Train Fight after the Newcastle Jets win the Championship

Crazy Fight I witnessed after a Soccer game.

The First Trip to Sydney

I spent this weekend in Sydney, catching a ride with an Australian girl early Friday morning. We we’re on the road by 9:00am, with the bright idea that we’d see Bondi Beach, the most famous beach in Australia, by around noon. Unfortunately transportation around the city of Sydney is harder than we expected, almost impossible. We we’re staying with our friend Samantha from High School, and her University is located in a weird spot which allows no easy entry into the city. Nevertheless, Bondi Beach was awesome, and they even film “Bondi Rescue”, an Australian Reality show about the life of lifeguards there. We continued on to Chinatown, which trust me, even the Asian population has an Asian Population, they’re everywhere. The city is beautiful, the best I’ve ever seen. It has a little over a million more people than Chicago, but is so stretched out. It makes it very difficult to get anywhere. Luckily, at the end of our journey, we we’re rewarded with a $7 delicious steak and beer.

We headed back to Maquarie University equipped with the usual, a bottle of Chardonnay, and got ready for the night. After we we’re ready, I was warned that I had to have a collared shirt to get into most of the bars. One of Sam’s roommates let me in the apartment, I changed quickly, and when I got outside the bus had pulled up and I needed to run to get it. I made it luckily and turned around to see that none of my friends had made the bus. So now, I was alone and lost, in Sydney. Fortunately, like almost every element of my trip thus far, everyone is extremely friendly and I ended up going out with the kids on the bus. We went to Darling Harbour which is a hot spot in Sydney, right on harbour which during the day is beautiful and at night is full of clubs. I ran into my friends from school, which worked out well, but since I was staying with Phil and Sam I needed to find them. I knew they we're in an area called King's Cross, so I made my journey to that destination.

What I found at King's Cross, was something I had never really seen in the flesh. A full out Red Light District filled brothels and prostitutes. When I was looking for my friends, I asked a woman for directions on the street. Luckily right then my friends spotted me, and pointed out that I had just asked a hooker for directions. I didn't even think that was legal in Australia, but now I know it is. The notorious symbol for the start of King's Cross is a giant Coca-Cola sign.

The next day, Saturday, we made our way to "Manly Beach," another famous Sydney beach. It is in a small section of Sydney called Manly, and it is a small town on the water filled with bakeries, cute shops, restaurants and bars. The kind of place I know my Mom would love. Unfortunately, once again our transportation took us two hours to get to the beach! Not exactly where I wanted to spend my weekend, on the bus. As usual we did it with good attitudes because there was no way to change it. At night we wanted to go to a Brazilian festival called Carnaval, but we knew it was not feasible since it would have taken forever to get there and back.

We woke up Sunday morning beat. Phil, Brad and I, had not stopped moving besides the occasional nap on public transportation, but we had already purchased tickets to the Australian National Championship of Soccer that night. Brad bailed on us and headed back to Newcastle, but Phil and I decided that since we had already spent the money, and it would probably be the only soccer game we attend in our lives, we mine as well go. This was a great decision. The game ended up being an awesome time, definitely the highlight of our weekend. We cheered on our "hometown" Newcastle Jets who won the national championship! The group we we're with also consisted with some friends from Iowa, and we snagged great seats. I even was able to get a few free beers and some mud pies from a friendly employee. The Chicago accent works wonders out here. On the way home we witnessed that crazy fight, which I have well documented below. Only in Australia. The weekend was great, and Sydney is an awesome and diverse city. If I had money and a job, I could definitely see myself living there for a few years. But as a student, it is wayyyyyy too expensive. The funny part of these trips is being a full out tourist. It's one thing to go to New York or Los Angeles and not know your way around. However, being in a different continent is a whole new ball game.

Quick Post before a Big Weekend

I just wanted to get in a quick post, because I'm going to be in Sydney all weekend, which I'm sure will be filled with stories. The weeks been going well, and I just find myself very tired today. We've been partying most of the week, with some more welcome events on campus, and my friend Phil's 21st birthday. All my roomates are here, and they are all great. We have Emma from Rochester, NY, CK from South Korea, Val from Mauritius (an island off the cost of Madagascar and Africa), and Corrinne from Malaysia. Quite the lineup, but I do live in International House so its expected. They have all been wonderful and I think I'm really going to enjoy living with them.

We had the start of classes on Monday, and although I am studying abroad, I have a rather hard schedule in order to still graduate on time. Fortunately, everything is pass/fail, so I simply need to pass, and it will have no affect on my GPA. My Introduction to Aboriginal Studies class is definitely the most interesting and my teacher seems like a cool, large aboriginal.

