Well *obviously* the first person narrative is more opinionated than the objective third person...

[clo_again]

*points at subject* A snatch of conversation I heard as I was walking back from my seminar. Have I mentioned before how much I love being at university? :)

Today has been good, despite having officially told the Study Abroad people that I'm not going to Canada next year. *sighs mournfully* She understood completely when I said it was a financial decision though - apparently eight out of nine people have dropped out because of the cost. I'm still disappointed though. It would've been fantastic. *wistful sigh*

Andy winning - by retirement or not, he was going to win anyway - was enough to get my day off to a great start. Brief panic when I discovered one of the semi-finals is being shown live tomorrow which I'd miss since I'm not getting home until the evening, but frantic text message to the 'rents has solved the problem I think. I'm assuming it'll be the Roger vs Marat and there's no way in *hell* I'll miss that, taped or not. (Because mmmmm...) I'll also get to see the final Sunday morning, which is good and Andy's semi. *chews her nails* Sorry to the Hewitt fans but GO ANDY!!! This semi-final seems to have almost been... predestined, if that's the right word. *thoughtful* Both semi-finals in fact. And if we get an Andy-Roger final, or a Roger-Lleyton final, or hell why not, a Marat-Lleyton/Andy-Marat final, why do I get the feeling it'll be an indication of what we're going to mainly see throughout 2005? I don't know. Just a feeling I can't shake off. I certainly think we'll be seeing a lot more of semi-finals with the four of them this year. (And even if Andy beats Lleyton, I'd hate to put my money anywhere other than Roger, as much as I want Andy to start giving him something to worry about in their rivalry. It'd be fun to go into Andy-Roger finals not already knowing the outcome.)

And now... calling all Aussies on my f-list! One of my flatmates who is cool and crazy and always has blu-tack/water/pillow fights with me when I'm bored at 3am, is coming to Australia next year to study. I said I'd ask my Australian friends for some stuff she should know before she goes, like some common Aussie expressions/words/insults, some things that might be considered rude over there that wouldn't be here in Britain, just general stuff to help her fit in. :) Any of you know anything that might help? She'll be near Brisbane, if that changes what any local expressions might mean and so on. She's lovely but not overly confident, so it'd be a big help for her to know just some little things, to help her get settled. :)

And now... to actually go away and accomplish stuff. Hah. ^__~

Happy Wednesday! :D

Clo

Comments

[australian-imp.livejournal.com]

*sighs* My hands have only just recovered from Lleyton's match and it finished hours ago. IT involved a lot of chewing on my knuckles. He's through though. And as much as I want him to win the damn tournament...I'd have to agree that any Final combination would be well worth th watching. And I also agree that these four seem to be on the brink of something amazing.....I have a feeling pretty much no one is going to be able to touch them this year as long as they all stay reasonably fit.....

I'm probably not the right person to ask about Aussie stuff around Brisbane. Never been there. I live at the opposite end of the country....And Tasmania is bloody well weird enough.....

[clo.livejournal.com]

*dies of giggles* Tasmania remark duly noted. ^___^ She'll definitely appreciate knowing that beforehand, so she isn't stunned the first time it comes up. *giggles some more* Thank you! :D

And the tennis? I also absolutely agree. (Except for who I want in the final, because I would give anything for a Roger/Andy final. *sighs*)

[clo.livejournal.com]

"because it would be the ultimate in squishy cute love"

*squees* It really would. :D I feel the same about Andy - it'd be nice for him to actually *win* a Slam this year. *looks pointedly at Roger* And is it possible NOT to have a big fat fuzzy soft spot for Marat Safin? I honestly can't say I'd be that upset if he won. He's too adorable to be upset with. :)

I'm not overly fond of Lleyton Hewitt. Beat him Andy! Go on! *ducks any enraged retribution from Lleyton fans*

I could talk about tennis all day too. *dreamy smile* You can actually see my flatmates' eyes start to glaze over when the topic comes up now. ^__~

[clo.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - the world must be converted. Really we're doing them a favour because they don't know what they're missing. *nods wisely* It's for their own good.

