All apologies...

I am sorry, it is more evident than ever that I suck at regularly updating things like blogs. It's all apologies on my behalf - I'll attempt to pull myself together and make more of an effort.

Since my last update more than two months ago, I have experienced a lot of things. For example, I have discovered that I actually like a lot of hip hop-music and that is largely attributed to my breakdancing b-boy twin friends, Caleb and Zach. They're quite the shit-stirrers, but they are also a lot of fun and gets me to try new things all the time. It's their 'fault' that I went to the concert with DJ Qbert (appearantly he's one of the best dj's in the world and has been banned from competing), and MC Supernatural (one of the best MC's there is), and had an amazingly good time. They also convinced me to check numerous other events evolving around hip hop, and I now think I might be a fan. Am even planning to go see Grandmaster Flash later this summer (winter here, but for everyone back home...).

In addition to going to see hiphop acts and breakdancing battles I have also been studying. Several assignments have been handed in on topics such as 'does society influence the state or does the state influence society', the Loess Plateau in Central China, the history of European integration after World War 2 and whether we should give the UN the means to do its job or disregard it. They've all been assignments that I've actually struggled with because they've been between 1500 and 2000 words long, and I've gotten used to the standards we have in Volda. But it's turned out well with my essays receiving good marks and my participation being good. Last Thusrday I finished all of my exams which felt absolutely awesome! I had one for each of my four subjects, and three of them were at 8.30 in the morning, which is a little too early when it takes about an hour to get to uni by bus. I also had three of them on consecutive days. But, hey, I survived and was there on time for each one of them:) The grades for the exam and the overall results for the different subjects (including assessments, tutorial participation and exams) will be released on July 5th, so I'm looking forward in anticipation to that.

Otherwise I've spent some time quitting smoking, going for walks along the river towards the city (such a nice walkway on a floating platform), drinking endless cups of coffee and tea, and several nights out with the devil, aka alcohol. Good fun then, horrible the day after... Not that that's anything new in the world of being a uni student, but hey.... I've seen new parts of Queensland, babysat the cutest little dog (beagle/sausage dog cross that's six months old) named Kaya, fallen in love with the sweetest little 2-year old named Alessandra (my friend Kat's daughter and Tarna's housemate), and been to hospital for the second time during my stay here. However, this time around it wasn't because I fucked up my ancle, but because my friend Tarna had her drink spiked at Friday's. We were there for Andrew's (the loveliest, nicest, kinda rich, hiphop fan ever) 21st birthday, and since our friend Vivian worked behind the bar we got several rounds of free drinks. The next thing I know we're leaving and she starts convulsing and falls over. Luckily Zach caught her and the taxi line-supervisor called the paramedics straight away. We went to the hospital and were told that poor Tarna had an alcohol level of 5.4 in her blood system! She was fine after she was treated but it was so scary. Why anyone would do such a thing I don't know... It's not like they're gaining anything from it, even if they were to manage to get the girl home with them - she'd just be lying there like a starfish... People are so sick!

During Easter break I went down to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales where my flatmate is from and stayed at his parents' house with a backyard full of kangaroos - they have about 50 of them that live in the foresty area around their property. Spent a lot of time walking around taking pictures of the beautiful beaches and nature around Coffs, and some of them turned out pretty darned good. (Unfortunately they were taken with my non-digital camera so it'll take some time to remember them when I'm in the vicinity of a scanner...) Otherwise got hit on by a drunk 50-year old man when we went out with lovely Lee, and had fish and chips for the first time in my life. Picky little me had fish and actually liked it! Weird things happen in this country...

But most of the time, I love it. I have a lot of fun here and I've met so many awesome people. It'll be weird to come back home and continue life in Volda as if Oz never happened. Well, it's not gonna be like I never went, but it's so far away that in some respects it will seem like it didn't coz I can't just pop over and visit whenever I feel like it... And that kinda sucks, because I really don't want to lose contact with my friends down here. So, I guess it's time to work on my communication skills via email so that doesn't happen. And this must the most boring blog-thing ever! Oh well, if you suffered through it, it was of your decision, but you do have my full sympathy... Next time I promise there'll be less ranting and soul search-like tendencies going on, and hopefully something more amusing...