Chapter 8 - Bluebottles hurt

Just to warn you: This post will be a completely unorganised collection of thoughts. It is difficult to put all my new adventures and experiences into perspective just yet.

About a month ago I wrote my last exam and I am happy to say that I have successfully passed all my classes. Immediately after the last exam goodbyes were in order, because as a reward I flew to Sydney with a couple of friends and stayed at Bondi Beach. If you ever want to feel fat, pale, and disgusting, this is definitely the place to go! People jog non-stop, everybody is tanned and surfs. It is the ultimate Australian stereotype.

I was not as upset as I had expected to be. I guess it was because I was still with some friends and it didn´t seem like it was a goodbye. I know that I will probably see most of them again (Sweden, here I come!) and facebook (btw movie is quite good) make life apart easier.

Confirming to the German backpacker stereotype, Tomas and I rented a wicked van (actual name of the company) in Slipknot style and drove up the Gold Coast to Brisbane. I will post some pictures once I am back home and you will get the full image of what it means to drive around in a 200 year old Ford with a message on the trunk "Noone is ugly at 2am". It was quite an adventure, the van overheated once, and going up the hill in second gear and with the speed of 5km/h definitely brought out a sweat or two. Sitting on the passenger seat meant sitting on the engine and thus we had free seat heating in 30 degrees.
For the last couple of days we were staying in some kind of Hippie Hostel in Byron Bay. I was staying in a gigantic kind of tent/tee pee which was definitely a new experience.
When on exchange, from time to time you catch yourself realising the situation you are in right now and asking yourself "How did I get here and what the f*** is going on!?". Well, the last time that happened to me was two days ago when we were sitting in the middle of the jungle in the camp, with some hippies playing music, the rest hanging out, and bearded dragons and wild bush turkeys walking among the crowd.

Passing by enormous mountain ranges, unbelievable beautiful beaches, petting Wallabies, Cobras and Koalas, meeting random people along the way, and getting stung by jellyfish (bluebottles to be precise and they hurt like hell) we are getting closer to completing the Australian experience.
Tomorrow, we are picking up a van again - this time a MooMoo Camper (yeah, I was asking myself if they have some kind of bet going on who comes up with the most ridiculous name) and we will drive towards the Great Barrier Reef again (Fraser Island and Whitsundays).

To round this up; this is my last blog entry, as I will return to the homeland for Christmas. Exchange is over. Am I sad? Am I happy?

I am ecstatic for having had this opportunity.
I am sad that I have to leave this life I was leading for the last few months behind.
I am excited to see everyone back home again and soon exchange all our stories.
I am sad that I have to wait another 6 months until summer comes again.
I cannot wait to eat good cheese again and drink some nice German beer.
But, most of all, I want to thank my parents for supporting me.
I want to tell Carley, Charlie, Caitlin, Matt, Lucho, Pagina, Tomas, Josefin, Michelle, and everyone else for making a completely strange place a new home. I love you guys and I will miss you (except Tomas, because I will still see his face every day in Tilburg)

Hey guys,

I will update you soon on what I have been up to.
For right now, happy holidays and enjoy the snow!

Chapter 7 - Heart of Australia

Recently, I travelled to the Ayers Rock (Aboriginal Name: Uluru). It was a journey into the heart of Australia, literally, as well as culturally and politically. It is a sacred part of Aboriginal creation mythology, or dreamtime - reality being a dream. Uluru is considered one of the great wonders of the world and one of Australia's most recognizable natural icons. Uluru is a large magnetic mound large not unlike Silbury Hill in England. It is located on a major planetary grid point much like the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

Sunset and Sunrise at Uluru

Uluru is a large sandstone rock formation in central Australia, in the Northern Territory. It is located in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, 350 km southwest of Alice Springs. It is the second-largest monolith in the world (after Mount Augustus, also in Australia), more than 318 m high and 8 km around. It also extends 2.5 km into the ground. It was described by explorer Ernest Giles in 1872 as "the remarkable pebble". As much as I love this expression to me it was something I had never seen before. The red colors of the sand, the clear blue sky without one single cloud and the green bushes painted a truly fascinating picture which could be best enjoyed riding a camel at one of the countless camel farms.

