You all seriously thought I got a koala tattoo? C'mon people

A koala... really?? You all have so little faith.

I'm like a rebelling teen- I wanted to give Liz and John a good scare, hence the fact my facebook over the past few days has looked more like a snapshot from girls gone wild: the chronicles of Farrell Sweeney losing all sense of self in Australia.

But no, all is classy and fine on my end- I just have a classic case of missing my family immensely. So naturally, my chosen way to express this was to give them all a minor heart attack from halfway across the world.

In order to retain my preferred Sweeney spot as the center of attention, I decided a fake tattoo ploy was perfect because that is something that just can't be ignored. I've had the belly button piercing phase, then the nose piercing, so a natural next step could have theoretically been a tattoo. I hadn't talked to my parents in a few days either, so I was hoping that would ultimately add to the shock factor.

When deciding which temporary tattoo to choose and where to put it on my body, I immediately gravitated towards putting a tramp stamp on my lower back that said "bad girl," however, I quickly realized how transparent that would be. If I was going to do this- it was going to be done craftily.

The tattoo artist (is a temporary tattoo artist worthy of this title??), Shand, and I carefully sifted through all of our choices, trying to pick something that a "having the time of her life but no concept of reality" exchange student would choose. We all agreed that the tattoo needed to be something absolutely mindless that everyone back at home would cringe at, and that it had to have an Aussie theme. This would allow me to stick an emotional Facebook soliloquy about my time in Australia next to a picture of the Aussie themed tattoo, and bam. We have our final product.

So as I stumbled across a picture of a koala, I knew I had found the one. The tattoo artist proceeded to outline my new koala temporary tattoo with a faint red line to make it look like it had really just been done. We rushed home, snapped the pictures, and posted the final product on Facebook.

"Been contemplating having this done for months. This place has really changed me for the better and I wanted it to stick with me. Liz Paradise I promise it can be easily covered up! YOLO" - Accompanying caption

The deed had been done, and I sat by my phone excitedly awaiting Liz's reaction.

...Turns out Liz was clubbing in Miami, so 24 hours later- I finally got the text I had been waiting for. Instead of giving you guys a play by play of the conversation, I feel it will be easiest to just post it.

 Her initial support was somewhat surprising, however you know you've gotten to Liz Sweeney when she has resorted to therapeutic shopping via ridiculous one pieces. Mom what is that swimsuit??

When I proceeded to call her, in typical Liz fashion, as she was recounting the horror she was feeling while under the impression that I had actually gotten the tattoo, her main stress was that I had not consulted her for artistic advice. "I'm a creative director and you didn't even ask for my opinion. Artistically it was shit, and I was beyond horrified. I thought I had raised you to have better standards, and I was trying so hard to figure out where I went wrong."

So in the end, yes I have gotten the attention I wanted, however yelling parents would have been much more thrilling than supportive ones. Clearly I'm not going to complain about that though.

Additionally, I am highly offended at how many of my friends have believed this prank. Really guys?? On a scale from 1 to 10 in terms of being uptight, I'm a 12 and you all think I got a koala tattoo... In what world.

So hopefully that provides some clarification seeing as anyone that has asked about my tattoo I have neglected to answer. I've been too busy probably contracting skin cancer and hanging out in paradise- check it out.

I'll be posting many more pics of paradise via fb, so be sure to stay updated there.

Spring break round 2, so far a success.

-F

Is showering really necessary? A philosopical question.

Now that I am halfway through my time here in Australia, midterms have unfortunately arrived. I guess this means it's time for me to get in touch with my inner student, however, I have been having some trouble finding her. So, according to the rule of procrastination- it's time for me to write my next blog post.

