I had quite the dream this morning. I woke up at the end of it, remembering it vividly. I documented it because it is not very often that you remember a dream. Here it is:
Someone has set a majestic building on fire in my city which is very similar to Waterloo. I scramble to the top of another building to see it. It is pandemonium with police cars and firetrucks everywhere. Once on the roof of a nearby 20 story building, I see the bell tower of the building about 500 metres away, totally on fire with smoke pluming everywhere.
I slip off the roof and I am about to fall to my death, but I grab hold of some old blanket (a huge blanket on the roof - it makes perfect sense) as I am falling. It abruptly runs out of slack and stops. I hold on miraculously. I then start swinging back and forth until I get enough momentum and shatter through a window on the 12th or 13th floor.
I break through and there is a group of 5 seniors playing Parcheesi or Bridge or something. They barely notice me. I explain what happen and they are fairly unimpressed, unbelieving even. I talk to the old guy in the group for a bit then I leave with one of the old women, who happens to be the grandmother of one of my friends. She doesn’t really believe my story, which I am a little saddened by. We walk down what seems like King St. in Waterloo. Where the 7-Eleven is, she turns to go in. In this city, it is not 7-Eleven but a grocery store. As she is walking in, I ask her if we are still on to act in a play together. "We still on for tomorrow night?" I ask. I was also going to make her some straight noodle pasta the night after. This had somehow been agreed upon earlier in the dream but I can’t remember why. She says, “No I don’t think so,” and turns and walks in the store. I am a little hurt, as I think she said no because she doesn’t believe my story.
So I walk home. It is a little flat where MacDonell’s would be in Waterloo. Everyone who lives there with me is kind of indie/grimey, dressed with skinny jeans and shirts stolen out of the Libertines or Strokes catalogue. One of the guys who lives in my flat is on the couch looking like he is comin down from a trip. The apartment is dim and kind of dirty looking. I sit on the couch with my computer and I get a written message on Skype. My French exchange friend Audrey is telling me about how some other exchange student guy slipped and fell off a roof while he was looking at the fire and broke his arm. I re-read and realize that he fell and stayed on the roof, and that is why his injuries were minimal. I explain my story. She says, “Oh you both had the same thing happen!” I am slightly angered that she too does not fully understand how much crazier my fall was. I mean, it was some serious Bruce Willis action.
Out of one of the rooms, Albert Hammond Jr., lead guitarist for the Strokes, walks. I am stunned because I didn’t know he lived with me. I think to make sure it is him, convince myself that it is, then put my computer down and jog out after him. “Albert!” I yell. He turns around, clearly angered that I have stopped him. “Do you live here?” I say. “No, I just like walking around in there you fucking idiot.” He walks away, even more angered. I am hurt and a little embarrassed because I had entertained the idea of asking for an autograph and I now realize that is a childish thing to do. As he walks away, I realize he has blond highlights in his curly white-boy fro.
Then I wake up. Apparently Albert Hammond Jr. dissing me was the last straw.
And there it is Try analyzing that one, my Freudian friends.
DoJo
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Child-Eating Spiders
Well hello there,
I know I am terrible at updating. To the three of you reading this, I apologize. To the one person out of you three who accidentally stumbled on this site while looking to rent a disc jockey in Australia, I apologize to you as well for two things. I apologize first for not updating my blog regularly enough and secondly, I apologize because you are still reading this even though you just want to find someone who can spin some 'Umbrella' and 'Beautiful Girls' with some old school 'Love Shack' thrown in for a little dose of the nostalgia element at your upcoming party. Carry on with your search and thanks for popping in.
Now back to you other two. Sorry about that, I had to send him on his way. His party is gonna be lame anyway. Since I moved in last week, I have done a lot of lazing around, as I mentioned in my brief post prior to this one. My life is not much more exciting than yours, except it is hotter here and the spiders make you wonder how many small children they have consumed.
