i'm (still) learning... (v. oz.1)

... how much i love... but how sometimes difficult it can be... to constantly be surrounded by people from all over the world. it's SO much fun in that things are always entertaining and you get to hear stories from all sorts of backgrounds. however, the "how do you say _______?" game gets old pretty fast. we played it for about 4 weeks in fiji before we were all finally like, "just shut up. if i say it differently, don't even tell me. i don't care." i reached that point about 4 days in here. apparently what i eat is "weird," my clothes are "weird," how i say ______ is "weird," the way i do laundry is "weird." the list just goes on. my average dinner table has people from at least 5 countries at it, so i swear half the conversation consists of, "wait. can you repeat that? i have absolutely no idea what you just said. speak more slowly." it's pretty entertaining when people accidentally switch languages, but it is sometimes exhausting to have to listen so hard!

... how i definitely need to learn how to speak more than one language. most of the kids (who aren't from the states or australia) here speak at LEAST 2 languages. i know a guy from switzerland who fluently speaks 7 languages. he informed me that that was nothing... as his flatmate at home speaks 9.

... how much i despise chemistry. seriously? when will i need to know what enthalpy is? never.

... how i definitely should have just started at school in australia. would have saved 4 wasted academic years.

... how lucky i am to not have to be looking for a real job at home right now.

... how to compulsively check the exchange rate between the US and australia. exchange rate was 1 USD:1.14 AUD this morning. bad news. if it ever reaches 1:1, i will cry.

... how to maneuver public transport. i still hate it, and it never goes 100% according to plan, but at least now i can read a bus timetable.

... that american guys are way more appealing than australian guys. i came here thinking that i'd find a hot aussie surfer to take home, but the longer i'm here, the more unlikely i think that will be.

... that americans get a bad rep for being rude, pushy, loud, stupid, fat and obnoxious. however, i'm going to go ahead and say that we look pretty good compared to some other nationalities. i think it's due to the fact that we tend to be overly polite and PC, but there are definitely some people here who were clearly raised in a completely different culture. for example, elbowing me in the boob and telling me to "get the f#$& out of the way" so you can get a hot dog faster than me in the lunch line? so not okay. making fun of bartenders, laughing in their face and telling them they look like dr. seuss characters? also not okay. telling someone they look really fat today? yup, not okay. the americans as a whole here are actually quite polite and friendly. keep it up guys!

... that uq REALLY loves group projects. too much, in fact.

things are extremely busy right now with the mid-semester break coming up, but they're good. i gave a group presentation on monday which my prof called "brilliant" :) this weekend is the brisbane riverfire festival, so they're setting off fireworks from a bridge in the city, which should be exciting! then next weekend some of us are headed to the gold coast to spend the night and hit up the beach. the following 2 weekends i'll be in adelaide visiting family friends, and then a group of us are going to stay at kate's house at the sunshine coast for a weekend!

i got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. life is good today. --zac brown band