Camel Shami

Uluru is an inselberg, literally "island mountain", an isolated remnant left after the slow erosion of an original mountain range. But besides this geographical uniqueness, it is one of the most sacred places for Aborigines and today one of the most touristic parks in Australia.

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming or Altjeringa (also called the Dreamtime) is a sacred 'once upon a time' time out of time in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation. The Dreamtime contains many parts: It is the story of things that have happened, how the universe came to be, how human beings were created and how the Creator intended for humans to function within the cosmos. I was impressed by the dreamtime story about the formation of the Rock.

Uluru: Scars from the Battle of Kuniya and Liru:

Long, long ago, in the time of the Tjukurpa (The Dreamtime or creation period), there was a young woma python (Kuniya) snakeboy who was surprised and ambushed by a group of Liru (which are venomous snakes). The Liru threw spears at the Kuniya and killed him. So hard did they throw their spears that the points made holes in the Uluru rock. (see the holes made in Uluru by the points of the Lirus' spears).

The boy's aunt, a Kuniya woma pythonwoman, was so angry and chased the Lirus. She slid in, caught up and killed one of the Liru with her stick with a blow to the head. You can see her sliding in as a dark wavy line on Uluru. The blood flowing from the head of the dying Liru can also be seen.

Reading and learning about the Aborigine culture was fascinating. Never have I met such a different culture. But, at the same time you see the Aborigines in Alice Springs and as sad as it is to admit, they were all drunk. Their culture is so different to that of ours that it must be unbelievable difficult for them to understand and fit in. One Aborigine woman we saw falling over earlier came over to us and asked if she could have a lighter. Then she started telling us a strange story that had us guessing if she worked as a cleaner or prostitute.

What upset me the most was the abuse of this sacred place. Uluru is the only National Park you have to pay entry for. And what is worse is that the tourist companies legitimize this by saying that the money goes into maintaining the Park and give a better life to the Aborigines. A few years ago the Australian government gave back the Park to the Aborigines with the agreement that they leave it open for 99 years for tourism. I am not sure how sincere this gesture was, because it seems like they were only trying to bring back authenticity while at the same time exploiting this opportunity. This is not only visible in the way it is managed (Aborigines do not want us to climb the Rock, nonetheless it is possible to climb all over it), but also the Monopoly the Hotels and Hostel built. With only desert around and no other option, but to stay at a hostel that costs twice as much as a hostel in the city center of Sydney, tourists will leave Ayers Rock with empty pockets and a lot of new impressions.

Kata Tjuta (meaning 'many heads') is part of the World Heritage National Park Uluru. It is a very sacred men's place relating to knowledge that is considered very powerful and dangerous.

Chapter 6 - Nostalgia

One month.

It hit me today.

Only 31 short days left until Uni ends and I leave Melbourne. I have a trip to Ayers Rock coming up, maybe Tasmania, two exams, a ton of essays, and a lot of very sad goodbyes ahead of me, before I fly to Sydney and start my travels from there.
But, let's try to stay positive and not have the post-Erasmus stress take over just yet. So, here is a song that made me feel better.

Mellow Mark - Reise (Journey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURpr12Uaw4&feature=related

Nimm Abschied

und dann geh auf die Reise

denn das Leben ist weise

und die Welt zeigt dir leise

das Geheimnis ihrer Seele

nimm dein Herz und dann wähle

wähl deine Wege

lass los und dann lebe!

Say your farewells

and then start your journey

because life is wise

and the world shows you quietly

the secret of its soul

take your heart and then choose

choose your paths

let go and then live!

Chapter 5 - Chasing Nemo

Dear Mama and Papa,

this blog entry is dedicated to you - my two most loyal readers. You wanted me to write more about what I do at University. All I can say is that I am writing a lot of essays and am currently preparing a presentation. Not much different than what I do at UvT, except I am still taking the distance course from Tilburg, which is truly taking up a lot more time than anything I have to do for any course here. I had to watch a movie called "The Crying Game" which is about a transvestite and is a bit disturbing on different levels (but reminded me of the ladyboys in Bangkok). I got back an essay today that I had to write for Sociology of Culture about "Heart of Darkness" and Nietzsche and I got a B on it. I am really happy with the result, especially because this is probably the most challenging course that I am taking (also because the lecture is scheduled Monday mornings at 10am, and you know I do not enjoy waking up before noon).

