Ugly Moments from the Airport

There is just one point in my travels back to Perth that stands in perfect clarity, and that is when I queued up with everyone else to get my passport stamped so I could continue on to a nice comfy hotel bed. If you have ever been through the Sydney International Airport you probably know that the line can get pretty darned long. That there are two lines that you can join. One is for people with Australian or New Zealand passports and the other which is for everyone else. Now, I've been through this airport quite a few times, and they move the line pretty quickly, but still there is sometimes a bit of a back up. Personally I don't mind standing in a queue after a flight. It helps me acclimate to being on solid ground again. 

However, others apparently have absolutely no patience. At all. And much to my disgust, I've found that the ones with no patience tend to be my fellow countrymen. Rarely have I been so stunned by things they say, or the way they behave on another country's soil. Personally, if I'm in someone else's country, I play by their rules... not mine. It's polite, and for me expected of myself. So... when they guy in front of me in the queue (which he's only been standing in for a whopping 4 minutes) sighed loudly and with an extreme show of ego stopped a security guy and demanded,"Where's the line for the Americans?" 

... I was speechless with embarrassment.

(Judging from the expression on the security guy's face, this was not the first time he's been asked that question, and ignored the idiot with a wonderful dismissal, as if he hadn't heard him.)

Dude. 

You are nothing more than another international traveler at this airport. You probably have done nothing for the country you are attempting to enter, and have no right to ask such a question. 

Get over yourself. 

This is why I don't like telling people where I'm from. What nationality I am, because invariably I get judged by the idiots who have gone before me. Because its never the polite Americans who get remembered... it's the ones who ask unbelievably self centered questions at the airport... the ones who go out every night and get so drunk they can't remember who they slept with, but brag about it loudly at breakfast (don't ask... it's a long story). When asked where I'm from I say "North America".... and they ask me what part of Canada I'm from. From all the crap I have seen pulled over seas by Americans, I wish I could say sometimes that I was Canadian. You should see the dumbfounded expressions I get when I tell the truth. 

"But you don't act like an American!?" they exclaim in surprise.

So, for those of you who travel over seas, have a care. You're not just traveling, you are an ambassador and an example of where you come from. How you act, what you do and say, it all leaves a mark. 

For myself I profoundly hope that I haven't done anything truly damning as I've traveled, but who knows.

But I can say this; I can see why everyone hates our guts. 

And while standing in line in Sydney International behind the epitome of the Ugly American

... i hated us too.

A Sickly Flight Back

The week before I was flying back to Sydney, I came down with a cold. Just one of those really irritating indecisive nasal passage pluggers. You know the one; where it can't decide which sinus hemisphere to blockade? Well, this one hit hard and fast, and I thought I was pretty well over it by the time the flight rolled around. To experienced flyers, I'm sure you're saying,"Oh no. You didn't..." And I say, that being a dope and feeling fairly well, yes I did get on a 16 hour flight to Sydney. When I left I was in fairly good shape... and was half dead when I got off the plane in Sydney. Apparently the cold took the opportunity to not only come back for revenge, but be worse than the original, complete with coughing, heavy congestion and a lovely fever. 

Sydney in summer is wonderful and extremely humid and warm... okay, so it's hot. For one who is running a fever, it's really uncomfortable... for one who is running a fever and having trouble breathing correctly, its hell. Which is why I spent most of my time sleeping in my room instead of wandering around and exploring like I usually do. I had every intention of going to the Justice and Police Museum and visiting the Rocks because I hadn't been to either in quite some time. By the time I got off the train at Circular Quay and got something to drink, and sat down to wait for the Neutral Bay Ferry, I was focused on staying awake. And keeping a lung from flying out while coughing. The little old lady near me, with an expression something like amused pity, reached into her shopping bag and gave me an entire roll of Butter Menthols. "Oh no, it's alright," I said. And she said,"I've got plenty." and showed me the inside of her little bag. .... um, yeah, she had plenty. Lets just say she won't be running out soon.

Here's the sad thing. As sick as I was, having to turn my face away from the breeze so I could inhale enough air; I couldn't help but notice what I thought was a cormorant at first. Although the neck was way longer than I'd ever seen on one, the markings were pretty awesome. I suspect this marks me as a hopeless bird photographer, because as I'm coughing up a lung, my hands are going for my camera and not my drink. Anyway, I got some fairly good shots of what I later (like 3 weeks later) identified as an Australian Darter, also known as Snakebirds. They have REALLY long necks. I mean.... really long.  Look them up online sometime. Its almost unnatural. Their bills are also longer, and sharp pointed at the ends, which is unlike your typical cormorant. They both like to dry out the same way though. Find a nice sunny spot, extend the wings, fluff and then sunbathe like nobody's business.

