Please Uni... Hurry up so my life can start again?

The past month has been spent trying, perhaps in vain, to productively pass my days when I'm not on duty in the Galloway boarding house. You see, without Uni and living in a relatively small country city, there are limits to the array of activities available at little to no cost.

I've been frequenting my gym (generally daily), and that has taken up a good hour each day, but the Scots resos have managed to come up with many other relatively enjoyable activities to pass the time. We have had Noodle Box at the top of Mt Panorama, overlooking the gorgeous view of Bathurst and beyond. Tuesday night trivia at the Kings has been a good source of entertainment, as has the Ox's trivia on a Wednesday night. We've taken our new resos late night swimming in our pool with a bottle of Chardonnay we won at trivia, and we have had plenty of movie nights and random drinking nights playing games like Never Ever, Roxanne, Kings etc. Emiley (a friend and also a resident) and I have been on a roadtrip to Blayney, where we drank Coke's in the local pub, and sang our hearts out to and from Blayney.

It has been an interesting experience welcoming in new residents to our school. Many have just finished school, and have only just begun university, and consequently we have felt somewhat responsible for ensuring they come home safely after their O-Week parties, and are enjoying themselves sufficiently. Last night we went to Dag Night, having sourced our outfits from Bathurst's Op-Shops. This in itself was a thoroughly enjoyable experience - sampling the many 1980s dress suits and the beautiful floral floor length dresses available. We pre-drank at my friends' house - Toph and Tyson ensured we had lots of fun in providing us with drinking Jenga. It was really nice to pre-drink at a house down-town rather than being either on-campus or at the school. That freedom was certainly appreciated and was very refreshing. All the friends we were with then danced together through the night and even took our new male resident, Dan, under their wing, teaching him how to dance and attempting to get him as drunk as they possibly could with Never Ever.

We loved dancing to Jelly Bean Jam, who played both new and old music and played instruments as well as singing fabulously. It was a bizarre experience to be with all those new faces of the freshers because they just seemed so much younger than us. Which, to be fair, is an accurate observation as they are at least three years younger than us. It was scary to think that some of the first year students are actually my brother's age. Emily and I vowed we wouldn't frequent unibar much any more - we just feel too old - and might choose instead to make the Wednesday night Pool Club our regular social activity.

Here are some of the photos from our past few weeks waiting for uni to commence.

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is my least favourite day of the year. And it's because I am b-i-t-t-e-r. And I don't pretend that I wouldn't absolutely love Valentine's Day if I had a boyfriend, because I certainly would. But I don't.

It's not that I would want a tacky giant teddy-bear, or a dozen red roses, because I really don't need a lot of money spent on me... I would rather a picnic packed up by my BF, with a bottle of wine and an antipasto platter he'd put together, and we'd spend the day lying on a picnic rug overlooking the harbour somewhere. Or otherwise, I'd love to be able to cook him dinner - something like spaghetti marinara, and we'd spend the evening together listening to good music, drinking nice wine, and enjoying each other's company.

I hate seeing extraordinarily awful Valentines Day cards around this time. I was looking at a few the other day in the newsagents and I almost gagged when I read one that had a picture of a guy on the front of it, and in side it said "Happy Valentines Day, your gift is my stimulus package." Nice, huh. Oh, and who can forget the cheesy "Roses are red, violets are blue" specialties. Yuk.

My problem at present is that I'm kind of disillusioned when it comes to guys that I would actually want to go out with. Sure there are lots of guys whose company I enjoy, but very rarely do I find a boy that really gets me. If I'm honest, I can be a bit self-conscious around guys and feel inadequate, so maybe I should work on feeling more confident about myself... still, I'm sure everyone has their own hang-ups, and when you meet the right person, you don't feel inhibited and self-conscious, you're comfortable to be yourself.

Well, because I don't have my very own boyfriend to cook for or to go picnicking with, I'll just have to settle for watching Definitely, Maybe (my favourite romantic comedy) and watching the dreamy Ryan Reynolds until my very own Prince Charming comes along.

