Exchange by greg mulligan

E X CHA NGE

EXCHANGE Quit worrying about stupid things. You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remeber time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ‘til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does. We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything. Designer/Author Greg Mulligan Contributing Writers. Penny Younger, Connah Chapman, Joel Turner, Maisy Buchmann, Elysia Rapheal, Polly Holten, Alvaro Soriano, Briony Skinner Participants Stephanie Keelan, Jaclyn Wood, Jordan Ramos, Adam Shbib, Shane Siezega, Keenan, Siezega, Zach Feuerstein, Garret Cope, Sarah Welty, Ryan Schwartz, Clare Manley, Ben Egan, Bri Vogelzang, Jennifer Newkirk, Kayleigh Humphrey, Melissa Guy, Shabz, Jorja Threfall, Cesare Pissavini, Nina Caggiano, Lyzz Marotti, Jessica Wilson, Clover Shults, Thomas Layton.

SCHOOLIES ON STEROIDS

California

Sunday Funday

Hawaii

New York

Connah Chapman Joel Turner

Miami

Elysia Raphael

Maui Maisys Do's Don'ts

Penny Younger A girl named Polly

In the beginning

what better place to start then California’s famous Santa Monica pier. Skating down from 23rd street to the Promenade, I was almost taken out by a car as I temporarily forgot which side of the road cars travelled on. As I skated between blocks I noticed little shanties and impermanent homes constructed of cardboard boxes and newspaper. Things like this were new to me-having only ever seen a few homeless people before, this immediately opened my eyes and made an interesting contrast as little shacks were set up next to designer boutiques and shops. The first few I stepped off the plane and into my adventure. homeless people I gave a dollar, the next some What I was in for was uncertain, where I was quarters, and by the time I had reached the going was unorganized and who I would meet beachfront where the majority of homeless was a mystery. Immediately at LAX I was were, I was all out. I noticed how passers-by greeted by friendly locals, only to be asked like myself showed their concern for these for some spare change a minute later. Their people but not enough to pull out a dollar, laminated name badge attempted to make it leaving them to resort to witty signage, each all seem more official; after all it was “for the surprisingly more clever then the next… until children”. As I waited for my ride I noticed you get to the guy whose reads “smile if you an abundance of four wheel drive trucks, masturbate…now give me a dollar for making confirming the rumours of this great land you smile”. One can’t help but feel obligated to being a consumerist culture, a petrol-guzzling donate a dollar. nation with little-to-no concern for the environment. When Spencer pulled up in his My first full day in America consisted of me Ford F250, my concern and distress for the getting rapped at by two “up and coming environment suddenly went out the window. rappers,” being approached about joining a I’m here for a good time, not a long time- I medicinal marijuana agency, and purchasing may as well do it in style, up high and in what a CD which I later found out was blank. So most would consider a super sweet car with far so good. I was looking forward to meeting seven air bags- yes, seven. back up with Spencer in the afternoon to head to Santa Barbara for his friend’s party. Meet Spencer, a 22 year-old American local Santa Barbara, and more precisely Isla Vista, from Thousand Oaks, California. I’d met him is notable for its unique student and beach on his exchange to Australia the previous culture, cultivated by a population largely made year and had made sure I kept in contact up of UCSB and Santa Barbara City College with him, knowing I would soon be heading students. I was pumped to get my first taste in his direction. The first night we planned to of the college lifestyle, having heard rumours stay at his parents’ place and then head to of kegs, girls and drinking games. Spencer Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, San Diego and wound me up to the point of explosion. finally Long Beach, where he would drop me Arriving late, everyone was well on their way at my new university just in time for student to wastedness and I was right behind them. orientation. The next day we were heading Not quite sure of the rules of beer pong I had to Santa Monica as Spencer worked at a a dig anyway, failing epically as these semi-pro small homegrown surf shop on 23rd street. I players yelled rules and phrases at me, each was eager to explore the neighborhood and resulting in me sculling around two

shoots of beers, which doesn’t sound like much but when you lose three games in a row you’re pretty much seeing stars. Observing the dance floor I was confused… what exactly was it these college students were doing? Borderline having sex or as they call it ‘grinding’. It doesn’t leave much to the imagination and it’s a dance move no father would want their daughter participating in. I was well keen to try it as the college experience would not be complete with out a dance. Approaching a girl who beat me in beer pong (yes, I got beaten by a girl in beer pong), I stood behind her as she basically grinded and moved on me. Although very suggestive and enjoyable, it’s not what I would call dancing and I decided to stick to original techniques including the festival arm throw, head bang and clapping. This worked in my favour as my alternative dancing indicated that I was a foreigner, creating a sense of mystery and giving many the urge to come and introduce themselves. Everyone was friendly, drunk and keen to have a good time, and as girls beat boys in beer pong, others snuck off into already occupied bedrooms. This was the ultimate stereotypical college experience and the semester had not even begun yet. It was at this very moment I realised I was living Asher Roth’s “I love college”. What better time to experience one’s first LA traffic jam then when one is hung over and jet lagged. We were driving from Santa Barbara to San Diego, as Spencer goes to the University of San Diego (or USD). He briefly described his housing situation on the way down but failed to mention the fact that his pad was beachfront, three storeys high, and neighbouring hundreds of other rich college students in the middle of popular bars, clubs and shops. An afternoon surf with his roommates cured my hangover and after a short dinner we headed to

Anyone who was not over 21 and had been drinking was issued with a fine and a court date their friends’ party about 15 minutes walk south. This party was packed. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t care- all I had to do was speak and the stranger next to me would become my new best friend, educating themselves about our pet kangaroos, snakes and drop bears. Spencer and his mates left and I stayed, assuring them I knew the way home. About 15 minutes after they left the police came. A standard procedure, the party was too loud so the cops came to shut it down and send everyone on their way, yeah? No. The police stood at the door and checked everyone’s ID. Anyone who was not over 21 and had been drinking was issued with a fine and a court date. Not being 21, I tried to talk my way out starting with “I’m not from here”, “I got here today” and “I didn’t know it was beer”. To be honest, the cop was kind of a dick and wrote me up anyway. “Address?”…“I don’t have one”, “Social security number?”…“I don’t have one”, “Passport number?”…“I don’t know it off by heart”, “Height?”…“Not sure, let’s say 6’1”. As a result not only was the ticket missing vital information, he also got my height, hair and eye colour wrong. He said they would send me the details about the court date in the mail, even though my ticket didn’t have an address and we both pretty much knew this matter wasn’t going any further. My second full

day in the country and I had managed to get myself in a fair bit of trouble. The boys back at the house were impressed and suggested I frame the infringement. The following four days consisted of surfing, sun baking, sight seeing and Mexican. I was sad to leave San Diego but knew I would be back. Skating down Beverly Boulevard, I was nervous and excited; eager to meet the other international students and praying and hoping that they weren’t all from China, purely here to study. Unfortunately Cal State didn’t organise any sort of program in which we could contact other international students prior to our arrival so I had no idea what I was in for. There stood Joel, a large-headed, beefy Queenslander who I presumed studied sports science or something in construction because he looked like a footballer. But already I noticed he lacked coordination as he dropped his pens and books all over the floor. Immediately I knew I would be spending a lot of time with this guy. He too was living on campus, keen to travel and most importantly was of the legal age, thus resulting in him being my and many others’ alcohol purchaser. He was in fact studying music and to our amusement joined the school choir, providing the backbone of many jokes to come. The classroom was full of new faces and one by one we introduced ourselves. I began to feel as though I had never left, everyone seemed to be from Australia. All up, there were 10 of us all from the east coast: five from Queensland, three from Victoria and two from New South Wales. A strong army to say the least, and an army destined to dominate the west coast of the United States. Other notable students included the babe from

England, Kayleigh Humphery, Alvaro or Somi Dj from Spain, Daniel from Columbia and Sonia from Canadaactually from Quebec. She spoke little English but the English she did speak was so extremely loud. Like me, most were staying on campus. None of us had met our roommates, shared a room before or experienced the thrill of a dining hall. Parting ways, we moved into our new rooms and met our roommates. A barbecue was organised for that afternoon as it just so happened to be Australia Day and we were planning to catch the last few hours of Triple J’s Hottest 100. Meeting my roommate is something that I will remember forever. His looks can only be described as half serial killer, a quarter in-bred, a quarter ogre, and possibly afraid of the sun. Attempting to spark a conversation and get to know the person I was going to be sharing a room with for the next four months, I was unsuccessful. The little information I did gather (not from him, rather it was posted on the door) was that his name was Craig, he was 25 and still living on campus, studying zoology. As strange as Craig was, the convenience of living on campus, not having a car and having my meals included, outweighed living off campus. The Australia day BBQ was great and really gave us an opportunity to get to know one another. We all came in our green and gold and even those from overseas participated, despite the fact they had no idea what was going on or what was being celebrated. As the night progressed and the Triple J countdown got lower and lower

The first of many shortlived ROMANTIC ENCOUNTERS within the IHouse walls and whilst they gave the WASHING MACHINE a run for its money WE CONTINUED DRINKING in the true Australia Day FASHION

already, you could observe friendships forming. Some formed so fast they needed to be taken into the laundry, as two individuals named Maisy and Kyle decided to get to know each other on another level. Destined for destructionKyle looking for love and Maisy looking for a good time- this relationship was the first of many short-lived romantic encounters within the I-House walls and whilst they gave the washing machine a run for its money, we continued drinking in the true Australia Day fashion- to the point where the only recollection of the night were the photos on Mayo’s camera. grades are not as significant; plus my academic transcript only Whilst I was yet to meet shows pass or fails, which meant the likes of Stifler, Jim or Finch, that my grades didn’t matter as college life did bear some long as I passed. Despite the resemblance to the way it was longer contact hours - 16 hours portrayed in the ‘American Pie’ in class per week, compared to trilogy. Perhaps the extent of eight in Australia, the material sexual content - the stereotypical covered was very basic - a lot cheerleaders, the arrogant jocks of stuff I had actually covered and the promiscuity of all blonde in first year university or even college girls is a little far fetched high school. My shoebox-sized in those movies. However they dorm room was quite comfy were accurate in showcasing and although Craig was by far certain aspects, such as shared the strangest person I had ever dorm rooms, sporting matches, met and I feared him killing me the dining halls, the sororities in my sleep, I was used to not and fraternities, and the only sharing a room with him debauchery of spring break. but also his strange regime of showering just before bed, as Although classes are held soon as he woke up and during on Mondays and Fridays, hardly the day. I also stopped noticing anyone had a full day of classes the scent of the skin cream that on these days, which meant he applied after each of his three extra long weekends. Compared showers daily, a scent almost as to classes in Australia, the unpleasant as the skid-stained workload and assessments were underwear he left lying around. a lot easier - assessments are On and around campus was more frequent so the weight of so typical of what I expected

college to be, besides the room sharing. I walked to a separate building for all my meals and got a big black tray to load up an array of healthy... and not surprisingly heart attack-inducing food. The campus itself was HUGE – it’s how they do things there. Olympic-size swimming pool, basketball stadium, a cinema, bowling alley, video arcade and a jazz radio station are just a few of the amenities found on campus. It took 20 – 30 minutes to walk from one end of the campus to the other and there are at least three different bus routes through campus. It soon became apparent that house parties were more common in the States, due to