I am in school, which is kind of exciting I guess. I have classes from Wednesday to Friday, for a grand total of 12 hours. You could say my workload is fairly light. When we did introductions at the beginning of my classes, most of my peers said they were in their 5th or 6th year at university but "I have my fingers crossed this will be the term I graduate!" Keep in mind the business program here is only 3 years. A lot of students just do part time courses or just take a year or two off to travel or work. The laid back Australian mentality extends into every area of life, including education. I love these people.
Our professors don't want to be addressed as Professor ________, or even Mr. or Mrs. ___________. No, my professors go by their first names. There is no title separating you from them. Students joke with them during class. They make fun of students during class. I do have one terribly nervous, shy professor with absolutely no charisma. I attempted to switch out of her class into the only other class that will fit with the courses I need when I come back to Laurier. Unfortunately, she teaches that course too. So it looks like I am stuck with her. Don;t get me wrong, she is very nice and I talked to her after class for 5 minutes, but listening to her lecture is reminiscent of one professor I had at Laurier named Anne Graham Ramsoomair. And due to her lack of confidence and boring presentation, I ended up attending about 10% of her lectures. Since I have only 12 hours per week this term, I think I can manage to sit through her drone once a week.
One of my professors gave us a quick rundown of how you can read just the first and last paragraph of each section in your book in order to get the gist of it without wasting your time reading the whole thing. Did I mention I love Australians?
(I just went to get a glass of milk in my kitchen and had the nice treat of watching a gecko pick off 2 mosquitoes in a row on our kitchen wall. I love geckos. They are everywhere but you don't even mind having them in your house. They eat the mosquitoes and you get to watch. Everybody wins!)
I am trying to get a job now. I am going to lead a fairly mundane existence until school ends in June and then I want to do some amazing travelling when Ash comes to visit (and Sean too. I can't believe you are coming too, you crazy ass. I can't wait for both of you). I figure if I can get a job now and make some good cash, then I will be sitting comfortably when school ends and travelling time begins. I have been applying for some solid part-time marketing jobs so far, but they have not been bearing much fruit. So I will start applying for any and everything very soon (a job as a waiter will earn you 18 dollars an hour here and the unemployment rate is 4.1% - ridiculously low)
Did you know Australia has been in a drought for 9 years? Well, you do now. They have signs up everywhere advising you to keep your showers under four minutes (which I accomplished easily my first three weeks in the hostel by not purchasing shampoo or conditioner. My hair looked great.)
Anyway, here's my point. Australia may be in a drought, but since I have come, I have made it rain like Fat Joe (obligatory rap reference). The dam water levels have been as low as 14%, but now they are somewhere near 30 or 40%. All because I have made it rain since I got here. Long story short, it has rained more than I expected since I got here, but I don't mind. It is helping the farmers and I am still getting my fair share of sun (i.e the three days in a row last week that topped 37 degrees)
The problem with me is that I am too lazy to keep my blog updated but then when I do update it, I can just go on forever. Going on forever would be ok if I told you about the kangaroo I boxed or the koala that I rescued from a tree (before resident Australians told me that they liked it in the trees) but I am not telling you anything that exciting. Instead I am telling you about the unemployment rate and university professors.
So I am going to stop. Thank you once again for actually reading this if you did. If you just read the first and last paragraph, I commend your strategy. Just as a final note, I want to say that the life I am leading here in Australia is not some stupendous fantasy. I am going to school, looking for a job, dealing with the bank, taking the train, living in a house. None of this is the stuff of fairy tales. But even though I have not yet gone on an outback adventure or anything crazy like that, I still want to say that you should come to Australia if you have the chance. It has the beautiful weather and beaches of any resort destination you may go to, and the people here are the friendliest people in the world. When you are walking down the street with a map, they stop you to ask if you need a hand. That actually happened to me. So if you wanted to come before, let me re-assure you that it is worth the trip.
I am enjoying myself and I miss you guys too.
(By the way, the inflation rate here is probably going to hit 4% this quarter and the Reserve Bank of Australia has warned it could stay above 3% for the next couple years. The country is currently enjoying its longest sustained period of prosperity in 50 years. Economists are worried it is getting too high and the economy could be headed for a letdown, but I am not an economist so let's forget about that part and just remember Australia is prosperous!)
