stuff
Tact is for those who haven't mastered the art of sarcasm.
Monday, March 31, 2003 :::
I always post an entry to this thing and then five seconds remember all the terribly interesting, informative and entertaining things I wanted to say. This entry isn't any of those things, but it's still something that I wanted to put in!
I'm seriously thinking of coming home in late August/early September instead of January. While everything is going really well over here now that I've moved host families and all that, I think that when it gets to the end of the summer holiday I really will not be enthused at all to go back to school: it'll get cold again, it'll snow, I'll have to actually do (some) school work, and I really don't see the point in doing all that when I could go home instead. That way I can come home, earn some money for uni, and finally learn how to drive. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I have finally found the desire to get my license. Yippee! says everyone. Or not. Anyway, but that time all my wee friends will be home from the various parts of the world that they are currently, or are soon to be, scattered to, and well basically it would be tops. Anyone have any comments on the topic? In fact, anyone got any comments at all on this whole blog thing? I think it's a common thing with people who do this, but every now and then you have this strange feeling that you are actually writing to no-one at all. Which in the case of this excruciatingly-boring-not-often-updated-thing, I wouldn't find hard to believe. But if on the off chance anyone is reading this, feel free to email me and let me know... :p
I hadn't realised it had been a whole week since I'd updated this thing - I know, I'm a very bad, lazy girl. I knew that I could have some serious trouble keeping up with this thing!
One reason why I haven't updated I suppose is because, well, not a lot has happened the last week. School, co-op at the museum, school, co-op: not particularly interesting at all. The museum's going really well right now, it's so nice to be able to just get away from school everyday and do something a bit different. Particularly when school is so easy right now: for example, currently we're studying Death of a Salesman in english, a play that I did in grade 10. Except this time, we're doing it with worksheets and multiple choice tests. These Canadians would die if they had to do subjects in Tassie! At the moment at the museum I'm helping out with a program for grade 7 and 8 students. It's like a treasure hunt, but using GPS systems, which I think is pretty cool. The museum has a website, although it's pretty atrocious, so I won't be too upset if no-one goes and looks at it...
Like a true Canadian, I of course have to mention the weather. After at least a week of beautiful, warm weather, it's gone and got cold again god damn it! So cold in fact that it actually snowed for a bit yesterday (it all melted once it hit the ground though) and it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. Just when you think you're free and clear of this crazy weather, it comes back to bite you on the arse!
The SARS epidemic is pretty big news over here, and frankly, pretty scary. While it seems to be focused almost solely in Toronto right now, I think there has been a case found in Ottawa as well as a few more isolated cases across the rest of Canada including Vancouver and Calgary. It's amazing how many people have been quarantined in Toronto: the last time I read it was something like 3000 people. Let's just hope it doesn't spread any further, including to Australia - although there's an article on ninemsn today about a case in Canberra... No-one is to go to Canberra ok! I mean it!
I hope everyone is very impresssed by all the lovely web links today by the way. I swear I'm working hard to make this blog at least a little bit less boring... :p
Monday, March 24, 2003 :::
It's good to be an Australian right now - or at least better than it has been the last few weeks. First we blitz the field to once again confirm our positions as cricketing GODS in the World Cup (with the most credit it would seem having to go to the our own little Tasmanian!) and then 'our Nick' kicks some serious Oscar arse to get the Best Actress award. But then I read that Australian troops are on the front line and that Australian journalists are dying and the whole effect kind of gets lost.
Does anyone else get the feeling that this war is getting horribly, horribly out of control? I read an article in the Toronto Star today about how the US administration has been taken by surprise by the unexpected consequences of the world's ever truly 24-hour war. Apparently the Bush government thought they could control the news cycle. So far they seem to have failed dismally. Even with all their policies and their crack-teams of advisors and their tough controls on what 'embedded' journalists can report, still stories that they wish no-one would see are getting out. Stories like British helicopters getting shot down by friendly fire. I don't understand how that happens. I mean, don't these people have eyes?! Surely these helicopters or whatever have some kind of markings on them that make it a bit obvious that it's not actually a target? Go the US...