The two weeks previous have been hospital visit free- so there's a success story for all of you. I have  only had one brief encounter with the police, which included a lost wallet, an actual anxiety attack, and a phone call ensuring its safety at the police station with everything including my 50 dollars in tact (only in Australia). So with the exception of this, things have, for once, been seemingly undramatic. Anyways, here is what I have been up to:

The other weekend, Shand and I made our way up to a little beach town called Byron Bay. Byron is known for having some of the world's best beaches alongside an eclectic little town that has become famous for its inhabitants called the "Byron Bay hipsters."

Now for those of you who know Shand and I well- your presumed reaction that we were beyond excited to go anywhere hipster infested is completely spot on. At Carolina, the 6 guys with any "edge" seem to all be attracted to other men (yes, I've hit on a few of them to find out that "I just wasn't their type"), so it was finally our chance to sit and stare at the tatooed beauties around us. And this time, it would be without our girlfriends at Carolina gaping over at us in horror as they drag you back over to the bros in their basketball jerseys with the Nike airs and backwards hats to match. Byron would be a welcome change of pace.

An overlook with Byron Bay in the distance

But upon our arrival in Byron, we came to some very quick realizations. The main two being: 1. We would not be finding our hipster husbands here. 2. Byron was not "quirky"... It was Asheville on steroids.

Never before have you walked around and seen the images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono reincarnated so many times before your eyes. They were on every street corner. When I said that Shand and I liked hipsters- we were more thinking hipsters that have real homes, and maybe even a job.

John and Yoko's home- "from little things big things grow"

Additionally, having a tattoo on every crevice on your body was apparently a good enough replacement for real clothes, and a face without a piercing was like a girl without her makeup on- naked and just not a thing. Brown and blonde were swapped out for reds, blues, and greens, so needless to say, there was never any lack of visual stimulation. And had I been hungover, looking anywhere around me would have been cause for an even worse migraine.

But hungover I was not because in Byron Bay, shots are illegal. This perplexing concept became even harder to understand as the bar to go to on Saturday nights did not have a dance floor, but rather a series of tables to dance on. It's one thing to hand me tequila and tell me to go figure it out. But to hand me a 10 dollar Smirnoff ice and then expect me to end up on top of a table in my little white dress- you're asking for a lot here.


After ending up at a biker bar post table-dancing (in the classiest way possible mom and dad, I promise.) and having a guy's pickup line include telling Shand she was exotic and Jewish (#what), we decided to call it a night.

As Sunday rolled around, we decided to cut our losses with the hipster search, and indulge in excessive amounts of shopping, icecream, and tanning to console ourselves.

Another moment of silence for my bank account....and my bikini body.

After being treated like outcasts for a weekend due to the mere fact that we showered, Shand and I have come to the conclusion that Byron has provided us with one of the most "cultural" experiences to date here in Australia, as well as a solid tanning base for our 10 day upcoming trip. 


On Friday Shand and I leave for Spring Break 2013 round 2. We will be going to the Whitsundays, which is a collection of islands on the Coral Sea, and then off to a town called Cairns where us and 5 friends have rented a beach house to go snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

As usual- life is tough out here. So on that note- Ill brb because I have a second spring break/tanning session to take care of. You all have fun in your respective cubicles or classrooms.

Until next time,

F

You wanted a response- here it is

This week, instead of keeping everyone up to date on the mess (in the best way possible) that is my life in Australia, I am instead choosing to respond to an article by request of the site owner. As those close to me know- when I become angry- you will be hearing about it. So here goes.

http://thrillcitync.com/paddles-and-privilege/

I am not sitting here saying that Greek life is for everyone or that there are not isolated incidents associated with it. Because there are. 

My problems (and I have many of them) with this article are the sweeping generalizations that are made about a group of kids that number in the thousands. From a journalistic standpoint, the generalizations made are as off limits as saying "Jewish people are rich," "football players are dumb," "Democrats are all flaming liberals," and the list goes on. This article contains a stream of observations that are being applied to 16 percent of UNC's campus, and the disclaimer about knowing some decent people in Greek life does not condone the statements that were made following the first paragraph. I would further like to mention that, as a female in Greek life, these statements are meant to embody me- as I am a part of the community that has just been grossly generalized.  