the legal drinking age. They’re not only cheaper, they’re also closer to campus than the clubs. About three minutes from campus was a unit complex known as Beverly Plaza. Entirely inhabited by college students, this old-school complex was unknowingly going to be a second home to many of us. You only had to walk around on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night and within minutes you were able to identify a suitable place for your alcohol consumption and dancing requirements. Unlike the fraternity parties, Beverly Plaza was free for all. Everyone was welcome and there was no membership, code or fee required for entry, rather your own beer, a smile and the fact that you were an international almost gave you a sense of celebrity. Enjoying this celebrity with me was Connah, spelt ‘ah’ not ‘er’, a misunderstanding made by many Americans. Located across the hall from me in the dorms, he was born in Victoria, grew up in country New South Wales and now resides in Brisbane, unsure of his identify and confused about which team he should follow during State of Origin. Connah, Joel and myself had paired up- the three amigos you could say- and we were a force to be reckoned with. If our accents didn’t impress, the fact that Joel got to round three in Australian Idol would. Connah’s roommate, equally as strange as mine, had an obsession with cats. His Hello Kitty clock was matched to his Asian figurines, ready and waiting in various fighting positions on his desk. Despite being strange and starting a ‘Cat Club’ on campus, which involved feeding stray cats and actually recruiting 55 members, he was a pretty interesting guy who enjoyed sleeping naked. He also turned their single beds into bunk beds so they had more room for activities. The first weekend in Long Beach was approaching and having made friends on campus, mainly in the dining hall- which by the way is a prime place to meet other students- we were all heading to the Pajama Party in downtown Long Beach. Predrinking at Amera’s house (like camera with out the c) we proved as a group that getting 12 people in one car is not only possible but a cheap and convenient way to travel short distances. All ages were welcome and the night turned out to be more

than messy, once again only recollected by the photographic evidence on Mayo’s camera. By now we had definitely defined who was on exchange to study and who was there to have a good time. This was our first encounter with Jennifer Newkirk. Her long blonde hair signalled her love for the outdoors, but little did us boys know that she would not only shred us to pieces on a skateboard, surfboard and wake board, but pretty much drink us under the table any chance she got. She is one of the coolest girls I’ve ever met- someone you could surf with, party with, and then smooch. Originally from San Diego, she took us down for a weekend where we met her parents who took us all out for dinner. That weekend we headed back to Spencer’s house for his roommate’s 21st. What many party-goers did not know about was the roof top terrace, which involved a hefty chin up followed by a ladder through the man hole. I went up first, then Jen and finally Joel. Unfortunately for Joel, his retardedness got the better of him and he was unable to lift himself to the beginning of the ladder. Not only had he failed epically, he had done so straight after a girl had successfully completed the same task he was trying to do. It was a good time for Jen and me to get to know each other, and we laid down looking up at the stars, romantic to say the least… until the itch. Little did we know, we were lying directly on fiberglass. At first it didn’t bother us but after time the itch became so bad we not only had to leave the roof but change our clothes and have a shower. Funny now… painful at the time. Later that night young Connah Chapman took a girl up there. As things got more heated and items of clothing were removed, the fiberglass inserted itself deeper and deeper into his skin. The next morning he was so itchy he was contemplated going to the doctor. Knowing this, we would itch his back every time he walked past, sparking an epidemic of itchiness. Roof- 3, Connah, Greg and Jen- 0. Well played roof. It got to the point where I found my roommate so awkward that whenever Penny’s roommate Kerrie went home or stayed at her

SHES ONLY HAPPY IN THE SUN

boyfriend’s, I slept in her bed, almost becoming a third roommate. Lucky for me, both Penny and Kerrie were pretty chilled out and didn’t mind me sleeping in their beds… although they weren’t too keen on me bringing girls back, which is understandable, but someone had to break their beds in! Penny was from Brisbane- apparently from the rich area- her house consists of pools, tennis court and many, many bedrooms. First impression was that she was slightly bogan and first impression was correct. Her jokes were just as harsh as ours, pinpointing our insecurities, embarrassing moments and subjects we would rather forget about. She would often recount the night for us, informing us of drunken attempts to pick up chicks, dance and d & m which usually resulted in us revealing far too much information to her, only to be used as ammo in the next slanging match. It was time to travel. There was a group of six of us who really wanted to make the trip out to Vancouver since we were in the ‘area’. So we booked our flights but didn’t exactly communicate, as Connah and I arrived on the Thursday night while Penny, Elysia and Kay arrived the next morning and Joel the night after. Flying into Seattle, we were pumped and had no idea where we were going or how we were going to get there. We had booked at a backpackers’ and had the address but other than that were basically clueless. Strolling around Seattle at night was an experience- the degree of cold matched only by the amount of homelessness. But the thing that shocked me most- even more so then the Jesus imitatorwas the abundance of Starbucks coffee shops! On every corner, down every alley and in every mall they were everywhere- a Starbucks epidemic. The girls landed at midday and as a group we roamed the streets of Seattle looking for a cheap hotel. Dingy enough so it didn’t break the bank, big enough for them not to notice there were actually 6 people staying in the room rather than two, and one with multiple entrances and exits, making our job of sneaking in and out that little bit easier. That was the first of many cheeky hotel rooms. Booking for one is always

the cheapest, then you just pack it out to the point of explosion. My advice- look at the hotel before you book and make sure the office or reception isn’t visible from your room or in a location that requires you to walk past it in order to get to your room. If you can’t see it before you book, then Google map it from the street view. From this, you should be able to get an idea of the size and capacity of the hotel, entrances, and the location of reception. A four-hour Greyhound bus saw us arrive in Vancouver, Canada! Ranked one of the world’s most liveable cities, Vancouver proved to be truly magnificent. Within 50 metres of leaving Pacific Central Station two different people offered us weed. We then took the train train without paying for tickets) and walked down Granville Street (one of the main streets), avoiding the homeless people sitting on the footpath and getting yelled at by a junkie who was in the process of being arrested.Thankfully first impressions don’t always count and I was surprised, after our introduction to the city, to learn that Vancouver is one of the world’s safest cities. We strolled down Granville St - crammed with bars, clubs, adult shops and take-away joints. It was a somewhat bohemian, gritty, yet lively entertainment district. Having previously booked at the HI-Vancouver Backpackers, we split from the girls who opted to stay at a cheap hotel. This backpackers’ was huge- 3 storeys and a bar on the bottom level. The three of us checked into our four person room, pumped to find out that no-one had booked into the fourth bed. Vancouver was impressive- its transport system was efficient, the streets clean, the people friendly and the legal drinking age 18. Strolling the streets we headed towards Chinatown hoping to do a full circuit of the city. After walking through the area we entered a point of the city that I think is one of Vancouver’s less notable areas. Never in my life have I seen such a huge homeless population. Homeless families- a mum, dad and two children living out of a shopping trolley, disabled homeless

First impression was that she was slightly bogan and first impression was correct begging for change and homeless children running amok in the streets. This small area of the city was strange- it lasted two blocks at most and honestly felt like we had entered a scene out of Brave New World or something like that. Upon exiting the “ghetto” we saw a group of youths all with signs and masks on, standing opposite a Scientology building in protest, aiming their fingers as guns at the receptionist while yelling and screaming. The fact that their faces were covered made walking past intimidating, but luckily for Connah and myself Joel wasn’t the fastest runner, so if there were any problems it was gonna be ‘See you later Joel, hello freedom’. The last few minutes had been intense and just as we were needing somewhere to relax we noticed the Amsterdam Cafe. The smell wafted into the street, forming a potent weed cloud and notifying passers by that this was not your typical cafe. A common belief is that marijuana is legal in British

Columbia. Although a myth, Vancouver’s police and the justice system tend to turn a blind eye to marijuana use, to the point where cafes have popped up around the lower east of the city which encourage patrons to bring their own weed and bongs. They then provide over-priced munchies and coffee. This weed cafe didn’t sell marijuana- rather it offered a venue in which people could freely smoke and purchase bongs and other smoking equipment, as well as unleash their inner creativity; the the walls had been decorated and painted by cafe users. The fans above sucked up any excess smoke, making this cafe a really quirky and interesting place. Although everyone was out of it, the people inside were more than alternative, each being more individual than the next. Colt 45s were our choice of pre drinks and an epic choice at that. Each was 8% and took a hefty toll on our stomachs. As we lay those we weren’t

drinking out on the windowsill to keep cold, our fourth roommate arrived. Already well on our way the room was a mess- clothes everywhere and rubbish all over the floor. He pretty much put his bags down then headed out to dinner. Whilst he was at dinner I wasn’t feeling too good and looking for the closest bin, toilet or bucket, all I could find was a sink. I subsequently spewed my guts up, ultimately stinking out the room and blocking the sink. It was chunky and would not go down. We left it hoping the fourth roommate wouldn’t mind the smell or the fact that our sink was unusable. When we later returned we found he had checked out, relocating to another backpackers... My bad. Upon returning it became apparent that a new girl had moved into I-house. Her name was Steph. She was 19 and on the running team. Her elephant impression was matched only by her drunken revolution that gravity spoke Spanish to her. She liked to party but always got hungry after a big night out. So hungry that she would go to dramatic lengths to get food. One night, it was about 4am. Everyone but her and me had gone to bed and she was starving. I was in my room and I noticed her outside, wearing her PJs and covering herself in a blanket. Opening my window I shouted out, asking what she was doing. She explained that she was walking up to Jack in the Box to get food and she stood under my window asking if I wanted to come. Rejecting the offer, I sat upstairs in my warm room, unaware that she was still there. First it was a branch, then a rock, and my window was being bombarded. I looked down to see her lying on the ground, begging me to get her food. She wrapped herself in the blanket and fell asleep in the bushes outside my window for about 20 minutes, until she saw a bus coming. Springing up from the bushes, she bolted to the bus stop and flagged it down. As she attempted to get on, she stumbled up the stairs, tripping over her blanket. The bus driver kicked her off as she had no shoes. I guess it didn’t help that her face was covered in penearlier in the night it seemed like a good idea to draw glasses and mustaches on ourselves.

Stephanie had a close friend who attended USB aka University of Santa Barbara- the college beach/party town I was talking about earlier- the first of many weekend trips. One trip to Isla Vista involved Connah and me sleeping in a bush next to our car because Thom had the keys and had disappeared. Joel and Alvaro were caught drinking on the street, resulting in a whopping fine and a court date never attended by either of them, but the night that stands out from the rest would have to be the USB festival night. We started by pre-drinking in Steph’s friend Sara’s room- who by the way was hotttttt. She shared a room with Alex- also hot- and they were both in the same sorority. Starting a friendly game of beer pong between myself, Connah and Sara’s boyfriend Mike and his mate soon turned serious. Someone came up with the idea that the losing team should go and get their nipple pierced the next morning. Shaking on the agreement, it was the closest game of beer pong in the history of the universe. Both teams were down to a single cup until Chapman saved the day. We jumped up and down in victory as the losing team fell to the ground in failure. This was serious- after all we did shake on it. Although both cool guys, they never did get their nipples pierced; it was actually kind of expensive so we let them off, satisfied enough with the fact that we had beat them at their own game. Later that afternoon (yes afternoon, it wasn’t even night yet and we were all smashed) Connah, Joel and myself thought it would be a

