Tricia's Journal 06/10/2005 - 11:39AM Location: United Kingdom Once upon a time...there was a bag of 90 pounds You don’t want French fries with that? Um no thanks that is nearly all they eat here. The other thing is chips fish and chips. And meat And haggis which is a lovely food (ingredients below) 1 lambs heart 1 lambs liver 1 small intestine (cow or pig) 1 pigs brain 6 cups of oats 2 cups of butter Step 1: mix, blend and bake in lamb stomach Sounds good huh? No sorry to insult anyone We did find a Veggie burger...and a Pret Amange which is a healthy resturant. Mum keeps complaining about NEEDING tofu...uh, mum I need to wash my jeans. They SMELL like airplane, dog, bus, outside, inside, oriental food, fried food, BO, perfume from the tax-free shops and dirt. But tofu would be nice. They eat very interesting here and this was our lunchtime conversation erm, pre-lunchtime Tricia: do we just sit? Marla: I don’t know Tricia: let’s sit Marla: no wait Waitress: There are more bathrooms upstairs Tricia: uh Marla: do we just sit down? Waitress: yes Tricia: toldja Robin: We need another chair (he goes and picks one up) excuse me mind your heads watch the chair! Looking at menu at table Tricia: it’s all meat Marla: They’ve got to have a salad Tricia: Believe me no salad Marla: they’ve got to have a salad Tricia: guess again Robin: Then let’s go Tricia: go? Marla: yes That’s like the 3rd restaurant we’ve walked out on at least they spoke English and the waitress didn’t follow us with drinks to our next restaurant. That was in a cute little fishing village where they served platters of shrimp and you ate the shrimp. A simple but effective way to gain weight when combined with excessive eating of fish and chips. The train ride was very nice except when I stuck my head out the window Mum had this terrified look on her face. The worst thing I could do was bump into a blasted branch. Not that bad. And no sorry we didn’t see any Lach Ness monsters though we might see him/her tomorrow. And I don’t mean him and her. Ew. Our highlight of the evening (not the afternoon that was the train) was our trip to Woolworths. Mum and I discovered a lone Darth Vader mask that makes that odd breathing noise and tell you that you should be on the dark side and that you underestimate the power of the dark side next option please. Mum kept pressing the breath button. The best part about it is that it converts your voice to Darth Vader’s. I tried to pretend I didn’t know her but I felt better when a group of teenagers found another mask and started pressing it and talking fast in what I thought was another language, it was just their accents. Whoops. I’ve thought that many times that someone was speaking Gaelic or Welsh and I would try to say “sorry I don’t speak your language” without any vowels (Welsh) or keep the vowels and add ch’s and sh’s (Gaelic.) Idiot is spelled somewhat like: Eijet pronounced in some lovely exotic way. All in all Scotland is beautiful. Really is. The train rides have been beautiful and lots and lots and lots and lots of fun. We’ve been sitting with some lovely people and seen some lovely cows. I swear, they’re so cute! Today we drove on a bus to Inverness. The roads were so small we drove in the middle of the road sometimes (like dad) and I shut my eyes every time a car emerged. We passed Loch Ness and Loch Lochy. Mum and I have come to the rather dim conclusion that Loch might be Lake in some other language. The plane ride from Inverness to London-Heathrow was even better (or be’er as the English would say here.) The trip has been lovely whether it has been an amazing school in Australia, a waterfall in New Zealand, nearly heat fainting in Asia, seeing Star Wars in French, all the old stuff in Europe or flying across an Ocean. We’ve made some lovely lifetime friends, changes and now have memories to last a lifetime And yes our bags got so heavy...back where we started...remeber how incredulous I was when the bag was 72 pounds...now it is 90. I'm glad I'm 12...just take the small bags and RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!! EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF! So tomorrow (in 24 hours and counting) we leave for Chicago a trip over and time to see my friends, cats and COOKIE BATTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Muazzz xoxoxoxo Thanks everyone for reading probably more to follow! Tricia Tricia's Journal 06/04/2005 - 07:55AM Location: United Kingdom some...random....driving....problems eerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr The Pendergrast’s get lost? No The Pendergrast’s make a 2-hour-drive three and a half? No WAY! The Pendergrast’s miss a turn? Nah, really? The Pendergrast’s girls get nauseous? You have GOT to be kidding The Pendergrast’s go to Wales not on purpose? Ok now that is JUST out of the question . NOT If anything, this is what describes our driving around England (and incidentally Wales.) I’ve taken to counting how many times we’ve pulled in and asked for directions. Snaps for the one out of ten times we’ve actually pulled in for gas. Two hours later I’m leaning on a pile of heaven knows what, I’ve finished all the songs on my ipod and played Star Wars, and I’m beginning to notice that we are driving in circles. And of course the commercials aren’t to be forgotten, they are pretty cheesy and there is always the random naked butt. Most of the commercials just want to make you sink into your chair because of cheesiness but that’s another story. Speaking of TV, the quality of their TV shows are so blooming bad! Hard to follow and bad acting. Of course we sent home all of our CD’s So into the land of The Beatles we go yeah yeah yeah Later... So now I find out that our hotel had ghosts in it...lovely...just a random fact... Tricia's Journal 05/31/2005 - 15:47PM Location: United Kingdom Oh...the SHOWBIZ We saw The Producers and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The highlight of it all was the Orange (cell phone company) Commercial featuring Darth Vader and his lovely theme hummed by the board. By the way, for those who go to see “Guide:” to queue means to line up. Arthur Dent says “leave this to me I’m British I know how to queue,” that’s what it means. It’s quite ridiculous actually lightsaber knives and all. Speaking of: my lovely actor friend who is going to be VERY famous with me someday wanted me to mention him in my next journal. Well Nate this is the journal But aside from that we are in London where a Caesar salad costs $16 dollars and two Star Wars posters cost $20. Yes, yes, yes scowl and shake your head at me We saw the Magna Carta today. Lovely piece of parchment with writing I can’t read. They did have a small little Beatles case with Yesterday scribbled on a piece of paper. Some really hard core fans stood oogling over it for the whole time I was there. I had to run Virgin Music Store was calling. Yes, we saw everything else The Tower, the Bridge, The palace blah blah blah. We didn’t go on the eye supposed to be ridiculously boring and expensive. Sitting at the computer and watching CNN at the same time really is quite lovely. Watched American Idol nothing much more special oh yes and I WANT COOKIE BATTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tricia's Journal 05/27/2005 - 05:48AM Location: United Kingdom British money is odd So now we are in London. I really have nothing much to report. David Letterman, per usual, was very funny last night. British humor is so twisted. They joke about Adolf Hitler and Nazis and swear a lot. Do you know how much the poor people at BBC have to edit their shows before sending them to the US? I mean, honestly! Today we are going to the Chelsea flower show which I am absolutely overjoyed about. It’s normal for a 12-year-old to not want to walk around in circles and see flowers. And yes, I am definitely going to get emails from aunts, uncles and friends who are shocked that I am not going to enjoy myself. A bright spot: the keyboards are the same and apostrophes are easy to locate: right where those good old Americans keyboards have them. And yes, there are the cute taxis, the double-decker busses and the double-decker bills. I nearly fainted when I saw our dinner bill last night. It was a very scary thing. Kids under 16 have a nine o’clock curfew here. I don’t even have a nine o’ clock curfew at home. It lingers somewhere between nine and twelve on school nights. Unlike most children, weekends are earlier because instead of having to do my homework at night I spend the day doing it. It really isn’t fair but if I put any more on this subject Mum is going to get mad and delete it. The British money is not marked well and is very confusing. What is a pence? Do 50 cent pences exist and are 50 cent pences 50 pences or do two of them make a pence. And what do they have to do with the pound? Mum was going through my bag saying “you’ve got an Australian T-shirt, an Australian sweatshirt, a shirt from Italy, a sweatshirt from China ” I’m going to have more clothes from out of town then Sears and Kohl’s. Of course shopping trips have already been planned. Priorities! Tricia's Journal 05/25/2005 - 10:52AM Location: Italy i need to put a subject???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are in the land of chocolate. Scary thought. Good chocolate but verrrry tempting. I can't talk about it or it makes me feel guilty. There really isn't much to report. Bad keyboards and 17 days until we are home... Tricia's Journal 05/17/2005 - 09:28AM Location: France in france okay...the keyboards are much different and if i typed normal it would be verrrrry odd our email is going to be limited anyway...its going to be rough but well be fine our phone number is: 04 66 37 34 45 in the case of emergency. The name of the hotel is L`Arceau and we are in room eight or huit [pronounced wheat] Tricia's Journal 05/12/2005 - 12:26PM Location: Spain and on So today we met our first civilization erm people that we know from home. Jenna, who is a family friend of ours and speaks amazing Espanol took us to a lovely place for lunch and The Webster Family are going out to dinner with us that’s my aunt, uncle and cousins. So we have got to share all our stories and they go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on 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and on and on Now that didn’t take up too much space did it? Anyway now we are going out 2 dinner bai Tricia's Journal 05/09/2005 - 13:01PM Location: Italy in italy...I cant come up with a better title and still dont have apostrophes 32 days until we are home...there are lots of countdowns right now...32 days until we are home...67 to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince...10 until Star Wars III...the important things in life. Meanwhile I should be planting a tree for earth day or something like that. Bush should do that...but no he gets in his plane and flies accross the country. I assume it was a hybrid jet... the interent place weve found is about as good as something you would find in the middle of africa (okay, a bit better)but still no apostrophes. I am constantly getting emails of a certain type. (no offence guys I just think this is funny) I get like 5 emails a day from friends asking me to add myself to their address book on RINGO or something like that. Its just funny...sorry I had to put that. So we climbed the tower of Pizza today...it was leaning and it leaned a bit and did I mention that it leaned? Amazing fact: it leaned...yes and it leaned and before I forget it leaned. But it really didnt lean that much. The Italians probably just pushed it over because the