Travel Blog '09

Yeah Yeah I know.....

2009-10-18T05:13:00.001-07:00

OK I know i haven't updated in a long time, but its still going awesome, and I assure everyone I will write an epic post just as soon as this weeks over cause I have 2 papers due, tuesday and thursday, so I will write about spring break and everything
I think I figured out how to upload photos on this things so I will leave you with what I had to look like the other night when we went out because I lost a bet

To tired to think of a quote

2009-09-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hey so I know its been a few weeks but wouldn't you guys want me out doing things like I've been doing than sitting in my room writing to all you clowns? But yeah I don't even know where to start since I waited so long. I suppose I'll start with last weekend cause this weekend was ri-goddamn-diculous.
So last thursday was another themed party, and that weeks theme was 90's party. And i assure all of you that me and some friends took the the theme very seriously. We bought some cheap jeans, absolutely cut them into shorts, or Jorts if you will. Bought a sweet non fitted hat with flames going down the sides, worn backwards obviously, tube socks, and of course the kicker....a fanny pack. The costume was amazing, photos on the book if you have access. Then at the party they played all 90's jams and that was awesome. Hands down best costumes there.
That friday we kind of laid low cause we were all pretty tired because of the festivities the night before. But that saturday we went to an Australian rules football game (yeah it wasnt rugby like I thought). I htink rugby is alot cooler cause nobody really gets tackled in Australian rules football but it was still really cool. It was Sydney vs. Brisbane and Sydney lost so that was lame. Australian rules football is mad confusing though, alot of bouncing of the ball and kicking and different ways to score. It was cool though, it was a trip offered by the village Im in so like evryone I know here was there so that was cool, and there was a big pre-game at the administration building with food and drinks so that was fun.
Im spacing on what i did the weekend before but im pretty it wasnt to eventful, probably laid back, if i remember I did something cool I'll post it later. I'ev just done so much stuff that I can't remember everything.
The weekend leading up to this weekend was lame because I had 2 papers due one on German immigration (So exciting) and then on sociology, two things I seriously could not care less about. The papers had to be 600 to 700 words, thats like a page, how the hell are you supposed to form an argument in that length? Its impossible ill tell you right now, and to answer your questions yes I am complaining that they would only let us write a page.
Another thing is that this whole trip is going way to fast its pretty ridiculous. I mean im in my 6th week of school already, spring break is in 2 weeks, and im done Nov. 12 (yeah my bday, gonna be a solid night), but yeah way to fast.
Speaking of Spring break, the friday before they have this thing called Conception day which is equivalent to like a spring weekend in the states. I guess its a big festival at the school and that band Wolfmother (had a few hits in the states, like that Woman, idk youtube it) are gonna be playing, and i guess its just a big festival and everyone gets mad early to enjoy morning beverages and its supposidly awesome, so ill keep you guys posted on how that goes.
Unfortunately New Zealand for spring break fell through which sucks, but I think me and some other people are going to be doing a road trip which will be amazing. First were gonna roadtrip up to Byron Bay and maybe rent a house on the beach for a week and then make our way up to the Gold coast for a few days, which is like the Miami of Australia, I guess the beaches are amazng and its just a solid time, and I know a fellow Ridgefielder whos goin to be studyin there so Ill prob see her. Hopefully spring break works out and Ill also keep everyone posted on that.
Hey you guys know how everyone says everyone hates America? well guess what they do. I've never felt more patriotic because almost every class discussion is "How America Raped The World" or "Why I htink America is the equivalent to a regime that would be headed by Hitler and Judas". So you sit there and take it until you just gotta say something, cause atleast university students here think we are all the Anti-christ. I don't know its weird cause if your the only American in a class, like I am in a few, they actually look at you while they say things like that and its just like, yo i didnt do it leave me alone, just let me doodle. Well I guess what im saying is that they do think were all ugly Americans, and youd think this would make me want to change into a better citizen of the world? haha not a goddamn chance, its just easier and im actually not that bad, im not like the Die hard Bush fans who are overweight and hate minorities like all the kids in my class describe us as, haha o well USA #1!
But yeah so this weekend was money. Well thursday was the bring your bling theme party and the bar on campus (everyone on campus goes there on thursdays) and since I was a little burnt out form dressing up since I owned it at the 90's and toga party I just went as myself. We had a pretty good time just kinda chilled, and then went back to the village (The village im in has like a coupl hundred houses like 5 people each, and its like a 5 minute walk from campus so its pretty dope).