Trying to explain the meaning of DTF to a police officer is something I never want to do again

great idea to write “DTF” in permanent marker on our foreheads. This was taken from the best movie ever made- Superbad- meaning “Down to Fuck”. A joke at first, we soon forgot about the ridiculous statement on our heads, walking around as if everything was normal. As a group we headed down to the music festival and it was huge. Girl Talk were playing along with Asher Roth and Ludacris. Being a non-alcohol event we snuck our own in, placing it in our underwear as we hobbled past the officials, all three of us coincidentally having a limp. The festival was insane, so much fun and best of all it was free. I ended up smooching Alex (Sara’s roommate) but got a nosebleed while we were kissing so had to bail to the toilets… don’t think she was too impressed. Asher Roth was up next and just before he came on a whole bunch of students were invited on stage. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity so I looked left, then right, then jumped backstage over a six-foot fence, pretty much landing at a police officer’s feet. I tried to run but he grabbed me and escorted me outside. He sat me down, asking for my name, address and what exactly I was doing trying to jump backstage. He then asked about what DTF stood for and why it was written on my forehead. Trying to explain the meaning of DTF to a police officer is something I never want to do again. I palmed it off insisting it meant “down to have fun”, but he then questioned where the “H” was. Lucky for me, he obviously had not seen Superbad and was therefore unaware of the acronym’s meaning. He let me off after I swore I would go home, but not before he put two giant X’s on my hands, explaining that if he

to Vegas, San Diego or up north. Kayleigh had organised a trip to California’s national park Yosemite over a long weekend. The little information we received was that we were by a lake and camping. Six cars departed Long Beach, all at different times, embarking on the eight hour drive north. I was in Alvaro’s car with Joel and Thom and we had directions from Long Beach to the national park but no directions to the actual campsite. Leaving the LBC at about two in the afternoon, we were greeted by LA’s wonderful traffic, adding two or so hours to our journey. We stopped off to buy some beer; Alvaro rolled a joint. We had dinner in a small hillbilly town in who-knows-where and still running extremely late, we estimated we would arrive around 11pm. Finally arriving at Yosemite, we realised we had underestimated the size of the national park. Inside the park there were 13 different campsites and even more lay outside the national park. By this time it was about midnight and we had no idea where we were going. Unable to call the others- none of our phones had reception- we drove around icy hairpin turns with our driver Alvaro stoned and drunk. Driving along, minding our own business, this serial killer truck started tailgating us. Alvaro moved over but he didn’t overtake, so instead Al sped up, attempting to create some space between the two cars. Next thing he was gone and had seemingly disappeared into thin air. Little did we know, this sick freak had just turned his headlights off and was still tailgating us. Then boom! He turned on his high beams, scaring the shit out of all of us- especially Thom, who screamed so loud the killer behind us probably heard. Not knowing what to do, Alvaro pulled into a campsite and the freak kept driving. It was possibly the scariest thing that has ever happened to me and a near-death experience I will never forget… I survived the Yosemite killer. Still lost and completely over looking for our friends who had abandoned us, we pulled into the last campsite in the park, driving around until we heard a girl yell out “Alvaro!” Had we found it? No. Like us, another car was lost and had

It was possibly the scariest thing that has ever happened to me and a near death experience I will never forget I survived the Yosemite killer

or another policeman saw me with these X’s inside I would immediately be arrested and receive a fine and an infringement notice. Not having a key, going back to where we were staying seemed like a bad idea. I went back to the entrance and lined up. I ran into Penny, Steph and Jac who had gone out to get some dinner. As I stood explaining my adventure to them out of the corner of my eye I saw the same policeman who had arrested me. We locked eyes for a second before I bolted into the crowd, leaving behind the girls never to be seen again. The festival was coming to an end and we left a little bit early, attempting to miss the crowd. We exited freely, walking past the toilet officials and lastly through the gate. Whilst walking through the gate the same police officer was there, ready and waiting. It was too late for me to run so instead I kept my head down, praying he wouldn’t recognize me. Pretty much brushing past him, he didn’t pull me up and instead told us to move on. Lucky to say the least. We headed back to campus where Sara lived. Connah, Peter and myself went for a swim in the school pool with some girls we had met. All in our underwear, it began to get frisky. A certain person- not naming namesgot a little bit too excited when he was with one particular girl and when it was time to get out he was unable to due to unforeseen circumstances. Awkwardly the only one left in the pool, he bobbed around until someone shouted ‘Security!’. Everyone split. This particular male had no choice- emerging from the pool, he revealed his excitement, grabbed his clothes and bailed off into the distance. The girls- never to be seen again- however the story will live forever. To top the whole night off, Peter and I found a bike which we later threw into the pool to give it a good clean and rinse. Not really sure why… just unleashed our inner Compton. The best thing about living in I-House was that everyone wanted to travel. Every weekend there was a group going either

pulled into this campsite, where they had met some country folk who had let them sit by their fire, drinking their beer and hot chocolate. So far, not only were we lost, we were also unaware of the temperature. Expecting it to be hot, swimming and sun baking by this lake at our campsite, Joel and me had come in shorts and T-shirts, when it was actually snowing outside. All four of us slept in the car, making a total of 24 hours spent in Alvaro’s green machine. Waking up to snow on the ground was actually kinda cool and something I had never experienced. We looked for the others and tried called them but no-one’s phone was working, so instead of wasting a day we decided to go hiking. A few members of the group wanted to take magic mushrooms and experience nature at its best. These hikes weren’t easy- 8-9km each and they were the easy ones. The mushroom-affected kids were slow so us sober ones went on, making our way up one of the highest peaks in Yosemite. It was around 4pm and we still had no word from the others. We later found out they were getting worried and contemplated reporting us missing. Finally our phones connected and they escorted us back to the campsite, which by the way was in the middle of nowhere, but it was really cool even though there was an anal, anti-fun, party-pooper owner. All 24 of us sat around the campfire, cooked sausages and made s’mores. Later in the tent Stephanie was so scared as she tried to sleep that she made a dedicated ‘bear area/trap’, placing bags around her so that if a bear did come it would trip over the bags, allowing her to make a swift escape. Lucky for us, no bears came- only Steven in the next tent.

It was end of semester and beginning of summer. I was excited about the travel adventure ahead of me yet sad to be leaving I-House and the people in it. For many it would be the last time I saw them and for others it would be rather a short break. Connah and I had booked all the same flights to Hawaii and in an attempt to save around 40 bucks we had decided to do the whole month’s travel with only carry-on luggage. Alvaro, already being there, gave us directions to our backpackers’ which was located on Lemon Street in the north end of Waikiki Beach. It was a great backpackers’ and really social. They offered surf lessons, moped hire, yoga and best of allfree breakfast. Luckily we were put in an eight-person dorm, leaving one free bed which was occupied by Algre, a lone European. Another thing I found at backpackers’, especially in Hawaii, were the ‘lone’ travellers. They go by themselves because they’re oh so independent and hate changing their plans for others, but annoyingly chime into your group, becoming clingy and awkward. Stop travelling by yourself you fruit loop- bring a friend. After staying two nights we all really needed a change of scenery. Hearing rumours of another backpackers’ on the north shore that had a midget on staff, we all decided to bail on Waikiki and head to famous Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay. Hiring a 7-seater van proved barely big enough as Penny and Kay had decided to bring everything they owned and then a bit extra. It was like playing Tetris, only more frustrating as there was no music, only Joel giving pointless advice and complaining about the sheer size of their bags, similar only to that of his head. Even though we were all scared for our lives because Alvaro was drinking and we were squished like sardines in a can, it was by far one of the funnest things I have ever done. With nowhere to go, nothing booked and no deadlines, we were just cruising around Hawaii in our sick 7-seater family wagon listening to reggae music. We checked out Sunset Beach, went for a swim and then headed to this backpackers’ we had heard about from other travellers. It was alright- a bit expensive though, so as a group we decided to save the money and sleep on the beach, intending to wake up to Hawaii’s famous

surf break pipeline. Having nowhere to be or nothing to do we went out to dinner to a pub. It was getting late so we went back to the north shore to set up camp. We started as a proud group, all unleashing our inner camper as we lay looking at the stars with towels as blankets and bags as pillows. As the breeze came, we try-hard campers one-by-one began slowing sneaking off, back to the van. It went from cold to boiling as all seven of us sweated on each other, hoping the person next to us would return to the beach. All you could do was laugh and as a group we proved that it is not only possible to sleep seven people in one car but that it’s a great cheap alternative to accommodation for us tight-ass travellers. Next stop Maui

Hawaii

New York

Sitting in Eddie the taxi driver’s van we were all confused. He didn’t have a sign, nor did he have a meter. It was as though we had jumped in a random man’s car. He was one of the friendliest people I think I have ever met, offering to take us surfing and sightseeing and assuring us we were staying in a great location. He dropped us off and we were here- the Banana Bungalow Maui. It was like stepping back 50 years. The small little town that surrounded the backpackers’ was separated by the dirt road and buildings next door and further down looked ancient to say the least. The backpackers’ was in the outskirts of the Ioa valley which made for an epic photo. The backpackers’ itself was amazing. Every wall was a different colour, the common room was massive and had a pool table, computers and huge TV. Out the back was a BBQ, two massive tables and around seven mango trees, plus two hammocks and a spa. This place was insane. All the staff who worked there were travellers just like us and were taking part in a work exchange, which meant they worked 16 hours a week in return for free accommodation and basic food. The only thing was that the backpackers’ was empty. What we didn’t realize then but soon figured out was that this backpackers’ ran free tours every day, all over the island and that’s where all the guests were. We immediately signed up for.

After dinner we sat down and had some drinks with others staying at the backpackers’. There was Clover, a young hippie from Mississippi who came for a week but never left. She was on reception and had no intention of leaving. She was free-spirited, home schooled and dreadlocked. Another notable guest was Ste Holly- a loud, full-blooded Irishman whose travel stories were not only inspiring but also hilarious.

There was Clover a young hippie from Mississippi

Like Clover, he had intended to come for a week but had stayed a month, and this so happened to be his last night. It also turned out to be his third unsuccessful attempt to leave as he missed his flight in the morning, subsequently missing his flight to New Zealand. He didn’t care and took everything on as an adventure, instead laughing at the matter and joking about how much his travel agent must hate him as she was constantly booking his flights. Maui offered a chance for many to escape reality. If it wasn’t for my connecting flights to New York I would have never left, unleashing the inner hippie. Next stop… New York.

New York- What a week! If I wasn’t hung over I was in a pizza coma. Our backpackers’ was in the heart of Harlem, from memory around 127th Street west side. Attempting not to sound racist, dead set we were the only white people in Harlem, rocking around in our boardies and singlets. If people couldn’t work out we were tourists they themselves must not have been from the area. The rest of the gang, were staying at a backpackers in Chelseathe cities gay district- which was better located but twice as expensive. We actually figured out, being the tightass geniuses we are-that if we hired a 4 person dorm and just squeezed everyone in it would only amount to about 10 bucks each a night, pretty good considering we were in the middle of Manhattan. Sightseeing Central Park, the Empire State Building and of course the Statue of Liberty were all done in the first day or two, as well as Time Square and Brooklyn. Not too sure where to go out, we cruised the streets looking for a popping bar or club. We soon met this black guy who’s name i have since forgotten similar-looking to Kanye West, who insisted he could not only get us in Marquee (one of the best

clubs in New York) but could also get us on a table with his friends and a free bottle of liquor. Too good to pass up, we followed him in. This club was insane massive. Inside people were everywhere- tables, VIP areas and even a restricted area upstairs. It was for the elite and somehow us boys managed to work our way in. Having pre drunk in our rooms we were well on our way and the bottle the Kanye-lookalike got us only encouraged bad behaviour. There were tables everywhere and on these tables were full bottles of Grey Goose vodka, sitting cold and alone, waiting to be consumed by me and my posse. As others drank and wandered off, they left their bottle unmanned. I went in for the kill, swiftly nicking the bottle and re-locating it to our table, where we each filled up our empty cups with a new, fresher form of drink. Parading our massive bottle around, we poured shots into randoms’ mouths, in our own mouths and down the front of our shirts (mainly mine). Kudos to the observant bartender who not only watched us relocate the bottle but swiftly grabbed it from us, minutes before it was emptied into Alvaro’s mouth. He didn’t make us pay, nor did he give us a lecture about stealing, rather just took the bottle and kept walking. The walk home was interesting and consisted of jumping in puddles, falling over and a short bike ride. A special mention to Penny’s dress that came out second best to one of the larger puddles jumped in by one particular member. All Mel could do was laugh… Penny not so much. New York was amazing- far too much fun- it had everything from huge buildings and bridges to a Wall Street, a ghetto, a train line and Broadway. If you got bored in New York then something had to be wrong with you. New York also marked the point where the group split up. Penny and Elysia were off to Greece to work for the summer, Fletcher down to Washington and Alvaro back home to Chile. It was sad to say goodbye but it was definately

