Location: Library computer clusters in a completely full computer room.
Majority of people on facebook.
The scholarly generation of today? Example A
Updates on aforementioned Starbucks addiction:
Down to two per week. And this time I’m keeping it off.
So D day finally arrived, my big 21!
Whilst it was of course terribly tragic that I couldn’t celebrate it with my family and friends (insert tear here) most people wouldn’t think having your 21st in England is a such a bad fate to befall someone. So here is the low down on what we got up to!
My nearest and dearest English buddy Miss Ria Farncombe got on a bus and got her butt down to Leeds from Newcastle just to be here for her fav Australian’s birthday – of which I am very grateful for. We took over my flat kitchen for pre drinks – with fellow Adelaideans Tom, Louise and Tori and Leeds dwellers but former Adelaide residents Fran and Jo. The girls got me the BEST little birthday presents, lots of Englishy stuff which I just love (souvenir queen right here).
Afterwards we headed out to the Walkabout to begin the evening’s frivolities! The game wasn’t scheduled to start there until 4am but at 11pm we rocked in to drink and be merry in preparation for a magpies annihilation (which of course didn’t happen but is being postponed for this weekend). Got free entry because it was my birthday (loving the birthday card!) and partied on with newcomers and fellow Aussie’s Myf and Lizzie, until they shut the place at 3pm.
From here we faced a dilemma. With an hour to kill while they reset the place for the game it appears we had only one choice. Those wonderful golden arches we call Maccas. There we were able to keep warm and be fed before we dashed back. The pre game entertainment seemed to go FOREVER….. but eventually the game started. And with the start of the game, came the beginning of the end for me.
I bugged out just before halftime, of exhaustion, general drunkenness and very sore feet. Did enjoy walking home at 7am though with the folks heading to work!
After Ria and I passed out for a while the girls took me out for the lunch to the Library. No, not the actual library cause that would be nerdy and weird – it’s a cool old English pub right down the road. Ate a burger the size of my head (so starving) and then after coffee and AMAZING chocolate brownies from Opposites we slept. Again.
That night we attended the house party of the delightful Miss Fran and Miss Jo. Their house was beautiful (made us not want to go home to our terrible student accommodation!)
So now with my birthday over, its on to the next party to plan or place to be.
Thanks everyone for all your birthday messages, its like a little piece of home and I appreciate it!
Was the draw between the Saints and Magpies majorly anti climatic?
DEFINITELY
Were the curly fries I had with my Burger at the Library perhaps the best thing to happen to me all day?
MAYBE
Will I ever want one of those reheated ‘Australian’ Hot Dogs from the Walkabout again? (who even knows what was in them…)
It is at this point where I actually have a spare minute to breathe in this whirlwind time the English call Fresher’s Weeks (commonly known as the much cooler sounding O Week in Aus country I must add) that I feel it impertinent to share my feelings regarding the differences between these two great nations. So here it is fellow online readers, Miss Sarah Louise Bown’s official pro and con list!
PRO AUSTRALIA
It only took me a couple of days to realise England has been designed by a boy.
How did I come to this conclusion you ask? Finding a public toilet in England is trying to mine for Gold, increasingly difficult yet incredibly exciting when you succeed! Girls need to pee. A lot. Everybody knows that. Well apparently the English were too preoccupied with David Beckham’s hair and missed that memo. At Uni it has been fine but between Louise and I, any trip into the city means that we spend most of the time searching for a toilet for at least one of us. And if you are lucky enough to find one, often enough you have to pay. I didn’t realise normal bodily functions had become a multi million dollar money making scheme now!
Australian: 1 English: 0
ENGLISH FOOD
It is a well known fact that mothers are right about 99.9% of the time. They tell you to take a jacket when you won’t think you’ll b cold but end up freezing or they tell you its not probably a good idea to go out the night before you have to open at work and then you rock up to work looking like something out of Dawn of The Dead.
So when I asked Mum ‘so what is good about English food?’ and she replied ‘nothing’ I was smart enough after almost 21 years to believe her.
To the English reading this I will apologise in advance. I am not intentionally trying to bag out your food and I’m sure it’s very suited to your culture, climate and tastes.
But that must be because your tastes are to like every kind of food to be brown.
I think the term most commonly used amongst us Australian English-food-haters is ‘stodge’. It looks like something you could fill in the cracks in your ceiling with.
For the St Ann’s crew reading this it’s like AB’S. Every Meal. Every Day.
Let’s just be thankful I’m not in catering.
Only five months until I can have a BBQ and SALAD…. Lord help me now…..
