Time for Finals

I'm sure as you can tell from the title of this blog it is time for finals, and since I have already written 2 and have 2 more yet to write you can say that me writing this blog is procrastination at its finest. I mean I haven't written since September 22, so why almost 2 months later on this day, on this morning have I decided it was time to write. Well my first excuse is because people have been asking me if I'm still writing and why I haven't written in a while, my excuse is that I came across the good wife and was trying to power out 5 seasons of that before finals started (I failed that task FYI). My second excuse is that nothing really interesting happened in October, it was sort of a dull month until the end, it was just kind of there, existing with no real purpose, and my third excuse is, I have a contracts final tomorrow, my most hated subject, and I just don't want to look at it today yet. So at 9:30 this fine Tuesday morning I am sitting in bed drinking a very yummy Davids Tea, and am going to write about my last two months in this country I have called home for the past nine and a half months!

So let me start where I left off, my two week break. And it flew by, I honestly don't even know where the time went, I don't even know what I did to tell you the truth, except assignments that were due during the break. This is one thing I do not understand why do they say 'here have a 2 week break but make sure you get these 3 assignments done by the time you come back.' Honestly that is not a break, it has got to be ranked somewhere in the middle of the torture scale. It's like hey, I'm going to tease you about this break you know is coming up, and then wham bam, 3 assignments land on your lap. It's just an evil thing to do.

Since I only have class on Monday and Thursday and the Monday following the two week break was a holiday (score!), it was more of a three week break for me (I know what am I complaining about right). Well anyways on the 7th, Meena, Amber and I decided we have worked to hard on assignments over the break so we deserved a trip to Sydney (which we totally did). I was like whoohoo Sydney, this means starbucks, and it's October so I can get a pumpkin spice latte, and I'll be so happy. But guess what, the country that serves pumpkin in absolutely everything, and I mean everything, does not sell pumpkin spice latte's, I was like day is ruined. So I settled for a passion tea lemonade, don't get me wrong, I love passion tea lemonades, but when you expect something and then you don't get it, it's pretty much total disappointment. At least when I come home in December, starbucks will still carry the Christmas drink line so I won't miss out on those. But anyways back to my day in Sydney, after the starbucks catastrophe, we went to the sea life aquarium. It was pretty cool, not gonna lie, definitely saw some creatures I've never seen before, check them out below!

These are just some of the awesome pictures that I took at sea life Sydney of sea horses, stingrays, sharks, starfish, octopus, and some really cool reef, which glows neon. I don't know how it glows neon, but I'd really like to know how. Meena and I also discovered after we went through the aquarium and got to the gift shop that we are both suckers for souvenirs. Neither of us have control when it comes to tacky little nick nacks that nobody needs and has Australia written all over it. 

Next on my list of boring October was Meena's birthday, she turned 23, and she just wanted to have fun. She is a die hard Miley fan and all she wanted for her birthday was to go to the Miley Cyrus concert in Sydney so we got the tickets and went! Not really my kind of music, but you do what you gotta do for your friends. Haha, I make it sound so bad but it really wasn't that bad, I can officially now cross seeing Miley Cyrus in concert off my list. 

Although our time together has been short, we a have become such good friends, so celebrating her birthday was one of a kind. This snapshot is of some of our finest moments over the past year. Yup law students do have fun! 

The rest of October was pretty bleak, getting up, going to classes, drawing out my last month as a law student. Then it was October 31, Halloween!! But what I find weird is that people in Australia do not celebrate Halloween, it has just recently become a phenomenon here, other students in my law class have never been trick or treating, the parents in my class, have never taken there kids trick or treating. This is one of the few countries that children don't need a costume to fit over there snowsuit, and they don't dress up and go out at night to collect candy.  It's still shocking. So Meena and I threw a small halloween party to show Australians what halloween is all about with costumes mandatory! 

Any guesses on who I am? I got little bo peep, and Miss Muffett. But no one guessed my true identity, Raggedy Ann. Probably one of my favourite costumes so far! It was a fun night, relaxing with friends now that we finished classes. 