A special mention to Pennys dress that came out second best to one of the larger puddles

not the last time we would see each other. Both Al and Penny were coming back and Kayleigh being my wife would no doubt keep in contact. Funnily enough, Alvaro actually missed his flight. Leaving JFK airport, Connah and me were running late and sprinting up the escalator Connah fell, slicing his hand, resulting in a nice scarsomething to remember New York by. At the front desk the lady told us we were too late and she was unable to let us through. She then noticed Connah’s hand and we explained we had been in an ‘accident’ on the way to the airport. She made some calls and luckily escorted us straight to the gate where we awkwardly entered the plane

last. It’s surprising how much of a rush you get from almost missing a flight- adrenaline junkies should try it as it’s a much safer option than jumping off cliffs. Miami was hot! Hotter than California, hotter than Hawaii, and hotter than an oven. Everyone was attractive. I myself felt like the ugly duckling as these fit locals paraded themselves around South Beach. Checking into the backpackers’, we ran into two Australian girls surprisingly from Sydney and we found out we had many mutual friends. This backpackers’ would have to be the most social backpackers’ I have ever been to. Each night was already organized for you- all you had to do was meet in the lobby. First night out, we went to a college bar which served 50 cent cups of beer. It was the best place ever. Second night we went to a massive club that played awesome music and the third night a reggae bar where girls got free drinks. Lucky for us we were with about 7 girls so they just got two drinks whenever they went to the bar. Unfortunately one of the Aussie girls got her drink spiked and ended up in hospital but other than that Miami nightlife proved to be some of the best I had yet to experience in my year of travel. The all time best story of Miami has to consist of two individuals- not naming names- who after the cheap college drinks night, ended up in the same bed. After frolicking around in the dark, the two woke up to meet the group and head to the beach. While waiting in the lobby, the young female commented on how dirty she got from the previous night, pointing out dirt stains and scuff marks on her clothing until she noticed a dry white patch on her arm. Unaware of what it was she asked the group... everyone knew but nobody said anything until she realized and blurted out in the middle of the lobby, rather loudly, “’X’ this better not be your sprog on my arm”. As we all burst into laughter she ran upstairs to wash the stain off- slightly embarrassing, but far too funny not to be included. Miami was the last stop. Joel and Connah were off to Guatemala, Mel was unsure, and Kay and her friends were staying for 10 more days. It was farewell as we all headed out separate ways. I was going back to Hawaii to try and get myself a job at Banana Bungalow Maui.

Miami

d e s t i n a t i o n

a n

e x p e r i e n c e

Bungalow. So what Maui exposed Banana else do you need to know? me to Stuff about my family, or Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m from? None of that things I would where matters. Not once you cross otherwise never have the ocean and cut yourself looking for something experienced loose, more beautiful, something Whether it was more exciting and yes, I admit, more dangerous. food, music, art, something So after 7hours in the back culture or of an airplane, three dumb two plastic meals, six even movies, beers and absolutely no sleep, drugs I finally touch down; in Maui

Arriving back in Hawaii I was confident I would be able to get myself a job for the summer at the backpackers and the risk was well worth it. At first it seemed unlikely and in frustration I booked a flight back to LA where I would meet Mayo to embark on a road trip across the country. Two days before I was meant to leave, Isaac (the manager) offered me a job as a receptionist. Having already booked my flight I was unsure of what to do.Â I could either save my money spent on the flight or fuck it and stay in Maui. About an hour after the job offer, Hawaiian Air called explaining

that I gave the wrong credit card number and my flight had been cancelled. It was a Christmas miracle and the beginning of the best summer of my life. Working at this backpackersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; allowed you to form really close relationships with complete strangers and others that worked there as you lived, worked, surfed and swam together. These randoms from all over the world became some of my best mates and share stories and experiences with me that will never be forgotten. Everyday an old bunch of people would check out and a new bunch would check in. Some guests would fly under

the radar. Others, like the staff, became great friends and often stayed longer than they had planned. Maui exposed me to things I would otherwise never have experienced. Whether it was food, music, art, culture or even drugs it really opened my eyes. There was and is a strong hippie culture on the island, many being extremely in touch with the earth and environment. Not having a car did prove a problem and although most got around the island via hitch hiking, a car would have been much more convenient. Caesar, an Italian stallion who was on house keeping, had bought a car and insisted I go surfing with him teaching him the basics. This became a part

of our daily routine. Each morning we would go for a surf, followed by a sun bake, then back to the backpackers for lunch and then usually head to our local beach with all the others that worked there and the leftover guests. I was living on the best place on earth, i felt like i was on in the movie “The Beach”. We had our own community each person bringing a different culture to the table. Although the lifestyle itself wasn’t the healthiest, many nights consisting of drinking, smoking dancing and ending up in a bed which didn’t actually belong to you. Being a backpackers, workers came and went using Maui as a stop over for the next part of their journey and when they left

The longer you stayed the less you

each staff member got a going away party usually themed. These parties got crazy. As the keg got lower the bamboo stick which fitted perfectly between the pool table and the roof was usually brought out ready and waiting for any game guests or staff game enough. If there wasn’t a party at the backpackers little beach was the next option. Each Sunday locals and tourist from all over the island would congregate on this “little beach” bringing beer, bongos and their fire twirlers. As the sun went down the music got louder and the fire dancing began. People swapping mushrooms for

beers, Drums for dope everyone dancing everyone in a good mood.Working two eight hour shifts at reception covered your rent and basic food and in the days between you were free to do what you want. One week myself and 3 Italians went camping in Hana. They spoke basic english but preferred to talk to each other in italian often leaving me out of the loop and confused about what we were actually doing and where we were going. Hana was about a 4 hour drive crazy road on cliff edges and hair pin turns. We only broke down twice which was good and finally

explaining that we ran out of petrol and didn’t know we had to book the camp site in advance. He then did a check on our vehicle and discovered it was unregister and uninsured. Still pretending spoke italian i attempted to explain to Caesar what was wrong with his car even thou he could understand the cop. After a while the police man got

we arrived at the camp site. Apparently you need to book in advance and it was booked out so the three of us decided to find a beach and camp on it for the night which although was illegal was our only option as we were low on petrol and the gas station had already shut for the night. We found a beach and set up our 2 man tent for the four of us. Relaxing under the stars we were interrupted by a cop with fed up and just said look “tell your friends his high beam. Being the only one that they have to leave first thing in the morning and they have to get their car fixed up or spoke english i pretended to translate else they’ll get in big trouble next time.” between Caesar And the police man

To top things off as he was leaving he shouted â&#x20AC;&#x153;And stop smoking weedâ&#x20AC;? Maui was the highlight of my year i was on my own yet had more friends then i have ever had before. I lived with 18 people all of which were like me traveling, poor and keen to explore. The pirate party, the anything but clothing party or as the italian cleaner wrote any thing but cloths party, Arias going away party, camping with 4 Italians in a tent in Hana getting busted

by the cops with an unregistered car and smoking weed, the everyday surf sessions with Ceasar and his possy, getting my freaking wisdom tooth out on a dental bus lying saying i was a poor local, sitting in the back of utes drinking beers whilst reggea was pumping on the radio, Ceasars car breaking down at least 3 times before we would get to the beach, breaking Jorjas bed, Clover having sex with a deaf guy and him making wired

noises in the bed next to us, being the crappest receptionist ever and getting an award from it, getting some of the best waves i have ever had, Little beach every sunday without fail, jumping off high shit, driving around in the redishfetish2 jeep, the funny euros with their funny music, Shabz, using weed butter on toast by accident, everyday having something to do yet no where to be and the people. Maui was the most rewarding stop over in my journey. what was wrong with his car even thou he could understand the

cop. After a while the police man got fed up and just said look “tell your friends they have to leave first thing in the morning and they have to get their car fixed up or else they’ll get in big trouble next time.” To top things off as he was leaving he shouted “And stop smoking weed” Maui was the highlight of my year i was on my own yet had more friends then i have ever had before. I lived with 18 people all of which

were like me traveling, poor and keen to explore. The pirate party, the anything but clothing party or as the italian cleaner

wrote any thing but cloths party, Arias going away party, camping with 4 Italians in a tent in Hana getting busted by the cops with an unregistered car and smoking weed, the everyday surf sessions with Ceasar and his possy, getting my freaking wisdom tooth out on a dental bus lying saying i was a poor local, sitting in the back of utes drinking beers whilst reggea was pumping on the radio, Ceasars car breaking down at least 3 times before we would get to the beach, breaking Jorjas bed, Clover

having sex with a deaf guy and him making wired noises in the bed next to us, being the crappest receptionist ever and getting an award from it, getting some of the best waves i have ever had, Little beach every sunday without fail, jumping off high shit, the funny euros with their funny music, Shabz, using weed butter on toast by accident, everyday having something to do yet no where to be and the people. Maui was the most rewarding stop over in my journey.

The longer you stayed the less you

PENNY

Y O U N G E R

PENNY SAYS:

2009 at CSULB will forever go down as the best decision I ever made. Deciding to go abroad was my best decision, the second best one was to extend for two semesters. I have 351 days worth of memories I made being overseas, some memories were made when sober, some when drunk, sick, hungover, excited, upset or homesick – wait scrap that last one, that one was a lie. When I left Long Beach at the end of May after finishing semester 1 to start my summer’s worth of traveling, I felt a pang of sadness because although I was staying on for Fall semester, it would all be different. Most of my international friends were going home and I House wouldn’t be the same again. I was literally heartbroken when Spring came to an end because I thought there was no way the sequel could be better than the original… I really believed Fall Semester would never live up to Spring. I would have to say though, and I will be crucified for saying this (Greg and Al back me up here) that if I had to do one again, it would be Fall Semester. Now (to all my SB09 friends) hear me out. In the first semester of exchange, I felt like I spent half of it getting to know Long Beach and its surrounding areas, where to go where not to go. Although from day one, I knew better than to visit Compton, Inglewood or any street past cherry Ave. I was still getting to know the campus, and felt I was only just starting to settle into the American college lifestyle when Spring finished, for this reason, when Fall came around, I instantly felt at home, while all the new internationals were sorting themselves out. Not only did I know the school and surrounding cities well, they felt like home. And the friendships I’d made in Spring who were still in Long Beach for Fall (American and International), became stronger and stronger as the year progressed, which couldn’t have happened if I’d gone home. Moral of this paragraph, is that when anyone asks me advice about going abroad, the first thing I always tell them is to stay for a year. One of the best things to come out of my year away is that I have a wealth of friends to look back on the experience with; some whom I met only for a section of my time there, others whom I was with quite literally from start to finish. The group of friends I made over there I now think of as a family. We

made our own over there, we had no choice, its sink or swim. After a month or two with these friends you become as close to, or closer than, you are with your friends back home. Because you are with them 24 hours a day and the common interest of traveling got you all to be in the same place. We saw each other through some amazing experiences and have made more than a novel’s worth of personal jokes, all still hilarious, including the one about the size of Joel’s willy. We did 23 weekend trips, saw just as many new cities and did about double that number in flights together. Greg is not a good flyer. We slept on beaches because we chose to hire out a 7 man van rather than sleep in a bed in Hawaii (no regrets, except making Alvaro the driver), we crammed 9 people into a 2 man room for Love Fest in San Fransisco and I am probably the only one that didn’t hook up with friends. (Yet I’m a serial slut.) I feared for 5 of their lives in Yosemite when a car load got lost on the way to a camping trip, luckily they only got minor frost bite and gay jokes for spooning in the car – Alvaro then fed everyone shrumes while they waited to be found (standard). I am going to add in my own category of Funniest moments as this was not part of the questionnaire. The thing that stands out in my mind above anything else from my exchange is how much I laughed, I am not exaggerating when I say every day I laughed til either a) my stomach hurt b) I cried c) both. Except in Greece – that was when Elysia and I may not have laughed every day but we did cry. (But Saint Christopher kept an eye out for us x) Anyway, too many moments to laugh about… the law I enjoyed breaking most was that silly one about only 5 people in a car at one time. I can’t remember a time where we only had 5 actually, I think our record was 11 and that included 2 or 3 in the Boot/trunk (depends what accent you have). It would have been funny if we got caught, because Tommy was driving and Steph the owner of the vehicle was a minor, drunk, in the back with no seat belt. Also I enjoyed missing the Cat Club meetings Connah’s roommate Jim would host, no wait his name was James. We would always say we’d come to the meeting, then turn up at the last minute and say we thought the meeting was only starting at this time, however we would request minutes of the meeting so we could catch up on the important issues at hand with the Cat Club. We never got those minutes, chaps could you follow this up please? There was a really fun game called the LINE GAME where all participants names (ie Exchange students and member of the I House Community) were written on the outsid of a circle.

