Sunday, 27 November 2005
I must have loser attracting pheramones
It's the only answer to why wierdos are the only men who ever show and interest in me.
Friday, 25 November 2005
$5 for an hours internet !!!
Boy it's been a long time since I last posted. Mainly this is due to the really expensive internet cafes in the out of the way places I've been visiting.
I've been upto quite a lot including having a surfing lesson, doing some snorkeling and pretending to be Indiana Jones (or should that be Lara Croft) in some caves.
But the most exciting thing to happen was the discovery that I am, in fact, incredibly cool.
Do you know why I'm cool? It's because only cool people can spend the night dancing in the DJ booth at a full moon party, hanging out with the DJ and the rest of the cool crowd and having random strangers kissing their arse all night because they think you can get the DJ to play their crappy request.
I am cool. Finally!
I've been upto quite a lot including having a surfing lesson, doing some snorkeling and pretending to be Indiana Jones (or should that be Lara Croft) in some caves.
But the most exciting thing to happen was the discovery that I am, in fact, incredibly cool.
Do you know why I'm cool? It's because only cool people can spend the night dancing in the DJ booth at a full moon party, hanging out with the DJ and the rest of the cool crowd and having random strangers kissing their arse all night because they think you can get the DJ to play their crappy request.
I am cool. Finally!
Wednesday, 16 November 2005
The Amazing Adventures of SCUBA Girl
Yes, I have finally gone and completed my Open Water Scuba Diving Certification and can now dive down to a depth of 18m anywhere in the world without the supervision of an instructor. Yay me!!!
I went to Magnetic Island to do my certificate because you just walk off the beach into the sea instead of having to go out on a boat to do your open water exam sessions.
Since coming to Australia I have been suffering from horrendous sea sickness. The whole of my Great Barrier Reef snorkeling day trip was spent feeling sick as a dog and vomiting over the side of the boat.
Funny how I never suffered like that on the Dover to Calais ferry.
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
how much ?!
Having left the delights of Cairns for the wonders of Magnetic Island I am no longer able to spend hour after hour blagging free intenet at the Cairns branch of the internet cafe I used to work for. I now have to pay the princly sum of $2 for 15 whole mins.
Aparently one bloke owns all the internet facilities on the island and can therefore charge whatever the fuck he likes.
Aparently one bloke owns all the internet facilities on the island and can therefore charge whatever the fuck he likes.
Saturday, 12 November 2005
Paris brûle ?
A take on the French riots from a British student in Paris.
"As for the riots, they aren't even noticeable, I think foreign media is really blowing them up. Carl said that the British news makes it sound like the whole of Paris is burning to the ground in team America-like chaos, that however is completely not the truth.
"I mean obviously they are happening and I'm sure they're bad, but no one I know has actually noticed any rioting or change in day to day life, such is the way with these things in general I find. However, you want my personal take on the whole thing? The French government had it coming. They've had it coming since around the seventies I reckon, possibly earlier...
"Basically, you know suburbs in most places are generally white middle class areas that people commute from? Well in France they're completely different. After the war, France needed help rebuilding their cities and getting back on their feet, so they went to all the African colonies and imported loads of people; advertised the country as an amazing place where they would all become really rich etc, to get cheap labor basically.
"In order to house all these new immigrants they built mini ghetto-like towns outside all the major cities. So, the French people lived in the cities in their nice apartments, being French and doing their French thing and all the immigrants, who were being paid nothing to do shit work, were shoved in their own little areas to live completely separately to the French, so as not to infiltrate/affect French culture.
"Of course then the post-war rebuild was finished and these poor immigrants who had been promised, or led to believe anyway, a good life were left to fend for themselves. Because of this the banlieus (means suburbs but I find it more appropriate because French suburbs are like no other!!) have always had a history of violence, poverty and gang warfare.
"I'm sure you know racism in France is huge anyway, the French live in constant fear of their wonderful French culture being 'infected' for want of a better word and ruined by the integration of other cultures (we learn about this at university, apparently it all goes back to the revolution). The thing with France is that it's culture is pretty archaic because of that. It really hasn't evolved since the revolution, which obviously leads to a lot of problems, they don't seem to realise that the acceptance and integration of other cultures can actually enrich their own, not necessarily destroy it.
"So basically its no wonder that everyone's finally getting pretty pissed off at why they aren't allowed to be part of the country that most of their parents grew up in. They also don't give immigrants the vote over here as an example of how 'outside' they're made to feel, another thing is that France has always been up and down in giving people nationality. I think for about the last one hundred and fifty years they've been giving out, and taking back, French nationality, according to whether it suits them...(how you can give someone French nationality and then take it away again twenty years later is beyond me and surely in breach of human rights but who the fuck knows!!!).
"Anyway, the French government is, obviously, going about solving the issue all wrong, as in they're not solving it, they're trying to hide it...They've declared a state of emergency in over thirty cities and given the mayors emergency powers and introduced stuff like a curfew, which is completely ridiculous because as far as I can tell that's just going to piss everyone off even more! So that's my take on the issue, sorry if I went on a bit, but to make a long story short, France has had this coming for years and the government still don't get the point!!!"
"As for the riots, they aren't even noticeable, I think foreign media is really blowing them up. Carl said that the British news makes it sound like the whole of Paris is burning to the ground in team America-like chaos, that however is completely not the truth.
