So this will probably be my last post. Today I woke up at 6 am to go work on our presentation powerpoints with my group. It was generally really hard to get anything done with them. They were like best friends so I felt like the awkward 3rd wheel the whole time and they also got distracted really easily. I thought one of them might have had ADHD or something. So we finished and presented. I actually wrote the discussion sections for both reports (section worth most points) so I got to talk about those and in both cases the instructors commented that the discussions were well done and thorough. Our second report on algae was a little iffy because our findings had a lot of error. We couldn't make any solid conclusions which would have been devastating had this been an actual experiment. A lot of people had that problem though. The issue was that we only had samples from 2 sites and only on 2 days. But enough science talk!
After presentations we finished up our scientific papers and I went back and chilled in my room for awhile. Then a few of us went out to eat in Fremantle. There were weird happenings tonight! A ton of people in various costumes (4th of July, Hazmat suits, doctors, etc) were doing a barhop, so they went around to every bar and I guess competed for how much they drank. A nice, inebriated stranger was kind enough to explain that it was a celebration of like med students. I'm not sure if they finished med school or what but it was pretty hilarious. We went to a nice restaurant and had some drinks/dinner. I had a mojito which was excellent. I am going to miss ordering drinks when I get back home. Now I am back in my room and finally have some free time so I'll go back a few days and write about that.
So we came back from Coral Bay on Saturday night/Sunday morning. When we first left at like 6 pm there were TONS of kangaroos on the road and on the sides. Eventually we hit one and it was a really loud thud. One of the American girls started crying which was silly because she totally ate kangaroo already on this trip. They're like deer. The license plate on the bus was dented and had "roo fur" on it. The rest of the trip was uneventful. When we got back, the study abroad guy (Russ) took us to a Footie match. There were maybe 36 players on the field at one time with only 3 subs for each team, meaning that there was a lot of running involved. It could get up to 8 miles per game apparently. The ball, which looked like an American football, could only be kicked or punched, not thrown. Also it couldn't be carried down the field more than 10 meters at a time. It was a very violent game because they don't wear any padding and there aren't fouls. They could punch each other with no consequence! A lot of the players were Aborigines and had really strong accents. I couldn't understand most of what they were shouting. That was fun and then we went to the beach for awhile.
On Monday we had lectures in the morning and then worked tirelessly on our projects the rest of the day. Lecture started at 9 am and I didn't get back to my room until maybe 8 pm. It was a very long day and I wish my group had been more focused so we could've finished that day. I had to literally bring my noise canceling headphones to the group work session so I could get some work done. They talked nonstop. When we said goodbye on Tuesday (today) it was sort of how I said goodbye to Lise at the end of the French exchange. "Bye! Nice meeting you!" A lot of other American students said it was like that with their groups. The Australians thought we were sort of dim..one of them actually asked if they would grade easier because Americans were working with them. A bit offensive. In general most of the students were very nice though and I'll miss them. I'll miss a lot of the Americans too.
So yeah I think this is my last blog. I might update it after I go surfing on Thursday. I can't believe this trip is over! I'm excited to come home but I know once I get there I'll really start missing it here. I want to come back and see Sydney, Cairns, and Melbourne someday. I'd also like to go to Ayers Rock. Perhaps when I become rich and famous!
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