Greeks were getting all the attention. How sad...desperate measures for desperate people...As Americans I cant say much either all we do is build...and did I mention we build? Yes that too...Pizza wasnt that bad to climb either...we then took a train to Lucca which was nice and we biked around...mum got sneakers and a map...I picked up some dust in my eyes and walked back to the train station with my eyes closed. No joke...ask my parents. But aside from that we really arent busy... I applaued mum for refraining going to the bathroom in the name of catching a train...the trains are rather nice here actually...nice seats...its a lovely change from our scenic METRA line that runs past the highlight of (drumroll please) Illinois: Northwest Highway. (adventure music plays) Here when you order something and they dont have it they say NO (sorry no apostrophes) and wait for you to choose something else. Hi, Id like Pizza. NO! Okay... Dad was very taken by a cute baby that this lady was holding and muttering Bella. Dad tried muttering bella and got to hold the baby...I escaped to buy a piece of gum and left Mum muttering: dont leave me!!! She then escaped to go to the bathroom. So that is my day in a few short paragraphs...missing everyone...I would love to get email...muazzz And then as I finish writing this guess what Mum finds under the question mark? (emotional music) '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' And then we leave for Madrid where there is a whole new keyboard...how sweet Tricia Tricia's Journal 05/02/2005 - 01:08AM Location: Italy in italia So yes, we are in Italy...arrived without much hassle. Everyone is a bit tired because we all know how sutiable planes are for sleeping in. Wink wink nudge nudge. I am also trying to figure out how to use this bloody keyboard since I cant find the apostrophes anywhere I have to write like an English teacher. Instead of having a direct slash button, comma button and plus and minus they have: è é ò ç à § ù which is fun to look at but it takes forever to write a journal. Still cant find the apostrophe. I wonder if they dont use them here...yes we saw small cars and crazy drivers...I got nauseous driving here. We passed the catacombes and the coloseum which mum instructed me to tape. Still cant find the apostrophe... Tricia's Journal 04/29/2005 - 01:52AM Location: Vietnam i don't want to say second thoughts, but thoughts never the less Today we toured around the city. Ok, it was hot and I was tired but never the less the shopping part at the end was pretty cool. We went to the wholesale markets and mum and I refused to walk the aisle with the meat in it. Dad smiled and strolled with the tour guide as we shook our heads and went to look at hair stuff. I don’t think I’ve seen so many Louis Vitton purses in my life. Not that I’ve seen that many, smirk smirk. Anyway, so now were back at the hotel and soon we will go out to get a bathing suit and watch fireworks on the pool deck of the hotel because that’s what’s going on tonight. I expect Raul is going to be there. Raul Castro Fidel’s brother. Yes he is staying at our hotel. And some other major “surprise” communist. Tricia's Journal 04/28/2005 - 09:58AM Location: Vietnam First thoughts on Vietnam Last time you saw Vietnam it was war-torn, impoverished and had suffered bloodshed beyond the point of being bearable. But the new Vietnam is worth a visit Someone in this country has a full pocket of green. The difference between Vietnam and Cambodia, I’d like to say night and day, but is something like sunrise and sunset. Vietnam is not completely modernized. Nobody is looked down upon for riding an old bike. Nobody drives fancy cars with GPS systems or nice leather seats. Motor bikes are big here and life is simple. Cambodian kids play out on the streets and work hard. Kids in Vietnam spend their time playing. You feel really bad that you are the one living la vida perfecta and these six year olds go to school and then work. Don’t fret when you loose your lip gloss. If you were about my age in Cambodia I would be a full-time employee of my parents. But Vietnam is thriving. All the stores are nicely air-conditioned and I counted 4 cell phone shops in a 2-mile radius. Big designer names that are not fake, found their way into the local department store where a KFC is at the top floor. Dad made a friend by simply saying “hello” to a cute little baby. He responded and I will never forget his excited face. Crossing the street is another story. 3 million motorbikes belong to 7 million people so that means that about all families own a motor bike and some own two. Did Vietnam profit from the Communism? I couldn’t tell you. 1. I’m afraid someone would arrest me and 2. I wouldn’t have any idea what I’d be talking about. 60% of the Vietnamese population are too young to remeber the Vietnam war. That's why the war is behind them. That's why people smile when you say you are American. That's why we smirked when we saw the "terrorism danger" letter on the notice board of the US consulate. That's why we have peace. That is why the American Consulate is here and safe. But now we are sitting in our hotel room being annoying and tortured by laughter at the non-stop drums and lights that are in celebration of the “reunification” of Vietnam. I have no clue what the re-part is about. Oh goody, now someone is chanting. Drums, lights and chanting, lets all scream and yell and really annoy our neighbors. What is that? A cricket, so excited, just another thing from preventing me from sleeping that and the sound of cars and motorbikes and ooooo what’s this? Bagpipes and churchbells how sweet. Mum was looking to translate something she saw on a banner dad maintains that the reason she can’t find a proper website is because we are in a Communist country. Uh, huh. Oh yes, if some government monitor is reading this hi and your country is pretty cool. Everyone has such lovely smiles. Tricia's Journal 04/27/2005 - 20:52PM Location: Cambodia they beg you...and you have to give in! We only had five hours to get ready to go. We made sure we got lunch, bottles of clean water and internet use. I swear, I was the one hissing “mum, time to go,” for 15 minutes. We only had five hours to get ready and we nearly missed our plane. It was one of those tiny little prop planes with the wings on top. The plane was nearly half full but since we flew so low the view was absolutely beautiful. I got some on tape. So now we are in Cambodia and later we fly to Vietnam. We visited Angkor Vat yesterday and that was pretty cool but WAY TOO HOT! And of course these people swamped you “I have a book. You buy later. You buy my book later. You are so beautiful. My name is Cam, what’s yours? Tricia. So beautiful...you tell your dad to buy my book! Special book. 2 for one dollar,” and it went on and on and on. You wanted to scream “no!” And then when you came out they would be like “you promised to buy my book. You promised! Here, look!” The truth is I didn’t promise anything. Everyone says it will be worse in Vietnam. I suppose it will be. When we get there we will have to find out. And those cute kids with babies! Mum went on a spending rampage. Shopping spree! Unfortunately they weren’t selling lip gloss. Tricia's Journal 04/22/2005 - 04:27AM Location: Australia BIMPY BIMPY BIMPY So now were in Xian. We nearly got scammed (see mums journal coming soon) she somehow reserved the right to write about it. Xian is a lovely town. It is simple and there are goats on the streets and people playing some board game and then we get to our hotel and log onto the internet. They live simple lives and are really happy. And the road rage!!!!!! Honking horns and crashed bikes. The whole lot. It was just hysterical!!! I'm really liking Xian...more on the history later. Cheers! Tricia's Journal 04/19/2005 - 03:50AM Location: Hong Kong marla has... Mum has added 24 new pictures...be sure to check them out as well as the journal i did earlier but was bumped by this message... Tricia's Journal 04/18/2005 - 21:53PM Location: Hong Kong HONGEE kongee I would make a countdown until the time when we are going home but it would smash in one of the bags. Hong Kong is one polluted mass of shopping mall completed with buses, cars and people running you over. And ferries, trains etc. “Countless” really describes the amount of high-rises here. There are no phonebooks because it would probably impossible to write down every store in every high-rise, on the streets and in all the stations. There are like no one-deck busses because sometimes the ones that are two decks aren’t big enough. Gosh this city is big and you can get a swimsuit for a mere $350! Tricia's Journal 04/16/2005 - 06:00AM Location: Hong Kong Some Journals that I kinda fergot 2 put up Sawadee! Or hello depending on what language you speak. Considering that our website isn’t painted on one of those gazillion billboards here in Thailand. That’s right, Thailand. Impolite to wear your shoes into a shrine or touch someone on the head, no shaking hands just wai-ing which is meant to represent the fair and lovely lotus flower. Taking tour up and down the river and being completely splashed in New Year celebration. Yep, it’s the Thai new here. It’s so fun. There are people splashing water on you and putting clay on your face. They don’t even know you they just celebrate no matter what age or race you are. People are dancing (literally) in the streets and singing and having fun. This is how people live, work and play. They are born into what Americans call poverty but what they look as a lovely life. So what if they wash their dishes with the same water they pee in? So what if they pet the stray dogs and cats that roam the streets? Is it their spiritual connection that brings them to live such full lives? Or is it their meditation practices? Anyway Yesterday we went on a tour of the river, grand palace and of course the “set up” shopping experience. Mum didn’t believe in this so we were in one door and out the other. The sales people kind of stuck to you like magnets. That’s how it is. These people pursue you across the street lowering the price by fifty baht every second. Sometimes you feel so bad because that is how they make their living but other times you just want to say “no thank you! I do not want that. Even if it is really cheap!” But you don’t and let them sulk away anyway. And then there is the bargaining. Everyone has their little calculators because somehow they “don’t speak English” even though they talk perfect English while interesting you in the goods they just type how many baht they want on a calculator. Mum and I are bargaining champions; we brought the price down 600 baht. Go us! Yesterday we went out to dinner with Fred to the fish market. You literally go shopping and then you tell them how you want it prepared. Cool, huh? Then there is the new year pictures don’t describe the fun feeling you get when chucking water at cars and people and getting squirted with water filled with bacteria. Whatever its fun! and i wrote this yesterday... It was only a 2 and a half hour flight to China. It was somewhat of a walk in the park or a skip in the park or something of that sort. Perhaps a run in the park? I must note: the amount of body odor on that airplane presented a perfect situation for the O2 masks to really drop from the ceiling. Imagine the pilot: “Ladies and gentlemen the flight attendants are now passing out bottles of deodorant. Oxygen masks are now dropping from the ceilings and baby wipes can be found under the seats.” In Chinese it would sound somewhat like “wang chee chow mow cow bow weegee waggee