NB: However I do wish to make a comment about sweet English food, they have some good biscuits and yummy lollies so I wish not to include them in the category of English stodge.
Australian: 2 English: 0
ALCOHOL
Ok so this one is a complete no brainer. English alcohol is so UNBELIEVEABLY cheap that I almost feel it’s a criminal act every time I go to the pub. Cider, Beer, even spirits are an absolute steal. I was with some boys the other night who bought a bottle of gin for – wait for it – 8 POUNDS. Even with the conversion rate that is like $14 Australia. We may have a great drinking culture in Australia but my oh my do we pay for it! And of course me being the lightweight that I am – I can have the best night on 10 pounds! That wouldn’t even cover the door charge at some of the places in Australia.
Pick you feet up Australia!
Australian: 2 English: 1
UNIVERSITY INVOLVEMENT
Compared to Adelaide University, Leeds is massive. With over 35,000 students it’s more than double that of Adelaide University (and don’t bother trying to argue I looked it up, no wannabe journalist would make such a statement without first researching!) And as such the community of Leeds University makes Adelaide Uni look like Tarpeena (for those of you who know where that is!) The student union is nothing short of Amazing, and the facilities they offer to students make Uni Bar look about as classy as Shadows (again for those of you who know where that is!). Everyone is really keen to get involved in activities and there are so many clubs and societies to join. Yes, Adelaide has this but the difference is in the ENTHUSIASM. Here, people actually WANT to join the clubs and societies, and its encouraged way more than back home. I’ve joined the study abroad club which organises social events and weekend trips around Britain especially for exchange students. (For those of you who know my STRONG feelings about the crap state of the exchange office back home, the services here are more exciting than Christmas Day).
I guess part of the reason is that the majority of the University Accommodations are owned by the University, not independently like Ann’s, so the University plays a much bigger role in students lives than just going to class. Whilst there isn’t the rivalry between the colleges like there is back home, I like it this way as well. It’s a better way to meet more people, and I find the attitude more tolerant.
If you want to start a ‘I love Frodo Baggins’ club people would be very encouraging and you would probably get 100 members straight up.
And not just people who pitied you either.
Australian: 2 English: 2
Well look at that, at this stage it’s a tie. (How convenient that is when I have both nationalities reading this and don’t wanna upset too many people…..)
To sign off here are a couple of quick mentions:
Is Australia weather better than England?
DEFINITELY (so obviously that it didn’t even make the list)
Is the Australian dollar against the English pound going to get any better?
MAYBE (here’s hoping!)
Will the 12 year old English freshers wearing a bucket of fake tan and virtually no clothes ever grow on me?
When you think of the Netherlands (or is it Holland, I’m never sure the politically correct term and the Dutch people can get agro so I’ve avoided asking anyone…) you might think of the following:
-Clogs
-Windmills
-Prostitutes
-‘Coffee’ shops and,
-Lots of fair headed people that say ‘yah’ in a Dutch accent a lot.
If you said any combination of the above (of course people would prioritise that specific list differently depending on their….interests…) you would be exactly correct.
That is exactly what the Netherlands is – but strangely it’s the stereotypicalness of it that makes you love it even more! Louise and I arrived with a few expectations all of which were more than thoroughly exceeded.
We were there for four days and in very untypical style of me we hadn’t booked anywhere to stay yet. After visiting a accommodation information booth we were assured by a nice Dutch man that the ‘White Tulip’ hostel would have room for us. How relieved we were that two sweet, innocent girls could get accommodation at such short notice at such a lovely named facility.
Needless to say when we rocked up to the ‘White Tulip’ in the middle of the Red Light District sandwiched between a rowdy Irish pub and a ‘coffee’ shop, we were thinking perhaps a more indicative name change would be appropriate.
Surprisingly though, I actually quite liked the place. In terms of location we couldn’t have asked for better because despite its interesting choice of after dark activities, the Red Light District is really central to the main sight seeing parts of Amsterdam. The people were nice and were kind enough to remind us that all the valued White Tulip guests received 10% off on all mushroom products at this certain place down the road.
Obviously not referring to the button variety of course.
A large majority of Day One was spent trying to suss the maps out and wandering up and down the alley ways. Came across this typical little Dutch pub with a little outdoor seating area right on the canal, where aptly named ‘pub guy’ (he never told us his name) took very good care of us bringing menus, more cider and a blanket each for us when it started to get cold (seriously!).
The Canals of Amsterdam are by far its shining jewel (again others would disagree in accordance with their interests…) We bought a ticket for a hop on and hop off tour on a canal bus which cruises five different routes with over 30 stops, winding past all the best parts of Amsterdam. We stopped at these cute little markets for an hour or so, and enjoyed a coffee in the Dutch sunshine before hopping back on the canal bus to head back to the city.
