Olympic Flare Out

I thought I would take advantage of another beautiful day in Chicago(my last) and see something I have never seen before. Watching the news when I woke up, I saw that there was a rally going on in Daley Square, as thousands of people were watching the unveiling of the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games. I have heard over the past few months that Chicago had a pretty good chance at landing the Olympics in the U.S. again, and now with President Obama AND Oprah as liaisons for the Windy City, I figured it was in the bag. Oh, how wrong I was.

At 10:24 Chicago was officially eliminated from the possibility of having the Olympics in 2016. The disappointment and stunned attitude was something I have only witnessed when Aaron Boone launched a home run into the left field seats during the 13th inning of the 2003 ALCS. Shock was feeling being most emoted by the Chicagoans, and I had to sit back and take it in for a minute.

I watched the larger-than-life television screens give reasons for why Chicagoan should keep their heads up, and that the over four-year-long effort to bring the Games to Chicago didn't go wasted. I watched people actually cry over the announcement. WHAT??!?!?! That's right, CRY!

For a minute I thought that because of this decision and the reaction of the crowd, Chicago would no longer be heralded as one of the great cities in America. That Da Bears, Da Bulls, Da Cubs and Da Sox were leaving town. That the thin crust pizza was officially better than the deep dish. Common people. You lost, wait, not even lost. You just weren't chosen.

In my befuddlement of what I was seeing, I wondered whether the same reaction would be emoted if pictures of suffering children, women, and men of Chicago were flashed across the big screens. If people realized that over 17,000 people are homeless in the state of Illinois. My guess in probably not.

So let's be real. I am as much of a sports fan as there is, but there are so many larger issues in our country than "losing" the Olympics to a CONTINENT that has never hosted an Olympiad. Let's give some love to Rio de Janeiro and South America, and stop wallowing in our own ridiculous misery. There are better things to worry about.

New Zealand...

It has been a while since my last post!  Finals and saying goodbyes to friends from Bond took up a lot of time and energy.  Leaving Bond was bittersweet.  I was happy to start moving on to different places and experiences, but leaving a place I called home for four months was a bit strange.  Carrying all of my possessions in two suitcases and a backpack is a strange feeling, especially because my suitcases are in Sydney just hanging out in a locker.  Enough with the boring stuff!

I am now in New Zealand, Manukau to be exact, staying with one of my mates from Bond.  I am here with Jorge, Pat, and Jeff (the kid made it down!).  We headed down to a town called Rotorua which is about 2 1/2 hours south of Auckland City, and a haven for extreme adventures and activities.  The town is located near geysers and thermal hot springs which makes for incredible views, but the smell of sulfur throughout the air is hard to take in.

Our first order of business in Rotorua was to "Zorb".  Zorbing is rolling down a hill inside a plastic orb.  Yes, that's correct.  These orbs are about eight feet in diameter and have to layers. One layer is for the rider to sit/get tossed around in, and an outer layer.  The layers are separated by about two feet of air, and hundreds of strings to keep the inner layer from moving around.  Once at the top of a 50 meter hill, the orb is filled with warm water, occupied by a participant, and then pushed down a zig-zagging course, tossing the rider around in the orb.  It was quite a bit of fun, but I am glad we did this activity first.

We had the need for more adventure after being thrown down a hill in a plastic air bubble, so we found our way to an adventure park on the side of a mountain.  We took a gondola ride up the mountain and then luged down the mountain.  This was not like an olympic luge on ice and on your back.  This luge was like an alpine slide or go-kart without a motor.  We took two rides down the 2 km long track hitting some pretty good speeds.  Jeff actually took a turn too fast and flipped his cart, but he is okay from the fall.  After our races, our hearts were pumping, but there was still more to come that day.  Just a few meters away from the luge, there was something called the Sky Swing.  The sky swing is basically a swing, but it is located on a cliff of the mountain.  After being strapped in in about 100 different ways, we were lifted about 25 meters off the ground, ready to swing.  The cool thing about this ride, was that one of the people in the swing actually had to pull the string to release us at 150 km/h in two seconds. Jeff pulled the string, and sent us off screaming like little kids.  The view from the top was amazing!

The next day things became a bit more extreme.  We headed about 15 minutes down the road to the Kaituna River for a bit of whitewater rafting.  I was a bit apprehensive to raft again because I had done it already the summer before, but once I found out we would be rafting down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, I was in.  We rafted down the class 5 river for about 50 minutes culminating with the waterfall.  We took "hold on" positions and we needed every ounce of strength to stay in the boat.  After landing from the fall, our boat was basically underwater, and then somehow the boat was basically sideways.  I'm not sure how we righted ourselves, but after what seemed like an eternity, our boat was right side up with everybody still on board.  After a few more rapids we were off the river and heading back to the hotel.

After a few hours of rest, we headed to the Waiatapu Geysers for a quick peek at some natural wonders.  The smell of sulfur was intense, but could not distract us enough from the natural beauty of the area.  Pictures are coming.

Yesterday was the culmination of craziness with the sky jump!  We headed in to Auckland to the Sky Tower which happens to be the highest building in the southern hemisphere.  We headed up to the top floor 192 meters from the ground, and jumped off of it!  Well kind of.  We were strapped to a cable and took the plunge for about 11 seconds in an assisted free fall.  We topped out at about 80 km/h and caught a great view.  After jumping off the ledge, we were stopped after about 10 meters and were able to take in the view, suspended 180 meters about the city.  It was sunset and the view was amazing!  After landing, we were all amazed at what we had just accomplished.

That is it for now.  Sorry this isn't very detailed or anything, but time is short here and we want to take advantage of every minute here.  Next post will probably be from Melbourne!  See ya soon!

Rain? Are you serious? Really?

So I eventually got to see Slumdog Millionaire and I found it amazing!  The acting was fantastic, and the story was inspiring.  I went with Jorge and Pat and had a fun time dissecting the film afterward.  To give you a visual on Jorge for those of you who don't have facebook, he looks like Jamal from the movie to some extent.  He claims he doesn't, but deep down he knows he does. Honestly though, I enjoyed 99% of the picture.  Everything was great until the ending credits when for some awful reason, the director/editors stuck that stupid, pointless, senseless music video/dance sequence in.  What was that about?  Sorry if that is a spoiler alert, but if you go to see it, leave or close your eyes before the credits roll.  And my rant is done.

Saturday night was a big night for the gang.  We had about 30-35 of our friends together for Christian's birthday party.  It was a great feeling having all of my friends in one place finally. The night started with some pizza and drinks for the boys, and then quickly turned into a full-out party.  It was a big middle finger to school and work for a night, and we all decided to party like it was 1999.  Being with everybody let me forget about the thousands of words I had to write for a brief moment, and allowed me to remember part of being here is to have fun as well.