woo.” There was no in-flight movie, just an Aussie cooking show with a guy who said “mate” a lot. The food was allright. Most of my time was spent attempting to finish up and computer game but I gave up after the lack of power just made it run too darn slow. I hoped to finish it at the hotel room. We had middle row seats so there was no window. It wasn’t until I felt landing gear go down did I really believe we were descending. Mum was reading a book she got in Australia and I just listening to Gwen Stefani blab about how she wants money and how she would clean out Vivan West and a trip to London. Whatever. So then we get to Hong Kong. Relieved of the BO and lip gloss applied we had to walk a bit to where some windows were. A few more wais and we were done. No more Thailand except for a layover to Cambodia. And of course dad had to stop for his camera or else he would positively flip out. Mum and I stood and tapped our toes but it didn’t do much because we were standing on carpet. Dad was soon busy commenting about this and that especially what was different when they were here 16 years ago, for their honeymoon. I think the main difference that the billboards with the high fashion watches, makeup and business just added computers, cell phones and mini cameras. Of course I was fascinated by the cute little characters. Simple way to remember how to write exit: cactus TV. I’m so westernized. We took a very packed train a couple of minutes (like in Denver) and found ourselves being pushed onto an escalator. The voice in the train said “please consider using an elevator.” Let’s see considering, considering NO. Then there was immigration. Passports, waiting in line, smelling more BO etc. and then there was finding transportation. We looked around for PENDERGRAST or PENDEGAST or PENDEGRATS or whatever. No luck. So we go and talk to the guy who represents our hotel. He suggests we wait at the “waiting area” (brilliant name) and he’ll get our “bus” taken care of. Yes, a bus. The nice man gave us all stickers. Mum immediately removed hers with a look of disgust as dad wandered over to get a smoothie. Mum delegated me the task of holding the departure paper for PEDERJAST, ROBIN MR. as I was pushed to the back of the elevator. Our trolley took up most of the space. There was another man in the elevator but the moment he alighted he rushed over to el bano. The bus was nicely air conditioned and Dad was complaining about how fast people move here. I told him that the bus driver was getting very annoyed and that he should speed up and I told him that he cant move slowly. He simply says “watch me.” Whatever. In the bus we had a very intelligent conversation about the flavor of dad’s smoothie. He kind of muttered it was mango berries and mum thought he said dingleberrie. I know which one I prefer. After that, the thought of dingleberries kind of stopped me from wanting some. Dad was very confused and thought we were on the left side of the road. When mum asked me what side of the road they drive on in England I had to think of the Knight Bus before giving her, her answer. Mum then started commenting about how it the bridge was easy to jump. She had a point but it wasn’t worth a conversation. We passed lots of towers that were all apartments. One of those towers is probably the population of Crystal Lake and McHenry put together. There are two bridges that you have to pass over. You can look over the bay and look at the tug boats (mum started singing the tug tug song) and think wow, I’m in Hong Kong. I looked down at my watch. I had already set it for the correct Hong Kong time on the airplane. On the way to Bangkok I had set it to the wrong time so I thought we had one hour left in stead of two. Quite a big difference. We got to go in the Chenj Tsing tunnel which was very long and spotless. The light was very nice for working on the computer. We saw lots of cactuses and TV’s and then came out on another bridge and into more tall apartment complexes. It’s flabbergasting how many there are. I found myself singing an old French song from school. If any of my Aussie friends were around they’d kill me. It was quite annoying but everyone walked around singing: Qui a peux de mechant lou? Qui a peux de mechant lou? Il et grand, il et fou. Le mechant, mechant lou. Mum likes to make fun of me. So do I. We passed a huge container-making place with lots of cranes and stuff. It seemed quite easy to get lost in; I didn’t want to try any time soon. Any of course, more apartments. I was now beginning to see why China had such a big population. I mean, not why but that. Sorry, wrong word. It was incredible, there were more apartment skyscrapers than there are in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles put together. Finally we began to see beginnings of commercial Hong Kong. But there were still, you guessed it, lots of apartments. It was very comical listening to the radio on the bus: chingo fogoo tow weh tow weh yaw oo yong cow chee. I was laughing in my head. I also saw some soldiers. They didn’t have machine guns, but that’s good because machine guns kind of scare me sometimes, most of the time, always. And then another tunnel and cactuses and TV’s. There were signs hanging from the ceiling saying NO SPEEDING. We were going too fast to make note of how to write that in Chinese. Mum basically made random remarks about mangsteens and more bridges, how she likes Hong Kong, The Star Ferry (which is the boat that travels between Hong Kong and Kowlloom which is on the other side of the harbor or harbour depending on if you are from Australia or America) etc. all the way to the hotel. Dad got very excited when he saw the Bomb Disposal Unit and refused to say it loudly because we are “guests here” here being China or Hong Kong or whatever. I thought he was talking about a cool building. Mum was flipping through the “goings on” packet for Hong Kong. She suggested a concert, I shook my head and smiled. Dad probably wanted to see the History of Correctional Services in Hong Kong. Mum wanted to see the Feng Shui tour which includes Yoga, Tea and a snack. I said I might go because there is something to do with Divination. I wasn’t really paying attention to her but looking at the Georgio Armani sign. People do lots of high-end shopping in Hongee Kongee. Mum got excited when she red about Pandas but decided not after recalling the o-so-lovely memory of Kangaroo crud. The air is quite polluted in Hong Kong. Needless to say, I washed my face a lot. Yes so that is that and ill be writing more...Cheers Tricia's Journal 04/10/2005 - 21:53PM Location: Australia Bye Syd Hi Thai I suppose I should be glad I like Thai food. If I didn't like tofu I would be in a very bad prediciment. No protein which is essential for something or another. Something that those crappy health videos for 3-year-olds mentioned. We only have a 8-hour plane ride to look forward to. I bought 6 magazines a flipped through them saying "I'll read this on the way to China," how many 12-year-olds get to say that. As you read tomorrow we leave for Thailand or China or something above the equator or near the equator or somewhere around there. We have only sent nine boxes home (one full of tim tams) and vegemite. Yes, in order to stay friends with us you are ordered to try vegemite. HA! HA! We've tried it. It is actually very good for april fools jokes, looks exactly like jelly. :-) hahahaha So goodbye my Aussie friends...won't forget about you and see my American friends in two months! Tricia's Journal 04/03/2005 - 21:00PM Location: Australia YOU GOT FOOLED! For those of you who didn't scroll down and panicked I fooled you in telling you that the website is being shut down. APRIL FOOLS!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA I'm in art and design listening to music and being bored because this is my last week of school. So, I am just kind of trying to tidy up any loose ends before we leave. Lots of hugs. Everyone says hi. Thanks to everyone who sent in pledges for Splash for Cash. I raised over 1500 Australian and swam 40 laps. Thank you so much. Congrats to Julie and Justin Pendergrast...nephew number 9! Gavin Pendergrast was born yesterday. Or the day before that depending on what side of the international date line you're on. :-) Cheers Tricia's Journal 03/29/2005 - 21:06PM Location: Australia plastic bags I haven't noticed that we've officially topped 100 journals 7 journals ago...I'm so observant considering that sticks out on the computer every time I go to journal. As you may think-I'm at school and it's lunchtime. Nothing much is going on...I'm going over to a friends house for a barbeque on Saturday. The packing process has begun, my room looks like it did at home before we left: piles of books and stuff I want to leave or take. My clothes are seperated between pack and wear and my bathroom is an array of lovely plastic bags. When Mum asked "where are the hair ties," I simply replied "in a plastic bag" not specifying which one and not knowing where they are but knowing that they are in some plastic bag, somewhere. I had to do some internet and encyclopedia searching about Angkor Watt today for Geography, learned a lot. I won't bore you with the whole thing. I've realised it is nothing to walk through a hallway in 3 minutes let along across a campus in one. Everyone was flabbergasted that my uniform is pants and a polo shirt with a "mufti" day on Fridays. Yes well, the American way is sometimes good. :-) See you! Tricia's Journal 03/28/2005 - 21:23PM Location: Australia Randomness Yes, well as I'm sure you've heard from the parental units we went to some river thingy or something like that. I felt like I was in Iowa and expected to see cornfields while dad thought he was in Rantoole. The 2-mintue taxi ride was a "mere" 7 dollars and a girl with beer wanted a free ride to the jail. Hmmmm...lemme consider NO! It was visiting day, not turn-yourself-in day. Anyway Boats weren't running because everyone has a 4-day easter break and the resturant had flies on the food. Mum and Dad told me the story of the vodka, gasoline water or whatever it was that their Greek friend gave them. Methods of disposing of bad alcohol drinks: 1. Say "look at those plants" and dump it on them. Go over with water later. 2. Put it in a covered coke can. 3. Dump it on the ground. 4. If it is clear drink water and mix it with the ice. 5. Steal it and feed it to a homeless person. 6. Excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and "not make it." 7. Be "allergic" to it. 8. Get drunk from one sip. It is against the law to serve an alcohol to someone who is intoxicated. 