Day 101 Weds

We got our southern blots back today...and another laugh from our demonstrator Justin, of course. We had all the right bands and in all the right places, they were just a little faint. Still, it was nice being back in the lab after the break. It was blazing hot again today and you could see the sun reflecting off Brisbane Wheel and the river out of the lab’s window.
Apparently Tom came back from uni and Brad, being too polite for his own good, asked him how his project went. Tom said he needed to practise his English as it didn’t go well. Brad replied saying ‘well then, Tom, I think the thing to do would be to talk to us some more.’ Brad, you’re brilliant! Tom, however, said his catchphrase ‘I know’ before promptly returning to his room and ignoring us for the rest of the day.

Day 102 Thurs

The parasitology practical today was stressful! What seemed like thousands of slides, showing all manner of disgusting creatures, which had to be drawn and labelled. First though, to master the light microscope – oh, how I have not missed you! You find it on x4, x10 and then, even though you don’t move it one millimetre, it does not want to appear under a higher magnification! When you finally manage to relocate it, it seems to have grown extra legs just to make drawing it impossible! Good news however about the bacteriology progress exam – apparently, my colourful floor to ceiling display of PIMs and shigellosis factfiles seeped into my brain, as I got 90%. So happy... now just to get the lab exam result back :S

Dinner was really nice, with Zac coming over. Darcy and him were cackling away causing Rosemaree to say Zac was as ‘mad as a cut snake’. I offered up the English equivalent ‘mad as a hatter’ but they weren’t impressed with that ‘pansy saying’ lol... I can understand their view though: snakes, when cut, thrash around madly; I never did understand why a hatter (what is a hatter) was mad, except in Alice in Wonderland :P
Brad has also got himself a job!! Just a ‘humble courier’ job, according to him, but you could tell how proud he was to be the breadwinner again! Rosemaree said she better watch out though, as apparently there is ‘a fabulous antiques shop with just a great collection of silver’ just down the road from the courier centre. She sais he’d be calling his boss to take his credit card and I could imagine her doing it lol. He’s also got a cute little uniform, which looks ‘like an old schoolkid’s uniform with short shorts and a hat and everything’ according to Darcy. Short shorts?! Me and Rachel are going to be on the look out tomorrow when he comes back! Rosemaree even made him a little packed lunch to take with him tomorrow on his first full day on the job  I can hear her in the kitchen, warning Brad not to take Tom’s sandwiches by mistake, even though Tom’s has a T drawn on the glad wrap (cling film) and Brad’s has a B on... Rosemaree’s still not sure that Brad won’t deprive their annoying homestay student of his lunch, so says that she will put Tom’s lunch in a bright red lunchbox with a T drawn on it. LOL :D

Day 103 Friday

Last night was SO HOT! There was thunder and lightening and the rain would have championed a winter day in Lancaster! Woke up to find the wind had opened by bedroom door - despite being locked – so Darcy and Brad had spent the last 45minutes tiptoeing around outside my door, staring at me star-shaped and spread eagled on top of the duvet. OMG how embarrassing! Just thankful I wasn’t wearing my little short pyjamas or that is got so hot that i'd stripped!

After my sleeping show ( I really hope I didn’t talk or anything!), it was a pretty hectic morning with us all rushing for showers and breakfast at the same time. The dishwasher was full, so Darcy had to explain to Tom that he had to wash up... well, that was painful to listen to. This morning’s practical was amphibian identification and dissection. I cut it open, following the instructions to cut down along each of the limbs from the centre line... to find that ITS HEART WAS STILL BEATING! Ian, the lecturer didn’t seem concerned, expliaining that the cane toad had been pithed that morning (had its brain bashed in) but the heart continues to beat for a few hours... ‘but to make sure, give its leg a tap’ EUGH! So after wading through its abdomen, filled with eggs, and having only identified one organ (the great big pulsing three-chambered heart!), I go onto to the larval morphology. Kind of like sperm, according to Rachel ;D It was really cool with it furry mouth parts and little limb buds. I’d also worn a green t-shirt onto campus today – nothing special about that. Except that two parties have been battling it out for student union election all week long (I have about 7 fliers from each party, all identical, to prove it) and of course, on team’s colour is exactly the same shade of green. So half the student body are approaching me with high-fives; the other half ignoring me or actually glaring at me. Slightly embarrassing lol but at least I avoided adding to my leaflet pile. I’m actually supporting the blue party ‘EPIC’... now I know student unions are all about representation, welfare and facilities but they’re promising a toga party at The Riverstage; I’m sold :D

