Anyway, Alex, Christy, Maddie and a few of our other friends are in Buddhist Philosophy here at Bond. Their professor is the head monk at the monastery in Berkley, California, and sings songs about Buddhism. In fact, he has a CD on iTunes full of Buddhist songs. On Friday night, he was recording some songs for his second album and had invited his students to come, which meant I got talked into going as well. So, on a Friday night, that's how I ended up at the Buddhist monastery. It was actually pretty cool and I learned a lot. Songs ranged from ones that taught about the teachings of Buddhism, to songs such as "Every Burger Has A Mother" and other fiercely vegan/vegetarian/save the earth songs. The best part is that we had to sing parts of some of the choruses so I'm officially a back up singer on a CD that will be on iTunes, AKA I'm living the dream.
Sunday we took the train for 3 hours to the Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. It's a really big, nice zoo with a ton of animals, from the typical ones - kangaroos, koalas, wallabys, to the expected ones - crocodiles, lizards and snakes, to the unexpected - giraffes, zebras and rhinos. The entire place was basically a shrine to Steve Irwin and his family and their mission of wildlife conservation. Everyone there was super passionate about that.
And then today was another installation of 'musement park Monday for me! I went back to Movie World to finish the rides I didn't have time for last time I went! The lines were super short so I was able to get on them pretty fast! Some girls standing behind me in one of the lines came to Movie World a lot and said that this half hour wait was unbearably long and I just laughed and thought of the two hour lines for rides like the Raging Bull at Six Flags at home.
Since we're over half way through the semester and our time abroad, I thought I'd give you a rundown of everything I've crossed off the bucket list since being here, plus the other things I never would have thought to put. (Inspired by Alex's post here)
Bucket List:
2. Swim in the Pacific Ocean.
20. Learn how to surf. (Even though I failed...)
38. Go snorkeling.
61. Go paddleboarding.
72. Camp on the beach.
97. Go to Australia.
102. Hold a koala.
106. Study abroad.
116. Try seafood.
119. Skydive. (And in a week I'll be able to say I've done this twice!)
126. Attend a beach party.
131. Crash a wedding.
Other Unreal Experiences:
-kayaked the ocean
-survived a cyclone
-4 trips to student health
-an overnight in the hospital
-sandboarding
-selfies with kangaroos and emus
-learned how to successfully navigate the public transit (most of the time)
-sang backup for a Buddhist monk
-seen penguins in their natural habitat walking home along the beach
-made friends from around the world
-drove past a mobster in Melbourne that has definitely killed people
-experienced hostel life - and realized it isn't for me
-went to the casino and lost some money (sorry dad...)
-sang karaoke
-tried Vegemite (not good. not good at all.)
-embraced Aussie fashion and all its quirks
There's still so many big things to come too, I can't even explain! The majority of our trips are still waiting to happen and most importantly, MY PARENTS ARE COMING IN 4 DAYS!!!!!! I'm just a little bit excited.
I am so not about that Vegemite life. I even ate it how they tell you to and it did not help.
Oh you know... casually rocking the short life. But look, I finally found a romper I like that fits me and isn't super scandalous!!
Buddhas for days.
I am one with the Irwin family.
...crashed a wedding, huh?......GOODONEBUTTER
ReplyDeleteit was a beach wedding so its like they practically invited us!
ReplyDelete