Procrastination at its finest

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know what you're going to say...I know I said I was going to try and post every week, but I swear time is just getting away from me. I also swear that there is not 24 hours in a day, maybe 12 and that's on a good day, time just evaporates into the heat here! And the only reason I have time to write this post, is because I am looking for anything to do but write my essay. Procrastination at its finest!

The first exciting thing that happened since the last time I posted was Cinco de Mayo. Now normally I am not one to celebrate random basically non-existant holidays, but when your roommate says we are just going to go for a $5 burrito and a frozen sangria, you think how bad can it really be. So Amber, Meena, and myself go to Guzman y Gomez to get a burrito, first thing asked by Amber and Meena is "do you have tequila shots here?" I'm think to myself its a family restaurant they can't have tequila shots, but the cashier responded with "yup, you bet we do!" And so the night began, yes I know it was Monday but we have Tuesday and Wednesday off from school so it is basically like Friday night for us. It was a super fun, super wild night, while we ate nachos with the best guacamole I have ever tasted and drank our frozen sangria's and did tequila shots. Before we left at 11 that night the manager came over to us and did a shot with us, you know you're awesome customers when that happens! As for the rest of the night, i'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Gotta love frozen Sangria!

Two frozen Sangrias, One Frozen Margarita, and Six Tequila shots please (to start)

Shot numero uno!

Loving the moustache straws!

 Rockin' the stashes!

 Love these girls! 

Cheers!

 After the 5th not much interesting happened, or that would interest my readers anyways! Just lots of school stuff, reading, writing, trying to stay awake in class. You know the usual student stuff! Meena and I continued to get settled in our apartment, built ourselves desks and mini bookshelves for all our school work and textbooks. We have also realized that we live in hippie central. There is a little cafe just around the corner of our place, and they are always busy, but everyone who goes there looks exactly like your stereotypical hippie, they even drive the hippie van! At least its a quiet neighbourhood. Also we spy on a homeless man, we named him Johnny, we can see him perfectly from Meena's balcony, he is quite an interesting subject to watch. He sleeps in this covered little stairwell, and he keeps shelter from his cardboard box and it looks like he has a pillow. He even lit a fire the other night to keep warm.

We are mainly just creeps, but we watch him, and wonder why he's homeless and make up his life story for him. Really anything to give us a study break. I swear one day he is going to look up and see us staring at him from our 7th floor balcony, and then we will be his case study instead of him being ours.

May 16 was a very busy day, there were two networking events that we attended, the first was right after crim class (which I hate to say it is my favourite subject, I may need to go back to work for a day to remember why I will never want to be a crim lawyer!) I got a lot of good information from a lot of Sydney firms and from the super awesome UNLSA, granted only being in first year, it didn't really apply to me till next year, but I find it is better to start looking and understanding early, then wait till last minute next year. My plan is to eventually have a foot up on all the Australian law students. And it was a good event because there were cupcakes, and everyone loves cupcakes!

As pretty as they look, my cupcakes taste better. I may be biased, but still.

After the event, we came home changed outfits and got ready for the next event that was later in the evening. I didn't overly find this event that informative, talked to one lawyer, and got her card (for Amber and I to share), she practices in family law, and her office also deals with crim law as well. I'm not really interested in either of those two but, it worth a shot getting my foot in the door somewhere! The best part about this event was the open bar, yup, that's right, free beer, wine, and champagne. Once again, I must reiterate how awesome the UNLSA is. Among with the open bar, it was also an excuse to get dressed up all pretty. Getting dressed up all pretty for law events is literally the best thing about being a law student, so here are a few snapshots of me and my girls all gussied up!

As well as some super awesome train station selfies!

After the event that night we decided that since we are all gussied up lets go out and have some fun. So we called up a few people and invited them to our place for a few drinks before we had an awesome night. The people we called up were just acquaintances from our class, but after Friday night we can offically call them friends. Also, we were told, and I direct quote this "You guys are the funnest Canadians I have ever met!" Thanks for the quote Joe! 

