I’m back…I’m out of blog retirement for now. I’m coming out of retirement like MJ returning to the Wizards, not quite the same as before but still serviceable. Not like MJ figuring out he can’t hit a curveball and returning to win a couple more championships and destroy Pacer fans’ hearts along the way. Brett Favre (I couldn’t think of a joke but couldn’t do a paragraph on retirement without at least mentioning his name).
You see, my computer is still at the Apple store. Apparently, I need a new hard drive … from America. Convenient, right? For now, I will have to do all of my blogging, interneting, and facebook creeping from ACU (where we take classes). This means no pictures, no daily updates and therefore, probably no followers. I can’t blame you. I will do my best to keep things detailed, entertaining and up to date. I know you’re wondering how you’re going to survive right now. Again, I will do my best. Okay enough with the overview of my current situation. Let’s get down to blogging:
Oh where to begin, it’s been a while. Excuse me while I stretch my typing fingers. Okay, so we returned from Cairns late Monday night and we were all exhausted. I know I combined for about 12 hours of sleep in 3 nights – not what the dr. recommends. Not surprisingly, I woke up Tuesday morning feeling terrible. I assumed it was just from the exhaustion but I was wrong. More on that later (this will be a running theme to this entry, try to contain your excitement). I really considered calling in sick but I need to get my hours and I already missed half a day Friday and a full day Monday. Begrudgingly, I went into work. Mistake numero uno. Email me if you want all the exciting details but the moral of the story is I left work feeling worse than when I went into work. I got home, still exhausted, fixed a fast dinner and went straight to bed thinking I just needed a good night’s rest to feel better.
So I woke up Wednesday morning even worse. Again, I wanted to call in but I didn’t and by the end of the day, I wished I had. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Thursday, I woke up feeling a little bit better, thinking I had turned the corner – not the case. Anyway, we had class and then I made my way to a travel agent to figure out some post-program options. Found out quickly I wouldn’t have the time or money to do New Zealand properly and was given some other cheaper options that I now probably can’t afford due to some unexpected expenses. Again, more on that later. Wow, this entry really is boring. My computer crashing might have been the best thing to happen to you.
Okay, so the weekend. Hopefully, this will give my entry a pulse. Friday night we decided to have a “guys night”. It started off with a trip to our favourite sushi restaurant because nothing says “I’m a man” quite like eating an uncooked fish with chopsticks. Right? Wrong. You know what is manly though? Bombs. That’s exactly what we were faced with.
When we turned the corner of the street that Sushisuma is on, we were greeted with tons of police and flashing lights. The section of the street that Suma was on was roped off. We asked what was going on and apparently, there had been a bomb threat at the restaurant right next door. Being American men, we ran into the rescue cut all the right wires, re-wired the thing and saved Australia from the detonation of death with one second left on the clock. Okay, that’s a lie; we went to the bar down the street and enjoyed a drink while we waited. But hey, the first is more exciting and this entry needed some of that.
Dinner was delicious. Edamame and a California roll. I am man, hear me roar. Okay, so the first part of our night wasn’t the most manly thing in the world but the second was. Gambling (sorry mom and dad). It’s not a problem if you win, right? We headed to the casino at Darling Harbour. I spent four days in Vegas before this trip so I was expecting to be let down by the casino here in Oz but surprisingly, the casino was huge and very nice. We did some wandering around and finally settled down at a blackjack table. Three of us, were playing right next to each other. We started out pretty slow, the dealer (an Adam Lambert look-alike) was killing us. As soon as he left, we started getting hot and it was a good thing because we were running on fumes. Eventually, we all left the table “up”. I’m thinking I should just drop out of school and gamble professionally. Right, parents? On the way home, I found a $5 bill on the ground. I think the Aussie gods are trying to get me to stay here. Earlier in the trip I found a $20 bill on the ground. I now walk around just staring at the ground, looking for money.
On Saturday, we all woke up early and got dressed in our finest attire to spend a day at the Randwick Horse Track. I swear I don’t have a problem – this trip was actually built into our program. Anyway, we were treated to a champagne breakfast at a restaurant that overlooked the track and the Sydney skyline. It was very nice. At about noon, we headed down to the track. We all looked the part. The men were in suits and the women were in dresses. We looked like we knew what we were doing and I would like to think I kind of did. Anyway, we made it in time for the second of 8 races. I placed a bet and lost that one but in the second race, I won $28 on a $3 bet. It was enough to cover the rest of my bets for the day. I ended up right around even. It was a great day. I’m really glad we decided at the last minute to do it. It was different and very entertaining. Afterwards, we received a dinner and then headed back to the apartments and to bed. We had an early, early morning on Sunday.
In the midst of the casino Friday night and the track Saturday afternoon I had started to lose my voice and I still wasn’t feeling a whole lot better. That’s the subplot now back to the plot.
I woke up at 1:30 a.m. (you read that properly) to get ready for Team USA’s match against Ghana at 4:30. A pretty good-sized group of us wanted to go to Darling Harbour for the game to watch it at the FIFA fanfest. I blogged about this earlier but it is a huge screen in the middle of the harbour and only one of six in the world. It’s a big deal. Anyway, we headed to a bar called Cheers at about two in the morning. A couple of screwdrivers (ask a Purdue student who has experienced Breakfast Club if you don’t know what this is) later and we were on our way to Darling Harbour. Well, you know how the game went. We lost. Soccer can go back to being irrelevant for the next three years now. Thank God.
The highlight of the morning: we went to a place called Pancakes on the Rocks for breakfast. I had the most delicious pancakes I think I have ever had. It was banana pancakes with butterscotch sauce and ice cream. Okay, so what if it sounds like a dessert? It was in the morning and there was fruit involved making it a breakfast. Get off my case. I plan on making on more trip back before I leave. It was delicious. I have a picture of my meal I will upload later.
With a full tummy and frozen toes, we headed back to the apartment complex. I got about four more hours of sleep before heading out for the day. Late in the week, my computer stopped working. It is the first time I have ever had an issue with it (there’s my mac shout-out) and it just figures I am on the complete opposite side of the planet. Anyway, I knew it was still under warranty so I headed to the Sydney Apple store to see what they could do. It’s actually a very cool building. It’s three stories with an all glass front. It was pretty neat but still I would have rather not been forced to make the trip. Well, you know how it went. Hard drive issue, shipping a new one, get it back in 3-5days. The crappy part is that I had to buy an external hard drive to transfer all of my information to. It set me back about $140. Investment good. Timing bad.
After that fiasco, I met up with the guys at the World’s Largest Imax. We had tickets to see Toy Story 3D. It. Was. Awesome. Go see it. Don’t ask questions, just do it. It ranks right up there with Finding Nemo, Shrek, the original Toy Story and Monsters Inc. The huge screen and 3D were awesome. It was the first 3D movie I have ever seen. Here’s my take. It’s cool for some movies but I can’t ever see it being anything more than a fad for television. There, I just saved you a $1000 on your new TV. And you thought this was a waste of your time.
So Monday was pretty boring. Went to work, ate and went to bed. That’s my new schedule because I am still not feeling real well. I had to spend $100 this morning on a trip to the dr. and some medication. It better work. For what it cost I think it is made up of ground diamonds. That and my computer have probably cost me any travelling after the program ends. Too bad. Well that’s the update for now. I will try to give another quick update this Thursday and then something at the start of next week. We are making a trip to Port Stephens this weekend. On the schedule: wine tasting, whale watching and sand surfing. Should be a good time. Hopefully, I will have my computer back by the start of next week and can upload a ton of pictures. Until then…
Cheers!