9. Use it for gas in your car. 10. Accidentally knock it over. 11. Use it to shut a baby up. 12. Slik your hair back. Any suggestions? But it was very, very nice aside from me sitting in thorns...but thats another story :-) Tricia's Journal 03/28/2005 - 21:22PM Location: Australia An exerpt from my book He completely didn’t understand, and left to go get some coffee, so I was left to mope until Mum came home. She came home, looking tired but with suitcase in hand. I looked up from the couch I was sitting on and switched the TV off. “Hi Tricia,” she said and set down the bag. “So,” I said. She looked at me, nonplussed. “So, what’s the scoop,” I said. “Well, the people had to go through all the medicine and didn’t tell us. They said that they were afraid we were opening an illegal drugstore or something.” I sighed and looked out the window. “I’m going to go out for some fresh air,” I said and hoped off the couch and I completely forgot about my ipod treachery. I didn’t take the keys with me, which was a major mistake at the time. I sat, looked around picked up some shells and walked to the door and turned the latch. Click, but it didn’t open. Aw, this is the last thing I need, I thought to myself. So I banged on the door and called up “Mummmmm, MUM, MOM!” So I came to a last resort, think of all those romantic movies and picked up a rock, took aim and fired. Nothing. I must have done this for 15 minutes for finally I gave up hope with that and tried making large noises and arm movements below. The lifeguards were probably saying: “ladies and gentlemen please clear the area we need to take care of a lunatic who seems an apparent danger to you all. Go to another beach, besides we want a break.” Tricia's Journal 03/23/2005 - 20:02PM Location: Australia HI EVERYONE Guess what? I'm back at school...again. We have a long four day day day day weekend in which I will be going to the easter show. They have these showbags that are super awesome and you have to beg your parents to buy the junk for you...unless it is a magazine bag...then they are worthwhile. Hamish is here and he wants me to tell you that he is shopping but not buying anything. Anyway It stopped raining...finally. It actually was and still is SUNNY today. I sent a dove flying off with an olive branch. It didn't come back...but headed towards the bird feeder. The preschool kids were overjoyed. Cheers Tricia's Journal 03/22/2005 - 20:16PM Location: Australia Hi everyone Hi everyone! I'm at school right now. We are in the library. Hamish who is my friend says hi. He is looking at Star Wars pictures. He asked me to write that. Come to that, I am too. It has been super rainy here. It rained like 100ml yesterday (whatever that is in inches) and there were like 50 mph winds. Well, nothing important but we were SWIMMING in that weather! Yes, thunder and lightning included. The teachers claim that they are mean but not that mean. Ummmmmm...okay I'll forgive them. Yes that strom scared the bloody $^*# out of us and in the midst of it all we made 3 stops. Finally the captain gave up hope and decided to scare us...letting us sitting on water in a metal boat to watch the lightning and see the hail balls. It was no use wiping at the windows. Oh yes, it could have been worse. At least we weren't SWIMMING! I gotta run-D&T (design & tech) is next and we're doing woodworking and we are cutting our wood today. CHEERS! Cheers! Tricia's Journal 03/13/2005 - 01:40AM Location: Australia Bored of the USA! Bored of the U.S.A I’m so bored of the U.S.A.! That was a song that was played as a preview at the French Film Festival. Mum and I kept throwing each other looks. We saw Look at Me it was really very nice. Yesterday we went to dinner with a friend of my sister, Jori, from college. We were talking about Americans and Australians etc. when she brought up how kids who want immediate gratification are most likely to develop drug problems. I immediately responded with an “I want my dinner NOW!” Immediate gratification eh? School is going fine, I am in the midst of a project for LA or English it included a story and a practical assignment. We saw the Telstra swimming trials with Grant Hackett!!! Thorpedo wasn’t there he is taking a year off. Pictures and maybe a video of Grant swimming to follow. Cheers! Tricia's Journal 03/05/2005 - 00:11AM Location: Australia hi A few messages...went on a lovely bikeride today...it was very nice but there were all these spiders in the trees. It was kind of gross. Lovely veiws etc. School is going pretty well...I have a math test next week and we are still studying shakespeare. I am also writing another story. Cheers! Tricia's Journal 03/02/2005 - 20:20PM Location: Australia hey ya! oh oh! hey ya! HEYEVERONE!!!! I’m at school with a wreck of a computer. I have to punch the spacebar to make it work. Hamish is randomly deleting things beside me on a functioning computer. Hamish believes that Giovanni is stalking him. But I know better. Yesterday, I fell down the stairs. Cement stairs not fun. I spent the afternoon lessons in the sick bay. No vomiting, no headache, but I know what to do for CPR, diabetics and meningococcal disease (some Aussie thing.) Cheers Mate! Gotta go Tricia's Journal 02/26/2005 - 06:19AM Location: Australia letters n' such Hello everyone, this letter below is to everyone at the Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind children. Go ahead and read it if you so please or just scroll down and look at your options. Dear everyone, Hi my name is Tricia and my dad was the one doing all the shooting photographs the other day. I hear you’ve been teaching him some signing, eh? Perhaps he will teach me. I only know a few words, words I read out of books and such. We had to learn the signing alphabet but it’s different in Australia than America. I’m going to school in Australia and I’m having lots of fun. It’s very interesting to see the differences and similarities between America and Australia. So many things are different, including the fact that we don’t have any Tim Tam’s. A girl at my school’s grandfather invented them. Has anyone tried that chili kind? I have to admit it doesn’t look that good. I’m not really the type to eat sugary with spicy. Yuck. Blaaaaah. Anyway (on a happier and less spicy note) I would love to come around to see your school sometime. Unfortunately, I’m at school too making it very hard for me to come over to visit. I am pretty sure about doing the sponsored swim-a-thon. Anyone else swimming? Well hope to see everyone soon, Tricia Pendergrast Well, nothing much to write at the moment. Just saw Big Fish wasn’t too bad. It was very, dark. My mum was like “not as scary as Harry Potter,” and I’m sitting there ready to jam my fingers into my ears and mutter “the first time when you don’t know where the basilisk is where Ginny is and who Tom Riddle is!!!!!!” Cheers! Tricia's Journal 02/24/2005 - 20:16PM Location: Australia McDonald's doesn't serve hamburgers I¡¯m back, at the library but with a little more time on my hands. School is going pretty good. Today we did archery in sport, which takes place on Fridays. It is about 90 degrees here and most parts on my school have no air conditioning but big windows with the sun streaming through. OY! Nikki Webster was at my school today being interviewed about a TV program called ¡°Dancing with the stars.¡± Everyone is pretty sure it is just some publicity stunt. She isn¡¯t widely liked among people my age but when one boy got wind of the fact that she was here we took off to the conference center to have a look. Just some big superstar¡¦oh well, enough excitement for one day. Right now, we are STILL doing Shakespeare in school. On Thursday we have a different teacher and everyone is zzzzzzzz. In art class a girl actually FELL ASLEEP! We went on a geography ¡°excursion¡± field trip to a far FAR FAR suburb of Sydney. It felt like the outback. This is what we did: 1. Get there. 2. Get eaten alive by bugs. 3. Get lectured. 4. Start walking. 5. Stop to take data. 6. Get scared because of red ants. 7. Start walking. 8. Walk through sand, prickly bushes, creeks, streams and forests for approximately one hour of horror. (The guide told us to beware of some of the most deadly snakes in the world. Funnnnnnnnn) 9. Stop to take more data. 10. Walk another 5 minutes around leech-filled water, across rickety pieces of stone 10 feet above the 2-inch high water below and nearly fall. 11. One girl cries and loses her pen. 12. We get to a waterfall and play and have fun until one boy STUBS HIS TOE ON A STICK and we are ordered to sit down. 13. We go to a cliff where we look over, and to our horror see nothing but stone going down 50 feet. 14. Tired, thirsty and running out of water we begin walking again through prickly bushes, creeks, streams and forests for approximately one half hour of horror. 15. Three girls start to feel faint from lack of hydration. 16. Tired, not feeling at all well and desperately running out of water we stop to take even MORE data. 17. When we think we are going home we are stopped and have to sit in the hot sun and get lectured about a lobster and how to catch marine animals (I¡¯ve done this about 5 times before.) 18. ONE TWO ONE TWO PICK THE PACE UP! We set off for another 10-minute walk without shade to catch animals with our army-sergeant guide. 19. We try to catch animals but all we get are backswimmers that do nothing but annoy us. 20. Finally we start to take a direct route back. We are all tired, dehydrated and our feet hurt terribly. 21. Finally we get back to the camp and refill our water bottles. We have to walk up a near-strait hill. Two girls are so weak I have to bodily push them up. 22. The bus is poorly air conditioned and nobody feels much better. 23. I eat my yogurt and listen to my ipod to pass the time. 24. Finally we are back. When mum and dad asked about my trip they couldn¡¯t believe how bad it was. You wouldn¡¯t even understand. That must have been the worst day of my trip! Not kidding and that includes the seven-hour bus rides we took. Just sitting in the library making observations. There is this poster about using the computer and there are three kids sitting and smiling at it. Well, the comp isn¡¯t even turned on and they are sitting around smiling at is stupidly. Honestly. Well noting more to write at the moment¡¦ Cheers! Tricia's Journal 02/22/2005 - 20:32PM Location: Australia AT SCHOOL G'day! I am at school with Hamish and Stephanie. We are in the library. Hamish says hi to all the "veiwers." Right now, I am reserching for my Shakespeare project in which I will build a model of the globe theater. Okay, now lots of people say hi! Cheers! Tricia's Journal 02/20/2005 - 23:57PM Location: Australia facts... Facts about Australia First Language: English Currency: Australian Dollars. Comes in: Coins -5 -10 -20 -50 -1$ -2$ 1$ 5$ 10$ 20$ 50$ 100$ Funny Facts: Australia has the largest population of free camels in the whole world. The world’s largest cattle farm is in Stangeray Springs in South Australia. Water going down the drain swirls in an opposite direction. (It’s really hard to see.) Granny Smith Apples originally came from New South Wales. Australia is the largest diamond-producing country in the world. There is no tipping. Lingo: ****= commonly used ***= heard once or twice **=read about *=not sure if it exists =stupid to even count it in Cozzie, Swimming Costume, Bathers, Swimmers-Swimsuit **** Pommie-English ancestors ** G’day-Hello **** Shout-to buy lots of beer *.5 Arvo-Afternoon ** Ta- Thank you ** Waltzing Matilda-to travel with your stuff on your back ** (heard in song) Tucker-food ** Cuppa- cup of tea *** Fair dinkum-geniune *** Mate-friend **** Blower, telly- Telephone *** Dunny-outside toilet *** No Worries- No problem **** There are lots more that are not really commonly used. Watch out for the accents they can be tricky. Well school is better, now that I’m doing Year 9 Math. We go swimming lots and I still play clarinet. THE storm was nothing to worry about. It was just uncomfortable. I am learning French and it is pretty fun! I am reading Macbeth as well. Cheers! Tricia's Journal 02/14/2005 - 01:50AM Location: Australia Hi! Hello! How is everyone I seriously don’t have much to write about as much as it may surprise you and I’m not kidding. School is can be simply called school. Math, Science, LA etc. There is of course acting, but that is just like a class. It is getting annoying having people walk up to me just to say “say bob,” or “say color” or “count to ten,” etc. Everyone hangs out together except for the “crazy American kid” who likes to be by myself in the library. My