My Worst Lag Time Yet...

Hello All,

Honestly I have not dropped off the face of the earth. And I do like to keep you all informed. I just have had such a busy few months with work and vacations and a new flatmate that the last thing I have wanted to do is get onto a computer after spending 10 hours working on one.

So where was I in the story of Tia: the last I wrote was in January. Just after the year started and not too long after I returned form Northern Australia. Feel free to check out my last update.

Onto giving you new information:

Work is continuely getting worse. I have been working long hours. Plus I feel like I am constantly fighting for things that should be readily available to me. I have a number of ideas of how I am going to change my situation and right now I am working on ways to implement my ideas. I will not take this sitting down.

In January one of my flatmates, Tiffany, informed Craig and I that she was moving to Melbourne. So I was on another flatmate search. It really was no surprise as Tiffany never fully moved her belongings into the house. But looking for new flatmates is really getting tiresome. It seems that people in Sydney tend to stay in houses for a shorter period of time than they do in Ann Arbor. I have been considering moving out on my own, not because I do not love my house or my flatmates or even the location, but because looking for flatates is getting to me. And this time around Craig did not assist much in finding a new flatmate, which erked me even more. But we got through that alright, even though we were without a housemate for a month and a half and with me stressing a bit about rent and bills. I now have 2 flatmates again: Craig and Tania. And I adore them both. I enjoy hanging out with them, I am willing and wanting to call them if they are not in the house to ask "what's up?" and they clean their dishes. I hope they never leave me.

During the flatmate search I went on holidays. First to Thailand, where I met up with Claudia. For those who don't know Claudia, she was a foreign exchange student at my high school from Germany, and is a good friend. We were in Thailand for 2 weeks. I wanted to wait to write about it as I was not so sure how to process the trip. And the fact is I am still not sure. So I will proceed to babble about it, and you can tell me what you think.

Bangkok is overwelming. There is so many people in so little space. It is near impossible to walk on the footpaths since that is where the markets are, but you cannot walk on the street as the Tuk-Tuks, motorcyles and cars that do not seem to follow a safe driving pattern. Thailand really is a third world country and with all the travelling I have done in my life I have never felt culture shock as I did the night I got off the plane in Bangkok. The moment I got to Bangkok all I wanted to do was escape it.

When Claudia landed in Bangkok the next day we did escape. Koh Sumui was our first trip to find the beach and the sun. We had to take a rather uncomfortable over night bus trip from Bangkok to Surat Thani where we caught a ferry to the Island of Koh Samui. On the ferry we were promised by this smooth talker a beach side hut at his resort and for a proce that Claudia could not resist. So of course we were going to stay at his resort. I believe this is the place we stayed at (though it has a new name).We went and we then got some story about how the hut we were going to get was already taken so we ended up staying the night in a hut that I believe was staff housing and sharing the shower and toilets with the staff. As the next day we were not put in the hut we wanted and the beach was just OK we decided to move islands.

Koh Phangan where we stayed in beautiful huts right on the beach and soaked up some sun and heaps of relaxation. We also ate so much good food. People would come up to our hut and sell us a fresh pinapple. Here is a photo of the first place we stayed on this Island:

The first hut in this photo was ours for 3 days. In Koh Phangan the people were extremely friendly and I am still a little bummed that I did not get a picture of the friendliest woman who ran one of the huts we stayed in. She always had a smile for us. Here is a photo of the huts she ran:

Claudia and I stayed in the hut on the far left (I think) Each day in Koh Phangan Claudia and I would take short hikes. Mostly looking for the water falls (which were dry due to the season) so instead we had good fun climbing around rocks which during the rainy season provided change of flow for the water.

Alas the time on the beach had to end so Claudia and I headed back to Bangkok. Were we spent a day of looking at Standing Buhdha, Sitting Buhda, Jade Budha and many more Budhas and Temples while we got a tour from a man in a Tuk Tuk. And my last day there we spent at the floating markets. Where we tried fresh coconut milk (YUCK) and ate more fruit. And I bought a number of spices. Then we returned to Bangkok I cought a flight back to Sydney and Claudia went to the River Kwai. It was fantastic to spend lots of quality time with Claudia and I was sad to leave her.

Then I went back home for a week and worked 12 hour days. Blech.

Next I was off to Vanuatu (a South Pacific Island that has been taken over by Australian Tourists) for a week with my friend Berni. We had cushy accomidations here: Le Meridien and spoiled ourselves rotten for a week. I felt like a millionaire. I really felt there were 2 big highlights while I was there. Cruises: We went on a sunset beer and wine cruise as well as a full day of sun and snorkel cruise. The owners of this boat were fantastic people and we really enjoyed our time with them. I also got my SCUBA certification. So now I do not have any excuse not to dive more often.

So as you can see I spoiled myself rotten for a month. It was well worht it and it brought my spirits up quite a bit, as I had been really getting down on myself over work-day blahs.

When I got home I was working long hours again and I had to search for that ever elusive perfect flatmate. And I think I found her. Here is a picture of the cute girl that she is:

Tania works at an accounting firm, listens to similer music to me, and the two of us just seem to be able to laugh easily together. So it would not be unusual to visit our house and see Craig, Tania and I just laughin in our living room for no apparent reason.

Girl Guides has been a consistant for the past few months. Nothing really exciting has been happening. The girls have really lost a lot of motivation so I have been trying to find actuicities for the meetings to get them more interested. I am still having fun, and so are the Guides.

Just because I am a sucker for attention I have to remind you of my birthday: 1 July. And for anyone who is inclined to send me snail mail my address is:

16 Don St
Newtown, NSW 2042
Australia

Well I think that has been a plenty long update so this is where I wrap it up with vocabulary:

Australian	American
Pash	Kiss Passionatly (Make-Out)
Trakky Dacks	Sweat Pants
Jumper	Pullover Sweater
Capsicum	Bell Pepper
Jelly	Jello
Mate	Buddy or Friend
Lollies	Candy
Nappy	Diaper
Rubbish	Trash
Icy Pole or Ice Block	Popsicle
Museli	Granola
Petrol	Gas

As always: please feel free to write me I eventually get back to everyones individual e-mails. And I love receiving them.

Take care,
Tia