Although Australia does not celebrate Halloween they are definitely in love with the Christmas season. They decorate everything to the tee. I can't wrap my head around it, I think because I have grown up in Canada and snow means Christmas that the fact that it is 30+ degrees everyday just doesn't scream Christmas to me. But it is a constant reminder everyday with decorations hung absolutely everywhere. This is just a K-mart parking lot and look at the decorations all lit up ready to go, they are up pretty early considering they don't have to beat the snow and dreadful cold to put them up. 

This is me giving a high five to Surfing Santa, I'm thinking I might pick it up so dad can put it in the front yard, as a constant reminder of me for my parents, just so they know that when I'm at the beach reading a book getting a nice tan, I'm thinking of them in the -40 plus windchill weather.

And this is our Christmas Tree that stand a total of one foot high. I told Meena that we didn't need one but she insisted that we did. At least I got her to decorate it with matching ornaments, minus the deer head, Meena has a thing for deer heads and I've learned not to argue about it with her. I just let her do her thing.

Last week Meena and I decided to go on an adventure, and it was fun. The day started off gloomy but turned out to be a gorgeous day full of amazing views.  The pictures below are from Nelson's Bay and it is just so picturesque, as I'm looking at the pictures now, they seem so bleak as a camera really can't take in the beauty of what the eye can see. I will definitely go back to Nelson's Bay and explore a bit more as it is just so beautiful. And besides Meena and I went to Nelson's Bay to see a koala because apparently they are in the Tomaree National Park which encompasses the city of Nelson's Bay but nope, no koalas for me. Just slightly disappointed. I've been here for almost 10 months and I can't even go home and say I've seen a koala. So much I wish I could have seen in these past months but didn't get a chance too. Next year definitely more exploring is needed. 

 

This guy is kite-sailing I think its called. I think I'd like to give it a try someday, it looks like a lot of fun!

After we left Nelson's Bay, we went to Cave's Beach, which is also a really neat place because the beach is full of caves, which we can assume is why it got its name. By the time Meena and I got to Caves Beach it was later in the day and the sun was about to start setting and the tide was starting to rise. So we didn't get to explore all the caves we wanted to but we did get to explore some and they were amazing, we both agreed that we will be heading back there to explore the rest of the beach,  and who knows maybe we will find a secret treasure in one of the caves, maybe enough gold to pay for my tuition, that would be nice.

This is my playing on rocks, Meena doesn't like to climb on rocks, I blame it on the fact that she was raised in Ontario, where the outdoors is smog and skyscrapers, unlike Saskatchewan where you climb on any rock you can find just to have a little fun and pretend you're King/Queen of the castle, and everyone else is a dirty rascal! 

We wanted to go around this bend, but the water was coming in, so we figured not the best idea, even though the water was only ankle deep, who knew how high it would get before we decided to come back.

Meena and I also went to this town called Bob's Farm on our adventure day because we heard that you could swim with sharks and stingrays, so we were like cool lets go! It is by far the coolest place I've ever been. I got to pet the rays, they lick being pet on the nose, it relaxes them and you can see there eye's close and settle in as you continue to scratch. They are such cute little creatures, I want one as a pet, pretty much the same as having a pet fish.

This is me getting comfortable with the rays before I get put in the tank with them. 

This is the big tank, the black ones with the long tails are sting rays, the brownish ones with the flat body and shark like tail are stingrays, and then the other ones a Port Jackson sharks, just babies that like food. In the plastic cups are some shrimp, or prawns as they call them in the country and then the wooden stick is our feeding stick, we attach the food to the clothes pin on the end of the stick and the creatures come and eat it. Also side note, if you've never worn hip weighters before, which I haven't until this day, it is the weirdest feeling in the world, you're in these baggy overalls, and boots that are way to big for your feet and then you step in the water and it's like they suction to your body, seriously the weirdest feeling. Also, because my mom asked why I only one had strap done up, she thought I was being cool, which I wasn't, the clasp was broken on that side so I couldn't do it up. 

I may have been just a little scared at first....

So those are stingrays and sharks. 

Isn't he cute, he's just resting the bottom of himself up against by body while I pet his nose. 

