This is my last day before I'm an official uni student. I can just feel my innocence slipping away from me. Uni is different from school, in subtle but important ways;
1. I don't have to go in on Fridays. At all!
2. There's a pub on campus
3. You are allowed to look nice when you get your ID photo taken. This means not having your hair pulled tightly back from your face, being allowed to cover any blemishes with makeup, being able to wear clothes in colours that suit you, not being told to say "jelly beans" by the photographer. (I don't know about the rest of you, but that request always meant I ended up having a withering stare on my student ID photo instead of a friendly, youthful grin.)
4. During Orientation Week we were given a bag of useful things to help us through university life. This included:
- a pamphlet entitled Alcohol and Your Studies
- condoms
- an invitation to the Naughty Back 2 Skool Inferno: Best naughty costume winner scores big!
- information on emergency contraception (this was entitled Oh $#*! "Because $#*! happens... EC is easy to get anytime from your chemist.")
- information on "What to do if you find used syringes" (The underlining was already there, I didn't add it in)
This poor Catholic school girl doesn't know what's hit her.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Answers
The Man at the Pub said...
"OK. Are women allowed to wear open-toed footwear in Oman?"
Yep. There aren't nearly as many restrictions in Oman as there are in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Oman's closest neighbours). There are some though, while I was there I had to cover legs, shoulders and all the bits in the middle. I would recommend loose clothing to any potential visitors (male and female) but it's not essential.
In the mosque you have to be all covered up (that means a veil for women) we saw a few people not allowed in because they were in 3 quarter pants.
Femikneesm said...
"So this is not an original question, but what were the best and worst things you saw/did?"
Hmm, I think the best thing was undoubtedly the Grand Mosque. The whole place is so incredibly intricate and well designed. It took my breath away. There aren't really any words that would do it justice, so here are a few piccies I took:
The worst is a bit trickier, I didn't care for the TV over there. But I think 90% of TV all over the world is crap anyway so that doesn't say much.
What was quite hard for me to see was the labour force. Oman imports many of its workers from overseas, especially poorer countries. They get paid more than they would
at home but their visas don't include family and I think many of them get quite homesick.
"OK. Are women allowed to wear open-toed footwear in Oman?"
Yep. There aren't nearly as many restrictions in Oman as there are in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Oman's closest neighbours). There are some though, while I was there I had to cover legs, shoulders and all the bits in the middle. I would recommend loose clothing to any potential visitors (male and female) but it's not essential.
In the mosque you have to be all covered up (that means a veil for women) we saw a few people not allowed in because they were in 3 quarter pants.
Femikneesm said...
"So this is not an original question, but what were the best and worst things you saw/did?"
Hmm, I think the best thing was undoubtedly the Grand Mosque. The whole place is so incredibly intricate and well designed. It took my breath away. There aren't really any words that would do it justice, so here are a few piccies I took:
The worst is a bit trickier, I didn't care for the TV over there. But I think 90% of TV all over the world is crap anyway so that doesn't say much.
What was quite hard for me to see was the labour force. Oman imports many of its workers from overseas, especially poorer countries. They get paid more than they would
at home but their visas don't include family and I think many of them get quite homesick.
Jet lag
I was so proud of myself, I thought I had tackled jet lag head on and won. But here I am at 2:30am and I'm writing a blog. Sigh. This feels familiar.
So, Oman. It really is an awesome place - I've never seen anything like it and I really wish I'd had myself painted while I was there (henna stuff basically) because I feel so different now and I want people to notice something different about me when I walk into a room. Maybe I'll just wear the really cool ring I bought myself all the time so people can say "Where did that come from?" and I can say "Oh, I bought it in a souq in Oman."
The amazing picture just up there, I'm sorry to say, is not one of mine but it does give you a good idea of the place and of how I felt wearing pants. I'll need time to sort through my 757 photos from the 3 week trip before I can post them. So don't worry, they'll be there sooner or later.
One of the best things about the people there: they share my attitude to footwear. i.e.: there should be as little of it as possible and it should not be worn unnecessarily. Just great, I think I've found my people. (I hate covered shoes in hot weather with a passion.)