Sunday was an amazing day of recovery and homework.  Maybe amazing is the wrong word, but you know what I mean.  Monday was a lost day and I don't even remember what I did that day so there.  Tuesday and yesterday were awful days for me.  I was buried with work, and made a nice ass dent in the chairs of the editing studio.  Both nights I was bunkered in the studio (it has no windows or clocks) until about 2-3 am.  I actually took a nap yesterday from 5-9 in preparation for a long night.

Today it rained literally ALL DAY!!!!  I tried to remember a time since I have been here that I didn't see the sun for some portion of the day and I couldn't.  I guess this is some higher power telling me to stay inside and get my work done.  With final exams coming next week, it is probably best I don't have the lure of surfing, skim boarding, or going to the pool tugging on my procrastination orientated mind, but seriously rain all day?

Well this is probably going to be my last post until the end of finals on Thursday.  Time to dig in and finish this semester up right.  Hope you are all doing well, and that spring might finally be reaching your neck of the woods.

Goodnight from the waterlogged, drenched, soaking wet Paradise.  But hey, it's still Paradise :)

Papers...Papers...Papers...

Crunch time is finally hitting me academically in paradise!  With only two weeks left of school, including final exams, I have been overwhelmed by the workload this past week.  In total, I have written and turned in about 12,000 words of papers this week alone.  My diet has definitely suffered going from three solid meals a day, to breakfast, maybe lunch, heaps of starbursts, energy drinks, vitamin waters, and cereal.  My teeth hate me right now, but it's the only way to stay focused and alive during crunch time.  

Wednesday was the final event for res wars and we had it in the bag... or so we thought.  All we needed to do was finish in the top two to guarantee ourselves of the overall title, but in our final game, after leading 1-0 at half, the defense fell apart and we lost 3-1.  We eventually finished third on the night, and tied for fist overall.  I guess it is nice to finish in first, but an undisputed first would have been nice.  Oh well.

Thursday was another work day, but I got out a bit at night for my friend James' bowling project for his business class.  We played two games and I took first place in each game so I was happy with the results from the night.

Today I had class, but after that, I went to play lawn bowls with my Aussie Sports class.  Lawn bowls is similar to bocce, but the balls are weighted to one side, so the ball will curve when rolled.  We headed to Mermaid Beach Bowls Club, took our shoes off, and had a few beers.  The grass the lanes are comprised of was like walking on a neatly trimmed carpet, similar to a golf green, but even tighter cut and more densely seeded.  Lawn bowls is actually a sport mainly played by people over the age of 50, but it is a lot tougher than it seems.  I had a difficult time judging the speed of the green, and basically scored 1 point the entire time there.  There were about 15 of us playing and we all had fun, so the day was a success.

Tonight (friday night) a few of us were supposed to go see Slumdog Millionaire, but heavy rains deterred us from walking to the bus stop.  We will probably see it Sunday, however.

Tomorrow I was asked to play in a 3-0n-3 basketball tournament and we begin playing at 9 am. It is probably a good thing we didn't head to the movie because I'm going to need a good night sleep to get my body ready for such an early contest.  Tomorrow night is also Christian's birthday so I am sure it will be a late night.

That's it for tonight.  I am exhausted from the week, but gearing up for what looks to be a fun weekend.  

Goodnight from Paradise!

video

Life has been crazy, but here is the video of me bungee jumping.  I'll post what has happened this week later today, but for now, here is the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVyUMGOLX2o

A week later...

So it has been a week since I have blogged, and a bunch has happened since.  The week began with a bang Tuesday night when Christian and I went BUNGEE JUMPING!  I kind of kept it low key so nobody (my mother) would get nervous, or try and talk me out of it.  We headed into Surfers Paradise and jumped from 43 meters (about 140 feet).  The feeling was incredible!  the moment we reached the top of the crane, I looked out, and had a quick second though blitz through my mind.  Once I collected my thoughts, I waddled (because I was strapped by my feet) to the edge, and got mentally ready to jump off.  The feeling I got before I jumped was unlike anything I have ever felt before.  It was different from skydiving  because I had to jump out myself.  A few seconds later, I got my nerves together and leaped off the ledge.  The fall was about 2.5 seconds, but seemed like forever.  The cord obviously held up and I have lived through another crazy experience, but there will be another on before I leave the southern hemisphere.  

Wednesday brought Res Wars per usual, bowling edition this time.  We headed into Surfers to Strike Bowling, had a few beers, played a string (is that what you call it?) of bowling, and then played pool and ate the kitchen clean.  I was bowling pretty well until a few lack of concentration open frames derailed my chance at getting the overall high score.  I ended with a 139, and my teammate rolled a 168.  We thought we had the best team total, but were overtaken by a few pins at the end.  The loss hurt for a second, but we maintained our overall lead.  This week coming up is the last activity for Res Wars.  The event is indoor soccer, and we should dominate that.

Thursday and Friday were boring school days, but on Friday night, a few friends and I headed in to Brisbane to watch a National Rugby League football match between Brisbane and Melbourne.  The stadium was really nice, and located right in the CBD (central business district).  It was an early season game and wasn't sold out, but the announced attendance was in the neighborhood of 40,000.  The game was really fun to watch, but because I don't completely know the rules, I was a bit lost.  My friend Anne described it best.  She said, " It is like going to class without doing homework for a month, and then trying to figure out what the professor is saying, without making it obvious you have no clue."  Brisbane eventually won the game 16-14.

Yesterday I had my final club soccer game, which we won 5-1.  It was nice to dominate a team for beginning to end, but sad to know our team's potential wasn't reached during the season.  We ended up missing the playoffs by one win.  Later that night, I headed to Surfers again with Jorge, Jim, Pat, and a few of Jorge's friends to watch Jorge bungee, and to have dinner.  We found a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant that was fantastic, and enjoyed hanging out off campus.  Today I was supposed to head to the beach to do some serious skim boarding, but the wind was too strong to make it worthwhile.  Now it is about 7 p.m., and I guess it's time to do some homework.

Only three more weeks of school for me, and then it's time to travel!  Yikes!

Goodnight from Paradise!

lazy sunday

Today is just one of those days I don't want to get out of bed.  Things are great and the weather is beautiful(nothing new) but my bed/room are just fine today.  We ended up winning Res Wars the other night.  My ankle held up until the very last minute of the championship game when i twisted it and hobbled off the court.  We won by 1 point, and I would have been extremely disappointed if we lost in the minute I left the game.  Once again I was robbed of the player of the night.  The referees actually chose me as the best performer, but somehow they were overruled, and one of my teammates won the award.  Once again, no big deal, but it would be nice to win it one of these days.