(In my readings on the inflation rate, I surmised that that the reason for the recent rain alleviating the drought is due to the arrival of La Nina weather patterns in Australia. I still stand by my statement that I have made it rain.)
I know I am terrible at updating. To the three of you reading this, I apologize. To the one person out of you three who accidentally stumbled on this site while looking to rent a disc jockey in Australia, I apologize to you as well for two things. I apologize first for not updating my blog regularly enough and secondly, I apologize because you are still reading this even though you just want to find someone who can spin some 'Umbrella' and 'Beautiful Girls' with some old school 'Love Shack' thrown in for a little dose of the nostalgia element at your upcoming party. Carry on with your search and thanks for popping in.
Now back to you other two. Sorry about that, I had to send him on his way. His party is gonna be lame anyway. Since I moved in last week, I have done a lot of lazing around, as I mentioned in my brief post prior to this one. My life is not much more exciting than yours, except it is hotter here and the spiders make you wonder how many small children they have consumed.
I am in school, which is kind of exciting I guess. I have classes from Wednesday to Friday, for a grand total of 12 hours. You could say my workload is fairly light. When we did introductions at the beginning of my classes, most of my peers said they were in their 5th or 6th year at university but "I have my fingers crossed this will be the term I graduate!" Keep in mind the business program here is only 3 years. A lot of students just do part time courses or just take a year or two off to travel or work. The laid back Australian mentality extends into every area of life, including education. I love these people.
Our professors don't want to be addressed as Professor ________, or even Mr. or Mrs. ___________. No, my professors go by their first names. There is no title separating you from them. Students joke with them during class. They make fun of students during class. I do have one terribly nervous, shy professor with absolutely no charisma. I attempted to switch out of her class into the only other class that will fit with the courses I need when I come back to Laurier. Unfortunately, she teaches that course too. So it looks like I am stuck with her. Don;t get me wrong, she is very nice and I talked to her after class for 5 minutes, but listening to her lecture is reminiscent of one professor I had at Laurier named Anne Graham Ramsoomair. And due to her lack of confidence and boring presentation, I ended up attending about 10% of her lectures. Since I have only 12 hours per week this term, I think I can manage to sit through her drone once a week.
One of my professors gave us a quick rundown of how you can read just the first and last paragraph of each section in your book in order to get the gist of it without wasting your time reading the whole thing. Did I mention I love Australians?
(I just went to get a glass of milk in my kitchen and had the nice treat of watching a gecko pick off 2 mosquitoes in a row on our kitchen wall. I love geckos. They are everywhere but you don't even mind having them in your house. They eat the mosquitoes and you get to watch. Everybody wins!)
I am trying to get a job now. I am going to lead a fairly mundane existence until school ends in June and then I want to do some amazing travelling when Ash comes to visit (and Sean too. I can't believe you are coming too, you crazy ass. I can't wait for both of you). I figure if I can get a job now and make some good cash, then I will be sitting comfortably when school ends and travelling time begins. I have been applying for some solid part-time marketing jobs so far, but they have not been bearing much fruit. So I will start applying for any and everything very soon (a job as a waiter will earn you 18 dollars an hour here and the unemployment rate is 4.1% - ridiculously low)
Did you know Australia has been in a drought for 9 years? Well, you do now. They have signs up everywhere advising you to keep your showers under four minutes (which I accomplished easily my first three weeks in the hostel by not purchasing shampoo or conditioner. My hair looked great.)
Anyway, here's my point. Australia may be in a drought, but since I have come, I have made it rain like Fat Joe (obligatory rap reference). The dam water levels have been as low as 14%, but now they are somewhere near 30 or 40%. All because I have made it rain since I got here. Long story short, it has rained more than I expected since I got here, but I don't mind. It is helping the farmers and I am still getting my fair share of sun (i.e the three days in a row last week that topped 37 degrees)
The problem with me is that I am too lazy to keep my blog updated but then when I do update it, I can just go on forever. Going on forever would be ok if I told you about the kangaroo I boxed or the koala that I rescued from a tree (before resident Australians told me that they liked it in the trees) but I am not telling you anything that exciting. Instead I am telling you about the unemployment rate and university professors.