Resemblances

Main Entry: re·sem·blance
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈzem-blən(t)s\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 a : the quality or state of resembling; especially : correspondence in appearance or superficial qualities b : a point of likeness : similarity

The concept of resemblance has been at the forefront of my mind this week. There has been a "doppelganger" week on Facebook, whereby people have made their display pictures a photo of somebody they supposedly resemble. I've been told, more than once, that Nigella Lawson and I have similarities. Sure, we love to cook, and we have brown curly hair, and we both have hour-glass figures, so I guess we might resemble each other in some ways.

I'm currently reading a book titled Social Intelligenec: The New Science of Human Relationships by Dan Goleman. It has taken me quite a long time to get through it - with a multitude of complex ideas - but today I came across something that I found truly charming.

... something rather remarkable tends to happen with couples who live together for decades, finding happiness with each other. Their continual rapport even seems to leave its mark on their faces, which come to resemble each other, apparently a result of the sculpting of facial muscles as they evoke the same emotions over the years. Since each emotion tenses and relaxes a specific set of facial muscles, as partners smile or frown in unison they strengthen the parallel set of muscles. This gradually molds similar ridges, wrinkles and lines, making their faces appear more alike.

Goleman goes on to describe a study where wedding photos and photos from couples 25 years later were compared. Not only had their expressions and faces become more similar, but the more alike their faces had become, the more happy they were in their relationships.

This phenomenon results in partners being able to sculpt desirable patterns in each other. It is known as the "Michelangelo phenomenon".

In a similar way, many dog owners choose a dog that resembles themselves. One would imagine it would occur subconsciously; in my case, my dog has curly hair as do I. A new scientific study states that this is the case, at least this is the case with purebred canines, according to research from the University of California by Nicholas Christenfeld and Michael Roy.

Forty-five dogs and their owners were separately photographed and judges were shown pictures of an owner, that owner's dog, and one other dog, with the task of picking out the true match. The proof of resemblance was that a majority of the purebred dogs and their owners could be identified by the 28 judges called upon to examine the photographs, with the results showing 16 matches out of the 25 purebreds. There was no evidence of resemblance between the mixed breed dogs and their owners.

Given that dogs are a man's best friend, and you often seek out a friend that has similar traits or is like yourself, it is no wonder you might choose to select a dog that looks like you do.

Many times comments have been made about how my friends and I are so similar. We get each other's jokes and seem to speak another language; presumably because no one else can understand us (or at least they don't find our jokes funny). We also sometimes dress exactly the same - or develop the same obsessions - and it's all done without necessarily communicating with each other. We will get together and discover we've become mirror-images of each other, either through our outfits or our passions/ interests. Sometimes it's almost creepy how quickly your own personal identity is matched by someone else's.

In any case, i've enjoyed pondering the concept throughout this past week... look around you and see whether you associate with individuals that share great similarities with you? Has it always been this way?

Music Festivals

I went to the Big Day Out in Sydney on Saturday 23rd January, 2010. I had a bit of an idea of what to expect, but my experience of music festivals is from having attended Village Fair, which is Charles Sturt University's annual music festival. You can check out Village Fair here.

So it would be fair to say I'm not a professional festival go-er. I don't wear my midriff fluoro orange tank top with my cut-off denim shorts (so short the pockets are hanging out). I'm not okay with taking ecstacy tablets (like a couple was doing in front of me) as though they're tic-tacs while watching something as chilled as Lisa Mitchell. Definitely more comfortable with Village Fair than anything the scale of BDO.

I've always looked forward to Village Fair. Imagine all of your uni friends (and about one thousand other mutual friends) all in a big field with bands and DJ's playing from 4pm til midnight. I might add at this point that everyone spends their day prior to Village Fair drinking with friends. It usually kicks off around 10.30 am with a few quiet drinks and, by mid-afternoon, everyone is adequately smashed and most people are paddling in blow-up kids pools.

When the music starts, we all stagger over the field to Village Fair and watch music between three stages. In my first year we had headliners including Aston Shuffle, British India and Blue Juice. Last year - 2009 - the headlining acts were Bag Raiders, Purple Sneakers DJs, Kid Confucious and Van She.

Once the music has finished, everyone goes down into town and hangs out in the pubs - it's really chilled, lots of fun, and you are in some way connected to each and every person at Village Fair.

