Driving on the Opposite Side of the Road: January 19th- 25th

January 19^th- 25^th 

            I am having my first class today, and I am honestly excited to get some organization and structure into my life. The classes here are wild, chaotic, and the teachers have so far lacked displaying much control of the students. Two seats down from sits a guy with hair past his rib line, which you can see because his black shirt is completely unbuttoned. He has yet to take his sunglasses off yet, and his phone just rang and startled by the ringer he jumped up and yelled “FUCK!” He raises his hand by giving a rock on symbol that is ev

en more obnoxious because of his grotesquely long ringer nails. In my second class 4 phones have now rung. The teacher laughs it off somewhat. At JMU I don’t even know what would happen in a class, but I don’t imagine seeing t

oo much laughing. Make that 5 phones.

            The 20^th is the first day that I think I’ve had 3 square meals since I left on the trip. Before this I was scraping by... eating whenever I could or felt completely starved. We are going to Surfers again tonight... $10 for a ride there and back and a free drink. I am leaving again to see the other nightlife in Surfers... not for long though. All the bars have a $20 cover; what a joke. It’s only Tuesday. So I return to my fellow comrades right where I left them and grab another VB. My stomach is starting to crave anything greasy, unhealthy, and

 cheap. I convince a friend that this will be a good decision and he follows me. We munch on our Kebobs which are really like burritos and skewers are really like kebobs. Make that 4 square meals. After our stomachs are satisfied we head to the bus stop and wait to climb into the crammed, stuffy, smelly drunk tank for the ride home.

            This morning I really craved some coffee. I haven’t had coffee since I left and I’m contemplating getting a coffee for the common room. Although I kind of like being self sufficient and taking full responsibility for the tiredness that I have been exponentially attaining since I left for this trip. Screw it, coffee tomorrow.

            It has been a few days since I last wrote and still no coffee, although I did buy some today.

            The longest weekend ever has finally come to an end. I had no class from last Wednesday 21^st til today, Sunday, the 25^th. We have been up to the usual nonsense: a pregame with poor man’s wine, various drinking games (7,11,or Doubles; Pointers [Shoulders]; Thumper; Buzz, and Fingers), and going out. Tonight will be the third night that I have stayed in. Although there has been more drinking since we got here than should be allowed in the entire semester, there has been some productivity when we awake from our caves mid-morning. 

We have a car!

            Year: Old

            Make: Holden

            Model: Commodore

            Color: Red

            She is a beauty and I expect that the perfect name shall come soon. After the third trip to Rent-A-Bomb in Southport, just northwest of Surfer’s, we sealed the deal and even got our Salesman Glen to throw in insurance and registration. The trip to Rent-A-Bomb is a mission in and of itself. First you have to take a bus to Surfer’s, then another to Australia Fair. Here you walk, and walk down Nerang Street until you reach a sketchy looking building with sketchy looking and sounding used car salesmen. The deal was basically already done, so we finalized with some autographs, cash exchanges, and weary handshakes. The car was now ours!

 Rory would be the first to drive. Nearly scared shitless I hopped in the front seat. With seatbelts fastened we took off. We got directions from Glen as how to get back to school, even copied down directions from Google Maps, but we quickly through those out and relied on gut and intuition. We had made it home alive, now celebrate we must. As the four of us were cooking up steak, cracking our first beers, and exchanging some stories, I finally felt accomplished for the car mission and as if we were doing things right. Smiles were followed by statements like “We are in Australia,” “We have a car,” and “We will never be slaves to the public transportation in the Gold Coast ever again.”

This week is going to be much different. I can surf every morning. I do have all my classes, and I even picked up another... a film class, another film class.

I need to start planning trips, making lists, and regulating my cash outflow.