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Dimarchai needs YOU!

There hasn't been much to report lately... School's dull. I met a German Foreign Exchange Student named Lucas, and I told him his accent was pretty. He sounds like a James Bond villain when he speaks...

...Lately, I'm feeling increasingly abandoned. It's probably just paranoia, but I feel as of late a lot like Noel no longer wants to be my friend... I dunno...

It's small things, I guess, that I read into too much.

Today we met up with Kathyrn at the football game. Noel spent the whole time talking to her, sharing drawings... ...she rarely shows me her drawings... Though, honestly, I've never given her any reason not to.

*sigh* I don't know. Like I said, it's probably just unfounded paranoia... I mean, after the way she got so mad at Kim for ditching her and such, I find it hard to believe she'd turn around and do the same thing... ...unless she didn't realize she was doing it...

Or, more likely, there was nothing to realize...

*sigh* ...this is what happens when I have too much time with myself...

Yet another school year begins for me tomorrow... They keep making it start earlier and earlier and end later and later... They say this evens the schedual out, but I don't see it. I feel like some high-up must be embezelling time...

I have no Spanish and no PE this year. I could thank every god in and out of existance for that... I hate Spanish. Two years and the only sentance I learned was "Yo veo a tu radiografia, y tu tiene una fractura" (I looked at your X-ray, and you have a fracture).

I've got one class with one of my friends, two classes with another, and the third one I'm not sure about (but, I figure I'll find out tomorrow.) I have only two classes which I fear will be boring--Chemistry and Algebra II. I fear the feminist, lefty agenda of my English teacher... I figure I'll spend all year wanting to slap the liberal right out of her. On top of that, I'm told she's in love with giving out homework and then only collecting it when she thinks that not every one did it. ...oh, and she starts every one in the class off at a C.

The drama teacher changed this year. I'm pissed. Granted, the last teacher was not the greatest in the world, but I'd been in her class two years and she'd let me slide on stuff... Now I have to deal with some one else? Jesus effing Christ... Oh well. At least it's not Souza.

...I already have him for Band... I was coerced into joining band by my best friend. It's fine, though... So long as I'm not put on triangle, tambourine or claves. I hate percussion with a passion, come to think of it, with the exception of the actual drums.

I have a class called History and Media Litteracy this year. It should be interesting... And I've got History with the same teacher I had last year, which is good. She was cool... So those two classes I'm looking forward to...

Speaking of History, I just got back from CSU Stanislaus. I went with Rex to do some things... He's starting there in the fall--gonna be a History Major... He showed me a building which freaked him out. Said it was weird and trippy. I looked at it, and I think he's just strung out on drugs...

He's majoring in History... He's only got four classes this semester... One's a math class and one's a writting class. The other two are history, I believe. I don't remember what the first one is, but the second one is Contemporary Moral Issues. He's bummed that he doesn't have any drama classes, and he said to me he wants to change his major so he can act. I told him he's an idiot. He'll never make it in Hollywood, that brother of mine...

It's not that I'm trying to be unsupportive, only realistic... How many thousands of actors are in LA starving because they thought they were talented? Facts is facts--majoring in acting won't do diddly-squat. It just won't... I mean, people aren't lining up to hand out jobs to History majors, I guess, but it's still better. He can teach with a degree in History.

I mean, Drama programs can be cut. A school would be very hard pressed to cut their History programs, as it takes four years of such to graduate.

I dunno... It's hot as hell outside, and I'm shutting down a bit from being out there...

...there's something about this place...

This place I live... On and off the internet, both...

It dulls me... From here, the outside is barely a thought. Everything becomes a dream, and every one and every thing I cannot feel or see ceases to truely exist...

And I feel so sad, and alone... There's something about this place....

...but they are, I'm certain, false emotions. Illusions wraught by seclusion and by ample time to think...

...I have Swarm tomorrow. That's where I get my schedual and books...

I feel like Australia owes me a chunk of my summer... Hear that, Australia? You owe me. I urge all Australians reading this to donate five minutes of their life to me, keeping that in mind.