Well Fridays are usually a recovery day, but we got sick of that. So I did something a little out of theordinary for me and I went Golfing at a course in Sydney. Now the funny thing about me and Golfing is that I have played in several years and I am god awful. I went with 2 chums Nick (From Longmeadow, HI Grandma and Grandpa) and Gerhard Bronn The Fourth (Jerry, hes from South Africa). Well its a lucky thing they were understanding after I wiffed the first few swings, Nick taught me how to swing and I was doin pretty well by the end. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight, very productive. Also I think the Golf club was one of those ones that still consider Golf to stand for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden, so i don't think they allowed girls, which was funny, but then again I could be wrong. Afterwards we had a beer and listened to Jerry talk about spirituality (this kid is ridiculously entertaining) and how dreams are wormholes into different universes, it was fun. Just kinda hung out on friday night.
saturday was a sick day though. We had a scedule set up for the blue mountains, so we had to be on campus at 8 am and that was shitty but it was so worth it because our first stop was at a wildlife preserve.
The wildlife preserve was amazing. The first thing that was there out in the open is my new favorite animal and Id kill to have one of these. The animal is a wombat. It is like the ugliest thing ever but It is still amazing. It was just right up there waddling around. this is what a wombat looks like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnJUWwSx1kE&feature=related
Its like a pig dog, and is it not the cutest thing youve ever seen? Its legit the closest thing in the world that comes to an Ewok, and who wouldnt want an ewok?
Well they had a fence around them cause they bite, but then came the koala exhibit. It was awesome, they were also enclosed, but they have ones out that you can pet and take pictures with, and I did just that, and it was amazing.
By the way I also have pictures of everything Ive described on here but havent figured out how to put them up yet, but i will eventually.
The next part was the best though, because you go through these gates and theres just kangaroos jumping around everywhere, and you can go up and pet them, do whatever, feed them, have a chat. It dont matter anything goes, it was amazing. I literally just went around and pet kangaroos and wallabies for like half an hour, it was awesome. I saw a shit ton of other animals too like Dingos and tasmanian devils, and bats, and it was overall just awesome, I could talk about it for hours but in the interest of time I wont.
Then we made a our way to the blue mountains which is this ridiculous mountain range, google image it if you dont know what it is. We went to a few different spots, it reminded me of the view at the top of the grand canyon, it was amazing, We went to the famous spot called the 3 sisters that was cool, and yeah it was just gorgeous.
We actually did a half an hour hike down it, and it was mad cool cause it was like the rainforest, and then when we got to the bottom we took this train labeled "The worlds steepest train" back up. I sware it was legit straight up at one point it was ridiculous, and at the bottom was just a fence, so naturally everyone was worried the cable would snap and youd go down in a blaze of glory. The train then went through a cave that was pitch black. But before the cave you got some amazing views. I wish i could figure out hwo to get pictures up because my lame explanations are just not doin it.
Since we got up so early I slept when ever we were on the bus.
well that night was clearly the best low key night ive had and ill tell you why. Me and some other people got some drinks and watched First Blood. I dont know if youve seen first blood recently, starring Sylvester Stallone but it might be one of the best movies ever. Heres the plot: Stallone gets pissed and beats the crap out of everyone. and I challenge anyone to show me a better ending to a movie than first blood, im pretty sure i can quote the entire last monologue, which is lame of me yet awesome. I coudl write all day about First blood but ill spare everyone.
So yeah then yesterday we headed into the city early and went to this open market and saw a ton of cool stuff (clearly gonna get my christmas shoppiing done there), saw a dude doing glass blowing, and all kinds of cool stuff.We then stopped by the Opera house to see what was going on, cause there was a crowd, and it was Chinese national day and I coulda swarn i was hong kong, they had a bunch of weird dancing going and chinese flags, it was kinda cool, haha unfortunately we decided to leave when my friend as a joke screamed "Free Tibet". After that we started our little pub crawl. We first stopped at this place labeled sydneys oldest pub, not sure if thats true but we got 5$ guinesses so that was cool. The next bar we went had a crappy band playing, however they had a little something more to offer in the back, Horse and Dog racing betting. Yeah thats right they had a tv with horse and dog races on and you could go to this kiosk and bet on it. I only bet once with 2$ and lost, unfortunately 2 of my friends didnt realize it wasnt there night and blew 25$ each, but it was alot of fun cheering for their horses or dogs. Then we went to this other bar and caught the last 10 minutes of the happy hour specials. Then we had dinner, I got a nice pizza, but then we went to the main reason we were in Sydney that day. Ben Folds live at the sydney opera house.
Well we get in and Im not gonna lie its alot smaller than I thought itd be, not a bad seat in the house, and the acoustics are amazing. He played a solid hour and a half show, and the kicker was that they were all requests, so it was like all his old stuff and it was just awesome. We had amazing seats and it was just a solid time, and yes he did play the Dr. dre cover of "Bitches aint shit", it was awesome.
But yeah ill elaborate more later cause I've written alot and im tired. Hope everyone is doing well, comments are still encouraged.
Peace!

