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sebster wrote:

dogma wrote:Well, that and women with Australian accents.

Australian accents are attractive? The women are hot, I'll agree to that, but the accents?

I am trying to think of a famous Australian chick... I am sure there are at least a few rather well known figures.

That said, I am not sure I follow either...

Claudia Black.

Ahtman wrote:

sebster wrote:Australian accents are attractive? The women are hot, I'll agree to that, but the accents?

There aren't any Australian accents in Chicago. It is exotic and therefore enticing.

This would be it.

Also, massive exposure to the Chicago accent has trained my ear to find anything not reminiscent of it attractive.

Have you considered doing a degree and having the army pay for it?

I've talked to my careers advisor about this and the army has this great program where you take a Uni course, and for every year you spend at Uni, you spend a year in the army after you finished your degree. (Then +1 for the Crown.) So if you do a 4 year course you serve 5 years in the army afterwards. (You DO get a normal salary.) After that the worlds your oyster.

This is what I'm planning to do. I'll do a 5 year Arts/Law course, serve 6 in the Army and after that I'm set for a career.

BTW Cheese, I'm not a Gung Ho, guns-galore type of guy. I don't want to die. And I certainly don't plan on it. I fear death as much as you do. And if you've got religeon, probably more.

Could I kill another human being? I can't speak from experience but if we were shooting at each other, I think so. Cold-blooded murder? Probably not.

As for those who say that we follow poloticians, it has long been Australias proudest tradition to mock these very fellows. I'm not signing up becuase of any polotician, I'll be signing up becuase of me, my family and (I can't beleive I'm saying this) my country. No country had any favours done for them by not having an army.

I'll just add this cheesy little footnote. I know what I'm gonna be, do YOU?

Ahtman wrote:Is there anything like Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) in Australian schools?

Several universities have an Army Regiment attached to them - where although you are a reservist, when you finish you degree/ term with them, it's slightly easier to get into ADFA (Officer school - Australian Defence Forces Academy, aka "Duntroon" or the "head shed"), iirc (I never went officer. I joined at 18 and was still a corporal when I left 6 years later. Infantry to start with but took a sideways promotion to support (Qies) after blowing out my ACL on manoeuvres).

Going Army is a choice, not a last resort. It is not an easy choice. That said, going the reservist way is slightly easier.

Go to that Defence forces website.
Then go see a man with a uniform at one of the recruiting centres.

I know what I'm gonna be, do YOU?

Um, sorry to nit-pick - but I thought you DIDN'T. Isn't that the point of this thread?

I was just joking and trying to sound ultra-captain america-corny. At which I believe I suceeded.

I guess I should have put something like this up.




Except it would have this guy.

Yeah, I was only winding you up, mate!

Service Guarantees citizenship!

Would you like to know more?http://www.navy.mil/swf/index.asp

Just to echo other people- in the military there's a fair amount of dull manual labour. For example, digging an OP at night, or slogging for miles with a really, really heavy pack on your back at night. It's probably much harder work than being a tradesman, and waaaaay more dangerous. I definitely wouldn't reccomend it if you haven't got the work ethic and the morale.

So In Australia, do you leave school at Year 2, age 16?

Which would make Year 12, to be the same as Year 11 in Britain.

Which makes you 14

You should not be worrying if you got two years of hell, I mean school left.

You think school is bad wait until you leave, mate.

I hate school, Its full of dill weed chavs.


Anywhere is better then school.

Cheese what you say now? I think they should stick you in the navy and make you wear a sailor suit.

G

You think School sucks? Wait until you leave.

Now that sucks.

I have never felt a devotion to my country and I (no offense to anyone patriotic) in the war act like a sort of mercenary.I don't care about wars and their petty fights.

That's okay. I understand. You're from the US.

Emperors Faithful wrote:That's okay. I understand. You're from the US.

I'm not from the US.I'm from Europe or more specifically from balkans.My ip is fooling you.

IvanTih wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:That's okay. I understand. You're from Europe.

I'm not from the US.I'm from Europe or more specifically from balkans.My ip is fooling you.

Oh. In that case...fixed.

Lord-Loss wrote:So In Australia, do you leave school at Year 2, age 16?

Which would make Year 12, to be the same as Year 11 in Britain.

Which makes you 14

You should not be worrying if you got two years of hell, I mean school left.

No. Here, you start Grade 1 when you're six, and at the end of Grade 10 you're sixteen. College (last two years of government schooling) then goes on until age 18. Before Grade 1 there's Prep (age five), kindergarten (age four) and pre-school (age three).

(I'm in Grade 10, sixteen)

And you really don't have a clue coming here on the Internet asking strangers to decide your occupation. Sailor boy!

G

I say Cheese becomes an exotic dancer.

I mean, you'd make buttloads of monies.

I'm a 5'4" nerd with glasses and braces.

And you're suggesting exotic dancing as a career?

Oh come on Cheese,you might even be better than this....

Cheese Elemental wrote:I'm a 5'4" nerd with glasses and braces.

And you're suggesting exotic dancing as a career?

That makes you a rare choice, thus it might cater to some fetishes.

LunaHound wrote:
thus it might cater to some fetishes.

Cheese Elemental wrote:

Lord-Loss wrote:So In Australia, do you leave school at Year 2, age 16?

Which would make Year 12, to be the same as Year 11 in Britain.

Which makes you 14

You should not be worrying if you got two years of hell, I mean school left.

No. Here, you start Grade 1 when you're six, and at the end of Grade 10 you're sixteen. College (last two years of government schooling) then goes on until age 18. Before Grade 1 there's Prep (age five), kindergarten (age four) and pre-school (age three).

(I'm in Grade 10, sixteen)

And they've changed the laws, so now you can't leave until you finish year 12, without a full time job

I hope you don't have an aversion to guns. Even if you don't see front-line combat you will have to learn to shoot one and be proficient in one.

Cheese Elemental wrote:I'm a 5'4" nerd with glasses and braces.

And you're suggesting exotic dancing as a career?

I'm 5'10" with glasses and I was able to pay for a semester of college working at a club that catered to the female clientele.

If nothing else, it's a buttload of fun. I highly suggest everyone try.

If you want to be a writer then go with that flow. I'm serious. What you need to do is this:

amass a lot of experience - the best writers have lots of experience with life. That doesn't mean you can't start writing now though.

travel a lot all over the place. You need to experience diferent cultures and see how people outside your country live. From what I've heard Australia is a lot like the US, both countries think the world revolves around them. Asia is closeby to you so get over there. You'll be glad you did and it will help you to appreciate your own country better.

Read novels as much as you can. Here are some classic authors I recommend - Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Allen Poe, William Faulkner. Go watch plays too. You have to learn how to craft dialogues.

start a journal. Write something down whenever the mood hits you.

Good luck with it.

G

Listen to GBF.

Most writers don't exclusively write. Writing isn't a job that really "pays the bills", unless you've hit it REALLY big.
Heck. Writing isn't even really a "job".

But don't let that discourage you. Just keep your head about you as you go into the field, and keep your expectations realistic.

And if you EVER write something like Twilight, may God have mercy upon your soul...

For Dakka's trolls won't.