Howdy!  I don't really have anything exciting to report, I'm afraid.  It's definitely feeling like winter.  It's been really cold and rainy, but the sun manages to peek out every once in a while and Mom is shipping me some of my winter clothes as we speak.  

We've just passed mid-term time so I've been pretty busy lately.  I had a big project to present, along with three performances.  I'm glad all of that's over with (and my heart goes out to all of my American friends who are taking their finals right now)!  

Here are a couple of random things that I found to be different.  Instead of Burger King, the Australian marketing name is "Hungry Jack's."  Don't ask me why the changed it, I have no idea.  

I've been reading some Australian books, which really helps my Aussie spelling.  There are some obvious words that I know are different, like 'harbour' instead of 'harbor' and 'specialise' instead of 'specialize.'  But every once in a while, a sneaky word will crop up.  My favorite is the Australian spelling for 'pajamas'--'pyjamas'!  

And this next photo is for all of you Harry Potter fans out there.  The British/Australian version not only has different artwork; it also has a different title for the first book!  It's 'Philospher's Stone' instead of 'Sorcerer's Stone.'  I've also seen the movie over here, and they just exchange the scene for another one whenever the '____ stone' is mentioned!

I've been craving Mexican food like crazy since I've been here, but I just haven't been brave enough to try it until the other night.  It wasn't really close to being real Mexican food, but it wasn't bad after I got over the initial shock of receiving my burrito with white rice and black beans!  (For those of you Australians who read this, Mexican rice and pinto beans are the usual fare.)

That's it for now, but I'll post again soon.  Cheers!