Yes, dear friends and enemies, I am return'd from Australia, where women glow and men plunder... It feels like I spent a short life time there, really, I did so much... It's a cloud in my mind, but I'll try to run the trip down for you... (This will likely be quite long, so feel free to skip and skim.)

First off, before I talk about the actual trip, I'll run down a few things I learned in the Great Southern Land:

1. Aussie men are really hot. Especially the muscley ones at the beach that take their shirts off...

2. Buggery is the act of homosexuality, which is probably why it's so fun to say.

3. Green ants are a burst of flavour--it's like an orgy in your mouth! ...a limey one, too.

4. Nine lashes tears flesh.

5. Rugby can be played every where, but is best played on a vast feild of sand and without shirts (provided all players are male, mind you.)

6. Kangaroo tastes much better going down than it does coming back up.

7. Oysters are sharp and hurty.

8. Pouring salt into the food of some one who's gone to the bathroom is funny. Even funnier is when they keep eating it without knowing or caring, even when you salted their ice cream.

9. Australians are what Americans would be if most of us weren't ignorant, hippy pricks.

10. Beer is the Australian God. *nod**nod*

11. Kangaroo is magically delicious.

12. You can drown a croc by forcing your fist down its throat.

13. Crying kids on airplanes make me ten fold more murderous.

Now, on to the trip:

We flew into Sydney from San Francisco. It was a gruelingly long flight--fourteen hours. I got an aisle seat. This meant I couldn't get much sleep, as the flight attendant kept walking briskly down the aisle, smacking into me. They had a little screen in the back of each seat, so passengers could watch movies and such, or listen to the CDs in their CD library. I did the latter... They had Red Hot Chili Peppers, best band ever, so I had something to relax to... They also had a The Best of David Bowie CD, but it's not the one I own. It was good, but, sadly, no Ashes to Ashes.

I don't understand those jokes about Airline food. Qantas gave us good food... I ate it and it was pretty good... Braised beef, I believe it was...

We arrived in Sydney at about six in the morning and collected our luggage before we were met by a customs hound that sniffed us down to make sure we weren't bringing any plant or animal products into the country. All of us but one girl recieved our luggage without incident. Hers was lost however. No worries, though--she got it back a few days later, and they gave her two hundred for the hassle.

We met our Delegation Manager in the airport. He was an Aussie man of about 30 named Daniel. Cool guy, him. He wore an Aussie hat, possibly because he had a recedeing hair line. Or, possibly, because he was Master of the Bush. I never asked...

We got our stuff together and boarded our coach (tour bus). Daniel played 'Down Under' by Men at Work when we set off. He played that song every morning--I've come to love it deeply.

Tired as we were, we began the day. First, we went to Telstra stadium. That was where the 2000 Olympics were held. It was... big. I wasn't too interested in it, though, truth be told... We had sandwiches there for lunch--that became quite a pattern. Our sandwiches that day were from Subway. I know... A whole ocean crossed, just for subway. ...it was ham and salad, too... Gross...

Anyway, there was a gift shop there, selling mostly Australia Wallabies stuff... One of my fellow Student Ambassadors, Carlo his name was, bought a Wallabies ball. This led to rampant rugby playing and games of catch in any space large enough to allow for it.

We walked over to the Aquatic Centre and had a swim after that. It was pretty neat... The pool was heated. A relief, because Sydney was freezing major ass. They had this circular rapid pool, and we played tag in it... About fifteen of us... Oh, my, the lifeguard was blowing his whistle... Probably this wasn't the best impression of America we could have given, so rowdy and out of control... But, I'd like to think every one just thought we were playful... ^ ^;;

When we were finished, we went back to our hotel... I noticed as we drove through town that a lot of eateries were cafes. This became more and more apparent as I went through Australia... Even all the McDonalds were subtitled as McCafes. ...I also noted that their Burger Kings were called Hungry Jack's.

