My weekends wash away

But my dreams keep coming true...

After the very disappointing realisation that I wouldn't be able to work for Roadtrip Nation as a roadie during fall, I decided it wouldn't be the worst thing to stick around Austin and salvage what further experience I could get from the Austin City Limits studio.

Granted I've pretty much been on an extended holiday since mid-May, and another trip away to Mexico and New York consolidated an epic summer. So it's taken awhile to get settled, finding a new place to live, but finally I feel like I'm back in the groove again. And Austin went and stole my heart this past month.

I would never have guessed a few years ago that I would end up living and working in Austin, Texas, but it feels perfectly meant-to-be. And a few months ago, I wouldn't have even considered being around to go to the State Fair of Texas or the very hyped-up Austin City Limits music festival. Just goes to show that you've gotta make the most of what's thrown your way.

So the State Fair...freakin' epically hectic!?!?!? From the drive up to Dallas (featuring a pit stop for a flat tire) to the deep-fried goodness and gigantic Ferris wheel, the Fair was everything I had hoped for, except an Oprah sighting.

When we first arrived it was definitely overwhelming. Everyone was gathering for the big football game against Oklahoma, one of our arch rivals. And there was too much for my eyes to take in that I spent the first hour or so trying to keep one eye on the foot-traffic and one on our surroundings. Most of our Dallas group were ready to go home by half-time, but I was very keen to stay longer and watch the night's entertainment. I also had a mission: to eat a deep-fried pop tart smore and ride the giant ferris wheel (the biggest in the u.s.).

I'm glad I stayed because the atmosphere was much more fair-like after the game madness had subsided. Unfortunately, Texas lost...Booo! So Dougie and I staked out spots at the very front for a band I had never heard of before, and rocked the night away amongst the company of die-hard fans and locals. In fact, it was two of these fans that ended up giving us a ride back to the hotel, although the guy may have been drunk (in hindsight, a very bad decision), but we got back in one piece and joined the bigger group for the night's shenanigans.

Let's leave the story there as the rest of the night was a bit messy for some (me not included). Vanda did curse the entire city of Dallas and threaten each and every citizen with her tazer! And we almost broke down in the parking lot of "uptown", but by the early hours I felt safe sitting in an IHOP with Vanda and enjoying my first taste of the institution.

Old New York

When I stepped off the plane at LaGuardia airport, I'd already been to NYC twice before - once as a tourist and the second time as part of a documentary. I'll admit that I hadn't really embraced the city like most people do, and I never raved about its glamour and gold. But this last visit to see a very good friend changed my mind.

It was Labor Day weekend and the airport was unusually overcrowded. There were lines from one end of the terminal to the other. I began to panic a little. Then due to a malfunctioning security gate, missed my flight completely. But by the time I had changed and stood waiting on the kerb for Lillie the previous dramas blew away with the breeze.

We drove back to her place in Stamford, Connecticut, and rushed to meet her friends for all-you-can-eat sushi in Manhattan. We got lost - which became the theme for our weekend. But it was all part of the adventure of the rabbit hole that is New York City.

After giving in to a cab ride, we made it to the restaurant safe, a little rattled and very hungry, but with only 30mins left to eat all the sushi we could. What followed was the biggest sushi food baby I've ever had, and the night out was only just beginning.

Saturday brought the promise of a beach trip to Long Island and by the time we got ourselves together and organised, it was quite late in the game. But we battled on through tennis open traffic (getting lost again) and made it to a very quiet side of the city, where we were asked to hop into a man's trunk to sneak into the exclusive beach club. We definitely don't do that in Australia!

And because of a hurricane off the coast, I was surprised to actually see waves and a decent surf. So even though it was a tad chilly, and after much internal debate about freezing, I jumped right in. It was strange to be able to hang out at a beachside cabana and walk through the wooden village of huts and facilities provided by a beach club. As the sun came down, our beach day turned into a seafood dinner with Lillie's friends at a famous nearby eatery and then we headed into the city for another night out on the town.

We were lucky enough to get two free nights accommodation at Lillie's colleague's apartment near the Empire State building so beach-heavy we drove into the city with her friend, Chris, in tow. With another big night planned, Lillie and I scrubbed up and got our party shoes on. That Saturday night I met more of Lillie's workmates, was plied with drinks and boogied on the dance floor.

