Daily Archives: January 29, 2014

Assignment 3: Phar Lap

Phar Lap Assignment and his importance to Australia:IMG_0807

Taxidermy of Phar Lap’s Hide 

Phar Lap was a cheap, underrated, but very successful horse in the 1930’s with an outstanding track record of 37 wins out of 51 races. Phar Lap played a very important role during The Great Depression. Known as “the wonder horse”, Phar Lap lifted spirits due to his inspirational background going from an underdog to a champion and legend within no time. Australia needed a hero, and Phar Lap was a perfect model for Australia to look at to recover from such a terrible slump. He won the Melbourne Cup 3 times consecutively and this brought hope for the Australians. For his last race he traveled to the west coast of America and it is believed that he was poisoned, most likely by Americans, out of jealousy to end his winning streak. Phar Lap currently has an entire exhibit in the Melbourne Museum praising him for giving hope to the ones who struggled during this stressful time. Even though he lived a short life he left a huge impact on Australia.

“You Only Have One Bucket”

So lately I have been thinking about things I want to do before I die…aka my bucket list. In the first week of classes as a small assignment we had to make a list of the top three things you want to do before you die. It was so hard to think of the top three. I have thought about a lot more since those three, and I have actually accomplished a lot of things on my bucket list as well.  One of our professors, Dr. St. Pierre, said “You only have one bucket, you may as well make it big” So here is my HUGE bucket list, little and small things. If there is a line through it, that means it is finished!

 

  • Go to Australia 
  • Go to Australia again
  • Go to Africa and volunteer helping preserve wildlife
  • Hot Air Balloon Ride
  • Rock Climb
  • Rock climb again and not be a baby about it
  • Ski in Colorado (I did when I was little so it doesn’t count)
  • Read the Bible (Started this already for the New Year)
  • Adopt a Child
  • Be a veterinarian
  • Be a successful veterinarian
  • Go to Penn State
  • graduate from Penn State
  • Go to Vet School (UPenn)
  • Road trip the United States
  • Go to every country in the U.S.
  • Own a wallaby
  • Own a beach house
  • Hold a snake and not be afraid
  • Eat Kangaroo Meat
  • Learn how to Surf
  • White Water Rafting
  • Donate my hair 
  • Drive the Great Ocean Road 
  • Run a Marathon
  • Get married
  • Go to Italy
  • Go to Greece 
  • Go to Mexico
  • Go to Puerto Rico
  • Go to Canada before I turn 21 (being 7 years old doesn’t count)
  • Go to the Dominican Republic 
  • Go to Jamaica 
  • Go to Paris
  • Go to London
  • Scuba Dive
  • Snorkel 
  • Swim with Sharks
  • Swim with Dolphins 
  • pool hop
  • Go to Disney World
  • Be healthy until I die
  • Be fluent in another language
  • Be a maid of honor (almost there! My sisters wedding is in 2015)
  • Go to the Vatican 
  • Meet Beyonce
  • See Beyonce in Concert 
  • Go to a  Dave Matthews Band concert (getting tickets for this summer!)
  • Go on a mission trip
  • Ride an elephant
  • Zip Lining
  • Get a six pack (stomach of course)
  • climb a volcano
  • do more than one pull up
  • Throw a dart on a map and go to wherever it lands
  • make a garden 
  • sing in front of people
  • be in a musical

There are so many more but those are the many I can think of right now. I sincerely want to keep a list in my journal and keep crossing things off from now on. I wish I would have done this a long time ago because some things that I have done just don’t seem as important because I have done them already. Ever since I came to Australia I have been inspired to live my life fully and do things that will make me happy. I have dreamt my entire life of being a veterinarian but I also want to live my life to the fullest and accomplish great things so I am hoping to still be a vet but work around that (own my own practice and take off when I want to…haha I wish!). I look at my life before I came to Australia and wish that I would have done more. For example, the lazy weekends I have spent I wish I would have traveled somewhere. But now I have the determination to live.  “I will sleep when I’m dead” is what my sister always says. I always try to do that but I really value my sleep too, maybe I will listen to that now.

 

P.S. My sister called me shortly after I published this and thought it was funny. I asked why because I put a lot of thought into it and she said it’s funny that I have things crossed off, especially things like “go to jamaica, punta cana, etc”. Just to clarify they aren’t exactly places on my bucket list, but I have done those things already, and traveling to as many countries as possible is my goal so they count! 

Homesick

Lately I have been feeling homesick. Last week I got my first feeling of distance when we left The University of Melbourne. We did not have wifi for a few days and not being able to talk to anyone made me feel like I missed home. Traveling in general always puts me into a slump. Leaving places make me sad even when I am excited to go to another place, especially because I always feel like I forgot something. I didn’t forget anything though for this trip, thank goodness.

Today has been the worst of it though. These past few weeks have been so amazing and fun, but they also seem to be taking a while. I am counting down the days til I go home, see my puppies, family, friends, and boyfriend. I am most excited for Valentine’s Day and the surprises my boyfriend Ryan has planned (if there are any at all…).

Don’t get me wrong, I love it here in Australia and I want to move here for some time or at least come back. I even have thought about job opportunities here with animals but I will get to that in another blog post!

I thought 5 weeks would be perfect, and it is, but the work and traveling is pretty tough. We had an exam last week for 3 hours on 3 topics. We have a presentation this Thursday, which I am working on right now and it is getting hard, and an exam next week. Not to mention all of our blog posts we have to do everyday and assignments.

I think these next few days will go by quickly, and then we will be at our homestays in Wagga Wagga which should help me with homesickness, especially because they have a dog! After Wagga  Wagga we will be in Sydney for our last week, which I am extremely excited for and hoping for some surfing lessons too!

A few of us have even put a list of things we miss about America:

  • Ice cold water
  • good cereal
  • sauces (honey, mayo, etc)
  • trash cans
  • no bugs
  • wifi/phone
  • large cups at restaurants for water
  • homemade cooking
  • tv
  • beautiful sounding birds (the birds here are SO ANNOYING and loud but so gorgeous)
  • green grass
  • rivers
  • some people miss ketchup but not me
  • scrambled eggs
  • salad dressing
  • cheaper prices
  • home, friends, family, animals, etc.
  • comfortable beds without bugs
  • orange juice, teas, etc.
  • deserts with sugar in them
  • smaller spiders
  • normal tampons
  • good toilet paper
  • water i trust
  • keurig coffee (the instant coffee here sucks)
  • American money
  • AMERICA.

Overall, I am not trying to say I hate it here or I want to go home now, but I am missing a few things about America and especially some people. I even missed my boyfriends birthday and forgot to say Happy Birthday because of our time difference….ooops! I am loving it here, but all I can say is I LOVE AMERICA.