It's hard to motivate myself to do anything inside when the sun is out, the sky is clear, and I have the suntan of an albino. But I am here, giving a short account of what I've been doing for the past three days since we've gotten here.
We arrived on Friday afternoon, and made our way back to Tyson's apartment. Tyson's brother, Callum, picked us up from the airport. Not much else happened on Friday, considering I slept a whole three hours on the fourteen hour flight. But Tyson and I did get out long enough to have a couple beers and a pub around the corner with some of his friends, which was really fun. They're also hiring, so that'll be good if I can get a job. Saturday was a little bit more exciting. I woke up at six (because it gets light then, AWESOME!), and putsed around for a little bit before going for a run. It was nice to get out into the fresh air, although Saturday was a little overcast so it wasn't that nice out. The rest of the day was spent getting some things that I need: a bank account, a phone, a pillow, towels, laundry basket, and food. Tyson and I had a nice dinner then watched a movie and went to bed. Exciting as that sounds, we were both asleep by nine thirty. Oh yeah.
This morning Tyson got up at like five thirty... crazy... and I slept until seven then went for a really nice long run. I ran about 12 k (7.5 miles) along the river and passed a golf course and the zoo. I'll walk along the path soon and take pictures if anyone is interested, and I did get some nice pictures today whilst sitting in the sun on the riverbank. Once I got back from my run I had breakfast and showered, then did a few more "getting settled" things and tried to skype with my parents... to no avail. I don't know if anyone has had this problem with skype, but the video was working and the audio wasn't. I don't know if it's something with Tyson's computer or my parents being a little technologically retarded, but it never started working, even after about an hour of trying. Maybe Betsy will be able to help them if she's ever in the same place as them. That was frustrating, but I think it'll work a lot better once I get my computer here... which should be sometime with in the next two weeks. Then i'll be able to skype with anyone who's interested (or I can do it via gmail too).
After having lunch I headed down to the river to read and sit in the sun. Adelaide is basically a huge widelife preserve. I was sitting about a foot from a duck that was enjoying some shade, and there were loads of black swans and a pelican just floating around in the water and being fed by some passersby. It was pretty cool. Except for this high school aged couple that was kissing and taking pictures of themselves simultaneously. It was appalling. Although I know where they get it from, when I was walking back I saw a couple in their thirties lying in the grass making out in public... a good example for the younger kids. I seriously don't know how people can do that... I mean a kiss here and there is fine. But sitting in a public park right next to the path making out for an hour is not showing affection, it's just plain annoying. Get a room.
Then I came back and made myself a snack and rested for a while, sitting in the sun is tiresome. Oh, and I'm reading this really awesome book called Liberators by Robert Harvey. It's a five hundred page book about the seven men that liberated Latin America. It's super historical, but reads really well and quickly. It's also basically everything I never learned in school about what happened between the Spanish Americans and the Spaniards. If anyone is interested I would highly recommend it.
And that's about it. I'm currently waiting for Tyson to finish up some "team building" exercises he has to do with some people at college... he's the assistant assistant dean (or something like that), so he has to do a bunch of shit with the other college workers this week. But once he gets back we're heading to his parents house about an hour away to have dinner. Should be fun, they always send us back with a nice bottle of wine so I'm looking forward to that. Not to mention his parents are a riot.
Well, that's all for now. Miss you guys a lot... kinda sucks not having friends, but I'll be sure to make some. Tyson has pointed out the "dodgy" places where people hang out at night. I'll be sure to check those out, they're usually up for making friends.
Cheers,
Katherine
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
I'm on a plane...
I counted the minutes, and Tyson fell asleep in... A whopping sixteen minutes after we took off. What a trooper. I've just finished watching morning glory with Rachel mcadams, Harrison ford, and Diane Keaton. I remember seeing previews for it and thing that it looked terrible. I apologize, it was much better than i thought. I even laughed out loud, and that's awkward when you have to wear headphones to watch a movie.
It was really interesting too, mostly because i have an interesting inset into a small portion of tv news (thanks mom). I know the industry is dying with online streaming and immediate news feeds like CNN and other national syndicates that can afford to do news 24/7. It's really sad that local news stations are having to compete at these levels, and even with the newspapers, which are also dying a slow painful death.