And lines were drawn connecting names that had hooked up over the semester. I also really liked this one course I did with Greg, it was called Alternative Media and we both got credited for it from uni back home. On the first day of this class the professor said “so who thinks we’re actually going to be doing alternative media (is he on crack?) – it turns out that for the entire semester we build a world of our own on myspace and battled other worlds each week. I think I went to 2 classes. As if this wasn’t gold in itself, he said the only assessment is an essay at the end, minimum 1500 words, and quote if we are having trouble we can just copy and paste from the internet unquote . Um what? So my research assignment was copied from wikipedia. Greg’s was written by Stephanie Keelan on the way to San Francisco, about things they’d said that day. We both got A’s. Um what else? Greg and Joel were also supposed to get WHEN IN ROME tattooed on their bum cheeks but then wanted to get SB09 instead and chickened out both times. Quake and Shake ’09 was fun when a 5 point something earthquake hit Cali and we felt it and then everyone’s

And lines were drawn facebook connecting status was names updated that had with hooked up over the semester. I also EARTHQUAKE really liked this before one course the I room did with Greg, it was called Alternative Media even and stopped we both shaking. got credited Oh for theit from uni back home. On the firstSCOOOOOOOOOOP day of this class the professor game, said that “so who thinks we’re actually going time to Greg be doing kissed alternative a trannymedia (I wasn’t (is he on crack?) it turns out that forthere the entire but just semester makingwe sure build its apart world of our own on myspace and of battled this book), other worlds Oh and each greg week. kissedI think I went to 2 classes. As if this Hayley wasn’t Hasselhoff, gold in itself, who hehe said bragged the only assessment is an essay at the about end, for minimum a week. 1500But words, check and quote if we are having troubleout wethe cantrailer just copy of her and new paste show from the internet unquote . Um what? “HUGE” So my onresearch youtube… assignment looks sick. was copied from wikipedia. Greg’s was written by Stephanie Keelan on the way to San Francisco, about “Partythings Party” they’d became said that a famous day. We both got A’s. phrase in our group of friends, Um what else? Greg because and Joel they were were also the only supposed words to get WHEN IN ROME tattooed Alvaro on their could bum saycheeks in English but at then the wanted to get SB09 instead and start chickened (and at out the both end). times. He would Quake and Shake ’09 was fun when always a 5 point comesomething into I House earthquake on hit Cali and we felt it and then Mondays everyone’s andfacebook be say status in broken was updated with EARTHQUAKE before Englishthe“Who roomwant even tostopped come shaking. to Oh the SCOOOOOOOOOP Hollywood? game, that PARTY time Greg PARTY” kissedHe a tranny (I wasn’t there but just making wassure the its firstpart oneofout thisofbook), all of us Ohto and greg kissed Hayley Hasselhoff,buy who a car he and bragged the first about one to forboard a week. But check out the trailer of her line new kill usshow when “HUGE” he droveon drunk youtube… and looks sick. high on numerous occasions and “Party Party” became that other a famous time phrase when his in our breaks group of friends, because they were failed theon only a highway. words Alvaro Wasn’t could there say in English at the start (and at for the that, end). can’t He would comment alwaysoncome the into I House on Mondays andcircumstances. be say in broken Alvaro English wasn’t “Whoa want to come to Hollywood? PARTY selfishPARTY” man, he Heliked was to the share first one and out of all of us to buy a car and bring the first theone party to to board every linesituation. kill us when he drove drunk and high on Including numerous theoccasions I House and backyard, that other time when his breaks failed on where a highway. he, Pete, Wasn’t Tommy there and for that, Joelcan’t comment on the circumstances. all took Alvaro Shrumes. wasn’t a selfish I thinkman, Pete he liked to share and bring the partythen to every started situation. making Including philosophical the I House backyard, where he, Pete, meaning Tommy and of Joel the all cloud took shapes, Shrumes. I think Pete then started making philosophical meaning of the cloud shapes

Joel was laughing so hard he actually cried… like, a lot. And Tommy was under the impression that he had an assignment due at 8pm which was to draw a maze all the way up his arm. He is took this most seriously and we encouraged him to achieve his goal before his deadline. Successful. Actually a lesson I learnt was to never give your room key to boys if you will not be present in the room with them. After a party in Ventura in February which I stayed at for the night, Connah and Greg had my room key and used it to sleep in my bedroom. They ate all of my food, used my lap top and I’m sure did a wee somewhere. Poor Joel missed out on some fun activities because he did Choir all the time but his head stayed the same size. BUT he didn’t miss out on Spring Break 09 YEOWW. Cancun, probably one of the best weeks of my life. Melissa became a friend to the toilet and the bucket for a little spew spew and spoke fluent Spanish the whole week (bukitos amigos… shakira shakira). However, the prize for drunkest person alive must go to Peter Hall who continued to solider on and pushed through many potential alcohol induced comas by taking a minute to re group, as many times a night you could find Petey sitting on a couch half alive, eyes semi shut in the seated position. He also managed to make us search for him at 8am the morning after coco bongo when we had all just left the club, drunk, when he became an unofficial missing person. He turned up an hour later, having just gone home with a black girl. Possibly the princess of Nigeria that Joel was macking with. Something else we all learnt during our exchange was Greg was always “good for it” when it came to borrowing something he needed. “Penny can I have $1, come on you know I’m good for it.” “Mayo can I have a kiss? You know I’m good for it?” “Alvaro can I borrow your undies, you know I’m good for it.” I should have known this about Greg all along, as the way he introduced me to my dear friend Jaclyn in week 2 was by having relations with her in my bed. Again, don’t give out your room key to boys and expect them to not use it. Fall ’09 was the semester of the Limo and being drunk more often than sober, then hungover everyday. Special mention to Steph who got up one morning drunk, got dressed for class, walked to her class and then realized she forgot her way around campus. Fail. This was also the semester of Somi DJ in his undies. And of the puppies (rest in peace Dublin Ramos) Oh my goodness and Pool Parties, best summer fun since Spring Break. Think way to much alcohol, sun, red cups, inflatable toys and BYO dog. The day got too much for some, like Steph falling asleep for the entire party due to too many preliminary

jelloshots. She missed a great time including Greg and Jac’s cake fight. By the end, the cake had the last laugh because not only were they covered in it, but so was the oven, the floor, the fridge, the sink and the puppies. For these parties, we had guest DJ from Madrid SOMI DJ, who was going to dj in all conditions; rain, hail, shine or in most circumstances – with nothing but undies on in the middle of the living room. Other great parties in Fall include an anything but clothes party at V20, but apparently no one else got the memo because we were the only ones in paper bags and boxes. Not awkward. In fall we were also blessed with a house called the Love Shack. This house welcomed all, and was never locked. Sometimes us girls would be bored and go over there to hang out, sometimes the boys were there, other times not. We’d stay there either way. What was theirs was ours too, including their dogs, cars, food and rooftop – as this was used to sun bake on. Other great moments of Fall include going to the Getty Centre for 15 minutes, Connah, Joel and Fletch coming back as a surprise and going to Fright Fest at Six Flags. Six Flags is a small theme park with very mundane rides slash is the most amazing thing in California. That day we also had a feast at the Seizega’s small house and got more scared of the warped clowns chasing us around the theme park instead of worrying about defying gravity every time we got on a roller coaster. This was also around the time that Alvaro made everyone weed brownies (including the dogs) and Steph started freaking out. She wanted to run home to San Diego from Long Beach and only wanted to be comforted by my roommate during her panic sessions because she was a biology major and therefore more qualified to give hugs. I could go on with hundreds of more stories, all equally as memorable as the last but I suppose the only thing left to say is that its not where you are, its who you’re with. And last year, I met people who challenged me, travelled with me and made my experience a million times more fulfilling that I ever expected . “Quit worrying about stupid things. You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remeber time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ‘til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does.”.

Curve Balls? To be honest, the biggest curve ball I was thrown was health related. (No, no std’s or pregnancy scares, I can hear you from here Greg/ Connah, shut up) From the week I moved into the dorms until about mid semester I was literally sick non stop. My roommate had a pretty bad cold when I moved in and a week later, she was better and I was sick. She then caught what I had and I was better. We gave the same cold to eachother for a couple of months… then it started to get a bit worse for me. I was constantly going out, and it was much colder than home, I was getting very little sleep and not eating very well. I was feeling pretty sick for a few days and coughing non stop. One night around midnight I got up to go to the bathroom, I remember coming out to the sink to wash my hands and feeling dizzy. The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of the bathroom. I don’t think I was out for very long but I woke myself up calling for help. That was a wake up call for me and the next day I went to the doctor. They were so thorough, much more than I thought they would be. They did urine tests, blood tests and chest x-rays. It turned out that my cold had turned into bronchitis and was in the early stages of turning into pneumonia… which I’m told people die from if untreated. Awesome. So this was a week before spring break (remember Cancun changes lives) so the doctor told me I either keep partying all the time and not go to cancun, or I stay in bed for the entire week and be allowed to go to Spring Break. I chose the latter. So for a week, I went to no classes (was really hard), I took antibiotics, came out of my room to eat and shower and literally spend all day in bed. On top of this, I missed out of a few good parties and the boys started telling people I was disease ridden and “that’s what happens when you’re slutty” After that week I was better and went on to Cancun, but the moral of the story is when you feel yourself getting run down, take the time out to rest. Skip one party to get a decent night’s sleep for the sake of staying healthy as opposed to burning out.

What advice would you like to give other students going to this university/country? For people going to Long Beach, live on campus for at least your first semester to have a central place for meeting friends. Don’t live in Parkside (sorry Maisy) its so far away. Remember you need to be 21 to get into clubs so make friends with a Fake ID (they actually work.) Remember that a rubber in the states is not something that you erase a pencil mark in your book with. They don’t know what vegemite is, nor will they like it when you try to feed it to them. A pizza slice in the States is the size of a large plate. Get to know friends with cars; I say this because it opens up a whole new world of weekend trips and partying. If you don’t have friends with a car, BECOME the friend with a car by purchasing one. You can’t get by on just public transport unfortunately. Get involved with Thanksgiving and go to an American house for it if you can. Go all out on a Halloween costume, nothing will be too over the top… and go to Santa Barbara for it, you won’t regret it. Del Playa is a beachfront street that is around 5km long with houses all along it with parties in every single one. You can literally just walk into any house you want and be guaranteed lots of people, lots of alcohol and loud music. Remember, this is in every house for 5km. Oh and Spring Break – go to Cancun. Don’t ask questions just do it. Biggest adventure. Once upon a time two girls named Elysia and Penny decided to head to the Greek Islands and work for the summer. With no plans, no money and a sense of adventure, they were about to embark on the biggest travel rollercoaster of the year. In a nut shell, they land on Santorini, get a job working at a bar and live in a hotel room, then a week later go to Ios and stay in a cabin smaller that a toilet for 8Euros a night for 4 nights. They then ferry it to Mykonos where they get a shared reception job in a hotel owned by an Australian/Greek/Physco man who laughs at his own jokes and yells a lot. Working for a week there felt like a year and after many tears and midnight escape plans, they called their boss in Santorini begging for their jobs back. Once back on Santorini, it was 6 weeks of plate smashing, job sharing and living underneath a bar. They tackled hunger, homesickness and pulled out several survival skills living on 2 Euros a day.

