Bob the Trolley

"You're gonna miss this.

You're gonna want this back.

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.

These are some good times, so take a good look around.

You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."

The girl who lived in my room before me contacted me via Facebook today; she was a study abroad student from US as well and she spent first semester living with the same fabulous girls that I live with now. Ever since I arrived at St Cats 2.5 weeks ago I have heard countless stories about her and all of the crazy things she did while she was here, it was really great to finally be able to "meet" her and find out more about the girl I'd been hearing so much about! She gave me the link to the blog that she had kept during her time in Perth and told me that I should feel free to take a look at it, see what she did while she was in my position; the chorus I posted above (Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This"...it's a really great song if you haven't heard it before. I suggest you check it out) was in one of her posts and I thought it was a really, really fitting quote to put in my blog as well. I've only been here for 2.5 weeks, yet I realize that this is going to be one of the greatest experiences and one of the biggest adventures of my lifetime! It's amazing. Stunning. Phenomenal. Incredible. (Insert your word of choice here). I wake up every morning to the (obnoxious) sound of Kookaburras singing in the tree outside of my window; I run in King's Park, which is HUGE and totally awesome; and I go to the beach morning/day/night to watch the Indian Ocean (and the surfers...). It blows my mind when I actually slow down enought to realize what I'm doing and what I'm experiencing. This is it. (Deep breath!) I am IN Australia!

My tutor (which is similar to an RA), Kim, is a really fabulous person, and she works really hard to create a feeling of family and home in our wing; her latest team bonding experience is to play the game Assassins amongst all the girls in the wing.

If you don't know what Assassins is then we shall divulge quickly so I can clue you in. The "aim is to try and 'kill' your target (therefore gaining their target) whilst avoiding being 'killed' yourself. Your target can be 'killed' in a number of ways using the stickers provided. Stickers can be used only once, so you need to be accurate! Once you have 'killed' your target, your targer then hands you their envelope with their target's name, this becomes your new target. If you are 'killed' then the game is over and you must hand over your target and your remaining stickers to your 'killer.'"

That is the jist of the game. Anyway, a new game started tonight and it is funny to see our usually nosy and lively hallway dead-as-can-be since everyone is hiding in their rooms (which are safe zones). I really have to use the bathroom, but I'm actually afraid to brave the run to the bathroom and back! It's very stressful since I have no idea who has my name! Already in the past few hours since the game has started I've heard running and screaming up and down the hallway as girls are "killed." But I think it should be a lot of fun to play, and if I die, then I guess it'll just be funny to watch the other girls battle it out.

I had a late lecture tonight (6-7:30) and when it ended Jeni and I rode the bus down to Mosman Park to where Jess has an apartment. I had missed dinner because of my lecture so Jeni and I met Jess, Jenny, and Sarah at this sketch/delicious little fish and chips place near the beach so I could grab some food. We had plans to meet up at the beach but I hadn't eaten for 8 hours and I was pretty freaking cranky, so the plans were changed so that I could get food. Those snickers commercials, like the one with Betty White, are dead right, I'm really not myself when I'm hungry. Feeling as though my stomach was going to eat itself was totally worth it though, those fish and chips were beyond good. In fact, it was borderline the best food I have had since I arrived in Perth. Plus it was cheap, which is very uncommon for anything around here. I swear. Everything costs an arm and a leg....especially the Diet Coke. On the topic of Diet Coke, do you know what the worst part is?! Diet Poopsie (Pepsie) is way less expensive than Coke! Normally I would be happy about this because I feel that the price difference highlights the fact that Diet Coke is better; but here it's almost frustrating because I'm not willing to pay less money to buy (the less awesome and delicious) Diet Poopsie so I spend obscene amounts of money on (the more awesome and most delicious) Diet Coke. The first thing I think I'm going to do when I get home is buy one of those massive soda cups at SAMS for like $00.75 and fill it repeatedly with Diet Coke.

Now that I've told you all about what I eat and drink, I figure that I should tell you the interesting stuff...stuff like Bob the Trolley. We were walking from Jess' apartment to the beach (about a 5 minute walk) and we had to pass through this apartment complex's park. In the middle of the pathway, near a bench, was an abandoned and empty shopping trolley (aka shopping cart if you speak American English)...guess who wanted to be pushed in the trolley. If you guessed "Lynzi!" then you get a high five (give yourself a high five), if you didn't guess "Lynzi!" then better luck next time (and you should probably be slightly ashamed for guessing wrong...). I ran over to the trolley and was delighted to find that it had all four wheels and did not appear to belong to anyone. Jeni pushed me up this really big hill, which is funny because Jeni had hip surgery before coming to Perth and probably shouldn't have been pushing me, especially up the hill. At the top was the main highway thing that runs through the suburb and connects it to all of the other suburbs in the Perth area (think of a divided highway...about the size of Hover in Longmont if you need a reference). Between the four other girls (I was still sitting in the trolley) we managed to get Bob across the highway...I'm not gonna lie, I saw my life flash before my eyes a couple of time. We're just lucky that there isn't much traffic on that road at 9 pm. From there each of us took turns riding in the trolley while the others pushed and helped to guide the trolley in a straight-ish line (one of the wheels was broken and it liked to swerve unexpectedly to one side or the other). The greatest part was the really, really steep road that led down towards the ocean. We all took turns riding down the street (we found one without cars parked on the sides) in the cart with either me or Jess running next to it. It was the most fun I have had since getting here. We were laughing and taking pictures and trying to see how many people we could fit in the trolley at one time. It was a blast!! And to make things better, the entire time we played in the street with a shopping trolley named Bob, we could hear and see the ocean. Eventually we finished playing with the trolley (we were worried about the cops showing up) and we left him parked nicely in a park for the next group of crazy people to find and enjoy.

The waves that roll into the beach at 10 at night are amazing. Now I understand why so many surfers go out at night in spite of the danger. The waves were breaking really far out and by the time they reached the shore they were absolutely gigantic! We were hoping to see some surfers as we sat and watched the waves roll in, but it seems as though we were the only ones at the beach tonight. It was really nice. A great ending to our adventure with the trolley.

So I guess I can add one more thing to the list of crazy things I've done in Australia: play with abandoned shopping trolley in the middle of the road. Yup. Sounds good. I have Uni tomorrow and a crazy evening planned with the girls, so I figure I should head to bed. Check back soon for another blog post, I'm getting better and posting more often! I hope you are doing well!

Love always.