Hello!

We’ve been having a great time over the past few days. We caught the train to Kingston (two hours on the other side of Toronto) to Jamies home town to pick up his parents van. We really felt like a part of a family there with the home cooked meals, puppy dog and ‘homely’ home. I don’t know if it was a relief from homesickness or if it just made me more homesick. We had a great time anyway. Jamies mum is a grade two teacher, so we went to class as show and tell and all the little kiddies asked us questions. It was so cute. We really feel like we have a family here in Canada now. Thankyou so much to the East family for having us!

Then we drove back through Toronto, hung out for a while and back to London. Today we’re heading back to Toronto to drop Bodie at the airport (we’ll miss you dish pig) and then onto Collingwood for a week of skiing and general winter-like shenanigans. Speaking of which, I have to go get read for. I hope all is well at home.

And to Adam if you read this: Sorry about the phone dropping out on us again this morning. I claim it has something to do with your psychic powers that are also responsible for turning off street lights as you pass underneath.

I am coming to you today for one very important reason - my mother told me to.

We got back from Niagra Falls on Sunday night. It was amazing. You might think about it, hear about it and see pictures of it and you think ‘cool, a big water fall’, but in reality it is truly awesome. We were told that it was the low season, and it was a shame we couldn’t see it in the summer, but it was still spectacular - the cold and the ice made it that little bit more surreal. Some photos featuring Trudy’s pig hat… (click to enlarge)

As we travelled there by bus, we had to go quite out of the way to get there going through several towns and small cities and on the way back even through Toronto. On the way there though the bus driver went out of his way to work out a quicker way to get us there by telling us we could get off in a town called Burlington and get the next bus to Niagra. So we did, and we had a nice breakfast at a cafe there called Fava with an abundance of shandeliers and very nice staff. It was on lake Ontario, so the waterside was very beautiful. Niagra also had a very impressive city centre but it was very touristy - there was a big casino that we had dinner at (we stayed across the road from it overnight for quite cheap) and a street with lots of game arcades and tacky museums that we oubviously partook in. It was good to get out of London for a bit of a change and it was very strange being so close to another country as Niagra is right on the border of the US and you could literally see the customs buildings on the other side of the bridge.

The Friday night before we went to Niagra we went to a Art Exhibition that featured a few short films and a performance group that called themselves ‘Small Appliances’ who essentially clanked a vacuum cleaner, a bleander and a fan around for about five minutes before commencing some destruction. Then we went to the rock concert Kenny helped organise which was great. Some good acts, but unfortunately we had to leave early to be awake for our 7AM bus.

In other news, all is well. Thursday will feature my fourth exam - the past three exams have gone OK. I haven’t failed anything yet, so we’re going according to plan. I don’t know wether it’s the ammount of work here or maybe I’m not just used to it yet, but Uni here does seem to be a little more hardcore than at home. Not to worry, mid-semester break next week and we’re off to skiing!

I hope everyone is well. It’s been good to ring a few people over the last few weeks. If anyone else wants chat, swing me an email and we’ll work out some times. I can ring for 1 cent per minute! Missing everyone.

Hello all. I’ve just been abused for not updating my blog. AND Trudy just reminded me that we didn’t buy blu-tak again today. Anyway, let’s get straight into it. Since our last blogging I’ve had three painful exams which has reminded me how much of an essay writing research student I really am. Sure, one or two sociology exams a semester I can handle. But over this single semester I will take nine exams! And I’m an Arts student. This should be illegal. That’s more exams than I’ve had at Griffith over the past two years. Anyway, I’ll get over it. It just means I have to read text books. Which has its advantages. For example, I may now graduate with a major in sociology with having some actual sociological theory drilled into my brain.

Which leads me to my next topic - the future, academic careers and a poster sale. Yes, you see the interconnections? The other day there was a poster sale at Uni so I bought some cool stuff. A wide shot of New York’s Time Square for Casey, a Serenity symbol for Bodie, a close-up and textual deconstruction of Michelangelo’s ‘Creation’ and a smaller James Dean picture for me. (Trudy had already bought one the day before) So all these posters and their popularity got me thinking. Why do we buy posters? Why do we surround ourselves with images and symbols? Why am I suddenly obsessed with James Dean? So, having contemplated the prospect of doing an honours year at Griffith next year I thought this might be an interesting starting point. The deployment of cultural iconography (in contemporary forms such as posters, websites, etc.) to portray, construct and invent personal identity. This is something I touched on a little in a course last semester, but it’s so fascinating I think I could take it places.

