Sorry for the break in posting. I've been having a terribly homesick few days and have been laying low. Working on getting over it now though!
It's Memorial Day here (a public holiday), so I've only spent half the day working (from home) which has been lovely! Memorial Day is the unofficial start of Summer (school's out) although I'm sure it started months ago! It's a big day for picnics here and someone was telling me that they used to picnic at the cemetery and decorate the graves. They may have been pulling my leg but I've heard of stranger thing here!
The exciting news is that I'm off to Portland (Oregon) tomorrow until Friday. I'm collaborating on a big 5 year grant application with a group there, so we'll be working hard (I have a sinking feeling it may even be due June 1!!). Portland is above (north of) San Francisco and below Seattle. Everyone tells me it's stunningly beautiful, so I'll be sure to take lots of photos. It's also cold, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. I can't wait to put on jeans and a jumper! Weird huh. Not sure how much net access I'll have but I'll try to keep blogging.
I went to see X-men 3 on Saturday with a group of the guys here, and it was excellent. Much better than 2. I can see how die hard fans might be a bit upset by it, considering the number of characters either killed or 'cured'! Entertaining though :) And if you do happen to go and see it, make sure you stay through the credits to the very end.
After the film I intended to go home (because I was crashing a birthday party), but ended up going out to dinner with everyone. It was good to be with a big group of people my age but draining as well, in terms of not really knowing anyone. I think that's what made me sad, missing those connections that you have with people who know you and already accept you. Anyhow, we had a good night. It was a Mexican restaurant but I stuck to my guns and stayed off the margaritas, and it made a huge difference... I even enjoyed the food! I thought Australia had a big drinking culture but it seems that everything really is bigger in Texas. Think I'll stick to a quiet glass of red thanks.
Yesterday I had an evening BBQ with one of the Australian families here. They have two small boys so it was lovely just to play in the pool, eat delicious food and hang out. We had amazing a Alaskan king crab legs, bbq'd prawns and a delicious white fish called halibut, kind of like blue eye. I've just learned that
"Halibut are a strange fish. They spend the larval part of their lives swimming upright, with eyes on both sides of their head, but soon one of their eyesThey're also HUGE and really, really tasty.
migrates to the other side of their body, and they live the rest of their life
as a flatfish, staying at or near the bottom most of the time."
No other news that I can think of. I'd better go dig out my warm clothes and pack! More news soon.
I miss you all ^_^
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4 comments:
miss you too JacJac!! Hope you have fun in Oregon. We're sitting around uni about to go to an Aboriginal culture lecture. Then more study :)
Just writing a First Year lecture on world biomes, and the textbook had a picture of Oregon: cool, green, wet forest. Fancy that at all? And halibut is just a huge flounder. Tastes good, though.
Forests of any kind sound good, especially wet ones! Not sure if I'll get to see much but if we get the grant then hopefully I can go back!
They have live crawfish in the supermarket here on fridays. Any idea how to cook/eat them? They're bigger than the frozen ones and they look tasty (farmed I'm assuming) if a little scary en mass.
Oregon. Niiiice. It sounds like it will be a good trip for scenery. I reckon you'll be flying over some amazing mountains on the way. Glad to hear you're feeling better. Being away from home sure can be a rollercoaster *big hug*. We're thinking of you.
We can't wait to see X-Men 3! It's good to know you liked it. C isn't sure about the crawfish, other than they make him itch :P
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