Why this is the greatest place on earth.

I don't actually have a list of reasons - but the statement still stands.  After this week I'm 100% convinced that I'm in the right place.  Not much of that has to do with classes themselves...I go to them, they're even interesting (NOT my ecology lecture...although in class yesterday I had to stand up and pretend to be a tree, that was fun), but it's all about the people I've met and the places we've been.  People are so active here - they want to do something every night, doesn't matter what, nobody wants to sit in their rooms.  And my advice (passed on from Chris Turner, the Australian exchange student in the BC theater department last semester) to any student in a foreign country, or even your own country - you have to be a yes man.  Say yes to everything, just go, experience it, you will get so much more out of your time, wherever you are.

Some highlights from the last week:

Open mic night on Tuesday - Keith and I ventured into Northbridge and he played a set at the Impact Bar, then we explored the city for a little while and ended up walking home from the Murdoch station, but not a bad time at all.

Keith's birthday on Wednesday - I made a cake!  In our terrible oven.  And it actually turned out moderately well, given the circumstances...the way our oven works, it cooks the top of the food first, but doesn't cook the inside AT ALL.  So before I could safely say that the cake was totally baked, the top had burned...but I peeled it off, frosted it, and covered it with gummy snakes.  Totally fine.  Keith's flatmates had gotten him a cake too so all our bases were covered.  Jess made really yummy pasta with chicken and pesto, Darren made mushroom sauce - I don't know if I've been that full in the last month.  We went to the Newport, did some dancing, went home, stayed up way too late...just a great night overall, and I think one of the best birthdays Keith has ever had.

Thursday - Class at 10:30, not fun given the five hours of sleep I'd gotten then night before.  Oh well.  Keith had another open mic gig, this time tons of Australians came along - so many new friends.  Keith won a bottle of wine that night for playing - the "No good reason" award, now he has to sing a Doris Day song next week at the same time...eeeks.  Another beautiful night.

Friday - Ecology at 8:30 (death...this was when I had to be a tree for Professor Ladd), then auditions for Wounds to the Face (the show I'm stage managing) in the afternoon.  Boy, was I nervous.  Audition day isn't terribly stressful for a stage manager, this became clear pretty early on, but I was so worried about not knowing anyone, not having any authority, us not being able to cast the show, whatever.  They went so well.  Everyone who auditioned had clearly put a lot of work into their pieces, we were able to see characters for everyone, it was just great.  And I got the hang of it, eventually.  Now I know names too, which is really good.  And the director told me I did a good job (: yay.  Did a little face painting in the afternoon with the Aussies (I became a butterfly) and went out afterwards, butterfly and all.  THAT was fun - lots of strange looks, but we had quite the motley crew - Lauren was a fish (obviously), Keith was a shark, Anna was Spiderman, Rachel was a baboon...good times.  There is so much to do around here at night, so many places to just walk around or go inside and sit if you want to.  And public transportation is really reliable and really easy to get from point A to point B.

Today was Fremantle day - I just got back, did a little thrift store exploring, got tickets for Earth Dance, which is this music festival happening at the end of September - it's kind of like an Australian Woodstock or Bonnaroo, but on a much smaller scale.  It happens on a farm, everyone camps out and there's just music and dancing the whole weekend.  I tell ya - if you make friends with Australians, you find out about EVERYTHING.  It's great.  So I went to the market again today, helped Krystal find a dress to go salsa dancing in, had lunch with John, Jessica and Heather at a Mexican restaurant...another successful day.  I'm going to have so much reading to do tomorrow (after tree planting and a volleyball tournament - this is the life), but it's worth it.

Uncle Mike - get down here.  You're gonna love it.  Anyone else who can - get down here.

Can't wait to hear how Back to the 80s went...miss you all!!!