I love Sinbad, I hope he's wearing something made out of windbreaker

2009-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang-
Its been a pretty solid week so far. I'm still sick, I've got a bad cough and my sinuses are al congested so I'm thinkin about gettin that checked out. I'm actually reading this book The Stand right now By Stephen King where this superflu kills 98% of the world, and i seem to have all the symptoms of that illness, minus the swollen glands that eventually turn black and then you die, haven't reached that stage yet.
So last thursday was the Toga party, first one I've ever been too. I of course had no idea how to make a toga so me as well as my other friends clearly had them assembled by some girls. The party was at the campus bar and it seemed like everybody wore togas. The funny thing about bars here is that if you even look a little bit over the edge, they won't let you in or they will kick you. This has never happened to me because I play like a champion always, always composed. But its always hilarious seeing people get turned away or thrown out and seeing the fits they throw, sometimes ending in people being physically carried out. But yeah there was a shit ton of people at the place. I only had 2 complaints from that night, one is that they didn't play that song they play in Animal House, I think its called shout or whatever, but as usual only techno or drum and bass music which is kinda cool. The 2nd more serious complaint was that I had to wear athletic shorts, more specifically my UVA lacrosse shorts (Matt White shout out), unfortunately the pockets in there are very small. So at some point in the night, most likely when I was bustin moves all over the place, dazzling every female in the room with my phenomenal dancing methods, my wallet fell out. So at the end of the night when I got home, panic set in cause losing your wallet is shitty. I had my drivers license, 1 credit, 1 debit card, and student id and a bunch of other important crap in my wallet. So i started the search the next morning. No luck till about noon when I went back to the bar (yes the school bar opens at noon on weekdays and yes their were people drinking in their) and inquired to the bartender that i "may or may not have misplaced my wallet last night", his reply "whats your name and what color is it, we have about 15 wallets back here". and yes low and behold it was there, only 5$ missin, and suddenly I was a happy camper all over again.
That friday we had a bit more of an Australian cultural experience because we went to an AFL game (Rugby, not australian rules). We saw the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a match vs. the Gold Coast Titans. Everything about that game was awesome. First off I have never seen people take such physical beatings then these dudes on the field (8th row, dope seats), it was awesome, they were just beatin the crap out of eachother, and i started to learn the rules in Fiji, so when I was at the game I knew what was going on so that was awesome. I was gonna do some christmas shopping, maybe get my bros some South Sydney Rabbitohs jerseys, this was not happening, cheapest jersey was $125.
The next best thing about the game was that the fans are completely insane. Like stereotypical rugby hooligans, some of the things I heard out of some of these guys mouths made me feel uncomfortable. I'm not kidding though, this little kid, probably about 8 at one point screamed "this ref is a goddamn wanker" in his high australian accent. I don't think I've ever laughed harder, it was possibly one of the funniest phrases I've ever heard.
But yeah unfortunately the home team loss, but only by one touchdown (its not called that but i figured id make it simple for everyone), however there were some sweet breakaways and overall just crazy plays. Its weird because after every touchdown they have an officals review, can you imagine how long that would take if that happened in the NFL.
But yeah it was so awesome, Im going to another one next week.
The rest of friday was kind of boring.
saturday we went into the city and had dinner, it was decent, and then went to a few different bars in sydney, met up with some people.
The night didn't pick up till we got back because me and 3 of my other buddies went to this house, and it was ridiculous how many different people were there. I met dudes from indonesia, Egypt, Denmark, Germany, and like 12 other places. The best conversation of the night for me though was with this dude from Saudi Arabia, the man clearly in his early 30's and looking out of place. It was hard to understand him, but for twenty minutes this guy tried convincing me that 51st, and 52nd states of America were Saudi Arabia, and Isreal. It was the single strangest conversation I've ever had. This dude loved U.S.A. which is a rarity cause alot of the people I've talked too thinks were dicks. So yeah the cultural party was fine.
After that we hung out for a bit, it was getting late so I went to bed. My friend however had a different morning then he was used too.
Unfortunately he had to much to drink, something I should have noticed and taken care of but didnt. He apparently broke into these girls house across the street (werein like a village). All girls from Hong Kong might I add. He then proceeded to pass out on their table. The next morning the asian girls came down and could not wake him, so they called an RA, at which point my friend awoke to 3 asian girls screaming at him, and an RA saying "Are you serious?". He had to be escorted back to his house and show 3 types of ID to prove he lived there. You wanna know how laid back this country is though? he didn't get in trouble at all.
Oh i also saw GI joe last week, it was awesome yet the worst movie I've ever seen, its legit non stop action and violence. Inglorious basterds comes out tomorrow though and it looks amazing.
All in all a fun weekend. We took it easy this week, got work done and just kind of relaxed. In Australia they have lectures and then they have tutorials which is a group of about 15 from that lecture were you go over the readingsand discuss things. So in my history and global politics its a legit bash America fest, its so awkward to be in there. You wanna say something to defend it but you know youll just look like an idiot cause everyone from Australia and New Zealand knows the last 8 us presidents, and I barely gave a grasp on what kind of Gov't set up they have, and they just know so much more about whats going on in the world. The most awkward conversation in that class was how american culture is ruining australian culture because theres a ton of american television on here, we dominate the music and entertainment industry, fast food, and just everything. So I guess they're just jealous. long story short U.S.A. #1!
Gonna try to go to the Zoo this weekend, i find it ridiculous I've been here almost 4 weeks and haven't seen a Kangaroo. Maybe check out some museums, who knows. The Australian rugby team is playing the New Zealand rugby team on saturday so Ill watch that.
Also just found out that some channels play NFL, the kicker is that you have to wait till 3 am on monday mornings, if theres a bears game, I may sacrifice sleep, I've actually found other bears fans too so thats cool.
Ben Folds at the opera house in a couple of weeks, New Zealand a couple of weeks after that. and yeah still having an awesome time.
Meleeintoledo.com
hope everyones doin well and I'll try to get another one of these done soon cause I still have tons to write about. but yeah feel free to comment

Charlie if we need to break the window I will simply do so with a roundhouse kick