We went out for Phil's 21st celebration, which ended up being a 3 day festivity. I had converted $150 into Australia money on Monday, and I returned today (Thursday), to get more. The teller said, you spend all that money already? Well yes, unfortunately I did. Now I'm off to Sydney for the weekend, which will be another spend-fest.

The country of Australia lacks one major attribute that fills the souls of all Americans, a thirst for money. There is no element of money-hungriness to these people. The minimum wage is extremely high, and goes up with how old you are. So most 21-year-olds make around $20 per hour. With no regard for education, this number is based simply on age. For the most part, this means that everyone is fairly equal, and people are content, they don't even think about it. Of course, this negatively inflates their dollar, makes construction prices extremely high (no cheap labor), and basically kills any chance of getting good service. They also, don't tip bartenders/waiters or anyone in such a service industry. This means that the quality of service is poor. Plus, money gets you nowhere. The other night, we we're the only group in the bar, and spending a lot of money, so you think the service would be impeccable. But no, they would rather have us leave the bar so they can go home, than to make more money. A big difference and sort of the main issue I'm struggling to adapt to. The moral of the story: I need a job.

A quick story about Phil: an example of true Australian culture. So Phil wakes up to find that his cell phone, which he has only had for a few days, is now in all Chinese. He walks over to the store where he bought it, to ask an employee for help. When he gets there, the employee is astonished by the fact that the phone is in Chinese, and tells him he has no idea how to help. Phil looks at him puzzled, and replies, but you sold me the phone, you're a technician, if you can't help what am I suppose to do? The employee replies, well of course, just find a Chinese person to translate it for you. Mind you, this was an employee making probably around $25 an hour. So here is Phil, the hungover American walking the streets of Australia, looking for someone who speaks Chinese. After two Koreans, and a Japanese person was unable to help, he found a Chinaman to fix it. Only in Australia.

How you doing + How's it going = How you Going (in Australian)

A quick note about my title: We've discovered that actually we do not both speak English, us and the Australians. We speak American and they speak Australian. They call Sprite- lemonade, and they call french fries- hot chips. They say, how you going? Most of the time I can't understand them, and vice versa. But, somehow we all love each other anyway.

Where to begin... Our orientation week which is intended for International and first year students has been going on all week. We finished last night (Friday) with a "Mystery Dinner." We basically got on a bus and had no idea where we we're going or what we we're going to do. Everyone dressed nice, and we met in the courtyard of our dorm. (The picture to my left is myself and my RA. They are really cool here, not like in the States.) Of course, the random Australians had their guesses about where we we're going, but know one knew what we we're in store for. After an hour drive we arrived at Nelson Bay. It was out of control beautiful. The weather was perfect, and we went on a sunset cruise with a seafood buffet. It was one of the best things I have ever done. We all posed for some pictures on the water, and then loaded up the cruise liner.

The boat was slow and stable, so we barely even knew we were on the water, unless you went to the way top. I bought myself a bottle of wine since I didn't have to pay for anything anyway. We watched the sunset from the exposed top of the boat, which was amazing! My pictures are beautiful. However my memory stick is broken so the quality isn't great, that's what you get for buying it from a discount Japanese wholesaler on the internet for half its value.

The seafood was delicous, all fresh, and we we're told it was some of the best in the area. I had prongs and calamari and other items I didn't even know what they we're, but ate them anyway. I ate dinner with someone from Hong Kong, Swedan, Australia, South Korea, and Signapore. It's not very often you can do that, while eating seafood on a cruise in Australia. Let's just say, I'm having a great time here.

The boat had a woman and man playing live music, and somehow members of the group got word that I was a singer and relayed it to the musicians. She made an announcement and made me promise I would get on stage. After the bartender offered me a free drink, I agreed (since the beer was like $6 each). I went out back during their smoke break and chatted with the two Australian performers. I have talked to an unbelievable amount of people from all over the world down here, all doing random things with their lives. I went on stage and performed Drops of Jupiter, which the crowd knew better than me, but with some help from the guitarist and the crowd, it ended up being a fun time. Everyone enjoyed it. We ended the night on the boat with more dancing and music, everyone had a blast. How could you not? A awesome cruise at sunset in Australia.

