EuroTrip - Not the Movie.

QUICK COMMENT - re last post. I don't particularly want to get engaged, it was just the ease with which it was accepted by their friends and family I envy. The option is what I envy.... oh and the proposal method I have my 90% happy / 10% jealous hat on :) 


Hi everyone


Erin Rae Mac commented on my last post asking where I was going in Europe and I realised I haven't annoyed you all with excess Europe comments for a while! 


I shall give you my itinerary.


12th June 2011 - Depart Perth to London with Air Asia. We got ridiculously cheap tickets - $775 each return inc taxes :) 
12 - 17 June - staying in London with my cousin. We have a whole list of things we want to do in London - mainly the touristy things. I figure, you've got to do the tourist thing at least once right? Then the next time we go, we can do aim for the 'off the beaten path' stuff. 
17 June - Catching the Eurostar to Brussels and then a Eurail train to Cologne. 
17 - 18 June - Staying at The Express by Holiday Inn. We are catching up with some of my German friends/
18 June - Catching the train from Cologne to Frankfurt
18 - 21 June - Staying at Best Western Domicil
21 June - Catching the night train via Switzerland to Rome
22 - 26 June - Staying at the Milo Hotel in Rome
26 June - Catching the night train to Paris
27 June - 1 July - Staying at Relais De Paris Lafayette - its our 3 year anniversary on the 30th - how lovely to spend that in the most romantic city in the world
1 July - Catching Eurostar to London
1 - 5 July - Staying at Royal National. 


Notes - I have a booked a High Tea at the Swissotel The Howard. I will also be booking tickets to The Lion King stage show while in London :) 


If anyone has ideas for our itinerary please let me know! And no, don't say 'oh you should go to Spain/Munich/Scotland/etc while your there.' I have the places I'm going and they aren't changing. 


Speak soon
Ashleigh 

2010 - The Year That Was

Ok so you all know how I like to be a band-wagon-jumper right? Not all the time, just sometimes. Well as I didn't jump on the proverbial write-a-blog-about-Christmas-and-its-general-stresses-and-joys bandwagon I will leap forth onto the shit-its-the-last-day-of-the-year-and-i-haven't-written-a-post-for-a-while-yet-don't-have-a-lot-to-say-probably-coz-i'm-not-at-uni-right-now-thank-god-for-holidays-i'm-such-a-slacker-uni-student-with-my-5-months-a-year-off-anyway-how-was-2010-for-you bandwagon. 

Uni Students: Working Hard, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 2 weeks a year 

(those two weeks being the one right before each set of exams when you realise you slept through most of your lectures, and even though it was a good reason at the time, just coz your lecture is on the other side of campus, in the smelly Vet building, at the hideously early hour of 9.30am, you still should have gone). 

What did I love about 2010?


- the day I found out I got an internship - god that felt good!
- booking my flights to London. Oh you didn't know I'm going to London? I'M GOING TO LONDON BABY!!!!!!!! 
- heading to Bali..... twice
- getting an high distinction on a written assignment. Oh did I not mention that? It happened twice. Boo yah!
- finishing my acne medication - pretty skin for me :)
- having a personal trainer
- my new pink laptop
- The Boyfriends sister getting engaged - and asking me to be a bridesmaid!! And then asking me to do a reading during the ceremony - apparently I'm the only one who won't 'fall apart'. 
- passing all my assignments, exams and units :)
- finding out my friend is coming back to Australia!! I will have to think of a pseudonym for her - she is one of those people stories happen to 
- turning 20 - leaving behind my teen years. And as my dad always says, every day is a new personal best - you've never been alive for this many days before!
- suggesting the wedding dress to The Boyfriends sister, which she subsequently fell in love with and cried over :) ***best bridesmaid ever***
- my school friend Dani having a beautiful baby girl - Charlotte
- Volunteer as a FYERST helper 
- A female Prime Minister!!
- playing social basketball
- seeing my first 2 strippers ;)
- starting a Certificate IV
- deciding that when I get married, I'm doing it at the zoo :)
- My blog and my lovely blog followers - all 4 of you :D






