The Fringe & O-Week

Okay, so I'm not the best blogger out there. But I'm back now, see? Back to tell not so crazy stories about Australia :) Anyways...now to the stuff you want to hear.

So, The Fringe officially started this week. In preparation I went to see a preview of a Fringe show- King Lear. Pretty much, hands down, the worst staging of Shakespeare that I've ever seen. There were a couple of stand out actors that were way too good to be in a show like that but aside from that the lighting, costumes and set were just plain bad. They tried to be Brechtian about it...basically to show the bones of the production, which was a terrible idea. I left not pleased. However, I met a theatre critic who gave me some insight into other shows and another girl about my age who loves Shakespeare too and was just as appalled as I was by the performance.

Friday was the Fringe Parade to kick off the festival. We met up with some people,walked over to the street where it was being held and were met by thousands of people who were waiting for the parade to start. It seemed like everyone turned out for the parade. There were all kinds of floats and groups. There were a lot of roller derby girls and a lot of causes as well. There was a float about sun energy and a group whose theme was 'save your liver'. Overall, it was a really nice parade. After the parade finished, our group met up with more people and we attempted to go out despite the fact that pretty much the entire parade had descended upon the bars in the area. We wound up at one packed bar and decided to just stay and not have to fight another crowd of people elsewhere. We got some drinks and made friends with some of the Australians for a few hours before leaving. When we left, we walked over to Rundle Mall which was absolute chaos. The streets of Adelaide had turned into one giant party and the place had been trashed. I wasn't sure if I was in Australia or on the streets of New Orleans at Mardi Gras. A few of us decided we just wanted to get some food so we broke off from the group. We were able to find a place to eat and afterwards decided to call it a night on account of not wanting to deal with the craziness.

The next day I went to Amococo! I've been dying to go to this thing since I saw it on the fringe website when I first got here. Amococo is quite possibly the coolest art piece ever. Its this giant inflatable...tent of sorts. It deals with geometry and color and you can wander around inside. There are alcoves to sit in and rooms with different colors. So, the first chance I got I dragged a friend along and we went to go play in Amococo. The experience is honestly close to indescribable. It was a visual experience that can only be described visually, so please see the pictures below (the first is a picture of Amococo from the outside and yes thats me in the third picture)


That night I met up with my friend Brodie who I'd met back in Cairns. I mentioned him in an earlier post, he works as a theatre publicist for one of the shows in the fringe, The Vagina Monologues. We met up for dinner and talked about all the theatre things going on around here and he introduced me to his director. After we went to opening night of the show and it was really a well done piece. I've been meaning to see the show for a while and was glad that this was the first time I got to see it. The 5 actresses were extremely talented and it was a pleasure to watch. After the King Lear debacle, I was relieved to see a well done performance.

Monday kicked off the start of O-Week for the University of Adelaide. O-Week is essentially the week before classes where they set up booths and you can learn about different clubs, groups and the school in general. There are bands and games and at night there are parties and other activities. My roommate Sam and I got up and headed over Monday morning to check everything out. We went to the Vice Chancellor's speech where the speakers welcomed new students to the University. Afterwards, we headed to the booths and found they were giving out free stuff. We got 4 or 5 free goodie bags with info, food and other little things that we probably would never use but hey- free stuff. We ran into a group of our friends and walked around for a little while before settling in at the UniBar. Yes, there is a bar on campus. We watched the Olympics for a little bit before walking over to a park across the street to play frisbee and hang out. This was followed by lots of walking in an attempt to find an Olympic hockey game, which we found out wasn't being broadcast. We decided to end the day there and headed back.