I promise, the skydiving entry is coming as soon as I get my computer back. Hey, I got to keep you guys coming back somehow.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
FYI Again
Okay, I know all my readers are just starving for more Boiler Outback reading but unfortunately, my computer crashed last week and it is currently at the Apple store being fixed....hopefully. In an ideal world, I will have it back by midweek and I can finally update everyone but as Dwight Schrute once said, "In an ideal world, I would have ten fingers on my left hand so I could just use my right for punching." I don't know if that quote is really relevant but do with it what you wish. Until I get my computer fixed....
Cheers!
Cheers!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
FYI
Just a head's up, I am getting around to the skydiving video I know you can't wait to watch. It takes forever to upload and I am out of time. In the meantime, enjoy my blogs about the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest below!
Cheers!
Cheers!
DAY 32: WITH A BIT OF LUCK
With about two or three hours of sleep under my belt we started day 2 in Cairns with another ammonia scented breakfast at the bar. Thankfully, we were all still in a pretty good mood from the night/morning before and ready to hit the path in the rainforest. After breakfast we went out to get in our tour vans and headed out to the Daintree Rainforest. I didn’t realize it at the time but choosing the correct van was a very big decision. The same guy wasn’t driving both vans (I know, crazy right?) and apparently our van’s guide was the best. I got lucky; he (Peter) was incredibly smart and passionate about the Daintree. He was a trained chemist but gave up his job just because he loved the Forest so much.
Peter was a funny guy. He might have been my favorite part of the entire day. He ended every sentence by saying “with a bit of luck” and before he turned off his microphone between all of his facts he would say “NNNNNoooooooo wawwies” It was awesome. I will do my impression of him when I get home.
Okay, enough about Peter for now and back to our day. Our first stop was Port Douglas. This is a little tiny town just north of Cairns. It is a very up-scale five-star town.
Apparently, a lot of celebrities hang out there. The Clintons are rumored to have a house. Last week, when Peter took a group they saw Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer). I would have pooped my pants had I seen Jack Bauer. I was on the hunt. I didn’t find him but we went to a cool little market and did some wandering around before it was time to get back to the bus for our next stop.
The old wharf at Port Douglas
A part of the market at Port Douglas
The Somethin’ Somethin’ Gorge was our next stop. I probably should have paid more attention; I can’t remember the actual name. Anyway, it was a nice little river running through the forest. There were several little walks you could take. One led us right to a suspension bridge that we spent some time on. One of my first memories is being terrified of a suspension bridge at Turkey Run (I think) with my family. I did much better this time around. It was a cool little stop but again, we had to get back to the bus for our next stop.
Tilt yo head. The suspension bridge.
We made a stop at this lookout point. That bay is actually where Steve Irwin was killed. Peter said "Irwin loved Crocs but kept the sting rays closer to his heart." Too soon? Hey, don't shoot the messenger.
Next stop: Daintree Wildlife Center. This was a cool little center that had some of the animals that are native to the Daintree. We saw a spider that was as big as my face, a huge python, some kangaroos, a couple of wallabies, some crocs and a cassawerry (more on these crazy things later). Peter spent some time working at a Kangaroo center and let me just tell you this, he knows way too much about kangaroos, especially there um mating habits. He was happy to share all of this information with us. For instance, did you know that female kangaroos only need to have sex once every 3 years to be pregnant every year? Did you know that this in turn, leads to raping problems with all the male kangaroos? Fascinating stuff right? Female kangaroos can also choose the sex of their offspring. Nobody knows how but it’s true, Peter said so.
After the wildife center, it was time to cross the river and head into the heart of the Daintree Rainforest. This forest is not your typical forest. It is the world’s oldest living rainforest at approximately 200 million years old. There are more species of plants in 1 hectare of the Daintree than there are in the entire United States. There are all sorts of crazy animals such as, a spider the size of a large dinner plate, a butterfly the size of a man’s chest and the infamous cassawerry. This big ugly is a five-foot tall bird. It is a member of the ostrich and emu family. There are only around 1400 alive today and about 200 or so in the Daintree. According to Peter, they are sort of symbolic with the Daintree. He said it’s very rare but occasionally a group will get to see one in its natural habitat. So there we were cruising along, Peter was in one of his speeches and all of a sudden we here “Aha, lookie there guys, it’s a cassawerry. We got to watch one of these prehistoric looking birds cross the street just feet in front of our van. Peter was pumped, we were pumped and I would assume the bird was pumped.
Crikey!
After seeing the bird and some more driving through the rainforest we made it to our forest walk. It was brief but very interesting. We saw some crazy plants and trees that were very interesting. It was just cool to be in the midst of a rainforest – something I have never done before and might not get to do again. Next, we went to Cape Tribulation to get some lunch.
The strangler tree. It is actually completely hollow. Weird huh. That's Peter at the bottom if you tilt your head correctly.
Unfortunately, we got a little unlucky with the weather so it wasn’t as picturesque as we thought it would be but it was still very impressive. Again, it reminded me a lot of Hawaii with the mountains and beach. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay forever.
When we made it back to the Daintree River, the border between the uncivilized rainforest and the civilized rainforest, we went on a boat tour to hopefully see some crocodiles, snakes, birds and other random animals and plants. Our boat driver was hilarious. Again, you could tell he really loved his job as he was cracking jokes the entire time but also educating us on the plants and animals of the forest. He left the wheel of the boat several times and every time he acted like it was normal as he walked up and down the boat just talking to us. About ten minutes in we saw a croc – Lilly. She was a 2.7 meter croc that has been nesting in the same place for about 15 years. 2.7 meters sounds like a lot for a predator like the saltwater crocodile. However, many crocs get up to 9 or 10 meters. Scary, very scary. Later in the boat tour we saw a very rare bird that our boat guide was stoked about. That guy was crazy, I think he was on something. What was the only thing that could cap off a day like this?
You guessed it, ice cream. On our way out of the Daintree we stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream company. We didn’t have much choice on the flavor as we were just given a scoop of each of their flavors of the day. You might have heard of them: Raspberry, Yellow Sapote, Wottleseed, and Soursop. The raspberry was your typical raspberry. The Wottleseed had a mocha taste to it that I enjoyed. The Yellow Sapote was actually my favorite. It almost had a carmel flavoring to it. I am not real sure the best way to describe it but I really enjoyed it. The Soursop was sour and citrusy. It was refreshing. Well, our day was behind us, we were full and exhausted as we headed back to Cairns.
The "menu."
The result. A wooden spoon for good measure.
We were on our own for dinner Sunday night so a group of us decided that we wanted some seafood. We found a restaurant right on the beach and had a delicious meal. We started it off with an appetizer of kangaroo, crocodile and emu. The kangaroo was good, the crocodile was good and the emu was absolutely terrible. I imagine it tasted something like catfood. The texture was the strangest thing I’ve ever tasted and the taste was equally strange. Glad I tried it, but that will be the last time I ever eat emu. I had a delicious grilled barramundi meal and the restaurant shouted (Australian for bought) us all a glass of wine. Couldn’t tell you the name of mine, it was white and just okay. It was a delicious meal. After dinner, we all headed back to Gilligan’s we knew what was in store for tomorrow. I tried to get some sleep but had trouble relaxing. Why? I was considering jumping out of a plane Monday morning. Until then…
Cheers!
Peter was a funny guy. He might have been my favorite part of the entire day. He ended every sentence by saying “with a bit of luck” and before he turned off his microphone between all of his facts he would say “NNNNNoooooooo wawwies” It was awesome. I will do my impression of him when I get home.
Okay, enough about Peter for now and back to our day. Our first stop was Port Douglas. This is a little tiny town just north of Cairns. It is a very up-scale five-star town.
Apparently, a lot of celebrities hang out there. The Clintons are rumored to have a house. Last week, when Peter took a group they saw Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer). I would have pooped my pants had I seen Jack Bauer. I was on the hunt. I didn’t find him but we went to a cool little market and did some wandering around before it was time to get back to the bus for our next stop.