Thursday night brought Mardi Gras to Bond Uni.  Mardi Gras here is not what it is like in New Orleans I don't think.  Here, because it is illegal to have homosexual marriages, it is a gay pride festivity.  Everybody dressed up "gay" (which was actually pretty funny, but degrading at the same time) and had a crazy night.

Friday was Friday the 13th here in Australia and we thought we would be cool and watch scary movies.  The only problem with that was my friend who rented the movie rented the special features disk instead of the actual picture.  It took us a few minutes to figure this out, but once we had, the library was closed and we were out of luck.  Oh well.  We tried right.

Yesterday was a fun packed day.  I had a soccer game (we lost because our goalie is awful), went skim boarding for a few hours, and then went to see Gran Torino.  Clint Eastwood never ceases to amaze me with his acting and direction of motion pictures.  It was a really tough movie to watch, but worth the two hours needed to consume it.

That's it for now.  Not sure what the rest of the day holds, but for now, relaxing and doing some work are the only things on the table.  

Shark!!

So I woke up on Friday morning ready to dive.  Well not really because I was extremely tired, but you know what I mean...  After finding no food left when I got up to the mess hall, I got really excited when I saw we were at the outer reef, and people were getting ready to dive.  Just a side note, the area of the reef we were at has only been visited by about 150 documented people ever! Boats hardly ever come out as far as we were, so it was extra exciting to have my first dive of the trip at such and exclusive, far out destination.  I finally got in the water around 8:30 and it was amazing.  The water was surprisingly warm for being 80 kilometers from land but from the surface, not very clear.  Once we sunk beneath the surface however, vision was about 20 meters through our goggles.  We dove to about 8 meters and saw some amazing sights.  Because it was only an introductory dive, we only stayed underwater for about 20 minutes, but were able to get a feel for the tanks, sights, and breathing underwater.  It was such an amazing feeling.  I have dived before, but this was totally different.

After I found myself back on the boat, the crew asked around to see who wanted to do a second, more in-depth dive.  I obviously jumped at the chance to go again, and felt $60 Australian (parents' money) was a steal to dive deeper and longer, and I was right.  The second dive ended up being 50 minutes underwater at around 12 meters deep.  There was a distinct difference in sea-life at that depth, but once again, not describable in words.  I did however have an encounter with a black tip reef shark.  Now before you get all worried and think I am crazy, which I have never disputed, the shark was only about a meter and a half, and scattered once it got to about 5 meters away from us.  HAHA.  I didn't quite get scared, but it was definitely unsettling to know I had no escape if the little guy was hungry.  It was an amazing site to see the shark appear out of the shadows and into vision so quickly.  it is something I will never forget.

That night everybody on the boat was ready to party because it was our last night on-board, but mother nature had a different idea.  That cyclone I mentioned in the last blog started to make havoc on the surf, and was kicking 2-3 meter swells.  The night was rocky to say the least. I didn't, but people got sick.  I'll leave it at that.

Saturday we tried to snorkel before heading back to shore, but the coming cyclone had kicked up a lot of debris and visibility was tough.  Instead, more Uno and poker was our entertainment, and a lasagna lunch filled us up until land.  Once back, the rain had already started.  One of the people on the trip gave us a ride back to town in his motor-home and we found our way to Beaches Backpackers Hostel.  I was surprised how nice it was, and was grateful for it's central location in the town, but more importantly, the sturdy foundation it rested on.  I was able to take my first real shower in four days, but that was a challenge because every time I closed my eyes or bent down to pick a bottle of soap up, I almost fell because my body was used to the rocking of the ocean.  I managed to keep my balance but was ready for a nap.  That night, we had arranged to meet up at the bar just outside our room with some of the people on the trip.  Once we arrived, we saw our boat had it's own reserved table, and for every 4th person who showed up, a free jug of beer.  We ate dinner with almost everybody from the ship, and then partied the night away, partly reminiscing our time on the boat (just hours ago), and partly because we were on solid ground.  The cyclone whipped wind gusts probably in the 80-90 kilometer range with sideways rain, but we were comfortably dry watching from our table.

The night was a bit hairy as the hostel staff came around to room taping the windows up, and giving us a brief of what to do if we were to evacuate, but fortunately nothing big happened. We woke up to a rainy morning, but no cyclone.

Now I am back at school for week 8 of the semester.  With the way my final exams are working out, I will be done with school in week 12!  Yikes!  Things are moving too fast!  I have some things planned for the nest few weeks, but I'll let you know what they are after they come up :)

That's it for now.  Res Wars tonight is basketball and my team needs to win because we have been on a 3 week slide.  I'll try and represent America on the hardwood, but my ankle might not allow it.  

Good afternoon from Paradise!

Back from the Reef...

Finally back from the Great Barrier Reef!  The trip was exhausting, but extremely rewarding.  I left Wednesday morning on a bus/train to Brisbane.  Once there, I jumped on to a plane heading to Prosperpine which is about 35 minutes from Airlie beach (the launching point for the boat).  Once in Airlie, we found our travel agent and confirmed our trip details, and headed to the ship.  The 65 foot catamaran that awaited us was called the Pacific Star.  The ship was built in 1983, but didn't show much wear and tear.  In total, there were 20 passengers and four crew members coming from Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Austria, South Korea, and England.  There was a mix of ages, but everybody was extremely open and kind.

Our first night, we headed toward the Whitsunday islands.  We were greeted with cheese, crackers, and veggies and a smooth ride into the seemingly endless ocean.  I laid on the deck of the ship for hours just staring at the stars and feeling so small in the scheme of life.  After finally becoming cold for the first time here in Oz, I made my way below deck to sleep.  The almost body sized bed was more comfortable than the hard deck, but for anybody larger than me, it would have been a nightmare.

On Thursday morning, I woke up at 7 am and had some fruit for breakfast, but was welcomed to the day by a just risen sun, crystal clear water, and a sandy cove resting peacefully in the distance.  We were told by our crew that we would have a few hours on the island at Betty's Beach(see second pic).  We gathered our towels and were then tendered to the island on the 12 person dingy attached to the back of the boat.  As we were being brought over, the sight of coral over the edge reminded me I was in a place I have never been before.  Betty's beach is unique in the world because it's sand is made up of 98% silica which is extremely high.  With this amount of silica, the sand was not only almost white, but was extremely cool and fine grained.  Every step I took brought a squeaky-type of noise similar to walking with wet flip-flops on.  Once off the beach and into the water, I was engulfed in saltwater as warm as a bath that had sit for 15 minutes, but somehow refreshing.  After our few hours were finished on the island we headed out for our first real reef experience. 