What I didn't like about 2010
- Flying Monkey getting drunk, falling off a wall, and injuring himself very badly. 3 months in hospital or something ridiculous like that?
- The Boyfriend and I nearly breaking up a couple of times - although I think it has made us stronger
- Not being able to leave the Village!!!!!
- My constant inability to deal with the heat :)








2011?
I have no idea what it will hold. Hopefully I will get skinny. Hopefully I will leave the Village. Hopefully I will be a bit more social. Hopefully I will get a graduate job. Hopefully................ well, hopefully lots of things. 






These things are certain. 


I start a summer unit on 4th January - Human Resource Economics. I am applying for a second job as I am soo poor right now. I am going to Europe. Uni will begin 'full time' mid February. I will find out one way or another about my graduate position mid February. 


Let me know how you are feeling about my blog. Do you like it, is it smeh, is it so awful it burns your eyes whenever you open the page? Would you like more uni stuff, would you like more personal stuff, would you like to hear me rant, would you just like to shut me up? 


Until next time (hopefully the not too distant future)






Ashleigh x 

What I am Grateful for Today

I'm in such a good mood right now, I thought I should let you all know why: 


1. The happy fact that by this time tomorrow, my exams will be over for another semester - which leaves only 3 lots until I finish my degree!



2. Despite the fact my statistics exam did not go as well as I had hoped (I'm thinking I'll probably get a credit), the assignment I got back straight after more than made up for it - it was for the same class, a research proposal on gender difference in starting salary negotiation. I had worked really hard on it, and its a topic I'm quite passionate about (gender inequalities in the workplace that is) and so I am pleased to announce that the final assignment I received back for the semester earned a High Distinction :). This means that as long as I pass the exam (which I'm fairly certain I have) I will get at least a Distinction for my final grade. 



3. The fact that since having a personal trainer I have become more fit - and the trainer has to continually update my workouts. Plus he says I am his star student and my technique is perfect. I'm not trying to brag or anything. Oh what the hell, you don't know me - I am awesome ;) 
NB: Pictures is actually not of me - I'm far sexier, what with my pasty skin and little pockets of fat and forgetting to shave (no, not really - ok sometimes) - seriously, it doesn't get much hotter than that. 



4. The wonderful cup of coffee sitting in front of me powering me through the final day of studying.



5. My Shin-Bio heat packs - if you haven't got these, go get some! They are amazing. And yes I know you could just use a wheat pack or a hot water bottle, but I can use these anywhere, and they will be instantly hot. The neck one fits around my shoulders perfectly and does wonders for a sore neck, the back one has a band to put in and the little one, well thats just fun - and awesome on the train to work on a winters morning. Last night I was feeling achy (sorry boys, little girly moment coming up) with a sore neck and back from study and some pretty intense period cramps so I had all three going at once! Incredible. 



6. The fact that I am confident about my exam tomorrow - I understand the unit. 


7. The village was quiet enough last night for me to have my windows wide open and still get a good nights sleep.



8. New high score on Tetris! Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be studying for exams, but come on? I've been studying for 3 weeks and I'm about ready to snap. You read my last blog post - it was not pretty. So Level 12 baby!! 



9. This Chicken and Spinach Lasagne I am planning on making tonight! Celebrating my last night as a 2nd year uni student - and I have this unexplainable craving for chicken and spinach :)





Have a wonderful day! 


Ash xo 

Why I Hate Student Accommodation

Hi everyone

Sorry about the big gap between posts but I have been doing exams and study and everything is just getting away from me a little at the moment.

So given that I am in this horrible state of increased tension, I thought it appropriate to give you the reasons why I hate student accommodation. 