best friend would probably be the librarian who I visit practically every day. Many people have ipods and really expensive cell phones for such young ages. I miss everyone! I’m really sorry about not staying in touch because we’ve been so busy! We’ve been swimming a lot especially at the aquatic center. The pool is amazing; it’s supposed to be the world’s fastest pool. It is so easy to just swim 800 meters in a row and it is hard to swim 50 in another. Cheers! Tricia PS Everyone hates Bush here! We were playing CELEBRITY HEADS which is a game where you have to ask yes or no questions to guess who you have been named. When the clue time came for the person playing Bush the clue was "you are a powerful person and an idiot" even the teacher said it. Tricia's Journal 02/05/2005 - 00:57AM Location: Australia I've always wanted to go to the Emerald City! Vegemite smedgemite No, I’m not insulting it I’m just speaking the truth, Vegemite it positively vile. It smells just about as good as eau de Moldy Socks. AND it’s everywhere. The attack of the vegemite? No, just the invasion We picked up a car and we named it Loser (Lou for short) Toad. Loser because it squeals every time we turn it on, the AC doesn’t work unless you put it on boost, the seats are horrid, there is no middle pocket, the ashtray’s cover came off and it smells like smoke. Toad because it’s ugly and not painted properly. I hope it’ll break down and we will have to get a proper car. I don’t let my Mum and Dad pick me up from school in it. They park it like two blocks away and we walk. Speaking of school school has started and it’s pretty fun. Math is boring, Science is gross they have a dead pig, eel and snake in jars (please don’t get any ideas Mr. Allen) ugh LA is pretty fun and they call it Grammar. Acting and Art and Design are the best subjects and they have nice teachers. I’ll write more soon! Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/27/2005 - 19:23PM Location: Australia a few stragglers Here is a journal from Cairns: The Herbal Mall It also goes by the name of the big fish mall And everything closes at five o’clock. It was from Laser FX that we have been doing the writing from these past few days. Mum and I have spent hours laughing about this and that and positively convincing the store owner we’re homeless lunatics who break out laughing every so often. I think he was about to call the asylum when his manager walked in. We actually had to take a taxi there one day and the dialogue in the taxi was like so: (They get in car) Tricia: The mall please. Marla: The mall please. Taxi Driver: Which mall? Marla: The one on the main street. Taxi Driver: There are two on the main street. Tricia: The one out of Cairns. Taxi Driver: There are two out of Cairns. Marla: It has a cinema and supermarket. Taxi Driver: Both have cinemas and supermarket. Marla: We are going to see a movie! I mean, what else do you do on such a rainy day? Taxi Driver: I go have a beer. Are you going to the Herbal mall? Tricia: Erm. Marla: No, I believe it is on Main Street. Taxi Driver: The one with the big fish? Marla: I don’t think so. Tricia: There might be a fish. (in hushed voices) Marla: I don’t think so. Tricia: If he says there is a fish, there is a fish! Marla: That may be the wrong one. Tricia: I really am confused. (the taxi makes a sharp turn) Tricia: whoa! Marla: You are on my little pustules. Tricia: Oh, sorry. (the taxi turns into the mall) Tricia: whoa! Sheesh! Marla: shhhh! Taxi Driver: This one? Tricia: It has a fish! Taxi Driver: Yes (uses tone of voice that suggests that she is a total and complete idiot) Marla: Thank you! Taxi Driver: Bye BYE (seems immensely glad to be rid of them) We also went to a loooooooooooovley restaurant that was verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry accommodating except for the fact that they wouldn’t let us take our stuff home. They need a special permit. I really don’t think that their food could be any more expensive. Considering that they make a lot of money per head I think that they could manage buying a permit. Wow . But now we are in Sydney in a lovely condo on a bay. Since you can't swim in the ocean, they put sand in the pool and made a fake beach. It is actually quite artistic. The veiw is simply wonderful as is the 7 flight stair climb I do every day. School starts in 4 days which means my brain might actually have to start working again!!! The campus is absolutley lovely. All in all this trip has gotten off to a great start. It was been fun e-mailing and IMing everyone. Keep in touch! Cheers... Tricia Tricia's Journal 01/25/2005 - 20:08PM Location: Australia HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY! Well, folks you can't say it hasn't been an interesting week. We've finally gotten to Sydney and settled down a tad. Our condo is almost 100% done because we still need to go shopping a little more. We did go shopping a little last night at 12 at night, not that, that was too late because Bi-lo was open! No, seriously we were all up until 2 in the morning because Mum was on the phone with grandpa, I was thristy and dad was watching TV. This is after he was taking a picture of me and part of the camera fell into a grate. I didn't even think twice about pulling the IRON cover off it and saying "dad a part of the camera fell off!" He had dropped the camera earlier that day. What is it with him and demolishing cameras? I also hae found out that Dory (from finding Nemo's) words are true: What is it with men and asking for directions? Its jest genetically not programmed. The internet has been far from reach here and we are doing our best to get some kind of connection in our condo. We'll all will do journals tomorrow (says the male parental unit) School starts in 6 days but right now I have to go celebrate Australlia Day! It is like our independance day and like our Memorial Day bcause if you go to school before you go early, after it, right on time! In other words: Time to get lost in a swarming crowd! Sorry about not responding really fast to e-mails, the no internet problem gets in the way sometime :-)! Cheers! P.S. Here are some Aussie slangs: Yous: you guys Cheers: Thanks! No Worries: No problem! See ya! Tricia's Journal 01/22/2005 - 18:03PM Location: Australia we're rained out, no i mean were rained in 20-30 foot swells are keeping us off the ocean. What's new? We're having lots of fun playing computer games:-) Nothing much to report :-) We'll go out tomorrow...we are probably going to head back to Cairns. Bye Bye! Tricia's Journal 01/20/2005 - 23:11PM Location: Australia hmmmm Hi everyone! We've been doing a pretty good job of, erm, keeping out of the sun. We've been in the mall like 10 times and we've seen THE INDREDIBLES and RACING STRIPES. I liked them both, but the Harry Potter movies are my all time favorites. I am learning lots of things here, one is never shop in Australia for clothes you are going to wear in America. The clothes are drastically ugly but they are not what we wear. The shoes are something that I do have to comment about. Like in Europe people take whats on their feet very seriously, I have probably seen some of the coolest shoes in my life. Really awesome. The only problem here is that its either made out of kangaroos or its imported. And another thing....remember those toad purses. Well this guy had a storefully of kangaroos skin hats, crocodille heads, baby crocodilles on motorcycles...all of it was real. He even had some lovley toad purses for sale. Dad wanted me to kiss the dead crocodille. I wouldn't kiss one alive or dead. I'll kiss my cats and sometimes my hamster after I've cleaned her but I draw the line a crocs. We've stayed in a very nice B&B with the cutest dog! The AC was a bit of a problem becuase both my mum and I are fighting the toxens associated with our bug bites and we are doing really well except that I sometimes get temperature spikes at night when I'm tired. So we are all broiling and I have ice pressed to my forehead and by the time it is cold it is morning and we have to leave. Needless to say, this hasn't been the best leg of the trip. But it could be worse :-) Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/19/2005 - 19:03PM Location: Australia I think I might be allergic to a rampaging kangaroo There once was a cute and cuddly ball of fur It hopped and bounce and occasionally gurred Little bugs grew on his tail And every so occasionally he would let out a wail Until one day when a girl came to feed him The bugs crawled on her and defenatly freed him So this is where the story ends in a raging rash Its pretty much gone away and it is in the past All of going to the doctors in the hospital was not fun 5-9 we sat there without an ounce of sun No more! No more! The rash is done. Now the mother has it...darn those little bugs! That is a looovley little poem that I wrote about myself and my mum. We both have rashes but mine is better than hers. I had a fever and a hedache and she just has icky blisters. We are coping pretty well. My dad doesn't have the rash. We actually only waited 4.5 hours before seeing a doctor in the ER. The docs said (when we did see tham) that, that was a relativley short wait. The nurses behind the counter didn't give a care that our condition was getting worse and they were itching...but aside from that it was a lovely evening. It rains almost every day here in Cairns (pronounced Cans) my dad has yet to master saying it correctly the first time. We are spending lots of time in the mall. It is defenatly more westernized here. We only saw 3 KFCs and 4 McDonalds while driving through town last night. What is NOT westernized about it is the fact that the whole town shuts down (aside from Mc Donalds) at night. Everything. Even the KFC and McD's in the mall was closed. So, you could imagine where we went for dinner.....a lovely scottish resturant where they fry everything that is torturable. I got a McDonalds yougurt. My mum and dad got Vege (yes vege) burgers that I tried to pursuade them that were fried. We also saw The Incredibles last night which I have to admit was pretty cute. We are staying at a pretty cute B&B and having a great time. We actually managed to get the AC working last night!!!! We are also starting to understand cricket. It is pretty confusing at first. but we might go see a game! P.S. the furball was a kangaroo CHEERS Tricia's Journal 01/17/2005 - 02:49AM Location: New Zealand Toads Roads and Moads. Moads? Once upon a time there was a cute koala. The koala was cute. It was a cute koala. The End. Okay, so that would have been a verrrrrrry short journal entry if I didn’t want to elaborate about the koala. We did go to a koala sanctuary. There were also lots of kangaroos. You could walk up to them, feed them and then run away when they stampede. You really should get out more often. A kangaroo stampeding it’s a sight to see. I did get to hold a koala and get a picture taken. It was so cute! My mum stood there saying “that little ookie, bookie cuteness! Baby bookie shnuggums!!!” I again had to remind her that the koala was not a cat no matter how cute it was. We went a visited the dingos, wombats and echidnas. The dingos looked like oddly shaped dogs. I know this is going to infuriate one of my friends but I have to mention something. My mum and I are always sitting in front of the busses. We use public transportation a lot. I don’t know if the inertia there is more but we are ALWAYS swinging side to side. Whenever this happens my mum and I mutter “knight bus.” When we say this we are making a reference to The Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that