It's Thanksgiving break at Walla Walla University... but not for me. My epic struggle to catch up on homework started yesterday. My goal is to squeeze 80 hours of studying into this week and I'm starting a little slowly. So far, 7 hours Sunday and 3 hours today, but the night is young and I remain hopeful.

I've stopped measuring my reading pile in pages and started measuring in feet.

I kept waiting to post a real blog update until I felt healthy but since I've been sick with a flue and a cold for nearly 3 weeks, I'll just put something up. I'm half way through the school quarter and I've never been quite this far behind.

I'm not sure, now, what possessed me to squeeze a history degree into my education. After math and engineering where the assignments are clear, and a solution can be reached in a finite amount of time, history homework is quite daunting. There are no right and wrong answers - only better and worse answers.

I was talking to a friend several weeks ago and we noticed that humanities and history classes have a somewhat hostile environment. As a student, you are graded on your contribution to the class. The less progress and understanding the other students have, the better you look in the teacher's eyes. This, we concluded, makes for a stressful environment.

Engineering classes on the other hand, have a great deal of camaraderie. The grading is far less subjective and students are more than willing to help other classmates understand, learn, and excel.

The engineering environment seems to be a friendly group working towards a goal while the history environment is a cutthroat competition to convince (or trick) the teacher of your understanding and to rise above your classmates.

Time to get competitive I suppose - I have a big history test tomorrow morning...

I've been researching in Sydney for about a week now. I'm staying with great friends in the suburbs of Sydney. A typical day involves catching a train to Central in the morning for 45 min. and then walking up Elizabeth St. to Mitchell Library (not far from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge).
Today has been fairly productive. I spent much of the afternoon perusing the Sydney Morning Herald microfilm and found a few interesting bits. The NSW Government Gazette volumes have also proved handy. The material is a little dry, but it makes me feel like a true historian/researcher.On a wider interest level, I found an amazing Indian restaurant on Elizabeth St. yesterday. Something like Jaipar? They have outstanding giant samosas. I'm very hungry and will be heading that way soon...

Note: I'm too shy (or lazy?) to photo my food and the library, so the pictures above are courtesy of google searching...

Just a quick note to say that I'm in Australia and loving it already! I'm off to the play "Men at Arms" tonight and very excited because many of my friends are either attending or in the play.

My luggage, clothes, etc are currently locked in a parking garage thought an unfortunate series of events, but on the upside I am just about Chris's size and he was kind enough to loan some clothes.

The infamous history 'research' begins on Monday. It's a lovely vague word, 'research'...

Well, time has passed quickly and I'm on my way to Australia this Wednesday afternoon!

The following note on my ticket itinerary is slightly depressing: This flight arrives two days later.

I have rarely been less organized for a trip, but since it's my second (or third) home, that doesn't stress me out. I'll be online fairly often throughout my stay and really only have three goals:
- get substantial research done for my senior history paper
- spend time with friends I haven't seen in too long
- obtain more Marmite, Bix, and Tim Tams.

I came across this great title in a small bookstore in Leavenworth this weekend! It's a humorous (and yet reasonably accurate) depiction of what women find attractive... Here's just an idea of what's inside:

Pictures of Leavenworth coming up soon!

I've been living on spaghetti, bread, bagels, and chips for too long. Must have had a vitamin deficiency or something because I was craving salad (one of the lesser foods in my books). Thus, I ended up desperate for vegies, biked to the store, and made this monster haystack for lunch.

I feel much healthier now.

Huzzah, got Rockbox working on my Sansa Fuze yesterday! It's pretty fantastic (running it with the theme shown above), and on top of that I just noticed Shnoop has the same exact one I got (a 2gb refurbished Fuze) for $28.

If you are in the market for a new mp3 player on a low budget, this might be a good choice...

This summer, my research partner delved into tea. We've been brewing several cups a day for the last month and I've really taken a liking to it. I'm planning on doing a bit of research into the the health consequences of tea, but a surface check seems to show that both black and green teas are good.

I also believe tea sets a good environment for talking, which I thoroughly enjoy. I'm hoping to visit a bulk goods store in Moscow (across the border in Oregon) and pick up a variety of new teas to try.

I was wandering through Pullman today on my bike, doing some shopping, when I happened to pass this house. It just struck me as being amazing! It reminds me of Charleston or Savannah - something very East coast and old...

The research paper I'm working on is supposed to be done tomorrow and then Michelle is coming to visit Saturday! Can't wait for the weekend!