This is the shallow tank where you can sit with the rays and feed them. The guide told us to come in and sit down, so I go to sit on my butt, because to me that equals sit down, little did I know that the hip weighters didn't go up high enough so all the water came pouring in over the side, needless to say, I was soaked. 

I have decided that they like me, and really, really want to take one home and keep it in the bathtub.

Can you see the difference I was talking about between the stingrays and just the rays? Specifically the tails, and the colour.

I was pointing at Meena because one was under her legs, so I told her not to sit on it. 

This is a shark, I don't remember what kind it is but I do remember her saying that it is the only shark that wears its vascualr system on the outside, hence its clear pointy nose. You can actually see the veins in it, it is quite cool.

I have no idea what I'm laughing at, so don't ask why I'm laughing. The guide had Meena's phone and was taking pictures at random so we didn't know when she was taking pictures, which I think is perfect because you get the most candid shots that way. 

Yup, that's me petting a shark! How Cool!!

This guy is a bit bigger shark, also a Port Jackson, it is quite an ugly thing. He has beady eyes, but he doesn't really need to see because those fang like thingies that are coming out of his mouth are sensors and he can tell where food is just by those. 

You can't really tell in this picture but the shark has 28 rows of teeth. How crazy is that, not to mention a little scary because I was just petting it. But it is very well trained as you can see since the guide can make him roll over like a dog.

Needless to say our adventure day was fun and way to short. But what's a girl to do when she has finals to study for. Well now it is time for me to go back to studying for contracts and to stop procrastinating. So I'll leave you with a parting picture of the beautiful view of my balcony. 

Beautiful isn't it. 

Well by for now, who knows, the next time I write it could be from Canada! Wish me luck on my last 2 exams!! 

August Showers Bring September Flowers

Can you believe it is already halfway through September?! I can't! Time is just flying by this semester!! In one months time, Saskatchewan will have snow and i'll be reading textbooks on the beach trying to become darker than my roommate, (yes it is a competition, and yes somehow, someday I will accomplish this task)! I figured today is as good as day as any to catch you up on the last few weeks of my busy life! Yes, I could be doing homework but since my roommate is in the next room blasting Jay-Z and Beyonce's on the run tour video, and send me constant snapchats tell me to "bow down" I decided I can do something non-productive as well!

Today has been a day of non-productivity in regards to school work, I got up cleaned my room, guy came and fixed the dishwasher (yay for not having to do dishes by hand anymore!!!), and then Meena and I went to see the Maze Runner. Yes, for all of you wondering it was an absolutely fantastic movie, but do you want to know what was more fantastic?! The fact that they had salt and vinegar popcorn seasoning!!!! I've been craving that seasoning for months now, and omg, it was fantastic! Meena and I then the waited for the bus (I definitely miss my car), and I came home to pour myself a nice glass of red wine before I settled into my semi-comfy desk chair to watch a video of Emma Watson giving a speech at the UN. If you haven't watched it, I recommend that you do, it is very inspiring, and really bring to light the issues of gender inequality in today's world.

Now I shall tell you about how fun September has been, but first I just want to rub it in all your faces, for those of you who have just started school agin this fall, that I am officially on a 2 week break!!! Yup, that's right, 2 weeks of sleeping in, well since I only have to get up for school on Monday's and Thursdays, its really just an extra 4 days of sleeping in, but oh well, I'll take it. Also after these 2 weeks of holidays I only have 4 weeks of school left until exams start, and then I'm officially done my first year of law school, how crazy is that!!! I swear it feels like yesterday I was in the spare room of my house trying to pack my life into 4 suitcases and not having any of them over 70 pounds, (believe me that's a lot harder then it seems). But in reality I have been in Australia since February 3, that's 7 and a half months already!  Like I said super crazy!!!

So in the last week of August, Amber and I got this crazy idea that we should join a mooting competition, because you know, having 4 assignment due within 3 weeks of each other definitely isn't busy enough.  For those of you who don't know, mooting is like a fake courtroom where you have present your argument to a fake judge as to why you should win your fake case, that's what I think it is anyways.  So we begged Meena to join our team by telling her she didn't have to do anything (little did she know we were lying) and signed up to take on the world as the "Eh Team!" (What? The name seemed catchy at the time)! We had full expectation of sitting down in one day and pounding it out in no time, little did we know, its a whole lot harder than that!

