A little Culture every now and then...

aboriginal art
Originally uploaded by sub29.

My break has been pretty good so far. I wish I could tell you that I am somewhere down south or up north but I'm still in Perth. It's going by pretty fast and it's nice to just hang out here without having to open a textbook.

The first two days were just one big party after another. First our class had a party to celebrate the end of the term and a chance to all hang out before everyone went back home for two weeks. Then the next day was Ben's, the yankee flatmate, birthday. We went club hopping until 6am. Craziness I tell you...Awesome weekend...

Today I decided to bring it down a couple notches and do some cultural stuff. One of my flatmates came along to keep me company. I hope it didn't bore her too much but at least everything we did today was free. Our first stop was to the WA Museum. It was really good. I especially enjoyed the Aboriginal exhibit. In class we talked a little bit about the Aborginals but it was interesting learning about their culture and history. They also had a mammal section and I never realized how different Australian mammals are from Canada's. Being the naive person that I can be sometimes, I thought that they only differed with Kangaroos and Emus.

Then we headed down the street to the Art Gallary. I don't know too much how paintings and sculptures so I probably didn't appreciate the full amazement of the art. Again, my favourite exhibit was the aboriginal art. I don't know what it is but there's just something about their art that I thoroughly like. It speaks to me, if you will. I would love to go to the Aboriginal caves to see the paintings in person and ask about the full meaning of them.

Finally, we walked around the city for a bit and ended up at the pier and took some nice pics as the sun was setting. There were all these imprinted aboriginal pictures on these blocks and my flatmate thought it would be a great idea to take a pic of me on each one. They turned out better than I thought. Here's a pic of one of those blocks with me just chilling as people walked by...

Overall, it was a good day and one that didn't burn a hole in my wallet!!! That's always a good thing eh.

How sweet it is...

D-O-N-E...DONE!!! I've been waiting for 6 months to say this, first term DONE. Next comes the waiting and hoping for the opportunity to go back and do it again but we won't go there today.

I can honestly say that I have never felt so relieved and happy. It's as if everything just lifted off my shoulders when I stepped out of the last exam. Not even when I wrote my last exam to graduate at UW was as this relieved. It's kinda ironic.

So what are my plans for my FIRST break?? Well I'm going to partee non stop for the next few days and when I recover from that, a few of my classmates and I are going surfing. That's going to be so sweet. Then I'm thinking of heading down south for a few days and see what I can discover down there. I heard it was really nice down there.

Ranting about, what else, exams...

There's nothing new and exciting that's happening on this side of the world, except for the craziness of my exams. Seriously, who writes an exam every single day for a week and then be relieved that there's only 5 more exams to go?? Craziness I tell you...It's Friday night and the plan was to get an early start on my studying for next week but my brain just had other plans. This has just been a really draining week and I have a bad feeling that it's not going to work out too well. I don't know, maybe because my brain was just too tired to think properly in the exams because it's definitely not from the lack of knowledge, at least not for the most part....

Since this is my blog, I get to rant and complain all I want so some of you may want to stop reading the rest of this post. I know I have to learn to adapt to the exam structure here but I have to question the validity of these exams. First, they should make it mandatory for the creator of the exam to be present during the examination period or at least someone who is capable of answering relevant questions. Everyone interrupts the questions differently and sometimes we need clarification. Is that too much to ask??

Secondly, it's not a valid exam if the entire exam consist of less than 6 questions. Seriously, how can you ask such broad general questions and expect the students to write every little thing about the course. I have never written so many exams and not know exactly what they expect us to write about. It's not because we don't know the material, it's because we can't possibly go through all the numerous factors and write about each one. On the other hand, if you asked us specifically we would be able to tell you. We're not damn mind readers. If you asked us, we would tell you. We don't have time to play the guessing game. Geez...

It's amazing how well I know this material, because it's essentially a simplified version of what we did in Kinesiology, yet still be certain that I have failed almost every one of them except for 1 or 2. As most of you know, I am usually one of the most relaxed person during exams but this term as really stressed me out. And I usually get quite a bit of sleep too. Well that has certainly changed. It's definitely the way they have structured this program. It doesn't have to be this difficult and stressful.

Alright, that's all the ranting I will do. Hopefully I'll have something more positive to say next time...Now to catch up on my sleep. I think this week alone has taken years off my face....

Side note: CONGRATS to everyone who has/had their convocation this week. Embrace it even though it's long and boring. It's like the end of a big chapter in your life. For most, it will finally mark the end your schooling career and the start of the working world. Surprisely enough, I know more people graduating this year than when I graduated last year.

As you walk up to get your diploma, be proud of what you have accomplished and worked so hard to get. For me it was truly bittersweet. On the one hand, it was great to finally get to the finish line but then again, it meant growing up and leaving a place/comfort zone that I cherished very much. Good luck to all new grads...

Spanakopita

Spanakopita
Originally uploaded by sub29.

Last Friday was the last day of classes, finally...Every term, our rez organizes an end of the term party. This term's theme was International Food Party. It was a good way of relaxing before digging myself into my books for 3 weeks straight. The rule was that every flat had to make one dish or they can't participate. No one knew what to make so I offered my culinary skills. I thought about making something Canadian or Chinese but opted insteaded to go Greek. Most of you know that I live in Greek town in Toronto so I've really missed eating Greek food. Umm, I love Greek food. Anyways, so I decided to make spanakopita which is spinach pie made with phyllo dough. I must say it turned out pretty darn good.

A league of their own!!!

I was sitting at the back seat of a car, waiting anxiously for a glimpse of those lights. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, those lights are universal. When the moon comes out and you don't know where you're driving, just follow the lights and it'll lead you to where it matters most. If you know what I'm referring to then you're definitely a ball player or a ball fan. Every ball player has gotten lost and tried to find the diamond by looking for the ball lights.

When I stepped out of the car, I looked up and all I could see where all these ball lights. I haven't played under lights since I last played for the Waterloo Juniors last summer. It immediately brought back memories and reminded me how much I missed the smell of a ball diamond. Now imagine walking into a baseball diamond and seeing a huge crowd of women on the field. Every woman was there to play ball. My ride and I were late so most people were already there with their ball gear on. You can tell people were trying to size each other up, trying to figure out who has game and who doesn't. Who will be their biggest competition?? Who are the so-called ring leaders of the pack because that's your key in?? Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Everyone who's ever gone to try-outs knows what I'm referring to. It's so much fun because I can smell who the nervous ones are. You have to know how to walk the walk, even if it is just an act. Oh how I miss being one of the veterans on the team.

Even though this was not a try-out, it sure did feel like one. It was like a mini spring-training camp with the coaches roaming around and evaluating everyone. This has to be what Blue Jays spring training is like. There were one group hitting off a live pitcher, one group hitting whiffle balls, another shagging balls, and one last group fielding grounders. Prior to warm-ups, we all sat gathered in the dugout and on the field while the governor made the usual introductions and greetings. Then he announced the coaches and the name of each team. Each player was then named to a team and there we met our teammates for the first time.

Does any of this remind anyone of anything?? Well I couldn't help but feel as though I was living out a segment of the movie, A League of Their Own. Some of the women were older and they wore the whole baseball get-up that it made it even more real. The only thing missing was those baseball skirts, thank goodness.

Tonight was the introductions and mini training session for the 1st annual Women's Winter Baseball League at this newly built baseball stadium. This is the only baseball stadium in WA so it's pretty cool that we get to play on it.

Next week, when we play our first game, I will take my camera and take some pics...