But enough about the war - this is supposed to be a record of life in Canada, not a record of my political rantings... :p
I watched my first ever Academy Awards broadcast last night - it was live, it was long, and it was fantastic! I cheered for Adrien Brody (the outsider who practically attacked Halle Berry when he accepted the award), got bored during Steve Martin's opening speech (I usually find him really funny but these were really, really lame jokes), and possibly got a little tear in my eye when 'our Nick' won - but don't tell anyone that. Highlight of the night though? Two words: Michael Moore . "Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you." Classic, classic. That man is a living legend.
Sorry, I wasn't supposed to mention the war again. Moving on to happier news.... I went to Quebec on the weekend with the other exchange students from the area, which was tres cool. We stayed at this place called Camp Gracefield , which was about a 3 hour drive away. I had planned my whole week around the fact that I had told my coordinator that I wanted to go up on Saturday morning, not Friday afternoon as he wanted some people to do. So what day do I end up going? Friday of course. I swear that man has no idea what is going on any of the time. 3 of us went up on Friday with my coordinator's son, and although we got Friday night free, we had to clean. A lot. We washed all the windows on the ground level of the main building, then scrubbed all the kitchen cupboards and drawers. I really think we got the short end of the deal...
The other students, along with my coordinator and his wife, arrived on Saturday afternoon. After bumming around for a while we eventually went for a walk. In the rain. Luckily it wasn't too cold, and we had a snowball fight on the lake (it was frozen) which was pretty cool. That night I just watched sappy romantic comedies (French Kiss and Hope Floats) and ate popcorn - definitely my kind of night.
The weather on Sunday was radically different - it was something like 10 degrees outside with glorious sunshine. Only problem was, my feet got absolutely drenched when we walked through the slush that had formed on top of the ice. So I spent about an hour with my shoes and socks off just lying in the sun on the edge of the lake, soaking up the sun. Pictures, I promise, will soon be arriving... :p
Drove home via Ottawa, which from the little I've seen of it seems to be a pretty beautiful looking city. Got home about 6.30, just in time to catch the beginning of the red-carpet procession! So all in all, a pretty good weekend...
I've got lots more to talk about, but (1) this is already a marathon entry, and (2) I really can't be bothered typing any more.... :p
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 :::
I sat in front of the television on Monday night cringing and crying out in disgust repeatedly while listening to George W Bush all but declare war on Iraq. You can see teh United States from most places in Brockville - it's just across the river. It's surreal to think that it is that country, only 200m away, that is right now leading the world to war. As a certain person said in an email to me a few days ago "what is going on in the world man?" It's actually embarrassing to be Australian during all of this, particularly in Canada. While it didseem to have a bit of trouble making up its mind on the issue, Canada is now against a war on Iraq without UN approval. They won't be sending any troops, and weapons, nothing. And yet here we have Australia sending something ridiculous like 2000 troops. Do we even have 2000 troops to send?!? A recent poll has shown that 71% of Australians do not support Australian involvement in a war with Iraq without UN backing. Yet here we have 'lil Johnnie, beating his chest and trailing after Dubya, somehow certain in his belief that he has the support of his nation. The whole thing makes me so angry, and at the same time completely helpless... And it's not just our stance on Iraq that people ask me about over here. Yesterday I was cornered by a girl who asked me not only about detention centres, but also about Pauline Hanson. This is how the world is seeing us people: either as war-mongering psychos desperate for American attention who imprison asylum seekers in prisons in the desert, or as a nation of racists. And then there's always Crocodile Hunter Steve, always a shining advertisment for Australia.
Anyway, I'll stop with my political rantings now - you're probably beginning to realise that I'm getting a little bit frustrated with the whole situation at the moment! It's lucky that there are some good things happening at the moment to stop me from getting completely fed up. The biggest event: IT'S GETTING WARMER!! It's so exciting - the last 3 days I've actually been able to go outside without a huge coat on. I mean, the temperature still doesn't get much about 5 degrees, but it's PLUS 5 people! And the best part of it is that the snow is beginning to melt and I can see grass! Yes, that's right, real live grass - and some of it's even green! You have no idea how exciting that is for me right now...
