October 24, 2013

My 21st

I am currently experiencing a serious case of the birthday blues; I had such a nice day surrounded by lovely people! During the build up to it, I had real mixed feelings about being away from friends and family for such a milestone birthday and unable to celebrate with them, but turning 21 in Australia is something that very few people can claim and there'll be plenty of time for belated frivolity when I return to England; 6 months late is better than never, right?

After a hearty breakfast and smooth bike ride in the sunshine, the day at work was spent finishing off my experiment. Everything went to plan and I successfully stressed, stained and monitored my cells without a hitch. It must be said, however, that spending a considerable amount of my 21st birthday in the company of one Michael Bradshaw in a confined space was not exactly the dream, bless him. Mr Bradshaw is a member of the neighbouring chemistry department who, in his desperate struggle to disprove the stigma that chemistry guys are total sociopaths, does exactly the opposite. Lanky, ginger and absolutely honking of body odour (his potentially imaginary girlfriend must be completely devoid of an olfactory system), he couldn't simply get on with his cell culture at the adjacent station without disturbing my peace. He switched off the radio, plugged his phone in and began blasting out a load of shitty club tunes, to which he sang along in a particularly irritating, monotone voice. I thought my ordeal was over when I fled tissue culture to begin staining in the histology lab but, to my dismay, coincidence meant that the next phase of his experiment took him to the station opposite, dumping me straight back in the wafting line. Lunchtime could not come soon enough, where things took a turn for the better. I came back to my desk to find treats left by people in the office. The lovely Carole noted what I said about working my way through all the classics and bought me a novel called The Moonstone, Ivana got me some yummy coconut dark chocolate and I enjoyed a delicious cupcake, complete with "key in the door" decoration, from Tamasin for lunch. Those girls know the way to my heart!


The afternoon dragged a little, but before too long it was 5 o'clock and time to head over for Varsity Bar for a few long-awaited bevs! There was a nice little group of us; from work Tamasin, Ivana, Alex, Ryan and his girlfriend Rhianna, from Cornish connections Lucy (claim to fame: niece of Sir Alec Jeffreys, inventer of DNA fingerprinting and owner of the little cottage next to the café I work at), who's over here from Leeds University studying at UWA, and her friends Milly and Anni, plus Sian and Jess. Sian got me a pair of cute earrings from Freo markets and Jess passed on a gorgeous little collared top from her Mum and Dad; so nice of them to think of me! I sampled some fine Aussie cider and had a real taste of home when hundreds of smashed students in fancy dress at various stages of homemade rolled in. The lacrosse club would have put them to shame on both the costume and boozing fronts though!

What with work/uni the next day and all, it wasn't a very late one. After an entirely unsuccessful shot at trying to cram my bike in through the back doors of her car (the boot is of course broken), we gave up and Jess drove me home. Back in South Perth, the Billinghams presented me with a set of Canasta cards (everyone back home, be prepared to learn this smashing game) and a white "21" ornament with a pen for messages. Bless them! Unfortunately, due to either Australia's postal system or my family forgetting about me, no parcels from England or the USA arrived on time, but I'll hold out hope that they still love me! All in all, a very pleasing day and all the fun of learning to dive this weekend to come. Yippee!

Feeling very spoilt by my Australian family!
This birthday post is dedicated to the lovely Mr Bryan Atkins, fellow Scorpio and pint-downer extraordinaire, who coincidentally turns the ripe old age of 24 today. I hope that he spends his special day the thing he loves most: Bullying cheeky fresh into consuming immense quantities of alcohol. Never trust a fart. Ever.

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