2009-08-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Squad,

I've been kind of lazy with this but in my defense I have been very busy. I'm doin laundry right now and I've got a few minutes to spare before my econ class so i figured I'd update.
So last monday I started school, my first class of the day being History of the world from 1945 to the present: and Australian perspective. Here I am thinking "o what kind of crazy australian teacher will I have for this class, I hope I can understand him", just so ready to have a different type of teacher, and whos my teacher, a middle aged dude from Chicago. Thats right an American man is teaching me Australian history. Sort of though, cause we've just discussed American history the past 2 classes probably furthering the other international students hatred for our country even further.
Speaking of not liking Americans. On 1 or 2 occasions so far me and my friends have been yelled at by someone from somewhere else about our foreign policy or something shitty we did to their country. Its just weird that they yell at you like you did it, like
you and GW were just hanging out and thinkin of ways to screw up other countries days. I had nothing to do with it, I was probably sitting at home watching South park and eating cheetos when ever this event that pissed people off occured.
But anyway my next class is INtroduction to Global politics, Its awesome because my teacher is a monotone and somehow makes the most boring thing in the world even more boring, its quite astonishing.
My next class is Sociology of everyday life, its taught by an Indian man, we watched an episode of Seinfeld in class today, it was dope.
My last class is Economics of the labour markets. It seems ok so far, I've only had one class. It is taught by a French guy, who wears awkwardly tight clothes, and leaves the class every 25 minutes to smoke a cigarette.
I do have friends in all my classes except econ, so hopefully well be able to help eachother out. Its not constant assesment here, its literally 1 paper and 2 tests, and thats it. Most likely if you screw up one, your done. and no I did not mean for that to rhyme on purpose.
The first week still had alot of parties going on, but everyone is starting to buckle down and get to work I think. Though wednesday is a big party night for some reason.
I do have no class on friday which is awesome, because I love sleeping in, and if I wanna go somewhere on the weekends it'll be easier to do. Me and some friends are actually in the middle of setting a trip to New Zealand on our spring break.
Speaking of cool things I will be doing, this will make a few people jealous, me and my friends will be purchasing tickets to see Ben Folds in a few weeks...........at the Sydney Opera House. Boom.
BUt yeah last weekend was pretty fun, On thursdays the campus bar is the place to be and they throw theme events every week, so tomorrow night will be my first toga party and that should also be dope. Friday was uneventful.
Saturday though we got up early and went into downtown Sydney (20 minute bus ride, and they give us one of those unlimited rides pass) and walked around, had my first Mcdonald's visit here, it was awesome. Then we went to the Sydney Aquarium which is ridiculous, it makes every aquarium in America look like a pond. A good majority of it was those tubes you walk in and all around you is the water, i hope that makes sense. But they had like 40 sharks in one of them, sting rays and manta rays that were 8 feet in length, crazy looking fish and just all kinds of stuff. Seriously I always though Steve Irwin dying by a stingray was kinda a lame way to go, but the stingrays out here are huge. Yeah we spent like 2 hours there. Then we went to dinner, I had a pizza and me and my friend also split a dish of Kangaroo meat soaked to perfection in Jack Daniels (just what the menu said). First off kind of a ridiculous I ate kangaroo before I saw one here. Second off, kangaroo is f****** delicious, they serve it fairly rare and its just so tender and delicious. I highly reccommend for anyone who gets the chance to eat it. Then we hit up the bars on this street that is pretty much the main area at night in Sydney, George Street. We had some good times. But yeah no crazy stories, or atleast ones that I can put on here last weekend, pretty tame. Which was fine with me cause the first week and a half was exhausting. And yes they don't kid you, it takes atleast 2 weeks to get over this jetlag.
Also probably gonna buy tickets to see Pearl Jam/Ben Harper/ and Kings of Leon in November here, so I've got a couple of cool shows lined up.
The next blog about this weekend should be good, Toga Party tomorrow night, Pro Rugby Game Friday Night (AFL), and just downtown Sydney saturday. who knows maybe I'll get some school work in, if i have time of course, I'm not a machine.
But yeah gonna climb the sydney bridge in a few weeks, thinkin of goin skydivin, Great barrier reef and New Zealand in a few weeks, and just a ton of other stuff. so yeah GT"s.
Fairly sort post, but I got class, but Ill have another in a few days.
Please feel free to leave comments, and go to Meleeintoledo.com and download the album if you haven't, and check out this website, we entered in this concert one of our songs, and we were #1 this morning, unfortunately bumped to #2 now, but check it http://www.ourstage.com/contests/3251-indie-rock
Yeah 2nd out of 763, no big deal.
Alright hope everyones doin well.

