Week 2

After the storm: The first weekend I was in Canberra it rained for 2-3 days straight and last weekend was the same which was a shame because I had just moved into my accommodations and I really needed to go grocery shopping. I moved in on Friday the 12th and spent the day unpacking and decorating my room. I planned on going grocery shopping on Saturday, the next day, but I woke up to rain, so I lazed about. Sunday started out the same, but cleared up for a bit. When I had finally talked myself into going into the city, it started raining again but I knew if I didn't leave, I'd never go and I'd never get food, so I grabbed up my umbrella and stormed out into the storm! Rain does something to a city; everything looks new, fresh and intriguing! Wandering around is for some reason a lot more exciting when it's raining and it's easier to feel connected to the surroundings and those around you, despite being complete strangers, cause when everyone is dodging the rain and jumping over puddles just as you are, empathy come naturally. And I realized that you can learn the most about a new place when it's raining; what types of people use umbrellas, who dresses appropriately for the weather, who was caught off guard, who doesn't mind getting wet, who's chivalrous, who stays inside, who still goes out and about, etc. I highly recommend people watching in the rain. Next time it rains wherever you are, grab some shoes that can get wet and an umbrella (or not!) and meander!

Get out there and live; enjoy the rain!

Alarm: On Wednesday morning I did not get to sleep in, I was not woken up by my alarm and I was not woken up by cockatoos.. in fact I was woken up by a fire alarm drill, dark and misty at 6:00 in the morning. I'm glad I actually woke up for it though, because no alarm was going off in my room, it was just the halls, and while it was loud, I'm a deep sleeper. I was actually woken up byt he sound of doors above and below me slamming shut. In the commotion, and since we knew it was coming some morning, I realized, "Oh, this must be the fire alarm drill.. I shouldn't roll over and go back to sleep. I should get up." So I did. Our Senior Residents (aka Resident Advisors) then led us on a hike up Black Mountain for breakfast at the top.. or so I thought. "2 kilometers or so"... So we're hiking up the mountain and I'm sweating and huffing and puffing, clearly out of shape, plus loving the views, so I liberally take photo breaks and catch my breath. By the time I get to the top, there's no on in sight. I really couldn't figure it out, but I explored a bit and enjoyed taking my pictures. Spent a good amount of time up top, no on came by, so I headed down the same way I came up. The free breakfast is what hooked me from not going back to my room and going back to sleep in the first place and I did the hike and didn't even get any breakfast! Phooey! But I've hiked to the top of Black Mountain, I can cross that off my list! :)

A view from the hike up Black Mountain.

Amazing: I have 3 favorite places in Canberra so far. The FIRST is Hobart Place which is this little park in the city amongst some corporate buildings. I can't say exactly why I love going there, but it's always calm and sunny since it's tucked away from the streets. There's a circular patch of grass lined by benches and a little fountain. The pathways are lined with these cool sculptures that look like big green and blue leaves or sails, and all the light posts are crowned with a flower pot of beautiful pink and purple zellia flowers. The SECOND is a little dock on Lake Burley Griffin. Last week, Rhiannen and I finally got pizza from the New York pizza place and we decided to go eat it down by the lake. So we found this little dock, sat down and enjoyed the panoramic view of Canberra. We made friends with these black swans.. they were interested in our pizza.. so were we! Lol! But we enjoyed taking pictures of them, watching them swim around and throwing them bits of crust. It was a "you-had-to-be-there" afternoon, but it was wonderful as the sun dipped lower in the sky and the clouds rolled by. My THIRD favorite place I came across kind of by accident while I was wondering the school and I happened across this tree. It didn't look especially spectacular, but it's all the rage if you're a bird! Everyday at about 6pm this tree gets different species of visitors: Cockatoos, Gang-Gang Cockatoos and Rosella Parrots. And they all just sit there, eating in harmony! I love stopping by this tree now and seeing who's there and just watching them all eat and snapping away pictures.

Feeding our new friends on my favorite dock on Lake Burley Griffin.

The tree of bird harmony

Animals: I'm still amazed by this one tree being a feeding perch for 3 different types of birds, but I already talked about that. So, to the next animal! Unfortunately I saw a redback spider and it wasn't in a picture... In fact, it was in the School of Art. I took a picture, but I don't like to think about it. Moving on... I saw an Australian opossum! At first I didn't think it was an opossum, but when I showed the pictures I took to an Aussie, they informed me that it was indeed an opossum. Aussie opossums look nothing like American opossums! Ours look like big fat rats, but here opossums have bigger ears and a tail that is like a cross between a raccoon and opossum tail. When they come across humans, they kind of aren't sure what to do, so they just look at you for a minute, puzzled, "What are you? Are you a tree? Should I climb up you?". It's kind of weird but once they do get up in a tree, they're fine and go about their business eating and could care less if you're around, haha!

Momma opossum and baby opossum

Astronomy: Last week I saw the night sky for the first time since being in Australia! Previously it had either been cloudy or I was in for the night before it was really dark. But now I've seen the Southern cross!!! Yay! I thought the Southern Cross was like out Big Dipper and was the astronomical southern pole, but I found out it's not exactly. What I found interesting is that Orion, Taurus the Bull and the 7 Sisters (Pleiades) are also visible in the southern sky. After a little research, it's because Orion is in the astronomical equator, so it's visible in both hemispheres. I'm grateful because the sky is a little more familiar and I feel a little closer to home... a little closer to you all! :)

Athletic: IF, and that's a big IF, I was athletic, I would totally do Inward Bound. ANU is, I believe the only university to do it even though it originated out of school rivalry. ANU and some other school used to pull major pranks on each other constantly throughout the year. After years of destruction, they decided to channel their rivalry into a competition and thus Inward Bound was born. Now it is a competition between the different residents halls and colleges on ANU's campus. An Inward Bound team is made up of 4 people: a navigator and 3 runners. This team of four then trains like crazy in running until the big day. When that day comes, they are all blindfolded and taken out somewhere into the middle of the bush. They take the blindfolds off, are given a map and coordinates and they have 24 hours to get from point A back to point B, the distance of which could be anywhere from 50K to 150k (30-90 miles). It sounds really intense and I'm just not a competitive person, but IF I was, and IF I liked running, I would totally do it! Because while it sounds a little crazy, it also sounds extremely adventurous to just be plopped down in the middle of nowhere and then find your way back. Survival of the fittest? Yes!

American news: Apparently Obama is coming to Canberra sometime in March. No one really knows when, but he'll only be here for 48 hours, in which he'll address the Parliament. At first I had heard it was going to be more of a vacation, but now it'll be just a short trip... nonetheless, leave it to our President to spend precious American tax dollars in a depressed economy to bring along his little girls too so they can see Australia... while their jet-lagged of course. Rhiannen isn't too please since she works at the Canberra Girls Grammar School which is between Parliament house and the Embassy and those roads will probably be closed for security purposes. Hilary Clinton is also scheduled to visit Australia sometime in April, but that's all I know about that.