After about 3 hours of sailing, we reached Bait Reef.  The certified divers went off first so we had some time to snorkel around the boat.  About 30 meters away was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, only to be surpassed by what I saw the next day.  The colors and countless amount of sea life was fascinating.  I saw colors I didn't know existed and can't quantify into words.  I was snorkeling for what seemed to be minutes, but ended up being around an hour.  Once back in the boat, we had lunch, and then I grabbed some sun on the deck, waiting for my turn to dive.  My turn finally came, but it was too dark to see anything worth while, so my group got pushed back a day, which at the time stunk, but ended up being a blessing in disguise. 

Cyclone

Just thought I should tell you that a cyclone was projected to hit the beach/coast I am currently on, but has now past my current location. It was supposed to hit this morning at 4 am as a category 5 (largest a cyclone can get) and destroy almost everything. I am okay for now, but am waiting on a flight back to school. I will post later about the trip, but just wanted you to know I am fine.

Bungee?

Hello from Robina!  

This week has flown by!  Classes were the usual fun times they always tend to be, but everything else has been amazing.  It had rained a bit over the first half of the week, but it has be nothing but sunny for two days, and helps me appreciate the sun and warmth.  Res wars didn't go as expected AGAIN!  We played netball, a women-dominated sport in Australia, and got smoked in the final round.  That is a two week losing streak, and it is unacceptable.  Next week is touch football so I think we will get back on the winning side very soon.

Thursday I didn't have a tutorial because of the mid-term on Tuesday, but a few classmates and my professor got together or lunch and a few beers to chat about sport, and life in Australia.  I had a great time, and was able to get to know a few of the kids in my class a bit better. Everybody is still so open and receptive to new people from all over the world, and it remains refreshing to know preconceived notions are checked at the airport.  After "class", I met up with a friend at the pool and just relaxed the day and week away.  Later that night, I made the 1o minute trek to B-Block (my adopted home) to watch a movie and further relax.

Friday morning came with good news from the states.  My oldest cousin (but not too old) gave birth to her first child Henry Johnson Weintraub!  Life is a beautiful thing, and I cannot be any more happy for them!  

Later that night, I had a few people over to my apartment for some drinks and to hang out.  Life here is tough.

Today was supposed to be the day for bungee jumping, but at the eleventh-hour, the plans fell through.  I'm sure my mother whenever she reads this will be ecstatic that we didn't go, but Mom, I am going at some point :)  The closest place to jump is about 25 minutes away in Surfers Paradise, and drops you from 40 meters to the earth.  I have lived in a ghetto for two years, gone sky diving twice, worn a Red Sox hat in Yankee Stadium, pet a tiger, but I can honestly say that I am more scared of bungee jumping than any of those activities combined. Actually, the word I am looking for is TERRIFIED, but I have to do it.  I know you all have figured it out already, but I think there might be something wrong with me...

Tomorrow we are heading to a water park and it couldn't come on a better forecasted day.  It is supposed to be 32 degrees (90 Fahrenheit) and crystal clear.  It should be a lot of fun. 

Well that's it for now.  As I turn my calendar to March, I am starting to really miss everybody from back home.  It has been at least two months since I have seen some of you, and some obviously much greater than that.  I officially have 71 days left here and that fact is sad, but I'm looking forward to be back home.  Goodnight from Paradise.........

Byron aftermath...

This past weekend was a blast!  We went to Byron bay as mentioned before at it was beautiful. The beach was fantastic, waves, amazing, and jumping out of another plane was exhilarating. That's right, ANOTHER plane.  The sky dive was part of the package to go so I "had" to do it. HAHA.  We jumped about two miles from the coast at around 7 am when the sun was just rising.  After we waited for a bit and had two meals at the airstrip, we took a bus to the coast for a surfing lesson.  I managed to finally ride a wave from swell all the way through the break. It took a bit of effort and a lot of falling, but I finally was able to do it!  We then headed to a hostile to shower up and get ready for the night.  The nightcap was a big party at a restaurant/bar called Cheeky Monkeys.  It was "Bond Night" so we were given free drinks, and the D.J. was handing out champagne for a few hours.  It was a great weekend!  

Sunday and Monday were study days for me.  I had a mid-term to prepare for on Tuesday and a few papers to turn in  as well.  Tuesday came and went quickly with the exam, a class, and a few beers to celebrate the end of exams.  This morning I had a class and now I am just relaxing in preparation for tonight's Res Wars event... Netball.  That's it for now...

Off to Byron

It's Friday afternoon here and this week went by pretty quickly.  After recovering from skim boarding down in Coolangatta, classes began again and life seemed to speed up again.  I had to give a 5o minute presentation on the movie GINGER SNAPS by John Fawcett.  It was a tough movie to present on because it was a mirror or a girl going through menstruation.  Funny that two guys were assigned this movie huh?  I presented with a guy from Walpole!  I traveled half way around the world to meet a kid who lives 15 minutes away.  Small world yet again!

Wednesday Res Wars fired up and this week was the postponed Trivia night.  B-Block wasn't looked at as a favorite this night, but we brought a pretty good game to the table.  We won three of the nine rounds but finally ended our winning streak losing by only 1 1/2 points.  

Yesterday I only had one class so I decided to go look for an external hard drive in Surfers.  I had no luck!  There aren't any stores like Best Buy or anything here and the closest Apple store is only 13 hours away.  Great!

After waking up and having four hours of class this morning, I took a "nap" which was more like a second sleep, and here I am now.  Tonight we have a meeting for our trip to Byron Bay. Byron is about two hours south of here driving and we are leaving late-night, early morning. The weekend looks to be pretty fun with some surfing, skim boarding hopefully, good food, great friends, and maybe a little something extreme.  

Well it's off to dinner, a meeting, and then early to bed tonight. 

Goodnight from Paradise!

Day of firsts...

Today was the first sunny day in three days, and I was able to take advantage of it.  Christian, Jorge, Ford, and I rented a car and headed to Coolangatta for a day away from campus.  I was the one driving, and it was a bit strange driving on the opposite side of the road, but we made it there and back safely, with only a few dodgy moments.  We brought our skim boards and had a blast.  Coolangatta is due south of Robina about 30 minutes, but the drive didn't seem that long.  The beach was amazing, and the water for boarding was fantastic.  We met up with a few of our girl friends randomly on the beach, and just chilled out.  

After about two hours of boarding, we had a search for food.  From what we have heard, Coolangatta has a wide variety of foods to try, and we did just that.  We went to a place called Outback Jacks and indulged in some crocodile and kangaroo.  Crocodile looked similar to chicken, and kangaroo looked basically like steak.  They were both pretty tough and had strange tastes, but now I can say I have eaten both.  I hope to have kangaroo again, but I will pass on the croc.