The old wharf at Port Douglas
A part of the market at Port Douglas
The Somethin’ Somethin’ Gorge was our next stop. I probably should have paid more attention; I can’t remember the actual name. Anyway, it was a nice little river running through the forest. There were several little walks you could take. One led us right to a suspension bridge that we spent some time on. One of my first memories is being terrified of a suspension bridge at Turkey Run (I think) with my family. I did much better this time around. It was a cool little stop but again, we had to get back to the bus for our next stop.
Tilt yo head. The suspension bridge.
We made a stop at this lookout point. That bay is actually where Steve Irwin was killed. Peter said "Irwin loved Crocs but kept the sting rays closer to his heart." Too soon? Hey, don't shoot the messenger.
Next stop: Daintree Wildlife Center. This was a cool little center that had some of the animals that are native to the Daintree. We saw a spider that was as big as my face, a huge python, some kangaroos, a couple of wallabies, some crocs and a cassawerry (more on these crazy things later). Peter spent some time working at a Kangaroo center and let me just tell you this, he knows way too much about kangaroos, especially there um mating habits. He was happy to share all of this information with us. For instance, did you know that female kangaroos only need to have sex once every 3 years to be pregnant every year? Did you know that this in turn, leads to raping problems with all the male kangaroos? Fascinating stuff right? Female kangaroos can also choose the sex of their offspring. Nobody knows how but it’s true, Peter said so.
After the wildife center, it was time to cross the river and head into the heart of the Daintree Rainforest. This forest is not your typical forest. It is the world’s oldest living rainforest at approximately 200 million years old. There are more species of plants in 1 hectare of the Daintree than there are in the entire United States. There are all sorts of crazy animals such as, a spider the size of a large dinner plate, a butterfly the size of a man’s chest and the infamous cassawerry. This big ugly is a five-foot tall bird. It is a member of the ostrich and emu family. There are only around 1400 alive today and about 200 or so in the Daintree. According to Peter, they are sort of symbolic with the Daintree. He said it’s very rare but occasionally a group will get to see one in its natural habitat. So there we were cruising along, Peter was in one of his speeches and all of a sudden we here “Aha, lookie there guys, it’s a cassawerry. We got to watch one of these prehistoric looking birds cross the street just feet in front of our van. Peter was pumped, we were pumped and I would assume the bird was pumped.
Crikey!
After seeing the bird and some more driving through the rainforest we made it to our forest walk. It was brief but very interesting. We saw some crazy plants and trees that were very interesting. It was just cool to be in the midst of a rainforest – something I have never done before and might not get to do again. Next, we went to Cape Tribulation to get some lunch.
The strangler tree. It is actually completely hollow. Weird huh. That's Peter at the bottom if you tilt your head correctly.
Unfortunately, we got a little unlucky with the weather so it wasn’t as picturesque as we thought it would be but it was still very impressive. Again, it reminded me a lot of Hawaii with the mountains and beach. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay forever.
When we made it back to the Daintree River, the border between the uncivilized rainforest and the civilized rainforest, we went on a boat tour to hopefully see some crocodiles, snakes, birds and other random animals and plants. Our boat driver was hilarious. Again, you could tell he really loved his job as he was cracking jokes the entire time but also educating us on the plants and animals of the forest. He left the wheel of the boat several times and every time he acted like it was normal as he walked up and down the boat just talking to us. About ten minutes in we saw a croc – Lilly. She was a 2.7 meter croc that has been nesting in the same place for about 15 years. 2.7 meters sounds like a lot for a predator like the saltwater crocodile. However, many crocs get up to 9 or 10 meters. Scary, very scary. Later in the boat tour we saw a very rare bird that our boat guide was stoked about. That guy was crazy, I think he was on something. What was the only thing that could cap off a day like this?
You guessed it, ice cream. On our way out of the Daintree we stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream company. We didn’t have much choice on the flavor as we were just given a scoop of each of their flavors of the day. You might have heard of them: Raspberry, Yellow Sapote, Wottleseed, and Soursop. The raspberry was your typical raspberry. The Wottleseed had a mocha taste to it that I enjoyed. The Yellow Sapote was actually my favorite. It almost had a carmel flavoring to it. I am not real sure the best way to describe it but I really enjoyed it. The Soursop was sour and citrusy. It was refreshing. Well, our day was behind us, we were full and exhausted as we headed back to Cairns.
The "menu."
The result. A wooden spoon for good measure.
We were on our own for dinner Sunday night so a group of us decided that we wanted some seafood. We found a restaurant right on the beach and had a delicious meal. We started it off with an appetizer of kangaroo, crocodile and emu. The kangaroo was good, the crocodile was good and the emu was absolutely terrible. I imagine it tasted something like catfood. The texture was the strangest thing I’ve ever tasted and the taste was equally strange. Glad I tried it, but that will be the last time I ever eat emu. I had a delicious grilled barramundi meal and the restaurant shouted (Australian for bought) us all a glass of wine. Couldn’t tell you the name of mine, it was white and just okay. It was a delicious meal. After dinner, we all headed back to Gilligan’s we knew what was in store for tomorrow. I tried to get some sleep but had trouble relaxing. Why? I was considering jumping out of a plane Monday morning. Until then…
Cheers!
DAY 31: THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
I am going to warn you. I am not sure how to put any of this weekend into words. Words and pictures won’t do it justice. So maybe I just won’t post anything at all. Kidding, of course. I will do my best but if I overuse the words awesome, incredible, crazy, awesome, wild, neat, fun, outstanding, awesome, stellar, you-had-to-be-there, amazing, astounding, surreal or awesome, I am very sorry. So here we go:
If you’ve never experienced breakfast at 6:30 a.m. in a bar, I wouldn’t recommend it. Gilligan’s provided our group with breakfast literally off the bar. They had at least cleaned but I think large amounts of ammonia were used to kill all the nasty germs in the place, which meant instead of smelling toast and coffee I smelled the wonderful scent of bleach or something – I don’t even know. Anyway, I had a huge bowl of chocolate rice krispies and some toast and was on my way.
I have been fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling with my family. I really am blessed. Hawaii has been my favorite destination. I’ve been there three times, once I was too young to remember it though so for all intents and purposes, I have been there twice. I love it. It’s paradise on earth. People say they couldn’t live there, I say sign me up. The point is, Cairns reminds me a lot of Maui. There are picturesque mountains that go right up to the ocean, the waters are crystal clear and the weather is phenomenal. It was a beautiful day as our group boarded the Ocean Spirit boat and headed for one of the seven natural wonders of the world – The Great Barrier Reef.
I'm on a boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jBDhqwXhE (censored version)
The cruise out to the reef was worth the trip alone. We were leaving the mountains and city behind and heading into the emerald green and sky blue waters that signal reef. I will upload some pictures but again, they don’t do it justice. The colors were so bright and vivid, it’s a shame the camera can’t capture them all. We made it to our first stop, Oyster Reef, at about 10:30 a.m. We had a quick scuba diving tutorial, were given our time slot and then we were free to do whatever we wanted. For me, this meant snorkeling. Again, I have been fortunate enough to snorkel in Hawaii and I thought that was absolutely unreal but this was truly something special. The wildlife (fish) was much the same - spectacular amounts of fish, color and activity. The real difference was in the volume of coral. There was an incredible amount of color and creatures. I dove down to get some closer looks and snapped a couple pictures with my underwater camera. It was a nice appetizer for the main event – scuba diving.
Some scenery on our way out. Tremendous.
