Study week. Simple enough. A week off to study for the upcoming two weeks of finals. But wait. I don't study. Or at least not for an entire week! Everyone in our dorm peaced out of town for the week except for three of us. That's right. 27 Americans were running around Bali, Singapore and Phuket, or New Zealand while me and two guys (plus Pricey the RS) chilled back in Freo for the week (and Lyndsay did pay us a visit one night).
I'll start at the beginning. Class on Friday. I had THREE - count 'em...1, 2, THREE - major papers due that day. You can say I was excited for school to be out for the semester. Two of them were for Geographic Information Systems and another for Natural Resource Management. I think I edited some 50 odd pages of my own writing over the course of that day. Gross. So, due to my lack of sleep over the week, and the fact that I had an entire week ahead of me to hang out with my newly found favorite PL (that's short for Port Lodge, where I live) boys, we all kind of agreed to put a movie in and call it a night. For real.
Saturday I had been waiting for, as all week I had been talking about this apple pie I was going to make. I went to the grocery store after finally sleeping in and got down to business. My recipe: Colorado Apple Pie sent to me from the momma! Although I didn't have any Colorado apples to use, I managed alright substituting in Aussie ones. It called for three types of apples at least (sweet and tart) cut in three different sizes. I made the dough from scratch (with apple "cider" aka juice) and it actually turned our really well. This was a perfect Megan day - baking therapy to ease my mind from school. I started around 1pm and didn't get to enjoy my pie (after patiently letting it cool) until 4pm! That evening Tim and I headed to Mass at the Basilica as we wouldn't be able to attend the next day - you'll find out why soon enough! It's always nice to go to the beautiful basilica for Mass. Then we met up with Pat and a few Americans who had newly arrived in town for an internship at headed to the Orient Bar down the road before finally ending up at Metros, a club for the night. I had a blast dancing away the school year and not having a care in the world for the night.
Sunday afternoon we headed off for a footy game - the Fremantle Dockers vs. the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Subiaco Oval. Footy is Australian Rules Football (AFL) and is somewhat the equivalent of football in America -it's the big pro sport in the country. So it was pretty exciting to be going to a pro game, and I had got us tickets from the International Student Organization on campus that I am a part of. We joined a few others from Notre Dame, caught the train to the stadium, and enjoyed our FRONT ROW seats. Yes, front row. I even got a picture with Johnnie their mascot and got to high-five a player. The Dockers dominated (they're doing really well this year) and I even bought myself a scarf to support them. We got free hats with our tickets (since they were sponsored by the team and some other silly gifts). That evening Pat, Tim, and I headed back to our favorite place, the Orient, with the other students at the game to enjoy some victory beers. We concluded the night with me falling asleep (as per usual) on the couch during a movie.
Monday the three of us headed into Perth City to hit up King's Park. It was Memorial Day in America, so I guess it was rather fitting that we celebrated the Aussie Veterans that day...I did miss running the Bolder Boulder back home though. More movies were in order that night, and I may have actually managed to stay awake for at least one of them.
Tuesday I worked in the morning and don't remember what I did in the afternoon...
Wednesday was a writing day for me...I needed to fill out my application to be an RS here in the dorms next semester, but to keep you from the anticipation, I can tell you now that I was just informed I did not get the job. Oh well. There were several qualified applicants.
Thursday was my usual 8 hour work day, and time flew by as our fellow Port Lodgers were arriving later that night from their vacations away. and I had not yet cracked the books to study, but that wasn't a shock. I wasn't planning on doing that till Friday at the earliest, more likely to be Saturday. One of the guys brought me back a Bintang Beer singlet, to match everyone else as they are really popular in Bali, and I was totally surprised. So comfortable.
The rest of the "study" week was spent catching up on their stories, hanging out with Maria my mentor, and writing "snippets" for everybody.
Saturday night we had Port Lodge Prom and we all dressed up, enjoyed a steak dinner and some delicious cheesecake while watching a slide show of all the pictures over the course of the semester.
Sunday was crack down day, although my first final wasn't until Tuesday. So that brings you up to now. Wednesday. I have had two finals (GIS and Hist of Western Civ) and am thankful they are over. Our first person to go is leaving late tonight, as she has an internship back home she needs to get back for. I cannot believe how fast these four months have flown by. I have one more final on Monday, then my last one on Friday (yuck) and then I move out Saturday and my best friend Sam comes on Sunday night. WOW. Seriously. Time has gone out the window and I will be back in my beloved CO hiking in less than a month.
I am excited to come back to Australia for semester number two. There will be a new group of Americans I will be living with, but I am planning on hanging out more with the other international students in the other dorm - road trips here we come!
I could have done better in school this semester but slacked off a bit - nothing drastic, but not up to "Megan's standard." Such is live. I've had a great time and can't wait to see what the next year holds...
Well, now that I have 4 days until my next final, hmmm....movie time?
Love ya!
Megs
P.S. I am making a resolution. I almost forgot. After I finished my final today (which I dominated...I knew there would be a question about faith throughout history) I was bored waiting for dinner so I went for a run, which I haven't done in a while...(I almost forgot I live by the ocean. Sad). So - y'all need to hold me accountable - from now until the Stroke 'n Stride on July 15th in Boulder, CO, I will be either A) running B) Biking or C) Swimming, excluding the days I will be on a plane. Better make sure I do it. It's written now. Motivation time!