Our lazy Sunday called for shopping and wandering around Times Square and the markets, where we bought trinkets, head bands and hats. The city was very much alive and loud with people dressed in patriotic Brazilian colours. For a long time, we had no idea what was going on. Ah! Of course...Brazil Day in New York City. They'd closed down some of the central city streets for the event with live music performances, and Lillie and I got stuck trying to get to an ATM.

Monday we were invited to spend the public holiday with Lillie's friend's friends in Central Park. It was a beautiful late summer day. The sky was written with a marriage proposal and I felt the love of the city.

My dad's incredible emails...

I love my dad.

Lack of golf playing and an outdoor hobby has led him to spend most of his days online.

I guess this is what happens when your only daughter disappears on a university exchange.

Adam Saaks (who designs ripped T-shirts?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIZ35DVlNQ

World's tallest airport slide in Singapore
http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/Blog.aspx?blogentryid=696351&showcomments=true

At least I know he's thinking about me!

Monterrey you make my heart say

It's my last day in Monterrey. Ace left this morning at 4, and even though she was the one travelling, I couldn't sleep at all either.

We've spent the last couple days shopping, which I'm not entirely proud of. The last six months I've been trying to hold on to every penny I have, but it seems tourist madness has taken over me, and now I have about $150 of souvenir fare.

Although I really wanted to visit Grutas de Garcia before I left Monterrey, it's not the best idea to be travelling alone out there, so instead I followed Chloe to Spanish class. Turned out to be very interesting and freezing in class (something I should've been used to from UT).

When the sun began to set, we walked with Chloe's housemates in search of a great Mexican restaurant. With a backdrop of the mountains, I quickly snapped some last parting shots and tried to memorise how I felt having finally visited Mexico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA94J95Af4

Hola, buenos dias, como estas?, gracias....

My very basic, phrase-based Spanish, doesn't get me very far in Monterrey, Mexico, but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying my days here.

Ashlee-Maree (Ace) and I started talking about travel plans a couple months ago, and we both decided it would be awesome to visit our uni friend, Chloe, while she's exchanging in Monterrey.

So here we are! Day 3 of my Mexican adventure.

Thursday, August 26: It all began when Vanda and Margot took us to our mystery bus station, while Ace directed from her laptop and we wolfed down Hoboken pizza on plastic plates in the dark. We still aren't sure whether we missed our bus, but we hopped on one about 10pm, crossing the border around 3am, and ended up in the city by 7:30 Friday morning, where Chloe and her very blonde hair was anxiously waiting our arrival.

Friday was an organisation day with two trips to Soriana (a semi-Walmart equivalent) to buy food, beverages and beds. Besides the people in the supermarket, I began to wonder when it would hit me that I was in Mexico. Monterrey is one of the country's most "americanized" cities. I've heard there's Walmart and H.E.B. here too! Besides those american intrusions, I'd say by the time I'd caught two taxis, I was definitely getting inklings of being somewhere very foreign to me.

Our Monterrey tour guide aka Chloe Fox took us through her university, and promised we'd return to snap photos of deer. Her campus is very much smaller than the U.T. I'm used to, but the entire ITESM network in latin America consists of over 90,000 students. There's very tight security so Ace and I needed our passports to enter the grounds.

Chloe and her housemates, Julia and Isabel, were hosting a cocktail party to christen Chloe's new blender, so it was a perfect night of meeting her exchange friends (the majority from Germany), and sitting outside in her courtyard, sipping on a homemade mojito. After maybe two or three hours sleep on the bus, I passed out by midnight on my brand new air mattress.

We'd planned to visit Canon de la Huasteca the next day so after making some mouth-watering portabello burgers (with Mozzarella cheese, spinach and tomato) for brunch, we had food babies, but were raring to start our day! Chloe's been vegetarian since she was a teenager and I always enjoy joining in on her diet, not being a big meat-eater myself. So the burgers were her idea and an excellent idea it was!

From her house on a cute street adjacent to campus (lined by what we think are lime trees), we walked by Caroline's house to pick her up and then caught two taxis to El Obelisco (the obelisk) to catch our bus to the Canon. We weren't too sure on the bus number, since the party had been such a hit the night before, but we hopped on our best guess and enjoyed a very haphazard, noisy and slightly dangerous bus ride to the outskirts of the city.