So, here’s a funny story. My swimsuit has a back pocket. Do you see wear this is heading? I jumped in all anxious to snorkel and about 2 or 3 minutes into it, I was hearing jingling. I knew, or was at least fairly certain, that fish don’t jingle and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I just kept swimming (Finding Nemo reference). Two or three minutes later I heard it again. Then it hit me, I had about ten dollars worth of change in my back pocket. But wait, there’s more – I also had my wallet. I made it back to the boat with my wallet in my pocket but unfortunately I made a $10 donation to the Reef against my will but there were bigger fish to fry (okay, maybe not the best timing for that saying) – I wanted to get back out there and snorkel. But wait, there’s more. So at this point, about 10 people from our program and ten strangers on the back of the boat are laughing at the goofy kid who just got out of the water and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. I’m laughing too. The ability to laugh at myself is something I have become very good at it. This skill would come in handy in the next two or three minutes as well. I climb back down the stairs and jump back in the ocean. My flippers decided to stay behind, stuck in the stairs. Now, everyone is laughing harder as I come back to the surface with these stupid flippers stuck in the stairs. I climb back out of the ocean (familiar theme), put my flippers back on and jump back in the ocean. But wait, there’s more. When I put my flippers on I had to put my goggles and snorkel on top of my head so I could see what I was doing. When I jumped back in, I forgot to put them back on and they came flying off as I went under. Now, everyone is laughing even harder at me and I am laughing at my own stupidity. I got them on and FINALLY was able to go get some more snorkeling in. It cut into some of my time but in the end, it’s a fun story myself and about 20 other people will be able to tell.
Since, none of us were licensed scuba-ers (definitely not a technical term), we had to be under the supervision of a dive instructor while we were scubing (again, not a technical term but should be). This meant we went in groups of five (including the instructor and HAD to interlink arms the entire time. Equipped and ready to go we jumped in and took the plunge. Easier said than done. We spent about 20 minutes getting adjusted once we were in the water and diving down to different depths on the side of the boat to make sure we could handle the pressure and what not. I was the first person down to the lower level (2 or 3 meters) in our group and floated there for what felt like eternity. I don’t want to toot my own snorkel or anything but I was just kind of hanging out there while others were going up and down and up and down trying to get adjusted. Our group of five had one member who couldn’t get adjusted (relatively common. Another group had all but one back out) and finally headed out to the reef. We made it to the first huge piece of reef and it was absolutely, phenomenally, incredibly awesome. One of the first things we saw were clown fish swimming in and out of their little piece of coral. My niece, Zayda, calls these fish Nemo fish after the movie Finding Nemo – one of my top five favorite movies. I was armed with my camera and swam off to get a picture. Remember how I told you he HAD to be interlinking arms? Oh how quickly I can forget things. My instructor was not to pleased, to say the least. As soon as I snapped my picture, I was ripped away by the grasp of my instructor on my harness and jerked back into place. She looked at me and said “bubble, bubble, bubble.” Well, that’s not what she said but that’s what it looked like and heard. I’d imagine it went something more like this “Listen here, you stupid Yankee. If you pull another stunt like that, I’ll feed you to the sharks.” Oh well, I got my picture and lived to tell about it. No harm done. The rest of the trip was just as beautiful. We saw giant clams, endless amounts of reef and tons of fish up close and personal. We went up and down and through and around. It went way too fast. I can honestly say, looking up and seeing we were back at the boat was one of the most disappointing moments of my life. I could’ve stayed down there for hours or at least until I ran out of oxygen. Either way though, it was the chance of a lifetime and something I will remember forever. I really want to get certified now and then do some more diving at some point but we will see. I climbed back onto the boat traded my scuba gear for my snorkel gear and headed right back out. I always have been obsessed with swimming and the ocean. I think it might have something to do with the saltwater aquarium I had as a kid but the stuff fascinates me and I couldn’t get enough so back out I went and I stayed out until they practically had to drag me back to the boat. I got back on the boat at about 2:00 but our day was far from done.
It really upsets me that cameras can't capture the colors but this was my effort.
We had one more stop. The Apollo reef and I wanted to get back in the water. We took about an hour to get there and back in I went. This reef wasn’t quite as spectacular but it was still pretty incredible. The water had gotten a little rough which made snorkeling more challenging but nothing to difficult. Again, I spent as much time as they would physically allow me to spend out in the water. I got my money’s worth. Some students got to see a sea turtle but by the time I made it over to where they were, it was gone. It is my personal mission to see a sea turtle in the wild before I die.
Plus, it gives me an excuse to scuba/snorkel some more. After I made it back to the boat, we made our way back to shore. The trip back was a little choppy. We were all sort of bouncing around but the scenery was worth it and we were all so exhausted we didn’t even care.
Just doing some philosophizing (sarcasm) on our way back with our complementary glass of champagne. Great way to end the day.
When we got back to Cairns, we had an hour or two to change and get ready for dinner. At dinner, we went to a Pizza place (on our travel agency’s tab) for some Pizza and pitchers (of water as far as my parents are concerned). After dinner, we went out and experienced the nightlife a little bit. Again, maybe a little too crazy for my tastes but um, well, let’s just say we all had a good time. We went to a place called the Woolshed that was pretty awesome. The dance floor is actually your table. And your table is actually the shelf above your table if that makes any sense at all. After we had all we could handle there, we went back to Gilligan’s for some live music and some more dancing. It was a great night. Something I wouldn’t want to do more than once a month or so but I have no regrets. We made it back to our rooms at around 3:30 or 4:00 (yes, you read that correctly) and passed out. On schedule for the Sunday was the Daintree Rainforest. Until then…
Cheers!
P.S. I am in the process of getting some underwater pictures developed that I can hopefully upload later.
If you’ve never experienced breakfast at 6:30 a.m. in a bar, I wouldn’t recommend it. Gilligan’s provided our group with breakfast literally off the bar. They had at least cleaned but I think large amounts of ammonia were used to kill all the nasty germs in the place, which meant instead of smelling toast and coffee I smelled the wonderful scent of bleach or something – I don’t even know. Anyway, I had a huge bowl of chocolate rice krispies and some toast and was on my way.
I have been fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling with my family. I really am blessed. Hawaii has been my favorite destination. I’ve been there three times, once I was too young to remember it though so for all intents and purposes, I have been there twice. I love it. It’s paradise on earth. People say they couldn’t live there, I say sign me up. The point is, Cairns reminds me a lot of Maui. There are picturesque mountains that go right up to the ocean, the waters are crystal clear and the weather is phenomenal. It was a beautiful day as our group boarded the Ocean Spirit boat and headed for one of the seven natural wonders of the world – The Great Barrier Reef.
I'm on a boat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jBDhqwXhE (censored version)
The cruise out to the reef was worth the trip alone. We were leaving the mountains and city behind and heading into the emerald green and sky blue waters that signal reef. I will upload some pictures but again, they don’t do it justice. The colors were so bright and vivid, it’s a shame the camera can’t capture them all. We made it to our first stop, Oyster Reef, at about 10:30 a.m. We had a quick scuba diving tutorial, were given our time slot and then we were free to do whatever we wanted. For me, this meant snorkeling. Again, I have been fortunate enough to snorkel in Hawaii and I thought that was absolutely unreal but this was truly something special. The wildlife (fish) was much the same - spectacular amounts of fish, color and activity. The real difference was in the volume of coral. There was an incredible amount of color and creatures. I dove down to get some closer looks and snapped a couple pictures with my underwater camera. It was a nice appetizer for the main event – scuba diving.
Some scenery on our way out. Tremendous.
