Pub Crawls and Christmas Parties 12/07/2008

 

SORRRRYYYY to all my devoted readers who have been desperately waiting for an updated blog.  You see, I dropped my computer (yes I was sober) and the screen cracked so I had to get it repaired.  The repairs took a little longer than predicted and I had to get a bit rude with the computer people but it is back and working beautifully!  I am so happy to be writing to you on this day, December 8, 2008… our three month anniversary!  Can you believe it?  Since it has been so long, there is lots to catch you up on so enjoy this long awaited blog.

Work is moving along just great and I am not the newby any more so it is pretty cool to be helping other people.  I am giving hour long tours to small groups and absolutely loving it.  It is like an hour of the Lindsay show!  It is a competition for me to see how much I can make people laugh.  It is really challenging when my group doesn’t speak English and they have a translator that doesn’t translate everything I say.  When that happens it is awkward because I say a joke, wait for the translation, and then expect my group to burst into laughter so when there is dead silence I stand there smiling at the translator as if she has more to tell them and when she stares back at me I just shoot them an awkward smile and keep on rolling.

Some girls from work decided to hit up a night on the town so Liz and I went along.  It was the first time we went pub crawling (or bar hopping) since we have been here.  I did have to work the next day but Liz and I already agreed that I could take the car so I figured I could drink a bit.  We started at a place called The Queen that was packed with people.  By the time we met up with my friends from work, a few of them were definitely drunk.  Tracey, my English friend, was out of control and I knew I was right at home when she started talking to every human being that we passed on the streets.  We were taking shots at every bar we went to so it didn’t take me very long to catch up with everyone.  My crazy friend Bek decided she was going to relive her days of gymnastics and took off towards a park where she did a round off back flip for everyone.  When she returned she realized she had lost her phone so that took some time to find.  We moved on to the next bar and had more shots.  Things were getting crazy and our whole group was loud as can be.  We had an absolute blast!  After loosing Jessica and Gemma, who called it an early night because they also had work the next day, we decided to head further into the city for a new exciting crowd.

I found out that the reason Tracey and Bek were so drunk was because they hadn’t eaten all day so we stopped off at a Kebab shop so they could sober up a bit.  There were a bunch of young guys working at the Kebab shop so we had a field day picking on them.  They gave us complimentary Turkish delights which were AWFUL!  I spit mine out as soon as I bit into it.  I entertained everyone for a bit while I threatened the workers into letting me use their toilet.  They tried to tell me that they didn’t have one but I knew better so I walked behind the counter to find it.  It was hidden pretty well so I picked up some huge kitchen instrument and told them I could cause some serious damage if they didn’t show me where their toilet was.  I must have looked pretty intimidating because they handed me a set of keys and pointed me in the right direction.  It was all in good fun and once the kebabs were done we took off for an Irish pub.

Tracey’s friend Clint was a manager at the Irish pub so he continued to feed us shots all night.  The pub had a live band so we put on our boogie shoes and hit the dance floor.  It was such a fun night and before I knew it, it was after two am and I had to wake up for work in four hours.  Liz and I finally got home a little after three so if you can imagine the next morning was a little rough.  I woke up horse so when I got to work the next morning all my supervisors were laughing at me for being a pansy.  Luckily I wasn’t that hung over so work was as enjoyable as always. 

There was one day where Liz had to babysit for a family that lived near a beach and since it was my day off, I dropped her off and enjoyed the relaxing sounds of the waves.  I got to the beach at like eight am so I am sure you can imagine that I was the only one there.  There was the occasional old man who ran by in his speedo so I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up for the Aussie of my dreams that day.  It was really windy and I did have to chase my umbrella down the beach a couple of times before I finally figured out a way to keep it tied down.  I laid out for about two hours and then took a swim in the beautiful Indian Ocean.  It definitely wasn’t Baywatch style where I went dashing into the water because I swear the temperature was below freezing.  I don’t know how people were actually swimming.  I got in up to my stomach (you know, where it feels the coldest on your body?) and then I squirmed my way back to shore and decided I would call it a day.  It was pretty funny because as I was packing up, a group of school girls came down in their uniforms carrying surf boards.  Their instructor told them where to go and then they all took off their uniforms to reveal their swimsuits underneath and then hit the waves for some surfing.  I thought that was a pretty unusual field trip.