goes very fast (the buses don’t) and swings violently from side to side. I have actually noticed that there are Hummus ads. (They spell it Hommus) These people are very healthy. We are going to Cairns tomorrow. Another plane ride whoopdeedoo. The reason why I say this is because our plane ride to Brisbane was pretty windy. We dropped shook and rattled until we were within about an inch of the runway. While descending we drifted over and to the side of the runway until we landed and then we drifted on the runway. We also dropped like 15 feet in the air. My stomach took a while to recover. So please understand why I don’t want to fly out of Brisbane again. Today my dad developed the odd habit of ANNNNONNNCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY AAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRREEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Get it got it good! Er, well not all the time. But especially when there are people with leather briefcases and cigarettes he annunciates. Okay, he does it on purpose .:-) And for those who are in winter: It is 95 here. You can go SWIMMMMMMMMMINGGGGGGGGG in the SUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN and it is nice and WARMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I'm done taunting you :-) I forgot to mention toad purses. They were made of toads. REAL toads. Their heads and eyes were still on and in. The skin was streched by a zipper. It was like gross city. AND the sign said THE PERFECT GIFT yeah right, the perfect gross out gift. UGH Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/12/2005 - 15:53PM Location: New Zealand oh, I'm writing to YOU!!!!! So, you ask how I am do you? I am being tortured because I can't buy anything here because I have to wait until CHINA!!! But other than that... The weather here has been so crappy it is stupid. It is either cold, rainy, cloudy or all of the above. Oy! We have learned many lessons on this trip. All of these times my mum has made a big fuss about something and then she lectures us about it on the way back home. 1. Never eat breakfast at a hotel. 2. Never touch the bedroom floor. 3. Hand sanatize everything before you touch it. 4. Never use the remote. Do you realize all of these start with NEVER. I think I have to go soon because my mum is having a problem with the internet, dad is telling her to calm down and the poor girl at the counter looks positivley terrified. Oh, yes...I REALLY have to go. We have a train to catch...Chugga Chugga and then after those 2 a choo choo. Tricia's Journal 01/10/2005 - 23:10PM Location: New Zealand I swear.... I could swear that I am sitting in this chair typing a message. I swear that I have read 4 books in 2 days. I swear I went on a helicopter ride yesterday. Could aslo swear that I am working hard on Review Uno, a reveal-all journal entry comeplete with a powepoint presentation of photos, facts and just funny lingo things I've listend to. Bloody pigeon. :-) Got it? Well, NZ is pretty fun...but the mountans and waterfalls are starting to get verrrrry boring. They are all from glacers and all that lovely brain mush. It was been nice e-mailing everyone. Remember: tricia@journeyaroundtheworld.com I enjoy talking to you all! We went on a helicopter ride over the glaciers. It was AMAZING. The pictures will be included in the powerpoint. For once I can truthfully tell you that they are coming out soon. We have made many friends along the way...hello to everyone. Oh, and hello to my friends too! E-mail me! I would absolutley LOVE to hear from you! Tricia's Journal 01/08/2005 - 18:00PM Location: New Zealand New Zealand sends her love! Kia Ora (if you donft know what that means by now I am sending you off a cliff) Just kidding. Triciafs-annoying-but-true-fact-that-she-wants-to-share-with-you-de-la-dia: As many people know hotel keys are programmed to open up a certain door. If you get your cell phone or any electronic with a large satellite or Internet connection system it can make the card malfunction. As many of you know we went on a boat through the fiords. It was INCREDIBLE. The pictures will be so amazing. We saw waterfalls bigger than Niagara Falls and past mountains that made canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon. It was green and lush. The coolest part about the fiords are they are all stone with stuff growing in them. There was basically no dirt at all. Pictures to come. You will love them. We started our NICE, QUIET Sunday with a serenade from the airplane stalling his engine, turning around, flipping up and down, making loop de loops and falling at the same time. It was like ATTACK OF THE ALIENS!!!! Everyone turned to watch. Now remember folks, this is Queenstown and they donft have much to do besides bungee jumping, jet skiing, hang gliding, parasailing, skydiving, biking, shopping, fishing, jet boating and swimming. The plane was amazing. It was so cool and it came really close to us! I screamed many times. When he (or she) stalled the engines I thought something was dreadfully wrong and it was going to crash. But it didnft and flew away without a scratch. There was actually a parasailer out on the lake while the boat was in the air. Could you imagine? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NO GO AWAY THAT WAY NO TURN SHEfS GOING TO BLOW DID YOU HEAR? MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE HEEEEEEEELP AHHHHHHHHHHHH! The weather here has been as good as the taste of vegemite. And donft tell me I donft know what that tastes like. I tried it with breakfast this morning. I can even tell you how to make itc Step 1: Melt down some tires. Put in a bowl. Step 2: Mush some B12 powder into an eggplant. Put in same bowl. Step 3: Add prune juice. Step 4: Add essence of earwax. Step 5: Mix. Step 6: Add rotten jello. Step 7: Mix again. Step 8: Add dirt. It honestly looks like rotten jello. I swear. If anyone wants to play a good April Fools joke on someone give him or her vegemite instead of jelly or jello. It is honestly horrible. Blame the company for making a bad product. If you really want to continue with the act have whoever you served the vegemite to call the company. Most likely that person will listen to: gyour call is very important to us. Please stay on the line.h Then some annoying music plays. You are put on hold. It takes about an hour to get a human being. And then the human being is not even helpful. Most likely whomever you talk to will say, gOur products are always made with the freshest foods.h Then they will hang up leaving you doubled up with laughter while the other person is fuming. Now back on subject: Where was I? Oh yes. Later this after noon we are going to go to a Tsunami fundraiser. Right now I am laughing because dad always pronounces Tsunami Tusami instead of sunami. Seriously. Anyway I am going to take this time to say please donate to the Tsunami cause because the people in Asia are in dire need of money and help. We are also going to figure out the gVodaphone problemh today. It is always on silent mode and none of us can get it on to unsilent mode. Wefre sorry if wefve missed any of your calls due to the phone. BAD PHONE! BAD PHONE! BAD BAD BAD!!! Today I had someone say gthanks,h to me and I was going to say gcheers,h or gno worries.h I then realized that I still had an American accent (hadnft changed overnight to an Aussie or British or New Zealandc) and saying the Aussie slang would make me like my father. Everyone would think Ifm delusional. J Kind of just kidding. We have two days to R E L A X ! And we are all enjoying the R and R. We have had 10 days strait of fun but a lot of stress, deadlines and mandatory destinations. We made them all this leg. This is now what you must say: g I (state your name) thought the Pendergrastfs would be late for a bus ride, plane ride or boat ride this leg of the trip. I was wrong but I know they will miss something else in the future.h Now go oncsay it! Together on the count of three: ONE, DOS, TROIS!!! ermc ONE TWO THREE! Good job! Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/08/2005 - 17:28PM Location: New Zealand Sheep in the road Kia Ora! (If you don’t know what that means by now I am very scared) Tricia’s-annoyingly-but-true-fact-that-she-wants-to-annoy-you-with-de-la-dia: The flowers high in mountains are usually white and yellow. One reason is that they have to reflect the light. The other is the fact that moths pollinate them. The moths come out at night so the flowers have to glow in the dark. They aren’t fluorescent but they do have a sort of glow that attracts the moths to them. Hi everyone! Currently we are on the bus to Milford Sound. Our tour guide/driver, Maree, has been commenting practically the whole way. We went past some fiords that were so creatively named: Big, Medium and Little Fiord. They are not actually fiords because a fiord reaches out into the sea. The only reason they are named Fiords is because the man who named them liked the word fiord and wanted to use them on his map. We learned about the Totara tree which is used by the Maori people to make boats. The trunks are so huge that around 100 warriors can fit in one boat. To give you an idea of how big these boats are go watch Whale Rider. It really is a good movie and it shows you the boat. Today was another day filled with chaos. (Mum contradicts that*) We only lost my father twice. Mum and I were running around like maniacs trying to find him. Finally I planted myself to read a Harry Potter book and keep watch. Mum returned a few minutes later with dad in wake. :-) While going through Fiordland National Park we encountered a roadblock. The 4,000 police demanded to see our passports and IDs and then checked for any open alcohol bottles. Just Kidding. The “police” were actually sheep. Lots of sheep. Our guide/driver explained what properly do when you encounter police sheep. Hem Hem just sheep. Sorry. After the sheep in the road incident we went through these really picturesque roads with waterfalls, mountains and rivers. Pictures to come. We also crossed the 45° degree latitude line. It was just a sign on the side of the road. You wouldn’t really notice it if our guide didn’t say “and now we just crossed the forty five degree blah blah blah” Possibly one of the most exciting things that happened today was the fact that my mum learned the proper time to say “Cheers.” Everyone clap! You heard (erm read) CLAP! Cheers! (see I’ve been using it at the right time!) -Tricia Tricia's Journal 01/08/2005 - 01:03AM Location: New Zealand The Kiwis send their love Kia Ora! (if you don't know what that means by know you are crazy and need to report to the nearest mental institution where you will find all of the boys in my 4th, 5th and 6th grade class.) *Girls laugh and point* *Boys frown* Just Kidding. Anyway... Tricia's-annoying-but-true-fact-that-she-wants-to-share-with -you-de-la-dia: Fur Seals do not have any blubber they have fur to keep warm. They need to stay warm because they dive to great depths in the cold waters around the fiords of New Zealand. They can dive down up to 200 meters or around 600 feet. They have to stay down from 10-20 minutes. To do this they conserve Oxygen by shutting down half of their brain. They conserve oxygen because their heart rate slows down and not a lot of oxygen is used. That was long. Go buy some popcorn, go play outside, play on the computers and come back. GO! We just finished our two day and one night trip around the fiords on a boat. We were on the Mariner. This named jogged my memory because in math class we did a Problem of the Week (which MAKE us prisoners of war) about the