Driving on the roads here feels like you're sitting in a dodge 'em car and I'm now re-thinking my opinion on Malaysian drivers after being here a few days. You won't go anywhere without hearing the squeal of tyres and communicative horns (sometimes a blast can be a good thing?).

The heat was making me sleepy, but I fought to stay awake and enjoy the scene around me. I shoved my camera out the window to take some snaps, but my battery died prematurely so the rest of the pics from that day have been taken by Chloe and Ace. We ended up not getting off at the proper stop and extended our ride 30 mins or so. No one was exactly sure how we ended up having an entire Mexican bus to ourselves, but it was a fun detour. All the while we were thinking, "Where the bloody hell are we?".

So we eventually made it to the gates of the national park, where two other German students were waiting for us. From there it was another experience to try hitch-hiking in the back of a pickup so that we could travel further in to the Canon. By this stage, people are probably wondering how safe I'm being, but you'll understand once you're here that you need to just embrace the lifestyle, laugh a lot and pretty much "go with the flow".

It was windy in the canon and the water was a slightly, murky blue. Usually there's no water at all, except that there's still run-off from the hurricane, which hit the area really badly a month ago. You can still see the damage on the roads and bridges around the city. We stuck our bottoms in the water (and of course I kept getting pushed downstream by the strong current), while some of the locals enjoyed watching the foreigners. The mountain ridges that surrounded us were so stark and beautiful. Our pickup ride-in told us that he takes people rockclimbing there.

Our tummies began rumbling, so Ace, Chloe and I left the group early in search of corn. And at the entrance our wishes were granted. Thinking that we would eat the traditional way, Chloe and I asked for lime and chilli on ours, and a few bites into the experiment our lips and mouths were on fire!!! I attempted to brush some chilli off, and then thought it was best to eat as fast as possible. By that stage I was inspired to eat more traditional food, so when I saw the gentleman next to us pay for an empty tray of what I suspected might be tamales, I asked straight away if we could have some too. Yum! They tasted just like the ones Lillie had heated up for me all the way back in May.

After another sleepy bus ride back to the city and a roller-coaster taxi ride, the three Mexi-cateers fell on to our respective beds and passed out til 8:30pm! Oops! We almost missed the BBQ we'd been invited to, so we trooped back to Caroline's and enjoyed a very nice night of freshly-made patties on a breezy Monterrey balcony.

To the mattresses and couches!

So in my final leg of exchange, I am officially homeless.

Since my internship was extended til next week, but my summer sublease ended August 13, I'm currently couch-surfing with my Austin friends. Certainly I'm very glad to have met them.

Going back to my nomadic ways has given me a lil taste of my travels over the next couple weeks. My best uni friend from Queensland, Ashlee-Maree is visiting me on Monday and then we're catching an overnight-bus to Monterrey, Mexico, on Thursday to visit our friend Chloe. It's been a while since I've travelled to a country previously untravelled, and I'm getting excited and nervous about the pending adventures!

Well this ninja is definitely, well and truly at the end of exchange. Next week will be the last two tapings of the summer for me at Austin City Limits and I don't even want to think about not showing up three days a week at the office. ACL is one of my dream jobs! One day I hope to be in a similar position, perhaps paid and who knows where in the world.

I've decided to label myself an ex-exchange student to the new batch. And I'm still hanging around because I finished my degree and I did two internships while being in Austin, both in television.

After submitting my exit-questionnaire to my home university, I only know that every exchange student after me will be even better taken care of and know more about what Austin and the University of Texas exchange experience is going to offer them. Why would you choose anywhere else?!

Three guys and a girl

Finally! I think I can take a break from well-wishing and farewelling; the last step in one's exchange. For the most part, I haven't been too sad about it because I try to remind myself what a rare opportunity and privilege it was to meet these amazing people and that I know with absolute conviction that I will be seeing them again.

Last Friday night, Robbins house was transformed. Matty Clarkson replaced Adriane as my housemate in the ridiculously large back room, bringing two couches and a futon with him. Carl also came with the futon, so I was outnumbered by male house mates 3:1.

Officially dubbed Mama Robbins, what's it like to live with three boys you say? Well these ones have been pretty well-behaved. Besides doing an extra amount of dishwashing, it was nice to have them all around with surprisingly minimal bullying.

And the house was transformed again when our beloved summer abode was decorated with Christmas lights by Katie and Faye for their farewell potluck dinner. Our spread was a tad salad-and-dessert-heavy but we made do and as usual everything was scrumptious.

