Denial.

There are so many other things that should come before this entry (because I’ve just had an amazing week of Australian vacation), but this is so pressing and current, I just can’t ignore it.

School starts tomorrow and I’m simply refusing to admit it. Nat and I just went for a long and beautiful power walk down by the water on the boardwalk and we spent some time admiring the gorgeous, bright, Australian stars -- but we both have 8AM classes in the morning. Oh yeah, I forgot I was here for school. Darn.

I think I just feel with the warm weather like it’s summer time and I shouldn’t be going to classes right now. I really hope that I’m able to concentrate on studies while I’m in this environment. That will be interesting.

Anyway, I’ll make this a quick entry, an amalgam of random thoughts I’ve wanted to share.

• I’m not sure quite what it is, but I think music filters over here at a slower rate. And it's A-OK with me, because on most radio station out in public, guess what I hear? 90’S MUSIC! It makes me so happy. As some of you know, it’s my absolute favorite. I’m a sucker for that catchy pop sound with quick witty lyrics. I’m also a master of the one hit wonder. I know them all, titles and artists. So while driving on our coach bus through the beautiful countryside, you’ll find me beaming from ear to ear, bopping along to “Semi-Charmed Life”. Perfect.

• Remember that time that I scuba dove in the Great Barrier Reef? Yeah? Well do you also remember how after all of his heinous adventures, that’s where Steve Irwin ended up passing away? Oops. He was stung by a sting ray. I kind of left that out half on accident and half because I didn’t want to freak Mom out. Sorry, just relaying the facts…
  

Lessons Learned

1. I am far from home. Period. No one knows of the Red Sox or the entire New England sports dynasty, and Boston is not a big deal. I made one embarrassing mistake and I realized just how far away I am. Or how I do have some pompous American attitudes, like it’s fine that I don’t know much about Australia, but everyone should know about the states. Dumb.

The scene: Nat and I went to a bar and were hanging out by ourselves at a picnic table on the back patio. Then this guy next to me introduces himself as Shane and asks where I’m from. If you have children around, this next comment is for mature audiences only, I apologize. I introduce myself as Cassie and say that I’m from Boston. And poor Shane, a little alcohol in his system and fresh off of plane from Sydney was so confused. “Boston? Where the F*** is that?” Insert a tipsy Aussie accent. It’s quite humorous.

On the other side of me, Nat starts laughing quite heartily as all of the color rushes to my face. Stupid. I’m American and I’m stupid. “Oh, well I’m from America,” she says trying to dig herself out of a hole. “America?! Bloody hell.” And then he apologized profusely because he was embarrassed that he didn’t know where Boston was. He kept apologizing over and over and I was laughing, telling him it was fine and I was apologizing too. Lesson learned: No one knows where Boston is and they can barely pronounce Massachusetts. You’re from America. Won’t make that mistake again. If they ask specifically where, you tell them, but then and only then.

2. Don’t mess with the Australian sun. You’re not game enough. I don’t care who you are, stupid naive American. You can’t handle it and it will own you. Sorry Mom, but the 15 SPF sunscreen you put in my stocking will absolutely not cut it. I put in on multiple times a day, but it takes like over 45 SPF of the Australian brand (more hardcore than ours) to not get fried. My legs will tell you all about it. The poor, crispy red stilts I’ve been hobbling around on lately. They’re actually much better lately, it’s faded a lot. But lesson learned: reapply 30 SPF or over every 20 minutes.

3. Food over here is basically made with no preservatives. It can both be a blessing and a curse. It’s awesome because you know that you’re getting very quality, chemical-free food, not processed American crap. But on the other hand, you have to eat everything at mach speed to keep it from going bad. And nobody warned us!

So in five days, the casualties were as follows:
   - 2 half gallons of low fat milk (both still half full)
   - A quart (or metric equivalent) of creamer, because they don’t have half and half over here.

On day six, I lost the remainder of my bread, which was about 7 slices. And an unopened bottle of balsamic vinegar. But Nat dropped that on the floor, so we can’t blame that on the preservatives.

I guess it’s not the hugest deal ever, but we feel wasteful because we wish we had known better. I would have loved a warning about that. At first we thought it was because the fridge wasn’t cold enough, so I made it colder. So next time, I’ll get less milk or drink it faster. I’m buying Oreo’s tomorrow, so maybe I should get a half gallon again. Dexter house knows that I eat my Oreo’s in intervals of nine or ten and I need my milk, haha. Anyway, lesson learned: Food dies quicker over here. Buy less, or be quicker with the consumption. I’ll keep you posted on the death toll.

Well, those are my random ramblings (alliteration <3). Time to get some shut eye before day one of classes. Say it ain’t so.

*written last night, posted this morning because of poor internet reception. Getting ready for class now! Blah.