The next day, we did quite a few things across Sydney. We learned about Opals, we took pictures in front of Sydney Harbour and Mrs. Macquire's chair, we cruised the harbour, we visited Hyde Park and the Hyde Park Barracks, as well as a nearby cathedral, we toured the Opera House. It was all very amazing... And cold. Sydney is cold in the winter... but beautiful. It looks like nothing I've ever seen... Kind of like San Fransisco or New York, except the streets and sidewalks are clean, it's not crowded, and there's almost no graffiti.

There were a ton of tourists on the harbour, most of them Asian. All day I caught snippets of Japanese and Korean...

We visited the Sydney Aquarium. It reminded me of home... Of the bay area and ever Aquarium I'd ever been to... Things that reminded me of home were treasured. Not to say I was homesick... Oh, no... Just... It was that isolated feeling I sometimes get when I'm all alone and I want to speak, but there's no one to hear me. I get sad durning those times... There was no one in my delegation I really cared to speak to. The closest was a girl named Julia, who shared a few of my interests, but she was, for lack of a better phrase, a pompous, know-it-all, arrogant, dry, slow gal. She thought she was smart. Mistakenly she believed herself smarter than me--probably because I spoke little and it was almost always in a joking manner, though she always seemed to take my words as being serious(She had a couple redeeming qualities, however, such as an interest in Zylx, but not enough to not irritate me greatly). Quite annoying and more proof that there are very few people that really understand me. I don't make friends easily, and it's for that reason... Though, I do like to believe that the friends I have truely and fully accept me, as I do them... I'd... I'd like to believe I'm a good, loyal friend, tactless as I am... That I'd do anything for my friends, even if it was kill or die... But people like to believe a lot of things, I suppose, and that's neither here nor there, is it?

After we left Sydney, we went south to Canberra to see the Parliment building. It was beautiful... But Canberra was unpleasantly chilly. I'm not a big fan of cold weather, you know... Anyway, while we were there we also went to the War Memorial. It's on a long street leading directly from the Parliment Building and there's a clear view from one to the other. The tour guide said that was so the members of Parliment could look out the window and see that people die for the sake of their decisions. I find that poetic...

There was a museum and archive attatched to the War Memorial, but I found the memorial itself to be most... alluring, for lack of a better word. It was like the Vietnam Memorial--a list of names. They were engraved in metal panels, set around a reflection pool with a flame in it. Stairs led up from the pool to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which broke the wall into two sections--World War I, and all the wars after it.

The tomb was quite amazing as well... They said that until half way through the Vietnam war, the Australians did not bring back the bodies of their fallen but, rather, buried them where they fell. The Unknown Soldier's tomb, therefore, acted as a grave for all those men that lay beneath the ground in far off places... There were four pillars within, each representing an element--fire, water, wind and earth. The whole thing was... beautiful. Hauntingly so, but beautiful none the less...

I bought a pin in the souveneer shop. It was a sword with wings, with a ribbon across it that said 'who dares wins'. They had pins for all branches of the army--even psychology, band and catering. I bought this pin not knowing which branch it belonged to... Having just Wikipedia'd it, I have found it to belong to the Special Air Service Regiment, a reconnaissance and counter-terroism regiment...

We took the coach back from Canberra to Sydney, where we flew to Darwin. I don't care much for air travel. The plane itself isn't bad. I don't mind taking off or landing or anything... But it's just... such an effing hassle, to be honest. Anyway, we arrived to Darwin and it was, even in the middle of the night and winter, uncomfortably hot... It was only about 80 degrees, Ferenheit, but it was so humid... Urgh...

In Darwin we visited Crocodylus park to look at salt water crocs. They dangled chicken above the water and we got to see how they can leap out their full body length to snatch it. Quite terrifying, I imagine, for anyone that doesn't like reptiles. ...I got to feed a big male croc. When he closed his jaws, it made the most amazing sound, as of concrete blocks being slammed against one another...

