LeliaThomas.Com

What I’ve Been Doing

I can’t very well say “a new year, a new leaf,” since it’s a little late for that (though I secretly keep waiting to use that, just because it’s a delicious cliché), but a lot has changed since I last posted here properly–as in wrote about something that you would actually care about. Unbelievably, I still haven’t committed any major crimes against the locals (look, Ma, no jail time!), and the Australian authorities will give me clearance into the country again in the future. On that note, let’s start with the trip to Ozland that I took back in January.

My plane “experience” is best left summarized into the following list of facts and statements:

• Despite the fact that it’s called a gospel music award ceremony, the people who are associated with this ceremony, who also happen to be flying with you to L.A., don’t necessarily have anything to do with the gospel or Jesus Christ. In fact, you’ll likely see more Blackberries and Nokias than you will a New Testament.
• Leaving somewhere at 5pm for a four hour flight, only to arrive at your destination at 7pm, is troubling to the human mind.
• Knowing that you’re about to take a fourteen-hour flight in a middle seat is even more disturbing.
• Knowing that you’ll be spending it beside a greasy-haired boy who coughs a lot makes it worse.
• Finding out that you have a broken seat that can only be fixed by a steward with a specific screwdriver: Priceless.
• Getting to customs, having the veiled Muslim lady and her husband go straight through without any question, while you’re given the third degree: even more priceless!

And don’t we all love the satanic mechanisms known as time zones? I left Nashville at 5pm on the 22nd of January, only to arrive in Melbourne on the morning of the 24th. Oddly enough, however, I find I work better on the southern hemisphere’s schedule! Once again, I prove to be the backward one. (Backward, not brokeback. < --Can't get enough of the brokeback jokes.)

My trip was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with friends and see a lot of beautiful places and do things that I normally would be too afraid to do. I've uploaded just a few of the many photos I took while there. Here they are:

I got back home from Melbourne on the 13th of February, and life has been busy and stressful ever since. Seven days after my return, I started feeling terribly sick, which is an odd thing for my Schwarzenegger immune system. Instead of getting better, though, I slowly got worse. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t felt that uncomfortable about being sick in quite some time. When you’ve made international flights and been in airports where seemingly every culture of the world is roaming about, the last thing you want is to get sick and not be sure where you caught the bug or, more importantly, who you caught it from.

So I spent my 19th birthday with the measles, looking like a connect-the-dots child’s game and feeling just as bland. (By the way, did you know there are over 400 strains of the measles? The vaccine only contains three strains.)

Once I was finally past the whole “I might give this to someone else so I shouldn’t leave the house even though it’s driving me insane not to” stage–which comes out to be two and a half weeks, precisely–I sent off my transcript and ACT information as well as a portfolio to a university in Melbourne. See? I have been busy.

I’ve since been accepted, and the plane tickets are booked. I’ll be planted in “the land down under” by the 22nd of June. Then I have only a short time–okay, one or two weeks–to get an apartment and get myself settled before my course begins on July 17th. Saving time and getting a lot done in the time I do have is paramount right now. Though, I’ve not gone as far as the Asian casino-addicts who will piss in Depends undergarments to avoid the inconvenience of using a toilet. I’m just not that desperate. Yet.

The “fun” thing about all this Getting Ready Crap is that I have to Go Through My Shit^TM. You accumulate a lot of said shit in nine years, I’ve learned. Like Writer’s Digest magazines from the last three years or photography, all the way from 2004, that needs to be backed up or girly, flowered stickers for your nails that you got when you were eleven years old.

In the past I’ve said that life is ever changing, and that’s very true. No one could have told me that I would be headed in the direction that I am. No one could have prepared me for all of the good or tragically bad along the way. It’s been an adventure, and it’s not ending any time soon.

What adventures are you taking?

Comments ordered from oldest to newest.

kav p

I’m planning to adventure into deepest, darkest Toilet and find out what REALLY lives down there.

gwen

what will you be studying in melbourne then? is the visa-issue a hassle or quite straightforward?