The only tricky thing here is that I don't really know where to start in my recount. So I think the best thing to do is ask you guys. If you want to know anything about the place or what I did just ask and I'll answer. The nice things about my answers is that I tend to ramble and other stories end up being told in the middle. So we might just get a few good posts out this way.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Customer of the Day #6
This is my first one on Box Office and it is way too good not to share:
"Can I get two adult tickets for Slutty Dog Millionaire?"
Either you've misheard the title or this movie is going to be quite different from what you were expecting...
"Can I get two adult tickets for Slutty Dog Millionaire?"
Either you've misheard the title or this movie is going to be quite different from what you were expecting...
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Sundae Afternoon
I've just had an ice cream party. That's right folks - it seemed like the best thing to do since I wanted to see my friends before leaving the country* and we've had 40+ temperatures for the past few days and will continue to do so for some time into the future. (Adelaide's longest extreme heat wave since 1908).
So we all made our own sundaes. I supplied 3 different ice creams, sprinkles, choc sprinkles, blueberries, strawberries, Kit-Kats, choc wafers, vanilla wafers, whipped cream fizzy drinks (for making spiders) and I made two-layered jelly. I felt like such a good hostess - a real one too, from the '50s.
This party may not have fulfilled the same the checkpoints as Zosia's ( ) but, for a party sans-alcohol, I think these make it fairly impressive:
1. Someone who has just been promoted to manager of a fast food "restaurant" faked sick to be there.
2. Someone else poured whipped cream on their chest (then added wafers and blueberries which fell off)
3. We drank coconut milk from a coconut shell.
4. The dishwasher was completely filled from party dishes alone. (No one in this house has even had dinner yet).
5. You (the host) are given a giant jar of Vegemite as a going away present.
*What? Didn't I tell you? Well, I'm going to Oman for three weeks.
So we all made our own sundaes. I supplied 3 different ice creams, sprinkles, choc sprinkles, blueberries, strawberries, Kit-Kats, choc wafers, vanilla wafers, whipped cream fizzy drinks (for making spiders) and I made two-layered jelly. I felt like such a good hostess - a real one too, from the '50s.
This party may not have fulfilled the same the checkpoints as Zosia's ( ) but, for a party sans-alcohol, I think these make it fairly impressive:
1. Someone who has just been promoted to manager of a fast food "restaurant" faked sick to be there.
2. Someone else poured whipped cream on their chest (then added wafers and blueberries which fell off)
3. We drank coconut milk from a coconut shell.
4. The dishwasher was completely filled from party dishes alone. (No one in this house has even had dinner yet).
5. You (the host) are given a giant jar of Vegemite as a going away present.
*What? Didn't I tell you? Well, I'm going to Oman for three weeks.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Quick review
Since there's not a lot I can blog about in my own life at the moment (aside from my killer sunburn which isn't particularly interesting) I'm going to do a quick review of the movies playing at my place of work.
Bedtime Stories This is staring Adam Sandler so we're already off to a bad start. The fact it's rated G amazes me given all the oh-so-subtle references to things of a sexual nature. It does have a few things working in its favour though; we get to see Adam Sandler get hit by a fireball and there is a hamster with large, comical eyes... and, that's it.
Bride Wars Now this one I just know Femmy would love. Two best friends, both are each others' maids-of-honour, but their weddings are booked on the same day and a sneaky bitch fest ensues. I give the writers a bit of credit for at least coming up with a story line that hasn't been done to death, there are also a few decent one-liners but the whole thing feels a bit over the top. That said, if you just want some cheap laughs, nothing too sentimental or thought provoking then this one gets a gold star.
Madagascar 2 The penguins are awesome, they rock the suburbs as does King Julian (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) but too much of the movie's focus is on the lion, giraffe, hippo and zebra for my liking.
Marely and Me A rather sentimental film about a family dog. Some decent funny bits but Jennifer Aniston kind of annoys me outside of Friends. For me, this one falls between the basic two catagories of movies; 'Worth Seeing on an Intellectual Level' and 'Good For a Few Light Laughs' so I can't heartily recommend it.
Revolutionary Road Finally, something decent! Well acted, well directed, appropriate music and good costuming. This one seems to be lacking nothing, unless of course you are the woman who sat next to me in the cinema who laughed through her nose at the most inappropriate moments and exclaimed "What?!" as the credits started. I loved this one but maybe it's a bit too subtle for some.
