The Gabtrotter

20 months ago I had a root canal and never had it capped. Before I left, I saw my dentist and was told that I needed to have it pulled. I wanted to get it done before I left, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to do it. My tooth started to bother me while I was done here, and so I decided to drop $400 on getting it pulled. It’s funny; I thought that by pulling the tooth the pain would go away. Now, I must take painkillers every 6 hours before the space starts hurting again. Pulling one pain only to deal with another. I thought that by pulling out this other pain, my mouth would heal in a couple of days and it would be like the tooth was never day. Boy, I was wrong. Not only does it hurt, but also sometimes I find myself putting my tongue there or forgetting before I bite and then dealing with the pain of the food hitting the wound or something like that. Eventually this new wound will heal, and I will become used to not having that tooth there anymore… and then, in the fall I’ll get a new tooth and one day I won’t even remember what it felt like to have the old tooth, or to have it pulled in the first place. I don’t like ending one pain to deal with another pain; however, that’s how it ends up working at times.

My friend Sarah, whom I went to high school with and she now goes to Princeton, is in Spain right now. She is studying in Sevilla. We are meeting up May 12^th to begin a European tour. Well, we were talking last night and she was giving me good sound advice, and passed along some advice she has received:  “A friend once told me that if you really want something, you have to be willing to lose it.” I couldn’t agree more with that.

Odds are if you really want something, whatever it is… you have to realize that it probably won’t last. Technology becomes outdated, people change, you grow and your interests vary. How do you know if you want something enough to lose it? I guess most people are afraid of relationships for that very reason, they already know, going into it that odds are they are going to lose it. So why even bother getting attached in the first place? I have my own feelings regarding that, but I’m not interested in getting into that right now. I’m just sharing the random thoughts that are jogging my brain right now.  What Sarah’s friend said to her though, doesn’t necessarily have to have a pessimistic ring to it. It can also mean, if you decided to make a decision to go for something you want, you have to recognize the risks involved with doing that. Taking a chance isn’t always that bad, and it’s good to recognize the chance that you are taking. These thought processes can be very stressful. Personally, one of my favorite adages has always been, “he who hesitates, loses.” Because this has 9 times out of 10 proved to be correct.

Today, I’m trying to get my work done and I have actually been successful. I’ve mostly finished my first cinematography assignment, and I am going to work on studying for the exam I have next Tuesday. Tomorrow I am heading to Sydney with My and Steph.

Sydney is one of the main things I’ve always associated Australia with. I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s like. It’s crazy; to finally see something you’ve spent your whole life imagining what it would be like. In first grade, my dad, my brother and I would play this game where we were given famous pieces of architecture from around the world and we would have to match up the pieces to its city. In first grade I was very impressed and interested in the Sydney Opera House and here I am, 15 years later and I’m finally going to actually see it.

I’m eating a Kebab. Just last week I thought, wow these Australians like shish kebabs as much as the Middle Easterns do. For, I had seen an abundant amount of places selling Kebabs and special Kebab stores. Well, I am eating a kebab right now and as you can tell, it’s just a sandwich with flatbread and utter deliciousness: My new favorite lunch.

Before I left, people would tell me, “Oh you’re going to love it. You’re going to have the time of your life there!” When people would tell me that, I never really believed it. I just didn’t understand how one short trip, to a place where I knew no one and had no idea what to expect could really be some of the best months of my life. Now, that I am actually living it, I totally understand what they had meant.

Before I left, I saw the movie Up in the Air and although I didn’t really like the movie, George Clooney’s character said: “If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life… were you alone? Life’s better with company.” The best moments are spent with other people; at least they have been for me. They may not be people you’ve been friends with your whole life, or people you’ll always be friends with, but all that matters is that you are there, together, fully loving and living in the moment.

Before I left, I didn’t know whom I was going to meet and I didn’t exactly know where life was going to take me. While I am here, I’ve been fortunate to have made some friends that have made these memories exceed just a good time and people to kill time with.