This is what our kitchen table looked like, and the coffee table looked that same!

Amber had a breakdown when it wasn't going along as planned (I say she started crying cause she was wearing a Calgary Stampeders shirt, because who wouldn't)! so I took her shopping, it was only grocery shopping, but it made her stop crying and cheered her up, (see my theory of shopping cures everything, is now scientifically proven)! I made supper (some delicious chicken breasts, green beans, and carrots), while Meena and Amber pounded out the rest of the paper, with my little side inputs from the kitchen. Before we knew it we were done! On the first of September we presented our argument, to a fake judge, and it went good, it was a really good experience, and I like to think we won, they don't tell us, we just get marked on a point based system to see whether we move on to the next round or not.

Riders Rule, Stampeders Drool! (and #7 is my secret boyfriend)

After that I had to start prepping for the law ball, and by prepping I mean I had to get eyelash extensions! Omg I loved them, I loved every second I had them, they made my eyes look big and glamorous, and oh I miss them very much, but way to expensive for the upkeep, and my real eyelashes are paying dearly for them right now. When I took my extensions off most of my real eyelashes came out with them, but they are slowly growing back, and hopefully by Halloween they will be all back in place, and hopefully as long as Meena's (my hopes are extremely high, I know). Anyways, Friday the 5th of September (yay Law Ball Day), the day I have been looking forward to since I knew law ball existed back in February, (for anyone who really knows me, getting dressed up in fancy dresses is my favourite thing in life to do, which is one of the reasons I decided to be a lawyer, to play dress up in pretty dresses, but that's another point for another day). Back on topic, yay Law Ball!!!  We get to the venue at around 6pm all dolled up and looking fabulous, and are greeted with a nice glass of champagne, the first of the drinks from the open bar! We stand and chat and look at all the other pretty dresses and guys all spiffied up in there suits (although side bar -- men, your lack of colour was very disappointing, just putting that out there, it wouldn't of hurt you to throw on a coloured tie or a coloured shirt to snazz things up a bit) don't get me wrong, the guys cleaned up good, compared to what they looked like in class, but the girls definitely had them beat with their elegant dresses.  I was sitting at table 1 with the rest of the JD girls, and it was fun, we had wine, and we talked, we had tequila and we talked, we had some vodka, and we talked some more, then we had some more wine, and then supper was served, finally at 9pm. We were at table 1 so we were fortunate enough to be served first, the entree (which is equivalent to the Canadian appetizer) was either chicken satay skewers with jasmine rice or a chicken and goat cheese salad. I had the salad, it was delicious, not going to lie our table scarfed those entrees down, before I think even table 5 received theres. While we were waiting for the rest of the 500 people to be served there entrees the music started to become more upbeat and we decided that to go and dance a little bit. The main (equivalent to the Canadian entree), was served around 10pm, (definitely starting to get really hungry now), being lucky table number 1 again, we were served first. I had the lamb with mediterranean vegetables with potato gratin (that potato gratin was the most amazing thing I've ever tasted), the other entree was chicken breast with seasonal vegetables and rice I believe (it could have been something else, I was just to focused on eating my meal, wasn't paying attention to the other people's food)! We got up and danced some more while we waited for dessert to be served, I was having fun, with my awesome friends, finally dessert was served at around 11pm, we were served a berry crumble, which was meh, and a sticky date pudding cake which I inhaled, it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten next to the potato gratin, (or I was just that hungry and everything tasted super good)! Shortly after table 1 (yay, my table) was served dessert, the party was shut down, because some idiot (which is a polite word) decided to punch a staff member, and people were jumping the bar to pour there own drinks, so we were all kicked out. But seriously though, 2 bartenders for 500 people, somebody clearly wasn't using their brain when they did scheduling for that night. Being the stubborn Canadians that me and my friends are we sat at our table and refused to leave, until we were asked very politely by one of the UNLSA members, which is when we got up to leave, but we were one of the last tables out, so yay for us for holding our ground! Meena and I decided that we were just going to go home instead of to the after party as getting kicked out of the venue was a major buzzkill, so with my high heels in hand, the train of my dress in the other, we walked back home. (Another side note, how do people in Australia walk around barefoot all the time, the sidewalk is definitely not a comfortable, smooth surface to walk on)! Anywho, that was the Law Ball, check out the pictures below of us gorgeous gals!

