mmmmm, Danish

Last night Sandy invited me out to the bar that's in the basement of the hostel that I'm now staying in. It was gonna be a goodbye thing for him since he's going home on Tuesday. Anything with drinking is always a big 'yes' in my book. So I got to the bar about 10 minutes before I was set to meet him and help myself to a drink. I'm patiently waiting at the bar when guess who happens to recognize me and come over for a chat? Gidda and Medda, the cute danish girls from my bus trip up here. Sandy invited them out as well and that works out well in my favour. Sandy was late so I had plenty of time to get talking with the girls. I put most of my efforts into Gidda and it paid off. She's the sweetest, cutest girl I've had the pleasure of courting in quite some time. The conversation was flawless. No silent pauses.... at all. That's kind of a first. We both did our part to keep up the conversation and when one person ends the other starts up something new. I had already learned from the bus ride out here that she has good musical taste, so I tested her on other things. She has excellent taste in movies and TV. She hates reality shows which earns her brownie points. The real test in the TV sector was when I enquired about 24. Success! She watches it and loves Keifer Sutherland. Little things like that continued for 3 hours of us seeming to like all the same things. I thought I had blown it at one point during our music topic when we were talking about bands from our home country and she mentions Avril Lavigne and I say I don't like her music. The look in Gidda's face was what I thought was one of surprise and hurt. I thought I offended her when she tells me she's happy to have met a Canadian who doesn't like her crap. It was a close call and I really felt myself sink in my chair when I thought I hit a nerve. Glad I was wrong about reading that facial expression. The music topic was pretty much endless and even found both of us at the jukebox looking at all the songs and saying 'yay' or 'nay' to what was in there. I would say only about 1 in 10 did we disagree on. I now have the names of some Danish groups that I'm supposed to check out when I get a chance as well.

The evening found us getting closer and closer. I saw where it was going pretty quick and remembered what happened last time I got close to someone who I would probably never see again. It got pretty good during our language lesson she was giving me. I asked her to teach me more Danish and everything she told me was things like "You have beautiful eyes" and other compliments of that nature. The last one she taught me and I bungled up pretty bad and don't remember now (damn) was "I would like to kiss you". So when she has me repeating it back to her she says "yes". Well that's the invitation I was looking for. If anything, she was probably pretty frustrated that I hadn't moved in sooner in the evening to kiss her. So I got my lip action from the Danish now. We were pretty close the rest of the night until we all packed it in. I can only hope that the rest of my trip proves to be this fruitful or better.

Today was much more calm. I went to darling harbour and explored a bit. Got some information on taking a water taxi tour around the Opera house and the Bridge. I think I'll do that sometime within the next few days. I also have to continue my search for a camera battery charger. I've hit up a few stores and 2 of them sell it but are both currently out of stock (of course) and I was told to check back later in the week. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday will be a day to do that.

The hostel I'm staying out now is pretty posh and I feel out of place. It's more like a hotel with dorm rooms. I have met my second Calgarian. A girl in my room who is on the bunk below me hails from the snowy city. She's not as fun as the last Calgary girl I met. Nice person, just not very outgoing and kind of boring, so I don't spend time talking with her much.

I'm gonna call up my uncle tomorrow or Thursday and hope to get together with him at some point and catch up on everything that's happened since I last saw him, and see what he's up to these days. Maybe I'll even get a chance to see my cousins and their baby that I haven't met yet. My brother tells me that she's a bit of a spoiled baby. Oi.

Sydney, Sweet Sydney

After 3 long days of bus riding I have arrived in Sydney unscathed and with minor disappointments.

My bus trip is a whole tour thing that goes up the east coast and it promotes a "hop on and off" system where you can get off at any of the stops it makes and catch another bus on a later day. It's pretty good because we get to go to some touristy places and some other not so known places. All in all the actual ride itself was terrific.

The group was pretty small. We started with only 8 people when we left Melbourne, so that made making friends a bit easier then expected. It was a pretty good mix group as well. We had a Girl and 2 guys from England, one Scottish guy, an American, 2 German girls and myself. It was fun being the only Canadian. For the first bit of the trip we just called each other by our countries. I was Canuck until we got around to introducing ourselves properly. The American guy was kind of keener. He kept trying to impress everyone with his vast knowledge of the universe. Whenever he wasn't around our tour bus driver even made fun of him. We dubbed him Captain America in the end.

The first night was spent at a camp site up in the great dividing range. It was fucking cold. We did a cool night tour with a 4WD jeep and a big spotlight looking for animals. We also reunited a baby lamb with it's family after it had escaped from it's pen and couldn't get back in. Got to see a crap load of Kangaroos and even some Wombats. Played some more pool as per usual and tried chatting up the German girls a few times. They both didn't know much English so the language barrier was a bit of a pain, but they did very well considering I can't speak English properly. They both stayed back at the camp for a few days so they wouldn't be on the bus in the morning. Dang, down to 1 girl between the rest of us guys? That was fun.