So, no worries your daughter is still going to University and studies next to going out and travelling. But before I return to the homeland I still have a lot of travelling to do and let's be honest, Mama, it is just way more interesting to talk about where I am going next :)

Miss you a lot and give kisses to Baby,
Yours truly
Jasmin

P.S. Attached you will find some pictures of my trip to Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef & surrounding area.

Curtain Fig Tree

home on four wheels

Ellis beach

Josephine Falls

Millaa Millaa Falls and Pelican in Rainforest Habituary, Port Douglas

unbelievable beauty

that is me snorkelling and chasing some fish

Chapter 4 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

First of all, I am sorry for not writing for so long, I guess I blame the feeling of routine. But, that does not mean that I have been bored to death with going to Uni and partying.

So, here are the happenings of the last month!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

That's right it was my birthday :) I was sad that I wasn't going to be with my family, but everybody here surprised me big time and contributed to a super awesome day! Lekker gezellig! It was my first birthday in winter and the first one that I had classes. I skipped one tutorial (you know to complete the experience, I hear its what people do on their birthdays) and went to one class for which I was way too excited for. Our college had a so called Tower Parade, where each Tower had a different theme and performed to it. There were themes such as Avatar, Cabaret, When I was 11, Retirement Home, and my tower was Around the World.

But, that is not all, because on the 30th of August Melbourne celebrated its 175th birthday! It has been 175 years since the city's founding - 175 years since the day the first European settlers landed on the north bank of the Yarra River from the schooner Enterprize in 1835. Due to this special occasion, some special events have been taking place, such as the FASHION WEEK.

FASHION WEEK

So, a lot of people have judged me for this, but I am not ashamed of my guilty pleasure. Ever since Project Runway and America's Next Top Model I have wanted to go to Fashion Week. And trust you me, I have tried to go on multiple occasions, but whether in Shanghai or Berlin you need an official invitation and fashion week is not open for the normal fan like me. BUT, here in Melbourne it only got started and thus is not such a big deal yet and for the amazing price of 20$ I was able to go and watch some models strut their stuff! Got a gift bag too and of course collected the left over gift bags to get in the money again. Oh Holland you have taught me well!

AUSSI RULES FOOTBALL

Or in short: Footy. Went to some kind of final game with St. KFC (aka Saints) vs. Geelong (aka Cats). It has been great fun, I learned the rules (thanks Tomas!), which are pretty simple. But, what I enjoyed the most were the happenings around the game: For every point the Supporter had huge pom-poms they would shake, there was some strange bird mascot, the referees do a weird sprint, there are these messenger dudes who keep running back and forth and tell players messages from their coach. I didn't root for a team, I felt like this was the better way to go, because I could cheer nonstop :) But, perhaps I did slightly like the Saints a bit more, because you won't guess their team song: "Oh when the Saints go marching in, oh when the Saints go marching in..." Took me a few days to get that out of my head again.

I could bore you with what is going on at Uni, but really not much. I have to do a presentation about Conflict Resolution and Management about Jersey Shore. Don't you just love being a Liberal Artsie?

And besides that I am finally planning my trips, in two weeks I will be heading north to Cairns, so stay tuned, because it is about to get hot!

Chapter 3 - living the Oz life

I think it is time for a new update!

I arrived in Melbourne exactly one month ago. Time is just flying by and I have already been at Uni for almost three weeks. It has been going well... At least once I could find all my classrooms. The only problem I am having is how best to describe my minor when people ask. I usually say "I study Liberal Arts with a Major in Social Sciences and a Minor in Management and Culture" :) Taking two Management classes, one called Sociology of Culture and one Linguistics course. I am liking it so far, also because Australian Professors are just unbelievably relaxed. It is not rare to hear things like "Oh well I don't really feel like correcting your tut slips, so let's not do that".

That brings me to the new vocabulary I am acquiring. Part of the Oz lifestyle is a new slang. Words such as tut slips, goon, slab, Crac Rep, and Rec Room are becoming part of my daily life. Here follows a short translation:

tut slips = tutorial assignments

goon = super cheap wine in a bag (!)

slab = 24 beers (there are no crades here)

Crac Rep = still not sure, but refers to the students that are somehow in charge of what is going on in the colleges where we live

Rec Room = Recreation Room

I have also been on my first trip. I went to Philip Island with a student organization called S@lt and learned surfing. After two lessons I still suck, but I can stand up which is an unbelievable feeling and makes up for being wiped out by the waves. Oh yes, had some good wipe outs that were applauded by the witnesses. It was definitely great fun, besides the obvious lack of organization, but nonetheless we managed to see Koalas, Wallabees (little Kangaroos), and Penguins!