Do you have any suggestions for saving money? If you’re going to go abroad, travel is obviously going to be a massive part of your expenses. In saying that there is a lot of money to be saved, all it takes is a little creativity and being friends with fellow cheapskates. Hotel rooms: who needs space to sleep? You won’t see the other 7 bodies in the bed with you when your asleep. Go to supermarkets and buy dinner, eating out can add up if your doing it a lot and plus you need to tip over there. If your Greg Mulligan you will also put a bottle of vodka down your pants when entering a club to avoid paying for drinks there What aspects did you find most rewarding? This is so hard. The most rewarding part of going away is knowing that everything that comes out of your experience, is by your own doing. The people you meet, the places you see and the memories you make, are all a result of your own willingness to get out of your comfort zone and go abroad. My friendships are honestly my biggest success from going to Long Beach. I met people that changed my outlook on life and really put things in perspective for me. I laughed until I cried almost everyday with them, I traveled with them, partied with them, cried with them and broke into a school pool with them. Its so rewarding to find people in life who genuinely make yours better. I found friends over there that are now my family… just some of them have accents and borderline can’t speak English. Alvaro. win. Best Experience? One of the most amazing moments on my exchange was being with 11 of my best friends and all of us seeing Times Square for the first time. We were all like children in a candy store, it was this surreal place that we’d all seen in movies but once actually there is was incredible. We spent hours wandering around and Joel met his twin head in a sports store window.

If youthere for a semester, don’t be a prude jude and only go out once a week, not kiss as many people as possible, not wrestle as much as possible, do as little amount of home work as possible (none at all would be great), do spontaneous things because they often turn out to be the funnest times (Santa Barbara with Greg and Thom, Hollywood at Les Duex with Al, Joel, Greg, Peter Hall and Thom, eating brownies and surfing with Schwartz, Zacharia, Greg and Shane, stealing a golf cart with Ian, going to Vegas

I chose to only stay for one semester at Long Beach State because I feel I got the best out of my exchange possible and I had no desire to stay any longer then my 6 or so months. In my six months of being in America I had travelled to so many places I cant name them all, every weekend we were going somewhere different, partying somewhere different and meeting more and more people. From day one in America I knew I would be there for only a short time so I wasn’t going to waste it thinking of home or not going out or not filling in my time doing random things, like inventing H20 ball with Ian. So my advice is stay for as long as you want, 6 months, a year, or get married like Peter Hall is, just make sure you do as much as possible with the little time you have as it goes so so so fast.

Our crew of Aussies struck it off pretty much straight away even though we were all fairly different, from different back grounds, however the fact that we were stuck together in Long Beach pretty much meant we had to get along….until we started making other friends anyways. Over the time I spent in Long Beach I experienced a lot of things. Sickness, Drunkness, Sluttyness, drugedness, homelessness. However I never got homesick. I felt that the more you did the less you thought of home and whats going on back in Australia. So often I would be too busy either travelling, partying or just hanging around with friends that I would forget that I am actually in another country, away from my family.

Going to America was to be my first trip overseas and by far the furthest I had been away from home. I left Brisbane airport with no idea of where I was staying in LA or what I was to do. All I had was a plan to head straight to the campus, try and ring joel or mayo who I had met at a pre departure meeting at UQ and go from there. Coming from a town of around 200 people flying into LA was pretty daunting and ghetto looking. Over my first week I stayed with the head at the Guest house because I ran into him on my first day in the USA at the campus, was pretty handy. I then met two other aussies thom and peter hall at sign off in the first week and met the rest at our Australian Day BBQ at lionels on the Sunday before uni started.

Chaps Says:

Because one day you’ll be dead, thats why!

Best Travel story? I have a few good travel stories. One of my favourite was getting high and driving to vegas with some of my mates from home and greg. My friend who was driving couldn’t stay in the proper lane and it was scaring the shit out of me greg and jake. Also that sight you get when you first drive over the hill and look down toward vegas with a sick song going in the car will stay with me for a long time (even though greg tried to make our them song dreaming by scribe—gayest song choice ever mulligan) One of the best weekends in LBC- We went to a party in Newport at a unit complex on the friday. Me Ian and Mikey decided to leave early. On our way out we walked past a gold buggy which the security drove. I got to Ian’s car and looked at him and remember saying we’ve gotta do this so we jumped into the buggy and I drove it down to road and hid it from the security and bailed. On the Saturday we came 3rd in a Spanish soccer comp with our team called commonwealth, I still have to trophy which is ridiculously big considering we only came 3rd. That night we got picked up by spencer and I met douglas b bone, we went to a gathering at Spencers in san diego and had a cracking night, I got fiberglass all over my back because I took a girl onto the roof and the next day and trip back to the LBC was the most painful shit ever. Me and joel went into a hammock store in

san pedro Guatemala, after buying a hammock the gentleman offered us cocaine, very cheap he said. Greg shitting himself when a black guy asked what he was staring at when we pulled up at traffic lights in San Francisco. The guy then asked for a smoke but greg said we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any then the bloke got angry again and said us white fellas donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give niggers nothin.Going to north shore in Hawaii and watching the sun set over pipe line and sunset beach was pretty sweet, even though we had to put up with joel claiming he has a huge wang. Not really a travel story, but one night we were in the dining hall and al put the idea into our heads that we should go to Hollywood to party on a Monday night. We got together the pioneers (Al, Joel, Me, Greg, Thom and Peter Hall) and looked at placed to go. We got a 30 packs of natty lite and went on our way to Hollywood in an overcrowded car with al drunk and high driving. Ill never forget driving down the boulevard with californacation by red hot chilli peppers cranking having a great time. We found a place called Les Deux after it turned out the bar Joel chose to go to was a gay one. So Les Deux is actually famous and Monday nights was called rockin Mondays and had a cover band. That night Greg me and Thommy were drinking straight vodka in the upstairs toilet which was also a shower. After that night we created a tradition to go to Les Deux every Monday till end of semester the others joined.

Going to Springbok bar in downtown LBC with Matty Higgins and drinking 1 dollar beers all night. We then walked out and got into an argument with some frat boys, for some reason we chased them into the car park and up the stairs, I was too drunk to see them at the top of the stairs and they started kicking and punching me in the head from the top step, joel stayed downstairs and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help me and matt. Another time we were in seal beach for St. Pattys day and I whizzed on some blokes house, he came out and out his arm around me and started punching me in the head, lucky Jackie came back and she asked him to stop cause I was too drunk to do anything.

Worst travel story/travel nightmare. I think one of the worst experiences I had is also one of the best stories. One weekend Steph went to san diego and leant her car to Thom Greg and myself. So we decided to go to Huntington beach for a surf then drove down to Newport and laguna. That night we decided to go to santa Barbara because it was floatopia which was a great idea. So we went back to LB state got our stuff together and grabbed a 30 pack of beers from Ralphs and got on our way. We all drank the 30 before we got to SB so we were well on our way. We met up with Shane and Jana and we also knew Al, Yusuf and Peter Hall were up there the same night so we were going to meet up with them. We thought it was best to give our keys to Thom cause he was the most reliable, or so we thought. Turns out we got separated from the boy and myself and Greg ended up sleeping in a bush beside the car in a fucking freezing cold night beside the beach in santa Barbara, by far the worst experience and yet one of the best stories. We then had to wait around until 11 before Thom decided to show back up to the car the next dayâ&#x20AC;Śgood times

Joel Says: Its hard to describe the experience, and a lot of Australians don’t get to experience what an exchange is like. I felt a sense of achievement having completed the program because I was highly dependent on myself to organise travel, manage my money etc. I’ve made friends for life that’s for sure and after only being back for just over a year, we’ve had three reunions with all the Australian based people from exchange. Some of our American friends have already visited us in Australia and there is a lot more on the way this summer. The places I have seen have made me appreciate how good we really do have it living in Australia but at the same time have increased my desire further to go out and explore more of the world. The best advice I can give to someone thinking about going on exchange is just do it. Get involved in everything, meet new people and be open to change and to new environments. I cant wait to go traveling again and visit all the people I met in their home countries.

Biggest adventure? By far, the biggest adventure was our group trip to Yosemite National Park in Northern California. We left a bit later that day and a group of our friends had left earlier. We were given directions to our campsite by one of our friends which were completely wrong. Not mentioning any names…Kayleigh Humphrey! We arrived in the area at 1am or sometime around then. It was pitch black, we had no directions and there was snow outside. We ended up driving through this national park for a few hours, running low on petrol and not having a clue what to do. To make matters worse, not a single bar of mobile phone reception. A few incidents occurred that would fit well into a sequel to Wolf Creek. We ended up finding a random campsite, drove through asking for directions and befriended a Mormon family who turned out to be an interesting bunch. Not fully understanding their religious beliefs, we proceeded to drink alcohol, smoke weed around them and crashed there for the night, all four of us in the car with no blankets. Did you get yourself in to any trouble? In Santa Barbara, on a big college street, a mate Alvaro and I were walking with alcohol and the seal had been broken. Well….apparently there’s a law against this in America. The police wrote both Al and I a fine and we were told to go to court on a specified date. We thought ‘FUCK THAT’ so we didn’t go. It turned out that the police officer wrote down my American address incorrectly and only got my Queensland Drivers Licence as ID. So I don’t think it’ll catch up with me, because I’ve entered and left the US a couple of times since and haven’t been denied.

Best travel story? One of the most memorable experiences was going to Spring Break in Cancun. You see it on movies and you see pictures in magazines but until you actually experience, there is no way of truly portraying the experience. On our second night there were in the party precinct and we were checking out which nightclub would be best to go to. We decided on one called ‘Coco Bongos’ and were told tonight would be $50 US entry. I immediately thought, this is a rip off, we are in Mexico, this is supposed to be one of the cheapest countries in the world. How wrong I was. It turned out to be the best night of my life. In Australia, when we think nightclub, we think dance floor, DJ, bar and that’s it. This included a 5 hour or so acrobatic show above you with people swinging from everywhere, UNLIMITED drinks at the bar and the drunkest girls you’ve ever seen! This also turned out to be the night of my first kiss with a black chick, who was later named Nigerian Princess by everyone else. They say when you go black, you don’t go back. We’ll I’ve certainly gone back. She also appeared to be a little young, but we’ll leave that alone. Don’t worry, I backed it up with a little hottie about 20 minutes later! This night ended at about 5am/6am and myself and Greg Mulligan, were THE LAST MEN STANDING as we were told to leave by security staff once the lights had been turned on. Next day, we couldn’t find another Australian guy, Peter Hall. No one had a clue where he was. I think even some of the girls went to the police station to see if he’d been locked up or something. It was quite funny to see him walking down the street at around 2pm the next day in the same clothes as the night before. Till this day, we still don’t know what happened to him that night, and he’s keeping it quiet.

What are the best aspects of your housing? Meeting such a diverse group of people was the best aspect of living in the dorms. Even though we only spent one semester together, I would consider the circle of friends I had as some of my best and undoubtedly, lifelong friendships were born. What are the worst aspects? I don’t know how the people who run the housing do the roommate selections. Coming from another country, and not knowing anyone, I was obviously unable to put in a request for a particular roommate. My room mate and I couldn’t have been more different. We had absolutely nothing in common, he snored like a steam train, rolled joints on my desk and left little bits of weed lying around, one of his friends sat on my laptop and broke the screen, he had sex with his girlfriend when he thought I was asleep, thought he was an African American…even though he was white and had he consistently had his ghetto black friends over and they’d be using my stuff. Worst Experience? The worst experience I had was leaving the US. When you’re on exchange you kind of become part of the community and after a while it really starts to feel like home. In my last couple of weeks, I started to realize it is all coming to an end, I was on a huge travel high after traversing across the country, and I began to realize that all the group of people I’d met would never be in the same place again at the same time. It took about three weeks back in Australia of mild depression to readjust to my life again. I actually ended up going online to look at flight prices to the US and found a ridiculously cheap deal of $850 AU return from Brisbane to LA, got my credit card out and the rest was history. About 4 months later I was back in Long Beach for a couple of weeks, partying with my American friends and some other exchange students.