The second day was to take us out to Canberra. Learned a lot about the history of Canberra which I'm not going to repeat here. If you're interested in it you can go get a book on it. I must say that I found it rather stupid that the government spent over a billion dollars in building their new Parliament building and filling it with 200 million dollars worth of artwork. Plus it has 3000 rooms, most of which probably don't even get used. I think they are just trying to show off or something. Pfft, lousy government. Spent the night at a very cheap hostel and then went out drinking with our bus driver and the rest of the gang. A fun time was had by all. At one point Kirsten (the English girl) said she wanted to go ask Captain America something and he had already retired for the night so she needed my room key. I put it down and in my drunken state completely forgot about it. Scottish (Sandy) convinced me that I had lost it and should go around asking people for it. So I did. I went to the people sitting at the table where we were before, I went to the bar and even asked random women. Convinced that I wouldn't get my key deposit money back I shrugged it off and didn't care too much after drinking some more. In the morning Captain America gives it to me saying that Scottish passed it off to him. We all had such a good laugh about it.

Today was the long trip from Canberra to Sydney and thankfully we were given 2 more girls to add to the trip. Not just any girls though. Young, Cute, Danish girls. I have now discovered I'm in the wrong country. I need to be in Europe. They had the coolest names too. Medda and Gidda. This morning I was at that point which I call Drunk Over. It's between being drunk and having a hang over. I took quick steps to start talking with Gidda the whole trip. I had her teaching me her language for a bit, but sadly I can't remember much of it. Stopped off at the usual small towns and hung out with the Kangaroos and so on. Got to Sydney this evening and 3 of us are staying in the dodgy end of town. Tomorrow I'm moving on up to a new Hostel more in the city center. The cleaner side of town. This place will do for now though.

That's the last 3 days in a nutshell.

Worst part of the whole trip so far is that I can't get my camera battery charger to work. So my camera battery is about to die and I need to find out if I can just buy a new charger out here for it. I have the Canon number for New South Wales and I'll have to do some calling to find out what I can get. There goes more money. I should be happy that it's the worst thing to happen.

These are a few of my favourite things

At this point I believe it's natural to begin to miss certain things. The most obvious would be family and friends, but I won't go into that. I'm talking about being a bit more materialistic.

Laptop: Poor little guy. He's just gonna collect dust for the next little while.

Cellphone: My god how I miss my cellphone! I know it serves me no good out here except for the use of text messages, but I miss having it clipped to my belt and being able to look at it and see that I have voicemail or messages. It gave me that feeling of importance.

My Music Collection: I wasn't able to burn all my music before coming out here and now I'm really wishing I had an extra week to get the rest and even buy new stuff. CD prices out here are horrible. That still hasn't stopped me from buying them though.

TV: Even though I didn't watch much for TV back home, I think I just miss Canadian/US commercials. Oz commercials are starting to bug me. It's still unknown to me if they show 24 out here. For the sake of everyone I encounter they better air 24.

REAL Football: I can't figure out Aussie Rules Football for the life of me. I've resorted to Soccer and Cricket. Aashish should be proud of me for trying to figure that game out.

Hockey: The only hockey people know out here is field hockey. I have to make sure I say ICE hockey when I talk about the sport. I want to see the World Cup Hockey! Canada is doing so well from what I've read.

I can't say it's all bad though. Out here at Subway they have pineapple as a topping choice. I thought it was strange at first, but then tried it and I'm kind of dumbfounded as to why we haven't taken that up yet. If it's also true that out here the Asians from Japan bring all the crazy fads with them, then the next one to hit north America (if it hasn't already) is going to be video messaging on cellphones. I can't believe at how popular that is over here. Cellphone are also going to get bigger again instead of smaller. Who'd have thunk it?

On the move

The other night my brother went out to some artsy-fartsy movie that I wouldn't enjoy so I decided I'd be a bum and lay around the rez building for the evening. My bro's next door neighbour, Derek, came by and asked if I wanted to go to the pub with him and some other folks from the building and possibly some other rez buildings. I'm not one to turn down an invite so I jumped on the chance and went to the pub and had a great time. I got to meet a few other folks from different buildings and some more Canadians (woohoo). My night ended up turning out okay after all and I suppose I can't write off that day as a total crap shoot.