It's now about 7 p.m. and I am exhausted from the day in the sun, but also from a crazy night Saturday.  Goodnight from Paradise!

Happy birthday

Hello from down under!  It is a lazy, rainy Friday afternoon and I'm just lounging around my apartment.  I just want to say Happy Birthday to my MOM!  I'm not exactly sure if it is the 13th back home or not quite yet, but happy birthday none-the-less.  I would drop her age right about now, but that is no way to garner any more financial flexibility down here (and I'm not exactly sure either).  My mother is one of the main reasons I am who I am today (if yo like it or not), so she deserves a lot of praise for putting up with me for this many years.  She is one of the strongest, most genuine people in the world, and I have been blessed to have her presence in my life. Happy birthday again Mom!

Love,

Me

Brushfires...

Thank you for all the concerns through email and facebook about my safety regarding the brushfires that have consumed about 3,000 square km of land in Victoria.  I am in no harm where I am currently located, about 20 hours north, but many of the students on campus have been personally affected by the deadly blazes.  The news has reported that 180 people have been confirmed dead, with more to be named, by a fire now believed to have been set by an arsonist. The fire is the most deadly brushfire in the history of Australia.  I have heard that the school is going to send some folks down to Victoria for the cleanup effort, and I will most likely go to help if I get a chance.  I will keep you posted with the aftermath of this sad story...

Sunday...

Today, Jorge and I took a small trip to Burleigh Heads Beach.  It was about a 45 minute bus ride, but it was worth every minute of the ride.  The beach was amazing, and the water was warm and calm in the swimming section, but amazing for surfers in their designated area.  We only had a few hours there, but we enjoyed the sun, and actually bought cheap skim boards for future adventures.  Skim boards are kind of like boogey boards, but they are not used primarily on waves, but on the wash out once the wave dies.  You basically "skim" across the shallow water similar to surfing hence the name skim board.  

After we left, Jorge, James, and I went rowing with the rowing club on campus.  We rowed for about 2 hours.  It was my first time rowing, and I found it incredibly hard to pick up.  I still haven't actually.  Once back on land, we ate dinner, and now I am here.  It was a long day, full of sun, sand, and rowing, but it was a great day.  Now it is off to bed to prepare for yet another week in paradise.  Goodnight!

a crazy week...

First off, sorry I haven't posted in almost a week.  Things have been crazy!  It is still bright, sunny, and beautiful here so don't panic!

The week started off with classes and homework.  There are always reminders of the real reason I am living in paradise.  The classes are actually pretty interesting and quite demanding.

Wednesday found the next episode in Res Wars... Ultimate Frisbee!  For this installment of the war, we were brought to the rugby fields and quickly segregated ourselves into our teams, trying hard to not interact with the other sides as a show of, for a lack of better terminology, being poor sports.  We had to break up the team into two groups which wasn't too bad because our team destroys anyway.  To start the night, only 10 people (six guys) could be on the field at once, and since the girls from our team decided to not show up until later in the night, both groups played down at least 3 players to begin.  Despite the lack of players, my team dominated our bracket (going undefeated), and landed in the championship game.  Before the game however, the best player of the night was named, and once again, the best player on the best team didn't win the award.  Not to sound cocky or like a bad sport (my friend actually won so I was okay I didn't win), the consensus from every team was that I should have won, but the referees decided Lee was the best so they gave it to him.  Oh well.  My team ended up winning the championship game for the second week in a row so all was forgotten.  Next week is trivia, so the competitive juices won't be flowing as high.

On Thursday, there was a party on campus called Palaver.  We started at the bar on campus, and the theme of the night was Las Vegas.  There were table games all over the bar, and the atmosphere was great.  The night then went to Surfers Paradise and the craziness continued.  It was fun, but that scene is starting to wear on me.

Friday was a dull day.  I had a 4 hours class, and then I basically slept the rest of the day.  It was nice to just relax and not have anything to worry about.  I did manage to drag myself to the pool for a few hours to swim and sun with my friends.  Again, it is a tough life.

Saturday came quickly because I was sleeping for most of it.  I had a soccer game against the United Nations team.  They are supposedly one of the better teams in the school, as it seems most teams are dubbed that, but we beat them pretty soundly.  The 2-1 score was not indicative of the way we dominated the game.  About 30 minutes after I got back to my room, a group of us headed into Brisbane for our friend Scott's birthday celebration.  We jumped on a bus, and then a train to get into the city.  When we arrived, we actually only saw the birthday boy for about an hour because we were wandering around the city getting lost.  We finally met up with some other friends and had some dinner.  After some more wandering, we decided it was time to leave so we just caught a train and headed back to campus.

beauty

Walking home from dinner tonight I saw such a beautiful sunset!  The way the light was reflecting made the boardwalk heading to my building and everything surrounding it a beautiful tint of red. It looked like something out of a movie and I was the star.  Even though I have been here for about 4 weeks now, I still have moments like this that make me step back and remember where and how lucky I am.  I wish all of you could be here!

Futbol...

Today I had my first real taste of soccer in Australia!  It was a lot of fun!  The way the school breaks up the teams is by home country, so I thought I would be representing Team USA, but once I got to the field, that wasn't so.  

I know soccer hasn't boomed in the US like it has in practically every other country in the world, but there were only 3 Americans who signed up for the team.  Hmmm.  How can the most popular sport in the USA for kids under age 16 only have 3 representatives in a school of about 4,o00?  Anyway, the three of us joined the MIBS team.  I wish I could remember which countries make up MIBS, but we can now add an "A" somewhere in there.  (Malaysia and Indonesia are the "M" and "I")

Today was a big step literally for me because it marked the first time I was playing in a soccer game since my ankle injury that ended my college career.  I was very hesitant at points which frustrated me, but I eventually started playing my game.  I am the first to admit I'm not a great player, but I did score our first goal on a header from a corner kick.  We found ourselves playing Team Latino who apparently are the best side in the school, and pretty much got dominated from the opening whistle.  Down 1-0 at half, we evened things up just a few minutes into the second, and actually took the lead 5 minutes later.  After our go-ahead goal, the Latinos seemed to kick things into gear but couldn't score for a while.  They finally broke back and took the lead for good with about 15 minutes left.  We had some good opportunities in the final 5 minutes, but couldn't get the job done.  All in all it was a fun day, and important for me to get back on the field.

Right now the ankle feels a bit shaky and weak, but tomorrow will be the big test as to how it is going to react for the rest of the semester.