Ah Andy getting a Grand Slam... That would be cool, though I think Roger's really the only player with any shot at it right now. And yeah, I started paying attention to Marat after he stopped being crazy, so I missed all this racquet breaking everyone talks about. *pouts* We wants to see it! Major sportsmen throwing temper tantrums is always fantastic to watch. *wistful sigh*

The British are clearly unpatriotic, proven by the amount of crap we throw at poor Henman at Wimbledon every year. Poor guy. Frankly I'd sell my soul for him to win Wimbledon this year, just to prove the British press wrong. A$$holes. -_- *pets Henman*

When people who aren't from my flat ask why I'm going home this weekend, the rest of my flatmates say before I can even open my mouth, "Tennis!" ;) They don't understand the tennis!love.

[clo.livejournal.com]

I watched one match - the Roddick vs Federer Wimbledon final - and that was it, I was hooked. We should make everyone in the world sit down and watch some damn good Roddick-Federer tennis. We'd have a world full of slash fans in minutes. :D (And... me? Wow. *blushes* I'm not, really. I just happened to get a little too obsessed with tennis over last summer. ^_^)

Hey, before I got into tennis seriously, I honestly thought Henman was terrible, because I'd never stopped to question what the press were saying - I was truly shocked when I realised he was - at the time - ranked fifth in the world. People over here, unless they're actually into tennis, just read the papers at Wimbledon time and say "Oh yeah, Henman is crap." I've tried to convince people otherwise. It doesn't work. I feel so terrible for the poor guy, now I know how appallingly awful the press is to him. (I do love his Britishness. He looks all serious and sensible then plays pranks on everyone in the lcoker room. Teehee. ^__^)

I arranged my work last summer around the Olympics so I could stay home and watch the tennis and equestrian events. ^____^ Obsessed? Us? Naaaah. I didn't just spend £13 on a train ticket for a two and a half hour journey home tomorrow, just to watch the tennis. Nope. Honest.

[clo.livejournal.com]

I'm a newbie tennis fan. Six months I think from the end of January. :) It was like discovering a Christmas present that you'd forgotten about until June, it really was. ^__^ I've been missing out all these years! Now I just wish we could build the fandom up faster, so we'd get more fic. :) And I think you're very well adjusted indeed. *imagines sinking her teeth into Marat and falls off her chair*

*climbs back on chair, licking her lips* Ahem. Moving on...

Ow! The Andy!teenies burns us precious! *winces* I never go near the forums on his site if I can help it because it literally hurts to read all their posts. Finding that there are 'normal' tennis fans out there is wonderful. *sniffles and hugs you* We'll conquer the world and ban terrible net!speak and Andyboppers, for the good of tennis and people everywhere. :) At least Roger's fans tend to be *slightly* more mature, though finding fans who like Andy AND Roger seems to be a very rare thing. Which strikes me as very odd, considering how much I love them both. ^__^

*giggles* The British pretend to dislike our tabloids, but I strongly suspect we'd fight to the death for them if anyone tried to get rid of them. I do now truly appreciate Tim's greatness and Britishness - him winning Wimbledon this year is my dream. *sighs* And his Britishness is what makes him Tim. ^__^ I love him more every time I see him play or in an interview. If the British public just *paid attention* to him, other than what the tabloids say, they'd appreciate him too.

Normal. Absolutely. *nods* I don't get up in the middle of the night sometimes to check LiveScores. Not ever. *innocence*

[australian-imp.livejournal.com]

Yay!

And Hey!!!!!!!! Don't forget we have two heads as well!

[(Anonymous)]

Rules for Drinking Coffee:
1. You can never drink too much coffee.
2. You can never brew coffee too strong.
3. Coffee does not make you nervous - your own inadequacies do this. Coffee merely increases your perception of your own shortcomings.
4. It isn't coffee unless a spoon will stand up in it.

[clo.livejournal.com]

These are all very true things. I am completely confused about why they've appeared in my comments, but I can't argue. ^__^

[clo.livejournal.com]

YAY!! This is all wonderful! :D *hugs* Thank you! I'll let her know that if she wants to know anything specific she can just get me to pass the question along. :)

This is much apreciated, thank you. :D

[clo.livejournal.com]

Yay! I adore the flatmate who's coming to Australia, so anything I can tell her that helps is fantastic. :) I'm getting a great list of stuff with all this.