I have lived in SA for 2 years now and plan on being here for another year at least, possibly 18 months (when my degree ends). I can see the good points, really I can. Its great living so close to university, in the same community as your friends, meeting so many different people etc. 

The bad points:

- It is as noisy as all hell. I am particularly gripey about this as it is currently the exam period. During exams and the week preceding, the Village has a 'strict no noise' policy. This includes gatherings after 9.00pm, loud tv/music etc and all that jazz. Is the policy ever followed? Apparently not. It is currently 9.37pm and there is a 'gathering/party' outside my window that is so loud I may as well be there. Last night I actually called the night manager to get him to shut a whole bunch of Americans up. They were having a party and someone was watching Harry Potter so loud I could follow the story from my bed. I am on the 4th floor. The sound carries like you would not believe. I don't want to complain about them too often because I feel like a whinger. 

- It is hot. I realise this is more of an Australia-thing rather than a Village-thing but the Village has one key aspect lacking - air con. I have a ceiling fan, which does little to alleviate the stifling heat. And I like to cool my room down at night by sleeping with the blind and window open, but alas, this is impossible as it is so fucking loud (see point 1). There is literally no escape. 

- I do not have an oven. You would be surprised how much you miss ovens when you don't have them. I used to make great food in ovens. Now I'm restricted to microwave and stove cooking. It gets old. 

- Crap flatmates. I actually don't have any bad flatmates at the moment thank god. But I have had some shockers in the past. An Arab whose core belief system included the fact that women were substandard versions of men. Yeah that went down like a lead balloon with me, as I am a firm believer in the fact 'Anything you can do, I can do better'. Also an Australian who we think was a World of Warcraft addict. Not quite sure as we very rarely saw him but still. Crazy. And you can't get rid of these flatmates if they turn out to be shit, you are stuck with them for at least a semester, maybe a year. 

- Living with other people. This has some serious perks. Having a ready made friendship group is cool as well as having someone to walk to uni with etc. But to be honest, if you count boarding school, I have been living in shared accommodation for 5 years now. I just want my own place. Where, should I so desire, I could walk to the bathroom naked. 

- Lack of space. It is so frustrating having only a shelf of the refrigerator. And one cupboard. And having to fight for room in the freezer. I'm the kind of person that would prefer to freeze a whole bunch of meals and have them ready when I need them - I'm a lazy kind of person. Can't do that here.  

- Having electronics in the bedroom. This is more of a personal thing - I don't think you should have electronics in the bedroom. I certainly never use them in bed. Bed is for sleeping and sex. Nothing else. Bedrooms should be peaceful places where said sleeping and sex takes places. Not 400 hours of assignments and countless browsing hours. Very hard to switch off from an assignment when it is sitting on your desk less than a metre away from you. 

- Paying for laundry. $6 it costs me to wash and dry a minuscule load of laundry. I don't have a washing line I feel comfortable using, as it means leaving everything out for everyone to see and steal so a dryer it is. Usually I try and do my laundry at the boyfriends house, but thats a 20 minutes drive. 

- Its very light. See point 2. I like to sleep with the blind open so the air can get in, but that lets in floods of light from the security lights. I have a little eye mask, but it is still frustrating. I feel the best sleeping conditions are cool, dark and quiet - I get none of that. 

Anyway, student accommodation is great for a while, but I am OVER IT. I can fully understand why people only stay a year. I have definitely overstayed but I am on such a sweet deal rent-wise, I can't afford to give it up (i.e. Dad pays hideous amounts for my rent then his company reimburses like 80% of that). Yes it is hideously expensive to live here too - despite all the wonderful things they tell you. My flat next year will be a whopping $175 a week inc utilities ex Internet. Thats a 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat. And each flatmate pays $175. Thats a total of $875 a week. Ridiculous. I could have a house in Applecross for that kind of money. 

Sorry for complaining, but its just been one of those days/weeks/months. Ready for exams to be finished. 

Ash xo