Sick Kangaroo

I can't believe I'm updating my blog on time, for once.

So far Im okay but I'm one sick kangaroo. This Monday I decided it was time to check out the Epping Aquatic Center to continue swimming. I followed all the signs and it turned out to be this long uphill amble that tired me out and made me all sweaty, especially since I was carrying gym things on my back with the intention of going to the city afterwards. When I got there, I got a list of prices and also found out that they were hosting a swim carnival (schools use the pool for days/weeks for swimming competitions) for the Eppings Boys High School so the pool wouldn't be free till earliest end of the week.

Tired, I made my way to Macquarie where I had my camera checked and the girl gave me a 1800 number to call. Later on when I got home I dialed the number and lo and behold a Filipino sounding voice - they didn't even get a good one - said "Pres Wan" (insert matigas na P here) for repairs, etc. I was nice and honest to Rhoda - who I got routed to every single time as I called 3 times for many changes - and I told her that I dropped the thing, which of course invalidated my warranty. (Apparently Kodak does not have complete care.) So it was $45 dollars to have it appraised, which I initially agreed to, then they faxed something to me which was this form that i was to send when I sent it to the repair place. Turns out the repair place was in Victoria, outside Melbourne and I would have to cover the shipping as well. So I called back, got Rhoda again and said no, so she reversed the charges (aka cancelled order) and I will take care of having the thing fixed. By this middle of the first call I had dropped all pretense of using any accent. Am sure she could tell I was pinoy, call center people always know their own, but I stayed in English all the way, because I didnt feel like going "Filipino ka ba, Tagalog na lang tayo." which probably would have made her day. But I was nice, and I asked simple things and she was a very efficient agent, she knew exactly what to do and could answer all my questions so if they ever send me a survey, I'll be sure to give her nice marks, even if they didnt get my email address :P (Okay only people from work will understand this last bit)

After Macquarie I went home to take a shower, determined to go watch a movie. I ended up chatting with Jason instead and I headed back to Macquarie for lunch and a later show. I ended up buying two books (it wouldve been 4 but thank God I stopped myself) and I went home to read them.

Tuesday I went to the city to have lunch with Mr. Tony, a family friend who we met in Europe, way back in '97 when mum & I went. We ate in the food court at QVB and had coffee in a little cafe there as well. We spent a lot of time chatting on his family, and international students and stuff. Mr. Tony is originally a Kiwi who moved to Australia. He was both a barrister and a solicitor but he is retired now. He and his wife travel a lot and they have three daughters. One of them, a nurse, is based in London and they are going to visit her in April. They are then going around Europe for a bit then the East Coast of the US, Calgary in Canada then the West Coast. It sounds pretty cool. He also told me a bit of history, explaining how things were back then in New Zealand when he was working in the district office there.

Afterwards I went to Fitness First on Pitt Street and did a little work out. (You have to put in a $2 coin to use the lockers, but you get it back in the end. The showers also require the use of slippers. To me, anyway. )

Once upon a time when I was still working out in Oakwood - at the peak of my physical fitness, regardless of the anorexia - I remember overhearing this conversation between a well built regular and his friend who appeared to be starting out. He was a bit hiponesque, but well proportioned and he worked out practically everyday. He said, "Pare, kelangan pati lower body i-work out mo. Tignan mo yang mga yan, ang laki laki ng mga katawan nila tapos yung mga legs nila ang papayat. Dapat hindi ka ganyan. Dapat balanced and proportioned." This of course made a whole lotta sense and whenever I go to the gym now I notice if the guy is too focused on their upper body, which you can tell, as women, who are inadvertedly obsessed with their thighs tend to work out everything more and there is less chance of this happening.

Somehow, in Fitness First Australia most of the guys there are buff, look nice, have huge chests and arms plus chicken legs. I cant tell you how many of them I saw, and in a country where lifeguards, policemen and firemen look like they do on TV, its a bit ironic how sayang it is to have a good looking guy...with stickish legs. I mean I had better legs then half of them and that says a lot because I dont work out regularly. Men always goal for that V shape, so their shoulders are huge and then it slims down to the waist. Well let me tell you here, that V goes all the way to their feet, all tapered and skinny. Its a bit of a shame.

After the workout I hung out in that area before meeting Jojo for dinner at V Bar on Liverpool St. Jojo is a friend of mine from college who moved to Sydney to take up Law. He has just finished, and once he is done with his internship he will be able to get his license and apply for PR as well. We went to his apartment so he could change out of his work clothes and then he got the car out and we went to Pott's Point for dinner. We had a very good one in a place with a Flying Pig for a logo. The waiter was a Pinoy who was based in London for awhile before moving to Sydney. He had not been to the Philippines for 15 years. We had a small pizza, risotto with mushrooms and cheese and a salad. Then off we went to Darlinghurst for dessert where I had a milkshake with soy (you can only do that here!) that did not affect my tummy one bit. Go me! After this Jo dropped me off at central station. He is going home for his dad's 60th which also falls on Easter Weekend and he promised to go apartment hunting with me when he returns as he has moved six times - everytime he goes on holiday - and is pretty good at it.