So, here’s a funny story. My swimsuit has a back pocket. Do you see wear this is heading? I jumped in all anxious to snorkel and about 2 or 3 minutes into it, I was hearing jingling. I knew, or was at least fairly certain, that fish don’t jingle and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I just kept swimming (Finding Nemo reference). Two or three minutes later I heard it again. Then it hit me, I had about ten dollars worth of change in my back pocket. But wait, there’s more – I also had my wallet. I made it back to the boat with my wallet in my pocket but unfortunately I made a $10 donation to the Reef against my will but there were bigger fish to fry (okay, maybe not the best timing for that saying) – I wanted to get back out there and snorkel. But wait, there’s more. So at this point, about 10 people from our program and ten strangers on the back of the boat are laughing at the goofy kid who just got out of the water and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. I’m laughing too. The ability to laugh at myself is something I have become very good at it. This skill would come in handy in the next two or three minutes as well. I climb back down the stairs and jump back in the ocean. My flippers decided to stay behind, stuck in the stairs. Now, everyone is laughing harder as I come back to the surface with these stupid flippers stuck in the stairs. I climb back out of the ocean (familiar theme), put my flippers back on and jump back in the ocean. But wait, there’s more. When I put my flippers on I had to put my goggles and snorkel on top of my head so I could see what I was doing. When I jumped back in, I forgot to put them back on and they came flying off as I went under. Now, everyone is laughing even harder at me and I am laughing at my own stupidity. I got them on and FINALLY was able to go get some more snorkeling in. It cut into some of my time but in the end, it’s a fun story myself and about 20 other people will be able to tell.
Since, none of us were licensed scuba-ers (definitely not a technical term), we had to be under the supervision of a dive instructor while we were scubing (again, not a technical term but should be). This meant we went in groups of five (including the instructor and HAD to interlink arms the entire time. Equipped and ready to go we jumped in and took the plunge. Easier said than done. We spent about 20 minutes getting adjusted once we were in the water and diving down to different depths on the side of the boat to make sure we could handle the pressure and what not. I was the first person down to the lower level (2 or 3 meters) in our group and floated there for what felt like eternity. I don’t want to toot my own snorkel or anything but I was just kind of hanging out there while others were going up and down and up and down trying to get adjusted. Our group of five had one member who couldn’t get adjusted (relatively common. Another group had all but one back out) and finally headed out to the reef. We made it to the first huge piece of reef and it was absolutely, phenomenally, incredibly awesome. One of the first things we saw were clown fish swimming in and out of their little piece of coral. My niece, Zayda, calls these fish Nemo fish after the movie Finding Nemo – one of my top five favorite movies. I was armed with my camera and swam off to get a picture. Remember how I told you he HAD to be interlinking arms? Oh how quickly I can forget things. My instructor was not to pleased, to say the least. As soon as I snapped my picture, I was ripped away by the grasp of my instructor on my harness and jerked back into place. She looked at me and said “bubble, bubble, bubble.” Well, that’s not what she said but that’s what it looked like and heard. I’d imagine it went something more like this “Listen here, you stupid Yankee. If you pull another stunt like that, I’ll feed you to the sharks.” Oh well, I got my picture and lived to tell about it. No harm done. The rest of the trip was just as beautiful. We saw giant clams, endless amounts of reef and tons of fish up close and personal. We went up and down and through and around. It went way too fast. I can honestly say, looking up and seeing we were back at the boat was one of the most disappointing moments of my life. I could’ve stayed down there for hours or at least until I ran out of oxygen. Either way though, it was the chance of a lifetime and something I will remember forever. I really want to get certified now and then do some more diving at some point but we will see. I climbed back onto the boat traded my scuba gear for my snorkel gear and headed right back out. I always have been obsessed with swimming and the ocean. I think it might have something to do with the saltwater aquarium I had as a kid but the stuff fascinates me and I couldn’t get enough so back out I went and I stayed out until they practically had to drag me back to the boat. I got back on the boat at about 2:00 but our day was far from done.
It really upsets me that cameras can't capture the colors but this was my effort.
We had one more stop. The Apollo reef and I wanted to get back in the water. We took about an hour to get there and back in I went. This reef wasn’t quite as spectacular but it was still pretty incredible. The water had gotten a little rough which made snorkeling more challenging but nothing to difficult. Again, I spent as much time as they would physically allow me to spend out in the water. I got my money’s worth. Some students got to see a sea turtle but by the time I made it over to where they were, it was gone. It is my personal mission to see a sea turtle in the wild before I die.
Plus, it gives me an excuse to scuba/snorkel some more. After I made it back to the boat, we made our way back to shore. The trip back was a little choppy. We were all sort of bouncing around but the scenery was worth it and we were all so exhausted we didn’t even care.
Just doing some philosophizing (sarcasm) on our way back with our complementary glass of champagne. Great way to end the day.
When we got back to Cairns, we had an hour or two to change and get ready for dinner. At dinner, we went to a Pizza place (on our travel agency’s tab) for some Pizza and pitchers (of water as far as my parents are concerned). After dinner, we went out and experienced the nightlife a little bit. Again, maybe a little too crazy for my tastes but um, well, let’s just say we all had a good time. We went to a place called the Woolshed that was pretty awesome. The dance floor is actually your table. And your table is actually the shelf above your table if that makes any sense at all. After we had all we could handle there, we went back to Gilligan’s for some live music and some more dancing. It was a great night. Something I wouldn’t want to do more than once a month or so but I have no regrets. We made it back to our rooms at around 3:30 or 4:00 (yes, you read that correctly) and passed out. On schedule for the Sunday was the Daintree Rainforest. Until then…
Cheers!
P.S. I am in the process of getting some underwater pictures developed that I can hopefully upload later.
DAY 30: OFF TO WORK AND OFF TO CAIRNS
Work hard to play hard. That’s one of my favorite sayings and something I try to live by. Day 30 of my journey was a good example.
I went in to work and, I’ll be honest, I had other things on my mind – Cairns to be specific. There was work that needed to be done and I knew I just had to get through it then I was off for one of the greatest weekends of my life. With that said, work was relatively relaxing. I made some charts for uniform orders for all the different sport teams at the Uni. In the midst of that project, I got called into the conference room. Apparently, two of the workers are leaving and they threw a farewell party. There was cake – obviously. It felt exactly like the Jim Gaffigan reference to cake. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o-u4IwXkbE. Watch the whole video. “I don’t really know those people. Wait, there’s cake? I guess I should say goodbye.”
After a little more work on that project, I took a lunch and then was given the rest of the day off. I came back ready to work and then my supervisor was just sort of looking at me and finally asked, “What are you still doing here?” I asked if they had anything more for me to work on and she insisted no. I asked one more time then half the office yelled at me to leave. It was pretty funny. I love the Aussie work environment. However, in my hurry to get back to the apartment, I got on the wrong bus and it ended up taking me about 2.5 hours but I made it…eventually.
I finished up packing and was ready to go. The anticipation was killing me. We flew out with Qantas – the official Australian airline. I had heard about some people who flew to Sydney on it and they all raved about it, I was pretty excited. Honestly though, it wasn’t much different. I guess the only real cool part was the fact that they gave us all drumstick ice cream cones after our dinner. Ice cream is the way to my heart and they got to it. We touched down at about 10:30 and then had about a half-hour commute to Gilligan’s Hotel and Resort.
Calling it a hotel and resort might be the overstatement of the year. It was a hostile. It was alright, nothing too fancy but I didn’t mind. I was in Cairns. We were all pretty tired at this point but we were all still American college students so we did what we do – hit the bar. The biggest club in Cairns is attached to our hostile. Gilligan’s club is a little too crazy for my taste but it provided the cheap beer we were looking for and a giant TV that was showing the US World Cup game. We didn’t do anything too crazy – unless you consider streaking after every US goal crazy (that’s a joke but don’t think it didn’t cross our minds). After the game it was about 1 in the morning and we knew we had a busy day planned on Saturday so we headed to bed, or so we thought.
The nice thing about having a bar connected to your hostile is that a bar is connected to your hostile. The bad thing about having a bar connected to your hostile is that a bar is connected to your hostile. You follow my logic? No? Didn’t think so. What I mean is that the dance floor was literally about 75 ft. outside our window, which meant the crazy loud music was the same distance. There’s Nothing like falling asleep to some Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne. On schedule for tomorrow, the Great Barrier Reef. Until then…
Cheers!