On the other hand, Big Day Out 2010 had 55,000 people attend on the day I went, with about 15 stages (or more), and a pretty incredible line-up. I really enjoyed seeing the following people/ bands play:

• Lisa Mitchell
• Blue Juice
• Eskimo Joe
• Temper Trap
• Hilltop Hoods
• Lily Allen
• Dizzee Rascall
• Powderfinger
• Muse
• Calvin Harris
• Groove Armada

My favourites were Temper Trap and Blue Juice. Since seeing Temper Trap and Blue Juice I have listened to their music on repeat ... but I am glad to say I still haven't tired of it. Temper Trap's Drum Song and Blue Juice's Head of the Hawk have to be heard to be understood! Although I might add, it was so much fun seeing Lily Allen - I am proud (well, actually, quite embarrassed) to say I know all the words to her songs.

Here are some photos from my time at Village Fair:





And here are some photos from Big Day Out:





If ever you get the opportunity to go to Village Fair, don't hesitate. It will be a day to remember!

Amsterdam

At the end of 2008 my family and I went traveling for six weeks around Europe. It was a holiday of a lifetime - something I will always remember. But why was it so special? Well for one, I know that, with me at 20 years old, my brother at 17 years old, and my sister at nine years old, there are only few holidays left for us to enjoy all together. Before we know it, we'll be overseas, working, simply don't want to go on family holidays anymore, or maybe Mum and Dad will limit their trips to taking Olivia only.

Regardless, I feel the need to share with you the main locations we visited:

• Amsterdam
• London
• Chamonix
• Aosta
• Geneva

One of my favourite places that we visited was Amsterdam. It is unlike any other place I've ever been to, full of a vibrant buzz and the people are just so friendly. I also have family in Amsterdam and it was great to get to visit them and to visit their houses.

While in Amsterdam, we went on a 20km bike ride out to the countryside, passing windmills and canals - such a special experience. We also traveled to Leidseplein - I loved it there - my brother and sister both went ice skating, and we sat next to people enjoying glasses of wine and chatting, all rugged up as it snowed prettily around us. The transport in Amsterdam was a cinch - easy to get around on trams and bicycles.

We did do the expected- by visiting the Red Light District - and I found it utterly fascinating. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it might be. Mind you, when we went it was only about 10.30pm (so there weren't too many drunkards around), and the girls didn't appear to be drugged out of their minds, as I thought they might be. In fact, many of them looked like they really took care of themselves and had nice outfits... still, the journalist in me wanted to find out how they'd made it into that industry? Did they enjoy it?

We visited Anne Frank's house, which I found very interesting and worthwhile, and it was fascinating to see how she and her family had lived during their time in hiding.

But if you want to know what I loved the most, it was easy for me to choose. I loved riding my bike past all the little houses, side-by-side with their curtains wide open. Families were sitting around pianos, kids were doing puzzles together, a woman was patting her dog, a man typed at his laptop - it was a very private insight into the lives of the average Amsterdam-ers. Because we rode our bikes on the ferries over into suburbia, we were able to access these suburban roads and therefore gained a great perspective on life in Amsterdam for the locals. The charming notion of revealing your inner life to others by keeping your house open to the outside is special and, certainly in my suburb in Sydney, does not happen. Everybody keeps their doors shut and their shutters closed - but not in Amsterdam.

Here are some photos from my time in Amsterdam.

Just a tea-ny bit obsessed.

I have an addiction. But don't worry, it's not serious. You see, it's been around for quite a while. Since 2737 BC, to be precise. My addiction is tea and like many addictions, I'm not too fussy about it's form - whether it's a warm bone china cup of English Breakfast tea with a dash of milk, a zingy peppermint tea, or a cooling tisane tea, i'll drink it.

I have a ritual when it comes to tea. I drink a cup of English breakfast (as described above) each morning before work. I'll then have coffee mid-morning, and after lunch I'll have a peppermint tea, which aids with digestion. Then, at about 3.30pm, I like to have a cup of tea with soy milk and a spoon of honey. And then, after dinner, another cup of peppermint tea. So yeah, no obsession to be found here.

My favourite place to shop for tea is a fantastic tea chain called T2. You can check out the website here. T2 is the ultimate shop for any tea lover. It has over 60 varieties of tea, some of my favourites being China Jasmine, Creme Brulee and Gorgeous Geisha, although I wouldn't profess to having tried all of them.