Boom Cormin You Just Got Faced

2009-08-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hello all-
Sorry its taken me so long for the beggining of the Down Unda blogs but I have been battling a bad cold. Everyone here has it, I think its a combo a of a bug, traveling, and going out to much. So thankfully sunday came and we all toned it down a bit. And yes the title of most of these blogs will be quotes from South park or It's always sunny in Philadelphia. Speaking of those shows, alot of sites don't play down here in Australia, even online, so I have to find a reliable website to watch new episodes. Ok but back to my trip.
So we arrive wednesday to the Macquarie Village (my place of residence) and my group is a little nervous cause we found out who were living with the day we got there. I think i have a decent house, well in that nobodys a dick. One of my housemates is this girl Katie from my trip to Fiji, shes cool but talks alot, so much so that you get cornered and you've got shit to do but you don't wanna look like a dick so you end up in a conversation, but shes cool. My other housemates are Kristina who is actually pretty good looking but somehow interjected the fact she had a boyfriend within 15 seconds of meeting her which was kinda weird, but she seems nice, shes never here. The next is Jeff, hes from Boston, and is probably the most awkward human being on the planet, he always has the same expression on his face and is all about small talk, hes also a little overly nice, so since I have had epic douchebag roommates in the past I am extraordinarily content with this. O yeah and theres on girl from Hong Kong, her name is Belle, and she clearly does not understand a word I say, lots of smiling and nodding, and the occasional giggle. So yeah not the ideal house but a calm house, cause some of the houses are throwin parties every night.
There are also more international kids here from America, unfortunately there is like 27 from New Jersey, i sware its like a mash up of guido beach and my new haircut (youtube it) with some of these kids which is kind of funny.
So wednesday we went to my friends house who lives with 3 australians and they had a small gathering, and then we went to one of the local bars called The Ranch, it was a good time, still same playlist, Micheal Jackson hits, that boom boom boom song, that song tonight is gonna be a good night, and like two others on repeat the entire night.
The next day we had orientation, except for the fact that i feel like the lady was just trying to scare the crap out of us, talkin about how alot of people fail and it follows you home and then your life is ruined, and how if you screw up no one will ever love you. Well that might be a bit of an exageration, but it was just a harsh orientation. Hey it worked though cause it scared me into school mode. After that we had some free time and me and some pals went to the mall here that is 5 minute walk from my house. This mall is unbeleivable, it has everything, even an ice rink, will I ever go skating? no, do i enjoy having the option? Yes.
That night we decided to go on the Sydney Harbor cruise. we were given strict instructions that it was leaving at 7. The bus takes about a half hour to get to where it picked us up which is the Man O war steps at the Sydney opera house. Of course though we screwed up ridin the bus, so we get on at about 645 and were all panickin. We did get to see Sydney at night though which is beautiful, o and everytime we go into the city we go over the Sydney Bridge (Absolutely doing the climbing thing on that by the way). So we tie our shoes tight and book it off the bus for the half mile. We obviously looked ridiculous sprinting through Sydney, but it was kind of funny. So we get down to what we think it was, but the lady tells us were on the wrong side. Were about to scrap the whole thing cause its 705 and hit the bar, but we ran to the other side anyway and run onto the boat as quick as we could, only to have to wait 20 more minutes for people to do the same thing as we were doing, which is running there.
The harbor cruise was unbeleivable, we got on at the Sydney Opera house which was completely illuminated, and alot bigger than you'd think it would be, but its such an amazing building. Once the boat left we went by it several times at different angles, and then we went under the Sydney bridge several times which was also illuminated and just around the harbor. There were 3 floods on the boat, and an open third deck so you could be outside and see everything, a bar and talking area, and a bar and dance floor area on the bottom floor. I was on the 3rd deck for the first hour but it got to cold, which brings me to my next discusssion.
Its like the desert here, in the sun during the day its a beautiful 68 degress on average, and sometimes in the upper 70's, but if you walk into the shade it drops 20 degrees. And when the sun goes down, I sware to god its like -20 outside, well not that cold but it feels like mid november. Unfortunately it doesn't get warm here till Late august, early september, so I get to experience fall now, which im fine with, because the summer in the ridge blew anyway. But yeah flip flops and shorts during the day, 2 sweatshirts, pants and shoes at night. The kind of late fall feel at night is kinda cool though.
So that is why after an hour I moved to the 2nd floor of the boat, and no worries Mom didn't drink that much cause beers were $8 and as an economics major I couldn't get more than one. At one point me and my friends checked out the dance floor, it was the single trashiest scene I have ever seen. It smelled like New Jersey down there, the floor was covered in hair gel and values tossed aside. The whole scene was kind of amusing, but after 2 maybe 3 minutes it got sad.
After the cruise me and a few people went to a bar on the water and had a few beers, it was nice and relaxing, a little bit slower pace then the clubs we had been going too. Unfortunately after our relaxing night we went to the Bus station, only to be told that yeah if the bus isn't here in 5 minutes its not coming. Guess what happened? So we had to take a cab back which blew and cost 50$, but my buddy picked up the tab and Ill pay him back.....eventually.
The next day friday we went on this awesome Bus tour reserved only for my program (we get a show atthe opera house, get to go to a an AFL game which is the pro rugby league,a nd like 6 othher events). It was awesome we went around the whole city got some great pics of the harbour, went to Bondi Beach, went to the cliffs on the North Side of Sydney, which oddly enough have suicide hotlines all over it because apparently its a hotspot to kill yourself there, and all the other famous landmarks, and the tourguide was helpful taught us a bunch a stuff.
After that we relaxed for a bit and just went over to this guys house that we know from the Fiji trip and played some drinkin games. Unfortunately alcohol is extraordinarily expensive, like 60$ for a case of beer. So everyone drinks boxes of wine that are like 12$ and theyre called Goon-Sacks. o and theyre gross. So we just hung out there that night, my friend Nick brought his roommate Jerry, and this kid is a riot. Hes from South Africa, he meditates, he went to India to transcend his personal being, and is just nutty. He has some properness to his voice that is just funny. He is also one of those dudes who walks around with the free hugs sign. I paint the picture of him being a nut here but he is actually really funny and I hope to hang out with him again.
Saturday was uneventful, went to the mall, got some stuff (food), yeah I have to cook my own food, so i said hello to my old friend the microwavable aisle. Everyone just kind of relaxed saturday night, and sunday during the day. On sunday we went to my friend Nicks house, jerry was there, and his other roommates were there, 3 girls from New Zealand, this is why i think I got shafted with the house situation cause thats an awesome house right there. The girls are just loud and out of control, its pretty funny to watch, definetly not hesitant to say what they want. Yeah I guess i can't really do it justice describing it, but theyre accents are hilarious.
Ill start with monday and classes and other stuff next time, cause I gotta make a sandwich before my 2 hour econ lecture. I will say that I have fridays off and Im super psyched about that.
I feel like I got to see alot of the city in the first couple of days so that was awesome, but yeah havin a great time still, makin real good friends and just chillen, Ill try to get the next one up soon.
P.S. Theres a comment section, feel free to comment, unless its negative, then get da fudge out
P.P.S. Jack White wants me to use spell check, not happenin, sorry Bro, the stories alone make me sound uneducated might as well go for the Gold
P.P.P.S. Meleeintoledo.com

Meleeintoledo.com

2009-07-31T00:36:00.000-07:00

Quick thing,

If you read this go to meleeintoledo.com and download and or purchase the album, if you don't wanna pay thats fine, we just wanna get it out there, and tell your friends about the site. Album is awesome, somethiing for everyone. so yeah go do it now.

The march to war, brought to you by.....Snacky Smores

2009-07-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

Whats up Squad,

I have been in Sydney for two days now and it is amazing, I'm loving it, but those posts will start soon gonna rap up Fiji in this post.

So Fiji all in all was amazing, it may seem like a tropical paradise but it is a very poor country, and though the first couple days we were in the touristy area with all the beaches, we also got the humbling experience of going to the Capital Suva which is typically not a tourist area (atleast thats what they told us) and studying.

I have never really been a minority in a country so this was an entire new experience, though everyone speaks english, their first language is Fijian. So I did get to experience a place with a different language, something I knew i'd be missing in Australia. but i can't stop giggling when I hear that australian accent.

Suva is kinda a scary place in areas though, but it was cool. My homestay family consisted of one of the Chaperones Sera, her husband who was hilarious, and their daughter Sera, yes that did get confusing.