This evening was funny with a good gossip in the kitchen with Rosemaree... about Tom, of course. How he came in dripping his umbrella all over the house before asking where he should put it. He then wanted to use the tea towel to dry the floor, when Rosemaree just glared. We were trying to picture what must go on in his house back in China and concluded that he must be a real mummy’s boy... which led to Rosemaree pretending to be his mum and treating Rachel as Tom.... taking his plate from him, mopping up after him, dressing him in his pyjamas ready for tea(!) and even washing him (that got Rachel blushing quite a bit... :P) How Rosemaree has lasted 17 years of homestay, with students like that, I have no idea. She even admitted that when we’re not there, she just stands in the kitchen like oh my god! How are we going to tell them we’re moving out next semester???!

Went to bed tonight with the door locked, a washing basket and a microbiology textbook holding it shut!

Day 104 Sat

After melting all week in my lab coat and covered shoes, today was another failed beach trip due to the weather. So much rain fell yesterday that they actually have to open Wyvenhoe dam... this time last year, it was at 15%, now it’s overflowing and flooding the suburbs. The poor guy on the news is getting blown over on the gold coast with stories of ruined weddings, dangerous surfing, landslides up in Noosa and kids seeing water for the first time – they joked, not so funnily for some, that the kids aren’t allowed to play in hosepipes or sprinklers but they can enjoy a water fight as their street floods :/ Rosemaree and Brad are convinced that we bought the bad weather over with us, once again not being able to go to the markets tomorrow.

So this morning, we catch a lift into the city with Brad; he showed us all the backstreets and a way to get across queen street to the train station without getting at all wet, even driving up onto Queen Street Mall to drop us off under shelter – the mall is a pedestrian area! He asked about our planning progress for travelling, actually ordering us to ‘let them know, if there is an emergency’ there was no debating and no matter what we said about how military-organised it was going to be, he was adamant. Awwww! After splashing out some coloured biros from crazy clarke’s discount store (in an attempt to make revising evidence of atrocies i.e. massacres slightly less depressing), we decide to treat ourselves at boost bar. The first crush drink is mango so that’s immediately out (after some very embrassing past allergic reactions) so I select the tropical option, being really wild and opting for a large. It’s only one I’ve collected the drink and Rachel asks what fruit is in it, that I actually read the ingredient list. Expecting to see lemon, pineapple or orange, I want to cry when I see MANGO and Banana. What a prat. At the bus stop, Rachel’s sipping away on a pasionfruit and mango smoothie and mine is being chucked, completely full, all $6 of it, into the bin, making a huge clunking sound. We arrive at Kelvin Grove to see the markets are still there, so I treat myself instead to a fruit scone and stock up on some fruit to settle down with up at the computer lab.

On the agenda today? Listening the calling sounds of 22 species of frog and toad. Then listening to a 30 second recording from Barakula State forest and trying to identify which frogs are on that clip. Now, consider that only my left earplug works and that about 7 of the frogs are all described to make ‘a low, long clicking sound’, you can maybe imagine how difficult and frustrating this was! I was just replaying the last low, long clicking sound from Barakula, when I get a call from my mum. It’s in the middle of the night back home so I now it’s bad news; my granddad has died. To hear my mum upset was horrible but it’s definitely better he’s no longer suffering; he can now be remembered as the feisty granddad, mocking grandma by asking for a jack daniels instead of a cuppa tea, coming out with all sorts of random sayings and worrying himself constantly about everyone and anything :D Still, I wish I could go home just to give the tough love that I’m so famous for; to get everyone to stop moping and start smiling at the memories... and mainly to be at the funeral, pretending to know the hymns, listening to family dramas and tensions and pointing out awful hats to my mum. Instead though, I’m just going to continue having a great time here in Australia, as granddad Alec wanted me to.... and yes, Alec, I’ll be careful ;)