E-Mail Update from Australia
By Baramee Chindavong '05

To: US Friends
From: bc336@uow.edu.au
Subject: Mar. 21, 2004: Update #7 from Down Under

G'day mates! I'd like to introduce myself, I'll be your guide today. My name's Squishy. I know, not the greatest name in the world, but it's not like I named myself. There was this blue fish that came by once and just decided to name me Squishy. I don't get it. She just said, and I quote, "I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy."

Okay, so for our adventure today...um, I think we're going to visit Ahmad's for the first time, visit Uni, introduce you to Pete and last but not least, enjoy the tales of the All-American Cookout.

I guess we can start with Uni since not too much has been said about that. In fact, I haven't met you until just now so you haven't been told much. The other guides just aren't experts like I am (don't tell them I told you that, though). Uni a.k.a. University of Wollongong (pronounced wool-ung-gong) has a population of about 15,000 students, I think. Well, it's either that or like 30,000. It doesn't really matter because that's just a lot of people compared to the 1,727 I'm used to. Campus is very beautiful looking, go figure with its green grass and non-dead trees and all. The best thing about it is its little stream that runs all throughout campus. It's just very peaceful to look at and very serene. There's also the duck pond where everyone goes for lunch in the middle of the day. You have to watch out for the ducks that may attack for just a little bite of your lunch. Live bands also play there throughout the week during lunch. One thing I've got to say is that I'm not a big fan of the lectures. Do you know why? Because that's exactly what they are, just the professor sitting (really standing) in front of the room and just talking to us. I don't mind the majority of my courses, well maybe most of them. I'm taking Organizational Behavior (OB)(actually it's organisational behaviour), International Business Management (IBM), Human Resource Management(HRM), and Personality. Personality may be the most interesting one I have. Enough about Uni, I think it's time to move on to another topic. What do you think?

I'll introduce you to Pete...should I insert a picture? I suppose I could. Hang on a second, I have to find it...I know it's here somewhere. Ah, found it. The person on the left is Akari and then it's Pete and then Baramee and to the right of her is Lindsay. Let's introduce Pete. Pete is Irish and he's from Ireland. Before March 17th, Pete was only 20 years old. On March 17th, Pete turned 21. Do you know what was the significance of the 17th besides it being Pete's birthday? It was St. Patrick's day. It's an Irish man's dream come true to be born on that day. He seized the day and took it for all it was worth. He had a great day and so did all of his friends. Well, I'm just glad he had such a good time on his special day.

So on to Ahmad's. Do you know what it is? Well, I'll explain to you what Ahmad's is. Ahmad is the guy that makes kebabs for everyone after a night out. They actually are pretty good too. Just to warn you, you shouldn't not confuse kebabs with kebabs (kebobs) from America. They are not the same thing; they are not even close to being the same thing. An American kebab consist of meat and vegetable on a stick cooked at BBQs. An Australian kebab is sliced meat off of a bigger hunk of meat on a stick. It is put with some veggies, like onions, tomatoes, lettuce and whatnot and wrapped in a tortilla and then pressed like they do quesadillas at Taco Bell and then...there's also cheese in there...you get a kebab. It's quite good.

The last thing I'm supposed to talk about is the All-American Cookout. This could come close to the highlight of the week. It started off with one guy who just wanted a plain, fat, juicy hamburger fresh off the grill. He decided to find out the means to meet the end. He gathered a bunch of North Americans (mostly Americans and Canadians, and 2 Aussies decided to join in) and go buy hamburger, buns, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and cheese. The cook-out was in the **er-gala for lunch on Sunday because the college doesn't provide us with any sort of nutrients for lunch on the weekends. They expect us to fend for ourselves. It was sooooooooo good. I suggest that when the snow melts and its nice out that you do the same. You should even toast marshmallows around a fire because you can.

There's one last thing. Have you ever heard of super-bed? Yeah, that's what I thought...not too many people have heard of it actually. The concept of super-bed is to push two or more twin sized beds together to watch a movie or just hang out. Usually it's to watch a movie with a large crowd (usually about 5 or 6 people). Well, on Wednesday night...St. Patrick's Day, we decided to have a super-bed slumber party in someone's room. It was a lot of fun. It's not even something I've done back home. If we would've had 1 or 2 more people, we would've been like sardines in a can. I'm sure you can all imagine that.

Oh, another thing. We have a lollie shop at the college. It's usually open at night about an hour or so after dinner. That where you can buy lollies (candy). I bought 10 sour straw like things, they were 10 cents each. I've eaten them all though. It's just sooooo easy.

Oh, last thing...I promise. I've started a society. Would you like to join it? Would you join without knowing what it is? I think you should, but I suppose I should tell you about it anyway. It's the chocolate cake society. We eat some chocolate cake every Sunday night as a study break and just because it's so very good (this does not exactly mean that it's good for you). We figure once a week is pretty okay because the rest of the week, a lot of walking happens. There's always the 'hill of death' we have to walk up every time we go to Uni. So far, I think there's 4 people in the society. Most girls are afraid of joining. I think they're trying to watch their figure or something. Come on....that's totally over-rated.

Anywho, I think that about ends our tour. If you have any questions feel free to ask. There'll always be someone here to answer your questions. You will not be neglected. Remember you are loved, special and very much missed. I'm your guide Squishy and I bid you adieu.

Oh, I was supposed to tell you why I'm taking you through and not the usual person, which would be Mee. She’s working hard on her presentation that's due on Tuesday and couldn't be bothered. Don't worry she still cares about you all and that's why she put her trust in me to tell you the tales from Down Under. Stay tuned next week for another installment. (Hopefully I'll get to come back, crossing my fingers).

:)

Baramee Chindavong '05 is a business administration major at Wartburg College.