traaaains and sewing machiiiiines May 28, 2008

Today we looked up the meaning of the song “Hide and Seek”.

And… the president of Messiah brought gourmet PA bakery brownies into our office for us.

And… we made fun of some perspective student’s emails (i.e., athleticnerd, purpleunibrow, duckzilla, yahweh_maiden, player69xxx777, novapimpin3, way2beautiful4u, and blondeditz711).  We have to ask them on the phone if these emails are still correct and that makes for some awkward times.

And… we had a great debate about whether the students and employees in our office are “shuffle” people, or “album” people.  Meaning: when you listen to your ipod for an extended period of time, do you pick an album and just listen to it straight through, or do you shuffle songs?  After surveying the entire office we realized shuffling is more of a trend for females.  Just in case you cared.

And… we worked some too.

In Australia news, I recently found out I need to read “In a Sunburned Country” to prepare for my trip.  While I was rather looking forward to a summer free of required readings, the book sounds kinda good.  Think I’ll pick up a copy tonight and get started.  I am really curious about Australia.  I know embarrassingly little about its history, so this is a good thing.

hump day May 22, 2008

Today at work, somehow all of us workstudy students (there are around 8 of us in the admissions office) discussed what it would be like if Messiah decided not to celebrate Wednesdays, due to the potential double-meaning of the phrase hump day (don’t even ask me how this came up I have no idea).  Think about if everyone else considered wednesday to be a day of the week except your college.  You would have a greater proportion of weekend time which would be pretty nice.  We would have to make sure that was okay with prospective students.  “Just so you know… we offer over 60 majors, have approximately 3,000 students, and we don’t believe in Wednesdays”.  Oh the life of a summer workstudy… discussing the important issues in life. haha

In Australia news, one of my supervisors, Ellen, was talking with me about her experiences in Australia.  She used to fly through Sydney a lot on her way to Papa New Guinea, where she was raised as an MK.  Anyways, she said, “You know how we think Australians are really cool?  Well… the feeling isn’t exactly mutual.”  Why is it always like that?  Americans annoy the rest of the world somehow, or so they say.  It is true that Americans love Australian accents, and we stereotype them all as laid-back surfer types and think they are just so darn COOL.  But… to them, we’re like, give or take.  Eh.  Kind of annoying and uptight.  Our accents don’t make them melt like theirs do to us.  It was interesting.  Not like I was expecting to go there and be this hip exotic American girl or something, it’s just kind of weird to know that admiration we tend to have for Aussies doesn’t normally swing both ways.  Good mental prep for my time there.

Back to the Beginning May 17, 2008

long time no see.

I am back to blogging, in an effort to gear up for my next trip… Australia! (hence the name and theme change)

I will be living in Drummoyne, a suburb just outside of Sydney, Australia for the fall semester.  My flight is scheduled to leave July 15 and I return to the USA on November 15, which is great, because I will still be able to spend time with Messiah friends during the end of their fall term.  All in all the details are coming together.

The toughest thing so far has been dealing with my student visa for Australia.  Not only does the VISA cost over $300, but the Australian Embassy has required that I undergo a pretty detailed physical and get a chest x-ray to let me in (due to my time in Ecuador).  So that has been a little overwhelming as I try to send my documents in with time to spare before departure.  I am hoping and praying that everything comes together and my visa is approved before I leave!

This blog will mainly be centered around my Australia semester, but for the next 2 months it’ll be more about the ever-day oh-so-exciting happenings in PA.  Gotta appreciate it while it lasts, you know? : )

Tonight Lindsay is headed to her jr. prom with a bunch of girlfriends so I have been recruited to handle the makeup and manicure department in the getting-ready process.  Should be fun.  I would pay big money to see lindz dance the night away. haha.  I will have to make her take loads of pictures.

Until next post!