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sdolphinb
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Name: Sarah
Gender: Female
Interests: traveling, musicing, dancing, sporting, laughing
Expertise: being an original BAMF
Occupation: University Technology-Sydney
Industry: Environmental Science & Market
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/25/2006
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| Hello, hello, hello everyone! For those of you who are still reading this and haven't given up on me yet...which might just be my mother, but hey that's ok!
I did have the best intentions of blogging for the rest of my trip, but you know how time gets away from us during holidays....and by time I mean I was up by 7 AM (against my wishes) each day and in the car until evening motoring around visiting family and friends, seeing the sights, getting robbed-you know, touristy stuff like that.
Ok, so where to begin..I guess when my family arrived, which was a few days after the last post on here. It was better than words can say to see them after so long. I got caught up on the beginning of their trip which included stories mostly about my dad. First in L.A. he was being talked to roughly by a security guard and he was trying to find his boarding pass and i.d. and it ultimately ended with Papa calling the guy a jerk (yesss national security) and being flagged for a second screening..go figure. Once on the plane, Papa opens the little amenity kit Qantas is so thoughtful (or required to on a 10+ hr flight) to give you and exclaims that the travel toothbrush in its gray case is, "Oh look they gave us a tampon." Sir, that is inappopriate talk in front of a group of people about to become your best or worst enemies..depending if they have a screaming or unruly child in Coach class instead of being in 1st class, naturally. Seriously on the flights I took, I don't think there was a single unruly kid around me...getting off the plane I could see they were all up in Business or 1st class.no joke. Good thing they pay all that money for a decent bed and a "quiet" flight.
OK, I'm getting off track, sorry. There's just so much. We stayed in Sydney for the first few days and did tours around the harbour and Circular Quay. Walked across Harbour Bridge (in horrible shoes that ended up in a trashcan and my feet in excrutiating pain), went to a play at the Opera House and Paul and I tried surfing at Manly Beach. However, this was the day after my foot flesh being ripped by jaguars (the shoes) and the saltwater swishing around in my open wounds felt like pins and needles. Around the 19th we flew up to Brisbane to spend a week there. This was where the majority of my dad's family lives. We were surprised at the airport by two of his brothers we didn't know were going to meet us there, and they were late and almost missed us completely, except thanks to Papa he was late putting all his stuff in the car and needed to get out and fix something. So my uncles made it and of course my dad now has an excuse forever for us not to rush him anymore..."remember that time you tried to rush me into the car in Brisbane and I almost missed seeing my brothers that I hadn't seen in 20 years."
So, it's not that dramatic, but he's got one up on us for awhile. Brisbane was mostly a great time! We stayed with one uncle and aunt that I'd met about 6 years ago when they came to visit us here. Besides another aunt and two cousins that had visited us as well, Paul and I had not met any of the other family comprised of 3 aunt, 1 uncles, 15 cousins, a bajillion 2nd or 3rd cousins and several family pets. Paul had actually been in the presence of some of this family, BUT he was 7 months old, so he got the regular "wow, last time I saw you, you were this big..." so at least all I got was, "sarah! nice to meet you finally!" the family was very fun indeed, Christmas day was spent with 5 cousins and all their kids so there was a lot of time spent in the pool and with a beer in my hand. Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) is a holiday in Australia, so it's a repeat of Christmas which people shuttling over to eachothers houses and we had a really good gathering with even more family, more food and more drinks. Mine and Paul's favorite evening by far, because the night ended with us talking to 1 cousin and his fiancee about the trials and tribulations of US celebrities, especially Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. We opened beer after beer and some wine when we couldn't find anything else, and most of the conversation was scattered with "Ohh, Paris," "whitetrash," "Vicatin," "put another shrimp on the barbie (which they don't even say down there, they call all shrimp, prawns)," and "Fosters is shit." Word to the wise: Fosters does indeed match the description given by our cousin: it tastes like cat pee. We don't know why it is marketed as Australia's beer except that they don't make any money there because it tastes so bad, so they have to target more ignorant audiences, like Americans. So if you ever go to Australia, it's Victoria Bitter/VB if you want to sound local, XXXX or Toohey's, period.