Paulina, Meena, Me, Amber, Hillary, Nicole, and Renee (All Canadian gals except for Nicole)

Meena, Amber and Myself 

Just me, myself, and I (I love my dress!!!)

Me and Renee

Me and Nicole, the adorable Australian in the program! 

Me and Hillary (stupid blue glare of the lights)

Duck Face selfies by the Prairie Girls

This is Mike, Amber's boyfriend, isn't he adorable, being so compliant with me putting red lipstick on his cheek! 

Me and Meena (she wore lipstick! I'm so proud of her!!) 

Me and Paulina 

Me at the end of the night, once I got home, I made Meena take a picture of just me in my dress, which I absolutely loved. I'm going to make Devan photoshop the background for me into something a little more classy than a door and ugly carpet!

Roommate Selfies!

The six beautiful Canadian girls, in the entrance of my apartment, waiting for the cab!

The blue lighting at the venue was absolutely terrible to take pictures in, it made everyone look funny and cast weird shadows, once the pictures are up from the photographers at the venue, I will post some more! 

Need to take a pause break in writing, because trying to upload these pictures is driving me crazy so I need to refill my wine glass!

The week of the 7th to the 13th, I shall call recovery week, mainly because I didn't do anything but sleep and homework and freak out about upcoming assignments. So I will leave what I did that week up to your imagination, (think boring imagination, not exciting imagination).

Although on Saturday the 13th, Amber came over, and we worked on the appellant side of the moot, which we ended up getting done a lot faster, and without any breakdowns, (that could be because I was force feeding Amber beer, so she wouldn't stress out). Later that night we ordered pizza, watched Mean Girls and Parent Trap, dyed Meena's hair purple, and just had an all around good time. I know what you're thinking right now, aren't law students supposed to spend every waking moment in the library reading textbooks and cases, well I shall tell you now that is not the case. If you do not take breaks and have some good times you're going to fail at law school because you will break down, everyone needs a break in life, and you shouldn't be scared to take one (I'm surviving law school and look at all the fun I have)! 

Monday the 15th was a full day at school per usual, and per usual, during out 2 hour break from 12-2 we went to the GT Bar where we eat lunch, it became apparent to Meena that Brian (also in our program) has eyelashes that do not curl up, so she decided that it would be necessary to curl them, so he could see out of his eyes properly without eyelashes getting in the way.

Yup that's right he actually let Meena curl them, and now this picture is on the internet for all to see. (Sorry Brian, but that's what you get hanging out with 3 girls all the time)

That night we had the second part to our moot competition, this time I was senior counsel, which mean I spoke first. I'm not going to lie, it was intense, way harder than the first one. The reason it was harder, was because first off our Judge wasn't a 4th year student, he was an actual lawyer and secondly we were arguing for something that wasn't true. There are 2 things I learnt from this experience, first is that was that my hands shake uncontrollably when I am nervous, and second, it is really hard to argue something that you do not believe in, especially when all the authorities are in favour of the opposition. The Judge tore our team to shreds, asked us question after question after question that Amber and I did our best to answer, and I had to keep telling myself in my head, "think Taija think, what have you learnt in torts so for in regards to breach of duty, just think" but I think I did better than I thought I was going to do. Amber, Meena, and I thought the Judge hated us until the respondents got up to argue there point (which was supposed to be easy as all the authorities are in there favour) and the got torn to shreds as well, I actually felt bad for them a little bit. It was definitely a learning experience, and once again we still didn't get to find out who won, and we are still waiting to see if we advance to the next round, I'll definitely keep you posted on that!

Tuesday the 16th I got to dress up again in a cute little dress as I attended a scholarship ceremony (yay me for being smart and getting a scholarship)! I don't have much to say on this matter except that there was free wine and food, and my parents told me to never turn down anything that is free, so yay for getting a scholarship and getting free wine!

