FUCKING SPEAK ENGLISH!!!

12:50 p.m. nikki sp
i'm having a really bad day
and there's so much ignorance i'm feeling right now.
shit man.

i'm sitting in the lobby of my res. my room's too hot/humid. stupid rain. and i'm sitting across from these ignorant foreign girls.
i politely asked one of them if she could move over so i could sit, and she told me to sit somewhere else.
petty, i know.

but i was there first, had to leave momentarily, and now... not comfy in my current seat.

aaand. there are 3 of them who are speaking some gutteral language that does not sound attractive at all, and they're laughing, which just seems rude cuz they're in on a joke nobody else is.

that bitch has such an annoying voice.

motherfucker.


i was in such a good mood yesterday too. the weather was way better. aaan most importantly, i finally figured out what i wanna do with my life. i mean, yeah i;m open to flexibility. but i'm actually working towards a goal, i'm on a path right now rather than wandering aimlessly. and this has been culminating for some while right now, but only in the past couple of days have things been making much sense. coffee with patrick was super good yesterday, cuz he helped me put things into perspective. kinda crazy that he's considering to marry jo here for citizenship, but hell i'd do that too in cali.

i wanna fucking slap those chicks.
ENGLISH!!!

grrr.

but today the weather has been shit again. and i've had no plans, so... it's been super lazy.
what i've managed to accomplish today:
8am: moved off my couch up to my bed.
1030: woke up to my work telling me i had shifts tomorrow and friday. i confirmed both, then remembered thurs would be a no-go cuz of bbq (which i swear to god, if it's rained out... i will murder something). then called my ma to tell her about my lifeplan
11: watched fashion house. best daily drama ever. i;m impressed at how bo derek an morgan fairchild have aged.
12: ate then took a nap
2ish: woke up, bought liquor, choco milk, and water... and i've been pissing round on the interweb ever since.


anyway. i've been looking into this bbq for forever. it'll be the first pre-drink i've hosted ever. so ive been trying to stock up, which is a little hard cuz i only got a bar fridge.

i have to endure hours of class tm though. 6 looong hours of tv and pop cult, and lit of protest. joy.

i'm excited to work friday though. i have all day to sleep over any hangover that might ensue, then get ready for another crazy night.
i love my job. i love being appreciated and respected too (at least by my employers... the customers on the other hand... whatever)

i'm really loving it here. and i do miss people at home for serious. i dunno if i'd miss people more or less if i didn't keep in touch with them.
my friends here are advising me to let go of them for the time being so i can fully enjoy my experience here. i mean, they do have a point, i'll seem everyone soon enough. but it's not like i'm missing out on anything here when i talk to my people back home. i talk to them at such rando hours. and never to i prioritize that ahead of going out.
it's just really important for me to maintain those friendships, cuz they'll always be there for me if they realize how much they mean to me, so i'd rather not be out of the loop and then have to re-befriend people again when i've already done that. holy redundance.
i dont even know if this makes sense. but this is exactly what concerns this exchange student.
my friends just warn me from staying too attached to back home folk. and i understand. but really, me missing people doesn't interfere with anything i do here. so s'all good in the hood yo. i hope people feel special knowing that i think about them all the time, but at the same time realize i'm having an awesome time here with all the new people i meet and the different things i do, and that really, i just wanna share all these experiences with them.
i'm just really super excited to be visited, more than anything!! i can't wait for the beginning of may to come, which at this rate is gonna be here friggen tomorrow. shit. time fucking flies.



i fucking hate these foreigners. i'm not being racist. maybe a little ignorant. just easily agitated more like. i love the english language though.

irregardless.

i get my first paydeposit this week i hope!!! i prefer getting cheques, but it's nice that i have immediate access to that money. and it's a nice little surprise for the weekend too.
i can;t wait to stop using my credit cards! debt begone!

fuck i'm so tired. i might just nap again.
nap and eat, that's all i do on my nothing days. it's a pretty sweet deal.
maybe that'll take me out of my grumpy mood...
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my first day

2:33 p.m. nikki sp
so i just got home from class. this is what i wrote during it:



ryerson's a great school. toronto's a great city.

i'm currently in class right now. i've forgotten to bring a pen.

i have to buy 'documentary production reader' cn 2771 50199 $18

ok. like uts is great, and i love sydney. but we did our class intros. it's a small class which is nice, but out of everyone, i had the most work experience.and i def credit that to ryerson's hookups, and toronto's opportunities.

ok, so i also have to go to www.hss.uts.edu.au/student_info/forms_documentary_bookings/index.html
i don't know if i will like the class. i pretty much took it so i could follow up dyer and s4c on his aussie tour. but that's not happening yet. it would be wise of me to switch out, just to get the most bang for my buck, but i really really really love my sched.
this being:
tuesday 2-5 doc prod
thurs 10-1 tv and pop cult, 1-4 lit of protest

that is all.sweet azz.
like i'd marry my schedule if it were possible.
so...the only other thing i'd switch to might be creative techniques for shorts if it has a really sweet sched. because since i'm considering switching to commercial production, it would be handy. yeah i should really do that. cuz as she's introing this, i'm already finding it repetitive.

i love having a laptop. but this wirelesss access sucks balls, so i'm actully typing this to be copied later. my attention span sucks.

the marking criteria for this class is pretty sweet. only 2 projects, 1 group, the other personal. but only 1 produced doc in total.
they call docs doccos here. crazy aussies.

plus, the guy to girl ratio is really weak, and that's an indication of a not so fun course. estrogen-heavy courses are just... dangerous. coomey's doc class was fairly balanced, thus resulting in a variety of final docs in the end.
sometimes i think i know too much.but that just means i know nothing at all.

oh, apparently film australia allows free rights to their footage for doc producers. that's pretty decent. but you have to pay for the transfer.

shit i have so much to learn about film. canada's industry is whack. i think audio-visual arts should all be groped together, but then it would be a very heavy course if tv and film with audio was combined.
maybe i should suck it up. but i really wanna work with a creative bunch of people, and i will prolly find that with the other course.
ok, they call essay docs expository form doccos. cinema verite is observational forminterview-based docs are interactive form
ok, if i did stay in doc class, i'd do an interactive form doc on canadians in sydney.easy, a little bit of a copout, but... hey, i think people would find that fascinating. it would appeal to both sydneysiders and canuks primarily, and any other travellers and aussies secondarily.