As a self-confessed foodie, I have to say I enjoy these huge group dinners we've been hosting. From taco night at Matty's place to home-made pizzas, I've been having far too many food babies. Mathieu says I have a second stomach!

So upon Faye's departure, Carl became the second-to-last exchange student left from spring. And then yesterday, we sent Carl on his way after brunch at Juan in a Million which means I'm now the "last man standing", the last of the Mohicans as Gretchen has told me.

I guess I noticed too these past few weeks that my blog has become more introspective as I've made Austin my home. No longer a tourist, no longer an exchange student, no more excited entries about random food encounters!

June and July has mostly been spent trying to escape the Texas heat. And we've been lucky with the amount of rain so exploring the green belt, which is still thankfully green, has been fantastic. Ok! Except that one time I fell down the waterfall and displayed my entire derierre to the lounging sun-bathers. Last weekend we visited Sculpture Falls and chowed down on Texas BBQ at Rudy's afterwards.

And I completely forgot to write about 4th of July weekend. We hosted a BBQ at Matty Clarkson's house Saturday night, and proceeded downtown. I think in those weeks I went out on the town more than I ever have in my entire life. No seriously! Then Sunday, we dragged ourselves to Auditorium Shores to watch the fireworks. It was such a lovely evening!

It's just been wonderful enjoying the outdoors. Fingers crossed someone will be keen to organise a camping trip with me when it cools down a little.

The end of June and July's beginning

Weeks in Austin have become marked by our out-of-town visitors and friends.

First there was Jean-Remi (a friend of a friend from France); then Briony spent three days; followed by a visit from Maria; last weekend Lillie came back in town along with Joe for 4th of July celebrations; and finally this weekend my housemate Adriane is home and Katie Chapman has returned with two colleagues from Dallas.

And all these comings and goings keep reminding me that I'll have to uproot the foundations I've made here in a month or so and go on my way too. It's saddening!

Tonight I can't seem to get to sleep - a mixture of excitement and anxiety I guess. I feel like my life is about to diverge into two possible paths. Will I work for Roadtrip Nation again for two months until mid-November then fly home? Maybe they won't sponsor me for a work visa so then how am I going to spend my last months in the Americas? And those questions bring me back to that core quest: What do I want to do for the next year? And the year after that? My year-to-year planning seems to have worked well so far, but how much longer can I keep it up? When am I going to face up to the dreams I've been too scared to attempt?

I can't even decide how I'm going to spend the weeks after I finish my internship at Austin City Limits! If I could work for free there and somehow sustain a living I would do it in a flinch. As December draws closer, so does the talk about the big "move" - when ACL will relocate to its new home at Block21, downtown Austin. How I wish upon a hundred stars to be there for the whole thing!

Robbins Place

After a downpour of goodbyes, life has finally settled into some kind of rhythm.

I have a new Austin family. I have a dinner group. I have a running partner. I have started my internship at Austin City Limits (ACL). I am one lucky lady!

It's been seven days since I walked in the ACL door as an intern. And it's not at all like my first days at KXAN, when I felt like a useless shadow on the wall. I feel cozy in the tiny intern office surrounded by CDs, posters, flyers, paraphernalia from previous tapings and the staff water cooler. Yes, I actually have an office and an Apple Macbook. And everyday I am inspired by the musicians on the walls.

This week, as I prepare for Briony's visit, I have finally realised I am indeed in love with Austin. When I was on exchange, I was so busy all the time that I only glimpsed the city between university and my internship and PL partying, but now I've had a few weeks just to simply enjoy the sights my great likeness has turned into love.

On one hand this is a thrilling epiphany of sorts; on the other, it saddens me a little too, because I know I'll have to leave eventually. I have been at my most joyful in this place than I have ever been before, and I'm finally beginning to get a sense of who I am as well.

What more could one ask for?
To do, visit, see, experience the things you love, like Barton Springs at night time, like amazing live music (Mumford & Sons), like running in the park, like floating in a pool and watching the sky, like cooking and eating meals with great friends. Life is simple and refreshing here! I may not be earning any money or climbing the corporate ladder, but I think I know true happiness.

