Ned Kelley

Woke up this morning to hear that Matt's mom is in the hospital. Last I knew she came out of surgery fine and was getting settled in a room in the ICU. After that my day was just kind of slow moving. I did go to my Australian Studies class and learned about facts and myths of Australia. Then we watched a movie starring Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom about Ned Kelley and the Kelly Gang. Ned Kelley was Australia's first outlaw. I'm not entirely sure what was going on in the movie because the movie was quiet, the people behind me wouldn't be quiet, and the accents of the actors were very thick. So I think there was a crooked cop that wanted to date Ned Kelley's sister. She said no and then her brother stepped in to defend her and then there was a warrant for his arrest because the cop claimed that Ned Kelley tried to kill him later on after the bar brawl. The cops came to arrest him and Ned hid in 'the bush.' So they arrested his mother and sentenced her to 3 years hard labor. They declared Ned Kelley and the Kelley Gang all outlaws. This meant that anybody could shoot them without any questions asked. So then Ned Kelley and the Kelley Gang set out to rob banks, and cause mischief, and tick off the police. All of the people supported the Kelley Gang and helped hide them and defend them from the police. In the end, a friend ratted them out (because the reward was $8,000 a head, the biggest reward ever offered at that point in time, which was 1840's) and the police came and a huge battle started... and then we ran out of time and I have no idea how the movie ends. This is a 3 hour class. It is a 2 hour movie and the teacher gave us a 25 minute break in the middle. So I blame her for poor time management.

After class I went with my friend Arielle to go job hunting. We ran around Fremantle and passed out resume's for waitressing positions. It doesn't look promising because we are exchange students. This means we are only here 4 months, can only work up to 20 hours a week, we are not certified under Australia's standards to serve alcohol (we can get certified for $75, but it is not on our resumes), and have a different schedule of classes every day. But the minimum wage for a server is $19/ hour. So I thought I would try to make some extra money while I could.

Came home and made beef stroganoff from scratch. I usually make it via Hamburger Helper but that does not exist over here. It actually turned out quite well. Called a few people to try and get something together for St. Patty's Day (which is tomorrow). It is really not a big deal over here. There is 1 Irish Pub in the entire city. So we are going to try and go there. Just depends if we can figure out the bus system and if the busses run past 8pm.

One last kick; They have Strawberry Shortcake the character from books, movies, and dolls and her friends. But not one Aussie actually knew it was a dessert. I find that funny.