Tomorrow morning I will be waking up early (I don't have any classes) to watch the super bowl on Monday.  It is very interesting to have basically zero coverage of the "biggest game of the year".  If the Patriots were in the game I would be going insane, but since they are not, it's not as big of a deal.  A few of us are heading to a local bar to check out the game and maybe enjoy some breakfast.  I'm going to go with the Cardinals because I really don't like the Steelers, but I think the Steelers will win.  I am going to miss the traditional buffalo wings my dad makes and the endless array of snacks my mom prepares every year, hanging with the foursome, and having "Super Sunday", but I guess I can deal with not being home for a year.

Goodnight from Paradise!

Food for thought

I heard last night another great thought about Bond University.  I was talking with a few Australians who are in their 5th semester, and they said Bond is the Harvard of Australia.  Not bad for a school that is named after a convict.

Dodgeball

Since my last post, some cool things have happened.  After the gym on Wednesday, Jorge and I were going to watch some of our friends play dodgeball for Res Wars, but the night ended with me holding the trophy on the championship team.  Res Wars is a competition between the residence halls on campus with the winner, over the course of the semester, taking home $1000 to put into their building.  Since I do not live on campus, I thought I wasn't going to be able to participate, but after getting to the gym to watch, I decided to ask if I could play.  They said yes, and the rest was history.  I decided to join the B-Block Bandits team with Jorge and James, instead of the AC Red Devils with everybody I know.  It turned out that the decision was a good one because our team dominated.  

Playing made me remember my time in Philly when my housemate Tim decided he wanted to play dodgeball with the guests of the Inn, and then proceeded to ask for money outside train stations downtown with a cut off animal crackers tub. We eventually made enough money to purchase dodgeballs and had hellacious games in our house.  We never played with the guests, but it did bring some entertainment to the house.

According to James, an email was sent out to the participants and I was named Players Player (Australian name for MVP) for the night.  I got into a crazy zone and my team was awesome so things worked out.  Next up is ultimate frisbee.

Thursday found some more classes and a quick trip into Robina Towne Centre for some supplies.  Later in the night the guys got together to watch a movie because the ladies went out to the clubs.

Last night however was a bit crazier.  After having class and catching some sun by the pool, Jorge, Jim and I attended the White House Party on campus.  We all got dressed up pretty fancy and then went into the white tent on the green.  After paying a small fee, we got free drinks (champagne, wine, beer etc.) and food (finger foods and a white chocolate fountain station).  After 11, a bus departed for Surfers Paradise to a club.  We had a good time, but left early because we were all tired.

It's about time for laying by the pool and being a slug for the rest of the day.  Wish you were all here enjoying the weather and culture!

Some more of the wet stuff...

Australia Day has come and gone with more partying and drink to go around.  Not too many Australians are exactly sure what Australia Day actually is, but from what I have gathered, it is the day Australia was declared by the English.  There is a tough history of near genocide of the Aborigines, but that's a different story.  

A group of us headed to Surfers for a potential fireworks show on the beach which would have been spectacular, but rain and the possible miss-read of information left us without exploding chemicals, but soaking wet.  We found some refuge under a McDonald's, and then headed into an Irish pub for a drink to celebrate.

It is morning here and it is raining in some degree of intensity for the third day in a row.  The rain here seems to be a stead mist when it does come, and then intensify without notice to a complete downpour.  Of course as I write this at breakfast the sun is beaming out of the clouds and should make for a beautiful day.  Rain here, although it takes away from our beach time and other outdoor nonsense, is great for the area.  I was told that Australia has been in drought for almost SEVEN years now.  That is why all of the toilets have full/half flush options, as well as signs everywhere reminding you to take only 4 minute showers.

Today is my long day of classes.  I start with Australian Sport in the Modern Era from 10-12, followed by lunch and the gym, then to five hours of my film class.  Should be fun.  Not!

One of the last posts I threw out a name of an artist that I currently appreciate.  I did however neglect to give credit to Jason "Big Red" Plotkin for introducing him to my audio life.  Thanks Big Red!

Well breaky is served and its time to chow and get to class.  Talk with you soon!

Obamania

Last night a few of us finally watched the Obama inauguration speech and were floored by the seas of people who showed up at the mall in D.C.  It was sucha beautiful sight to see so many Americans coming together for such a historic event in our lives.  I was unfortunately unable to watch it live due to the lack of a t.v. coupled that it aired at 3 am local time.  Other than Chief Justice John Roberts screwing up probably the most important segment of the ceremony, it was a fascinating view.

If you thought coverage of the election and inauguration was extensive in the U.S., you would be floored by the amount of media attention it has received down under.  Many nations obviously are interested in what is going on in the U.S., but it seems to me that Australia has a very keen eye on what is happening state-side.  I have been very proud walking around campus as an Obama supporter, and have received much praise from people of other nations for finally getting our election "right".  I am not in to politics as much as I should be, but it is nice not having to defend G.B. 2 any more.

On a lighter note for those who like music, give Chris Nathan a peek.  He's got some good stuff out right now.  "Happy" and "I wouldn't change a thing" are my favorites, but let me know what you think.

Goodnight!

Rainy night in Gold Coast

For the first time I can remember it is raining here in Gold Coast.  Apparently it rained a few nights ago, but I was in class.  Today however was yet another great day.  I didn't have any classes which is always nice due to the lack of tutorials during week 1, so I was able to sleep in a bit after a skype session back to the states.  (If anybody has a skype name and would like to chat feel free to email it to me and we can make it happen.)  Once I finally decided to stop being a slug, I went to lunch with Jorge, Alisha, Haley, Joe, Carey, Tyler, Steph, Christian and Scott. Not that you know who any of these people are, but oh well.  Once lunch was over, a few of us headed in to Pacific Fair to do some shopping.  I bought a bathing suit and some food, and then was ready to get out of the shopping center.  Once back on campus, a few of us went to try and solidify a trip. We are pretty settled on a 5 day boat trip that will take us to the outer reef, and to a few islands to relax and snorkel on.  The package allows us to stay on a huge boat each night and have at least one dive to check out the reef.

After a quick nap, dinner was on tap.  For some reason, every night around dinner I am extremely hungry.  It might be due to walking around EVERYWHERE in mid-80's temperatures, or my insatiable appetite.  

Now I am just relaxing in my apartment getting ready for a big day tomorrow.  I have two classes beginning at 9 am, and then we have club sign up day.  Apparently from what I have heard, clubs are a big deal around campus because most schools in Australia do not have any varsity sports so clubs are the next best thing.  As of now, I am planning on signing up for the scuba, surfing, soccer, and cricket clubs.  Hopefully my schedule will allow me to participate in each club.