They stayed in a typical Fijian home, fairly tiny, one tv with one channel, and of course the best of all, no hot water! you haven't lived until you've taken ice cold showers for 4 days. I'm not gonna lie it wasn't that bad towards the end but I will try to do avoid it at all costs from now on.

The cuisine in Fiji and typical fijian homes, consists of 5 main things, chicken, fish, rice, fruit, and toast. I had toast and fruit for breakfest every morning, and chicken and fish the other meals. They have fast food but I made a promise to myself to only eat the food they give me and I made it through, though because my stomach was a little queasy from traveling and the food I did almost throw up at the dinner table several times, because I shit you not we had this for one meal and not to be rude i ate it, and this haunts me

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/361741405_d1fc1efb36.jpg?v=0

It wasn't sandy like that but it didn't matter, the grossest thing I've ever consumed. and yes it wasn't the fish body, it was just the head, their on a platter staring you in the eyes.

Another cool thing about the culture there is Women are always second to men, so I got to eat first everywhere, never had to clean the table or anything (I offered like a thousand times Mom but they wouldn't let me), and other cool advantages of just being a male.

And another thing, Fiji is being ruled by the military right now, all the news is censored, you can go to jail talking bad about the military, and all kinds of crazy things. The country is extraordinarily instable, and there were plenty of dudes walking around with machine guns.

This was all stuff i experienced in Suva, which makes my trip cool cause I got the whole tourist thing plus the true experience of Fiji.

Also there were lizards that would crawl on the walls, that was awesome.

My homestay family was the nicesst people though, they bought me this dope neon green bula (its not a hawaiian, its Bula) shirt. The mother was very softspoken and catered to our every need which was so unneccesary. The daughter drove me and my housemate Kevin to places like the clubs and the internet cafe so I can write blog posts and catch flack about them from people from cursing and drinking stories.

The father though was hilarious. He works for the mormon church and he was just in his own little world. First off he had a sweet fijian accent and after every sentence to me he would call me "boss" and whenever we were at dinner and I'd finish my plate he'd say "have more boss", not asking would just tell me, this amused me so I would. He also said the Fijian word for thank you after everything which is Vinaka. He explained to me why he thinks that Global warming is the first sign of the apocolypse, and every night he would tell me, "yea I'm just waitin for God to say to me, Hey you boy come on up here". He was just full of one liners. He also would pull Marc Whites and walk off somewhere and not tell People though we would be waiting in the Car or something and we'd have to do something. He also made sure I sang every song in Fijian at the Mormon Church Service I went too.

Another funny thing about Fiji which is kinda bad, but I laughed every time I saw it. They don't throw things away, they just put in piles on their front lawns and burn it, so alot of it smelled like hot garbage. My family didn't do it, but it just seems so ridiculous.

I'm uploading the 350 pictures I have from the first 4 days, but it is true that my camera broke. I am jackin my friends camera and loading all his pics cause it was all the same scenery and stuff.

Hands down my 2 favorite parts of my homestay families house was that, at every meal the only beverage served was Tang. They were such strict mormons that they didn't have things like coffee, tea, or alcohol (only went out once in Suva, so yeah I'm not drinking to much, responsibility!), and other soft drinks that they only had tang. I'm not gonna lie, I loved it, and im going to buy some as soon as I can.

The next thing was the mosquito net I had on my bed, it wasn't one of those circle ones, it covered the entire bed. So it was like I had a fort I would build in elementary school, it was the coolest. and Yes I will be turning 21 years old in November, and not 9 years old.

It sucks trying to write this cause I feel like I'm leaving so much out.

I don't know if i wrote this in my last post, but I went to a mens Rugby game there last saturday, and it was nuts, how these dudes don't shatter bones every game is beyond me, it was awesome. Definetly not a boring game.

BUt picking up from my last post since I'm all over the place on this post, monday night we had a farewell dinner with our host families, everyone had dinner at this restaurant, it was pretty good.

Everyone did plan on going out to the clubs afterwards but due to the events of earlier that day, everyone felt it was innapropriate and disrespectful. So instead I went back to my homestay house and drank that liquid I mentioned before (Kava) with my housemate kevin, the daughter Sera, and her 3 friends who were a firemen, a taxi driver, and a pro rugby player, and the homestay mother. We drank alot of that particular beverage (Just wasn't trying to be rude) and I'm not gonna lie, I can't describe what happened its pretty nuts though (I kept this post pretty tame, felt the need to step it up). Its like you've been drinkin alot but your fully coherent, and you feel fine the next morning. I still can't put my finger on it. I don't think I'll ever do it again, but it was a cool experience. Its a cool ceremoney too, your not just trying to get wasted on the stuff (though that usually happens), you have to know when to do the right things, when to clap, how many times you have to clap at which point and the right things to say. Its also prepared in a large bowl, and the drinks are spaced out 15 minutes, so its cool cause I got to learn alot about the people I was staying with and the people there, and much more about Fijian culture, and it got me drunk, so a very cool cultural experience.

The next day we departed back to the hotel in Nadi and the drive back is absolutely gorgeous, we drive alot the beaches that are crystal clear, and we get to see the beautiful scenery, the mountains their are extraordinary.

Upon arriving at the hotel me and my other friend Steve (Lax bro) decided to go for a run ( I hadn't ran the entire trip so I felt like I should). We went 5 miles in the 90 degree heat, this was put under the bad idea category. However we were smart we stopped every 10 minutes or so in the shade and hydrated a bit. It was a beaufitul run though cause we ran by this field and you could see this epic mountain in the background and all kinds of other stuff.

As soon as we got back though, we didn't even go change, just jumped right in the pool, it felt so good.

