Author Archives: el_meheecan

Wednesday Walk 27-08-14

Yesterday arvo I put my ‘a’ into ‘g’ and made the daunting trip up to the local ‘M’ which was naturally formed over 1024 years ago. No one was man enough to take the 20 minutes trek with me, so on the advice of Aston (minus the gun) and the orders of Rob, I packed my rape lanyard and made haste on my journey. Not knowing where the path began I found gap in a nearby fence and hoped that it would eventually lead me to a path that in turn would take me to the mythical ‘M’ in the hills. Luckily for me the gap in the fence was the proper way to get to path and I was immediately inundated with a single decision to make. Go left, or right. I saw a jogger about 100 meters ahead on the left track so decided to go that way. Plus that way had shade, it was hot outside. I managed to overtake the jogger and make it to the destination before them. My lanyard protected from the local wildlife of which I saw absolutely nothing of. I guess it is a very powerful lanyard. Anywho I made it back down with no problem.

“to all vegetarians in this class, good luck” – Lecturer 4x

While waiting for Kate who was ‘fashionably’ late i was able overhear the president’s speech for the freshers. He told them that half of them won’t graduate and then compared them to Bin Laden. I zoned out so he may have been calling them future enemies of the state, or he may have been telling them to learn how to fly under the radar for over a decade. Who knows but by the round of applause he got from the freshers, it was fairly inspirational

New Zealand according to the international department here is an ‘exotic’ location. It is also reckons New Zealand is best represented by, well, a bench and a door.

Now I can’t complain, at least my country is represented on the map the dorm put up to show where all international students on the floor are from. Some countries like Ireland are missing which makes Dervla sad.

Now I am not an ungrateful bastard, I do appreciate the gesture but would have thought images for both countries are straightforward. While you could show the landscapes, I would focus on the typical beautiful person you WILL meet should you visit the country.

My pictures of choice if you’re wondering:

Toodles

I asked on Sunday if it was possible to find a better chocolate deal than $4 for a 15 pack of ‘fun’ sized Twix bars. Well for $10 i found something slightly better…

From the legendary Fred Dagg

24.08.14 (actually written on 26.08.14 but just ignore that)

So, orientation week. What an amazing experience. According to one of the lecturers, it is impossible to get sick here, any hint of actual sickness is actually homesickness, and everyone WILL get angry twice. I’m getting sick of being told “welcome to the USA”, every American has said it. Lanyards here are the best for of self defense. I would have thought that self defense would actually be better than a lanyard. But that’s just me and my city slicker attitude, what would I know?

Downtown is pretty cool but closes pretty early. Dinner service tends to end at 7.30. Also there are many homeless people to avoid. Apparently they leave once it starts getting cold.

The freshers started arriving on Wednesday. Accompanied by 2 parents and a sibling in tow. A typical fresher on moving in looks like an overly confident person, followed by 2 adults each lugging a large suitcase behind them, a couple of bags and a box or 2. I had 1 medium sized suitcase and a sports bag. I have no idea what they are bringing or how big they expect their room to be but I’m guessing they were underwhelmed by the size of the room and available storage space. The fresher’s orientation was on Thursday and Friday. No international students I know went. Walking around campus you saw groups of parents and some kids in a 2:1 ratio taking tours of campus. It seems like they have trouble letting go of their darling parents.

Orientation Week

1) This place reminds me of home. Surrounded by hills. And if you drive 10 minutes you leave civilization and enter the wopwops

2) According to campus police, the best way to stay safe in Missoula is to wear a lanyard at all times with your ID and a rape whistle attached

3) It gets hot here, and it is possible to see both a clear blue sky and the stars at night

4) There are a surprising number or Irish here

5) According to the health centre, some people actually drink underage here. Shock horror