It's awkward to talk about this on a blog, which for some is the new way to experience the news, but I would just like to mention that I still enjoy reading the paper, in paper form, and watching the news from people that do occasionally haunt my community. Especially in a small town like Des Moines, you do actually see the broadcasters out and about sometimes. And those guys have to get up really fucking early.
But thats enough rambling. To keep updating about what we've been doing, we got to Sacramento on time, which was really unfortunate because we had about six hours to kill before our flight to la. Luckily, southwest is an angel sent by god and allowed us to go on a flight that left thirty minutes after we got to the airport. And the best part was, we got on the flight for free! See, usually they would charge you the price difference and, for some airlines at least, a change fee. But because our much later flight had already been delayed, they gave us the flight change for free. Hell yes southwest, I'm never flying anywhere else again.
So we got to la much earlier than expected, were able to check into the hotel and go for a run before we ate dinner in our room and went to bed. I watched the wolf man, another underrated film... But didn't really see the end. So if anyone wants to spoil that for me, I'm all ears. This morning we got up and sat by the pool for a few hours before we headed to the airport six hours early. Tyson and I both burned a little, but I really needed to get a little color before going to Adelaide. I think we'll still be the whitest pele there.
And now I'm sitting on the plane wondering what I'm going to do for the next eleven and a half hours. I'm sure I'll sleep, but thats not really a comfort. Op! Never mind... They're playing how i met your mother! Well there's another half hour well spent. Oh goodie, it's a first season episode. Except Ted is a big whiner in this season.
Until later.
Katherine
It was really interesting too, mostly because i have an interesting inset into a small portion of tv news (thanks mom). I know the industry is dying with online streaming and immediate news feeds like CNN and other national syndicates that can afford to do news 24/7. It's really sad that local news stations are having to compete at these levels, and even with the newspapers, which are also dying a slow painful death.
It's awkward to talk about this on a blog, which for some is the new way to experience the news, but I would just like to mention that I still enjoy reading the paper, in paper form, and watching the news from people that do occasionally haunt my community. Especially in a small town like Des Moines, you do actually see the broadcasters out and about sometimes. And those guys have to get up really fucking early.
But thats enough rambling. To keep updating about what we've been doing, we got to Sacramento on time, which was really unfortunate because we had about six hours to kill before our flight to la. Luckily, southwest is an angel sent by god and allowed us to go on a flight that left thirty minutes after we got to the airport. And the best part was, we got on the flight for free! See, usually they would charge you the price difference and, for some airlines at least, a change fee. But because our much later flight had already been delayed, they gave us the flight change for free. Hell yes southwest, I'm never flying anywhere else again.
So we got to la much earlier than expected, were able to check into the hotel and go for a run before we ate dinner in our room and went to bed. I watched the wolf man, another underrated film... But didn't really see the end. So if anyone wants to spoil that for me, I'm all ears. This morning we got up and sat by the pool for a few hours before we headed to the airport six hours early. Tyson and I both burned a little, but I really needed to get a little color before going to Adelaide. I think we'll still be the whitest pele there.
And now I'm sitting on the plane wondering what I'm going to do for the next eleven and a half hours. I'm sure I'll sleep, but thats not really a comfort. Op! Never mind... They're playing how i met your mother! Well there's another half hour well spent. Oh goodie, it's a first season episode. Except Ted is a big whiner in this season.
Until later.
Katherine
Thursday, February 10, 2011
First entry... Here we go! (feb 7th)
Hello! I don't really ow what I'm doing with this blog, so please don't expect much. It's mostly just so i don't have to write thirteen different emails all saying the same things.
What's happened thus far...
Since we got off for break, I flew home and almost immediately hopped in the car with my father and a close friend, Marshall fisher, to drive to park city. My father and I stayed the longest, ten days, and had an amazing time skiing. My housemates, Val luks, joined us for five days, as did Tyson. We had some nice skiing for the first few days, but after Christmas the snow was a little smoked down and the powder all but disappeared. After nine days of skiing, Tyson, my father, betsy, and I stuffed ourselves back into the car and drove to Denver. We dropped Betsy off at her boyfriend's brother's house so she could do another four days skiing with them, then drove straight through fourteen hours back to Des Moines.