I went in to work and, I’ll be honest, I had other things on my mind – Cairns to be specific. There was work that needed to be done and I knew I just had to get through it then I was off for one of the greatest weekends of my life. With that said, work was relatively relaxing. I made some charts for uniform orders for all the different sport teams at the Uni. In the midst of that project, I got called into the conference room. Apparently, two of the workers are leaving and they threw a farewell party. There was cake – obviously. It felt exactly like the Jim Gaffigan reference to cake. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o-u4IwXkbE. Watch the whole video. “I don’t really know those people. Wait, there’s cake? I guess I should say goodbye.”
After a little more work on that project, I took a lunch and then was given the rest of the day off. I came back ready to work and then my supervisor was just sort of looking at me and finally asked, “What are you still doing here?” I asked if they had anything more for me to work on and she insisted no. I asked one more time then half the office yelled at me to leave. It was pretty funny. I love the Aussie work environment. However, in my hurry to get back to the apartment, I got on the wrong bus and it ended up taking me about 2.5 hours but I made it…eventually.
I finished up packing and was ready to go. The anticipation was killing me. We flew out with Qantas – the official Australian airline. I had heard about some people who flew to Sydney on it and they all raved about it, I was pretty excited. Honestly though, it wasn’t much different. I guess the only real cool part was the fact that they gave us all drumstick ice cream cones after our dinner. Ice cream is the way to my heart and they got to it. We touched down at about 10:30 and then had about a half-hour commute to Gilligan’s Hotel and Resort.
Calling it a hotel and resort might be the overstatement of the year. It was a hostile. It was alright, nothing too fancy but I didn’t mind. I was in Cairns. We were all pretty tired at this point but we were all still American college students so we did what we do – hit the bar. The biggest club in Cairns is attached to our hostile. Gilligan’s club is a little too crazy for my taste but it provided the cheap beer we were looking for and a giant TV that was showing the US World Cup game. We didn’t do anything too crazy – unless you consider streaking after every US goal crazy (that’s a joke but don’t think it didn’t cross our minds). After the game it was about 1 in the morning and we knew we had a busy day planned on Saturday so we headed to bed, or so we thought.
The nice thing about having a bar connected to your hostile is that a bar is connected to your hostile. The bad thing about having a bar connected to your hostile is that a bar is connected to your hostile. You follow my logic? No? Didn’t think so. What I mean is that the dance floor was literally about 75 ft. outside our window, which meant the crazy loud music was the same distance. There’s Nothing like falling asleep to some Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne. On schedule for tomorrow, the Great Barrier Reef. Until then…
Cheers!
Friday, June 18, 2010
UNITED STATES OF IMISSYA:
Let me preface this entire post by saying that I am not homesick and I am not in stage 2 of culture shock.
When we arrived we got it beat into our head that we would go through culture shock and to be prepared for stage 2. What is stage 2? Well, I couldn’t tell ya and more than halfway through this trip, I don’t think I will know but we were told it would be the homesickness (is that a word) stage. We would get depressed, overeat, overdrink (um, hi we’re college students), cry, want to go home, blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. etc. I was afraid some Stage 2 monster was going to come hammer my head with an American flag or something. However, that has not been the case. I am proud to say, I have survived – I have defeated Stage 2.
With that said, I have compiled a list of some of the things I miss from back home:
Family: Wouldn’t have been funny if I left them off the list? What would they have thought? But seriously, I really do miss my Mom, Dad and sisters. I am fortunate they have been a huge part of my life and I am blessed that they have had such a positive influence on me. That extends (pun) to my extended family as well and my grandma who is fighting cancer right now. My thoughts and prayers are with her.
Nieces and Nephew: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know they technically are under the Family umbrella but they’re special, they get their own bullet point. Zayda, Garrett and Andra. I love ‘em all and miss getting to run around the house with them. I hope they haven’t forgotten who their Uncle J is. I must also mention that both of my sisters are currently pregnant and I miss watching them get fat ☺
Friends: Chances are, if you’re reading this I miss you. If you’re a stranger and you’re reading this, stop. That’s creepy.
Summer: This is a broad and vague category. For you geographically challenged (IU students/grads) Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means it is winter here, which means it is around 60 everyday. I miss the heat and humidity of the Indiana summer. I know I am weird but I enjoy the humid weather. I figure if you’re going to be outside working, work up a sweat while you’re at it. I can’t wait to get back in the heat and humidity of the Indiana summer. Now some sub points under summer:
Umpiring: I am an IHSAA licensed umpire. I spent the majority of my summer last year umpiring baseball games. I miss being at the baseball field and most of all I miss the very very good money I was making.
Baseball: I miss baseball in general but especially my FIRST PLACE Cincinnati Reds. Yeah, all you cubbie fans read that correctly. The Reds are on top of the NL Central and actually competing for the first time in about 10 years…and I am on the other side of the planet. Perfect. I don’t think there is anything better than going to a baseball game, with a bag of peanuts and my dad. We share chocolate malt and life is good. I plan on doing this as soon as I get back.
Swimming: I love just hanging out at the pool and playing pool basketball with my friends – a favorite summer pastime of mine.
Grilling/cookouts: I love grilling and I love cookouts. I haven’t gotten to do either here in Australia. I hope there is enough summer left for me to enjoy these when I get back.
The 4th of July: Undoubtedly my favorite holiday. I love the season, I love the weather, I love the patriotism, I love eating a burger, hot dog and brat on the same day and I love lighting things on fire. It’s just an awesome time of the year. For whatever reason, Australians don’t celebrate America’s independence. How rude! I hope I can find some fireworks over here. If not I will just light my roommates’ stuff on fire and throw it off my balcony as I sing God Bless America.
ESPN: I miss being able to turn on the TV at any time and getting the latest sport news. They have sport channels over here – four of ‘em actually. Here’s what’s on those channels: Rugby, Rugby, Rugby and highlights of Rugby. I don’t get it and I don’t really have any desire to. Give me my highlights of baseball and golf and my daily dose of Tiger Woods coverage.
America News: We get some American news over here but it’s the trashy gossip celebrity news that I couldn’t care less about. For instance, Katy Perry was on the cover of one of the local newspapers yesterday.
Rascal: That’s my dog. Everyone over here has dogs and they take them everywhere. It just makes me want to have a dog that much more. Rascal may be getting up there in years and more lopsided (he has a fat tumor on one of his shoulders) by the day but I miss him.
Car: You might know him as Charlie. He’s a 2005 charcoal Ford Taurus - a well-oiled driving/transporting machine. I have had my fill of public transportation. I just wish I could hop in my car in the morning, blare some music and make my own commute to work in the morning. Side story. Yesterday, I was on the way to work on one of the buses and had my lunch in one hand and backpack in the other. Next thing I knew, we went around a round-a-bout and I was sitting in a guys lap. Not like the funny accidental bump. It was more like the embarrassing “hi, I’m American. Thanks for letting me use your lap as a landing base.”
INTERMISSION: Take a breath, take a walk. I didn’t know this list was going to grow to this. I just had to check over my shoulder to see if Stage 2 was creeping up on me. It wasn’t.
Mom’s cooking: I have ate very well here in Australia but still, nothing and I mean nothing can ever compare to my mom’s cooking. I can’t wait for some biscuits n’ gravy.
Boating: My family doesn’t have a boat but every summer I find a way to make it to a lake to do some boating. Whether it is with my friends, my sister’s friend, my brother-in-law’s family, my aunt and uncle or just a random connection, I make it to the lake for some tubing and attempts at skiing. My sister just got a boat this winter. I’m thinking I’ll need to test it out this summer once I get back.