This all brings us to today! (I really need to stop going so long between posts) Went shopping for a little bit this afternoon. Probably need to stop that...not entirely sure how I'm going to get everything back. Oh well, I can deal with that a few months from now. Bought a couple of dresses in my attempt to blend into Adelaide society. Everyone dresses up here. When you go out, you can be turned away if you're not dressed up or not wearing closed toed shoes. My wardrobe was definitely lacking a bit of that class. At 7, the University was sponsoring a showing of a movie on the lawn and Sam and I decided to go and meet up with the group. We got there only to find out the event was definitely lacking and we were better off not staying. We left and walked back to the apartment complex where, after much debate and some obstacles, we ended up just sitting around talking for the rest of the night.

Think thats all for now! Going to try and post again soon :)

The Garden of Unearthly Delights

Adelaide is probably one of the most amazing cities on the face of the planet with so much to do. Everything is so clean, its a large city but easy to get around, and there's tons of free transportation around the city if you don't feel like walking.

Yesterday, our apartment complex, aka The Village, had a BBQ for the residents in the courtyard across from our apartment. So after I had my inspection (pretty much just to see if anything needed to be fixed in the apartment) I headed down for free food. I ended up spending a couple hours in the courtyard meeting and talking to people from all over. A couple of the girls and I decided to head out that afternoon to go shopping and check out the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

We took a free tram over to East Terrace and went shopping in an outdoor market that's put on every Saturday. It was on a street that had been blocked off and was basically goods that people had made and shops that were putting out discounted clothes. One of the first booths we stopped at was a magic shop selling tricks and in doing so, putting on a free show to display the tricks you could buy. We wandered around for a little bit before heading to the end of the street and the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

Now, coming up in Adelaide is something called the Adelaide Fringe Festival which is this giant arts festival held for 3 and a half weeks in the parks surrounding Adelaide. It's the second biggest Arts festival in the world and there's over 200 events going on every day. There's live music, theatre, puppetry, comedy, art, anything you could possibly think of that has to do with the visual arts pretty much. The Garden of Unearthly Delights is something like a precursor to the fringe. For about a week in a park in the east terrace is this great big circus of sorts. There's booths, carnival rides, bands and various sideshows. There's even something called a silent disco which was started in some European country. What they do is give you headphones and you're tuned into a frequency. Everyone dances to the music on their headphones so anyone walking by will just see a large group of people dancing in silence.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful around here- between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius which is something around 85 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit with a cool breeze that keeps it comfortable. Staying inside just seems like a crime.

Later that night, one of my apartment mates showed up. Shes from Indiana and is about American as they come and incredibly nice and friendly. We spent the night talking and watching Castle. We've also come to the definite conclusion that we're sharing the apartment with two boys and are now just awaiting their arrival.

Cairns & Adelaide!

So, its been a while. I'm going to try and update everything in this post! This one will at least have pictures now that I can upload.

Lets see what you've been missing.

I went white water rafting! It was so much fun! There were about 10 of us from the group and we were on the Barron River, which is a level 3. (They go up to 6 but 6 is more along the lines of a 'this water will kill you') We would go on some rapids and then get out of the boat and be able to float along the river. We alternated between the two for an hour and a half and then we all got back on the bus and went back to an outdoor bar for water, chips and just to hang out. There was even a couple from England on the trip who told us it'd taken them 24 hours of traveling just to get to Australia.

The next day we planted trees for Cassowaries (Giant Australian bird...just google it, they're hard to explain) And after a long shower, a bunch of us headed out. We went to a Greek restaurant and bought lamb gyros. Every so often you'd hear an 'opa!' from the back and the sound of a plate breaking. Following, we walked to a gelato shop where I got cinnamon gelato. It was just a nice night out.