"I mean obviously they are happening and I'm sure they're bad, but no one I know has actually noticed any rioting or change in day to day life, such is the way with these things in general I find. However, you want my personal take on the whole thing? The French government had it coming. They've had it coming since around the seventies I reckon, possibly earlier...
"Basically, you know suburbs in most places are generally white middle class areas that people commute from? Well in France they're completely different. After the war, France needed help rebuilding their cities and getting back on their feet, so they went to all the African colonies and imported loads of people; advertised the country as an amazing place where they would all become really rich etc, to get cheap labor basically.
"In order to house all these new immigrants they built mini ghetto-like towns outside all the major cities. So, the French people lived in the cities in their nice apartments, being French and doing their French thing and all the immigrants, who were being paid nothing to do shit work, were shoved in their own little areas to live completely separately to the French, so as not to infiltrate/affect French culture.
"Of course then the post-war rebuild was finished and these poor immigrants who had been promised, or led to believe anyway, a good life were left to fend for themselves. Because of this the banlieus (means suburbs but I find it more appropriate because French suburbs are like no other!!) have always had a history of violence, poverty and gang warfare.
"I'm sure you know racism in France is huge anyway, the French live in constant fear of their wonderful French culture being 'infected' for want of a better word and ruined by the integration of other cultures (we learn about this at university, apparently it all goes back to the revolution). The thing with France is that it's culture is pretty archaic because of that. It really hasn't evolved since the revolution, which obviously leads to a lot of problems, they don't seem to realise that the acceptance and integration of other cultures can actually enrich their own, not necessarily destroy it.
"So basically its no wonder that everyone's finally getting pretty pissed off at why they aren't allowed to be part of the country that most of their parents grew up in. They also don't give immigrants the vote over here as an example of how 'outside' they're made to feel, another thing is that France has always been up and down in giving people nationality. I think for about the last one hundred and fifty years they've been giving out, and taking back, French nationality, according to whether it suits them...(how you can give someone French nationality and then take it away again twenty years later is beyond me and surely in breach of human rights but who the fuck knows!!!).
"Anyway, the French government is, obviously, going about solving the issue all wrong, as in they're not solving it, they're trying to hide it...They've declared a state of emergency in over thirty cities and given the mayors emergency powers and introduced stuff like a curfew, which is completely ridiculous because as far as I can tell that's just going to piss everyone off even more! So that's my take on the issue, sorry if I went on a bit, but to make a long story short, France has had this coming for years and the government still don't get the point!!!"
Monday, 7 November 2005
Is this really happening?
When I came across this article on the BBC web site I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't the 1st of April. Things like this simply do not happen in real life. Certainly not in a place as civilized as France.
I find I have become so detached from the reality of the outside world, I may as well be in the fictional land of Oz.
I don't buy news papers as there too expensive. I hardly ever watch the news because I usually don't have access to a TV. On those sporadic occasions when I have picked up a paper or caught the news it has completely Australiancentric. The local news here really is local. House fires make the news complete with estimations of how high the flames get. Car crashes with fatalities are reported once there was even a report about a House Party where so many teenagers turn up the police had to be called. Local news here really is local.
I'm used to news about international affairs and current events. I'm used to only finding out by word of mouth that a shopkeeper at the end of my road was shot dead in a botched robbery.
It's strange to compare the priorities of the news services on opposite sides of the world.
I find I have become so detached from the reality of the outside world, I may as well be in the fictional land of Oz.
I don't buy news papers as there too expensive. I hardly ever watch the news because I usually don't have access to a TV. On those sporadic occasions when I have picked up a paper or caught the news it has completely Australiancentric. The local news here really is local. House fires make the news complete with estimations of how high the flames get. Car crashes with fatalities are reported once there was even a report about a House Party where so many teenagers turn up the police had to be called. Local news here really is local.
I'm used to news about international affairs and current events. I'm used to only finding out by word of mouth that a shopkeeper at the end of my road was shot dead in a botched robbery.
It's strange to compare the priorities of the news services on opposite sides of the world.
Sunday, 6 November 2005
Bye bye Airlie Beach
After working in an internet cafe in Airlie Beach for 6 weeks I have managed to save a grand total of $60.
I wasn't out every night. I was eating 40 cent packets of noodles for dinner and I even scored a couple of free nights accommodation for handing out leaflets. Where the hell did all my money go?
As I only had 6 days left on my bus pass I decided to skip my planned trip to Magnetic Island and scoot on up the coast to Mission Beach instead.3 days of doing nothing in Mission Beach was a hell of a lot more enjoyable than 3 days of doing nothing Airlie. The beach there is fantastic with a much more relaxed and friendly nightlife to enjoy once the sun goes down. The only down side is that it's box jellyfish and stinger season so there's no swimming in the sea.
The staff at my hostel were all into poi spinning and fire twirling in a big way. So I spent my afternoons by the pool hitting myself in the head with tennis balls attached to lengths of chain (A.K.A free poi spinning lessons).
In the evenings the show offs among the staff put on a fantastic display of fire twirling before we all got bused down to a local bar for a spot of boot scootin' line dancing and a pool comp.
I was extreemly chuffed with myself to have made it through to the 2nd round of the pool comp, until the ref pointed out that I had actually lost the first round game because the white ball followed the black one down the hole. Fucking technicalities.
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