We returned to Des Moines a few days before new years, toured the great city, then drove to ames and spent new years with liz, Kat, Judy, and other Ames residents at their favorite bar, sargeant peppers. The night was fantastic, other than a semi-serious head bump that Judy handled like a pro, and I couldn't have asked for a better group to ring in the new year with.
After new years, Tyson and I hung around Des Moines for a few days seeing the sites (all four of them), then packed up the car and headed on our road trip. We pretty much did the same thing in each of the cities we visited: walked around looking at all the tourist sites, tyson took pictures of the all buildings and any trains we might have seen, and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food (except for Boston because my housemates were feeling particularly homely while we were there, and I thank you very much for that, it was delicious). The cities we were able to visit were Chicago, Washington, new York, Boston, portsmouth, and Toronto.
The trips through the cities, albeit a bit tiring and bad for my back, were a nice way to see everyone I care about before i head of to the land down under (and under water at this point). So thank you to anyone who reads this that was able to see me on the brief days i was visiting. I really appreciate it, and can't tell you also how much I'm going to miss you.
A special thanks to my sister, cousin Rachel, aunt ann, my tufts family (yes, we are a family you hooligans), and Tyson's family for putting us up for actually significant amounts of time. We wouldn't have been able to afford it without your graciousness. I guess I should thank my parents as well, I don't think they were ready for me to bring home a hungry wolf. Seriously, Tyson eats like no one I've ever met... And I've watched the mens crew team eat breakfast four the past three years.
I guess I should mention that until i figure out how to put up photos with my posts, and probably after that, I'll be using a picasa album to post all my pictures... There'll be a link here at some point along with one on my facebook page. I currently need to shift through them because there's like 1300 pictures and that's just a bit excessive.
On that note, I'm still taking more pictures because Tyson and I are currently on the california zephyr train! We left Denver about an hour and a half ago and we're going through the mountains now. The view is truly spectacular. If you ever have a chance to take some time to get out to the west coast, I would recommend taking the train. It's not all that comfortable but it's doable, and the view during the day all but makes up for the comfort at night. And coffee is only a dollar seventy five so... It's manageable.
The train will take us through salt lake city, Carson city, and finally on to Sacramento where we will try to catch a flight to Los Angeles. Once in la, we'll be staying of the lovely and affordable Travelodge at LAX (which has an outdoor pool i might add), for one night and day, and catching our united flight to Sydney at 10:17 the next night. Lucky for us, united doesn't give you a person tv... So we'll have plenty of time to talk about things that we've somehow missed over the past seven weeks together. Or we'll sleep for the entire fourteen hours.
Once in Sydney we have a bit of an issue. Virgin blue, the airline that is taking us from Sydney to adelaide, only allows a total weight of 23 kilos (fifty pounds) per person. Tyson's luggage probably weighs about 32 kilos and mine about 40. In the event that we have baggage that weighs more than fifty pounds, you pay ten dollars PER KILO over the limit.
WORD TO THE WISE: if flying to Australia with more than one bag, make sure you are flying domestically on an airline that is partners with the international airline you fly... Ten they will check the bags all the way to your destination with out charging you ten dollars per kilo. This would have been nice to know when making my flight arrangements. This mistake will not happen again.
SO, once we get to sydney both tyson and I will be finding a ground shipper that can ship my bag to adelaide for about 30 dollars. Awesome. Hopefully it won't get there too much later than us, considering the bag will either have all of my clothes or all of my shoes. Decisions, decisions.
That's about all I have to say for now. I probably wont be making such long blog entries for a while because, let's face it, no one wants to read through this whole thing anyway. Hopefully ive made it easy to skim.
A toute a l'heure!
Katherine
What's happened thus far...