Another favourite tea-associated place I love to visit is the Observatory Hotel in the city. It's website can be checked out here if you're curious. I actually had my sixteenth birthday there and we were given the most amazing afternoon tea. Below is a look at the kind of high tea you can expect when you visit the Observatory Hotel. Oh, and be sure to check out the bathrooms... weird, perhaps? But they are so luxurious and well worth the visit.



Is there a tea I've missed out on? Enlighten me, please.

Microdermabrasion.

Microdermabrasion. No, I did not just swear at you in beauty language. Microdermabrasion is a procedure in which the dead outermost surface of the skin is partially or completely removed by light abrasion, to remove sun-damaged skin and to remove or lessen scars and dark spots on the skin. It can be used to treat different skin problems, including: scar reduction, skin ageing and acne - it rejuvenates the skin.

How does it work? Well basically, fine crystals are sprayed onto the skin and then suctioned off. It is used with a combination of therapeutic cleansers and masks. This has the benefit of sloughing off dead skin cells, closing the pores and stimulating collagen growth. The added benefit is that other than some slight redness there is no "down time" (http://www.austinclinic.com.au/).



Unfortunately I've suffered from acne and skin problems for quite some time - at least five years - and about three weeks ago, I was at my wit's end. I felt so ashamed to go out and have my spotty face shown in public. My confidence was really low - I found it hard to look people in the eye - and I knew I had to do something. Fast.

So I booked in to see a dermatologist, who advised me to start using new skin products - the ASAP brand. They are really expensive (it cost me about $165 to get all that I needed), but they are amazing. My skin improved substantially in a matter of a few days.

And then I tried out the Microdermabrasion last Friday. Imagine a cat's tongue licking your face - that's the only way I can describe the feeling of the Microderm procedure. It's somewhat uncomfortable, but certainly doesn't hurt and lasts half an hour in total. It is quite expensive - at $130 a pop - and leaves you looking red-faced for a day or so, but it is most definitely worth it. Having only had one procedure done so far, I cannot begin to explain how noticeable the improvements in my skin are. I probably won't need more than two at the beginning, and maybe one every six months after that, but if you think about it, it's about the same cost as a facial, but about a million times better (although it isn't as relaxing).

While it has cost me lots of moolah (and fortunately Mum and Dad have helped me substantially with the funding for it) the shift in my confidence levels is vast and my skin is continuing to ameliorate day by day. Wanting to become a journalist, and considering television journalism, having healthy skin is a must - so I see it as an investment in my future.

In an interview in The Age in 1997, TV anchor Chris Bath discussed the double standards regarding men's and women's appearance on television: "No chicks with curly hair. No fat chicks, for god's sake, no chicks with acne scars. But men. Ooh. Let's go for it. Let's have men with every bloody blemish under the sun." It is that pressure that has somewhat affected me and caused me concern in terms of my skin problems - but hopefully, all will be solved in the next few months as my skin continues to improve.

If you do have problematic skin, I'd certainly recommend seeing a dermatologist that performs Microdermabrasion... oh, and the ASAP products I have been using are also brilliant.

What are you reading at the moment?

Books are one of my favourite ways to spend time (apart from doing Body Attack classes, of course). If I have had a pretty social day, it can be nice to not have to talk to anyone and to be able to use my imagination by escaping into a good read.

Over the Christmas and New Year, people often get an hour or two to chill and read or snooze after a big lunch. Many people reach for a good book, often one that they've been given for Chrissie.

Here is a list of some of the books I have read recently and would recommend.


• Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood by Mia Freedman
This book was given to me for my birthday by one of my beautiful friends, Emiley.


• Never Say Die by Professor Chris O'Brien
Unfortunately Prof. O'Brien passed away this year, but it tells of his struggle against a brain tumour after working as a head and neck cancer surgeon for over 20 years.


• Committed: A Sceptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
This author wrote one of my fave titles Eat, Pray, Love so I was curious to see how this book compared to her best-seller. Fortunately I was not disappointed- Gilbert explores the institution of marriage all over the Western world and challenges our modern conceptions of what it means to wed.