Friday was interesting. I spent my last day with my bro and in the evening, after we were done with his campus radio show, I grabbed my bag and headed off again into the great unknown. I had already done some research on which hostel I figured I'd want to stay in so I was a bit ahead of the game in my planning for once. I made my way up to Hotel Bakpak and got myself settled. They have a bar in the basement so I quickly made my way down. In the elevator I met an Irishmen named Ray who took me around and introduced me to his crew that he's been hanging with. We played about 10 games of pool and I wasn't playing too horribly until the last 2 games. Soon afterwards another bloke who was watching us play pool started to talk to me. I would end up spending the rest of my night chatting with him. He's a Kiwi named Steve and is a damn funny guy. I continued to get more lucky as I met, amazingly, another Calgarian. Her name's Michelle and we spent most of our time trying to figure out if we both knew any of the same people. It was a long shot, but still provided for some fun conversation.

I was lucky again to get a room by myself and have a good quiet sleep in an actual bed! No more sleeping on the floor for me. This morning I crossed the street and went over to the Queen Victoria Market. It's quite the bustling market. You got everything from fresh Produce and meats, to T-shirts, pants, bags and other stuff. It's all pretty well priced as well. I saw the didgeridoo I want! Too bad it would put me back $150 and then I'd have to carry it wherever I go. When I come back to Melbourne before I go home I'll make sure to get one, a boomerang and hopefully an Australian flag that I can put on the wall of my room when I get back. So many things that I want, and so many things to get for others, but not enough room in my bag, or I don't feel like trucking it across the country. I'll have to figure something out. Maybe buy it and mail some of it home. That will cost more money...... damn, I need a job.

Upside down laziness

Sunday was pretty much a mirror image of how my Sundays back home are.... lazy. Yup, it was a lazy Sunday. I guess I can't say that I didn't do anything though. My brother, One of his residence mates and I went shopping and picked up some of the essentials. My essentials being Tim Tams, probably the best biscuit/cookie I've ever had the pleasure of consuming. They should put warnings on the boxes to these things. Anything that warns people of the addiction that they are about to experience. I'm almost all out and feel that I have to take the tram back to the store to buy more. I fear my trip has been financially hindered by my Tim Tam addiction. Beaten by a cookie, how degrading. The next step will be to try and smuggle some back into Canada. That could prove troubling considering how much trouble it was just trying to get into the states without smuggling anything in.

I was lucky enough to experience Nigel's cooking last night. This Kiwi can cook! (I don't believe I've mentioned before that he is from New Zealand.) Put him up against an iron chef, and make the theme ingredient lamb and you got yourself a battle. He cooked up a feast just for 3 of us. I was put to shame. I thought I knew my way around a range, but he could have whipped up a meal fit for royalty before I could boil a pot of water. I was surprised enough at the fact that he even cooked for me. I'm no sure I have too many friends who would cook my little brother, or even my older brother just out of the kindness of their hearts. Only about 30 seconds ago I was informed that he is cooking supper for us once again. I'm starting to feel like a real big mooch at this point.

Today was laundry day. It was boring... plus it rained pretty heavily which only reinforced my thoughts of how Melbourne is a lot like Vancouver. I'm thinking I may have to cut loose and make my way to a hostel in the city within the next 2 days. I figure staying with my brother for a week is good enough and it's time for me to get on my adventurous ways. I seem to have gotten too comfortable too quickly around here. I get along with most everyone in the residence. In fact, last night the cute Norwegian girl made me watch Olympic handball with her and taught me as the game went along. Seems she played handball for 10 years and knows the game inside and out. We then got into some good conversation about education systems in other countries and how they compare to our own. I'm quite intimidated by her now. She's so smart and passes it off as nothing. I'm afraid I'm going to say something stupid and I'll no longer be worthy of chatting with her. I do take pride in the fact that she said I was one of the few people that was actually able to pronounce her name correctly. Too bad I can't spell it. It sounds like Ing-Vale. That is of course how you would say it, not spell it. Seems most people call her Ingrid because they can't remember her real name. What a trooper.

Hopefully I'll sleep easier tonight.... well as easy as someone sleeping on the floor of a shoebox can be.

Par-tay

The past couple of days have been pretty much a non-stop party.

Yesterday I got to watch my brother and his friends do their radio show on the campus radio station. It was fun to experience and kind of gave me an interest in the radio business. We'll see how long that actually lasts.

We then went to some pub not too far away from the University and just ended up getting a few drinks and some food. One of my Bro's friends suggested that we just grab some more alcohol and go back to campus and watch TV. Wow, it's like they are reading my mind sometimes. So the adventure began with trying to find a suitable bottle store which sold good stuff, plus a grocery store to buy some munchy type things. We gathered our materials and headed back to the common room at the University to watch some TV. It seemed that a lot of other people had the same idea. We had quite the party going on in the common room on Friday and it ended up being more fun then I had thought it would be. I was able to get a chance to talk with some of the other people that live in the same rez as my brother. I was lucky enough to talk with a very cute Norwegian girl for an hour or so, and in that time I still didn't catch her name. I've also met one of the nicest and most talkative person ever. His name is Derek and he always has a crazy story to tell or has 10 questions lined up to ask you. Silence is not an option with that man. He's pretty taken with the sport of fencing and went so far as to show me how the basics are done. An interesting sport it is. It got pretty late and Derek and I cleaned up the common room as everyone else went to bed. I didn't notice how much I actually had to drink until I had to get up and move. Good night over all.

