DAY 41: BACK IN BUSINESS...

...sort of. I got my computer back which is good. All the information that was on my old hard drive is now on my external hard drive meaning I am now left with the task of getting it on my new hard drive and in the right place which is bad. Oh well, it is better than no computer at all. It is just going to take some time. Which brings me to my next point.

I am running out of time. I can't believe this unbelievable trip is coming to an end. It is now official that I will be back the 13th of July. Thanks to the hard work of my dad for arranging my flight back. He did all the dirty work AND he is going to be picking me up from Chicago since I couldn't get a flight back to Indy. And believe me, I know that after 24 hours of flying, I will want nothing more than a 4 hour car ride home. Nothing. It will be worth it though. I can't wait to see friends and family. Okay, enough with these boring details. On to my boring week. Get pumped!

Well, this week has been relatively uneventful. I worked Monday, had class Tuesday, worked Wednesday, and had class today (Thursday). I guess the highlight would be the talk that I had with one of my co-workers on Wednesday. As a requirement for our Intercultural Communications class, we have to write a final paper that has something to do with our internship or our major or anything really. The nerve our teacher has to actually make us work. I have chosen to compare the sports marketing techniques between Australia and America. Broad, too broad. So I sat down with him to just kind of talk through some things. He, Matt, really helped give my ideas a direction that they so desperately needed. I have really enjoyed working for him and he has been very helpful. I look forward to keeping in touch with him. He is also planning an extended trip to America at some point and he wants to meet up when he drives through Indiana (everyone DRIVES through Indiana, he might actually stop). One funny thing that we talked about at the end of the conversation was gun control. Random, I know but his attitude was very funny. Guns are illegal in Australia. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that America has gun stores and you can get your hands on a gun almost any time you want. I got to say, Australia seems to figured out a way to make it work. Reason #346 why we love this country. Anyway, I assured him that he would not get shot in America and even gave him some ideas from my own travels within the states. So that's been the excitement of this week but I have some details I left out of my last entry for you now.

I witnessed Australian, and world, History last week. Australia's government is structured a lot like England's which means nothing to me but hopefully something to you. There's a parliament and a prime minister - that much I can tell you. Well last Thursday, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was basically impeached. He was in the last three months of his three year term and parliament basically voted him out and another person in the span of 2 or 3 hours. In America, this process would take 14 years. The person they voted in? Russell Crowe. Okay, that's a lie but he would have had my imaginary vote. The person they voted in was Julia Gillard. She is the first she Prime Minister in Australia's history. So in the span of a little more than a year, I was present for America's first black President and Australia's first woman Prime Minister. Perhaps I should make a trip to North Korea and see if I can usher in a democratic leader. Honestly though, Gillard wasn't met with near the "hoopla" I think a woman President would receive but it was still pretty interesting to follow the news.

The other less-serious piece of information I meant to share with my readers but forgot to was the basketball game I witnessed. One of the first things I do when I get back is play basketball. I can't wait. Anyway, the Macquare Sport and Aquatic Centre was hosting a corporate olympics event last friday. One of the competitions was Basketball. I walked in to watch one of the games. It. was. awful. Immediately, my skin started to boil and my eyes fell out. It was that bad. These were grown men and women that made my 5 year-old niece look like a hybrid of Lebron James and Larry Bird (she's white, she can't look too much like Lebron). I honestly had to try not to laugh out loud.L Let's just say the emphasis on basketball to a young boy growing up in Indiana is obviously different than the emphasis of basketball put on a young Aussie lad. I just had to remember this is probably what Americans would look like if we tried to play cricket. But we never would, we only play real sports. It's just fascinating how a sport like basketball can be so incredibly popular in America (especially basketball crazy Indiana) and not even be on the radar in Australia. Strange.

Well, that's really all I have for you. Now that I have my computer back I will try to update more frequently. With that said, I will be at Port Stephens all weekend probably unable to update but will hopefully have some good information at the start of next week. I will also return to using some pictures. I have them now on my computer...somewhere...hopefully...probably.

One last request: I hope that in my absence, all my readers will eat an extra hot dog/brat/burger, consume an extra beer, and light something or someone (unintentionally of course) on fire for me on the 4th. I will miss it. Until next time....

Cheers!