This weekend we went to Byron Bay and saw Australia’s most easterly point. There is something about being someplace that is the most of anything. Aren’t some of the best things when you are the most of that situation? Where you are the most happy, the most out there, living. We were standing on the edge of Australia, the edge of the world… or the world we live in right now. I’m the type of person, that as long as I am with some friends, it doesn’t matter where we are: we could be stuck on a plane for 13 hours, or at a club with the worst music in the world, I’ll still have a good time because I know that when the time is over it wasn’t about the music that was playing, the places we were or the talks we had at the time… it’s about being where you are and just fully experiencing it. I guess this time we are lucky, not only are we living in the moments as they happen, but we happen to be living these moments in the middle of the summer of a beautiful country. I might sound a little extreme, but I’m just trying to make the most of this… or be the most of whatever it is I am: happy.

Cheers to my friends here! Enjoy some of our best pictures:

Things have been going well. Better than well… they are spectacular. Everyday is literally an adventure, and although my friends and I have a lot of things planned, the times within these plans are so spontaneous and naturally fun that I have been spinning since Brisbane.

This weekend we explored a couple of beaches: Burleigh Heads and Broad Beach. Burleigh Heads was definitely my personal fave. I have a video, which will describe with better detail what I liked and disliked about each.

Tomorrow I’m going to be celebrating the Chinese New Year at an on campus event.

My friend Stephanie (She goes to Northeastern University and is a business major, originally from Mass. She is a picky eater, and a quick wit) and I were walking home from a fun girls night with My (She is Vietnamese and from both CA and Mass. She’s a psych major and goes to UMASS Darmouth, she and Steph went to HS together. She is a real character and a lot of fun). On our way home, these bats came out of the trees and scared us. My voice has disappeared; otherwise I would have screamed the girliest girl scream ever. The bats here are huge, as Steph said earlier: they’re like flying dogs. I’m terribly afraid of them, because they are scarier than rats (ones that peruse Boston). They are worse than rats because they are not afraid to fly into hair and start making a nest. I can’t imagine anything more terrifying. Can you?

Well, I’m going bats trying to do homework. I’m going to get to it, while uploading all of the footage I’ve been taking.

Until then…

Just stopping in here to say that life is good.. Life is grand… I love being tired because I’ve been having fun all day and not because of other things. I’m going to play tennis tomorrow and I’m excited about that. Life is good… Life is grand.

This weekend my friends: Anita (from Finland), Leigh (from Cleveland), Kristen (from Mass.), Stine (from Norway) and I all went to Brisbane for Saturday and Sunday. We took a train from Robina, which cost us a total of $5 each way.

An excerpt from my journal as we were on the train to Brisbane:

02/06/10

“Right now I’m on the train to Brisbane. It’s funny, I feel like I’m on a nicer version of the commuter rail in Boston. A trains a trains a train. If only the commuter rail could be as nice, would have made my commutes a couple of years ago much more bearable.

I just started thinking about age and how sometimes I don’t realize how young I am. But at times, it’s hard to realize because age is relative. Why should I realize it if I haven’t experienced anything else? Well, the obvious answer is of course through other people.

Another thought I had was about love and how love is maddening – just thinking of the things that I’ve done when enraged by love. Even now I could do crazy things for it, and I’m sure crazier things have been done. Things like flying half way around the world and spending insane amounts of money are a couple of things that come to mind. How many people have done these things only to be rejected? Or worse.. To find their love with a new love?

There’s an Asian woman of about 60-70s holding a girl of about 3-4. They look beautiful. I don’t want to forget this image… sitting on a train in Australia, looking to my right and seeing many people but being intrigued by the beauty of the woman and child. Looking ahead I see my new friends and the Australian countryside flying by me at a staccato rhythm. Just as I think it’s going to be a green field it turns into a brown swampland, Australia, you’re as inconsistent as my thoughts and words on this page. I love you for it. “

My video series regarding the trip:

Video 1: Accommodations

Video 2: Day Time Fun

Video 3: Nightlife

Video 4: Reflection

As always, for all of the pictures taken from the trip please click on me at the top left hand corner.

The fact of the matter is that Australia’s internet is very very slow. This is the case even when I go to places I know will have stronger internet connection. Right now I’m trying to upload the video series I’ve made of Brisbane, and it’s taking forever.

The roommate situation did not work out accordingly to plan, but as we all know nothing usually does work out as you planned. Last Tuesday, I got a call from the other girl whose roommate had moved out. We talked, and it turned out she had a nicer room, and seemed like she was a lot of fun, so I decided to go ahead and move in with her. Fortunately it was just down the hall, but I plan writing a letter to Bond’s Housing department, because it was a serious disruption to my daily life.