• How To Break Your Own Heart by Maggie Alderson
I love love love Maggie Alderson’s weekly column in The Good Weekend and also found this book oozed her easy-to-read tone and was filled with likeable characters who were facing big changes in their lives.

Did you get a great book from Santa? What have you read recently - or maybe not so recently - that you'd recommend?

Body Attack.

Anyone who knows me relatively well will know that I am an exercise fanatic. If I don't do exercise I get grumpy. No really. I'm addicted. How can you possibly be addicted to exercise? It's called 'endorphins'. My most recent source of endorphins came this afternoon when I did my regular Body Attack class. This is a Les Mills class I do at Fitness First. According to Les Mills, "BODYATTACK™ is the sports-inspired cardio workout for building strength and stamina. This high-energy interval training class combines athletic aerobic movements with strength and stabilization exercises. Dynamic instructors and powerful music motivate everyone towards their fitness goals - from the weekend athlete to the hard-core competitor!"

The average calories burned in a Body Attack class is 700 - that allows for a pretty large hunk of chocolate cake afterwards.


The most recent Body Attack program has an awesome variety of music. This is the list of songs you'll sweat it out to:
1 Closer (Chris Crew)
2 Release Me (Agnes)
3 Gimme More (Mandy Brewer)
4 Rock It (Bhuvan Brothers)
5 Boom Boom Pow (Beat Factory)
6 Number 1 (Beat Bandits From Outer Space)
7 Put A Donk On It (Northern Accelerators)
8 Take Me To The Clouds Above (Global Nation)
9 Zombie (Andrew Spencer & The Vamprockers)
10 Wherever (Stafford Brothers vs. Hoxton Whores feat. Frank Stafford)
11 Goodbye (Jessica Friendly)
12 People Get Ready (Seal)

So I've painted the picture of what to expect in Body Attack, but I want to explore how exercise and endorphins work to create exercise fanatics, such as myself.

Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in your vertebrates when you do strenuous exercise, get excited, experience pain, consume spicy good, and orgasm. Interestingly, endorphins resemble opiates (i.e. heroin) in the way they produce analgesia and well-being. Feeling sore? Endorphins are also natural pain-relievers. Oh, and if you're a bit of a language freak like me, and take interest in learning the origins of words (known as etymology FYI), you might like to learn that endorphin consists of two parts: "endo", being from the word "endogenous" - from the body - and "orphin" a short form of morphine - meaning "a morphine-like substance originating from within the body" (Goldstein & Lowery).

So I might not have a boyfriend at the moment, but it's good to know that I can receive that same endorphin release from strenuous exercise as can be achieved by other means. Body Attack is definitely my favourite way to spend an hour winding down after a busy day at work... If you're looking for a fun and high-energy way to exercise, I thoroughly recommend it.

Chalet Girl.

For the past three years it has been my plan to do a ski season once I complete my university degree.

I've been skiing since I was 6 y/o and in 2008 I spent a bit over one week staying in a beautiful chalet in Chamonix.

I will graduate in November of this year and so I am now starting to research where I should stay and which chalets to apply to.
I have been recommended to stay in Meribel at the top luxury chalet company and it looks beautiful!

I recently discovered this blog and have been following it since. It's about an undercover chalet girl and her experiences working in a French ski resort.

According to a friend, who has been working in Meribel for the past six weeks "I would definitely reccomend meribel, i have a 3 valley pass so there is endless skiing in val thoren, courcheval - so nice. Great town, good pubs, main club called Dicks Tea Bar." There is also lots of skiing available once you've done your chores. My friend gave me a good understanding of what she does each day. "I serve breakfast, clean rooms, finish about 11 then go skiing until about 5ish, then serve dinner, tidy down then head home 10.30ish, to either go out or bed!!" It certainly seems like a life I could comfortably get used to.



Of course there will be many opportunities to meet new people - some of whom spend their lives waiting for the first flakes of snow to fall each season. Or else, they fly from Europe to Australia to do our ski season and then return back to Europe - so they never see Summer. In Australia, the surfers are known as "beach bums" but I wonder what the equivalent is for people who work in the resorts - "Ski Bunnies" perhaps? I don't know I'll be as hard core as them, but I know I can't wait for it!!!