Convenience: I made the decision to not purchase a cell phone and not purchase Internet over here. I figured it would help me save money and get more immersed in the Australian culture. I’m not addicted to my iphone but I do miss being able to use it to get updates on sports/news, directions and txt messages from friends and family. I have found ways to get Internet but I haven’t really missed it as much as I thought I would. It’s actually been a refreshing exercise to be “disconnected” at times.
Concerts: Specifically, the Dave Matthews Band concert. I have been going to DMB’s concerts for four or five years now and every year the two-night stand is two of the best nights of my summer. In the past he has came late in the summer such as August or late July. This year, he decided to come in June. I was really upset and then, he announced he won’t be touring next year! I have to find some way to make it to a concert once I get back but the way this is going I will also have to find some way to do that for free. There are also Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn and Kings of Leon concerts I would like to go to but again, not sure that will fit in the budget when I get back.
Purdue University: People say they bleed gold and black. That’s ridiculous and I can’t imagine healthy. I take pride in my healthy red blood BUT I eat, sleep, dream and breathe gold and black. Even when I use the restrooms the colors are typically … sorry I just couldn’t finish that sentence. Use your imagination. I know I wouldn’t be spending much time there this summer and I would probably miss it if I were at home. I miss wearing a Purdue shirt around and people asking me if I go there and responding yes and they kind of raise their eyebrows in the “wow, I’m impressed. I couldn’t get in so I just went to IU” kind of way. I miss being able to bash my IU friends on how bad they are at well, everything ☺ Okay, I’ll stop with the IU bashing. I don’t want to offend anyone (but seriously IU students can’t read so I’m not too worried).
Sports Information: I spend a lot of time working sporting events and office hours during the school year. I am fortunate that I love my job and I really enjoy the people I work with. Not to mention, a steady flow of income would be really nice right about now.
Roommates: Tay Tay, Lewis and Grandpa. I miss those guys and all of our shenanigans. Tay Tay and Grandpa, I will be visiting Tipton when I get back.
Golf: Typically, I spend a lot of time on the golf course during the summer. That has not been the case. I want to play while I am over here but I imagine greens fees plus renting clubs will cost anywhere from $80 to $1million.
Friends’ Birthdays: One of my really good friends has already turned 21 and is currently in Vegas and I am going to miss two of my other best friends’ 21st birthdays. I wish I was there and could “take care” of them the same way my friends “took care” of me on my 21st. As the Aussies would say, “You got fuzzy.”
The “right” side of the road: Right as in correct and right as in the right side of the road. They drive on the left and their steering wheel is on the right. It takes some getting used to. And then there’s the awkward situation where two people are walking right at each other and being American my natural instinct is to go right but that won’t work because the Aussie’s natural instinct is to go left. It’d be less confusing if I could just wear a sign: “Hi, I’m a tourist.”
The empirical system: Yeah, I get it the metric system makes more sense and the empirical system makes no sense what so ever. I don’t care. Give me my inches, pounds, feet, miles, and ounces. And for the love of all things good, can I PLEASE get a temperature in Fahrenheit. I turn on the news in the morning and they tell me it is going to be 18. This means absolutely nothing to me. Can you please just tell me if I can wear shorts? I think the whole world should switch to a universal wardrobe temperature system. I can see Al Roker now, “Today’s high is going to be shorts and a t-shirt with a low of you might want carry a jacket with you.” It’s perfect. I’m copywriting this.
Real Football: It’s almost training camp time and I haven’t heard a word about it. Can someone update me, how many times as Brett Favre retired and unretired since I’ve been gone?
Welcome: Everything is “cheers” or “no worries” here. The “no worries” takes the place of welcome and ends up sounding like “nawawwies” with their accent. I’ve actually started saying “no worries” without even thinking about it.
Money: I’m really glad America doesn’t have coins worth more than a quarter that we use often. I will stand at a cash register with a handful of change look at it, look at the person operating the cash register, look back at my hand and eventually they get the message and take the exact change right out of my hand. It’s easier than me inspecting every coin to see how much it’s worth and then having to do the math.
Money: I miss having money and so does my bank account.
School of Management Council: Lots of great friends, lots of great work. Can’t wait to start another semester.
Basketball: Last year, I spent many summer nights playing basketball. I love basketball. If I could do anything in the world it would be playing basketball. I can’t put it into words. It is not a big sport over here and I haven’t even got to watch the NBA finals. I miss basketball. I need basketball. It’s therapy.
Running: I had enough space for one extra pair of shoes. It was between my basketball shoes and running shoes. I went with the basketball since I knew I was working at a sport center. Bad choice. I haven’t been on a basketball court.
Reasonable prices: It might be a good thing I am not going to have any money when I get back. Otherwise, I would probably just blow it all anyway. I’ve grown so accustom to the outrageous prices here, I would be tempted to blow it all on stupid cheap stuff back in the states.
Cold drinks: The ice over here is terrible. If anyone has been to Europe or Asia, they know foreigners are stingy with their ice. It’s the same here. No ice or very little ice. Bottled and canned drinks are outrageously priced (think ~$30 for a 24 pack of diet coke). All I end up drinking is lukewarm tap water. Wonderful.
Cheap Beer: This one was contributed by Bo Dietrick. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never bought beer ;)
Well, loyal followers that ought to keep you busy for the weekend. I might add more to this list later as I find more but for now, that is all. Until next time…
Cheers!
When we arrived we got it beat into our head that we would go through culture shock and to be prepared for stage 2. What is stage 2? Well, I couldn’t tell ya and more than halfway through this trip, I don’t think I will know but we were told it would be the homesickness (is that a word) stage. We would get depressed, overeat, overdrink (um, hi we’re college students), cry, want to go home, blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. etc. I was afraid some Stage 2 monster was going to come hammer my head with an American flag or something. However, that has not been the case. I am proud to say, I have survived – I have defeated Stage 2.
With that said, I have compiled a list of some of the things I miss from back home:
Family: Wouldn’t have been funny if I left them off the list? What would they have thought? But seriously, I really do miss my Mom, Dad and sisters. I am fortunate they have been a huge part of my life and I am blessed that they have had such a positive influence on me. That extends (pun) to my extended family as well and my grandma who is fighting cancer right now. My thoughts and prayers are with her.
Nieces and Nephew: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know they technically are under the Family umbrella but they’re special, they get their own bullet point. Zayda, Garrett and Andra. I love ‘em all and miss getting to run around the house with them. I hope they haven’t forgotten who their Uncle J is. I must also mention that both of my sisters are currently pregnant and I miss watching them get fat ☺
Friends: Chances are, if you’re reading this I miss you. If you’re a stranger and you’re reading this, stop. That’s creepy.
Summer: This is a broad and vague category. For you geographically challenged (IU students/grads) Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means it is winter here, which means it is around 60 everyday. I miss the heat and humidity of the Indiana summer. I know I am weird but I enjoy the humid weather. I figure if you’re going to be outside working, work up a sweat while you’re at it. I can’t wait to get back in the heat and humidity of the Indiana summer. Now some sub points under summer:
Umpiring: I am an IHSAA licensed umpire. I spent the majority of my summer last year umpiring baseball games. I miss being at the baseball field and most of all I miss the very very good money I was making.
Baseball: I miss baseball in general but especially my FIRST PLACE Cincinnati Reds. Yeah, all you cubbie fans read that correctly. The Reds are on top of the NL Central and actually competing for the first time in about 10 years…and I am on the other side of the planet. Perfect. I don’t think there is anything better than going to a baseball game, with a bag of peanuts and my dad. We share chocolate malt and life is good. I plan on doing this as soon as I get back.
Swimming: I love just hanging out at the pool and playing pool basketball with my friends – a favorite summer pastime of mine.
Grilling/cookouts: I love grilling and I love cookouts. I haven’t gotten to do either here in Australia. I hope there is enough summer left for me to enjoy these when I get back.