(The main canal of Amsterdam is the River Amstel and when a dam was built on it, the city was coined Amsteldam and then later shortened to Amsterdam. See Mum, I did learn something useful!)
The food we had was TO DIE FOR. You wouldn’t wanna live there unless you had the intention to look like an elephant but because we were only there for a weekend it was no holds barred with the eating! Waffles, chocolate waffles, pretty much any kind of waffle, apple pie (OMG the apple pie…), cone fries (fries served in a paper cone with different sauces and this weird fork thingy), stoopenwaffels (these weird dutch biscuit things that Louise and I got hooked on), croissants – you name any food item with over 500 calories, we ate it!
On our last full day we thought we better humble ourselves with a little trip to the Dutch countryside. There are planned tour groups that go out to the Volendam, Edam and various other little traditional Dutch towns but we decided they would be full of old people and that we were strong, independent women who could get ourselves there without the need for an old fogey tour.
My, were we sadly mistaken. After catching the wrong bus and then having to dash across the road fearing for our lives to catch the one back to the Ferry where we started, we finally got on the right bus and got to Volendam. The place was typically Dutch, I half expected all the women to be wearing pointy hats and aprons and clogs! Was a little harbourside town so followed the boardwalk along the tourist route. Ate, yet MORE Dutch food, and listened to the old Dutch locals having a sing along on the sidewalk. Perfect afternoon.
A quick word on the transport systems of Amsterdam. Here is the pecking order as follows:
Trams
Cars
Mopeds
Bicycles
Pedestrians
Tourists
I swear we nearly died two or three times, they just come out of everywhere! And the amount of bikes! OMG the amount of bikes! At least we figured out why there is no such thing as a fat Dutch person – they eat all their fattening food but ride all day long running tourists over in the process! Although pub guy did say the one thing Dutch people hate the most is tourists who just walk out in front of the bikes, in our defense you have to look in a million different directions and they ride on the footpath with the pedestrians! We barely even get look in! Thought about perhaps renting some bikes cause it’s a great way to see the city but we decided we weren’t aggressive enough for Dutch bikes. You have to be a menace with that bike bell!!!
Oh I would also like to take a moment here to record three of my dear friend’s precious ‘Louise moments’…haha you are gonna hate me for this tomorrow…..
#1: Because of the immense immensity of the Waffle population in Amsterdam (a large proportion of which we attempted to become acquainted with) led Louise to coin the term ‘you have been waffled’
#2: To catch the bus to the little traditional Dutch town of Volendam we were informed by the transport office that we had to take a ferry if we were going to do it today because a marathon was blocking the usual route. Now bless her soul Louise is not really good with boats and was quite anxious as to how long this ferry ride would be. The guy assured us it was only five minutes but Louise was NOT convinced and proceeded to explain to the man how she really didn’t like boats and was he sure it wasn’t going to be a bad ride. We rocked up to the dock and realised it was a ferry across the CANAL and we could have thrown a stone further. Now we realised why the Dutch guy looked at us really funnily…..
#3 And the penultimate Louise moment of them all…… Dear Louise was, one night, writing postcards to her family and friends back home. I asked her if she was going to be sending them while we were in Amsterdam. She replied (deadly seriously) ‘Well I would but I don’t know my parents address’. Needless to say I suffered immense injury from falling off the top bunk DOUBLED over in laughter…..
So just before I head off to party with some of us old fogey exchange students (strangely enough partying with maggoted 17 year old English people isn’t super appealing….) here are three things I know about Amsterdam:
Is Dutch food the reason why obesity is such a global epidemic?
DEFINITELY
Are there more bicycles per capita than ‘red light district workers’?
MAYBE
Will I ever forget having a lazy Strongbow or two under an umbrella on the edge of a beautiful Amsterdam canal?
Starbucks Caramel Frappucino’s Consumed: 1 (although I totally got Louise hooked on them too so I feel like I’ve done a good deed for the lovers of Caramel Frappucino’s everywhere)
So here I am finally arrived in Leeds!
What can I say about the city?
Well when they said it was a student city by no means were the English joking – they bred them like wildfire in Yorkshire! They are EVERYWHERE and a big part of the British freshers haven’t even arrived yet (not till next week) so I am curiously looking forward to seeing just how this town will cope with an influx of hormones crazed teenagers.