The rest of the afternoon me and a bunch of the others just relaxed and had some drinks by the pool. Had a nice dinner, and then headed to the club down the street for one last night of debauchery. It was really fun we all met a bunch of different people from different places like New Zealand, Australia, other pacific islands. Micheal Jackson playlist bumpin so you know I tore it up. Didn't have to carry any buddys back this time. However that 6 oclock wake up came quickly and I will never fly feeling like that again, it was horrible, 4 and a half hours, on air pacific, the worlds shittiest airline. The movie selection on the plane was beat so I watched 17 Again, yeah thats right I watched it, and you know what, I didn't think it was half bad, so yeah. Met AIFS reps there and took a bus to the Maquarie Village, and this my friends is where I will stop for this evening, its about 520 and I'm gonna go meet up with some pals, not to worry i will pick up where I left off, and the next post will have some good and funny stories.

Hey Gang, Whats the action?

2009-07-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

So unfortunately I have to start todays session with some bad news. We were greeted by 2 chaperones that have been with us this whole trip making sure we didn't get into any problems, and one of them was found dead this morning, his name was George and he was a super nice guy, so its shitty news to hear. Startin to sound real shady though cause its a police investigation and details aren't coming out. So R.I.P. George.
But nobody wants to be bummed out reading this so I'll start with the good stuff. Well I'd like to point something out first. It is perfectly acceptable to wear skirts as a dude here in FIji, there called Zulus, and they have pockets. Are they lame? Absolutely not, Are they gay? Not a chance, Did I buy one and am no loving it? A thousand times yes. All the guys bought them and I've never experienced such a comfort its amazing. I'm in downtown Suva again at the internet cafe and only have a few more minutes so I'm gonna start cranking this out. BUt not to worry I'll still be talkin about FIji even when I get to Aus. in 2 days. So we had class thursday, 3 lectures hour and a half each. Good thing we were hanging in a classroom in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I'm saving a blog about my homestay family for the next one cause they ruled, you wanna know why? because the only drinbk served in their house is Tang, and i F****** LOVE Tang.
Friday we only had 2 lectures and then we went downtown with everybody, and checked out the scene, it was a good time. Same amount of homeless here as in Chicago so thats kinda lame, and some of them are kind of scary. Of course some brawd lost her roommate so me and my roommate Kevin (cool dude) had to stay and help her find her. We did however discover a gem of Fiji. They sell pre mixed drinks in cans here, like rum and coke, bourbon and coke, energy drinks and Vodka. I'd be lying if i said I didn't buy one and thought it was awesome.
When heading back we ran into a dude from Australia named Cameron who wore short shorts, this amused me, so I was psyched to see him out later with the Americans he was with. (yeah I'm cultured hanging with people from the same country).
Well me, my housemate kevin, and the daughter who lived there went out friday and the AIFS group had scheduled to meet at this bar called O'reillys. But we hit a snag. we of course knew you had to wear shoes but we didn't know about pants. Yes I got denied access to a bar in Fiji for wearing shorts, a rule I will never understand. BUt we ended up going to this other bar that did allow and we ran into Cameron and his American friends, hence making my story a few lines up above relevant. We hung out for a bit and it was a good time.
The next day we went to the sisters of compassion retirement home and mingled with the old people as well as washed windows. I talked to this one lady who was like 90 something for twenty minutes, I can't tell you a word she said, but hey she liked to talk, and I smiled and nodded, so win win. Then we washed the windows at the place and they have this dog there, thats like a small horse that I'm pretty sure could've killed me, but I absolutely played with him, his name was Bo, it was awesome.
BUt yeah my next post will be about the town as well as my homestay family and the house i stayed in.
After helping out we went to the flea market and bought my dope Zulus and the lady Im staying with bought me an even doper neon green flour hawaiian type shirt. I was the definition of tourist and loving it.
After that we had dinner and me and kevin got dropped off at o'reillys again, this time prepared, and o geez did it get messy? I think the kryptonite for American students abroad is "Drink Specials". They are just so inviting and we all indulged, Micheal Jackson playlist blasting (They love his shit down here), haha I've been told to clean up this page a bit so I'm not going into what drinks a had but well leave it at a sampler. The club closed at 12 and which genius didn't have a phone? This guy. So we had to get in a taxi and go with our friends (on the program not random dudes) to their homestay family and attempt to call Sera (the daughter who drives us) to pick us up. did we get an answer? no. We hung out a bit and finnally took a taxi and like geniuses we didn't know the address. So yes friends and family Me and my housemate described how to get home in Fiji at 2 oclock in the morning, still jetlagged, and with our IQ's way up. We finnally made it though
I arrived home to find a cockroach in my bed. Like legit fear factor sized, I was genetically engineered cockroach. I quickly killed it and went to sleep thinking nothing of it.
We were called to breakfest at 7, haha we pushed it off. We got up at 1030 an had breakfest and went to a Mormon Church service, spoken in Fijian, slightly hungover. Have you ever wated Telemundo and then said what am i doing? yeah immediately happened when the service started. ONe of the dudes who spoke even started crying about something, maybe his love for JOseph Smith? all in all an interesting event that I feel cultured for going to. And yes I did wear my sweet neon green shirt and zulu. Yeah no idea what was said but i guess a cool experience.
Then it was a study time the rest of the night.
This morning we had our exam, 5 questions, 2 page answer each. It sucked, but boys and girls, I owned that shit. I think i did well atleast. BUt I'm still having an amazing time and this experience has just made me even more excited for Australia. Have a shit ton more to say but only have 2 minutes left on this thing. so look for a post on wednesday. If i've offended relatives with my talks or stories, my bad I just don't wanna censor myself and really let you guys know what I'm doing. Haha though I have watered it down a tad. Fiji Part 3 coming wednesday, I'm sure their will be 2 more posts after that. Peace

Bula!