After the club sign-ups, there is a pub crawl all around the area that begins at 3 pm!!!  That's right, 3 PM.  I however am in the group that leave school at 4:15.  Big difference huh?  The pub crawl is a big deal here.  The school sells about 900 shirts as tickets at $25 a pop.  Not a bad money making scheme when they sell out every year.  Bye for now!

a little more

We can add to the list of locations my friends are from:

Texas, California,Sweden, Finland, China, and Figi

Hang ten...

I want to start by thanking all of you for reading this blog!  From the emails I have received, it seems like a lot more of you than I ever imagined are reading these quips of nonsense from my time down under.  Thanks again, and keep sending the emails telling me of the cold and toilets that flush the "right" way.

Today I had my first experience with surfing.  It was such a beautiful feeling trying to tame the Pacific Ocean.  It was a balmy 85 degrees here and a perfect day to try out the long board.  A few of us went with the intention of taking a lesson, but once we got to the beach (after class by the way), the last lesson of the day had already begun.  Instead of waiting for a lesson some other day, we just rented boards for the day for $20 AUD or around $13 American.  Only one of the group had ever had a lesson, so we learned some basics from him, and then jumped into the water.  A side note, the ocean water here is 24 Celsius or about 75 degrees.  It took a while to get used to the board and how the waves would hit us, but after about 10 times, I was up and finally surfing in Australia!  The only tough part about surfing is walking the board back into the waves to catch another.

School has finally begun for me after the false start on Monday.  My classes seem great so far, and it will be a great learning experience.  I have heard form many people around town and at the beach that claim Bond is the best university in Australia overall.  This includes University of Sydney! (all of you Philly people, if you could relay this info to Fr. Bill it would be much appreciated.)  All of the classes here have a lecture hour or two, and then a tutorial session that meets one hour a week for more direct work with the professors.  All of my lectures have no more than 16 students, with the tutorials having no more than 9.  This is such a great way to learn.

Off to dinner now.  Good night from the Gold Coast!

food

So the food here is fantastic.  Well at least I think so coming from the Dinning Common back at school.  The meat here is actually, you know, meat, and the sides are fresh.  I am still getting used to the hours and trying to figure out the good deals around campus, but a breakfast(breaky) for $6.70 American dollars that includes texas toast, two eggs, two hash browns, two sausages, a grilled tomato, and a pile (literally a pile) of bacon, is good for me.  Once again, Australia has overtaken the U.S. on the fat scale.

Missed conncection

Today was the first day of classes at the University, and I thought it would be the first day for me as well.  My schedule said that I had a class today at 10 AM, but when I got there, there were three people standing outside of a locked room.  We later found out that our class was moved to FRIDAY!!! because there were only 11 people enrolled, and to have two sections of the class, more than 15 would have to be enrolled.  So it kind of stunk to wake up early with the anticipation of the first day, and then to have somebody tell you to go home.  I mean going back to relax one more day was nice, but now I have two classes on Friday, instead of none.  Oh well.

Yesterday  was a great day.  I went to Dreamworld, which is a theme park, with Alisha and Haley.  We had a great time riding some roller-coasters,  getting drenched in the water park, petting kangaroos, and holding koala bears.  The koala bears were cool to be so close to.  They are not as soft as one would think, and their claws are extremely sharp.  Because it was a bit overcast, the lines for rides were at max. 20 minutes, but it was a chilly 70 degrees.  We got to see the feeding of a 20 foot alligator, and pet a baby tiger.  All in all it was a fun day (other than freezing in again the 70 degree weather).  

I also tried vegemite the other day.  It is an Australian yeast based spread for crackers and bread.  I will just say that I tried it and will never have it again.  I'm getting sick just thinking about it again.

Well it is off to lunch and then the gym, then who knows.  The spontaneity of people down here is fantastic.  I will leave you with some Australian slang terms that I find interesting/funny:

Fairy floss = cotton candy

head = let's go

how you going? = how are you

dodgy = uneasy/sketchy

Still Alive

Just to clarify things, I am not dead, or have I been eaten by a shark or anything, so for those who e-mailed me, thanks for the concerns.  

The past few days have been hectic.  There have been multiple barbecues, parties at the pool, a movie under the stars, all night parties, and a few days lounging on the beach to occupy my time. Life here is obviously tough.  The life here seems like a vacation/spring break wrapped into 5 days.  Things should be different once classes start on Monday.

As of right now, it is the coldest it has been since I have arrived at a chilling 77 degrees at 3 PM. Today was supposed to be the official Bond beach day, but rain and clouds put a damper on those plans.  I was going to take a surfing lesson with some friends, but the waves and wind were too strong for beginners.  Instead, we went to Pacific Fair just to walk around and get some groceries.  

The other day I ran into a snag with my credit card.  For about a day I was without money other than $2.40 which was just enough for a bus transfer back to school.  This happened even though the credit card company was notified I would be overseas, but they blocked my card anyway.

Time to grab some food and stay low key for the rest of the night.  It has been nice to relax finally and just chill for a bit.  Once classes start the party will be over for a bit.

Aftermath

So the party last night was great.  There were hundreds of students at the Tavern for the Aussie Party, and then basically everyone went into Surfers Paradise for a Bond exclusive party.  The club was packed, but we made some good friends and had a good time.  

Today everybody woke up late because we got back late last night.  The buses returning to Bond didn't even start showing up to the bar until 3 AM.  I found out today that all bars in the Gold Coast close at 5.  Yikes.

Once everybody was alive and kicking, we headed to the beach.  I have found a great group of friends that is about 20 people deep coming from Mexico, Brazil, Senegal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Germany, Australia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, Illinois, and Rhode Island.  It is really cool to have such a diverse group of friends for the first time in my life.  Everybody is so open and carefree.  It's refreshing to see a lack of biases in people.

Time to go out with the group again.  Tomorrow all of the study abroad students have a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of the University, a BBQ by the pool on campus, and then a hypnotist show later at night.  It is still weird to think that I am actually in Australia, but it is starting to become more of a reality.  Goodnight.

Bond Week

Hello from Australia!  It is now about 5 PM and I just woke up form a little nap.  This morning was a little crazy trying to get my new student I.D., pay for the activities throughout Bond Week (orientation week), and then setting up my school email address.  It is matthew.johnson@student.bond.edu.au, but I will be using my gmail account still.

So I woke up this morning at around 7 and couldn't fall back asleep.  I had to meet Christian and Alex at around 9 to head to campus and we thought we would go over, get our stuff done, and get out.  This did not happen.  A line about 800 new students deep greeted us when we turned into the main circle.  After waiting about 15 minutes in 80 degree heat, we were told that if we had already singed up for classes, we could skip the line and go directly to the I.D. line which was much shorter.  After a few more lines, I finally got my I.D. and then set up my internet account.