The ferry showed up about 10 minutes later and carried me across the harbor to the first ferry stop, where I lugged my suitcase up a flight of stairs, then rolled it up a hill, at which point I had to stop to catch my breath. Because there were going to be more stairs to climb and I wanted a breather. Fortunately the owner of the lodge was there and very kindly helped carry the suitcase up to my room. The door was open, as was the door to my own private little balcony... which was literally 6 or 7 feet away from a tree filled with these. Rainbow Lorikeets. The room was on the third floor, on level with the branches these guys were crawling all over, screeching and squawking and making a general ruckus. I should've just climbed into the bed and shut the door, but instead I grabbed my camera and took pictures of them while I sat at the little balcony table and wheezed. All in all, I think there were about 15 to 20 of them using the tree as their own personal jungle-gym.... not to mention shooting gallery. Or perhaps the term is 'venting'? ... sorry. awful pun. 

There were a couple of times, as they swung around in the tree that there was a large group together and I did try to get pictures of them like that, but they never stayed together long. One would always take offense to something the other was doing, or ... no idea. It was like watching a large group of highly agile toddlers with chips on their shoulders. They do sort of look like colourful hoods don't they?

Eventually the group wandered off, and I put my camera away, went inside, flipped on the brand new flat screen TV, and found to my rather grateful surprise Star Trek: The Next Generation just starting. YAY! Something familiar and mind numbing! In fact they ran another one after that, then an episode of Charmed, and then Supernatural... I fell asleep during the last I think... And woke up listening to Cheers, another TV show, which was good, because I had enough time to stumble out for dinner and then back again. I really did mostly sleep. There was one morning where I did go down to Town Hall to get a few school supplies from Kinokuniya, eat something and then head back to the lodge for more sleeping. 

I really don't remember much about getting back to Perth, except to say that I took the ferry, then the train, and it was so much faster than taking a taxi to the airport. And easier. The airport was really busy, but lots of people are running around doing stuff during summer vacation, so it's to be expected. The flight back to Perth was full... I watched a movie I think... although I couldn't tell you which one. Took a taxi from the airport to the Student Village and then basically quarantined myself until I was better. The doctor said I need not have bothered as this morphed cold probably wasn't contagious... but, I would've felt guilty if someone else got it. It was miserable. But I'm so glad I was back in the studio apartment to get well instead of in a hotel somewhere. All in all it was an experience... one I hope I don't repeat!!! I'm pretty much healthy now, and hopefully I'll stay that way. Classes start up on February 25th, which is coming up fast. Already have some of my books.

That's all for now. I might totally shock you and write another post tomorrow!

~Smirkles~

A Rant... and then Christmas.

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted. This in part due to really not wanting to post anything, not having much to post, and ... having a profound dislike for the changes google has been making to blogger. It's cold. It's unfriendly... and starting to look like wordpress.... which I'm not fond of at all. But that's probably just me. I realize things need to change if they are to continue to compete with other companies, but personally, they are losing my interest by trying to make it "more like the other guys" stuff. I like unique. I like my iGoogle page with all the things you can customize, instead of being forcibly spoon-fed templates, or worse yet, not having an option to customize at all. I want to keep my frog widget, and the background I have for iGoogle. I will miss all of that, and also the ability to use my own mind when setting up these things. There are lots of people out there who don't mind that happening I think, but as someone who likes to think and choose, instead of going with the flow, I find this rather stifling. And a huge deterrent to having any interest in writing on this blog at all. 

Mom, will subtly mention that I've been awfully quiet blog wise, and I agree and come here... and hit new post... and my lip curls up, and I sit there staring at this astoundingly uninspiring posting screen, that's white and blank and reminds me of an old episode of Tiny Toons in which Babs Bunny has had all her personality sucked out saying,"Mayo on white... Delish." And that's exactly what this is. Bland to the point of brain dead. Google+ is totally losing me. Guys, you aren't Facebook. Don't try to be. It's like you suffered some profound jab to your collective self-confidence, and you've bent down on a knee and given in. The whole reason I started using Google for everything in the first place is because I loved being able to customize background, widgets, because it was fun, and whimsical... And it's turning into a bloody cubicle with no window view, and no decorations allowed. This is how the zombies started in Shaun of the Dead. With monotony. 