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Best travel story? It’s hard to say, I did so much travelling probably Spring Break, I loved that we’d wake up hung over, drink all day at Oasis, come back for an few hours to pass out and then drink again through the night. It was everything that Spring Break movies encompass – bikini contests, pool parties and lots of drinking and dancing. It was so different to the US, the culture, the food, the language, the people, the vibe. It was magnificently beautiful and I only wish I had more time to spend exploring. Spring break (both the solo travel and Cancun with everyone else) is probably one of the favourite countries of the 22 that I’ve been to...not bragging or nuthin. By the end my entire body was exhauste. An all round city great food, unique eateries, culture, facinating achitecture and interesting people to say in the least…

Worst travel story? Probably when I woke up (on the bus) to a gun virtually in my face in Mexico and no one spoke English and I had no idea who the man in camouflage was. It was an overnight bus from Palenque to Merida and I had rescue remedy and sleeping apparatus (ie. Eye mask and ear plugs) I was out… and everyone was off the bus except me and this dude when I woke up. Worsen by the fact that even my professors at college had begged me not to go to Mexico by myself because I would be kidnapped and killed. We all had to get off the bus and they started going through everyone’s bags I thought we were getting robbed, I’d heard that it was a notorious leg for highway robberies. Many travelers to Mexico have heard about highway robbery on the news. Unfortunately it is a real risk to Mexico buses. Highway robbers typically attack Mexico buses at night on secluded stretches of highway. They were just checking for drugs though...silly me!

Adventure? When Kay and I decided on the second day of the program that we would bus to Venice Beach to get the guy I was seeing back home a t-shirt from Golds gym. We miss-anticipated the buses and the weather (he had little more than cardigans on) – we left at midday and were still sitting there at LAX (somehow we ended up there) at the bus terminal at 10pm waiting for a connecting bus. Not e: don’t try and get to Vencie Beach and back via public transport, it’s fucked.

Pre-departure information What information do you wish you could have had before you left Australia?That they won’t let you board a flight to the US without having accommodation booked and even set up some sort of home stay thing for a couple of days. I chose to stay in a rough neighborhood and had no idea till about 5 pick up trucks pulled over and asked me to get in when I was walking to get dinner the first night along.

Differences in study? My course in the US was incredibly easy, accompanied by the fact that I knew it was pass of fail (no grades given). I finished my journalism major over there – so third year. The standard of work that I did was equivalent to year 10-english. There were so many obscure classes I could enroll in – I loved the fact that I did weights and cardio as a class. There were also some fun assessments that I did – i.e. the vegemite postcast. I don’t think I learned much, but this gave me more free time to chase black men (hang out in Compton)

Was there an orientation? I did an exchange orientation day in Australia prior to being accepted, where we spoke about the cultural differences and how people in America don’t kiss each other ‘hello’ and how that’s quite European and weird to them.

“

I scammed money out of Centrelink about $370 a fortnight, plus the stimulus pkg thanks K-Rudd for the $1850 and my uni grave me $1500 for my good marks.

Thursday morning I decided to call the airline (Mexicana) airlines to re-organise my flights. Besides picking up a possibly 17-year old? Instead of Merida – Palenque – Mexico – Not making nearly as much money as Penny Carbo, I would go Merida – Cancun to meet up and I hoped in the Greek Islands? Haha Kay’s with everyone else from college (to fly straight passport? Got stalked by a big black man who into Cancun was too expensive to change). So I figured I’d make the most of the time I had left notes in my dorm room… to spend by myself and embrace the Spanish Monday – Kayleigh gets her passport stolen. culture… The plane touched down and I was Our flight is booked for Merida, Mexico on the less than prepared from the journey ahead – I Thursday night. Not exactly the best timing for had culture shock. No one knew how to speak one’s passport to be stolen. Kay had her j1 Visa English (even at the airport), a fellow-traveller stapled in her passport (mandatory for return at the airport saw me struggling and translated back into the US) and is only available from her for me, telling me the bus into town was a home country (England). The risk that Kay ran 10-minute walk (and pointed in the direction if she were to leave the country mean that she’d I needed to take). I eventually found the bus basically be an illegal immigrant and should she and realized I’d forgotten to exchange money try to re-enter the US would be deported. The – thank God for the power of the US-dollar!! I next three days were spent frantically calling hopped on the local bus, again – no one spoke embassies and getting passed around between English and everyone stared at me with my Mexican consulate, LA consulate and British backpack… that constant lump sat in my throat, consulate – to add to the debacle there was I was way out of my comfort zone! a hefty fee to call through to the British one. The day before, on the Wednesday we were Once I found my hostel and talked to some other still hopeful that we could sort through this – travelers I felt a little more comfortable and the Kayleigh went to get an emergency passport… next few days saw me sight-see with various the machine broke in the middle of it being people as well as solo. I saw a few Mayan printed – GREAT! … With just over 24 hours ruins – Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Palenque, until I was due to fly out Kayleigh and I called our went through part of the Mexican jungle and respective insurance company – there was ‘no heard the spider monkeys (they’re insane), saw reason why I couldn’t go to Mexico’ (no death, Agua Azul (perhaps the most amazing series sickness, theft on my behalf). I kept looking on of waterfalls I’ve ever seen), Spanish danced, the Governmental warning sites (warning all went to night markets, ate local food, drank local American travelers not to go) and questioned drinks, bought a sweet hammock, met the local how does a drug lord distinguish between an people and conversed with them, practiced my American and an Australian tourist. I had people Spanish and took from the entire experience in my classes begging me not to go (including something that I hadn’t done yet this trip – push my professors) and telling me horror stories. I myself to uncomfortable limits. I wish Kayleigh was really freaked out; particularly about going had the chance to experience this all and grow to Mexico City solo… even the Mexicans in my with me, but for whatever reason, something up there was stopping her from going. class were instilling fear in me.

Horror Story?

How does a drug lord distinguish between an American and an Australian tourist?

Las Vegas Vegas – not named “Sin City” for nothing. Internationally renowned for a civilisation randomly arising in the middle of a desert… a city solely based around gambling, shopping, resorts, fine dining and entertainment. In our two days in Las Vegas we slept for only four hours, lounged by a pool, rode in style in a limo, got a lap dance from a female stripper and learnt how to change car tyre blew in the middle of the Nevada desert, on our way home).

name suggests, can take you to see replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Montolfier balloon, Arc de Triomphe and La Fontaine des Mers; the New York New York takes you to the Big Apple – with cabarets, rollercoasters and where Coyote Ugly was filmed; The Luxor, boasts the largest pyramid in America, imitating the Ancient Egyptian monuments.

A lot of the entertainment and attractions in Vegas are free. Some were more “tasteful” than Driving down the infamous Strip, where all the others. Although I was not totally against the main casinos, hotels and entertainment are, Flamingo hotel’s exhibition of flamingos and was almost surreal. Stretching as far as the other birds, I was saddened by MGM casino’s eye can see are elaborate buildings each with attempt to feature a lion in an ‘animal friendly’ different themes; each boasting something enclosure, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. uniquely the largest in the world/ America – the We were, however, in the right place at the right Stratosphere Tower, the tallest free-standing time – we saw the carer hop in with the lion to observation tower in the world. feed it, with meat being thrown at the observatory glass. I enjoyed the mor animal frienedly show US; Circus Circus boasts the largest permanent far better – the Bellagio showcases the famous big top in the world and features three circus musical and light fountain show and the Bellagio acts a day, the Fashion Show Mall is the largest Conservatory and Treasure Island puts on a enclosed mall in the world; the Mirage hosts the largest free standing marquee in the world. Alongside the extravagant hotels, resorts and casinos, luxury and classic cars are a prominent feature in some casinos – the Wynn was the first casino to include a luxury car dealership; the Imperial Palace contains the largest classic car showroom. Another well known attraction of Vegas is the mock cities – the Venetian, mimicking Venice with its canals and gondolas, the Paris, as the

musical and visual effects show for all ages. The plan was a girl’s weekend – Vegas is extremely cheap for girls. With the casinos attracting the men, the women get into the night clubs for free… evidently guys with table service are more inclined to invite a group of girls to drink with them if they’re not with the company of other males. So this was a little how the weekend went – free entry and free drinks. Although we arrived late in Vegas, it did not matter what time of day it was – there was bound to be something going on. We were picked up by our limo and taken to a club in the Luxor. It was a Thursday night, however we were all surprised that it wasn’t busier… we went in search of more nightlife and was offered, by a club owner, to go back to his club. So we hopped in his limo there… evidently ‘the club’ was a strip club. “ah well, when in Vegas”

we all thought. This is how the unexpected lap dance came about for Kayleigh Me? – my first lap dance done by a thirty year old stripper, named Callice, who had three children at home and was waiting for her ‘man’ to get out of jail. The next day was spent at a pool party – ‘Wet Republic’ – hosted by MGM; followed by the long walk down The Strip to see the extravagant and glittering hotels, before making our way to Trist nightclub in the Wynn hotel. The main feature of the club – a 45 foot waterfall; quite literally, when we were jolted wide awake by a loud ‘pop’ and we momentarily lost control of the car. With not one car stopping for half an hour we managed to find the jack, elevate the car, change the tyre and were just screwing in the bolts when a man, ironically named Ace, who’d grown up in Vegas his entire life, screwed them on in two seconds and was on his way. A magical place… an exhausting place… and intense lifestyle. Can’t wait to go back

Maisys Meet Maisy, an interesting breed of Asian appearance with bleached blonde hair. Half Hungarian, half Japanese, yet the most Australian-sounding female I think I have ever met. She was brought up in Tasmania but relocated to Queensland after she realized how much Tasmania sucks. She was small but loud and was inspired by movies like Mean Girls and shows like The Hills. She was there for a good time, keen to party and definitely not shy.

Exchange do’s of and don’ts

Make sure that your VISA is properly sorted, that you have gotten the $5000 per semester HECS loan and that you have arranged for Centrelink to pay you while you are away. This will be of assistance when one American College screws up your transfer to another American College and you have to fly to Mexico in order to enter back in to the country on the VISA WAIVER PROGRAM to await your departure all the way back to Australia to get a new VISA.

Prepare for the worst. When you arrive optimistic about the fact that you will be sharing a bedroom with an ‘absolutely awesome person that will become your besty yayyy’ you will be severely disappointed, or as in my case you will want to hang yourself from the black noose which is probably hanging in your new gothic roommate’s closet. Picture arriving with pink suitcase in hand, pink bedding, glittery ornaments, numerous HAPPY smiling photos, and an array of clothing which rivals all the colourfulness of a rainbow. This does not blend well with the all black gothic room of fat roomie with bad hair. During the proceeding month inbetween continuously attempting to be moved, you will learn to: *Sleep with 5 extra blankets because fat roomie feel the heat more and therefore sleeps with the window open. *Block the sounds of Zombie killing internet game which is played until 3am. *Live off minimal sleep as fat roomie snores louder than any jackhammer or drunken boy that falls asleep on his back. *Be tough when ants or gross bugs turn up in dirty room because there is no way you’re cleaning that side of the room.