A lowlight of our trip was getting our aunt's car broken into and having some of mine and Paul's stuff stolen out of it. We were up at a lookout spot and gone for about 30 min. down a trail, but that was time enough for the guys to pretend to be getting into their own car, give up that and just smash a window and grab what they could. We're lucky they didn't bother further in the car or they could have gotten my mom's purse and aunt's cell phone. And nobody's passport was taken, so that was great. Anyway, I was bummed to lose some favorite things but I got a sweet deal on a new iPod at duty-free in the airport, so c'est la vie...
what else, what else...I did some actual surfing with Paul at Noosa, which is a spot on the Gold Coast and featured pretty regularly in surf docs. Without knowing it at the time, we met two local celebrities. First, the guy that is the current national champ rented us boards at the shop and a girl that is a bamf in the women's longboarding world, was our cashier, so that was exciting.
We went back to Sydney for New Year's and that was pretty awesome. My parents were invited on a yacht for the fireworks display over the harbour by friends, their old neighbors and Paul and I went with my cousin and friends to a harbour hotel with a pretty good view. I took so many pictures and videos of the display but after a while I had to just stop and watch. It was amazing and I forever will be a fireworks snob comparing everything to that one time I saw Sydney at New Years.
Overall, the trip was amazing. The internship was not everything I expected it to be, but the family part of the trip was. It was so amazing to witness this reunion between my dad and his family. I don't know anyone else to have spent that much time away from their birthplace, much less their home country and family. I'm grateful that it was this opportunity of mine that finally gave my dad the extra push he needed to return for a visit. And hopefully he makes it back very soon. I have so many more stories and memories but I can't recall them all here. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you in person soon enough so I'll save them until then.
As for my next plans, they're somewhat up in the air for now. I'm looking into the final stages of applying for a trail crew job with the Southwest Conservation Corps for the 4-Corners/Gulf Coast area. It was take up the rest of winter and spring and I'd be on the Gulf for 6 weeks doing disaster recovery work then back in the 4 Corners doing conservation work. It would be awesome so I hope I get it. Until that starts I'm taking some time to visit old friends around here and spend some time in good ole Galveston with friends and making some pocket change at Yaga's! It's the old restaurant I worked at before Hurricane Rita tore its wall down. But it's back and so am I!
Thanks for everyone who kept in touch with me while I was overseas, it really meant a lot to me and picked me up at times that I was just wishing I was home. And I hope this blog gave you a small glimpse into the past 3 months of my life, and I hope you gained a little enjoyment from it.
Peace and Love,
Sarah Catherine Burgess
P.S. I'm putting as many pictures that Xanga will allow me, but if you want to see more of any particular thing, just let me know and I'll send some your way!
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| I just wrote an entire post and it is gone now. Damn you Xanga.
It was all about my recent adventures on vacay in Cairns and on the Great Barrier Reef.
I will try to recap it for you briefly, but frankly I don't have enough energy to rewrite the whole thing...
- I celebrated my 22nd birthday with around 7,000 species of fish, coral and plants.
- I saw Nemo.
- I saw some sharks.
- I saw some turtles.
- I got a little bit of nitrogen narcosis by diving to a depth of 30 meters and I was starting to feel it a little bit when I thought a school of fish were 10x larger than what they were in reality. My interpretation of the 3 feet (in reality) fish were that they were each 6 feet in length and going to gobble me whole. (More of the reality = they were parrotfish and obviously don't eat people, but at 30 meters on a tank of compressed air, I thought I had a fair chance...)
- I rescued a tree frog from a bathroom of screaming girly girls.
- I took an overnight tour of Cape Tribulation and the rainforest area with above mentioned screaming girly girls.
- I resolved to never again take a group tour.
- I saw some Saltwater Crocodiles and heard an amazing thump sound of their jaws closing at a pressure of 3,000 lbs. per inch!