In short: I am not a happy camper.

I am willing to bet money that there are other unhappy campers in your little spot of heavenly camping park. It would behoove you to perhaps pick your imagination out of the trash heap, dust it off with apologies, and oh, I don't know..... use it for something besides making google into nothing more than a white board.

However, I am living on the other side of the planet from my family and friend, and they would probably like to read something about what happened AFTER the Thanksgiving post (and they probably weren't all that excited about the open rant to google). Unfortunately that was mostly final exams for most of the month of November. The weather was insane, gravitating wildly between sunny and warm to windy, rainy and a "I will blow your house down" mentality. It was entertaining; I can tell you that much. Then December rolled around and I set out to come home for the holidays. Which means a lot of flying, which means I stop over in Sydney for a few days before a 15 hour flight back to LA, and then another hour flight north. ... and a 2 hour drive home. Not fun really. Although I do love to visit Sydney. I stay at a little place in North Sydney, which is close to a ferry dock, so runs into the city for dinner are easy. Or a just walk up the street and get something there. Its relaxing and quiet. They had just refurbished the rooms. Apparently it's changed hands since I was last there, and the new guy is very friendly and decided to upgrade things a bit. 

Everything was new! The ash coloured bed frame was much prettier in person, and the bed was very comfortable. I don't usually fall asleep in chairs, but I sure did in that one, not once but three times. The only thing I would have changed (and did, the next time I was there) was that this room was on the ground floor, and there's a lot of people traffic past the room. One night, it was a lot of people traffic all night long. Not the greatest of nights, but I survived. On my return trip, I got a room upstairs, which would have been fine, if I hadn't been sick as a dog, and lugging a rather heavy suitcase. Really not my finest hour. The new owner helped me up the stairs with the suitcase with a lot of jokes and good humour. If anyone wants to stay here, the rates are very reasonable (or were, they might have gone up since January), and if you don't mind sharing a bathroom down the hall (all extremely clean bathrooms, mind), the place is called the Glenferrie Lodge. They've got a website you can look up.

I do try to eat a different places while I'm in Sydney, but my absolute favorite place to get dinner is at a place called Wagamama. The food is based on Japanese dishes, but I suspect that it varies in authenticity widely. The name loosely translated means 'wild child' or quite possibly 'brat'. LOL! But they do make a mean chicken soup, technically it's real Chicken Ramen. This is what it's supposed to look like. Even on hot days this really hits the spot, and its delicious. They grill the chicken and slice it before they put it in there, along with seasonal greens that are lightly cooked, menma (pickled bamboo shoots I think), and lots of noodles. Oh, green onions as well. This is a full meal. You seriously won't be able to fit anything else into your stomach after you've downed a bowl. Usually I get a lemon iced tea that they make in house, and it's excellent. There are two Wagamama locations in Sydney. One is right up the street from Circular Quay, where all the ferries dock. So it's something like a 3 minute walk up a street, and its right on the corner. The other is in the main shopping district at the Town Hall stop on the train. It's up several levels, but after you've had lunch/dinner, you can go up another level and totally explore Kinokuniya Bookstore, which basically inhabits an entire floor. Yes, I had other motives. 

Then it was time for my long flights and drives home for Christmas. It was unusually cold this year, even for the Sierra Nevada range. We broke all sorts of records, but at least I got a white Christmas!

Yes, that's snow pelting down outside. My camera decided that it wasn't going to capture the snow falling softly, but instead as a hail storm, even if that was not what was going on. It was good to be home for the holidays, even if it was freaking COLD!!!

I think I've done enough damage for today. I'll have something equally unexpected for you later, post wise. 

Smirkles. :)

Thanksgiving Elsewhere

Thanksgiving comes around every year in the U.S. and we go to our relatives or friends houses, or invite everyone to our own home. We talk, catch up on things because we don't always see each other as often as we'd like to. We laugh, we watch an American Football game, and then sometimes a movie. But I think we forget that Thanksgiving is basically about being together, and no about doing things out of habit. Being away at Uni at the moment really gives me that perspective. I live on campus with international students from everywhere. Different cultures, different beliefs, different customs. And yet, Thanksgiving rolled around and more than 50 people showed up for dinner, board games, and to spend time with each other. No, Thanksgiving isn't usually celebrated in Australia, but the student village tries to take note of the different cultures festivals, and observed holidays, which is how I found myself sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with fellow students from everywhere. Everyone is different in language, culture, colour, background and yet everyone was getting along. Laughing, teasing, talking, joking and playing cards or board games. There were exactly three Americans, including me and everyone else probably originally just showed up for the food, but ended up staying a lot longer than they anticipated. Felt like a huge family get together to me, where no one had seen each other in a long time and given that everyone tends to coop themselves up in their rooms to study I guess it could be said that they hadn't. It was fun, and it really captured what Thanksgiving was supposed to be about. Yes, I know; it was supposed to boost the economy way back when... And they couldn't figure out what day to put it on.. but that's no longer the point. Its become a holiday about being thankful that you have friends and family, and that was certainly evident on the opposite side of the planet from where the holiday originated. :)