Seven Pounds This is the movie the lady mentioned up there ^ should have seen. It pretends, rather convincingly, to be a movie 'Worth Seeing on an Intellectual Level' but things are spelled out enough so that no one gets left behind.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button I know people will disagree with me on this one but, to me, Benjamin Button is another try hard intellectual film and very long. (Clocks in at almost 3 hours) I don't understand everyone's great desire to see it, especially since most of them ask for a ticket to "The Curious Case of What's-his-name".
Yes Man Falls very nicely into the 'Good For a Few Light Laughs' category. The storyline is fun and Jim Carey makes me lol (possibly even rofl). This film is nothing deep and meaningful but that's OK because it doesn't need to be. It's like Liar Liar but with fewer squirm worthy sexual references.
We have one or two others showing that I can't really comment on because I haven't seen them yet; Slumdog Millionaire and Valkyrie both look like they'd be excellent and Bolt looks a bit silly but I assume there'd be some funny bits here and there. (Possibly Valkyrie looks appealing to me because Eddie Izzard is in it but that's no reason to turn it down) ;)
Bedtime Stories This is staring Adam Sandler so we're already off to a bad start. The fact it's rated G amazes me given all the oh-so-subtle references to things of a sexual nature. It does have a few things working in its favour though; we get to see Adam Sandler get hit by a fireball and there is a hamster with large, comical eyes... and, that's it.
Bride Wars Now this one I just know Femmy would love. Two best friends, both are each others' maids-of-honour, but their weddings are booked on the same day and a sneaky bitch fest ensues. I give the writers a bit of credit for at least coming up with a story line that hasn't been done to death, there are also a few decent one-liners but the whole thing feels a bit over the top. That said, if you just want some cheap laughs, nothing too sentimental or thought provoking then this one gets a gold star.
Madagascar 2 The penguins are awesome, they rock the suburbs as does King Julian (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) but too much of the movie's focus is on the lion, giraffe, hippo and zebra for my liking.
Marely and Me A rather sentimental film about a family dog. Some decent funny bits but Jennifer Aniston kind of annoys me outside of Friends. For me, this one falls between the basic two catagories of movies; 'Worth Seeing on an Intellectual Level' and 'Good For a Few Light Laughs' so I can't heartily recommend it.
Revolutionary Road Finally, something decent! Well acted, well directed, appropriate music and good costuming. This one seems to be lacking nothing, unless of course you are the woman who sat next to me in the cinema who laughed through her nose at the most inappropriate moments and exclaimed "What?!" as the credits started. I loved this one but maybe it's a bit too subtle for some.
Seven Pounds This is the movie the lady mentioned up there ^ should have seen. It pretends, rather convincingly, to be a movie 'Worth Seeing on an Intellectual Level' but things are spelled out enough so that no one gets left behind.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button I know people will disagree with me on this one but, to me, Benjamin Button is another try hard intellectual film and very long. (Clocks in at almost 3 hours) I don't understand everyone's great desire to see it, especially since most of them ask for a ticket to "The Curious Case of What's-his-name".
Yes Man Falls very nicely into the 'Good For a Few Light Laughs' category. The storyline is fun and Jim Carey makes me lol (possibly even rofl). This film is nothing deep and meaningful but that's OK because it doesn't need to be. It's like Liar Liar but with fewer squirm worthy sexual references.
We have one or two others showing that I can't really comment on because I haven't seen them yet; Slumdog Millionaire and Valkyrie both look like they'd be excellent and Bolt looks a bit silly but I assume there'd be some funny bits here and there. (Possibly Valkyrie looks appealing to me because Eddie Izzard is in it but that's no reason to turn it down) ;)
Monday, 12 January 2009
News
The latest piece of newstainment, is that I am back and being creative! Just look at this, folks, I now have a stylish new bag to go with any outfit and all for under 50 dollars!
I made the bag from an inside-out skirt I found in an op-shop.
...
Belt: 50 cents
Skirt: $1
Pockets: Free (from my mother's scrap bag)
Extra costs: 2 hours spent negotiating with the sewing machine
I made the bag from an inside-out skirt I found in an op-shop.
...
Belt: 50 cents
Skirt: $1
Pockets: Free (from my mother's scrap bag)
Extra costs: 2 hours spent negotiating with the sewing machine
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