- I took pictures of the said crocs but quickly escaped to have my picture taken with a cuddly koala instead!
- I am currently in a university lab illegally and am leaving now because a security guard is checking ID's which I don't have and might get tasered as a consequence.
Peace out, A-town down.
P.S. Pictures coming soooon.
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| It's my last day!
Not in Australia silly...at this job! wheeeee!
And Sunday I get to wake up around 4 AM to start my trek across the city on trains and buses to get to the airport for my 7 AM flight...who booked that one? idiot...
I promise I will write about my Cairns adventures as soon as I get back and find an internet cafe with decent rates! I miss you all, I can't believe it's the beginning of December already..if I was back home I would be attending Dickens on the Strand in a street urchin costume costing me $4 at Goodwill and earning me free entry to the Strand, and I'd also be going to an Annual Christmas Party dressed in a child's sweater from 1989 (love you Casey) and borrowed tacky jewelry like bulb earrings (love you Casey's mom) annnd I'd be going "ice skating" at Moody Gardens! The only thing that makes up for these atrocities is that I am going to be in two of the world's most amazing ecosystems by Monday and then my beloved family will join me for holiday mayhem! BANGBANG Burgesses!
miss all of you,
love all of you,
mean all of that!
~sbu
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| I have officially experienced all of the above here now. Last weekend I went to my Aunt's place out in Penrith, which is only an hour from the Blue Mountains range. Unfortunately, they've been suffering severe wildfires in the area so the views were mostly hazy. And our good intentions of getting up to a lookout point from Katoomba were thwarted at 7:00 in the morning by the heaviest fog I've ever been in. But it was good to feel some cool weather at the altitude instead of the draining heat of the city.
All was not lost with the weather though! When I got in Friday night we went to a thank-you BBQ for all the volunteers and ministry people in Betty's parish. The best part of the night was when the magician showed up. He mixed kids humor with a little more risque jokes for the adults and everyone was laughing hysterically. During one of his first tricks he chose a helper from the audience that was a precocious devil child. He was a little early in life to be so mad at the world and it seemed even though he screamed to be chosen as the helper, he would have rather jumped off a bridge than stand in front of everyone. At one point, some other kids in the audience were yelling out suggestions for the trick and he gave them the finger. I mean, literally, his little 6 year old finger that barely stretched to 2 inches was shoved into the air in front of the entire audience. Did I already say this was a church gathering? At this point and for the rest of the show his antics drove everyone to constantly look around the audience silently thinking, "where are this kid's parents?" only to get silent replies back from the other people also joining the search of, "I don't know, but someone should yank him off and spank him...1,2,3. not it!" This experience only adds to the list of things I expect my children NOT to do in public--#35, do not stand on stage at a magician show and give anyone the finger. and #36, do not give anyone the finger within 100 feet of a church. ok, ok I'll throw in #37, just don't give anyone the finger ever, period. but let's be serious about the reality of that one...
That sort of entertainment was hard to beat, so I just laid around and read the rest of the weekend. And tore through the remaining sodoku puzzles in my giant game book. Oh yea annnnd I got to drive! Like in a car. On the left side of the road. Maneuvering roundabouts and such. It was fun and I didn't hit anyone or even get a ticket. Should be bundles of fun once we fit 3 more people into that tiny Toyota Corolla, with two of them probably shouting directions and instructions to me (love you Mama & Papa:) and the other one just laughing instead of quieting them for me (ahem, P. Burgess, no wait that's too obvious, let's call him Paul B.)
My job ends Friday..have I said where I'm going after that??? Did I talk about diving on the Reef or going to the zoo to hold a koala and feed a kangaroo...sorry I can't remember which:)
Alright, that's it from me. I hope you're all recovering from turkey day and for any t.u. fans out there, I'm sorry. Sorry we had to bring the BOO-YAH to your home field.
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| I sit here today celebrating Thanksgiving.
With no turkey.
No gravy.
No stuffing.
No cranberry.
Not even brussel sprouts or something I detest but put on my plate anyway so as not to be rude.