Exchange + travel + career = my new life philosophy

It was while compiling my portfolio for my internship course at UT that I realised I'd been at KXAN for five months. And on my last day of work, I found out that someone very dear to me had been married in New York. Here I was totally oblivious and under the rock that is exchange.

You may have taken me away from my friends and family in Brisbane, Australia, but Exchange....thanks for all the memories! It's been lovely to drift away from the responsibilities of adult life these past months and just enjoy living and experiencing a new city. Planet Longhorn (the international student org @ UT) has been a huge part of all my happiness this spring. From picking me up at the airport, to crazy Walmart trips (sorry Vanda!) and floating the Comal River on my birthday, this semester has simply been magical. I have no regrets!

April was filled with parties and weekend trips. The Temper Trap also paid another visit to Austin and we arrived hours earlier like true groupies squatting on the cement sidewalk. It was the closest I'd ever been to a big, Aussie rock act. In one week, I got to dress crazy 80's style for PL's skate party, then partied the night away in my amazing 90's black prom dress and finished off the month by visiting San Antonio for Fiesta. It was a HUGE week of awesomeness! And then my 23rd birthday rolled around so Vanda and Club 406 helped me throw a rockstar bash to remember. I will never look at Jello the same way again.

May matched the speed of April with a tad more partying thrown into the mix. Many of my new-found friends were graduating. I kicked off the end of school year celebrations and my last day at KXAN with after-work drinks at Trudy's with coworkers, Erin Cargile and Ben Friberg. Then followed it up with the tradition that is Thursday College night on dirty 6th. Friday was another late night with dinner at Sandra Bullock's restaurant, Bess Bistro. This time staying up with Club 406 watching Skins and soaking up our last moments with Liz. And the partying kept continuing until I had to pick up the pieces of my messy room and move out of the college dorm I'd grappled with over Spring. Thanks Dobie for my packed lunches, mostly unhealthy food, incredible cookies and brownies, and deathly desserts.

sleepless nights

Wow dear blog my friend, I'm sorry my last post was more than a month ago.

It feels like I glanced away for a second and April evaporated into May.

I'm 23 now! The big 2-3 they say, yet I still get called "little" and "girl" and I'm glad because it's something that makes me "me".

There's no rhyme or reason to this post except for the fact that I can't sleep and this is the closest thing to my journal. My last exam for History of Rock is tomorrow. I haven't studied well for it, but I've been sick this week and beyond caring. I'll be finished with my journalism degree next Tuesday.

And now I'm trying to find some photos to add to this pointless entry so that it at least looks interesting, because the last month has been a blur of crazy, crazy international/exchange/fun times.

Oh! Tomorrow is also my last official day at the newsroom of KXAN and it's bittersweet. I really grew to love working with the night-side reporters and anchors: Erin Cargile, Shannon Wolfson, Josh Hinkle, Leslie Rhode and Robert Hadlock...plus Ben and Daniel (the trusty photojournalists). It turns out as predicted, news isn't quite my cuppa tea, and Liz and Tom will tell you how funny it is watching my mock news packages. But I still love telling stories visually and I hope that will lead me somewhere one day. Perhaps some music documentaries!

There's just too much to catch up on, especially when I'm half-asleep so I'll leave it at that and promise to write again soon.

So I'd like to smell nice this summer

Update: My dear friend, Ashlee-Maree, has advised me that Australia does have those deodorant cakes and also clinical strength products, so feel free to skip this post, unless you like reading about my challenging shopping excursions....

As my supply of roll-on is dwindling and the weather is warming, I really had to make a shopping trip this week. So I hitched a ride with the ever-trusty Vanda, only to discover the predicament that buying a new deodorant would prove. The only bottles, which are roll-on, are also "clinical strength" and hailing from Australia, I have no idea what that even means. Do I sweat more or less than an average person? Do I need deodorant that's almost at prescription level? What exactly do they put in it? Will it be dangerous for me?

After a good 20 minutes scratching my head, I settled on the "rub-on" Dove for sensitive skin. It looks like a soap-cake in a casing that lets you twist the bottom for more. Curious.
Note to self - a spare bottle of Mum Dry is coming with me next time I travel overseas. Strange name. Good stuff.

March goes out with a cheer!

Star of Texas Rodeo - Austin
Friday, 26 March

First Planet Longhorn Softball Game

Sunday, 28 March

Austin City Limits Taping of Roseanne Cash & Brandi Carlile

Tuesday, 30 March