haha my doc prof is also bad at math! sweet. it's just like back home.

ok, well maybe i'll stay. i'll just tune out and blog while i'm in class, then produce kickass shit outta class. but i really should sit in on creative techniques for shorts. that seems more up my alley. i mean, i do like things i'm good at. but i also get bored by repetition.

haha she just said the beginning of docs are usually the last things put together. not alicia and i. shit that stuff is the most important part, and there's no way we can cut up something good with like 5 hours to spare before we have to export and burn everything.



i hate not having internet access!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!fuck man, i only have the attention span to last me in an hour and half class.this is torture. yes i'm being a baby. i will probably skip english. unless my profs somehow read this. then i'll be ever present. but just frequently in the toilet...i'll be the kid with the hair and pants...

ok this aussie doc has a really long take which is content-wise
relatively interesting, but visually B O R I N G ! ! !

i
am
so
bored


juxtapositioning! that's the word i was trying to remember!! way smarter sounding than cross-scripting, though that sounds more technical
i wanna watch borat again.


ok i dunno how keen i am on creative techniques cuz all of that stuffm ight be individual and i think production is a team sport.sigh.
also it's a lot like second year efp. which i fucking hated at ryerson. so i think i'll suck it up and stick with doc. it'll gimme a chance to learn more about the city. sigh.i wish they had a commercial production course.

shit if i didnt have a pc and if there were more than 14 people in our class, i'd totally take a nap. how i'm managing to do well in school impresses me to no end.

h o l y s h i t s o b o r e d
t h i s i s b r u t a l

writing is the only thing keeping me sane. barely.
coffee with pat will be good. lots to catch up on. less boredom.

hey my mind is less on vacation than i thought it was. i'm pretty keen right now and it impresses me.
aaaand i just had a brilliant idea. i think if there was a way to do something on body piercings, so i could get a discount on a piercing, while making a cutting edge docco. dunno if anyone will buy it. don't even have a slant to it. it's only 3 minutes too...i mean, it'd be so easy to get work sequences if it was just a how-to... if only there was some new thing in the news that made this topical. ps keeble was an awesome teacher.

(LISH! -it would be great for any feedback. i will facebook you later. ps, i submit as much as you can to the taras and good luck!!)

shit i totally tuned out and i have no idea what shes talking bout. or probably completely narrative docs. boring. wait, no. just expository.

officially really super bored.
i hate old docs. i wish we could watch contemporary shit that was relevant to the type of stuff we'd actually be producing. in better news, i already know which people i wanna work with. i dunno how i know this, just intuition. i know for sure who i dont want to work with. this team will have a huge influence on my enjoyment on the exchange...fuck there's still a half hour left. grrr. 35% batt life remaining.oh great. a wildlife film. .. ok well this is kind of funny. kangaroos and idiot joeys are entertaining. the narrator's voice, however, was not.

motherfucker. i'm like as bored as i'd be if i was sitting in church right now. that's pretty fucking bored. and now we're going to watch a boxing film for the rest of class. this is productive.
not.
haha i just made a not joke. i am the only amusement i get out of this class, save for the idiot joey.




moral of the story: school is boring. the end.
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i thought we were in the middle of a drought

9:08 p.m. nikki sp
so why has it been raining the past few days. false advertising, i want my money back.

i'm seriously under the weather, constantly tired. i def need to get my tonsils out posthaste before more infections hinder my talkability.

also, i realized i'm a grand less because of my return ticket which i have yet to purchase.
brokeski am i.
i can't wait to find random money in my bank account.
or maybe to meet a sugar daddy to take care of whatever i fancy. i mean, i'm not high maintenance or anything. just some nights out and sustenance is all i ask. aussie guys seem to make a lot of money, at least they look like they do. so i reckon they should share the wealth.

the rain does sound pretty outside of my room. it also makes all the mossies go away, so maybe my leg bites will finally heal so i don't look like i have random leg herpes.
it looks really gnarly, and it's so hard not to scratch.

oz gives me really weird lucid dreams too. i wish i could remember them more, but i have a hard time distinguishing whether or not something actually happened.
maybe there's something in the water over here. i'll blame it on the rain.
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o week was o-mazing

11:11 p.m. nikki sp
fuck that was lame. too tired to be clever. but it was pretty orgasmic.
there's no way faster to nikki's heart than free shit, and this week was full of free shit galore. care of uts and my jobs. promotions is sweet, and it's making me consider working more on the marketing side of the industry rather than production.
goodbye soul.

i have a wheezy cough right now. it's very attractive. way better than the hacking cough i wake up with.

still trying to figure out vijiting plans. ossher is staying a monthish, my mom maybe 2 weeksish, but when is yet tbd. it was supposed to be around my birthday, which woulda been nice. but i wanna party. and i wouldnt be able to have quality time here if i spread myself too thin. if she comes closer to the end of my stay, that would be ideal. we could go to l.a. together, i can chill for a few days before heading home. and i'll be legal then there! finally!
consequently, i dunno when i'm going home. which reminds me that i'm even broker than i thought given that i have to buy a return ticket home. unless i'm somehow able to hitch a flight. like maybe i could be a stewardess for a day. and then quit. or disappear or something.
if i plan to do that, i should delete this blog.

i'm pretty delirious right now.

time is going by too fast. this week fucking pissed by before my eyes.
and while i wish i could share all the funness and amazingness of school/city/country with all the peeps i love, i'm meeting heaps of cool people that have proven themselves fun to chill with.
it also helps that they're scattered around the city, giving me options of a place to crash if i decide to drink outside of broadway/city centre region.

it has been raining though, which should comfort people at home knowing that it's not absolutely perfect here.
but i don't want to dwell on that. because we still get 30+ temperatures. suckers.

i know by the time i get into school mode, the semester will be either half or almost all over. whatevs.
i am excited to see what it'll be like, the production groups i'll end up in.
with doc, i'll pretty much be learning 2 subjects - production, and the topico of the doc. that should get the gears churning. or whatever gears do. move? i guess. do gears churn? or is it just butter/dairy products.
gah.