I tried to get in early that night, because I know I had a big day on Saturday ahead of me. I woke up around 7:30am and jumped on a bus a few hours to The Australian Reptile Park. A bus picked up all the international students who wanted to visit either the Reptile Park or go on a dolphin cruise. It worked out well for me since the dolphin cruise was the same ship, and port, that the sunset cruise had used the night before. I didn't know what to expect from the Reptile Park, which made it more interesting. When I arrived I found that it was more than I had originally bargained for. Immediately as we entered the park I was able to see and touch a koala bear (and check that off the list). Then I got to run and pet kangaroos which was a major one on my list of things to do. Then of course I saw some dingos, some crazy snakes and spiders, and ended it with a crazy Steve Irwin look-a-like feeding Elvis, the 15 foot crocodile. After a long ride back I took a little nap and had a few drinks at night. Chris, a friend from Ohio, my roommate Emma, a few Australian girls, and myself all headed to the train station. After a 15 minute walk we arrived to find no train at the appropriate time. We decided to walk back instead of wait the hour, and return after about 45 minutes. Lets just say, it was a lot of walking. But somehow again, no train. We we're extremely disappointed we we're unable to get downtown, especially when we arrived back and we we're told the train was out of commission until Tuesday. Only in Australia.

Sunday came and went relatively slowly and uneventful. When we wake up, it is almost always cloudy, but you head to the beach anyway and cross your fingers that the clouds will break. Plus there is this strange phenomenon where it is almost always better weather on the beach. Our prayers we're answered and it was a lovely day at the beach, with a tremendous view of the city, and besides an infestation of jelly fish, another great afternoon in Newcastle.

Rough Day at the Beach

It's been a few days since I've been able to write, since I haven't stopped moving since I've been here. This experience has already been an amazing won hard to describe to anyone who isn't here. I'm basically in a random place, in a random continent with thousands of random people. The kicker is we're all in the same situation so everyone is friendly, open to meeting people, and very down to earth. From Andreas the German to Aaren the Australian, I have met them all. You know your situation is amazing when you have a two hour conversation about world politics with a white kid from Zimbabwe. As a sit with a Mexican yesterday, we agreed that 50 years ago a Mexican and American wouldn't be sitting together in Australia. This kind of globalization we are all able to experience due to events like this, and modern day technology will drastically change (and I hope improve) our world.

Speaking of technology, the internet in Australia is United States internet circa 1985. I am doing my best to accomplish everything I need to do on the internet but it takes forever. I can't describe the situation I am in. Already it has been some of the most amazing times of my life, and will only get better. Today was a tough day at the office, heading to the beach at noon and chilling there all day with friends.

When I was coming from Sydney to Newcastle, I met some very cool American students in the same boat as me. One girl, from New York, was down here alone and moving into a hostel while she was going to find a place to live. We exchanged information and tried to get a hold of each other, which proves impossible down here. A day or so later we saw each other while she was getting on the bus, and me getting off, so again no real contact. Low and behold after days of struggling to find a place to live, the University (which EVERYONE calls the Uni here), contacts her that they have a place to live. Of course, she ends up moving across the hall for me. Crazy how the world tends to work itself out. Today I had no contact with either of my groups of guy friends down here, and somehow we all gravitated towards the same beach. Interesting how I now know the world DID exist before cell phones.

My roommates are great. My Korean one is the man and has been awesome since he cleaned up his stuff! We are our only little family with two Koreans, a girl from an island off the cost of Sri Lanka, a New Yorker and a Chicagoan. The other two girls have not yet moved in, they will sometime this weekend. Our dorm (The International House, obviously) has has numerous events. Trivia night, icebreaker games, "Back to School" themed party and tonite speed dating on Valentine's Day. But my tank is close to empty so I may not be participating. More to come.

Chopsticks and Ocean View

Slow. Everything is very slow down here because no one has any sense of urgency. This is why I still don’t have the internet, and why it takes forever to get around using public transportation. However, this is easy to get used to. I’ve been doing a lot of exploring, and meeting a million people. Everyone has the same mindset, so it’s commonplace to talk to everyone you see and get to know each other. I live in basically a five bedroom apartment but only one person has moved in. A 26-year old South Korean who is more of a ghost since I’ve only met him once. He’s slightly messy so I’m going to have to figure out how you say take your chopsticks out of the sink in Korean.

Drank a bottle of chardonnay last night, made some pasta and took the train downtown. As I was walking to the train I ran into a heard of probably 200 students. They we’re a big group from another dorm, so immediately you start meeting everyone. The dorm had paid for all their train tickets, so luckily I was able to also get a free ride. After the ride into town I split from the group and went to a hostel where my friend from home was staying. He introduced me to all the people he had met at the hostel, and we all went out together. It was a lot of fun, especially with a lot of people I didn’t know, but unfortunately the price of alcohol is just terrible. But, whatever, no worries. I ended up crashing on a loveseat, with my friend Phil on the couch next to me. He is basically homeless because it is impossible to find a place to rent, so all these American students are stuck in town with nowhere to live (and the hostels are filled). The apartment we stayed at had a beautiful ocean view, very nice. The weather finally contained no rain today which is how I’m hoping it will stay. Have an International House barbeque tonight, and from there who knows where the night will take me, always an adventure down under.

