I am back! (back, back again) and I am currently waiting for dinner. It is now 8pm and I am starving.
Maryborough was fun! I really enjoyed myself and getting to know the people who were with me better. Out of the 12 of us that were there, 7 were international students with 5 from Singapore and 2 from Malaysia. :)
So many things happened and I learned a lot when I was there. I even (believe it or not) got to practice my (terrible) chinese. The GP clinic that I was attached to was run by a group of (believe it or not) doctors from China! In a rural area! So I was sitting in with this doctor and somehow, the fact that I am an international student came up. Then he asked me where I was from and when I said Singapor, he then said, “Singapore! Hm. Don’t you have to learn chinese in school?” and I said, “Yes.. we’re supposed to know it.” and he then asked me (IN CHINESE!) oh you all speak mandarin? (pu tong hua) and I lapsed into this monologue about how we don’t speak dialect, upon which he then asked again, “Pu tong hua.. as in.. mandarin?” and at this point in time, I’m convinced I put the whole mother tongue education system to shame and nodded. About 5 minutes later, he reverted to speakingto me in English and I thought to myself, ” That’s it.. He thinks I butchered the language.” Which, to be compltely honest, was probably what happened.
THe barbecue at Jackie’s place was awesome! I met a doctor from Malaysia who recently migrated to Maryborough 3 months ago and it was so nice to talk to her because she was a lovely person :) and her daughter was really nice too. The barbecue was the typical aussie barbecue with lots of sausages and one of the doctors brought this kick-ass salad with beef in it. I could have finished half the bowl myself. And hey, it’s a salad. Healthy stuff.
Speaking about food, the girls cooked every night and we had excellent dishes ranging from pasta, to risotto, to curry, to make-your-own pizzas to (some more) barbecues to canelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese.. crap I’m damn hungry.
One of our activities was a visit to a dairy farm to gain a deeper understanding about occupational health and safety and when we got there, the first thing we saw was a vet with his arm shoved shoulder-deep up a cow’s rear end. He was doing a pregnancy test and the cows were massive! Cute though, I must say. The farmer brought us to a shed to see the calves and on the way there, we had to cross this paddock and there was shit everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. And the thing is that when we went to Jackie’s farm over the weekend, there was sheep shit EVERYWHERE, but they were small pieces of shit scattered all over the place. The cows’ were gigantic. And it was possible to sink into the dung when you stepped in it, so all of us were treading lightly and there was one point in time when Damien bumped Paul, who stepped directly into the cow dung. it was extremely disgusting, but quite amusing at the same time.
After that we were brought to the milking shed, where we could manually milk the cows if we wanted to give it a go. THe problem was that the cows are raised on a platform with their rears facing you. That means that they can let go at any time. The farmer was wearing an apron and a cap, while the rest of us were wearing what we wore to the farm that day. It was quite scary, but I eventually milked one cow a little and ran away for fear of being shat on.
The most stupid STUPID thing that happened to me was right at the beginning of rural week. Maryborough is a nice 2.5 hour drive away from Melbourne. When we were 40 mins away from Maryborough, I thought to myself, “I remember putting my handphone and iPod into my bag.. but.. not my.. wallet..” upon which i started digging through my bag, only to discover, with absolute horror, that I really had left my wallet in my other bag at home. Since I was not planning on returning to Melbourne over the weekend, that would have meant that I would have to go for 2 weeks without any cash on me at all. I had chalked up a debt of $70 before I decided to try going to the bank to draw some money. This is what happened:
Me: Hi I would like to draw some money, but the problem is that I left my wallet in Melbourne..
Counter staff: Ok let’s see what we can do for you..
Me: I do have my customer number
Counter staff: Excellent! Can you please tell it to me?
Me: -gives customer number-
Counter staff: ok we would like to clarify some details with you first. What is your address?
Me: -gives address-
*a while after clarifying details*
Counter staff: Excellent! Now how much would you like to draw?
Me: $200 please
Counter staff: -checks my account-
*drum roll*
Counter staff: I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough money in your account
Me: Not enough money? How much do I have left inside?
Counter staff: you have $117.17.
Me: -thinks what the hell?! to myself- ok may I please have $100 then?
Counter staff: Ok sure. Do you have any ID on you?
Me: -thinks my id is in my wallet which i left in melbourne.. =.=- i have my student tag (that we have to wear when we go on hospital/GP visits) will that do?
Counter staff: sure that’s fine. -checks this really horrible photo of myself in which I didn’t comb my hair that morning because I didn’t konw we were taking photos that day and my hair is a mess and my smile makes me look like I have some kind of facial nerve palsy- here you go!
that was a horrible photo. I was cringing when I handed it to her. I can’t wait until it expires. GAH.
Anyway, I just had my dinner and I made this AWESOME ravioli dish, where the ravioli was stuffed with beef and mushroom, and i fried some chicken and mushroom with heaps of garlic and lots of italian seasoning with a whole head of boiled broccoli. Crap Im’ feeling hungry again. -.- This cold weather is bad for the diet.
OH OH OH and after a 2 week hiatus, I went to the gym and did pilates this morning and I feel great! Of course, I say that now, but tomorrow morning, I”ll probably have to roll out of bed instead of sitting up and swinging my legs over. hurhur.
Ok enough rubbish. Back to the books!