in prep of the start of classes, i finally cleaned up my mess of a room. shit, it took hour. and now my back hurts. but i can walk around without worrying i will break stuff.
i have bought a lot of clothes. and gotten many showbags for free. as well as various swag from my jobs. i fucking love it. and i love how working on sundays is time and a half pay.
it's pretty amazing.
although, it was a little crazy working at a pub full of irish people who were already under the table before noon. i was thoroughly jealous. so i was a little bitter throughout my shift. and given i spent the night before chilling with paige and my new best friend william who has maneouvered his way into my heart by providing me with free drinks care of his many bar hook ups, i drank maybe 5 or 6 midori lemonades and 2 vodka lemonades in an hour and half, then went home to drunk dial peeps, only remembering at 4am that i had to be up at 10 am, it was a very rocky morning.
holy run-on sentence

i love that my place is clean. but it almost drives me crazy a little bit. i mean, it's not even perfect, but the fact that i feel like i can't touch anything without creating a massive mess, well... it's annoying, moral of the story.
i also did my laundry. which is really boring news, but exciting for me cuz any time i can take advantage of my res facilities, i'll mention it. it's only been the second time since i've been here. partially cuz i never had the proper change. and secondly, it's expensive. and c) because it's expensive. iv. it takes a long time.

but i finally have clean clothes again, i can stop wearing bathing suit bottoms.
kidding. i never did that. just bypassed the idea all together.

oh yeah, but about william, paige and i are prolly gonna chill with him this weekend cuz he comes into the city to one of the 6 bars where he gets free drinks, and he'll hook us up. aaand, he's not even creepy. he just turned 19, which maybe made him a little naive. but he didn't try to get into our pants or anything. he just gave us free drinks and sat with us and talked about his friends. or just sat with us while paige and i talked about our issues.
i love the people i work with and the people i meet while on the job.

so much love for life, this city, everything. i'm not on e or anything, though it's not rare in the city. but this city gives me a happy.
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my last week of freedom = amazing

12:27 a.m. nikki sp
maybe i'm too half in the bag/sick/generally out of it to write right now. but i just got home and i can't sleep.

i love blink. but i really shouldn't go there alone. it's fun and everything, i have no reservations about lonering it and meeting people there. but my judgement gets skewed, my conscience muted. so it's always nice to have some external imput so i don't end up doing stupid shit that i'm not likely to get a kick out of later.

my throat is still shit. i have a dry hacking cough that is very attractive and i didn't have to smoke a single cigarette to get it. lucky me.

it's a little dangerous going to blink so regularly, because people do start to recognize you/formulate ideas about you. i dunno if i exactly project the right idea.
whenever i go with anj, it's heaps better cuz i actually prefer dancing with chicks. no awkwardness/expectation to go home with them. i like dancing. but whenever i dance with a dude, my rhythm gets thrown off. and they say how one dances is a good indicator of how one performs in the bedroom. well i'd rather not give them impression that i'm spastic and awkward. i'd much rather dance in a big group or with a close girlfriend to act as a forcefield against metalheads aching for some action.

i wish more of my friends here liked more of the same music i did. to bad house is soooo huge. i haven't seen billy and company there in a while which is a lie cuz i saw them last week. but havent had a chance to catch up with them, i'm sure they can keep me out of trouble. so far they're my favouritest people i've met so far.

before blinking it, i was working with 2 lovely ladies. i love my job, my fellow workmates are all so sweet. we rarely have anything in common, but they're very friendly. i find the chicks a lot nicer and openminded to meeting new/foreign people than the guys. just a random observation.

man, no aussies can really do tequila though. the only peeps interested in that are the folks from north america. it's a pretty clear indicator where someone is from depending what they choose to drink, and what they absolutely cannot drink.
hm, that's a pretty interesting observation actually.

i learned a new word today. i think it was walts or maybe it was wallets but i heard it wrong. maybe i'm spelling it wrong, but it was their equivalent to a yuppies. of which there are many at the many bars at city centre.
ugh. they make me gag a little bit.
it's obscene how much time aussie guys/more like sydneysider males take to get ready. they are very high maintenance which is very off-putting.

i dunno... being very unmaterialistic, i don't understand the appeal. it really makes me believe they are overcompensating for something or maybe covering something up. haha. who knows?

man, this is my last free weekend before classes begin and i'm working all weekend. better make monday crazy fun before taking things a little more seriously.
people keep talking about how it's getting a little colder, time to wear sweaters. but they're nuts! it's still 20-range weather, sometimes even creeping to 32 so it's silly talk.
i refuse to acknowledge 'winter' here.
in second year, i refused to wear real shoes, only wearing flip flops/thongs every day until there was a massive rainstorm in november which caused me to get sick.
considering it's gonna get as cold as maybe 13, i doubt i'll break out the shoes, unless i'm feeling unlazy and want to be randomly fashionable.

shit, that reminds me i think vans is having a sample sale where kicks are only $20. i'm not sure where i heard of this, but if i can find some more prison issues, i'll get some of each colour. i love this city. it's at lot 5 footwear outlet store. damn i have a bad shoe addiction. i've already bought 2 pairs here. of course with purpose, i need them for work.
but... i really shoulda brought some from home.

motherfucker.

in better news, ossher's prolly vijiting me for almost a month which will be a crazy awesome time. blinking will be way better with her, cuz she's a really good wing girl or game killer, whatever i need her to be at any given moment.
we're very drunk compatible and i miss having someone matched up so well to me.

this has been the best week ever so far. and i'm not being hyperbolic. it gave me a taste of school and uts people, while still maintaining my freedom.
next week will be interesting. as much as i wanted classes to start, i don't think i'm mentally ready. after 3 months of vacation, my brain has collected some cobwebs that'll take quite a while to clean up. and before i know it, the semester will be over.
time is fucking flying. it means i'm having fun, but it's also a little sad.
i really love it here.
and i wish i could share this city with everyone back home. i love playing tour guide in cities of which i'm not native. cities according to nikki are quite the experience, i really should be a guide in toronto.
i think what's affecting my length of stay right now is the ability of me to get hired. if i can get a job in sydney/keep the ones i have now, i'll definitely stay longer.
but if something sweet and industry related happens at home, well i should be apt to return. it's a tough choice, but i know i'll be back here so i can at least find comfort in that.
it sucks cuz i probably coulda gotten some work on degrass had i been available in may. well, maybe when i get back they'll have something for me.