Since we got off for break, I flew home and almost immediately hopped in the car with my father and a close friend, Marshall fisher, to drive to park city. My father and I stayed the longest, ten days, and had an amazing time skiing. My housemates, Val luks, joined us for five days, as did Tyson. We had some nice skiing for the first few days, but after Christmas the snow was a little smoked down and the powder all but disappeared. After nine days of skiing, Tyson, my father, betsy, and I stuffed ourselves back into the car and drove to Denver. We dropped Betsy off at her boyfriend's brother's house so she could do another four days skiing with them, then drove straight through fourteen hours back to Des Moines.
We returned to Des Moines a few days before new years, toured the great city, then drove to ames and spent new years with liz, Kat, Judy, and other Ames residents at their favorite bar, sargeant peppers. The night was fantastic, other than a semi-serious head bump that Judy handled like a pro, and I couldn't have asked for a better group to ring in the new year with.
After new years, Tyson and I hung around Des Moines for a few days seeing the sites (all four of them), then packed up the car and headed on our road trip. We pretty much did the same thing in each of the cities we visited: walked around looking at all the tourist sites, tyson took pictures of the all buildings and any trains we might have seen, and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food (except for Boston because my housemates were feeling particularly homely while we were there, and I thank you very much for that, it was delicious). The cities we were able to visit were Chicago, Washington, new York, Boston, portsmouth, and Toronto.
The trips through the cities, albeit a bit tiring and bad for my back, were a nice way to see everyone I care about before i head of to the land down under (and under water at this point). So thank you to anyone who reads this that was able to see me on the brief days i was visiting. I really appreciate it, and can't tell you also how much I'm going to miss you.
A special thanks to my sister, cousin Rachel, aunt ann, my tufts family (yes, we are a family you hooligans), and Tyson's family for putting us up for actually significant amounts of time. We wouldn't have been able to afford it without your graciousness. I guess I should thank my parents as well, I don't think they were ready for me to bring home a hungry wolf. Seriously, Tyson eats like no one I've ever met... And I've watched the mens crew team eat breakfast four the past three years.
I guess I should mention that until i figure out how to put up photos with my posts, and probably after that, I'll be using a picasa album to post all my pictures... There'll be a link here at some point along with one on my facebook page. I currently need to shift through them because there's like 1300 pictures and that's just a bit excessive.
On that note, I'm still taking more pictures because Tyson and I are currently on the california zephyr train! We left Denver about an hour and a half ago and we're going through the mountains now. The view is truly spectacular. If you ever have a chance to take some time to get out to the west coast, I would recommend taking the train. It's not all that comfortable but it's doable, and the view during the day all but makes up for the comfort at night. And coffee is only a dollar seventy five so... It's manageable.
The train will take us through salt lake city, Carson city, and finally on to Sacramento where we will try to catch a flight to Los Angeles. Once in la, we'll be staying of the lovely and affordable Travelodge at LAX (which has an outdoor pool i might add), for one night and day, and catching our united flight to Sydney at 10:17 the next night. Lucky for us, united doesn't give you a person tv... So we'll have plenty of time to talk about things that we've somehow missed over the past seven weeks together. Or we'll sleep for the entire fourteen hours.
Once in Sydney we have a bit of an issue. Virgin blue, the airline that is taking us from Sydney to adelaide, only allows a total weight of 23 kilos (fifty pounds) per person. Tyson's luggage probably weighs about 32 kilos and mine about 40. In the event that we have baggage that weighs more than fifty pounds, you pay ten dollars PER KILO over the limit.
WORD TO THE WISE: if flying to Australia with more than one bag, make sure you are flying domestically on an airline that is partners with the international airline you fly... Ten they will check the bags all the way to your destination with out charging you ten dollars per kilo. This would have been nice to know when making my flight arrangements. This mistake will not happen again.
SO, once we get to sydney both tyson and I will be finding a ground shipper that can ship my bag to adelaide for about 30 dollars. Awesome. Hopefully it won't get there too much later than us, considering the bag will either have all of my clothes or all of my shoes. Decisions, decisions.
That's about all I have to say for now. I probably wont be making such long blog entries for a while because, let's face it, no one wants to read through this whole thing anyway. Hopefully ive made it easy to skim.
A toute a l'heure!
Katherine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)