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even if you don't observe the day. ;)

In a Purple Tree

Alrighty. As you may have noticed I've been missing from posting blogs for... possibly a month or more. That would be due to the fact that I'm not here on a pleasure trip (although I would love to do that. Just a long trip and travel around Australia), I'm actually here to get a BA degree and possibly find a job somewhere in the world after that. So I've been studying, taking exams, completing assessments, getting migraines and generally trying to survive a different type of school environment. It's not all bad. I've also attended several really good stage performances and hung out with really cool people. Tried new foods too. :) 

So... anyway, in the small area outside my window, there used to be a giant stick of a tree.... And then, spring came around and the stick turned into this. Its a Jacaranda tree, and they flower first before they get all their leaves in. There's another tree on campus that was covered in fire red flowers when I first got here, and every bird in the area was all over it, eating nectar or the flowers themselves. It's totally covered in green now, so all the birds moved on to other flowering trees. Which means I've got an aviary in this tree. I see almost every type of bird in it... although they usually fly away before I can get the camera ready to go. Just as a note of interest, both these pictures were taken from my room. I love my camera! The close up ability on it is really cool. I know, I know. Every photographer out there is going,"Yeah, yeah.... there's a lot of cameras that can do that...." But honestly, this is cool for me. 

Okay, onward. Since I really haven't gone anywhere, I figure I'll just show you what comes to me! And that means a lot of birds. Sorry. I'd show you other things, but.. no one really wants to see the cockroach I found on campus right? Or the grocery store I shop at? Yeah... thought not. 

This, is a Red Wattle Bird, and he's a honeyeater, which means that he doesn't eat honey, but eats the nectar from the flowers. Handsome little stinker isn't he? Actually this could be a she, it's difficult to tell with the birds here because most species sexes look like each other. Anyway, it was checking out the stick tree in September, but no luck. The only reason I knew he was out there was because he makes a sound like a mini-shotgun being racked. *Ka-Chack* Not a pretty sound, but very identifiable. The first time I tried to photograph him he flew off as soon as I got back to the window, so when another one came back later I snuck back to the window with the camera and got this shot of it, which I thought was pretty good! It's holding still, and not hopping around in the branches like a monkey, so you can really see that red-brown eye and the red wattle that it gets his name from.

.... and then, it saw me! Or the camera more specifically. I'd gotten sneaky and had lowered the shade on my window, so only a slit was left where I could rest the camera. Of course it freaked out and flew off after making alarm calls. I guess the camera reflected or something. It only freaked out when it saw a camera, but not with me just watching it. Camera trauma in the past? 

I'd see a Wattle Bird in the tree from time to time checking things out, but they never stayed long. The tree wasn't flowering much, and I suspect it had things it needed to do. Like eat. These are fairly common birds here in Perth, and throughout most of the south, wrapping all the way back around to the southern eastern seaboard. Their main diet is nectar, as I said, but they've also been seen eating small insects off plants and in midair. These aren't terribly small birds. They're probably a bit bigger than a Stellar Jay from back home. 

We see a lot more of them now that the Jacaranda tree is blooming like mad. And there is the wattle bird doing what it does best. Eating nectar... and in this case, clinging to the tree for dear life. The reason the picture is blurry is because there was a storm going on that day, so it was pouring rain, and it was -really- windy. With the tree swinging around in the wind, and the rain pouring down the window, it's amazing that the picture came out at all. This was in mid-October, so the tree is in full bloom currently. Although with the past few storms it's flowers have taken a bit of a pounding, but the birds don't seem to care.