the industry's tricky here. esp since i only have basic cable, i dunno what options are out there.


i'm sooo rambling right now. but this experience has given me a lot to think about. i'm loving marketing so much that i might just pursue that when i've graduated. ideally, if i could do commercial production or music video production, that'd be stellar. documentaries are a noble path, but i think i'm slowly losing my soul to the marketing world. the psychology/sociology behind it all is incredible, and the creativity behind it all blows me away.
this semester at rye offered commercial prod, which would have been amazing. alas i am here, and i only have to take 9 hrs of class.

i'm taking doc even though i took it last year, but at least i can learn about something aussie. it's more the subject of the piece than the technicals of the course that are important to me.
there are some other interesting courses here too that rye doesn't offer, but i love my schedule, and everything;s all been approved. too much of a hassle to choose something else, so better bite the bullet.
next week is gonna be super interesting. despite it being serious again (i can't imagine it getting to serious though), i'm excited to see what this new part of this experience will be like.

so. much. rambling.
the end now


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heaps and heaps worth of free swag, drinks with the vice-chancellor, and winning a skulling contest

7:53 p.m. nikki sp
needless to say, this o day was a success.
it was a hella long day, but it was crazy awesome.

i had woken up at 5am after a 3 hour sleep.
and spent the first 5 hrs of my day shelling out milk and healthy breakfasts. i was able to hook anj up with months worth of food, and she left me the cutest message saying this was the coolest thing that's ever happened to her. i dunno weather to feel warm inside, or pity her.
of course she exaggerates everything, so i'm sure it was maybe like the 6th coolest thing in her life.

irregardless.
since she had a dr's appointment, she stopped by uts, where she saw a smorgasboard of free goodies, so she texted me the good word. so after work, i headed over and coincidentally ran into her, and we cleaned up, walking 2 blocks home was such a chore carrying maybe 50 lbs worth of free candies, drinks, glasses, stationary, safe sex kits, showbags, magazines, etc etc

aaand there was a bbq going on in the yard, with which they provided cheese as one of the toppings. cheese! that's amazing. no way would they spring for that kind of luxury back home.
we chilled with ricky, who has the funniest laugh in the world. i'm so proud that he's from ryerson.
and anj and i took more drinks than we were entitled to. but we're poor, so it's all fair.

i only had a chance to have a 40 minute nap before we headed to our faculty meet and greet, which was completely inadequate. i need at least 2 hours. so i was sorta a pile the whole time.
but the m and g was awesome. i really like our faculty, the whole thing was really chill!
aaaand we tried convincing them to use facebook for the humanities and soc sciences community. it was an intimate gathering and there are some awesome people we met.

i knew wednesday was gonna be awesome.

right afterwards was the vice chancellors cocktail, anj, asa (pronounced auh-sa i think), ricky and i chilled and hunted down the hors d'oeuvres. we each had like 3 drinks, which was a little inadequate, but free irregardless. never got a chance to talk to the vc, but it was a fruitful pre-drink before the international students pub crawl.



most common phrases of the night:
- where are you from?
- where are you staying?
- how long have you been here?
- when are you leaving?
- what are you studying?
- what courses are you taking?

asa and i chilled for the first 4 out of 5 bars. the first one was a fucking madhouse, the coppers had to come cuz we were over capacity.
but it was probably the most lively bar. either that or lowenbrau, german of course.
man, there are hella more germans here than i ever noticed. still lotsa canadians, but no irish peeps studying. just a lot of germans and canuks and... i'm not sure what else. swedes, i guess. asa is swedish. apparently when someone found this out last night, he was like 'oh, so then you must know everything about ikea' ...ahahahah.
i love that. so awkwardly ignorant.

swedish is a very nice language to listen to.
and there were a few canuks from quebec, so it was interesting to hear them speak french. i could pick up the just of the sentences, not a verbatim translation. but it's def not what we learned in school.

by the second bar, though, i was really not feeling it. my throat had been bothering me so i was losing my voice. it was laaame.
i couldnt even drink! me. not drink. wtf? i even turned down sips from asa's and anj's drinks. how very un-nikkilike.
however!
there was a skulling competition, and i new i totally had to represent canadia.
so i got up there and chugged my heart out. and wouldn't you know it, i won!
sick and all, i won!!! i won a schnapps. but because i was sick, i didnt wanna claim it right away and let it go to waste.
it gives us an excuse to go there another time.
yeah lowenbrau was so awesome. they even provide free finger foods, which is awesome. free shit is amazing.

buuut. i had to turn in shortly after that. it was depressing, not even midnight.
to be fair, so many things were in order for me to have an early night in. 3 hours of sleep is not enough for me to last a night of crawling, esp when i have no voice left. anyone that knows me knows i like to talk, so i just didn't feel real being there voiceless.

when i got home, i had some soup in hopes it would make me feel better and then i passed out on my couch. i fucking love my couch. maybe even more than my bed even. you know, i think i'd be satisfied if i didnt have a bed here. but it will be useful for when i am vigited.
irregardless.

i was awoken at like 4am-ish cuz i thought my alarm went off, but it was actually the fire alarm. tired as i was, and cuz i was on msn with folks back home, and cuz i didn't care to put clothes on and walk outside, i chanced it and stayed in. good thing, it was a false alarm, somebody prolly got drunk and whacked their sprinkler, shooting water everywhere and setting it off.
whatever. nothing to me. the alarm wasnt even that annoying. it was a low-pitched beep that i could have easily slept through if i had drank heaps more, or none at all.

i eventually got to bed at 7am as it was getting bright. i like talking to people back home. ossher is coming in 10 weeks! that's amazing. sooo much earlier than i had thought!
we've never seen each other consecutively like that, but it'll be a gong show for sure.
yayyyy. shit i'm excited. quiggly even.
most people have received my postcards by now, unless they've been away for reading week. i love writing and i love talking about my random adventures, if that wasn't obvious. and mail is becoming a dying form of communication, i didn't want it to go in the way of carrier pigeons, smoke signals, or telegraphs.

yeah, e-mail is free and i talk to people on facebook and msn anyway. but...
there are so many cute and funny postcards out there. it's a little price to pay for heaps of amusement.