Once we went out, we ended up at King Street Hotel, (yes the call clubs hotels here, I know completely screwed up) and partied for a bit in there. I was not a fan of the music so I left and walked across the street to Macca's (McDonalds for all the foreign folk) and ordered myself some fries, and waited for the other girls to dance themselves out! You would not believe the random people that one can meet at Macca's on a Friday Night, their was so many people there that there were 3 security inside and 3 security outside, there wasn't any trouble, I just found it super awesome that Macca's hires security! Anyways, the first two guys I met, just wanted to be friends with me so they could eat my fries as I talked to them. I'm hoping it was a theme party because they were both dressed in skirts and super tiny t-shirts that were definitely girls, and the one guy had a hat that was shaped like a tooth. Yup I know super random, but random seems to be the thing to do in Newcastle. The next guy I met, his name is Ben, such a nice guy (and good looking to), his friends abandoned him so he came to sit with me and chit chat and proceeded to like all of my facebook pictures. So all of those old pictures that all my friends woke up to that were "liked" on facebook, yeah that was him. Meena came to my rescue shortly after, not that I needed to be rescued from talking to him, but I was getting cold and it was 1:00 in the morning, and I was just tired. I'm to old to stay out that late!! We went walked back to our place after she got her Big Mac, and I proceeded to fall asleep promptly in my very warm, semi comfy bed.

The weekend was very chill, I did homework, and on Saturday Amber cooked Meena and myself chicken parmesan, it was so yummy! Monday night I BBQ'd some Kangaroo burgers on the BBQ, and then last night, cause Meena was craving poutine, I made poutine and it was so yummy. Could probably eat it every night. Not that it's hard to put french fries in an oven and cook gravy. In fact it was probably the easiest meal i've made here, but it definitely hit the spot. 

You all want poutine now, don't you?!

As for more random facts, my roommate likes to hang deer heads for our house decor, my excuse for her taste is that she is from the west cause apparently I'm from the east, although I personally think Saskatchewan is central. 

 Yup, these are on the walls of our house. At least they're abstract and not real!

Also sometime amongst these days, Meena and I, along with Stephen our American friend went to a night market, sort of like the farmers markets at home but at night. We sampled some really disgusting alcohol, and some really yummy popcorn, and a really delicious cupcake. And we got these pictures taken. I think they're adorable, and good memories since Stephen is only here till the end of the semester.

Photo booths are fun!

And here is a rant. Most of you are my facebook friends so you would have heard about this already but for those of you who are not, I went to a cafe and ordered a macchiato, I was expecting you know a macchiato I get from starbucks, like an actual coffee, but nope this is what I get...

This dinky tiny cup that is only half full, I mean if I was going to do shots, it definitely wouldn't be of coffee. This is just one of the many things this country has no idea how to do right. Anyways, I have to stop procrastinating and get back to school work, and maybe have a tea as well. 

Have a good day everyone!

April Showers bring Autumn....?

So it has been about 5 weeks since I wrote my last article, and so, so much has happened! Before I left mom asked how long writing this would last and I said I will write every week clearly I underestimated the dedication it takes to write and keep people updated at home through my writing! 

Anyways, school has officially take over my life, exams, papers, case notes, but that's is alright because I am thoroughly enjoying it! I can't believe there is only one month left till my first semester of law school is over! At the beginning of April I went to court, and got to talk with a magistrate and a judge before proceedings, it was very interesting, I attended the local court and heard some civil proceedings and then we went to drug court, which was way more interesting than local court. Drug court is a program for people who have drug addiction, and they are given the option to participate in a community based drug rehabilitating program or serve there time in jail. It's a very intensive program and they have drug tests every 3rd day and have to go to court once a week to report on there activities, and probation/parole services visit them spontaneously twice a week to check there whereabouts and make sure they are staying sober. If you have negative behavior, you get strikes and once you get so many strikes you go to jail. During court we saw one of these participants get taken by the sheriffs to go to jail. One of the girls I was with was so shocked that someone was going to jail, it was quite humorous how nieve some people are. I go back to court on this coming Thursday, May 1 to hear some criminal proceedings, which I have to write a report on for my crim class. 