Moving on… (I’ll be updating very soon about my recent travels and thoughts)

The guy I met with wasn’t the dean of students, but the vice-chancellor. In American terms, this is like meeting with the Vice President of the school. The meeting was short, but he knew where I was coming from right away. He said that he’d talk to housing and we’ll see what can be done.

I signed up for Res-wars. Every dorm on campus can sign up to play in weekly sporting events, girls on one team and boys on another, and we play the other dorms. The team with the most points at the end wins a prize, and every week there is free dinner. I decided to sign up since a couple of my NU friends were doing it and it seemed like fun. Tonight’s sport? Basketball. Growing up, believe it or not, I wanted to be a college basketball star. I dreamed of going to Stanford, playing basketball and loving it, because I loved it so much then. I ate, drank, and slept basketball – the camps, the summer teams, the AAU teams… it was endless… until it ended. Well, tonight I didn’t rekindle my love for the sport, but I rekindled my innate athletic ability that I inherited. Our team had gone undefeated for the night and won the championship. It was fun, getting in there, playing hard, with a group of girls all with one common goal. It felt like I was a freshman in high school, not a junior in college. At Northeastern I haven’t had much time for anything other than work, schoolwork and fun work. Being here I’ve added a lot of activities that I haven’t participated in years, for example basketball. After the first game I was sitting on a chair, zoning out, thinking about how out of shape and terrible I have become at basketball. I had been so self-deprecating, and upset…then all of a sudden, this kid walks by me, stops and says, “hey you were one of the really good players out there, nice job.” Something as simple as that brought me some peace. It’s funny; sometimes I wonder if someone can hear what I’m thinking.

I had my iPhone unlocked; now I’m using that with my Global Gossip pay-as-you-go plan.

I started reading Jack Kerouac’s, On the Road, not only because I am on the road, but also because the “classical” books at the bookstores are the only affordable books here. The other reason is because I’ve always heard the famous quote from that book, but never knew its context. Incidentally enough, I didn’t have to read too far to stumble across the quote. I feel the same way that this quote does, and I often wonder why there aren’t more mad people out there… I’m still young though, who knows whom I’ll meet.

Quote:

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn…” -Jack Kerouac’s On the Road

Saturday morning, when I woke up, my roommate informed me that she was moving out, right then and there. My room is next to the common area, so it can be pretty loud, not something she was used to… but something I’ve been living with for the passed 4 years. The common room is nothing compared to the T, living on Huntington Avenue is like riding the T all day long. Anyway, she moved out and I was like sweet, now I’m going to have a single without having to have paid for a single. Or, someone new is going to move in and I’m going to make a new friend…

Today, I decided to be an informed resident and waltzed over to Housing to find out what is going to happen to the spare bed in my room.

Her: Oh you’re in room 316, we were going to leave you a note today. You either have to move into another room, with another roommate or pay $210 a week instead of $115 a week to stay in your room.

Me: What?? That sucks

Thus starts the dilemma. At Northeastern, it would be, “lucky you, you get your own room until someone moves out of their dorm, or until the semester ends.” Well, of course we’re on the other side of the world, they do things completely differently.

I told them I’d think about it and that I would come back… Well, after thinking about it, it started to dawn on me… I didn’t ask my roommate to move out, I was perfectly happy with a roommate… Why do I have to do anything because my roommate moved out? So I marched on over to Housing again and said:

Me: Well, it just doesn’t make any sense. Why would I have to move out because my roommate moved out?

Her: Because you can’t have your own room when you’re paying for a double.

Me: Right, so just move someone else in.

Her: Well, you can talk it over with the other girl who’s room will be vacant as to who will be moving.

Me: Ok, what’s her number?

Her: I can’t tell you that until her roommate actually moves out.

Me: Ok. Well, I’ll just have to take this matter up with Alan Fynch (the Dean).

Her: Ok.

I just don’t understand how, a month into the semester, they’re going to up and move me because of my roommate moving out. I’m happy in my room, and I’m comfortable. I’m going to have pack everything back up, and then unpack again. We’ll see what the Dean says; I have a meeting Wednesday morning. I don’t mind talking things over, presenting my side of the case… If I go the lawyer route, I think I’d be good at it.