when i sent them all out, i had to post a gift to my friend as he has provided my wrist with much amusment at parties and haha that sounds super dirty. i'm talking about watches, which are probably my favouritest accessories, esp when they're free/stolen.
that was a little expensive, but there's no price too big for someone's enjoyment.



and when we finally dragged our asses out of bed, we headed to bondi which we hadnt seen in ages. that was pretty fun while it lasted, we were with heaps of people we had met yesterday. probably like at least 10ish of us at any given time. i don't even wanna try naming everyone, cuz i don't remember all of them, nor do i have the vaguest idea how to spell most of them.
yeah i'm ignorant, and i don't shy away from admitting it. but i do pride myself in spelling, and name-spelling is important. i hate it when people think of me as a niki or nicki or worse, nicky. i've had random spellings too - nickkiie. wayyy too many letters man.
nevertheless
then it tarted raining so anj, asa and i went window shopping at the bj mall. it was a little depressing cuz we're all skint. but i bought a dress anyway. anj tried it on first, decided it didnt look good, which permitted me to go with it. and seeing as it was houndstooth and only $13 AUD, why the fuck wouldn't i? it looks wayy expensiver than it was.

tomorrow is the tandem buddy bbq which i wont be able to make which is a bummer cuz i love free food. but job training is more important, so i stand by my decision.

i love uts.
love it love it love it.
it is a lot like rye high, but wayyyy better. heaps and heaps and HEAPS better. i mean, look at all the free stuff! and the awesome people!
yeah rye high has awesome peeps too, but there's so much more intermingling here, i guess given that we're all international students.

never before in my life had i had such school spirit and pride. this was amazing, and i'm soooo happy for my choice.
sooo happy!
i love it.
love it love it love it.
L O V E
I T

it's almost unfortunate i only have 2 days or 9 hrs of classes/week. almost.

this city is amazing. and i want to live here.
i got a fortune cookie that told me i will be successful in my career or whatever. so hopefully i can be successful anywhere i decide to live.
well, i know i will. i've been so lucky, and i know how to make the most of my opportunities.

this has definitely the best leap i've taken. expensive as it is, it's incredibly worth while.
i can't get enough of this city!
i'd totally marry this city, which says a lot seeing as i'm not the marrying kind.
sometimes, there's something special enough to change a girl's mind
hahaha
ah. love is in the air
(anyone who was at lowenbrau last night knows the significance of that corny line)
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vijit!

6:59 p.m. nikki sp
it's my nickname for lynn, and also a random word we use to replace real words when we don't wanna speak english/offend other people with what we're actually talking about.

anway, lynn's vijiting me once her exams are done, so i've deemed that to be in like 11 weeks! whcih doesnt seem like much time at all.

so that'll be alright. i mean i was so set to do heaps of travelling prior to school starting to take advantage of the hot weather. (i'm not sure yet if vij realizes the hottest time is now, and it will be a little milder come may)
which is why i was a little deflated about spending so much time around the city and lounging around in my crib.
i don't regret that i came here early, i really wanted to take advantage of the weather, and my tan says i was more or less successful.

and by the time lynn vijits, i'll hopefully have earned enough money to have a wicked awesome time without any worries. i have so much excitement for that. i miss having a partner in crime who'll encourage me to do stupid shit that would normally take 3 minutes for me to consider before i went ahead with it.
it's also nice that we have our own language/drunk vernacular.


hmm... i just missed my mother for a little bit. she's so awesome. i'm glad she's visiting me too.

my rando sleeping schedule does make it possible to still keep in touch with peeps at home which is not bad.
so i'm learning maybe i'm not completely ready to move away right now. when i am done school, i do plan to either move to sydney or l.a.
i'm slowly building contacts in either place. so that's alright.
but right now, i really enjoy my friends back home. it's taken a little bit of a while to cultivate such strong bonds and risiculous moments. but after school, i'm sure i'll be ready to move on.

sydney is probably wayyy better for me mentally though. the weather's better than l.a. you don't have to drive as far to get to the beach. the accents are better. my work experience counts for more here. not so much of an abundance of americans or mexicans (so what if that sounds racist. i like the cultural diversity here better). it's a touch more laid back. the slang is amusing. jobs are real easy to get here. a healthier lifestyle is more possible. christmas/new year's will be warm. i also prefer aussie national holidays. i feel waaayyyyy safer here. better thai food etc etc overall i think i'd just be prouder to admit i'm an aussie citizen really.

for l.a. the benefits over syd are - the industry is wayyy better there. my cousin lives at a sweet address and i'd love to live in the same loft. the money's better. it'll be easier/cheaper to travel to/fro toronto if need be. it's warm for my birthday. body art is cheaper there. i'll still be able to watch hockey. i can buy alcohol at grocery stores and gas stations. (oh, i'll be legal the next time i go there! finally!) fireworks for celebrations! more potheads over there. the cheesecake factory. ok, i actually like cali accents. quality canadian programming (degrassi) on noggin. i could hit up my mom if i ever need financial/misc support. etc etc

i mean, i have a feeling i'll be living a good share of my life in both these places. it's just a matter of where i'd be first.
logistically, it would make the most sense to move to the states after school for a few years, then go to syd in my prime for like 5-10 years, then be based in l.a. for the rest of my life while travelling around.
shit, it's scary to think this far in advance. i dont even plan a week in advance.
but being on this exchange has really gotten me to consider my life post post-secondary. maybe once i start classes, i'll get good connections in the industry and rake in a lot of dough. who knows. it's really not about money.
if i wanna be working on docs, there is a lotta interesting shit to document here, i just dunno how easy it is to have an indie production company here.
also, i'm not a fan of the house scene here. i'm dealing by getting into the underground scene which consists of metal metal and more metal. i much prefer the socal punk scene. whatevs.

irregardless. these places are very similar. as long as i dont have to deal with snow and minus weather, i'm happy. it's just the people that make the biggest difference.
i can't wait for vijiting.


so here's a summary of this blog in australian:
i reckon we'll have heaps of fun when my mate visits me. i can't wait to sort it out. we'll get pissed drinking schooners, and we'll avoid the dodgy places. no worries. we'll be so full on.