Oi oi oi for Australia!

Chapter 2 - how to use the toilet

University hasn't started yet, but I am learning so much already!

Chapter 1 - Where am I?

Flight.

Left at 23:55pm (local time) on the 8th July in Frankfurt and arrived at 08:45am (local time) in Melbourne. So, I was travelling for about 24hours. The flight was not as boring as I had thought. In Qantas everybody has their own screen, so I watched a few movies and series and also slept for a while. What was the most confusing was the eating. I had dinner, breakfast, dinner, breakfast, breakfast, and upon arrival breakfast again. Then I slept through lunch and had dinner again. My jetlag is getting better after 4 days, but I am still tired most of the time.

Moving in.

I have on campus accommodation at a complex or college called Chisholm. The room is quite small, but it's good, I don't need much for the next six months.What is a bit strange is that we get bracelets which work as keys and there are absolutely no doorbells, so it is impossible to meet a friend without previous notice. Reminds you a bit of a prison, except you have the key to escape ;)

The campus on the other hand is absolutely beautiful. There are trees, rivers, ducks, little parrots and all kinds of birds around. I have a eucalyptus tree right outside my window. But, the campus is really big and I am quite confused about where to go. And the fact that all buildings are somehow connected by these bridges does not make it any easier.

O-week.

This is what the Aussies call our orientation week. It started wednesday with some kind of general introduction and today we had a city treasure hunt where I could explore Melbourne for the first time. But, we had free lunch and the Dutch in me took full advantage of that. Also, we have chances to win travel vouchers at the end of the O-week which of course we are all extremely excited about. This is probably also due to the fact that most of us (except the Scandinavians) calculated in that food and drinks would be so expensive here. But, I saw an Aldi, so I might go check that out.

Talk to ya later mates!

Once upon a time...

1 day.

So, how do I feel 24 hours before my flight?

Well, I have no idea, it is total chaos in my head. I am sad about the end of the German summer fairy tale, but at the same time I am excited about leaving tomorrow. Then I am sad about saying good bye to my family and my dog, but excited to see my friends in Melbourne. I am nervous that something might go wrong, but sure that I have thought of everything, even a book, music, and sleeping pills for the flight.

It was a tragic last evening. What a dramatic ending. I hope the winter fairy tale I am about to begin will end with a happily ever after...

Aller guten Dinge sind drei

2 weeks and 1 day.

Bye bye Tilburg. You have been my home for the last three years, but it is time for me to return to the motherland. But, I will return in 2011, no worries!

Yesterday was my last exam. Unfortunately, I overslept it. Even more unfortunately, I will already be in Australia when the re-exam takes place. So, now I have to wait and hope that I can take a special re-exam before I leave. I feel like Germany against Serbia, the entire universe turned against me.

But, I also have some good news! I have figured out a packing system. It is quite simple; three suitcases for three different occasions: Australia, Fair in Düsseldorf, and Germany for when I return in December. It's a good system based on carefully selected piles of clothes.

You know what else is good? GERMANY! Hopefully we will get those 3 points tonight! Auf gehts Deutschland schießt ein Tor...

Soccer, Studying and Shoes

3 weeks and 2 days.

I am incredibly excited to go to Australia. I don't know how excited Australia is to receive more Germans in their country, especially after that extremly disappointing (of course satisfying for me) match on Sunday (Germany 4: 0 Australia).
Besides watching soccer/football I am studying for my last exam of my second year: Leisure in a Globalizing World. The progress is slow, I have too many other things on my mind.
Like, when am I finally going to get my Visa, when am I going to know where I will live in Melbourne, where am I going to watch the next Germany match, when is the Board of Examiners going to give me the "okay" for my Minor courses, who will be the new roommates in my house, which shoes am I going to take to Melbourne with me, and will I have my own screen on the plane?
As you can see, it is difficult to concentrate on studying when you need to decide on two pairs of shoes out of 30.