Combine aforementioned, Tequila night with $2 vodka-raspberry Jelly shot night.This shall result in: You being found by friends in the middle of the street halfway between Jelly Shot Bar and Race Track Bar with an absent look on your face and inability to speak as well as; big toenail bent back from halfway sticking straight up and a trail of blood following you (upside at least it shows you where you went that night) You will be taken home in a taxi and carried into your room by that poor guy who always seems to be around when you’re at your worst and is thus given this duty and then the second-most drunk person of the night will decide the best idea is to push your toenail back down in to place. This is NOT a good option and does not yield anticipated results only screams as well as spewing up which lasts all night as the hangover hits… You will have to limp to two exams the next day arriving late therefore causing a scene as you move a chair from the middle of the desks to the end and leave once or twice in order to chuck your guts up as well as your mind wiped blank of everything but your name… NOTE: You will still manage to achieve B’s.

Do: Dye your hair dark when going on exchange. Red Jelly spew shows up very distinctly in blonde hair.

Don’t

Let scandalous acts happen to you. These can be avoided by not living with 6 foot tall models from Monaco. They will live in the room next door to you at college having to hear you having fun with your current love interest and as revenge will steal him from under your… well….you.The blow can nevertheless be softened by having already beginning the transition from Sad Idiot to gorgeous, tanned Swiss student a week before this occurrence.

Pile every possible thing on to a sleeping exchange mate, it is their fault for falling asleep and they would appreciate that they are not missing out on the fun because of their misdemeanour. Bouncing on the bed, sitting on them while putting various items such as; chairs, cones, the phone book, the phone, and tickling/tweaking their face is a must do whilst on exchange.

• Topple from the top of the stairs of the bus right down to your final resting place of dirty Mexican gutter. This will evoke pity from Greg or some other friend in your case and you will be carried home, SCORE! …Too tired to walk it anyway! • Wear appropriate underwear that covers the entirety of both butt cheeks (or at least wear some type underwear). This is important as it is inevitable that you shall be zip-lined approximately 10 metres above the other thousand or so inhabitants of Coco Bongo’s nightclub by ‘The Mask’ with exactly 0 safety ropes and 0 safety net. Such activity allows you 1 of 2 options; hold on to your dress, or hold on to your life. Human instinct will kick in and you will find yourself clinging to the green costumed Mexican man with all your might. • Have a massive night on the Tequila’s before you final day of exams…experience has revealed that College is easy and you can still come out with B’s even when all you need is PASS/FAIL. • Have sex with a virgin. These are in abundance in America and unlike back home these can be found above the 0-14 year old age bracket making it irresistible if you’ve been wanting to try it legally. It’s not like you can corrupt America more than it already is therefore go ahead open the eyes of those eager 21 year old virgins!

In conclusion, when embarking on an American Exchange forget the tourist crap and remember this guide

: Follow this Do’s and Don’ts Live by the motto “When in Rome” And make sure you have the best time of your LIFE

And always carry a chaser!

for a year. Getting kicked out of Le Deux

I still can’t believe that that was my life

casual night out in hollywood no biggie.

was our local night out, just another

of that. II loved the fact that Hollywood

have no idea and are unhappy because

grateful for as I know so many people who

I want to do with my life which I am so

itthe year there helped me figure out what

LA. I felt right at home in California and

them around and to eventually go back to

can’t wait for people to visit me and to show

Christmas and hopefully again someday. I

few occasions, well now I’m going over

Australia, I even remember saying it on a

was never really interested in going to

always. Before I went to America I

probably have this special connection

all experienced it together and that we’ll

so incredibly special. I am so glad that we

the experience and probably what made it

friends I have made are a huge chunk of

the adventures to name a few. The new

almost a year, the people, the places and

to the stupid grin I had on my face for

There are so many things that contribute

smiling the whole time I was out there.

lows etc., I really feel like I did not stop

through all the ups and downs, highs and

that this was the best experience of my life,

Wow, ok to sum up. I think I can truly say

advice, get involved with everything

contact with me while I was away. My

friends because they bothered to keep in

been friends with became my super close

I got back a few people that I had always

you bother to keep in touch with. When

to keep in touch with you and the ones

close friends are, the ones that bother

back home you come to realise who your

that’s another thing I found with people

it’s just so easy to keep in touch and

facebook, skype, emails and everything.,

really homesick because of things like

Sure I missed back home, but I never got

silly and I feel so much happier for it.

much about myself over this year it’s

and you make do from there, I learnt so

experience with just yourself to rely on

learn about yourself, you go into the

best things about the year is what you

than an academic year. One of the

truly helped it feel like a holiday rather

academically that I found at CSULB, it

Yes I did love the slightly easier standard

Yeah I did, 7 A’s and one B baby YEOW!

makes me think did I even go to school?

have been ticked off through this year, it

too. So many things on the ‘bucket’ list

Break Canun WOO off my list, done that

I would never be able to tick off Spring

that I am incredibly proud of. I thought

being perhaps too drunk are two moments

If people are going on trips somewhere, going out to a club/bar, movies, hell just hanging out in the common room go and get to mingling. If you don’t as I said earlier you only have yourself and in a place where I feel the experience is pretty much dependent on the people you meet getting to know people is really job number one. Words can’t really describe the year that I had, well clearly they do as evidenced above, but I think I mean the words don’t have enough meaning behind them to truly articulate what I got out of this year. I think all I have to say is if you have the opportunity to do anything at all similar to this, be it academically or professionally or just as your own personal adventure, do it, you won’t lose much if it doesn’t go all to plan and the things you will gain are just simply immeasurable.

Please explain briefly how you chose your accommodation? I got in contact with a student (mikey) from my university who was at CSULB the semester before me and asked him where I should stay and he told me I House. I hadn’t really considered the whole living off campus thing and when I first arrived in the US and we started hanging out at people’s houses I started to think I had made a mistake choosing to live on campus in the dorms, however as I began to met all the other students on campus, both exchange/ international/ domestic I realised that I house was exactly the right choice for me What are the best aspects of your housing? I loved how you were never truly alone when living in dorms, there were always people about to talk to and hang out with especially at those times when you’re feeling a little low and far away from home, just spending time with people always brought me out of those kinds of moods and as we were in dorms there were so many people around to do this with. What are the worst aspects? What needs improving? Oh god, the food. When I first got there I thought it was amazing but after two semesters of the same things all the time it got a little too much, so definitely the food needs improving. Other than that? The cost maybe, dorms are so expensive and perhaps one of the reasons I would have reconsidered the dorms and perhaps chosen off campus accommodation as it is so much cheaper. I loved the dorms though and as we knew people with houses I think we got the best of both worlds

What aspects of your experience so far have you found most difficult? I really didn’t expect to make the life long (hopefully) friendships I made out there and I never realised how tough it would be to say goodbye, and I had to do it twice, that was incredibly tough but I think if you want to make to make the effort you can see and speak to all these people again. The adjustment when I got home after the year out in California was tough mainly because you can’t truly talk to your friends back home Are there any costs that you feel we should alert students to in the future? All the trips you end up going on. I went to Vegas, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, San Diego, Yosemite, Reno, Cancun and there’s still more I wanted to do. Especially if you’re staying in Spring Semester, you have to experience the American spring break and that usually means Cancun, Mexico, and flights/accommodation was so expensive, I thought ridiculously so so that is definitely worth saving a little extra for to your friends back home about it because even though they know you had this amazing time they will never know really how it effected you so that’s tough. What aspects did you find most rewarding? Meeting all these amazing people that otherwise I most likely would never have had the opportunity to meet in my lifetime. Some of these friendships I made I know will last a long time and it also means I have places to stay all over

A L ITTLE BIT OF

NONSENSE.

CREATIVITY... A WHOLE LOT OF

BEST EXPERIENCE? Wow, it is hard to choose just one best experience when the whole year was one of, if the, best experience of my life. I think in my first semester my favourite ‘experience’ was the three nights that made up Halloween. House party on the Thursday, Santa Barbara on the Friday and then a final house party on the Saturday. I think Halloween was pretty muc h the midway point in that semester and the first weekend I really felt the old lot from the previous semester and us newbie’s truly click as a group and I loved it. Other best experiences? Partying in Hollywood, taking a stretched limo cause it was cheaper than a taxi always stands out in my mind, the vegas weekend with the girls where it was just one randomly awesome moment after another. WORST EXPERIENCE? I think the worst experience of the year abroad were the moments when I knew all my friends were back home together in the holidays and

all the photos would come up on facebook and I’d feel so incredibly homesick. That and the saying goodbye midway through my year to those only staying the one semester or at the end of their year abroad. That was one of the toughest experiences of my life and unfortunately had to repeat it when my year was over. Saying goodbye is the one thing that no one really warns you about and it hits you. When I got back for my second semester after a lot of my friends had left it took me a few weeks to snap out of missing them and enjoy myself again with the new exchange students. It’s bittersweet becase it just shows you how amazing all these people that you met were and all the times you shared with them. What curve balls did exchange throw at you? Never thought I’d make such hopefully lasting friendship and the whole saying goodbye thing which ive mentioned before. I didn’t get too bad homesickness and I was able to keep In contact with everyone.

Life on exchange was never dull, and in all honesty itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the people I surrounded myself with who truly made my exchange. My advice to anyone considering exchange: Make friends early on, get involved and say yes to every opportunity that comes your way, because it is this way you will end up with no regretsjust an amazing experience thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll stay with you the rest of your life.

VEGAS 5 girls 3 nights free everything all weekend Amazing

What curve balls did exchange throw at you? Living with someone in such close quarters was definitely challenging.. Especially as Hannah and I spent so much time together, being in the same group of friends, it was difficult at times. When you’re living with someone who is not part of your family, who you can’t just yell at or cry to or be frustrated with, because you know you’re not obligated to love each other, it can sometimes be difficult to stay calm all the time! But dorm living all part of the college experience. I had it a lot easier than some of my friends who had hellish room mates

what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

Worst travel story/travel nightmare? Hannah, Jess and I almost got abducted by the dodgy illegal cab drivers at JFK. Luckily we got the creeps before we actually got into the cab and started walking back towards the other cab area where the legal drivers were. The youth hostel we stayed at in San Fran for LoveFest felt like it was going to collapse if someone sneezed

What aspects did you find most rewarding? The challenges and the friendships. Knowing I could spend that time away from family, friends and the comfort of home and routine was a really refreshing revelation and something I’m proud of. I met some of the most amazing people and it’s hard to process that if I had never gone, they wouldn’t be a part of my life.

Best Experience? Everything. Living the college lifestyle was a crazy, incredible experience that I wouldn’t take back for anything. Going out and doing things, even when I didn’t really feel like it, was something new in itself for me… it taught me that life is what you make of it. You can only ever regret not doing something, not having taken that opportunity. Favorite Destination? NewYork City,Thanksgiving, Me, Hannah and Jess, experiencing the sights/sounds/food/ culture the city has to offer. The time of year was amazing- Central Park was my favourite part of the whole city- the Autumn colours were amazing.The food was incredible did not have a single bad thing to eat the whole time we were there.And Broadway is heaven for a musical nerd

The best year of my life. I went to study to California in Los Angeles. We made a huge group of international students, and ever yone in LA wanted to be friend with us. We traveled the most!!! I went twice to San Francisco and twice to San Diego, so no one can say that we just stayed in LA. Actually in San Diego I did one of the craziest things i have ever done... sky diving. With my good friend Jordan, the nicest american guy who rented his house out to us and made pool parties ever y weekend. We traveled twice to Las Vegas, it was insane!! The second time We stayed in a suite in Palms hotel, for adams birthday, never forget that. Yusuf and myself had the best spring break in the world, we went to Miami for a music festival then Cancun to meet up with ever yone else! Great choice. During the summer Greg, Joel, Connah, Tom, Penny, Kayleigh and myself went to Hawaii( oahu and maui) and then to New York. Best summer ever.

We rented limousines as if we were rock stars.

Fuck me Im famous