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11 days till classes start

3:44 p.m. nikki sp
i can't believe i'm doing a countdown for classes.
my god things are backwards over here.
anj's mom said that while we're here, things were gonna be opposite of what they usually are like back home, and so far it's more or less true.

anj has started seeing someone, leaving me without a buddy to hang out with during the weekend.
it's alright, personal time is good. i either have super busy days, then super dead days. all i've been doing this lazy saturday is vegging on my couch. i love my couch.
and i love my sandwich maker. they make my existence possible.

anyway, yeah so that's a little opposite because anj and i were super anti-relationship and bitter and cynical and everything.
but now there's so much love/infatuation going around. it's very foreign.
i mean anj is actually jumping into something, and i'm not too down on the idea either. i'm also looking at guys as people rather than just objects. hahaha.
this certainly has been a growing experience being over here.

but with all the buzz about v-day, there've been such polarities in celebrations.
it's nice being single, first time in ages, and i like the lack of obligation to do something sappy and stupid. no pressure, just going out and getting drunk with other singles, not even necessarily with the expectation of hooking up.
and talking to one of my friends back home has the most superfunctional relationship i know, they're the hottest couple and they are so good for each other. knowing them makes me less of a cynic, i can accept that there are people out there for me.

but i'm def not rushing into anything here just for the sake of it. i mean, i'm pretty sure that's what anj's doing. i know she likes the dude, but i think she likes the idea of dating more.
whatever, it's her prerogative. she's happy, and i'm happy for her.

i am excited for school. i mean, i only have 2 days of class per week, so it's not going to take up too much of my time. it'll give me a productive environment to meet people, and hopefully i can be work-compatible with a group of them. i need someone like alicia in my production group!!!

hahaha mean girls is on tv right now, and i want it to be halloween again! one of the girls i worked with is going to regina for an exchange and she's super stoked on halloween. i love dressing up. maybe i'll take a page from adrienne's book and have the march of doom. just have a rando costume partay in my room.

holy a.d.d.

ummm.... oh yeah, about school. i actually like the first day of school. it's the whole first impressions thing. i never know if the first impression i give off is accurate. when adrienne first met me, she thought i was such a rude bitch. it's not far from the truth, it just took her a bit of time to get endeared to it.

but it always seems so natural to get back into the swing of things.
when i started first year, the day before i was just in cali. and everything just flowed from there.
going into second year.. i was coming from montreal? no, i did go to montreal, but i was pretty much just lounging aroung or something.
summer always seemed to go by so fast, but now it feels like forever and i love it.

i don't think i'll have any exams, and if i do, i'll likely only have 1. so i'm probably gonna be done early june, my house contract ends july 7 i think. so i'm gonna have another month of vacation here before i return home.

it's so crazy to think about. time is flying.
i mean there are days like these when i dont do anything exciting. but i am living here, so not everyday is gonna be super eventful. i mean it's not like i always go to the c.n. tower or casa loma all the time.

besides, i need to earn money and not spend it. the intial plan was to do all my travelling prior. but the unexpected fees at the airport in korea were a little hitch.

random thought, i wish i had dimples. i'd be like maybe 20%cuter. but i dunno if anyone would be able to handle it.

but yeah, when ossh vijits me, we'll hit the g barrier reef. hopefully zealand too. and melbourne. that'll be a good party spot. and she knows some aussies too from when she went backpacking in europe, so that'll be convenient too.
that's at the top of the list of things i have to do while i'm here, along with surfing.

and if i absolutely have money, i'm gonna hit maybe thailand, singapore, malaysia and/or taiwan.

i'm on my way to being triply hired. i'm only allowed to work 20 hrs per week. that'd be around $1600/month if i am able to work 20 hrs. but everything is casual. i'll prolly have some 6 hr week,s then some 30 hr weeks.
there are always ways around things here.
i'm excited to sample strongbow cider, i haven't had it before and the promotion seems interactive. it's pretty stellar.

god, things just need to start happening!!!

ok, i'm being ungrateful of all the stuff i've experienced already.

goddamn i'm getting way distracted. pat just called, we're prolly gonna hit the zoo sometime this week.
he's got girl issues which i find hilarious.
guy/girl interactions are messed man.

ok, i can;t concentrate.

moral of the story - i want classes to start. i want money. and i want to travel.

the end







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"karaoke is awesome. and i'm not just saying that cuz i'm asian"

11:04 a.m. nikki sp
the quote of the night on my first night on the job.
ps i love my job.
my uniform is pretty cute - a yellow and blue tube top (or boob tube as they say here) that says cuervo nation down the middle, with black capris that are comfy as fuck. and i wore 3 inch heels to complete the outfit.

so i worked at world bar in the cross my first night. packed as fuck because of drink specials and backpackers, which made it hard to shell out cuervo.
so while i thought working would be a good way to meet some locals...well i was wrong again.
i met quite a few canuks, spent my last 40ish minutes talking to 4 guys from calgary who were giving me the hardest time of life when i tried doing my speil.
but they were good company, and said they would text me if they were able to score some pot.
unfortunately, no weed was acquired, but i was texted nonetheless and spent last night with them in the cross again, at the empire.
i'm not into house music. it wasn't necessarily my scene. i like pubs with pool tables; dance floors arent much of a priority with me.
they were great though, jeff bought me shots all night.
didnt get quite cunted in the least. i just cant get drunk if i dont predrink.
but i was out for a good time, not to get fucked up. so it was alright.
but around 5, i was talking to this swede who didnt dig the music either, and jeff just left! i had no idea when he ran off to, i mean he was a nice guy. maybe even too nice. so the fact that he left without saying goodbye was a little bit of a shocker.
irregardless, i had a great time. the company was good and the conversation was interesting.

being here does give me a newfound appreciation for the canadian guys i took for granted.