In the lines, I met some more people.  Most of them were from the U.S., Boston surprisingly enough, and Jorge from Mexico City.  We then moved on to sign up for a gym membership, school information, buy a mobile phone, and then sign up for the Bond Week festivities.  

After all of the lines, we stopped by one of the dining facilities on campus for some lunch.  I passed over the kangaroo sandwich for maybe the last time for a turkey club.  It was good and had two fried eggs included on the sandwich.  

Now it is time to get ready for the first official Bond Week activity, Aussie Party.  This will consist of a BBQ, party at Don's Tavern on campus, and then a trip, beginning at 12 AM, to The Platinum, a bar in Surfers Paradise.  This should be a fun night and a good chance to meet even more people.  Whelp, see you later.

Goodnight

So I met two great people today and they are both from Norway funny enough.  Not that I have anything against Norway in any shape or form, but it's just strange that the first two people I become friends with are from the same, small, Scandinavian country.  Their names are Christian and Alex (I got permission to use their real names) and both are in their first semester here at Bond.  Both guys live in my apartment building and Alex is actually a journalism student as well. We got to talking in the lobby earlier this morning, and just got back from enjoying a Pizza Hut dinner (not quite ready for the Australian cuisine just yet).

Christian is the equivalent to a Junior and has studied in Oslo, London, and now Australia.  Alex just got out of his first year or mandatory service in the Norwegian army.

Dinner and company was nice, but we all are exhausted from our respective travels so early to bed tonight.  Tomorrow marks the first official day at Bond with the beginning of Bond Week where I will receive my student I.D. and start living the college lifestyle again.   

Goodnight!

Food

It is around 10 PM right now and food is the topic.  After the last post, I actually did something that I set out to do and got a bite to eat.  Life is tough.  

I found out on the plane from a nurse that Australia has bumped our beloved USA as the "fattest" country in the world.  I can honestly say I do not see it in the people here.  Maybe it is us fat Americans that come to visit that skew the numbers, but Australians, at least the ones I have seen, granted on the beach, are really in shape.  I can see how this could happen though.  I found a corner restaurant that served hamburgers and fish and chips etc.  I decided to stay pseudo American and ordered what I thought to be a chicken parm sandwich (actually called a chicken parmy) but ended up to be a plater.  I was fine with that until I saw what was exactly on the plate. What came out was a salad (healthy), 4 cucumber slices with dressing (kind of healthy), a deep fried chicken breast with homemade marinara sauce (delicious but kind of unhealthy), but instead of noodles of some size and shape, there was a bed of french fries (extremely unhealthy).

I know all of you Atkins Diet people who think starches are horrible and carbohydrates are the devil would prefer neither pasta or fries, but common fries?  And I am not talking skinny little guys you get from McDonald's that aren't even potato.  These were hard-core fatty steak fries. I'm not going to lie, I ate about 68% of them, but I figured I could because A. I am a competitive American with some pride (second place just won't work), B. it's all about culture, and C. they looked delicious.  So all in all it was great, and I tried to bring America back to the top.

Congrats USA!

small adventure

This blog comes directly from a place called Surfers Paradise.  As I write this, I am overlooking one of the most popular areas for surfers and a great day at the beach.  I am sorry to relay to you that this location, which is every bit as beautiful as its name indicates, is only a 10-minute bus ride from my apartment.

Today, however, I did not take the bus.  My intention was to ride to Broadbeach to do a little food shopping (which still might happen), but once I saw the beach, I decided a stroll would be nice after sitting for almost two days prior.  My stroll quickly became a "walk" when i found myself walking for about an hour.

Maybe some food is in order?  Yeah that sounds good.

This is a portion of the view from the balcony of my apartment of Bond University

Picture

If you were wondering, the big picture is from the airplane at sunrise over the Pacific ocean approximately 4:30 AM!!

Looking around

After not unpacking but setting up my internet connection, I went for a walk/bus ride to get some essentials.  The bus fare is $3 AUD roundtrip and brought me to Robina Towne Centre which is only about 5 minutes away.  I found my way into a K-Mart for soap, shampoo, etc. and then to get a small blanket because my air conditioning is pretty strong (sorry northeast people).  

Once I got back I decided it was time to unpack.  I have a pretty big closet and a dresser made out of wires, if you can imagine that, and enough space for everything I have.

I am staying at a place called Varsity Towers in Robina, Queensland, and have a great apartment. It is a studio on the third floor of the building with a balcony overlooking Lake Orr and the Bond University Campus at sunset.  

It is weird to not have a car for the first time since 2003 so getting around is all on foot or the previously mentioned bus.  I found myself getting hungry, rightfully so because I had not eaten for about 9 hours, so I decided to go find some.  I ended up taking a 5 minute walk to a local pizza place across from my apartment complex. 

After eating, I decided 9 PM local time was a good time to finally sleep.

Day 1 in the books.  

Getting lost in town tomorrow is on the docket.  Should be fun.  

Leaving the U.S.

Well I am finally here in Australia!  The trip was long (22 hours in planes + 6 hours in airports), but so worth it already.  I left from Boston Logan International en route to San Francisco.  After the 6 hour trip, I only had 45 minutes before my 13 1/2 hour flight to Sydney took off.  

Once off the plane in San Francisco, Guicci and Prada stores (or however you spell them) where everywhere.  Such a different culture out there.  The airport however was extremely easy to walk through and get around.

The flight to Australia was long!  It was every bit as long as one could imagine.  Luckily though, the seat next to me was vacant, and the woman sitting on the aisle was friendly and personable. 

On the flight I watched parts of four movies.  Can I remember any of the titles other than The Dutchess, no, but they were all entertaining enough that my non-diagnosed ADD didn't kick in. 

We were served two meals and a turkey and cheese sandwich which were all surprisingly very good. 

Once in Sydney, the real confusion set in.  After going through customs, retrieving my bags was a hassle, and then trying to find the unmarked hallway to the domestic transfers terminal made me a little uncomfortable. I had to walk about 1 1/2 miles around the airport to get to yet another line for my next boarding pass to Brisbane.  My itinerary said I had 2 hours before my next flight left so I thought I had some time to relax, but with the lines and wait for the shuttle transport to the Quantas terminal, I was actually late for boarding my next flight.

The drama didn't end upon arrival in Brisbane.  The transport from the airport to my apartment broke down at the airport so about 8 others and myself had to wait for a new bus to arrive.  I finally stepped into my apartment at 3 PM local time on January 10 (about 12 AM EST) after leaving my house in Canton at 3 PM EST January 8.

That's it for now.  Off to unpack.