From Darwin, we headed into the bush. We went to Kakadu national park. We got to fly over it in little tiny planes... I got a whole bunch of pictures I'll try to get up soon... I don't recall all we did there, but it was interesting. I do recall learning about bushtucker and aboriginal culture there. We had some kangaroo tail with aboriginees, ate some billy goat plums, and green ants... Spent the whole day in the sun...

...Daniel reckons I simply didn't drink enough water. Whatever it was, just before we left I began to get a really tight feeling in my chest. It confused and worried me. I haven't retched in a decade, you know... Anyway, I threw up all over the ground. The leader nearest me was a little concerned (every one else was already on the coach). They had me wash off, drink some water, then I got on the bus... Where I threw up again after less than fifteen minutes. They had little motion sickness bags on the backs of the seats, but they were too hard to open... I ended up with a hand full of beef, kangaroo and bread... I had to go outside and wash off again... Especially as it had spilled out all across my front--gross, eh? Then Daniel made me drink another cup of water.

I insisted I was fine, but all the same they gave me a garbage sack in case I had to throw up again. Lucky thing, too, because that water came back up. Violently. And with it came the last bits of my lunch... Even after that, my body still thought I should be retching... It was an interesting experiance, I must conceed. Terribly painful and slightly embarrassing, but interesting all the same. I have proof now that I am not squeemish--I picked large bits of regurgiated food off myself. ...which is also proof I need to chew more thouroughly, methinks...

But, I swear, it was not the kangaroo. That was delicious. Why would I throw it up? ... ...heh. What goes 'bounce. Bounce. Whirr. Splat'?

Anyway, we went down the East Alligator River in a little boat with a flat bottom, to spot crocs. They were all about. We stopped on the river bank to learn more about aboriginal culture. I guess the wet season had been quite... wet. All the displaced sand had made a vast, unbroken, white beach beside the river. I would say you could fit a football feild in it easily. The guys all kicked off their shoes and pulled off their shirts and they went to play rugby for a good half hour. I stood and watched and snapped a few pictures. It was humourous.

We went to Kathryn after that... It was an alright city. It reminded me of many of the small towns in California that one passes through to reach more important places... Run down, empty, quiet... But then, that's the top end for you... We went to an indoor shopping centre in Kathryn, where I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was on sale ($30) and I wanted to rub it in the face of those that payed full price ($50). Australia is expensive.

I also bought the book because it reminded me of home--a fact I'd never realized. When I lived with my grandparents for a short period of time, my grandmother had me read all sorts of things... I can't even remember any more if my love of fantasy was the reason she had me read the books she did, or if my love of fantasy stemmed from them. Considering what was going on in that point at time in my young life, I'd say it was the latter, actually...

Anyway, Harry Potter was one of the books she had me read. I was in third grade at the time... I would've been nine... So of course I loved the book. Me and Harry were almost the same age... I got through that book at a good pace for a nine-year-old, then I went and read the second one, which I borrowed from my cousin and I believe is still in my possession...

But, y'know, I was never a fanatic about the books. I read them, and was slightly fond of them. But it was a connection to home... Sitting up in the middle of the night to finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban... Hurting my wrists supporting the bulky weight of the Goblet of Fire hardcover... Whining about Sirius' death in Order of the Phoenix to a family that doesn't read the books... I mean, I read Half-Blood Prince purely out of loyalty. It was a 'Well, might as well finish the series' sort of thing...

But yeah... Kathryn... I don't really remember what we did there... I think it was just where our hotel was, and we went from there to go see aboriginal rock paintings... After that, we headed back to Darwin and flew to Cairns.

Cairns was gorgerous. It took all the breath right out of my lungs, I swear... Great rolling mountains covered in leafy green rainforest... A sprawling city in a valley beside the ocean, a wide river cutting across it...

That's where our homestays were, Cairns. The family to which I assigned had a mother from New Zeland and a father from Japan. They had three young children--the oldest was twelve and the youngest was seven. They were named Tyler, Kasey and Ayana. Kasey was the middle child--he liked to draw and had aspirations to move to San Diego and become a marine biologist. Cute kid. He loved orcas, so I drew him one...