Today was fantastic. My brother and his friends, John and Meg took me into the city to explore. I first got the experience a bit of the Queen Victoria Market. It was closing up shop for the day (it closes very early on Saturdays apparently) but it was a good enough taste that I feel that I have to go back another day and experience it fully. We then grabbed lunch and poked into every interesting shop as we aimlessly wandered from street side to street side. The guys wanted to see some viewing of a new art movie called "The Control Room". We worked our way up to the theatre that showed it and bought some tickets. We then had some time to blow before the movie so we walked down another street which is filled with restaurants from every country. A guy will stand outside each place and as you walk by they will talk to you to try and make you go in and eat. They'll offer things like discounted meals or even free dessert. It was nice to have someone who was talking to me on the street have something to offer me for once, instead of it being a bum just wanting any spare change. We then headed back to the theatre and watched the Control Room. The movie was spectacular. It's about the news network Al Jazeera (the Arab equivalent to CNN) and how they covered the Iraq war. It was much more worth the watch then anything Michael Moore could have done. After the movie had ended I had an elderly lady approach me and ask me if I was American (she must have heard me and John talking before the movie started) and asked me about my views on the movie and the points it makes. I had to disappoint her by explaining that I'm Canadian, but I still made my views heard.

Onward to the pub! We started a search for a friendly and not so busy pub to have a drink at. We found one which was down an alley way. I felt uneasy about this alley way stuff, but it seems it's quite a common thing in Melbourne. They aren't scary Alleys like we have back home, but instead have shops lined all the way down them. At the bar the bartender asked me where I was from. When I replied "Canada" her next question was "What's your hockey team?" I told her it was the flames and she told me she was a Canucks fan. We had a small chat about hockey until the bar got busy and I had to let her get back to work. Always nice to hear that the triumphs of hockey have reached all the way to the southern hemisphere. After some drinks we went in a desperate search for food which just ended up being a few slices of pizza. At this point I wanted to go home, but Meg insisted on showing me the Crown, which is apparently the biggest Casino in the southern Hemisphere and it's placed right by the Yarra river. It's an amazing building. It has a hotel, shops, restaurants and finally the casino all under one roof. It looks like it does quite well considering how busy it was in there. We then just walked along the river side until it was time to head back to the tram station to head home.

The highlight of the evening was finding a road called Batman Avenue. It's pronounced slightly differently then the super hero, but I thought it was very amusing. There is also a Batman park. We need more streets and parks named after super heroes. They'd be way easier to remember for directions. So far so good in Oz.

We interrupt this show to bring you a commercial with 2 guys in sumo suits selling cellphones

I have not witnessed more horrible TV then the jargon they play down here. It's not just limited to their programs, but the commercials too! I have no real way of explaining it either, so now you all will just think I'm crazy. I may seriously have to tape some of these shows and commercials just to bring them back and let everyone else witness the craziness that is Oz TV.

They have their own version of everything. Australian Idol, Australian who wants to be a millionaire, Australian The Price is right. Australian rules football (which is actually like a more violent version of Rugby). It's scary. They even have their own version of Mad TV or SNL called sketch house. It would probably be funny if I understood what the jokes were about. I just laugh when the studio audience does.

The next big thing they have down here is Hungry Jacks. It's Burger King just with the name changed. Even the logo is the same. Apparently somewhere in the middle of nowhere there is a burger king and he got to keep his name while Burger King had to change theirs. Hence you get Hungry Jacks. I laugh whenever I see a commercial for it, and pretty much drew a crowd when I was laughing at the Hungry Jacks sign I saw on a street corner. I think they take their fast food seriously out here.

I'm starting to miss my party crew already. It's just not the same without being called up by someone to go play pool, go clubbing or even just to drink the night away. It's harsh. I've been sober for 48 hours. There should be no excuse for that. My older bro is supposed to take me drinking tonight, Oz style. We'll see if I can keep up.

I'm still suffering from major jet lag. I stayed up as late as I could last night to ensure I'd get up at a reasonable time today, which I did, but I'm still here falling asleep at the keyboard and it's only 6:30pm. Damn you international date line.

Today was an easy day. I slept, watched TV and when my brother got off of class we had some food and did his dishes. Now I'm here waiting for him to grab me so we can go to the campus bar. I figure I'll stay here another 2 or 3 days then book it to a hostel. other then that, I still don't have any plans for what I'm doing out here.

Still Plagued by thoughts of Crystal. Damn cute women and their long term affects on me. Worse then drinking or drugs.

Not much else to comment on for not much happened today for me to comment about. I'll make it more interesting in the days to come.