Mariner and Callisto. Just to jog your memory. The scenery was absolutley beautiful. There were huge mountains that extended under water and streched far into the clouds. We saw dolphins that were super cute. Skipper Ray actually let me drive the boat. Thanks to Skipper Ray, Stacy, Calin and the rest of the crew on the Mariner for making our stay one we will remeber forever. We also went kayacking in the fiords. That was cool. Oh yes, and if you didn't flip Seikcor around here is the answer: Rockies. Just flip it around. The Rockies run directly north to south and is one of the longest mountain ranges in the world. Flying over them is positivly dreadful. Let me show you what it is like. For one hour rock side to side and front and back. Bounce out of your seat a few times and then get hit by luggage. Act knocked out. Scare your family. Wake up and say "that planeride was horrible!" You too will find yourself at a mental institution. Don't blame me. We've been going on lots of busses. Getting on and off is hard because we have so much luggage. I mean...why did we pack so much? It's not like we would even THINK about going on a trip AROUND THE WORLD and pack SO MUCH like for SIX MONTHS. :-) Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/06/2005 - 16:58PM Location: New Zealand New Zealand #5 Kia Ora¡K I trust you know what it means by now. Tricia¡¦s annoyingly-true-and-not-need-to-know-fact-that-she-wants-to-share-with-you-de-la-dia: There are two mountain ranges in the world that run exactly north to south. One is a mountain range in New Zealand and it is called: The Remarkables! No sorry, no Elastagirl or that freaky kid with super speed who runs through Mc Donald¡¦s yelling ¡§BAD DA BOOOOOOOM and then I used by super speed and went BADADADADADA BOOOOOOM and that¡¦s how it happened!¡¨ Is Mr. Incredible¡¦s¡¦ brother named Mr. Remarkable? They could go on missions together yelling BADADADADADADAD BOOOOOOOOOOM at 140 decibels. As I mentioned before there are two mountain ranges. The other mountain range can be found in the USA. Clue: runs through Colorado, snowy and good for skiing. If you paid attention in social studies class you would know that I am talking about The Seikcor. Now flip that word around. Anyway, that is Tricia¡¦s annoyingly-true-and-not-need-to-know-fact-that-she-wants-to-share-with-you-de-la-dia. And if anyone was wondering¡Kde la dia means of the day in Spanish. ƒº No worries mate! On another and more English note the scenery here is beautiful. Just to give you an idea of the weather it is summer here. We drove a 3 hour bus ride with no air conditioning and felt very comfortable. G¡¦day mate! I can¡¦t believe how many sheep I am seeing. There are so many. It is so funny to see them after they are sheered because they look like deformed dogs with hair on their backsides (because nobody wants to sheer there!) There are also lots of dear. Venison is a big market and it is really sad. It was very odd seeing so many at a time because in the states you usually see no more that 4 or 5 at a time. On each farm there are around 50-200 of them standing, eating, getting fat and then eating some more. The scenery here is still really pretty. It looks a lot like Colorado at some points but a scarcely think that Coloradoans have hundreds of lupines growing in the wild on their mountains. All the airplane rides give us great views. Everyone saw the top of Mount. Cook from the airplane because it came through the clouds. I know I shouldn¡¦t have but I did take pictures while descending so we have some really good aerial shots of the scenery below. Queenstown is a very touristy town. Half the shops there (and I mean at least half) were oriented toward tourists. Dad has been really quite funny by trying out his I¡¦m-faking-to-be-English-for-no-good-reason voice on all of our poor waiters and waitresses. We aren¡¦t even in England yet. I am scared to think what life will be like when he starts saying: ¡§Cherrio my friendly Chum! In Hawaii my friends, dad and I always said ¡§Aloha, Mahalo and Macadamian Nuts!¡¨ Now in New Zealand it will be ¡§Cherrio chums, no worries, kumaras and sheep!¡¨ Cheers! Tricia's Journal 01/05/2005 - 02:35AM Location: New Zealand New Zealand #4 Hi everyone. I am having an absolutley F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S time here. We officially were late for our first plane today...(and don't say you weren't expecting us to be late sometimes soon.) Say it out loud: "I (state your name) solemnly swear that I expected and thought from when they took off that Marla, Robin and Tricia were bound to miss a plane. My prediction came true." Now go on, say it! My school back in Illinois is back in "session" (I'm sorry that sounds so lame but it is the best I could come up with.) Hi everyone! Mum and I had to board the plane without dad because that darn Ezi-Rental company tried to scam us and say that we owed them money for a "scratch." Ooooooooooh...tsk tsk! We went Jet Boating today. It was so fun. Mum stayed behind to do some work and laundry. I almost fell out of the boat! I am getting better at meter-foot conversion. I now need to work on millileter and leter-ounce and gallon. I haven't had any seafood yet except for these gross scallop tounges which I had a bite from before giving them a proper burial. It was so sad. I also want to just say to everyone that even though we are so secluded (not) from the outside world that we are really sad about the Tsunami. Our hearts go out to the people and animals who died. Our hearts also go out to those who lost their families, homes and regular lives. It is so sad. On another, and fairly happier note I am going to say it is very interesting to hear people talk about Bush. (George the W.)Especially just people we meet. There are many people who do not support the war in Iraq. It is very interesting to hear a non-American idea. I also had a brain blackout today. I was in a bookshop and suddenly I read: HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHEONIX on a non-American but English version of the book. I run out yelling "mom! they have the non-America version of OOTP!" Then it hits me: we are not in America. No, really! Oh my goodness...I never new that. Because..who would be CRAZY enough to travel AROUND THE WORLD and OUT of America? Tricia's Journal 01/03/2004 - 14:41PM Location: New Zealand NZ 03 Hello everyone. Kia Ora. So far the landscaping is beautiful. New Zealand Route 72 is the meaning of "scenic route." It takes you high up in the mountains and lets you look down on the world below. It was simply amazing. NZ is really nice. We went whale watching today. I got a little seasick (but not as sick as the guy barfing over the side of the boat!!!) We saw Albatrosses, a Sperm Whale and some Dolphins. The animals were so pretty. We also visited a Seal colony. It was so cool. You could walk up to them and take a picture. AND they are so cute. Tricia's Journal 12/31/2004 - 14:47PM Location: New Zealand NZ 02 Kia Ora- Hello in Maori Happpppppppppppppppy New Year. I must say it will be an eventful one. :-) New Zealand is absolutley gorgeous. I love it. I miss everyone, my family, my friends, my cats...hi kitties! I forgot to mention one other thing in my last journal. The O2 masks dropped from the sky...hem hem I mean ceiling. :-) I have told you that I don't like flying right? Yes well......i will tell you I was very quick to put mine on. It was a false alarm. Phew! Our B&B is lovely. We will post a picture soon. The dining area overlooks the sea. It has been around 20-30 degrees C* which is about 70 degrees F*. I have am getting better converting metric and meters. I also am getting better at faking a NZ accent. I am not really good at it. But better than I was before. The only NZ accent I heard was from Whale Rider. :-) In NZ they have some of their own plants. I got to look at them while I was LOCKED OUT of our B&B. I am not joking. I seriously was locked out. I took to throwing rocks up in the air. Finally after about 10 minutes of rock throwing my mom noticed and let me in. TRUE STORY! Oh, and if you were wondering. My dad did get the bag back! Happy New Year! -Tricia Tricia's Journal 12/30/2004 - 19:02PM Location: New Zealand 12/31/2004 2:03 PM 12/31/2004 2:03 PM- NZ time We did it! We got out of McHenry!!!!! Right now we are in New Zealand. The scenery is so pretty here. I am really enjoying myself .. December 28: First of all I will talk about the plane ride...this is what I wrote while on the plane before takeoff to San Francisco. Right now we are waiting to take off to San Fran. Our two large bags weighed 72 and 44 pounds. 5 minutes later: We are still waiting for the plane to take off. 1 minute later: The captain has just announced to us that there has been a slight issue with the baggage machine. Our bag was so large that we broke it. Whoopsy. I mean that someone broke it. Because I can think of NOBODY CRAZY enough to take a SIX MONTH (and maybe longer) trip around the WORLD. I mean what type of lunatic would do THAT. Nobody that I know of.. Later: We are now approximately 20 minutes into our flight. I have noticed that our plane is understaffed and I also know why. All of the flight attendants took turns trying to lift the bag but threw their back out and were sent home. The ones with sense didn’t lift the bag and hid in the various overhead compartments. We rescued them before the plane took off. Just kidding! In San Francisco: Right now we have to wait for our plane to be cleaned. No joke, our plane is HUGE!!! Anyway.. . Everyone is so tired and we are just wait– ing to get on the plane and go to sleep! December 30: On the plane to Sydney: This plane is so huge. The food is okay and the fight attendants are super nice. :-) I am desperately trying to get to sleep but it is kind of hard considering the fact that I am on a plane 36,000 feet or like 11,000 meters or something in the air, I am wearing tight jeans and the plane is making LOUD noises. 6 hours later: Okay I did go to sleep but right now I am super bored. I think I’ll watch a Harry Potter movie! 1 hour later: Only three hours to go and then well, I have to get on another plane! 