Weekend Festivites

Week One Down...Six to Go!

I can't believe how quick the week went by :) I am having a blast! and now for the weekend update you've all been waiting for I'm sure...

Thursday Night (we'll count this as part of the weekend)

So Len and Heather have a wine tasting group they meet up with on Thursday nights...they go to this Thai restaurant in Subiaco(cool suburb in Perth) and everyone brings wines and they are all in coverings and then we have our own little wine tasting/game show guessing night experience, while the waiters just bring us dish after dish of food...we don't order anything! (It reminded me of Nick's rehearsal dinner Heidi) Here's a sample of the questions people would ask during each "tasting" experience.
Question 1: Is it from Australia, France, or somewhere else?
Question 2: What kind is it? (Sauvignon Blanc, chardonnay,Merlot, Shiraz, etc)
Question 3: What part of the country (N,S,E,W)
Question 4: What vineyard? (choices given)
What's crazy is that some people could get all of these things right! I was pretty bad, but sometimes got a few questions right. I think I tried about 9 wines...and was told later none were less than $40 a bottle. I only didn't like one...and apparently it was the most expensive ($150 from France!) At least I'm a cheap date? lol. I think I'm liking the shiraz wines...they are a red wine with a big bold taste. The Australian wine is really good...it has more of a fruity taste than other countries.

Friday Night

I met other Americans! We went out to a food court type place, where they had lots of different food types and the host parents brought (surprise surprise)wine and wine glasses...its so funny...I guess its pretty typical to go out to eat but to bring your own wine versus buy drinks there...and most restaurants are cool with it. Its like a super common thing. I got to meet the four other COST students here...Lauren,Kendal,Megan,and Mary...all from the US! We got Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan represented now here in Perth :)

I love all the girls...they are fantastic! We went out to Mullaloo bar and I had my first Perth night club experience. This was just a small place, kinda chill atmosphere, balcony outside, dance floor, couches, tables, one bar. I was so surprised though by the music! They were playing stuff that was popular freshman year...even some stuff from highschool! I loved it though...hadn't heard a lot of that stuff in a while. Got to do the soldier boy dance at one point lol. They mixed alot of the music with techno undertones so it had kinda an interesting edge. The first thing I noticed when I entered the bar though was...cute aussi boys. OMG. Seriously...they are like all good looking. And then they start talking to you...and your like...wow.

Exciting things
*the boys here totally dance with each other. Not like how girls do...but almost in a silly funny way...but it was soo cute. They aren't all uptight or self conscious
*most boys were pretty impressed I was from the US and was told I apparently have a sweet accent
*I taught a guy the rocketship pound it...and he LOVED it! (to be fair...who wouldn't...and if you don't know what that is...I'll have to show you!)
*I got to wip out the MI "hand" map and show people where I'm from...oh good times
*Afterwords we all went back and had a girls sleepover! It was super fun...seriously haven't had one of those in ages :)

Saturday
I went Shopping in the city! Bought souvenirs for people and spent like $170...opps! but I got some SWEET sunglasses and earrings...just wait till you see them...they are totally ridiculous (heidi...you may pretend not to be my friend when I wear them). Prices are a bit more expensive...but with the exchange rate, its a bit less...like my earrings were 17 AUs, which is about 15 US dollars...just depends where you shop! We were supposed to go out again Saturday night, but one of the girls got sick this weekend, so that was a no go...just hung out...did a little hot tub in the backyard :)

Sunday Party!
I was supposed to go to a church called Riverview, which is apparently a huge "singy dancy" gathering of young people I was told, but my ride there fell through at the last moment...sad face :( On a brighter note it was Len's 50th birthday celebration! (he's actually 63 and has been celebrating his "50th" for the last 13 years...lol)We ate on the large table outside and there were about 16 people present. Len and Heather had been preparing food the night and morning prior and we had like 10 courses I swear...lots of little appetizers and then "the meal" and deserts...I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back like 30lbs heavier...its ridiculous...but seriously, how can you pass up food that literally looks like it came off of "Top Chef?" (I feel like one of the judges!) And the presentation was flawless! We had "rhombus" shaped plates (which I made the mistake of calling 'diamond'...apparently you don't do that around math professors...my bad)

People came at 1:30...and we chatted and ate until 7pm! By the end we had gone through 17 different wines! (now you may be thinking I must have got super drunk...but no...everyone just takes a little taste of each kind, and its spread out with water and juice in between...so yeah, its not like crazy 17 shots of wine in a row...don't get ridiculous) I met doctors and lawyers, and engineers...ya know...the normal crowd I hangout with. At the end we had ice cream and then you poured coffee and a shot of something over it and it was delicious! (definitely a must try!)

Upcoming excitements
I'm teaching about MI this week, so I've been finding out interesting facts and making some comparisons to the area to put things in perspective for the kids...so I found out today that Perth is a city of 1.56 million people!!! compared to Grand Rapids...which is about 193,000..so yeah...talk about big! (that's like 8x the size of GR! I also figured out that the state of MI could fit in Western Australia (the state Perth is in) about 17 times!

I'm going to the movies tomorrow night...so I'll let ya know how that compares. Apparently they have these "Gold Passes" you can get...which is like first class VIP status. You get a reclining chair like a couch and food and beverage service brought to you. Man...sounds like my kinda movie!

Well now I'm off to bed...love you all and miss you miss you! Till next time...stay warm! XOXO

Rachael