On the 9th of April I volunteered at the legal center, which involves me sitting in on client interviews, I'm trying to get as much observation in and learn as much as I can before I become the interviewer next year! The case I sat in on was property law, when we discussed with the solicitor, we basically googled the acts we needed the information from before giving the response to the client and sending him on his way. 

Also on the 9th was the toga party which Meena, Amber, Brian, and myself attended. It was a ton of fun! Tons of pictures to document our wild night!

 Between the 9th and the 15th, I packed up all my stuff, yes I repacked 4 suitcases and then some so I could move out of my terrible dorm room and into my new awesome apartment with Meena. My first ever roommate, and so far so good, yup she is pretty awesome, she even cooks!

Meena my awesome new roommate!

In the backseat surrounded by garbage bags! (Meenas solution to packing!)

I love my new apartment, it's quiet and peaceful and I have my own space that isn't confined to my bedroom and I have a queen bed again! Super stoked about that, not gonna lie! And the view is so much better than staring out my window at trees! 

My new room!

My new view!

Meena and I hosted Easter supper and had Amber and her boyfriend Mike over, we cooked a chicken in our super small oven and had mashed potatoes and gravy, it was quite delicious! Our oven cooks super unevenly so I had to turn the chicken half way through. We cooked it in an oven bag, which FYI, works wonderful! We had cheesecake for dessert, which unfortunately was not homemade (but it's impossible to bake in the oven), but still tasted as good nonetheless. 

My first ever time using a gas stove!

Easter supper away from home!

Yummy dessert!

I have been on Easter break since the 18th, and making the most out of the break by procrastinating, that seems to be my favorite thing to do during break! I also colored my hair for the first time during this break, I am now officially a red head, I love it so much, should have done it earlier! Now that I am all settled in my new place, it is starting to feel like home, not just a holiday spot anymore like living in my old dorm made me feel! 

My super awesome new hair!

There has been a lot of rain in April, and normally that would bring May flowers, but since it is autumn here in Australia, the leaves are turning orange and falling from the trees. Also the nights are getting quite cold, definitely didn't think it got this cold in Australia, which means I definitely didn't pack for it, I brought my fleecy blanket with me!

Winter is coming!

Only one week of holidays left so I guess I better get a move on studying! Hopefully I will be better at posting from now on! Here are some other pictures from this past month of beautiful Australia!

Another Beach Day

The ocean was rough, so I wasn't allowed in, still enjoyed ex sunshine though!

This is why we weren't allowed in the ocean!

A beautiful sunset 

Supper one night! I BBQ'd them up, taste just like beef!

Jam Packed Week!

Remember how I told you this week was going to be insanely busy?!?! Well that was a complete understatement! I am only about 50 hours behind on sleep, but that's alright because it was fun! 

Monday was St. Patricks Day! 🍀 I'm usually not one to celebrate but as my friends are ex-bartenders they don't ever turn down a celebration, so I put on a green shirt and found an Irish pub and had some fun! The Irish pub I'm referring to is called Finnigans hotel, yes I know weird, and it was more of a bar than a pub, but apparently it's the closest one can get to Irish in this country! Also they call bars hotels which is weird, it's 3 floors of different dance floors, but definitely no rooms for you to lay your head down and fall asleep! I got home super late, thank goodness Tuesday is a day of rest!

Tuesday was a lets try and catch up on homework day! I pretty much failed at that attempt, and turned it into a lets catch up on TV shows kind of day! That evening, I went to listen to the "Great Debate" where students and teachers debate each other on a provided topic, the topic this year was "should university make you life ready or job ready?" It was amazing, and super funny, got my laughs in that night!  The teachers won, but hopefully there is a rematch because I definitely won't hesitate to attend it! Also on Tuesday I found out I got a scholarship, which made me very happy, and kind of made me feel smart! Yay go me! That's my little bragging blurb, I'll stop now 😃