In other news, I started at the museum on Tuesday and so far it's been going well. Yesterday I did some work in the archives looking through some old advertising cards (some of them were as old as from 1880) and today I was working on going through a directory from 1913 looking for women who were in paid employment. I know it doesn't sound all that interesting, but I enjoyed it ok! All the people there are really nice as well, although they have this idea in their heads that Tasmania is this beautiful, exotic island. And that we have Tasmanian devils as pets... :p
Saturday, March 15, 2003 :::
Not too many posts because, well, not too much to report! Went to the mall yesterday and wandered around for about 3 hours with one of my host sisters, had dinner at this really nice Vietnamese restaurant, had breakfast this morning at a reception centre thing run by a lions club.... yes, it's true. I was surrounded by Lions this morning, and at the same time learnt something very disturbing. My host father is a Lion - a Lion that hasn't been to a meeting in a year and a half - but still a Lion. I knew I would never escape. I'm destined to by haunted by Lions, who are of course some of the most well-meaning people on the face of the planet, for the rest of my life.
Surreal moment at breakfast this morning (apart from the whole Lions thing): apparently it's St Patricks day in a few days, so they had this CD of irish music playing in the room. The first few songs were just traditional folk stuff, but then Waltzing Matilda came on. And then American Pie. The Irish versions. It was just wrong! However, all things combined it was a nice breakfast, although I'm quickly learning that Canadians don't consider maple syrup as something that you just put on pancakes. Maple syrup is treated almost like salt, to be liberally applied all over everything. Eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, hash browns.... I never used to like maple syrup much, but I'm slowly getting used to it. Not that I really have a choice when all foods are soaked in the stuff... :p
Thursday, March 13, 2003 :::
I firstly have to change slightly my comments about the weather I made in my last post - I got a serious essay from my (crazy in the nicest possible way) aunt in Edmonton on the joys of the Canadian climate, and I am no longer convinced that you have to be crazy to live here. It also helps that it's been a pretty nice day here, with actual sunshine and temperatures that don't require huge jackets, scarves and 'toques' (the Canadian name for a beanie) to survive.
I had my interview at the Brockville Museum this afternoon about my work-experience co-op placement. The woman I met with seemed pretty excited about me coming (I know, pretty hard to believe huh), and gave me a tour of the museum and introduced me to a few of the volunteers who work there. I'm starting on Tuesday morning, and work either every morning or afternoon for the rest of the semester. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, partially because it means that I'll be able to get out of school and do something different. It sounds like I'll be doing a pretty wide variety of things as well, which will be really good.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003 :::
Saw another hockey game last night, this time in Westport, which meant an hour's ride on a bright yellow school bus. It was a pretty exciting game for several reasons: (1) It was high scoring - the final score was 7-5 - so there was actually something exciting to watch instead of the puck going up and down and up and down and.... (2) I got hit by a hockey puck! Every now and then the puck just goes flying over the perspex glass and into the crowd with the potential for serious damage, and on one of these occasions I was the 'lucky' one to be hit in my leg. I actually was lucky that a guy behind me had tried to catch it and had slowed it down a bit, because if he hadn't it would've hit me square in the head at full speed.
The game probably would've been even more enjoyable if I was a bit warmer during the thing. It was so amazingly freezing in that arena, and by the end my feet were physically aching by the end. I need some warmer shoes!
It's snowing again here - come on people, isn't it about time it stopped already?!?! I've decided that anyone who decides to live in this kind of climate on a permanent basis has to be at least partially insane. That of course doesn't include exchange students, who are only temporarily insane and who go completely back to normal when they return home....
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 :::
I move ever closer to becoming a proper honourary Canadian - on Sunday night I watched my first ever ice-hockey game, when my host-sister took me to see the Brockville Tikis play the team from Westpoint (I think). She tried to explain the rules to me, but the only thing that really stuck is that you're not allowed to push another player over, and then repeatedly pound him in the chest with your stick - although you only get like a 10 minute penalty for that, which I thought was a bit weak. I also learnt that goalies have different skates to everyone else, because they move sideways instead of forwards. So there - I bet you didn't know that!
