Too many possible titles

Title #1: If you can't beat em, join em.
So I've been complaining about the apparent lack of deodorant here in Australia for the past couple of weeks. It seems like there is a disproportionate number of people here that skip that morning step. Perhaps it is because there are so many backpackers in the area. Well... this weekend I stayed at a hostel in Manly on Friday night and I...uh... kinda forgot my deodorant. So I was the smelly girl all day long!! Good thing I just spent the whole day at the beach :)

Title #2: Don't hate cuz you ain't.
Australians are pretty friendly people. They seem to like everyone -- very open. But there have been a few derogatory comments made about America. Just a few people on the bus or some random place like that. Not very many at all. In my mind, my response to these people is this: if you are gonna be watching American movies, listening to American music, going to America to buy clothes cuz it is so much cheaper, etc. then stop dissing on America! Don't hate cuz America freaking rocks.

Title #3: Swear words
So apparently the curse word da** isn't considered a swear word here in Australia (I can't bring myself to type it out). It would be comparable to an American saying crap or something. This caught me quite off guard for a little while before I realized that it wasn't considered swearing. It is quite disconcerting when people are saying it as they teach a lesson in church or making a spiritual comment.

Title #4: Nudie beach
I went to Palm Beach today, which was about a 2 hour bus ride from downtown Sydney. It was a perfect day again and I had the best time. However, about half way into the day, I look up from my book only to find the beach has turned into a nudie beach. Okay that may be a slight exaggeration, but I look up and 10 feet to my left is a group of 2 girls and 2 guys and the girls are just sitting there with no tops on! A few minutes later, I hear a ruckus to my right and there is a man running through an obstacle course that culminates in a slip-in-slide into the ocean, wearing nothing but neon yellow suspenders that hold a narrow strip of fabric in front of the gentleman's private parts. What the heck? This is a family beach people! I do not wanna be seeing that!

Title #5: Heather would be so proud.
I've tried sushi twice since I've been here. That's right TWICE! That brings my grand sushi-eating total up to 3 times in my entire life. I'm really branching out here and going a little wild. I would still never order it if I was by myself, but I actually thought it tasted okay.

Title #6: Crazy bus lady.
I sat next to an old lady on the bus the other day and she just started yakking away, telling me her life story. You always kinda cringe when that happens cuz you know you are going to have to talk to that person for an entire hour cuz you are trapped on the bus. But this lady was actually pretty entertaining-- she led a full life to say the least. She spent all of her younger and middle age years traveling the world, and on one of her plane flights she met her future husband-- only he was already married. So they started an affair and he left his wife for her, then as she puts it, they "lived in sin" for 2 years before getting married. Then when she was 65 years old and he was 70, they backpacked around Europe for 4 months. Full out backpacking -- as in staying in hostels, having nothing but what you can carry on your back, days without showering. 65 years old!

Title #7: My redlight experience
My CI set up an experience for me to go watch some surgeries at a local hospital. They told me to be at the hospital at 7:30 am. Since I was unfamiliar with the area, I decided to give myself extra time to get lost. To get there, I had to take a one hour bus ride into the city, then get onto the subway, then walk about a quarter of a mile to the hospital. Well, they failed to mention to me that the hospital was in the freaking redlight district of Sydney!! I get off at the stop and there are ladies of a certain type standing on the sidewalks -- they may not have actually been prostitutes, I'm not sure if it is legal here or whatever, but almost every store along the street was an adult shop or gentlemen's club. In addition, there were lots of homeless people sitting on the side of the street. Not exactly the place a young female wants to be wandering around at 6:30 in the morning! And of course, I get lost on my way to the hospital! But I finally found it, went inside only to find that no one seems to know I'm coming or where to send me. So I basically wander around the hospital, opening doors and walking in. I finally find what appears to be the operating rooms, which they call 'theatres', so I just walk into the bathroom, get some scrubs off the shelf, walk into the operating room and tell them I'm here to watch the surgery. The lady that knew I was coming didn't get there for another hour or so. So I literally just walked into the operating room! I could have been anybody! They didn't know me from Adam -- I could have been deranged!

Oh boy, there are just so many things to tell, but not enough energy to keep typing them all. Suffice it to say, I'm having a great time out here and really enjoying myself. The only thing that would make it better is if I had someone to share more of these things with! I'm making new friends and everything, and have had people to go do things with, but crazily enough they have real lives and can't drop everything to come tour Australia with me. Weird. So I do end up doing a lot of things alone. Better to do them by myself than not do them at all. But as the great Whitney Houston says, "What's the sense of trying hard to find your dreams, without someone to share it with, tell me what does it mean?" I find that people want to go do fun things, not hear me tell them stories about me doing fun things. But, hey, I spent the entire day at the beach, so life ain't really that bad :).