The University is really nice – not quite the ‘old but nice old’ look of Adelaide University (although I can’t help but defend my home turf) but a lot bigger than the Adelaide campus. Next to the University and across the road is Leeds Metropolitan University, ‘the fake one’ here in Leeds. Hmm….that sounds familiar…. University of South Australia super tafe anyone…….
There are a couple of the University’s accommodation facilities on campus.
And when I say on campus I mean on campus.
Imagine a whole street of Notting Hill esque Hugh Grant English apartments in the MIDDLE of the University. If you were studying Psychology the building is literally 15 steps away.
Now that’s convenience!
Also been perusing around the city, which despite being smaller than Adelaide is WAY better looking.
Imagine Rundle Mall on steroids and you’ll be halfway to how much better Leeds City Centre is.
The buildings are lovely and old but also paired with HUGE glass covered arcade mall things which house all the expensive shops that poor students like me can’t afford to go into anyway. But at least it looks pretty.
Just a note on the grocery shopping here.
It is almost a joke how RIDICULOUSLY cheap food is over here.
Yesterday I bought:
1 loaf of bread
2 Apples
2 Bananas
Laundry Detergent
Carrots
TOTAL: 3 pounds 15
For those of you who aren’t used to converting in their head like me that is about $5 Australian.
MENTAL!!!!
Also, moved into St Marks yesterday. Very similar to First Year Ann’s rooms except we are in little flats with 4 other people where we share a kitchen and bathroom. I’m in with Alice from Brisbane, Sebastian from Germany, Erica from China and Mr Dude who hasn’t arrived yet (well we’re hoping it’s a guy anyway for Sebastian’s sake!) They are all lovely so there was immense relief on my behalf with that!
There wont be any British people living where I am because you can only stay here for a Semester so its mainly for exchange students but I’m not too phased, hopefully ill have plenty of opportunity to meet some through Uni or other events!
Went to a real English pub with Louise for tea last nite. Again it was RIDICULOUSLY cheap and Louise ordered a pint of cider that was the size of my head, keeping in mind I have a big head of course J , for 2 pounds 15 pence.
Me and England are going to be good friends.
Oh before I go to a quick note on my 21st which is next Saturday (will of course be expecting lots of present people!). I ducked into the Walkabout in Leeds to see if they are showing the AFL Grand Final next Saturday and luckily they are! So while you’re all asleep ill be lining up when they open the doors at 4am to watch the footy in my Crows Guernsey (I’m bringing it out Max!).
Gonna be epic!
Well gotta go meet Louise for more English frivolities, we’re heading to Karaoke Night for the International Students.
Lord help us all.
Am I now disgusted at how much we pay for our groceries in Aus?
DEFINITELY
Is half of Australia in Leeds at the moment? (It seems that way!)
Perhaps a little premature I know (I’m yet to experience to bone chilling cold yet of course) but I can’t help it. Maybe its just the whole aura of the ‘new’ but everything just seems so different and exciting. Despite what I have been told the people are generally very friendly, although sometimes I’ve had to repeat myself because they’ve given me that ‘ive got no fckin idea what you just said’ look.
Which of course is humorous in itself so I don’t mind.
Had grand plans for exploring the next few days but grossly underestimated the power of the silent killer jetlag who insists on making the floor feel like its moving under you every 2 minutes.
Therefore, the next few days only made it touristing (im making that a new verb) for a couple of hours before having to give in to a nana nap at the ripe hour of 1 in the afternoon.
In my defense – that’s when I would be going to bed if I was in Australia, damn time difference!
Moved into the Manchester YHA on Saturday, nice little hostel with a nice little cheap pricetag (which is good for me cause im living off less than $100 a day till I can get my bank account up and running – which apparently is a mammoth feat in itself, something to look forward to!)
Not many people here which didn’t give a loner traveller like myself much confidence until I heard the perhaps not so faint words of an Australian accent coming from the Games room. And that’s how I came to meet Nathan, Brock and Craig – three Aussie blokes from Sydney.
They (thankfully) took me under their wing, the loner Sarah from Adelaide traveller as I was, and that nite we hit up the Manchester Walkabout (a chain of Aus pubs). After lots too many double vodka and redbulls later (three pounds!!!), and having wasted WAY too much money on the stupid Deal or No Deal machine (don’t laugh its addictive) we stumbled home at 5am.
Well when I say stumble I mean the boys did because I was complaining that my feet hurt so much that Nathan piggybacked me all the way back to the hostel.
It appears even good old Australian chivalry can survive the long plan flight over!
The one thing I did want to do in Manchester was see the Man United Soccer (sorry I mean ‘Football’) stadium so we caught the tram to Old Trafford and took in the sights.
Unfortunately the tour was super expensive so we saw the sights that you can see from outside the stadium.
