Ending on a good note

So, today was pretty depressing.

First, I didn't really want to get out of bed, even though all of my roommates got up early and seemed chipper. I finally went and got some breakfast/lunch from the grocery store and read a bit while I ate it and then prepared to go to enrolment (no I'm not wrong, even though firefox spellcheck thinks I am, that's how it's spelled) on campus.

After having my visa checked I waited in line for an hour to have advisement on my classes. the line moved really slowly and where the line ended were rows of chairs. every time one person was served, everyone in each row moved over one seat, and the person at the end took a step forward to join the next row. except someone, i don't know who, messed all of this up by sitting in the wrong order in one row so that every time they moved it was the wrong way and the person at the end had to struggle though a row of people to make it to his/her new spot.

Luckily, I had brought something to read in line, but in my book I'm reaching the climax of the plot and I almost can't read it for how painful I know it's going to be. But it is rather good so I keep going. I didn't finish all of my stations until about 6 in the evening, having begun them around 2:30, but in the end I got my ANU student card. (actually i'm incredibly relieved because ever since my housing mix up a little part of me has been really worried that they wouldn't let me into the school either)

Anyway, on my walk home, there was nothing open to eat again except for sit down places. during the week, apparently, everything closes at 5:30 (including the 2nd largest shopping center in the southern hemisphere) and cafes only stay open till just after lunch. In searching for a place to eat, however I found a used bookstore, yay! I looked on the shelves for a while but the selection was not vast and a lot of the books were by australian authors or i had read them. I finally asked the two proprietors if they could recommend something either light or funny as I have just read D.H Lawrence and Ayn Rand and I needed a break; for the next 15 minutes two aussie intellectuals fussed over what I should read and promised that if i didn't like it, i could return it the following day. I have solved my book problem for now as I think they will buy my old books and give me plenty of recommendations for new ones.

I still hadn't solved my food problem, and since there are no subways or baja fresh open after 5:30, i got some instant noodles from the grocery store and carried them to a table to read and eat. As i was sitting though, one of my roommates, a british girl who's been living in the hostel and working for about 3 months, invited me down to the bar for drinks. Since I had forgone dressing in an 80's costume and going to an orientation party by myself, this seemed lovely. I spent the rest of the night watching an informal pool comp (the pool rules are very different here) and chatting with this girl Hannah, my friend Scott, and their circle. there's lots of intrigue and not so secret crushes in that bunch so between them, the pool, and a corona, i had a pleasant evening. (apparently aussie beer isn't very good so I went with something that reminded me of socal) There was one small guy in pants with pockets everywhere that was hilarious to watch because he was SO intense about the game, he had brought his own cue AND extender and was wearing a backwards newsboy cap and a ring on every finger. If it had been LA I definitely would have pegged him as a frustrated musician/actor. He kept using his chin to direct his shot, got his whole body in position, and chalked the cue incessantly but he wasn't doing very well, sadly, so he was back to publicly making out with his girlfriend before long, which wasn't nearly so entertaining.

Anyway, it seems as if I am destined to make only friends that do not, in fact, go to my school and do party past midnight every night of the week, (and apparently my roommate has a propensity for taking men back to the room she shares with 3 others at all hours, but I will endeavor to like her until this happens) but I am content as I have finally had some silly social activity.

Miscellanea:
I just ate an orange without a paper towel, and it is indeed pretty difficult

I hadn't eaten instant noodles in three years before today and am confident I will not again for five

When one and two dollars come in coin and you are never confident enough in your familiarity with the currency to give exact chan, your wallet gets REALLY heavy

American apparel ads can be very disturbing, beware

When it's 9 am my time, it will be 2 pm in LA, 10 pm in Edinburgh and 11 pm in Budapest, anyone wanna conference call on skype sometime soon?