After our time in the homestays was over, we went to Rainforestation, where we got to hold a koala. It was cute... Not nearly so soft and fluffy as it looks though, and the whole animal smelled of eucalyptus leaves. The black part in the middle of its face I had taken to be all nose, but was actually a sort of snout. Yeah, it was cute... Except that it had eyes like the devil. And I lie not. It had eyes like earth mixed with blood. And it's pupils were vertical slits that had gone diamond-shaped. Its mouth looked as though it were grinning...

We were taught about spear throwing and digeridoos there. Also, we got to throw boomerangs. I threw quite well if I do say so myself. Some day I will take the world over with my boomerang. Mark my words, warmlings...

We watched aboriginal dances, we saw a cassowary, we learned some bush dances, we ate pavolova... and we fed the kangaroos. They were so soft... There was a big buck kangaroo that slobbered all over my hand, which was slightly gross but... eh, what'cha gonna do?

Feeding a kangaroo is rather similar to feeding a llama. They kind of have similar faces, too...

The day after that we went out to the reef and snorkled. Then yesterday... er, the day before that... er, wait, no... Shit, what day is it? Well, whatever. We went to Fitzroy Island and hiked up the steepest effing trail to see an old light house... Then we snorkled around the reef near there... Some girl brushed oyster-covered rocks there and got her arms sliced open...

We also kyaked just off the shore... It was good...

Then came the two hour flight back to Sydney, the four hour lay-over there, and the grueling twelve hour flight back the US... All that, and I have a terrible cold... I hope I got every one on that flight sick... Especially the crying kid in the row next to me... I hate children...

My mom was so happy to see me. She ran up and hugged me while Dad took my bag and Rex critisized the exit I had chosen, saying it was the 'difficult one', even though it was closest to me... Then we went for lunch (mall chinese. I didn't care, I just wanted chinese food.) and came home breifly, before heading out to the fair.

It's been a long, eventfull day. For me, it's been the fourth for about twenty eight hours...

And tomorrow, I need to take a postcard to my grandparents, along with a snowglobe I got them in Sydney. I forgot to mail their postcard because I got it seperately from the other three I sent...

I sent a postcard to the friend I'll never see again, Trinidad... Pitman has a habit of swallowing my minions, it does... I hope she got it alright... I got little trinkets for my other three friends... It makes it more affordable to get unique gifts for people when you've only got a close ring of friends, I must say... With the exception of my close family, those three are really the only people I care about... And Trinity and Kathryn, I suppose, but... Well, it's hard to keep guard over some one you'll likely not see again, and if you do it'll be rare... And I'm all about keeping guard... I want to guard... to guard precious things... the items and people who are close to me...

...that's right... There are items that are close to me. I don't consider it selfish or greedy at all, either... A neat necklace or an old stuffed unicorn is much the same as a friend... It listens, understands. You keep it close, have memories with it... The only difference is it doesn't share its thoughts with you, or its ideas... But you can still get ideas and thoughts from it, which is an amazing quality in any friend...

...I wish I were a dragon... I could horde things and guard them... Things that had no possible value for me, but I'd love them all the same. And I could protect the people I value from anything at all... And if I died doing it, I'd die a hero and be celebrated and remembered and they'd pass my memory along in tale... The Valiant Dragon Ash, they'd call me. 'It died so some one important could live,' they'd say commonly...

...I'm ranting... This is an unusually open entry for me... It's completely ruining my veil of mysteriousness... Now every one will know that I care. Blast... I'd better stop with that there then, before I give anymore of my precious thoughts away...

So, yes, Australia... There's stuff I didn't mention, and I'm too tired to think of it and add it. I think I'll save it for conversations with people around me... After all, Noel says I tell all the same stories over and over, so this will give me a few more stories...

I should get to bed... I feel like crap... I'm covered in bug bites which I've scratched all to the point of bleeding... Keep sneezing... Dry throat... It'll be wonderful, though, being in my own bed again.... Mmm....