in the ring. It was absolutely amazing to watch. Everyone was so respectful and thankful towards each other, even fighter vs. fighter. There were teams from all over Australia, a team from New Zealand and a team from Thailand.
I was talking to one of the fighters and he was fighting way later in the evening against a guy he said beat him during their last fight. He was so calm and collected about it. Nothing negative to say at all about the other guy. After our little chat Simon told me that the guy I was talking to, Eugene Eckleboom (sp?) was a three time world champion…Wow. I had no idea this was that big a venue. I thought it was just a few gym clubs fighting. The place was sold out though. Around the ring were tables where they were served drinks and food. There was a packed stand, dancing girls, ring girls, little shows between matches.
It was definitely an experience.
Simon did most of the work because most people needed adjustments. He let me do all the soft tissue work though. It wasn’t much, but I enjoyed the little bit of exposure that I got. Plus, watching the fights and being in that atmosphere was indescribable. I ended up putting in 13 hours that day and didn’t get home until well past one in the morning.
Sunday it rained pretty much all day. I did take Esther into Perth and showed her the main streets and took her down by the river. It wasn’t that exciting for her, I bet, but she had mentioned that she was afraid to walk around the city because she didn’t want to get lost, so I offered to show her around a little bit and help her get her bearing on the main roads and where things were in relation to the train station. She told me she appreciated it, and I told her that I wish it was nicer out so we could go for a walk through King’s Park and see the city from higher up. But it was just so cold for us both
(I didn’t pack much warn clothes!) and I was still exhausted from my thirteen hour day Saturday.
I am only coming in Monday-Thursday probably next week and I’m going to spend my time primarily on the taping video so I can keep out of the office while Mark’s unpacking things that he probably still doesn’t know are packed and moved! I feel kind of bad for him, but that’s the life of a professor I guess?
Friday next week is the 4th of July. They don’t celebrate that here, but Annette is going to have a “Megan-is-leaving/4th-of-July” BBQ for me. She’s making Roo steaks! And I’m going to stay over there. Saturday I will go to Suzette’s and clean the room, wash the sheets and pack up. Sunday morning Annette is going to pick me up and take me to her house to help her with a sleepover for Harry “Big Brother” theme (think TV show). And then I’m going to stay with her until I leave for the airport! I am glad that I get to spend the last weekend primarily with the person that I’ve gotten to know and enjoy the most. I am going
to miss her and I bet she’ll be the one person I cry about.
Sorry about the lack of photos. I dont have the internet so I wrote this and saved it on my thumb drive so i could at least update you on the stories... Pictures soon, I promise!
I love and miss you all.
Be home in a week!
Megan
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Jay
non-member comment
Man that was a biggie...I actually did eat breakfast halfway through. Love you