Kelly

What did you get on your ACT if I may ask? I never really thought to ask.

Lelia

@Kelly:
I got a 24. Can’t say I’m thrilled about that, but I got 30+ scores in English and reading, which were the two I was interested in most. Totally bombed at the math (my breakdown shows that I’m crap beyond the basics LOL), and science was hard for everyone on that particular testing. You know how it is; they’ve always got to make one subject specifically hard, usually math or science.

Lelia

@Gwen:
I’ll be studying Multimedia (Media), which encompasses some design, audio/video stuff and writing. *laughs* A lot of the stuff I’ve been doing forever without a degree.

I’ve found that getting a visa for Australia isn’t completely straightforward. I think that’s probably because not everyone thinks about going to Australia; most people think Europe or Canada. My most valuable resources have been my friends from there and online groups of Americans who have moved to Australia.

The Australian immigration site is pretty organized and provides a lot of information, but almost everything you do in one step depends upon another.

For instance, I’m getting a student visa. I may have to have a medical exam as part of extended migration, but the government will decide on that after I’ve sent in my application; can’t send that more than 12 weeks before my course starts. Can’t send in my application until I have a Confirmation of Enrolment for the university I’ll be attending. Can’t get the CoE until I accept my offer and pay my first semester of tuition.

As you can see, it gets a bit tangled!

Kelly

LELIA! I figured you to be at least a 28er. 25 for me. 30 on English and 32 on Reading. My math and science were CRAP. Yes, that science test was just plain….I was going WTF a lot. Especially since I only took General Science my FRESHMEN YEAR. The math…I had only taken Basic Math and Algebra 1 at the time of the testing. I loathe math. I enjoy some science, but the crap on the test was just not important. To me anyway.

Hey, be thrilled about your 24, that’s above average, as we all know you are, and many people I know would have killed for a 24.

Haha I just remembered. All of my friends knew I wasn’t dumb, but never thought I was particularly smart. When I outscored them all they were shocked and most were proud. One girl I outscored threw a hissy fit saying that I just test well and that my score was bull, there’s no way I was more intelligent than her, blah blah blah. I saw her mom in Wal-Mart a few days later and she stopped me and said, “Well hey, it’s the genius! Smarter than all of your friends aren’t ya!?” She was very patronizing…so I said “Yes.” and ignored her. I’m probably more intelligent than her as well, and obviously much more mature. *sigh* The drama one little number can cause.

Rita Bauer

Hello Lelia!
Wow, I enjoyed your journal and the photos are incredible!! Thanks so much for taking the time to put that together and send it on to us here at the lowly and boring Tullahoma News.
Things are pretty much the same here. For sure, you have moved on to bigger, better and more exciting things as well you deserved to. Have a blast.
Sorry to hear you got the measles..what a drag. I think I had them when I was real little, that and the chicken pox and pink eye in the same year. (second grade) Hope you are all well by now.
Congrats on being accepted to the University of Melbourne!!!! You will have a wonderful experience. You don’t mention the “guy friend” that got you to Austrailia in the first place - what is the deal with that situation? Sounds like you have some friends there anyway and that will mean a lot. Please stay in touch and let us know what all you are doing, studying, etc. etc. Keep taking the great pictures, too.
Great to hear from you and good luck,
Rita

Lelia

@Kelly:
That’s hilarious. It’s amazing how important people think tests are; we all know that it’s often in the “who you know,” not the “what you know.” Unfortunately!

@Rita:
Hey! It’s really good to hear from you! :) I hope you and your daughters are still well. :D

Thanks for the congratulations. I think I’ll just be happy to get my degree over and done with! I’m 19, so according to our fast-paced society, I’ve already become a degenerate from waiting a year. hahaha ‘Bout time I got that degree.

Ren

Heya! I just gotta say if you need any assistance with your move or helping to arrange things here, let me know - I’ll see what I can do for you. :)