On Wednesday, yesterday, I went to school to enroll. Now I was feeling a bit sniffly on Tuesday, so I got myself some Panadol severe allergy. On Wed morning it had turned to a full blown cold so I took the antibiotics my allergologist perscribed for emergencies and now (Thursday morning) it has evolved more into a cough. I feel tired and worn out but I guess its better that it happens now, rather than when I am in the middle of school. I am confident that this is completely necessary in order to be able to adjust to the temperature here.

Anyway, yesterday I lined up to enroll. I met a chinese girl taking economics who also lived in Epping but we parted before I was able to get her contact details. I think that a majority of my classmates will be Chinese. This worries be a bit not because I have anything against them as I am about 1/8th chinese myself, but because I dont want to have it happen that you're in groupwork and they're all talking in Chinese and you're like, hello?!?! Which is what happened to Jojo all the time in Law, which my cousin has also had happen to him. Janet, my friend in Queensland even said, "Hay naku. Lugi ka kasi pag groupwork they leave you to do it bec your English is so much better than theirs." (She did add though: "Although I dont mind bec Im obssessive that way and I want to do everything myself.") I just dont want it to be like that and am worried that it might be. The line of people enrolling later in the afternoon was one hundred percent pure asian. As in Chinese (we dont get that many Japanese students and being Asian, I can tell the difference) which left Sacha saying, "Im sorry to tell you but I think all your classmates are Chinese." Sigh. I hope I am able to make friends and that things turn out okay and not stereotypical as everyone else has experienced. All the Chinese I have met so far have been nice and friendly, so Im hoping it will go well.

After enrolling Iwent to one of the internet stations at Carslaw Building to check my timetable (schedule). It took fifty million years to print it out and I loaded up my account there - only up to 2MB is free and you can only print once - with $10. After that I met up with Sacha and Andee and I accompanied them to finish their enrollment. Andee had to sign all these forms to certify she was not a child molester since she'd be doing hospital rounds and Sacha, due to her scholarship got a concession which enables her to travel on the buses and trains for less, normally not allowed for International Students. We then had lunch at Manning (union building). Since this was O week - as in Orientation - all the societies and clubs were in full force. Everyone had a booth in the main quadrangle and we walked around everywhere checking out stuff. Sacha joined Capoiera, Amnesty International and an Environmental Group. Andee joined the Wine Society with me but held off everything else because having 5 subjects this semester including a cooking class, she wanted to see what she could fit in first.

I joined:
The Buffy Society - 'nuff said
Sydney Uni Anime Society - www.suanime.org
The Archeology Society - $3 and all you do is attend seminars and go to museums and they give you info on possible excavations for arch and history students to join
The Wine Society - have dinner once a month, they also organize wine tasting trips to Hunter Valley
The Society for Creative Anachronism - www.sca.org.au/st_ursula, which is basically medieval reinactment. As in they dress up in costumes, they do dancing and heraldry and they do fighting and stuff. I joined because I wanted to go attend one of them fairs. (I wonder if I can go as a man because I dont want to wear a dress. )

All the things I joined involve mostly sitting down and watching films, etc. so I decided I wanted to have a sport. Hockey turned out to be AUS $ 272 plus union fees for postgrads plus a year long commitment. I decided not to sign up as I wouldnt be sure when I would be able to commit to this. Sacha and I checked out Bushwalking but once we saw ropes, climbing hooks and all these things on display we decided it was too hard core for the likes of us. Maybe after some progression. I have decided to take kickboxing instead, but its not on the days when I have uni. They have one that starts in May so maybe by then I will be living closer to school and will be able to go even on days when I dont have classes - it is such an effort otherwise.

After all of this we passed by the International Office to fill out forms to inform the DIMIA (Aus Immigration) that we intend to work. Once they reply we can apply for our work permits. We also checked out the Housing Office - both Sacha and Andee are looking for new places - then we made our way to King St. where we checked out real estate brokerages before heading home. I got off the bus on Central Station and while walking through I found a store on sale and managed to get myself a long sleeved blouse for only $10, which is what I really need right now since its getting freaking cold.

Got home early but everyone was out since Lara was working and the rest of the family had gone to see Uncle Malcolm's neice and her dad who were in Manly. (She is on a work/travel visa and he is visiting) I tried to play with Cody but after awhile he didnt want to fetch, he just wanted to play with the toy. Later on it rained a steady drizzle so I let Cody into my room - no mean feat since I had to put all my shoes on shelves and take everything off the floor including the waste basket - and he jumped on my nice white coverlet straight away. So guess who's stuck sleeping with a dirty blanket? Sigh.

This morning my cold has progressed into a cough. I am heaving all over the place. It is slightly a dry cough and I hope I feel better soon as I have to go to school and attend the Faculty Orientation. Thank God that's the last one I have to go to before school starts. I hope.