The last full day we were there, we went to the Great Barrier Reef. By far the best day of the trip. We left early on the boat and spent an hour and a half tanning before we got to the first site, Michaelmas Cay. There was a smaller boat that took us to an island where we put on flippers, goggles and snorkels and started swimming around the reef. There were these suits we had to wear called stinger suits, full out blue body suits that prevented us from being stung by little jellyfish that could kill us. Thanks, Australia, for more dangerous animals. There was a stingray and a turtle and tons of fish. After spending a couple hours on that part of the reef we got back on the boat, had lunch and headed to the second site. I decided right before lunch that I wanted to go scuba diving. I was technically supposed to have gone at the first site first, to learn scuba diving and I was also supposed to have listened to a safety talk...neither of which I did. I talked to the guys in charge and they said we could work something out...So at the second site one of the instructors briefed me on what I needed to know. I was taught how to equalize my ears, how to clear out water from my goggles, what the sign for shark was...etc. Because I was the only person going for the first time at the second site, the instructor took me by myself, so I basically got a private lesson, which was awesome. He held on to me for the first 10 minutes to get me adjusted and help me swim further down. Then he let go and we swam around the reef, he showed me a sea sponge that stuck when he put it on my hand! Then we found a starfish that he put on my goggles and it stayed. I also saw a family of clown fish (think finding nemo!) and a ton of other gorgeous fish that were all colors of the rainbow. We spent 40 minutes at the depth before heading back and I had enough time to get out of the scuba gear and go snorkeling for another 20 minutes. At the end we all got back on the boat and headed back for Cairns. That night I met a guy at the hostel we were staying at who was from Adelaide. We got to talking and it turned out he was a theatre publicist and promised me a free ticket for one of the shows at the upcoming Adelaide Fringe (http://tix.adelaidefringe.com.au/ticketing/home.aspx) It also turned out it was his birthday that day so a bunch of us got dressed up and went to the casino for a few hours.

The following day I left for Adelaide. I spent another 5 hours on a plane before finally arriving in Adelaide, was picked up by a car and taken to The Village, my apartment complex. After getting info I was taken to my room where I made my bed and immediately fell asleep. Woke up early the next morning and headed out to explore. My first stop was to the university and the international student centre. I filled out a form and they told me about an overview session later that day that I could attend. I headed out and across the street to the Rundel Mall. The Mall was absolutely gorgeous. Its basically a street full of shops with more streets off of it called arcades that are full of more shops. It took all my effort not to go shopping for clothes and just get the essentials. I got some lunch from an underground food court. On a side note, lamb is super easy to come by here, so I was able to get a lamb yiros, complete with fresh vegetables and a garlic tzatziki sauce from one of the food places. Absolutely delicious. After, I was able to hunt down what I needed and head back to the university in time for the info session. I met a guy from Boston and his roommate, who was from Giza. Its absolutely fascinating the melting pot of nationalities that Adelaide has attracted. After getting more information, a free bag and water bottle, I got on the free bus that makes a loop around Adelaide and got back to my apartment. After resting a bit, I headed back out to the Adelaide Central Market, which is a couple blocks down the street from me. Its basically this huge indoor market full of fresh produce and food. I was able to get a loaf of freshly baked wholegrain bread, turkey, cheese and all kinds of fruits (including passionfruit and star fruit) and some other things for under 35 dollars. Next to the market and closer to my apartment is Adelaide's Chinatown, which is much cleaner and nicer than New York's. I have yet to venture through, but be sure that is on my list.

This all brings us to today. I woke up early and hung around the apartment a little bit before getting ready and heading back out to the market where I picked up hangers and some other essentials that I've really been needing. Came back to the apartment and finally got a chance to clean. I'm only adding one picture of my room in my apartment but the place is large. I have my own room and down the hallway is another hallway. There are 4 rooms all together and there are 2 bathrooms. When you first walk in there's a kitchen, a dining area and a living area. Its more than enough room and all air conditioned. My apartment mates have yet to move in but I should meet them soon.

So that's about it for now! I should be updating again sometime this week.
xo

Rainforestation

Alright, so I was mistaken in thinking we were going to be at the Great Barrier Reef. But I wasn't entirely wrong...half of our group went and the other half went to this place called the Rainforestation. (clever play on words) We'll switch and go to the GBR on Wednesday.



But anyways! Rainforestation. So much fun.