On Wednesday I went to a movie with Meena, she's my new movie junkie friend, cause she is addicted to new releases and popcorn as much as I am! We saw non-stop, I was kind of weary about the storyline cause the whole movie takes place on a plane, but one shall never doubt Liam Neason and his ability to make a fabulous storyline come to life! After I got home from the movie I rushed off to an event for a group I signed up with called 'University of Newcastle Student Exhange Network' or UNSEN, it's basically a group of people who are studying abroad or who want to study abroad and help each other with connections in there home country. I met a few people but mostly Amber and I just drank beer, it was so hot, and super humid! (It's really the humidity that kills you and makes you drink beer!) After That we came back to my place (cause I'm the only one with air conditioning in my room) and started working on our hockey jerseys (I'll get more to that on Friday), but we painted and chatted and had a lot of fun, till it was way past my bedtime.

Thursday was my day of rest, well except for contracts, contracts makes my head hurt! I don't know what it is about that class, but I just can't wrap my head around my profs teachings! After class I out on my comfy shorts and caught up on my crim homework, and went to bed early, which seemed like a good idea till I was woken up at 3 in the morning by the ridiculous children who live in this dorm and have no respect for others, because they think it's totally fine to yell and shout up and down a hallway. Completely rude, I have inmates that behave better than these college students (I also love how I refer to inmates like an animal, something I own and control), it's just easy to make my point that way!

Friday was an awesome day! Crim in the morning (love that class, but I'd never be a crim lawyer), then after school I had my first online law test (eeeek!) it was on torts, it was pretty basic, nothing to exciting, our prof just wanted to see where our knowledge level was at after 3 weeks of class. After the test, Amber and I started drinking wine, yes we know it was 2 in the afternoon, but we figured that wine would help us figure out what absolute liability meant, and give us some examples of it. It didn't, but we did have some other really good conversations about life, especially life back at home, and how we do secretly miss it, but we also secretly know that being here in Australia is the right thing for us! Also don't judge us for starting to drink so early, I'm German, and she is Ukrainian, so all in all that should be a good enough excuse! At around 5:00, Meena and Renee came over and we got ready to go out for our very first extra-curricular law event. It was Olympic themed, hence the hockey jerseys, we went as the women's gold medal hockey team, we had hockey sticks, and gold medals, and everything. 

It was a super fun night, we danced and partied till the wee hours of the morning when it became my Australian birthday, and then I went home. I couldn't stay awake any longer (I'm 26 now, I'm getting old, can't party like I used to...not that I used to party). 

Saturday was my Australian birthday! Google even knew it was my birthday, 

See?!?! How awesome is that! Google is my new friend, but google also made me miss cupcakes...

Saturday was a total waste of a day, I stayed in bed till 11, then I got up for lunch, then I went back to bed until 430, when I got up to go out for supper. My friends took me out to the landing for supper, which is on honeysuckle, my favourite place in newcastle, I ordered a cocktail to drink, did you know cocktails as in a paralyzer which is technically half milk, costs $16, yup $16, completely outrageous, this is why I have been converted to beer, $5 for a schooner is a little more reasonable! After supper we went to the ice cream place and I had some lemon gelato, (not as good as the place on Hamilton street, but it hit the spot). We then took the bus home, and I swear it must have been a full moon because holy smokes were there crazies out! Like unreal crazies! And not just crazy, but I mean absurdly dumb people as well. I just don't understand some people in today's work and how they function in society! Anyways I was all snuggled up in bed last night by 10 and had a very peaceful sleep. This is the super awesome birthday present I got from my super awesome friends here in Aussie Land! 

Don't judge, you know you want one too!

Today is my real birthday, or my Canadian birthday, and I must admit I'm a little homesick today, not being able to spend the day with my family, but that's alright, I know they will eat the cake for me! I spent the day doing my torts assignment, my very first case analysis! (I hope I did it right...)

Mom you should be proud of me, I have an assignment due in the morning and I'm done it and have submitted it before 4am! I am becoming less of a procrastinator! 😉 Tonight I watched scandal and suits and ate some popcorn, which by the way Australians totally scam you on popcorn check out there "full size bag" 

Believe me it looks bigger in the picture than it does in real life!

So anyways that was my crazy hectic week, and this week I am guaranteeing myself it will be boring, because I'm going to make it that way!