But I did have a fake Greek salad earlier. And hiding at the bottom of the cup was a bunch of celery pieces..which I didn't even know were supposed to go in a Greek salad, but I ate them anyway..so as not to be rude..
Annnnd, last night I had a pop quiz about American History. Over dinner, Mr. Politics turned inquisitive over the history behind the Thanksgiving Tradition. All was going well until I couldn't answer the date the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. Disappointment crossed all over his face, he even uttered a dispaired (or probably more pleased that I didn't know it) "Ohh."; and disinterest crossed mine as I kept going on with the story of the Pilgrims and Indians. I'm sorry, did you get "History" major out of "Ocean and Coastal Resources," when I explained it to you. It's not that I don't know my American History, but GD, is it really necessary for you to quiz me over a date in time that you could simply look up on the internet in 0.3 seconds and save us all the trouble of the awkward silence. I guess it is...and it didn't stop being necessary until after he asked me about the Boston Tea Party.
Well now that everyone is probably reading this in a tryptophan daze or between football game segments and feeling really sorry for me, I'll give you an update to what I'm really doing.
I realize it's been awhile since I wrote a new entry, but I haven't really been that busy. I am counting down with excitement for when this job is over. Because in t-minus 10 days, I'll be scuba diving and snorkeling my face off on the Great Barrier Reef, BANGBANG! That's right, snap out of that daze and stop feeling sorry for me. Start being jealous:) Don't worry, more details of the trip will follow before I leave and after I return...if I do.
I've been doing some quality book shopping here. I think the extra duffel bag my parents are bringing over for me is going to be loaded with the new titles and cushioned with cute shoes and several, several packages of TimTams.
Feel free to put any orders in now for Vegemite or Men at Work memorabilia. But I'm warning you, if I'm over the luggage weight limit at the airport...I'm eating it and you'll have to do without or else send me some money for heavy baggage fees.
Back to the point of the good books. I bought a book the other day that I can't put down except for when I'm laughing so hard I'm crying and can't see the pages anyhow. Take a gander:
- Cafes that charge excessive amounts for a mug of shit coffee or tea: Three dollars? I know what tea and coffee cost! I make it all the time!
- Cafes that refill Heinz ketchup bottles with cheaper sauce: You're not fooling anyone.
- Email bragging: People who 'complain' about how many messages they get senbt, especially after they get back from holiday--'I'm stil ploughing through them!' Yes, well done. You're really effing important.
- Serving suggestions: Have the makers of hummus, say, ever received a letter complaining that there was no parsley included inside? 'The package clearly depicts a parsley garnish atop the tasty chickpea-based Greek dip. So where the bloody hell is is, you robbing pack of thieves? Is it customary for supermarkets to willfully cheat their customers in this way?'...And the serving suggestions are always woefully unoriginal. Readybrek(cereal) is always-always!- served in a blue bowl. Why not put it in something else, like lots of tiny walnut shells or a pair of child's rain boots? Now that's a serving suggestion.
- Toast, overpriced: There's a lot of overpriced toast out there. Watch out.
All of the previous entries are from a book called "Is it just me or is everything Shit?" You can see why I picked it up now..anything that blatant has got to back itself up. It's written by British authors and a lot of the subjects are exclusive to the UK but you can still get a few good laughs out of it.
The other hilarious book I spent the other afternoon lounging in Borders reading, but not buying..was a book called "Loads more lies to tell small children." Again, its these titles that get me. My favorite pages:
- Every time you turn the TV channel, the person that was talking on the previous channel dies.
- Paint "Daddy" on the side of your father's car, that way the next time he's trying to find it in the parking lot, he'll recognize it instantly!
- Load up all of your mom's dirty dishes into the car, drive it to the car wash, put the windows down and send it through. Then take it back to Mommy and show her you washed the dishes and car all at once. She'll be so proud.
And that's about all I got. Enjoy your pumpkin pie and Cool Whip. I'll just be sitting over here eating a stale cookie.
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