I know this is me bragging just a little bit, but I am super proud of myself!

Later that night I attended the UNLSA (University of Newcastle's Law School Association) general meeting, this is where issues are dealt with a the committee for next year is elected into place! I am officially the International Student Representative for the UNLSA, I'm excited about that, not going to lie, Meena got VP of Social Events (yay I get to help my roommate plan parties), and Amber got the Graduate Student Representative, so yay for both of them as well. The three of us are going to rock the UNLSA next year, and show them that Canadian girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice plus a little bit of maple syrup for an extra sweet touch! 

Friday the 19th I had a property paper due (I hate property), to much information that I think is useless but is probably very important, so property will definitely not be my category of choice when I start practicing law. Also on the 19th was the decade party, I went as a 20's flapper girl, I loved my costume, and I'm pretty sure I was the best dressed there, mainly because I wasn't dressed as an 80's girl and it's me so I give my all when it comes to costumes!! 

See, totally awesome costume right!

Alright some general side notes regarding the last few weeks since we last left off, look how long my hair is getting!!! It's at my waist when it's straight and i'm sitting down (partially slouching). I'm excited at how long it is! 

Next little random snippet, is that it is finally getting warm enough for me to do homework on my balcony again, I can finally start working on my tan and soak up some vitamin D while I read cases and textbooks, and of course drink my David's Tea, (can't forget about David, he is necessary to my functioning abilities).

Besides that, I got nothing else for you unless you want to talk about TV shows starting this week!! Yay! So excited for that, I can't pick which one I'm most excited for, maybe 'Chicago Fire' to see who lives and who dies, or 'Grey's Anatomy' to see how Meredith is going to react to a new sister and will Derek really leave, or maybe 'Once Upon A Time', will StoryBrooke freeze over, or possibly 'Bones', what will happen to Booth in jail. Needless to say lots of season premiers to watch this week, as well as new shows, I really hope 'How To Get Away With Murder' is as good as it looks!!

I will enjoy my two week break, and I hope you enjoy the rest of September!

Boring School Life!

Yes I know it has been well over a month since I last wrote, but there just hasn't been anything exciting happening. I mean I passed my first semester of law school, so yay!!! Go me!!! But other than that school is back in progress, readings and assignments are piling up, and it just all goes downhill from there. Just kidding there is some awesome stuff to look forward to!!!

First thing to look forward to is the law ball, where I get to wear a pretty dress and guys get to wear some snazzy suits, and you just have fun! I will have to post some pictures once the event actually happens which is the 5th of September! It is going to be a great night of food and wine and dancing, and it should all be glamorous until midnight (because that's when our coaches turn back into pumpkins), or I should say that's when the after party starts. It will be a nice reprieve for all the law students to get there noses out of the books for a night!

The second thing to look forward to is the Junior Mooting Competition! Amber, Meena, and myself have decided to join the mooting competition. For those of you that don't know what mooting is, it is a simulated court procedure, so there is judges, and then there are lawyers, which is us, and then we have to argue our case and try to win! I hope that makes sense, because it made sense in my head but when I put it into words, it just sort of sounds jumbled! We have to make a case in regards to whether police officers owe a duty of care to individual members of the public. So anyways we are looking forward to that in September as well!

I have no pictures for you this time because I have mainly been cooped up inside my house or school. It seems to be a lot of back and forth of that recently and no outdoor adventures because it is so cold out! I swear I thought it was going to snow last week. You know those days at home in late October where it hasn't snowed yet, but you're outside in a cute little scarf, jackets, and boots, and you're like "oh there will be snow on the ground in the morning." Well that's what the weather feels like here (and yes I did wear a scarf, jacket, and boots)!

For those of you that are wondering, yes I do take me time, every evening from 6:30 till 7:30 I have a glass of wine and watch reruns of Friends. For those of you who only remember watching friends in elementary school (like me), rewatch it, cause you understand it so much better as an adult! But anyways, I just wanted to let you all know that I didn't forget about you in the Land Down Under, just nothing has been super exciting to write about!

Stay tuned for a super exciting September entry!!