We got a chance to hold a koala. Afterwards we went and held a giant snake and got a chance to feed the Kangaroos and Wallabies that were running around. Legit just running around the place, no cages, no barriers. Afterwards we went to an aboriginal dance...thing. Display? Performance. that sounds about right. We got to watch them dance...and then 3 of us volunteered to go onstage along with a little asian girl to learn a dance. Yes. 3 of us. Myself included. Trust me, pictures to come. Lots of pictures of everything we saw but at the current moment the internet here does not like me to upload pictures so I'm going to have to wait for Adelaide.

But! Back to the story. We then went to lunch and I have to say. I think its being in a tropical area but Cairns has amazing fruits and vegetables. They are so fresh and all sorts of things that we could never get back home. We had passionfruit at lunch, which is incredible. One of the best things I've tasted in a long time. And earlier in the day we'd been wandering around something of an indoor flea market with food stands and some woman gave us this red prickly fruit whose name escapes my mind, but it was soo good. I'm pretty sure I could write an entire entry about the fruit and how good it tastes but seeing as you can't taste it all I can do is sit and fail at describing it.

Following lunch we took an Army Duck tour...one of those boats that goes on land and water, through the rainforest. Got to see a lot of plants, trees and animals and even learn some info about them! Education! Granted, I don't actually remember much about what the tour guide said, but at some point it was educational.

We headed back after that and then had a couple hours to ourselves before we all went out to dinner. Tomorrow I get to sleep in and then go white water rafting. That should be an event. More definitely to come.

The Beginning

Alright, So here goes this first post. I'm definitely not promising interesting. But I've been requested by Maria to at least post.

So. I am currently sitting in a hostel in Cairns. (Check the map. its at the top of Australia) We got in about an hour and a half ago after having spent a good 22 hours on planes.

I started out in New York and flew 6 hours to Los Angeles. Made some friends with a couple girls on the flight who were doing an exchange to Australia as well, but through a different program. There was lots of chocolate and talking involved so that flight went fast. We're going to try and meet up at some point during our trips.

The next flight had a good 4 hour layover, so my friend Kate picked me up from the airport and we went to her place which was 15 minutes away, and from there we walked to this restaurant that turned out to have quite possibly the best turkey burger I have ever had in my life. (sorry maria- this one crushed the casino's turkey burger) We got a chance to catch up before she dropped me off. I then headed back to the airport to find a massive group of kids all together for the australearn group flight. By the time we'd boarded the plane we'd gotten to know a good amount of people- at least where they were going and where they were from.

We then boarded the 14 hour flight. Which, surprisingly, went pretty fast. The first 3 hours we we had tons of food thrown at us. Not literally, none of you are funny. By the end of the third hour they shut off the lights and everyone attempted to sleep for the next 8 hours until the last 3 hours where we were welcome by more food and everyone getting completely antsy to get off the plane.

We landed and then chaos ensued as we attempted to get half the kids from the group to the next flight which, by the time we got there, we had about 10 minutes to spare. It was a bit of a squeeze but we made it and got on the last flight for another 2 hours in the air. We were all scattered around but I ended up sitting next to a couple from New Zealand who told me I needed to go there and go bungy jumping (sorry mom), go on some sort of crazy free drop swing, go on a zipline and go gliding over the mountains. Well. we'll see how that goes.

The entire flight we had the perfect view of the reefs and the land and the water. It was gorgeous. There will be pictures to come. We landed in the muggy heat, were hearded to a bus and then to this hostel. As much fun as this week is going to be, I can't wait to get to Adelaide where my own room with a nice shower and air conditioning await. I think I'm already starting to burn. Should be an interesting week. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get on soon.

Well. Thats about it for now as that all brings me to right here- with my computer, hiding in the air conditioning. In about half an hour were all getting together for an 'Australian Snag Roast'- Sausages on the grill. Cause its not hot enough. Then were heading out for an information session and dinner. I will be sleeping when I get back. And then tomorrow is the Great Barrier Reef...