Thanksgiving came rolling around the corner and to celebrate Liz and I went to Spaghis, our favorite Italian restaurant.  Pretty festive right?  It was actually a really fun night and we enjoyed just getting to relax and chat because when I have work I am gone all day and exhausted when I get home so there really isn’t much talking to do.  Liz had a job interview at the drug and alcohol center the next day and it turned out to be a huge success because she got the job!  She starts today actually so I just sent her on her way, looking sharp and with her lunch packed, just like any good mother would do J

It was interesting because the day after Thanksgiving was the wildlife park Christmas party so my holidays are being rushed along.  The Christmas party was so much fun and it was at an awesome Chinese restaurant.  I caught the train into Midland where a few of the girls picked me up and then we stopped at the bottle shop for some booze.  We were already running pretty late because we were kind of lost but we figured the booze stop was pretty important.  As it turns out we couldn’t even bring our beer in because it was B.Y.O. sprits and wine.  We just snuck out to the car and finished what we could before dinner.  There were name tags at our tables so I took my seat next to some people who worked in the shop (that I had never met) and two of my favorite volunteers, Jenny and Barry.  They are a lovely couple who loves the wildlife park and are the absolute sweetest people I know.  We kicked off the night with great food and conversation followed by a few too many beers.  Jenny was acting pretty matronly and forcing me to eat more food because she said I hadn’t eaten enough.  I swear if I had let her she would have spoon fed me.  The night was coming to an end and everyone was giving me a hard time about how loud I was which just fueled the fire!    

The party didn’t end there because we all headed to Bek’s house for a little after party!  It was one of those nights where everyone is drunk and things are out of control (like bek’s clean underwear and bras strewn all over the place) and then when things quite down you all start talking about serious shit. One of those drunken heart to hearts… you know?  We had a really fun time and I didn’t do anything too stupid just revealed to them a few of my life secrets.  A few of us ended up sleeping at Bek’s  since no one could drive me to the train station and I had a good laugh the next morning when everyone headed to work and I got to stay back and sleep some more.  Apparently half the staff rolled in hung over that morning!  I figured since I had the next four days off by the time I got back to work everyone would be talking about something else and I won’t have to hear about any of the embarrassing things I did.  I could only wish to be so lucky.  They didn’t forget a damn thing so I was ragged on all day at work!

Aunt Donna returned home on Monday and Liz and I picked her up from the air port.  We gave her a big warm welcome and made sure the place was spotless and just how she had left it.  Since Aunt Donna is back it means that Liz and I are sharing a bed again which is not fun!  I got used to stretching out over the entire bed and plus it gets pretty hot in this room.  I feel bad for Liz because I wiggle (wriggle is how the Aussies say it.) so much when I am trying to fall asleep.  We will be looking for our own place soon because unfortunately all good things must come to an end!  It has been great having Aunt Donna around because she cooks some pretty good food!  For lunch yesterday, we went to Jane Brook, where Liz works, and had a wonderful day at the winery.  We invited our upstairs neighbor, Maureen, and enjoyed all of her life stories.  She is a hoot and we absolutely adore her company.  I had to take it easy on the wine because I had to babysit last night so luckily for them they had a designated driver.  It was a lovely afternoon!

Now I am laying in bed enjoying a quite morning in South Perth.  Life is wonderful and I count my lucky stars every night!  Christmas is going to be a tough one but we are going to have a house full with Uncle Joe’s daughter coming in with her husband and two kids so we should stay plenty entertained.  They are headed to Albany shortly after they get here so Liz and I will most likely be hanging out on Christmas day by our selves.  The wildlife park is open every day accept for Christmas so I will probably be working around that time.  At least we have each other to get through the holidays!  I expect lots of Skype calls around that time so if you haven’t downloaded Skype you better get busy!  It is so funny to see Christmas decorations around when it is hot outside.  We have even gotten into the Christmas spirit around the park because we wear these little reindeer antlers at our wombat show… we are pretty freaking cute!

I hope you enjoyed our adventures from the last few weeks.  Shoot me an email and let me know how you are doing!  I miss you all and really wish you would come and visit me!

 

 

*Funny story of the week:  Our way of communicating at the park is done over CB radios so I am getting used to using the lingo and speaking nice and slow over the radio so that everyone can understand me.  One day I was headed down the back to our staff area when this really cute guy stops me who was working on cementing an area of the park.  He asked me if I could radio my supervisor and ask him to bring the wheel barrow back and I told him that I would.  So I walked back to the staff area, apparently with a smile on my face because Bek and Liz were in the kitchen and had been watching me talk to this guy so they were giving me a hard time and asking me what I was smiling about.  I got back on task and radioed my supervisor and said “Chad its Lindsay, the cement guy wants his wheel barrow back”.  Liz and Bek crack up laughing and I am totally clueless as to what is going on.  Before I know it Chad comes back over the radio and asks me to repeat what I said because he didn’t really catch that.  The girls are still laughing at me and Bek asks me if I just said semen…yeah apparently I pronounce cement like semen.  I couldn’t even radio Chad back with out laughing so the next message over the radio was a bunch of laughter.  I told them that was how we pronounced cement in the states…like seament but they pronounce it sament.  I told Liz the story when I got home hoping for her support only to find out that I am the only goober that pronounces it like that!  I felt pretty stupid at that point since everyone with a radio that I was saying the semen guy wants his wheel barrow back!

 

 

 

 

G’day,

Lindsay Ezell

LC

Snook

Ez-E

 

 

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