Exercise?

Yes, I have decided to be more active this semester, and this has included signing up for 10 weekly aerobic kickboxing classes at the WEA! It's pretty fun, just like a normal aerobic class but the moves are all kicks and punches and stuff. I had been hoping we'd actually get to kick SOMETHING, you know, like a punching bag (I don't want to kick a PERSON!), but hey, it's still pretty fun, and good exercise. Plus it's at 7am, which means I have to drag myself out of bed early, but once I'm up I really love being awake so early, and it's nice to start the rest of your day so energised and having such a sense of achievement!

I've also decided to give the women's soccer team at uni a shot, I haven't played team sports since high school, and it would be a fun way to meet some new people. Plus I figure it's played everywhere, so it would be handy to actually be ABLE to play! The I can join in wherever I am in the world. Training started this week, and Mel and Cassie and I were gonna go last night... but then Margot was in town on her last night in Adelaide for this summer, and it's Mel's birthday, so we decided to just go for drinks and dinner instead!! A good decision I'd say, the weather was lovely and balmy so we sat outside on the pavement at the Austral, watching the Rundle St traffic go by. We got offered free tickets to a preview for a Fringe (arts festival in Adelaide starting Friday night) show at the Garden of Unearthly Delights, but time got away from us and our food took forever, so we kind of missed it :( But Mel and I headed down to the Garden anyway to see Margot, and it's so lovely down there, it feels kinda... a bit magical :) I wish I could find a pic that does it justice!


It's definitely cool to be in Adelaide at Fringe time, I hope I can get organised and see some shows! So much to choose from though, that's the trouble..

And soccer. I might go to training on Monday... oh no, I'm busy. Wednesday... well, we'll see ;)

Laughing Club

So I FINALLY went to the laughing club this morning! They meet at Hazelwood Park, one of my favourite parks in Adelaide, and this morning the sun was shining and the sky was blue, but it wasn't hot yet, so it was perfect. There were about 6 or 7 other people there, some retired and some middle-aged, but I somehow felt like I was at an AIESEC conference or something. It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere, everyone was friendly, and two of them were wearing SA Laughing Club t-shirts that the club had created! For about half an hour we did heaps of random exercises that reminded me of some of the "ice-breakers" or "energisers" we use in AIESEC, things that make you feel a little stupid at first, but you have heaps of fun and end up smiling and laughing and feeling more alive. Lots of them involved laughing, some didn't, but all were a little crazy. Apparently each of the exercises has some kind of logic to it - good for some specific part of your body... and although some of it did sound a little way out to me (clapping your hands flat in front of your belly-button activates your acupuncture points?) they were all fun so I didn't worry too much about said health benefits. I have classes on Tuesdays this semester at uni so I won't be able to go much, but I'm glad I went to find out what it's all about. It was pretty fun, everyone was heaps friendly, and a bit of laughing never fails to make you feel good :)

Oreos

Yep, I've started eating Oreos again. I don't know why I ever stopped! So much joy from just a little packet of biscuits! :)

Homeless

I served a homeless guy at work last week. It was kinda interesting - I've never really had that much interaction with an obviously homeless person in Australia before. He was really nice, and kinda excited about his meal, and keen to chat (maybe the only other people that talk with him much are other homeless people?) and he smelt a bit, but he was very polite and somehow quietly confident, as though it wasn't anything unusual for him to buy chicken and chips in the food court. His shopping trolley was doubled in size by all the bags of stuff hanging off of it, and he had a wallet with plenty of money in it - to be honest i was wondering where it all came from, it must be hard for people without an address to collect benefits easily. In any case it was a thought-provoking experience, I know that there's plenty of homeless people in Adelaide, but most of them are well-hidden, and the others just sort of blend into the background if you don't have 'reason' to interact with them.

Supre Bags

Full credit to Supre. Not that I like it much - it's a horrible place to shop (loud music, full of teenage girls with way too much make-up on) and most of the clothes are pretty skanky. BUT I bought a pair of black pants there for work (kinda low but at least they fit - hard to find in summer!) and instead of a plastic bag I got one of those groovy, bright coloured re-usable bags. Some places ask if you want to spend an extra couple of dollars to get one. But Supre just gives every customer one, free of charge. I was totally impressed.

Then I thought of how all their clothes are probably made in sweatshops, like so many cheaper (and more expensive) clothing stores in Australia!

One step at a time I guess... environmentally conscious today, maybe supporting legitimate textiles factories tomorrow :)

You know what would be cool at the library? Drive through returns!!

Man I'm getting lazy...