...but there were no v-day celebrations. which was great cuz those practices are against my religion.
it was the first year in a loooong time that this day had gone uncelebrated. and even then i still hated it.

man, i just relocated to the lounge because my room was getting a little stuffy, and now i've lost my train of thought.
it's not like it really had a destination anyway. but... well...

umm... i need to go to the beach soon. my blackness is fading.
and i gotta take advantage of that while i'm still out of school.

ok, i quit.
the end.
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rainy daze

5:57 p.m. nikki sp
this week has seen some rando weather.
temp wise, it's been sweet.
but there were a coupla sun showers and last night there was lightning oft in the distance. no rain. no thunder. just a pretty light show in the sky.

we were gonna have a fun-filled weekend, full of beaching and v-ball and zooing and surfing. but the dodgy weather coupled with other factors changed our plans.

with friday...all i can say is i love thai food and i love group dinners. there were 9 of us. so we ordered 7 or 8 dishes. which was a great idea. usually i just get some sort of green curry. so i dont get to try others. i mean, curry is just so damn good.
but this time, i got to expand my horizons and taste much more deliciousness that thailand has to offer.
it was so fucking good.
fucking amazing.
mmmmm.
i really hope i can hit thailand while i'm over here.


anyway. the deliciousness didn't end there.
anj's friend took us out for drinks, where i had the mother of all cocktails.
it's called the toblerone.

3 cl Frangelico® hazelnut liqueur
3 cl Kahlua® coffee liqueur3
cl Bailey's® Irish cream
6 cl fresh cream
1 tbsp honey
Blend with ice and serve in a tall glass. Garnish with chocolate flakes and optionally chocolate topping drizzled down the inside of the glass.

holy shit. just thinking about it turns me on. it was the most gorgeous drink i've ever tasted. i mean, anybody who knows me knows that bailey's is my achilles heel. but with all this other loveliness mixed in... shit, it will be the death of me. it was $18, but totally worth it. i need to find some rich hot aussie to treat me.
it's fucking orgasmic.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm oh fucking god.
amazing.

had a handful of those till last call. anj was drunk by then. it was a little entertaining, never seen that before cuz usually i'm the drunker one. but there had to be a first for everything.

aaaand, night didn't end there. we had previously decided that we were gonna hit pancakes on the rocks at 5am because anj needed to eat and take some medicine.
sooo we hit it hardcore and it was also delicious.
this was the weekend of gluttony. and it felt sooo good.

but because of all the friday funness, we were pretty tapped so saturday we were dragging our asses. we tried walking to coogee so i could get my flask back from my irish friend. but we got lost, so bussing was the way to go. we got catcalled a bit by some cuties in a car, but anj wasn;t feeling it.
then we napped, then went to liquid buzz.
the music is great, but the dancing doesnt pick up till midnight.
we're street teamers so we get free entrance and free drinks. promo has such awesome perks.

we had to leave early cuz anj wasnt feeling well. pat was supposed to join us, but after his dinner last night he fell asleep.
LAME.
ahahah, pat can be such a douche sometimes.

and today was a really loungy sunday. it rained for the majority of the day, so naturally i hibernated. anj was also busy and i didnt feel like dealing with people today, so i was a hermit.
all i did was get groceries, so i could at least feel like a part of civilization.
but most of the day has been spent on my big comfy couch (shit i dunno what i'd do if my apt didnt come with it. it's such a lovely place to pass out), with my computer on my lap, or arm of my couch.

it's nice to hear all the good things back home. i feel like there's a lot i'm missing out on with school - riot, taras, and i missed the karaoke show down. if i had known sal was performing, i just maybe might've come home for a bit.
but i'm glad to hear rta represented and kicked some jcu ass. we rule the rcc.
mmm. i miss home just a little bit.
this time/space dealy is a little hard to deal with sometimes. like i feel like i'm on the outside of a snowglobe looking in.
i mean, i left so many things open when i ditched canada. my departure happened so fast. and when i return, i'm prolly gonna be in the mindset to pick up where things left off, but so many things will happen with each situation within a matter of months.
and the more i keep in touch with people back home, i do feel like i'm evolving with them. but still, lotsa other shit happens that doesnt get discussed. so i just hope i dont get a false sense of comfort in the idea that i'll be cool with everyone when i get back...
the adjustment will be a little tiring, i imagine. same for the reverse culture shock adjustment.
i just hope many people can visit me so i can feel that little bit of home that i miss!
and i want my classes to start up again so i can stop thinking so much :)



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maybe i want classes to start RIGHT NOW

2:45 p.m. nikki sp

it's nice having a 3-month vacation, especially spending it in places like cali and sydney.

however, i'm going a little stir crazy right now trying to make effective use of my time without spending too much money.
legally i'm not allowed to work yet, but i just got hired to be a cuervo girl for the new ready to drink bev, vivezo. i'll only have to work 9hrs/wk just being myself socializing, so that's pretty sweet. and the uniforms are hott.

so i can;t wait for that to start, so then maybe i can meet some real aussie boys rather than foreigners.
otherwise, i'll have to wait for classes to start.

because as of right now, i'm not feeling the aussie love. dunno what it is. it's a very foreign feeling.
consequently, i'm missing the love from the boys back home.
sure, they don't have such charming accents that i can listen to till i die. but they're heaps more approachable. and i understand more or less how they play the game. the chase is exciting.
with aussies... i dont even know if they chase at all. they're all so laidback and aloof ...and hot, that i guess they feel like they dont need to try at all.
a little bit of a culture shock.
and i know i'm not in sydney to meet guys. but since i don;t have class, there's nothing much else to preoccupy myself with.

i mean, like this place would be perfect if it had the same people as back home but with accent.
i'm not homesick in the sense that i miss the city and comforts of home. i definitely dont care for snow or canadian winters in general. but i definitely miss the people and the food. drinking so much requires poutine that is completely unavailable here.

oh canadia.

i know time here is gonna pass by like a racehorse. i just cant wait to be visited though.


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rewind

6:41 p.m. nikki sp

alright, it's taken me a while to upload things from our journey to manly beach, but i've finally done it.




we went last tuesday when i decided i didn't want to work at the paintball place anymore.




playing in the water is much more satisfying than draining my soul, one paintball package at a time.




the free booze fridays were pretty sweet though.




sigh, i'll miss that.








irregardless, here's a video of our trip there.
















and this is another small one.




















it was a pretty chill beach, people say it's the best in sydney. but it is a trek to get to. you gotta pay for a ferry and everything. but the seats are pretty pimp. unlike the ferries to the toronto islands.




i think we're going back this weekend to play beach v-ball. that'll be fun. i think we're doing this after we go to the zoo too. exciting.




the waves are pretty crazy.




and from pics it's really hard to distinguish which beach we're at. but whatever. that's not too important. we're having fun in the sun, getting dark and breaking hearts.




there's not too much else to say about manly.


there are lotsa kids there, which is annoying cuz i hate kids.