No Worries

Well my first batch of photos just got erased off my million dollar camera, thanks a lot. So, unfortunately nothing yet to show form what has been a crazy couple of days, and a day I lost in time. I met some interesting people sitting next to me on the plane. They we’re both young, and simply traveling all over. It’s, I guess, a custom in Australia that before you go to college, you just run around the world and explore. Their average age of a freshman college student is older than in America. We passed over the international date line, thing, and jumped from Wednesday to Friday. No Thursday. I will never exist on February 7^th, 2008. Getting through customs, pain obviously, but somehow I bypassed a three hour line and was able to enter the country. Took the “happy cabbie” from the Sydney airport to the “Uni”, which is what they call the University. “You goin’ to the Uni, mate?” I arrived at the college two hours later, which meant that I had then be traveling for around 30 hours, but thanks to sleep on the plane I was jacked up and ready to go. Of course there is no internet in my room yet, to which the guy in the office simply replied, “Chill out, mate.” I don’t like not having the internet.

Dean and Doug, friends from Iowa, live right through a jungle pathway, which really isn’t a path. But as I was lucky to find on my drunken first night walk home in the rain, does have large lights. I showered and composed myself slightly, and we all took the train to the city of Newcastle, which is about ten minutes away. The city is beautiful, breathtaking. The beach is massive, and there’s a ton of happy people on it. Surfing, laying, barbequing. Everything is very slow and simple out here. In response to any request the standard reply is, “no worries.” Since I’m usually worrying about EVERYTHING, it’s going to take some time to adjust to not being able to worry. We ate at a lovely restaurant, Subway, but since it costs $11 for a foot-long and drink, it really doesn’t matter where you eat, or drink.

The biggest shock comes when you first enter the liquor store. A case of beer costs over $40. Even the Australian beer is $30 for a case. I must have walked around 100 times, until the owner came over, realizing I was a cheap American, and told me to buy the $7 bottle of Chardonnay. Wine is the only thing reasonable in cost. For some reason the system of minimum wage is all screwed up over here, so it goes by age. If you’re a 21 working some shitty job, you get paid like $15 an hour. But then your sub costs $11, but so it just doesn’t really make sense. But hey, “no worries mate.”

We canvassed the town a little, and I took some amazing pictures, which my camera happily decided to erase. But hey, “no worries mate.” I saw Phil, a friend from home, who was in a hostel, and a buddy from school Austin was staying in a hotel downtown. The programs everyone went through gave an option to either stay on campus or off, but they really screwed the people living off campus for not telling them there is a HOUSING SHORTAGE. Those words are something everyone in America wishes we could trade with Australia. So the folks with nowhere to live, and there’s hundreds of them, are just hunting and extremely pissed. But hey, you know what they say in Australia, “no worries mate.”

To LAX and Beyond

Accompanied by a George Clooney movie, Michael Clayton, and a school teacher from Baltimore on her way to New Zealand, I was on the first leg of a long journey that would lead me to a new land. I was alarmed by news late last night, that my flight had been canceled, meaning that I needed to try and get out of O'Hare as soon as possible, and earlier than originally planned. The impending snowstorm could have hurt any chance of making my 10:30pm flight out of LAX on route to Sydney. Luckily, I'm in the air headed to Los Angeles, and one more flight to paradise.

When I decided to do this trip I was in a somewhat different state of mind, with an eagerness for change. I'm the type of person who, even if I can't do something, I act as though I am strong-willed enough and able to take on any task. Even to accomplish it with ease. I do usually take a task on and complete it well, but I can't hide how unbelievable this particular event is going to be . No matter how much I try, there is no doubt that this mission of leaving everything I have known for the last 21 years, and only 21 years of my life, is going to be hard. I will miss home, I will miss my friends, I will miss my girlfriend, I will miss Iowa City, and I will miss Park Ridge. Because, this is all I've ever known. Now it's time to get moving on life, because the years are getting shorter and time is in less of an abundance, and I have sure as hell a lot of work to do if I'm going to end up changing the world. In the words of Outkast, "spaceships, don't come equipped with rearview mirrors."

Men at Work : I Come from a Land Down Under