We had a big night on Saturday and went to a few bars. Diesel was very ‘GC’ and there was this cute little Irish pub. Then inevitably onto 181 which was fun. I think I slept through most of the hangover on Sunday, only in time to wake up and start stressing about the exam worth 45% I had the next day. Oh the joys of academia. Today we went to the official opening of the Pride Library at Western. It was amazing. There must’ve been 100+ people there from across the community and all over the place to celebrate. The President of the University spoke, various contributors and supporters, and one guy from Toronto even came with a message from the Canadian Minister of Culture to congratulate the project. And of course James, a professor of Trudy and I. He is hilarious. He’s the one who takes the class that goes from 2.30 until 8 (well that’s when I leave anyway, I’ve heard it went until 10 last week). He co-ordinated the whole thing and started the library as a wee shelf in his office many years ago. Now it’s a fully fledged section of the main campus library with over 5000 volumes! It was very humbling to think of what one persons dream can turn into with the support of a community. James was very proud and excited. When the crowds thinned we managed to say hello and congratulations to him, and he emplored us to send him a list of queer authors from Australia to boost that section of the library because he saw it as severely lacking. No doubt he’ll be raving about it in class for the next few weeks. Here’s an older rundown on the library to give you an idea, but judging by the ammount of reporters and cameras there today I suspect there will be much more about it around in the future.

So yeah, I was going to go on a bit more about other stuff, but it’s late and I’m tired. We might be going to Niagra Falls this weekend though which could be cool. And we’re going to a rock concert this Friday night! Kenny has put us on the guest list (we love you Kenny) so we’re looking forward to hearing some local music. Oh and I nearly forgot - last Friday night we went to an Art installation that Trudy was involved in. It was awesome! There was throwing of chairs and tables, convulsing on the floor, red candy and burning filing cabinets. Trudy was all matrixed up and striding around with a big stick with a flag on the end. We were very proud of her.

Sarah - You’ll probably be home when you read this. Welcome home! Can’t wait to get back soon to give you a big hug and have a few drinks.
Loz - I hope the art is going well. I can smell some pastry treats from here..
Sly - So good to hear about your new job. I want all the details! We need to set up another phone date.
Zoe - Speaking of phone dates, I shall be calling you in the morrow! Yay!
Adam - I hope the new job and Brisvegas are going well. Hopefully we’ll be able to have a chat soon. Miss you!
LisaG - You’re probably in New York or even somewhere in Europe by now. I hope you’re safe and having fun.
Family - Missing you lots. Looking forward to reading a draft of Colby’s Ancient History assignment. Saw some very impressive leadlight work in the pride library today that made me think of Dad. And I’m definitely missing the mothers home cooked meals.

And that’s about it. Missing you all!

Hello! It’s been an eventful week. We have an Australian visitor - Bodie! He’s a friend of ours from Uni, you may have seen him at the new years eve party. With him he brought a package from my family which included tim tams, vegimite, Austrlian themed boxers and socks and some James Dean merchandise. Thanks mum!

There were a few dramas in actually getting him here, such as one of his flights being delayed in LA and hence him missing his connecting flight to Canada. So instead of him arriving in London at 7.30, we had to go hire a car and pick him up from Toronto at 12 that night. Fortunately Jamie drove, because if Casey drove several decades would’ve been added to my life. Anyway, after some confusion over the terminal number, we found him. We also managed to get a quick drive by tour of Toronto which is beautiful. The CN tower is massive (photos soon) and we’re definitely going back there for a weekend soon. At one point there was 16 lanes of traffic! It was insane. Like a sea of light even at midnight.

Thursday night we did the usual pub thing at the spoke. We’re getting a good group of friends together. It’s very comforting to walk around Uni and see people you recognise. I very much feel like we’re settling in. Further, I played Cranium that night for the PrideWestern meeting, and despite a minor losing streak, Kenny and I are the greatest team to ever grace the cranium board.

I hope all is well. There are so many things I’ve been meaning to do (calls, postcards, photos, etc.) but we’re quite busy over here. Hopefully we’ll get some cool down time soon. I miss everyone!