but most of them should be in school now, so they shouldnt be a problem anymore.




we do really need to learn how to surf soon. and hit up a more scenic beach instead of a crowded city beach.




i'm so glad i got my first choice in sydney rather than melbourne or perth.


it's pretty much the best of both worlds, city and sand. as well as it's a easy to travel to many other places.


we're going to canberra next week for example.




this blog is a piece of shit.


but i'll just add more pretty pictures.


dresses are really in over here. they're pretty practical, just one piece of clothing to throw on.


they make me feel so girly. which i guess is all right from time to time.


i really like the one i wore to the full moon party. it was pretty hot. and both of the ones i got were $15 apiece which is pretty decent.
ahhh my head aches right now which is prolly why i suck shit at writing right now.
in unrelated news, i have another casual job. another beer sampling thing. getting rsa certification is not bad. a little bit of a gyp. and silly cuz i managed to get plastered not even within a week of receiving it. responsible service of alcohol, my ass.
ok. need rest. not headache.
blahhhh.








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permanent resident of the agincourt hotel

2:11 p.m. nikki sp



so pretty much all establishments serving alcohol here are called hotels. i dont understand the logistics behind it, but aussies do things all different over here so it doesn't matter.


irregardless.


friday was the full moon party. before that, anj and i hit up the pavilion hotel for $3 drinks. amazing. it was a good thing i was sick the night before so i could limit my intake.


the music there was def not my type, but anj enjoyed it so that was alright. i was super awkward and there were lotsa ugmos creeping in on us. not cool.


so around midnight we ditched it for the real party. club blink.



it was $10 which almost deterred us, but the music was awesome and the people were hot, so we went for it anyway.


downstairs was pretty chill. people drinking and chatting. but upstairs was a friggen madhouse.


metal and other various hard rock music. it was hot. i definitely felt this music and went crazy. it was amazing.

lotsa moshing and jumping around.

it was cool to see guys dancing with each other without worrying that they'd be perceived as homo. it was very nice.

i was worried that anj would not have any fun, but she rocked out too, and i was very proud of her. aaand, by virtue of her feet hurting, she sat down beside a cute boy with whom she talked the whoooole night.



so last night was a little more mellow stuff. liquid buzz.

alt/indie music. i didn't have anyone to go with, but i decided it woulda been a great opportunity to meet some friends who were into the same shit that i was, so i bit the bullet and went.


at first it was a little awkward cuz there wasnt nearly as many people as the night before. so it was a little weird dancing by myself. but i joined it with a group of people, which was alright.

but one song had everyone bail, so i had to get a beer and chill for a bit.

while i was nursing my drink and people watching, i spotted the tallest dude of life. 6'8 and he was with a fun-looking group of people, so i set my target on them and eventually went for it.


they were really rad. most of them were bandmates, and girlfriends of bandmates who were actually making money for playing music. what a concept eh.

i couldnt quite catch the tall dude's name, but i remember dave was a short guitarist with a shorter girlfriend. erin was awesome and reminded me of julia from back home. her dude was a mohawked bassist whose name i cant remember...oh and brad.

brad was pretty much as awkward as me. a very shy dancer, but man when he was breaking out the water sprinkler and the shopping cart, he was on fire.

nobody quite knew how to dance to mcr's the ___ parade (suck with song titles/lyrics) cuz of all the different tempos. so i grabbed him and slow danced, then when it all got fast we jigged and cut it up. he dipped me and i didnt even fall!

it was awesome.
he was like the only single cute guy there. and all the couples kept ramming their tongues down each other's throat. it was a pretty good show.
even some ugmos found each other and were showing some love. that was special.
unfortunately the night ended at 3am when the bright lights came on and the music turned off. bummer.
we chilled outside for a bit deciding what to do. most of the band left to go wherever, and a few stayed behind. brad was surprised to hear my accent when i said goodbye cuz when music is blaring and someone's screaming to compete, it's hard to detect.
haaha i have an accent.
but yeah, didn;t get anybody;s contact, but they're there pretty often, so that's alright by me. i just wanted to meet a group of people that actually enjoyed doing what i did, liked the same music, and were chill and laidback.
mission accomplished :)

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unilodging

4:39 p.m. nikki sp








so last night was our first time out with peeps from our res. yeah, we gave in and made friends with some yanks. they're alright, but their beer still sucks.



it ended up with us getting refused from 2 bars cuz i was intoxicated (although i only remember being denied once, but anj swears it happened twice). i was getting super nauseaus on the ride home and the elevator did it to me - as soon as i got out, i ralphed. i lost the keys to my room, and had to get the hotel people to take care of me. and i woke up this morning on my couch to some kiddy program with singing. not the best thing for a hangover.






so this is how i happened, from how i remember it...






anj called me at like 10 last night saying that her neighbours were going out and invited us along. so i got ready and went to her place to predrink, or pregame as the yanks call it. sounds too competitive to me though...






irregardless.






so i had 4 shots of baileys with her.
then we went to the neighbours, and i bogarted some boxed wine. i had about 2 or 3 glasses.
when we got to the bar, ryan got us a round of tequila shots.
then we had pitcher, or jug as they call it here. i ignorantly knocked over my half full glass when i gave ryan a high5 when we realized we were both flip. luckily i also discovered the bartender was flip, and he filled me up completely.
then some mixed drink came around.
then some more pitchers.
i think that was all.






but during this time, i apparently talked to an aussie dude the whole night, who managed to retrieve my keys after i dropped them in the first bar. according to some photos i found on my camera, i kissed him. i dont know if i find him attractive upon reflection.
when anj went to get my keys back from him, he asked her for my number and bitched at her for making me leave the bar to go to the other bars where i was rejected. i dont expect anything to happen out of that.






i remember anj was playing pool this whole time.
i have no idea where we went. or who helped me get to my room.
i was so cunted.

this morning when i woke up, i got some fries which i could barely swallow. and i drank some oj.






and then i threw up again. but at least time i made it to the toilet.






so i showered my hangover off, and was at last able to eat my fries, which woulda been perfect poutine fries. sigh. aussies have so much to learn about fine dining. at least i have a few months to show them how it's done.






and pretty soon i'll be getting ready to go out again for the full moon party.
hopefully i dont get too cunted tonight. i will be wearing a dress.







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