2009-07-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Holy shit where to begin, first off this place is incredible and for all the familys and friends reading I am having the time of my life, It is beautiful here. The amount of culture I've soaked up in the past few days is ridiculous. I guess I'll start from the beginning.
Rough start in the beginning, 5 hour flight from JFK to LAX in a middle seat, and at one point I was convinced I had deep vein thrombosis, bummer. Then I had to get to the international terminal and another round of security. 3 hour layover plus a 2 hour delay. It was fine though cause I met people on the trip in that time and it was a good icebreaker. I flew Airpacific which kinda sucked and I was convinced I was going to die when we took off because I've never heard a plane rattle like that before, but it was 4 am east coast time so I was able to get 7 hours of sleep and was only awake for 3 hours of the flight.
It was dawn when we landed and already humid, everyone dominantly slept on the flight. We were greeted by 2 local Fijians who work for AIFS (my abroad program). We then got shuttled to the hotel and had breakfest (which consists of toast and fruit no matter where you go). After that it was off to snorkle. So we took an open air bus and we got to this boat which dropped us off at one of those resort islands that can only hold like 50 people, extraordinarily small. We were fed a standard Fijian meal (chicken, fish, potato salad, etc.) but heres the kicker, this resort island was all expenses paid, and yes my friends that includes beer. By the way my new favorite beer is Fiji Gold, all the guys had plenty of that day.
Side note I'm in an internet cafe in Suva, Fiji right now and It doesn't matter if your black or white by MJ just came on, I'm about to lose my shit.
It was stereotypical fiji, clear blue water, and performance by Fijian musicians and dancers, I snorkeled. Me and my friend Steve even went on this Boat which had Glass windows in the basement (whatever its called you know what I mean) and we entertained everyone, especially the Australian family behind us with our drunken narration of what were seeing. All an all a perfect start. We headed back to the hotel and had dinner and I bought my first legal beer (it was awesome) and for all the haters out there, I represented the family name well, which i can't say for one of the guys on my trip whos pretty funny who passed out at the bar and pretty much crawled back to his room. No hangovers for anyone though cause we were all so jet lagged that I beleive the last poerson went to bed at 930.
The next day we headed to a traditional Fijian village, which took a while cause we had to go on dirt backroads. For the last leg we went in trucks and everyone had to sit in the bed, I sware we almost all died like 5 times. It was really cool getting up to the village though and seeing the huts and their way of life. We started off with a welcome ceremony were everyone had to drink this drink called Kava, it was awesome. Wanna know why it was awesome? cause its extraordinarily illegal in the U.S. because its a strong sedative. Its a custom though thats neccesary to be welcomed into a Village though so people like my Mom and relatives who read this just roll with it. We then hiked up to a nice waterfall, it was a solid 40 minute hike with some extraordinary scenery. All 5 dudes and a couple girls even went swimming in the waterfall which was also awesome. We then came down and had a traditional fijian meal that was well just kinda gross but I ate it in anyway cause I mean why not, and then more Kava so that was cool. The bus ride back was uneventfult as well as dinner, but then we all went to the liquor store and things picked up, we got a little rowdy and then headed to the bar down the street where the group of around 12 met all kinds of different people, thankfully i took alot of pics and videos cause it got a little hazy, can you beleive Australians love buying flaming shots for 12 people? awesome. The night was alot of fun but I'm sure my Mom is reading this and waiting to finish this so she can send me an email to stop telling drinking stories, but again I was the one who rallied and saved the day because in order for my buddy steve to get back he had to put his arm around me, because walking wasn't working for him and shady hookers kept trying to bother us so that was creepy, but I got back safe so don't worry I rep'd the White and Carroll family well.
The next day we went to the Sand Dunes in Nadi, Fiji which were also amazing, I really can't do them justice without picture (which I will post soon) but they are huge and incredible. Unfortunately the first snag of the trip happened because the guide was encouraging us to roll down the dunes (childish I know, but fun) and though I took my camera out before doing this, it did get a little sand in it and is out of commision at the moment but I hope to get it fixed tomorrow, but no worries all the pictures on the sim card were saved.
After the sand dunes we went on a 2 and a half hour drive to Suva, Fiji where I am at the moment to take a Pacific studies class at the University of the South Pacific. It was there I met my host family, who actually turned out to be one of the employees of AIFS who met us at the airport and chaperoned us, so that was cool. Me and my other friend Kevin (he has a sense of humor like Tim Perry, I love it) are staying with them in a traditional Fijian family home with her daughter, and the husband who comes back tomorrow. They have no hot water so I'm getting accustomed to freezing cold showers, and I get to sleep under a mosquito net (its like a fort its awesome). Theres a 10 inch TV with one channel, FIji one, it plays power rangers all the time, I love it.
The lectures today were uneventful but interesting, they were about climate change here, pre-history, and just the college. Apparently Fijian people don't call it Fiji, they call it Viti. Just had a solid dinner with my host family who are super nice, they're Mormon which is interesting, and now me and Kevin are pretty much doin the same thing in the internet cafe. I've prob forgot some things that I'll post later as well as the second half of the fiji trip cause this is the only time I have internet access. But I'm lovin it and the people I'm with are awesome and I'm just havin a great time.
-Alex

Shippin out....

2009-07-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

So I figured I'd start this Blog thing for my trips to study abroad in Fiji/Australia for family members and who ever may want to read it. My flight leaves JFK around 5 tomorrow so the day has been pretty hectic getting everything together today and I'm sure tomorrow will be even worse. I do find myself oddly calm about this whole trip and more excited then nervous, so thats a good thing. Blogging for the sake of blogging is hella lame though so I'm gonna stop this introductory post now. May not have access to a computer in Fiji, so those posts may take a while, but who knows. Look for posts in the future though.

-Alex