Had a pretty lazy March break so far - yesterday we went to visit some of the extended family of my hosts which was pretty good. Also had the best pancakes for dinner with maple syrup (authentic, Canadian maple syrup - in a Bacardi bottle...) and bacon. I would've thought that was more a breakfast food, but who knows what these crazy Canadians are thinking most of the time! :p
Anyway, Jerry Springer is on in the background and sorry to say, it's more interesting than writing this... right now there's a woman on who has been sleeping with her sister-in-law for 2 months. Before that it was the woman who was cheating on her boyfriend with her brother, a brother who wants to run off with his sister to somewhere where no-one knows them. I'm thinking he just ruined that idea by going on national tv to tell everyone that he's in love with his sister, but then what do I know? I'm just the crazy Australian....
Saturday, March 08, 2003 :::
Oh, one more thing. I only changed the time zone for this thing after I posted the first entry, so the time for that one is wrong. I wrote it on Friday night at about 7. If anyone was interested....
Madsta
Just a lazy Saturday morning over here, sitting on the computer while Pearl Harbour plays in the background. Sounds like a pretty bad movie, but I'm not really paying much attention. Nothing much happening in the house, although it's hard to keep track of who is actually here and who is elsewhere - there's like 11 people in the house this weekend!
Canada, from what I've seen, seems to have a strange relationship with the States. It's like a national past-time to ridicule them, but then they seem really desperate to be nice to them and to make sure that everything's nice and happy. Anyway, I got this thing below from my aunt Andrea in Edmonton yesterday and thought that I'd include it here. This Hour Has 22 Minutes is I suppose a bit like CNNNN in Australia - it's pretty funny, although I think you actually need to be Canadian to understand all that goes on.
***
Courtesy of Rick Mercer from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC Television:
On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry.
I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron but, it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America. After all it's not like you actually elected him.
I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own.
I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defence I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours.
I'm sorry we burnt down your white house during the war of 1812. I notice you've rebuilt it! It's Very Nice.!
I'm sorry about your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer but, we Feel your Pain.
I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you wanna have your friends by your side. I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.
And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way, which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this. We've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.
Thank you.
***
On another note, I haven't seen a cricket match in almost two months now - I miss my cricket! Lazy Saturdays are designed for sitting in front of the cricket and doing nothing....
Madsta
Friday, March 07, 2003 :::
So this could be the start of something wonderful... or something that fails miserably. I'm sure we'll find out which one pretty soon! I've tried to do this kind of thing before but it never really worked, but we'll see if I can keep it going this time. It's just that I'm having trouble keeping up with emails, and then I feel guilty when (some) people send me emails and I don't reply, and then I write these mega emails that I'm sure overload people's accounts... anyway, I just think that this will be so much easier!
So this blog will from now on be an account of the trials and tribulations of life in Canada, which right now is pretty damn cold. Not that anything's really changed in that department for an entire month. I got an email from my aunt Andrea in Edmonton this arvo, and she said that it's supposed to be -39 tonight, which is even more scary when you hear that the average for this time of year is PLUS 2.1! This country is crazy....
Had my first day at St Mary Catholic High School today. It was pretty good - the school seems pretty nice, although I got hopelessly lost looking for my history room. Speaking of history, here's a story for you: first day at a new school, first ever lesson of history, and my lovely new history teacher makes me do a test! A test on things that I haven't covered since grade 8! And how on earth am I supposed to know who established a colony in Newfoundland?!?! Actually, I think I did get that one right, but only because Tracey and Kent were showing me this documentary on Canadian history a few days ago.... But you get the idea. Just plain unfair! I'm also studying english, although I discovered that at the moment the class is doing The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, so I'm thinking that it could be a bit boring while they cover stuff I did in GRADE 10!! Come on people, let's move on!!!
I've got an interview at the Brockville Museum on Thursday about my co-op work experience placement, which should be good. I talked to a woman on the phone this arvo about it and she sounded really enthusiastic about it all.
Anyway, that'll do for now I think, but I swear I'll try to update very soon!
