2 weeks in beautiful Brissy

Kari, me and Alex at the Pig
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Well, it's been a few weeks since I've written an entry so I figured I should get on that and provide an update. Since getting back from Darwin we decided to soak up the sunshine in Brisneyland and relax before the holidays. Almost everyone in our Australia Exchange Program (AEP) is headed out somewhere for the break so we're all hanging around until then. The first weekend in December we got a real taste of what the nightlife is like out here. On the 4th of December Kari and I went to go see the traveling Cirque du Soleil show Dralion because it was in town in Hamilton! It was really awesome and I still can't believe the amazing physical feats the performers are able to achieve. I also wonder how they decide what they want to specialise in - I mean do they just wake up and decide, "I want to be a trampoline performer!" or "I want to balance my entire body on one hand on a tiny platform" ??? i guess the intrigue of it all just adds to the enjoyment. Unfortunately no cameras allowed during the show so as you can see we just have pix of the outside of the big tents.

me dance jumping
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We went out with a bunch of Boeing grads on Friday after work and started the night off at the Pig (& Whistle), everyone's favourite local pub. Everyone from Boeing (and all the companies downtown) congregate there on Fridays after work so it is always packed and a good way to meet people and have a good time. After the Pig we went to the Coffee Club for dinner (yes they serve food, not just coffee despite the name). Then we went to Fridays, this nightclub/bar that played mostly American music so it was fun to dance and know most of the songs! Other highlights of the weekend included me trying squash for the first time -- the sport not the vegetable :P. My buddy Wayne showed me how to play at the University of Queensland (UQ) sports center. The campus is gorgeous and I also saw my first wild lorikeets -- so beautiful! I was all excited to see them "look! those birds are so pretty!" They were a vivid green with orange and red along the head and beak. Wayne was confused and said "don't you have those birds in America?" "no way, not so colorful, most of the birds in America are brown!" We also checked out Indooroopilly which when properly pronounced sounds more like "Indroo-pilly" where we hit up the shopping mall and picked up gifts for our white elephant gift exchange.

Kari, Alex and I at Jade Buddha
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this past weekend was more relaxing in Brisbane. Cheryl hosted a holiday party at her place that was heaps of fun. Good nibbles, drinks, music and company! On Saturday we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the largest in Australia and fed kangaroos and cuddled Koalas! so much fun! We also watched Australia the movie which was a bit too long and dramatic for my tastes but still worth seeing for the nice cinematography and quasi-history lesson on aboriginal culture.

Before you ask, yes I did do some work these past few weeks :). I turned in some of my deliverables for my project so they can be reviewed while i'm gone. not all fun and games here - we work hard and play hard!

at Lone Pine
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I'm excited for Hong Kong and China! My flight is tomorrow morning and I'll be seeing the rest of the Chow clan in Hong Kong tomorrow evening, yay! I can't wait! I'll try to make some updates from there if I can, otherwise, Happy Holidays everyone and see you in 2009!!!