The responses I have for you, Ryan, are based upon my experience as a journalism student mixed with personal feelings of offense for the characteristics and mentalities that were just assigned to me as a female in the Greek system. 

Highlighted below are the lines I find most inappropriate and why: 

Through the influence of their alumni and their legacies, Greek societies confer upon already well-off students the privilege of still greater preferential treatment in the business world, in the classroom and in campus life in return for their agreement to bestow that same favoritism upon future members down the line.

Wake up. This is how the world works. Being a part of any group, whether it be an A cappella  group, a club, or a sports team, gives you access to alumni and former members that can help you out in the business world. The kids involved in Greek life are not using dirty tactics to get ahead. Networking through the resources available to you is what the advisors at our university would regard as "intelligent." Any member of UNC's business school or journalism school is doing the exact same thing with their respective alumni groups- is the next opinion based piece going to be on how those J-school kids are rotten cheaters for calling up a Carolina alumnus? Sorry for trying to get a job in an impossible market. 

Once a part of Greek life, sorority women are encouraged, implicitly and explicitly, to stay in good physical shape for the purpose of remaining attractive to fraternity men.

Not once have I ever heard of a sorority pressuring its members to lose weight. If this were the case- you'd think Pizza Tuesdays or "fried fridays" would have been disbanded long ago. I want to know where an utterly ridiculous statement like this comes from. The foods that sororities serve (while delicious) are made with more butter and grease than you could even imagine. Don't sit there and state that our sororities are pressuring us to lose weight for males while simultaneously feeding us 1500 calorie meals. 

It is nearly always men, not women, who control the supply of alcohol in situations where women are most vulnerable, and it is a significant number of those same men who aim to inebriate women for unsavory purposes. There is an expectation that alcohol can be exchanged for sex.

Statements like these make the writer of this article sound just as ignorant as the men that are "inebriating" women for unsavory purposes. I'm a junior in college- the guys at the fraternity parties I attend do not decide what I drink or how much I drink. Do not victimize women for being subjected to 50s gender roles and then turn around and make statements that insinuate that Greek college women can't and don't decide how much they drink. I can make decisions for myself, as can the women around me. 

Furthermore, the killer line of this whole article in my opinion, is that alcohol can be exchanged for sex and sex within the Greek system often seems to operate on a bartering system, one which creates artificially high demand for the affection of fraternity brothers.

I find it extremely inappropriate and highly offensive that this article makes commentaries about the sex lives of Greek females as a unit. Of all of the things to grossly stereotype- saying that the girls in our sorority system all A. even have sex in the first place. B. choose their partners based upon what fraternity they are in or C. will have sex with a guy in exchange for alcohol is a completely disgusting thing to insinuate about a group of young women. 

The effects of this oppression, generally speaking, have been the tacit acceptance of rape culture and the general objectification of women.

Another sweeping statement that has many social implications. To take an issue as large as rape and insinuate that it is common practice among the young men in fraternities at UNC is a serious accusation- opinion piece or not. Rape is not a problem that is isolated within the Greek community, and I am sorry but at the end of the day, 21 year old males are drunken idiots whether they are in a fraternity, on a sports team, or a GDI. I hang out with young men in all three groups, and in no way, shape, or form is there a "tacit acceptance for rape" between my male friends and I. This statement crosses the line, and it is no more applicable to Greek men than it is to other men of the same age. 

The main comeback to this article I have heard is that it is an opinion piece, and so the author is entitled to say whatever he wants. If the aim of this article was to get your Thrillcity site more hits, then congratulations. The job has been done. However, this one article has, in my eyes at least, completely discredited your site as a place to find journalistic material with any literary merit as this piece has just insinuated that "rape" is condoned by our entire Greek system among many other absurd things. 

I do not appreciate being told who I am and what I stand for as a member of the Greek system, and I am pretty sure I am not the exception in this. 

Until next time.

-F