Study abroad dinner and Swan River Cruise

Friday was the last day of classes at Curtin, so the school threw a huge party for the campus at the Tav. My friends and I always meet there fridays for lunch, so we got there at noon as usual. The place was PACKED!! Instead of leaving and coming back later for the party, we decided to stay at the Tav and wait around for the party to start. I left around 4.30 to get ready for a dinner in Perth with the study abroad group with all our advisorss while the rest of my friends stayed at the Tav.
We all got on the bus to head to Perth, going the way that I know best to get to Northbridge. A bunch of the people coming with us had no idea how to get to the restaurant we were going to, so I told them to follow me because I knew exactly where we were heading. No one believed me!! So, instead of arguing with the large group, I told Matt and Komal to follow me and that we would get there with or without the rest of the group. The rest of the group reluctantly followed me, complaining the entire way that we were going in the wrong direction. Ignoring them, we continued to walk towards Northbridge in the right direction. Only after we arrived at the restaurant (without having taken any detours or getting lost) did everyone realize that I did know where I was going!!
For dinner, I ordered pumpkin soup, potato gnocchi, and a chocolate brownie. It was really good...and free!! We had some good conversation with the rest of the group and the advisors, saying our final goodbye's to some members of the group we would not be seeing again as they are leaving early for home. Once the meal was over, Matt, Komal and I were going to walk across the street and take the train back to school. Some other girls decided that they were coming with us and demanded that we take the free bus instead to the busport and take the bus home from there, which we ended up doing. After lots of complaining (and Matt and I regretting that we ever listened to these girls at all), we got to the bus station and found out that the next bus wasnt for over an hour! Having had enough of these annoying girls, Matt and I left the bus station, draggin Komal (who felt bad for the girls) with us to the Perth underground. Long story short, we got home before the annoying girls even got on the next bus home.
Saturday, a large group of us went into Perth city for some shopping and lunch. We hung out around town for a few hours, signed a petition against cutting down a rainforest somewhere in Asia, then headed back to campus. 4 of us...Matt, Rhys, Layla and I...were all going on a boat party cruise up the Swan River for the end-of-the-year bash for Kurrajong Village, which is where Matt and Rhys live. It was cocktail attire, so I finally had an excuse to wear the cocktail dress I brought along to Australia with me!! The boat was a TON of fun!! I knew alot of the people that went along on the cruise, including my student advisor Sean, so I had a lot of fun socializing with everyone one last time before study week. On the boat, we were given dinner (subway, chicken, sushi), had a dance party, and were able to walk out on the front of the boat and overlook the city. Overall it was very fun and we are all glad we went!
After the boat cruise, Rhys and I walked downtown and caught the bus to a bus station about 2km away. From there, we walked to the Burswood Casino to watch some rugby with his South African friends. South Africa played against New Zealand. I didn't understand most of the game and was really tired and cold (yes cold!!), so I was a bit grumpy at the game. We eventually got a cab back to campus at about 2am.
Sunday, a bunch of us all went down to Fremantle to show Kelsey's friend Drea (visiting from Elon) around. We ate lunch at a fish and chips place, walked around town a bit, and tried to go on a tour at a Submarine museum, but all the tours were full. We headed back to campus for the rest of the day. Back at campus, a friends sister came by to do "beauty day" with the girls. I got my eyebrows waxed for 6 bucks!! Pretty exciting considering it costs around 20-25 to get that done regularly (which is MUCH more expensive than at home where I pay 5 bucks).
After dinner, I was washing up some dishes. I didn't realize that one of the cups I was cleaning had a crack in it (which I had seen days earlier and didnt think anything of). Unfortunately, as I was cleaning the cup, it broke and gave me two nice cuts on my pinky finger, which didnt stop bleeding until monday morning. It's still sore :(
Today, we are going to try to get a bunch of friends together to play some a pickup game of footy before some people head home for the week for study week.

Later!!

Birthday,

Today was my 21st Birthday!! Mom and Rick were in town, so they took me and a bunch of friends on a Swan Valley Wine Tour. I have never been on a wine tour, so the whole experience was new to me. We were picked up in Perth and were driven into the valley. We went to three differrent wineries where we tasted around 6 types of wine at each place, along with nouget and cheese. I didn't find too many wines that I enjoyed, so I guess I won't become a wine-o, as mom puts it!!.
We were then taken to a german brewery where we each had a glass of beer each. We got to pick from a list of about 4 different types of beers. I tried a pilsener and was not too fond of it, so I swaped with mom. Her beer was a little bit better. At the brewery, they had german sausages there for everyone to sample as well which were REALLY good!!
After, we went to Margaret River Chocolate Factory. This factory is famous for its quality chocolates all over the world. The chocolates were veryyy good!!! Everyone was given a sample chocolate, and then I bought an ice cream and a small box of hazelnut chocolated covered peanuts, which are REALLY good!!
Then it was back to Perth for dinner with everyone at a pizza shop!!
Overall, a very fun and unique birthday!!!!

Footy

One of the student advising staff members bought tickets for the study abroad students within my group to attend an Aussy Rules Football game on Friday. Not as many abroad students as expected actually picked up tickets to attend the game, so I was able to gather enough tickets for my friends to come along. The game was held at the Subiaco Oval in Perth City. Fremantle Dockers, which was the home west coast team from Perth, was playing against the Hawthorn Hawks, who are from Melbourne area. The game was really fun and exciting to watch. It is fairly similar to rugby I am told, but I don't know anything about rugby either, and is much faster pacedthan American Football is. Unfortunately, the Dockers lost the game, but it was a fun experience to see an aussy-rules game in Australia!!