The 4th of July: Undoubtedly my favorite holiday. I love the season, I love the weather, I love the patriotism, I love eating a burger, hot dog and brat on the same day and I love lighting things on fire. It’s just an awesome time of the year. For whatever reason, Australians don’t celebrate America’s independence. How rude! I hope I can find some fireworks over here. If not I will just light my roommates’ stuff on fire and throw it off my balcony as I sing God Bless America.
ESPN: I miss being able to turn on the TV at any time and getting the latest sport news. They have sport channels over here – four of ‘em actually. Here’s what’s on those channels: Rugby, Rugby, Rugby and highlights of Rugby. I don’t get it and I don’t really have any desire to. Give me my highlights of baseball and golf and my daily dose of Tiger Woods coverage.
America News: We get some American news over here but it’s the trashy gossip celebrity news that I couldn’t care less about. For instance, Katy Perry was on the cover of one of the local newspapers yesterday.
Rascal: That’s my dog. Everyone over here has dogs and they take them everywhere. It just makes me want to have a dog that much more. Rascal may be getting up there in years and more lopsided (he has a fat tumor on one of his shoulders) by the day but I miss him.
Car: You might know him as Charlie. He’s a 2005 charcoal Ford Taurus - a well-oiled driving/transporting machine. I have had my fill of public transportation. I just wish I could hop in my car in the morning, blare some music and make my own commute to work in the morning. Side story. Yesterday, I was on the way to work on one of the buses and had my lunch in one hand and backpack in the other. Next thing I knew, we went around a round-a-bout and I was sitting in a guys lap. Not like the funny accidental bump. It was more like the embarrassing “hi, I’m American. Thanks for letting me use your lap as a landing base.”
INTERMISSION: Take a breath, take a walk. I didn’t know this list was going to grow to this. I just had to check over my shoulder to see if Stage 2 was creeping up on me. It wasn’t.
Mom’s cooking: I have ate very well here in Australia but still, nothing and I mean nothing can ever compare to my mom’s cooking. I can’t wait for some biscuits n’ gravy.
Boating: My family doesn’t have a boat but every summer I find a way to make it to a lake to do some boating. Whether it is with my friends, my sister’s friend, my brother-in-law’s family, my aunt and uncle or just a random connection, I make it to the lake for some tubing and attempts at skiing. My sister just got a boat this winter. I’m thinking I’ll need to test it out this summer once I get back.
Convenience: I made the decision to not purchase a cell phone and not purchase Internet over here. I figured it would help me save money and get more immersed in the Australian culture. I’m not addicted to my iphone but I do miss being able to use it to get updates on sports/news, directions and txt messages from friends and family. I have found ways to get Internet but I haven’t really missed it as much as I thought I would. It’s actually been a refreshing exercise to be “disconnected” at times.
Concerts: Specifically, the Dave Matthews Band concert. I have been going to DMB’s concerts for four or five years now and every year the two-night stand is two of the best nights of my summer. In the past he has came late in the summer such as August or late July. This year, he decided to come in June. I was really upset and then, he announced he won’t be touring next year! I have to find some way to make it to a concert once I get back but the way this is going I will also have to find some way to do that for free. There are also Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn and Kings of Leon concerts I would like to go to but again, not sure that will fit in the budget when I get back.
Purdue University: People say they bleed gold and black. That’s ridiculous and I can’t imagine healthy. I take pride in my healthy red blood BUT I eat, sleep, dream and breathe gold and black. Even when I use the restrooms the colors are typically … sorry I just couldn’t finish that sentence. Use your imagination. I know I wouldn’t be spending much time there this summer and I would probably miss it if I were at home. I miss wearing a Purdue shirt around and people asking me if I go there and responding yes and they kind of raise their eyebrows in the “wow, I’m impressed. I couldn’t get in so I just went to IU” kind of way. I miss being able to bash my IU friends on how bad they are at well, everything ☺ Okay, I’ll stop with the IU bashing. I don’t want to offend anyone (but seriously IU students can’t read so I’m not too worried).
Sports Information: I spend a lot of time working sporting events and office hours during the school year. I am fortunate that I love my job and I really enjoy the people I work with. Not to mention, a steady flow of income would be really nice right about now.
Roommates: Tay Tay, Lewis and Grandpa. I miss those guys and all of our shenanigans. Tay Tay and Grandpa, I will be visiting Tipton when I get back.
Golf: Typically, I spend a lot of time on the golf course during the summer. That has not been the case. I want to play while I am over here but I imagine greens fees plus renting clubs will cost anywhere from $80 to $1million.
Friends’ Birthdays: One of my really good friends has already turned 21 and is currently in Vegas and I am going to miss two of my other best friends’ 21st birthdays. I wish I was there and could “take care” of them the same way my friends “took care” of me on my 21st. As the Aussies would say, “You got fuzzy.”
The “right” side of the road: Right as in correct and right as in the right side of the road. They drive on the left and their steering wheel is on the right. It takes some getting used to. And then there’s the awkward situation where two people are walking right at each other and being American my natural instinct is to go right but that won’t work because the Aussie’s natural instinct is to go left. It’d be less confusing if I could just wear a sign: “Hi, I’m a tourist.”
The empirical system: Yeah, I get it the metric system makes more sense and the empirical system makes no sense what so ever. I don’t care. Give me my inches, pounds, feet, miles, and ounces. And for the love of all things good, can I PLEASE get a temperature in Fahrenheit. I turn on the news in the morning and they tell me it is going to be 18. This means absolutely nothing to me. Can you please just tell me if I can wear shorts? I think the whole world should switch to a universal wardrobe temperature system. I can see Al Roker now, “Today’s high is going to be shorts and a t-shirt with a low of you might want carry a jacket with you.” It’s perfect. I’m copywriting this.
Real Football: It’s almost training camp time and I haven’t heard a word about it. Can someone update me, how many times as Brett Favre retired and unretired since I’ve been gone?
Welcome: Everything is “cheers” or “no worries” here. The “no worries” takes the place of welcome and ends up sounding like “nawawwies” with their accent. I’ve actually started saying “no worries” without even thinking about it.
Money: I’m really glad America doesn’t have coins worth more than a quarter that we use often. I will stand at a cash register with a handful of change look at it, look at the person operating the cash register, look back at my hand and eventually they get the message and take the exact change right out of my hand. It’s easier than me inspecting every coin to see how much it’s worth and then having to do the math.
Money: I miss having money and so does my bank account.
School of Management Council: Lots of great friends, lots of great work. Can’t wait to start another semester.
Basketball: Last year, I spent many summer nights playing basketball. I love basketball. If I could do anything in the world it would be playing basketball. I can’t put it into words. It is not a big sport over here and I haven’t even got to watch the NBA finals. I miss basketball. I need basketball. It’s therapy.
Running: I had enough space for one extra pair of shoes. It was between my basketball shoes and running shoes. I went with the basketball since I knew I was working at a sport center. Bad choice. I haven’t been on a basketball court.
Reasonable prices: It might be a good thing I am not going to have any money when I get back. Otherwise, I would probably just blow it all anyway. I’ve grown so accustom to the outrageous prices here, I would be tempted to blow it all on stupid cheap stuff back in the states.
Cold drinks: The ice over here is terrible. If anyone has been to Europe or Asia, they know foreigners are stingy with their ice. It’s the same here. No ice or very little ice. Bottled and canned drinks are outrageously priced (think ~$30 for a 24 pack of diet coke). All I end up drinking is lukewarm tap water. Wonderful.
Cheap Beer: This one was contributed by Bo Dietrick. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never bought beer ;)
Well, loyal followers that ought to keep you busy for the weekend. I might add more to this list later as I find more but for now, that is all. Until next time…
Cheers!
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