And then there is the monkey routine where is hang upside down on perilously small branches to reach what it's after. It also gives you a nice shot of the little yellow tummy. Again, sorry about the blurry picture, but I love the colour pattern and the yellow patch. And the bird being a complete and total clown while getting his lunch. Looks like it's 6 in the evening there, but it was more like noon when I took it.  Believe it or not it was blue skies and warm 20 minutes later. 5 minutes after that there was another monsoon. Crazy weather, but I certainly enjoy the feathered neighbors. Even if they are camera shy. I've got more photos of birds... and since I've only got one exam left, maybe I'll actually be able to go somewhere and take pictures of ... oh, I don't know, perhaps a landmark??? It's a thought I'm seriously considering. 

If you want a little more information about the Red Wattle Bird, you can look on here.

Anyway, I'm back for a bit, although not sure how much time I'll have. I've got some friends who want to drag me around to see things, which will be cool for picture taking, but probably not so cool for actually having the energy to blog! But I'll do my best. :)

Halloween... again!

Okay, so I've been just a bit busy with end of semester stuff and haven't had the time or the energy to get on my blog and update everyone. Hopefully starting next month I'll have a little extra time to post pictures and tell stories. Granted most of the interesting stuff is few and far between, and the pictures are mostly of birds that are in the Jacaranda tree outside my window. How do I know it's a Jacaranda tree?? Well... lets just say that it gives itself away in spring, and spends most of the winter masquerading as a giant dead twig sticking out of the ground. Anyway, I'll get you pictures so you can see. I suspect however they they won't do it significant justice.

So, right now back home its my favorite day of the year! Halloween! The other holidays are nice and all, but I truly love Halloween. The weather has turned cool and crisp, fall leaves are being shuffled along the ground in every direction, and there's this sense of anticipation. I can also breath during the fall, because all the pollen is gone and I am not dealing with allergies that make me sleepy. Which is probably why I feel so alive in the fall. That's my best explanation. Anyway, above is my pumpkin from last year. Usually I get more creative, but I hadn't done a traditional jack-o-lantern in a really long time, so... out came the triangles and the goofy grin. I like him. 

  Happy Halloween! 

P.S. I had little spinning pumpkins, but they ceased to spin, so I removed them when they became nothing but boxes inhabited by questions marks. Apologies. ;)

The Aglet Nibbler.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was sitting at a bus stop in Joondalup this little fellow decided to pay me a visit. Actually this isn't the same bird. But he's a good stand in. This, in it's broadest name, is an Australian Ringneck. The name is something of a catch all for 4 sub-species of parrot that live in Western Australia... and probably other parts of Australia, but I hadn't really investigated that deeply into it. I tried looking him up in a bird book, but he didn't quite match with the Port Lincoln, or with the description of the Twenty-eights. Which means I was hunting down what he was online. Apparently he's an intermediate, which means he's probably an off-spring from a Port Lincoln and a Twenty-eight. (I can't remember the last time I used so many hyphens.) It's a result of habitat destruction. In other words, these birds moved into the city, because where they used to live is gone. And now that they don't have their normal stomping grounds, the social structures of the sub-species are starting to merge. This is the result. I'm guessing there is probably quite a bit of variation in colouring from nest to nest.

Anyway, I didn't get the best resolution because he was really far away. If you enlarge the picture it's pretty darn fuzzy. Ah well... did the best I could. So, back to what I was saying about the bus stop. I was sitting there reading a book. Shocker; I know. As I'm reading I saw this parrot fly down and land in a nearby scrubby tree. There aren't any wild parrots were I live so he become the object of my undivided attention, which he noticed because he started staring right back. To my surprise he flew down from the tree, landing about 10 feet away from me, and then ambled up to my shoe with a swagger that would have made John Wayne proud. He peered closely at the aglet on my shoelace, and like a 2 year old who has encountered something new and exciting, stuffed it into his mouth. The nibbling continued for about 2 minutes, the whole time he's got his head cocked looking up at me as if contemplating my existence. I was certainly contemplating his, so I didn't bear a grudge. Although I was becoming concerned that he was going to eat the aglet, which would leave me with an unraveling shoelace and the bird with an impacted crop. Neither of which sounded appealing.

Thirty seconds later he dropped my shoelace, stared at an approaching student, and decided he'd had enough fun teasing the human and left. He didn't go too far. Just across the street to a big old tree and was joined by several more similarly coloured individuals of the parrot persuasion. I'd say they were all the same, but I couldn't tell from the distance I was at. And alas; no camera. Curses. For those of you worried about the state of my shoelace, it suffered no damage, although there may be future psychological issues from having experienced a parrot mouth.

Yes. I just anthropomorphized a shoelace. :)