30 minutes later: We have started our descent! We (my mom and dad and I) have spent the last few minutes taking pictures of the fight attendants, out the window and of the cabin. I even got to see the upstairs. (yes our plane had 2 levels!) I am really excited to get off this plane! At Sydney: The plane ride wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t enjoyable either. I just went to a store and got some postcards. We are going to board our plane to New Zealand. Oh yes...let me tell you a story Once upon a time there was a family. They wanted to get to New Zealand but their documents weren’t filled out. This was a problem. Then they heard their name paged. The mother walked up to the desk with a fake smile on her face. The man at the desk told her if she couldn’t fill out the proper papers now that she would have to go back to Sydney. Let me remind you back to San Fran would be 13 hours!!!!!!! (Let me interject a detail this family was us!) Happy ending: Marla filled out the papers and we boarded the plane. THE END The plane ride was okay and at last, long last we were driving on the other side of the road to our B&B. Also there is this HUGE rock that we climbed up and looked at the ocean on. It was so cool. Let me tell you anther story: Once upon a time there was a family that left a suitcase with all their medicines in it. The father went to pick it up the next morning. Yes, that was us as well. December 31: I am very confused. The money is so pretty, but very confusing! The light switches are different and there are only 5 TV channels. Not that I care but, I thought I’d just throw that in Oh and hark! A bagpiper! What in the world? He is walking around playing a song and, oh my, it’s a bride and groom walking after him! That’s New Zealand for you. Well...dad is napping, mom is running and I think I’ll go do something else. Cheers! Tricia :-) P.S. I didn’t skip a day’s journal, I skipped that day of my life! Because I was flying over a bunch of time zones at high speed I skipped about 90% of my day! Tricia's Journal 12/27/2004 - 13:52PM Location: McHenry, Illinois 12/27/2004 1:52 PM Well the chaos is increasing at an alarming speed. It seems that with every step we take that there is something new to do. There is always someone who walks through the door when someone is walking out. Oy to the world. We are all officially freaking out. The clothes are all packed. My mom just has to finish toiletries and we’ll be “off.” Our house sitter came over today and we just “tidied up some loose ends.” Our open house will take place later which I have to go up and get ready for so I won’t write for long. As many of you may have heard my mom was on WGN radio. Thank you to everyone at WGN that made this interview happen. We look forward to talking with everyone in the future. As you may have read everyone now has e-mails: tricia@journeyaroundtheworld.com is mine, my dad's is robin@journeyaroundtheworld.com and my mother's is marla@journeyaroundtheworld.com. I think they are pretty easy to remember. I think. Maybe. What did I just write? I don’t remember. Just kidding. We have all been up really late lately. When I was trying to read a book last night I found my self reading the same sentence over again, reading the same sentence over again, reading the same sentence over again. Needless to say, we are all exhausted. I think we can’t wait to go on our trip so we can curl up on a plane and go to sleep! Tricia's Journal 12/26/2004 - 12:08PM Location: McHenry, Illinois 12/26/2004 12:08 PM Hi all! We are in a mass chaos situation right now. There is a lot of packing to be done and we are having our open house tomorrow as well. Along with having to pack I am inclined to go watch the Bears vs. Lions game. (sorry GB fans, I do like your team but they are not playing today.) We have people calling in the every few minutes asking about times, dates etc. I have t-minus 1 day to finish Thank you notes. I have to clean my room, answer the phone, wait for Scott Cameron to call, pack some more, download a few items, fix the sound system on the laptop (it doesn't work) and get ready for the open house tomorrow, as you can see it is just soooooooooooo peaceful around here...NOT! Life has basically turned itself upside down. But, I'll cope. There are somethings in life money can't buy for everything else there is chaos. Yesterday I went over for Christmas Day dinner at my Aunt, Uncle and Couisin's house and was on time. My Aunt questioned this because when you are with the Pendergrasts, you are L-A-T-E. Yesterday was no exception, I came with my Grandma because our fishtank broke. Happy Holidays! Tricia's Journal 12/22/2004 - 13:19PM Location: McHenry, Illinois 12/22/2004 01:19 PM Hi y’all We are getting down to the wire before we leave and I have just a few things to say because I need to go pack some more. I must say that I am very close to being finished. Most everyone now knows about the article in the newspaper now and if you care to know, that globe is mine and to have it was my idea. Oh well, I seem to be the last to know. We traded some American money in for some Aussie money and that money is c-o-o-l. I’ll be uploading a picture as soon as I can. But for right now here is the link: http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/images/dollar.jpg I’ll try to upload other pictures in the near future. Cheers, Tricia Tricia's Journal 12/21/2004 - 14:50PM Location: McHenry, Illinois 12/21/2004 02:50 PM Hello to everyone. This is just an update saying that there are a couple of articles about the "J" out. One is from the Chicago Parent; this one can be found online (www.chicagoparent.com) and it is written by Cindy Richards. The article won't appear in PRINT for awhile. The other is in The Northwest Herald (Tuesday 12/21/04 edition) and is written by Natasha Rotstein. A special thank you to Cindy and Natasha for their time and effort that they put into the articles. Thank you to you both!!! I am nearly almost done packing. I completely panicked last night at the sight of two empty suitcases (and no, there were no planes or trains to catch.) We have massively decorated our house for Christmas (which we celebrate for my dad.) We put up eight stockings (one for me, my mom, dad and grandmas. We also put up two for my cats.) So, I’m covered in dust digging the stockings out when Behold!!! I wonder why we are putting up eight stockings. So I say to my mom “The Grandmas are Jewish, why are we putting up stockings for them?” My mom, per usual, has a smart answer “you are Jewish too.” Yeah, that never hit me. Sometimes my brain malfunctions. For instance once we were in our hotel in Kauai and I was videotaping the ocean and I said, “Look out there, the beautiful Atlantic ocean.” There is audiotape of that. I was nine and didn’t know Pacific from Atlantic. At these times I shrug and say “I think those summer blonde highlights are getting to me.” Cheers, Tricia Tricia's Journal 12/20/2004 - 21:17PM Location: McHenry, Illinois 12/20/2004 09:17 PM So I’m not in Australia, yet. (evil grin) I must say I am getting a little closer to being done with packing. And let me clarify, when I say “closer” I do not mean done. I am nowhere near done. I have a couple of books, a binder of pictures and a first aid kit packed. At least I am closer than my dad, at least I think so. I’m not so sure. Anyway, we have another week until we leave and I really wish it were longer. I mean, there are many more things that I need to do and a lot more people to say goodbye to. I actually did change my light bulbs (if anybody was wondering,) not like you care. Oh and Hark!!! I have an e-mail that you can send me e-mails at. I think that many of you have my e-mail anyway but the “official website” one is tricia@journeyaroundtheworld.com, feel free to e-mail me with any kind of comment, request for a souvenir or just to annoy me. Tomorrow I believe we will finish getting alllllllllllllllll the things we need for the trip and then really start packing, for REAL. I’m serious folks; I might get something done ON TIME for a change. If you don’t know my family we are always late. I freak over every train, boat or airplane we have to catch. We have to plan to be there about a half an hour in advance so we will be on time. I don’t know when I’m going to finally break down and have a seizure after we miss a plane but if there is a news update: TRICIA HAS SEIZURE BECAUSE OF MISSING PLANE, you’ll know that I have. Cheers, Con Carino, Bon Voyage, Bye?, WHATEVER, Tricia Tricia's Journal 12/15/2004 - 09:31AM Location: McHenry, Illinois Okay so my parents tell me that we have to go on this trip . Okay so my parents tell me that we have to go on this trip . and I have to pack and pack and pack. I have to say goodbye to all my friends and get hit in the face with the reality of going away. Not for a week, three weeks or a month. No, I’m going to be gone for 6 months. And what if I don’t want to go everywhere? What if I just want to go to England? What if I wanted to keep my feet firmly planted in mid air? But no I have to go even higher, about 40,000 feet higher to be exact. I have to sit on many planes with a total of about 50 hours in the air. Wahoo. When I first got wind of our trip I kind of did not want to go. The apprehension of leaving my friends, my life and my home was enough to make me want to stay here. I would miss everything from seeing the posters on my wall to my friends, family and cats. I also being the worlds heaviest packer have to kind of, uh not pack as much as I usually do. I have 44 pounds for 6 months. So I’ve started to lay out everything and I will confess that my clothes take up half of my room. My Harry Potter books are like 3 pounds, and my jewelry has to be rapped every time we fly. It is treacherous, not that I do not recommend it to anyone but my life is hectic. I am in the midst of cleaning out my locker, trying to get my head back into school, saying goodbye to everyone, changing the lights in my bathroom, try to cope with the alarming amount of homework and pack for a six-month-long trip. Let the games begin! I’ve made myself a packing list (which gets longer every time I add to it.) My friends are all wining at me “oh Tricia, it’s your last week of school!” forever, I would think then snap back into reality. I must say, my last week has been h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. My teachers have seemed to decide that since we have a break they need to torture us double to make up for the time when they don’t see us. Whenever something bad happens I think, three more days, and wish it were sooner. My friends have all oddly been acting so nice to me and whenever one gets mad I go “now, please don’t act like that I won’t see you for a while and is that how you want me to remember you?” They stop immediately. Everyone who I tell about my trip to asks me if I am excited, I have gotten used to the smile and nod. Step 1: Smile Step 2: Nod your head Step 3: Keep smiling Step 4: Run away fast before the person can ask you more questions. But I will confess I am getting excited. When someone does ask me a question I point my finger at “the female parental unit” who has all the information. She will give you the 5 minute sermon on where we are going, what we are doing, every moment of every day. The 5 minutes seem to elongate after hearing the sermon many times. I know most of the facts now but I don’t feel like being the preacher so I sneak or hide. I must say I am getting better at hiding because I’ve done it so many times. As for our house sitter person I haven’t even met him yet. Steve, if you are reading this, please don’t set the house on fire. Just kidding! I probably will be watching lots of movies on the road so if you have any trivia questions feel free to contact me. Lately, there have been a lot of reporters reporting about things they are supposed to report. Us. We are just so interesting with our Driedles and soybeans that we just have to be so popular. We are going to be superstars and have like people asking for autographs. We’ll end up in those fake magazines like The Enquirer. Ah, I can just picture the headline: FAMOUS WORLD-TRAVELER WITH SCAR ON FORHEAD. I do have a scar on my forehead but you can barely see it. Those are the kinds of stupid things that magazine reports on. They can capitalize on so many things if they just magnify your picture and search for an imperfection. Oh, if the media, if you are reading this YOU GUYS ARE SUPER NICE. I have liked all of the interviews that I have done. Thank you so much!!! So if you haven’t gotten the idea, I have a lot to say but you probably have a life so I let you go and live your life. I will let you read my other journal later. Did I bore you? I hope not! Well anyway, the countdown has begun. While everyone has begun to count down for Christmas I have three extra days to count. I have to mope about no Christmas tree, no lights, we didn’t even put snowflakes or a banner that reads: HAPPY HANNUKAH!!! But Happy Hannukah anyway!!! -Tricia

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