Which isn’t a whole lot.
But at least I can say I’ve been there!
Leaving for Hometown Leeds tomorrow on the train – the guy at reception told me they leave fairly often but if not there is one of the millions of English Starbucks at the station.
Best news id heard all day.
So now to leave you here is my three words of wisdom:
Is it worth switching from a 67 pound a night hotel that lost your original reservation to a 18 pound a night one with cool people, despite not having a tv in the room? (not tht it matters cause UK tv sucks….)
DEFINITELY
Will I need to limit my Starbucks spending in order to make sure I have enough money for somewhere to stay?
MAYBE
Will I be admitting that I’m a quarter kiwi to anymore Australians that I meet, which on the first occasion has prompted MUCH teasing and sheep jokes.
Location: seated in the Hudson’s Coffee shop in the domestic terminal of the Melbourne International Airport. Sitting somewhat illegally I might add due to the lack of acquired Hudson’s product on my table at current time.
Imminent ejection from the Hudson’s specific sitting area is predicted.
The guy next to me expresses his annoyance at having to fork out $9 for his coffee and sandwich. Apparently he didn’t get the memo every other single person in the world did that it is compulsory for all airport essentials to be grossly overpriced.
Six hours into the trip, enough time to have made a few astute observations.
Observation #1: Do not overload fragile handbags with heavy electrical equipment that you are trying to take on the plane to avoid paying excess on it. It is not a solution and merely results in a broken handbag which means you now have an extra thing to carry on top of your heavy electrical equipment.
Thank god for sale racks – ill say that, which played a large part in thankfully rectifying my handbag situation.
Observation #2: All flights experience a little turbulence. There is no need to put your head between your knees and proceed to absolve your lifetime’s worth of sins to his Holiness above. The plane will not crash and he does not care.
Observation #3: Avoid getting a window seat next to a fat person.
Actually rephrase that, avoid getting any seat next to a fat person.
At lastly the most important observation of them all, #4:
It is not physically possible to get yourself and your large suitcase in the toilet cubicle at the same time. You cannot leave the suitcase outside unattended because of obvious reasons.
You don’t want it to get scared by itself.
Oh and you don’t want anyone to steal your crap.
You cannot leave yourself outside the cubicle because that completely defeats the purpose of the toilet-ing exercise.
It was the kind of square peg round hole type situation that provided immense entertainment for the many other bladder emptying women in the toilets at the time.
Sadly I did not share in their laughter.
As a result of the failure of the experiment I did not drink anything else until I could check my large suitcase in, which I might add was 5 hours later.
Utter self sacrifice.
The flight was typical of every other 14 hour flight: long, boring and very uncomfortable. Getting into Abu Dhabi I noticed a couple of things.
a)The heat. After leaving a dreary Melbourne 38 degrees was a bit of a wakeup call. Shoulda packed my shorts.
b)Despite my unfounded predisposed opinions, the Arabian people were really nice. Most that I encountered spoke really good English and had a sense of humour. Quote of the hour came from a gorgeous little Arabian girl who was with her father behind me in the line to board the plane. They were both dressed in traditional clothing (which is a little intimidating I must admit) and the father asked the little girl to hold her passport so she could give it to the ‘nice lady’ to which she replied ‘don’t give them my lolly dad’. I couldn’t help but laugh are assure her the ‘nice lady’ wouldn’t want her lolly.
‘But just in case’ was her reply. So adorable.
Abu Dhabi to Manchester sat next to an Englishman and his son who had been on the same flight from Melbourne. They were over there to getting permanent residency in preparation for moving over there at the end of the year. Both were so nice and in the cramped conditions amongst a lot of tired, grumpy (and smelly) people it is a relief. Chatted about what I’m doing and England and the inevitable subject that seems to come up every time I tell someone I’m from Australia – how cold England is in comparison to Aus!
Got through the immigration process fine (!!!!!!!!) and got a taxi to the Jury’s Inn. The taxi was black (hehe so English) and made a right dick of myself when I tried to get in the passenger seat.
They don’t have them.
Got to the Jury Inn where the albeit nice receptionist informed me there was no reservation under my name.
Excellent.
After I showed her all the evidence that I did have a reservation (and had paid for it as well!) she made a new one for me.
The jetlag is kicking in and the floor is spinning so gotta go but here’s the most important parts of the day.
Is Australia is a LONG way from England and is waiting at airports is now my least favourite past time?
DEFINITELY
Are all English boys so good looking?
MAYBE (from what ive seen about the place lets hope so!)
After only one day will I ever get sick of being ‘The Australian’?