*giggles* I love the players chasing moths. ^___^ I wish Wimbledon would relax a little sometimes. I'd enjoy seeing Andy and Roger chasing butterflies across Centre Court every once in a while. *grins*

[clo.livejournal.com]

*resists the urge to lick your icon... just*

Cute tennis players? Can chase me any day. ;) Mmmmm. In fact the sooner the better.

We should find ways to subtly attract their attention... *contemplates*

[clo.livejournal.com]

*gives in and licks him* Mmmmmmm...

Damn right you do! They obviously want to chase *something*, they just need to be shown the best thing to chase. ;)

At 12C?

[liroa15.livejournal.com]

You wimps. You come to Canada and the praries where I live and you get it's cold at -20C. It's so fucking cold doesn't get used until -35C. Which we get. *curses weather wildly while making plans to move to Australia*

Re: At 12C?

[clo.livejournal.com]

*stays out of it her nice, in-between British weather*

(I love having international arguments about temperature in my comments. *giggles*)

Re: At 12C?

[clo.livejournal.com]

Okay, not all the time. Maybe 50% of the time. Possibly 60%.

... Ok, maybe 65%.

Mwahaha! Hats and umbrellas to the rescue! *grins* And lots of running and shrieking when, like my most of my flatmates, you've just spent two hours straightening your hair.

(It's very amusing. ^__^ I'm supposed to be doing other things but this is more fun. ^__~)

Re: At 12C?

[clo.livejournal.com]

... Y-years? *feels faint* (Though it is fun to swing umbrellas around. ^__~)

(Sleep is indeed overrated! And a normal sleeping pattern? What's that? We students tend to sleep whenever we can't actually stand up anymore, regardless of lectures or time of day. ^__^)

Re: At 12C?

[clo.livejournal.com]

Once a month? *shocked silence* I think I'll send you some of our rain. We're lucky, at least in winter, if it doesn't rain at least once a day. Go a week with no rain and people start muttering about water shortages and hose pipe bans.

(*giggles* You know, I just realised Australian students and British students are *exactly* the same - that is exactly how we live. ^__^ 'Sundays are for Sleeping' was even the logo for a club event last Saturday night... and it's so very true.)

Re: At 12C?

[clo.livejournal.com]

The British are just really good at everything in the rain, because if we weren'tthe country would probably descend into chaos. :) We complain about it, but we do like our rain. Or as some slightly self-mocking ads for Wales say right now, 'We like our mud. It's good mud.' ;)

(... that sounds like a perfect definition to me. ^__^)

University quotes.

[dukedee.livejournal.com]

Standing outside of the room for Engine Tech today I heard a few choice phrases you may like.

"Smelling [of drink] like that he's gotta be 20 times over the limit."

"It just went bouncing down the road, you know, 'cause it's got a metal shell."

"No." [In response to "Did you go to Xiang's lesson?]

I like to think things like this reflect the quality of the university.

Re: University quotes.

[clo.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I adore university students. ^________^ We're so crazee!

There should be some study on that, how what university students say reflects the quality of the universe... dude. You should be doing Philosophy, that would be a kick-ass thesis topic. :)

[tasheila.livejournal.com]

I don't know Australia, but I want to be one. :D

All my favourite players are in the semis. :D I'd be happy with whoever wins. (Well, ideally, anyone else but Roger, but ya know)

:D

[clo.livejournal.com]

*grins* Me too. They seem to have all the fun.

(For me ideally anyone but Hewitt... on which I know we'll have to agree to disagree. I'd love Andy to win though, just because it's about time he did.) :)

[felixandrews.livejournal.com]

Regarding Brisbane, Australian travel-writer Peter Moore said something quite funny...

"I knew a traveller who refused to leave a place until he'd had a good time there. I knew another who wouldn't go until he'd had an enlightening, encouraging experience there...
Both these people are currently stuck in Brisbane."

Not that I'm wanting to put your flatmate off, or anything :P

Alun (who has just discovered the 'marquee' tags)