But enough of that nonsensical boring stuff. Class, schmass... everyone really just wants to hear about the fun stuff going on down under!
I do realize it has been weeks since the last update. But There has been a great amount of excitement since those last few days of August. On August 27th, Burgmann College Residence Hall prided itself on the visit by the Honorable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia. It is not every day that the PM comes to visit ANU, and definitely not a residence hall. So, why is Burgmann so special? Soon after the construction of Burgmann College in the 70's, Mr. K-Rudd enrolled into the ANU and took up residency in the lovely place that I've been calling home for the last 2.5 months. He told some fun stories about how he met his wife in the dining hall, spoke in fluent Mandarin to one of our current residents and accepted gifts from the residence association for his visit. He even wished our boy's soccer team luck in their upcoming game against rival college St. Johns XXIII. This was the exciting part of the hour long talk, in which he proceeded to elaborate on his education policies and plans for the ANU, Canberra and Australia. Forgive me, I do not remember much of what he said.... It was incredible to see so many people turn out to this event. What was more incredible was the lack of security that Rudd had around him while inside Burgmann. After the lecture, we moved into the college's common room for tea and snacks with the PM where he was free to talk to and snap photos. Introducing myself as an American exchange student to Mr. Rudd was an absolute honor, especially seeing as it would most likely never happen with Mr. Obama back in the states. You can just call me Ambassador Wigman from now on!
Prime Minister Rudd with Chelsey and Me!
As we moved into the weekend, more fun was to be had! I spent Friday evening into Sunday afternoon with 6 friends, Peter, Tara, Michael, Fergus, Emily and Bec, at Peter's house on the beach near Jervis Bay by the Sussex Inlet. It was a long 3.5 hour drive, but the end result was an awesome, fun-filled weekend with some really awesome people. On the road as we drove up, I saw my first wombat! Unfortunately it was in crossing and would probably not make it to the other side of the road in time, but nevertheless it was a wombat! We also witnessed a bush fire on our way out to the coast, with firemen standing by. As we drove, the heat from the forest radiated onto the car, giving a taste of what it might actually be like to live near these fires. Apparently it is very natural to have the fires: contained ones are actually set quite frequently in order to clear the forest brush, so if it does not cause a more dangerous fire later in the the year. The smoke from the fire could be seen for miles, and we could actually see smoke from Peter's house on Sunday caused by a different fire being set.
Upon arrival to Peter's house, his very lovely parents set out food and drinks for us. My time spent their was incredibly enjoyable. On Saturday and Sunday we went down to the beach for some time in the sun and the ocean, although it was extremely cold! Saturday night we all got dressed up and went for dinner and drinks at an extremely nice cocktail bar, called Bannisters Point Lodge. It was a hotel, pool bar -- very classy place. Apparently Zac Efron stayed there once. As we sat out on the pool deck, we could hear the ocean waves crashing on the other side of the restaurant, which was so peaceful and serene. I had the best pizza and drinks I've ever tasted while we were there! Overall, the weekend was absolutely amazing, relaxing and a really good time with good friends!
Emily, Michael, Tara, Peter, Me, Bec and Fergus at Bannisters!
From that weekend on the weeks have proceeded with me attempting to do as much work as possible. It's something that remains very difficult when all I want to do is be social with my Aussie friends. In any case, I've accomplished what I've needed to including a presentation on this piece of artwork by Hannah Hoch, as I mentioned earlier:
"Imaginary Bridge" is an extremely interesting piece from the Dada period. It contains a great deal of symbolism and is a huge response to the events of the time period: the end of WWI, the upcoming great depression and a shout for women's rights. I actually got to give my visual analysis presentation while standing in front of this painting at the National Gallery of Australia.
This past week has been yet another exciting one! It began with the annual Burgmann College Dawborn tournament on Wednesday night. This is the final round of a pool tournament that proceeded throughout the semester among people in the college. Everyone who attends dresses up in formal wear, eating snacks and drinking wine, watching the two finalists play best out of three games of snooker. In between rounds there are presentations such as a hysterical Dawborn video, Dawborn dancers and another installment of Lawheads, in which people are prosecuted by fellow students for their embarrassing actions throughout the semester! All in all, it was an incredibly fun night, followed by an awesome after-party at one of the Canberra's clubs, Mooseheads.
Recently I've also just been hanging out with some of my best buds, taking it easy and watching movies. I watched Stardust which actually turned out to be pretty good, so I think I might recommend it. On movie I absolutely do not recommend is Cruel Intentions 2. Unless you are for some reason in the mood for a really crap movie, as we were last night!
Today, Friday, was another day of excitement, as our boy's soccer team had it's final match, against, again, the rival, St. Johns XXIII. After winning against them in a game two weeks before hand, the outcome of today's game was not quite as celebratory, unfortunately. It was awesome to see most of the college come out in support, however, to watch an awesome game with excellent players and efforts. The sidelines were filled with screaming Burgmann residents all dressed in yellow.
Our awesome boys team!
Yeah, it's Australia. Of course we're tailgating the right way!
Oh hey Soko! And look at all that Burgmann spirit!
Phoebe, Bella and Me!
After the game with Emily and Chelsey!
Well that is all the update I have for now! I'm preparing to go to dinner and most likely head out for a fun night on the town again! I hope everyone is enjoying their respective locations and having heaps of fun, as I am!
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