Why Whine When You Can Wine?

First of all, I always have things happen to me that would be really good to blog about…and then I forget them when I’m sitting down to actually write. But lots of hilarious things have happened and I’ve met tons of people already, mostly other international students. It’s actually quite comical when we’re all together, because we’re all speaking English but with such different accents that no one can understand what anyone is saying. We all have to repeat our names like five times, before everyone’s just like, “Yeah, we’re gonna have to give you a nickname….” (I’ve acquired the nickname “Texas,” by the way, not that "Ashley" is difficult to pronounce. But it’s super original.) Stereotypes go flying and there’s friendly country competition talk; everyone makes fun of everyone…it’s a great atmosphere, haha.

On Wednesday my friend and I did a tour of Hunter Valley and did so many wine tastings. At the first place we went to, the man conducting the tasting winked and said, “I’m pretty sure you have to be 21 in America, but we’ll let it slide here” as he poured me a glass of wine (the drinking age is 18 in Australia). I told him I AM 21 in America, and he commented on how young I look, as if I haven’t heard that before.

We saw a TON of kangaroos in the vineyards, and that part of the country was beautiful! A great place to go for anyone who likes wine. Australia has more wine regions than anywhere else in the world – 73 official ones throughout the country!

Our tour guide laughed as I took a picture of this tractor and made a comment insinuating that I had never seen a tractor before. I told him, "I'm from Texas. I've seen plenty of tractors."

 

"You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl."

Mistletoe Winery Vineyards

I keep wanting to watch tv in my room at night but can't stream any online tv outside of the U.S.! I asked my friend if they have Netflix here and he said, "No. We are the highest pirating country per capita for a reason." Hahaha. God Bless America for great television, but apparently they don't want to share with other countries. So now I can't watch Modern Family or The Bachelor. But at least I CAN use Pandora here, unlike when I was in Hong Kong. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have music to entertain me!

Getting creative,

Ashley