So I am going to stop. Thank you once again for actually reading this if you did. If you just read the first and last paragraph, I commend your strategy. Just as a final note, I want to say that the life I am leading here in Australia is not some stupendous fantasy. I am going to school, looking for a job, dealing with the bank, taking the train, living in a house. None of this is the stuff of fairy tales. But even though I have not yet gone on an outback adventure or anything crazy like that, I still want to say that you should come to Australia if you have the chance. It has the beautiful weather and beaches of any resort destination you may go to, and the people here are the friendliest people in the world. When you are walking down the street with a map, they stop you to ask if you need a hand. That actually happened to me. So if you wanted to come before, let me re-assure you that it is worth the trip.
I am enjoying myself and I miss you guys too.
(By the way, the inflation rate here is probably going to hit 4% this quarter and the Reserve Bank of Australia has warned it could stay above 3% for the next couple years. The country is currently enjoying its longest sustained period of prosperity in 50 years. Economists are worried it is getting too high and the economy could be headed for a letdown, but I am not an economist so let's forget about that part and just remember Australia is prosperous!)
(In my readings on the inflation rate, I surmised that that the reason for the recent rain alleviating the drought is due to the arrival of La Nina weather patterns in Australia. I still stand by my statement that I have made it rain.)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
A Brief Update
Hello to anyone who is actually reading this blog. If you are reading this, I gotta lambast you for wasting your time (but thank you very much for wasting it on me). I am not very good at updating this regularly. I assure you that I do think of it often and even write down a little note about something I want to tell you guys. Then when the time comes to sit down and write it, I simply don't want to.
This is a brief update. The weather over the past three days has been scorching hot. 35-40 degrees hot. This is usually what Australian summers are like, but as locals are quick to tell you, this is the 'coolest summer I can remember in my lifetime.' A cool summer is still 26-28 degrees so it has still been pleasant, but the past couple days have been the kind of days where I have sat in front of a fan, not moving my body an inch, and still sweating like I am engaged in a full cardiovascular workout.
I have gone to two different beaches the past couple days to take advantage of the weather and it has been a lot of fun. Tonight I am heading into Brisbane to have a couple drinks with the International crew (I don't think I could have made that sound any dorkier. 'The International crew?').
Anyway, I thought I would check in and tomorrow I will write a more detailed post of what is going on in my life. It's really nothing that exciting. Since I moved into my own place on Monday, it has felt great to just laze around.
I hope everyone is doing well back in Canada. To my friends who just got back from their Reading Week trip to Cuba, I hope you had a great time. I am sure not much of it can be retrieved from your memory banks.
Word to Mutha
Ghetto D
This is a brief update. The weather over the past three days has been scorching hot. 35-40 degrees hot. This is usually what Australian summers are like, but as locals are quick to tell you, this is the 'coolest summer I can remember in my lifetime.' A cool summer is still 26-28 degrees so it has still been pleasant, but the past couple days have been the kind of days where I have sat in front of a fan, not moving my body an inch, and still sweating like I am engaged in a full cardiovascular workout.
I have gone to two different beaches the past couple days to take advantage of the weather and it has been a lot of fun. Tonight I am heading into Brisbane to have a couple drinks with the International crew (I don't think I could have made that sound any dorkier. 'The International crew?').
Anyway, I thought I would check in and tomorrow I will write a more detailed post of what is going on in my life. It's really nothing that exciting. Since I moved into my own place on Monday, it has felt great to just laze around.
I hope everyone is doing well back in Canada. To my friends who just got back from their Reading Week trip to Cuba, I hope you had a great time. I am sure not much of it can be retrieved from your memory banks.
Word to Mutha
Ghetto D
Monday, February 18, 2008
My New House!
Oh you're still here?
I have been living in a hostel for three weeks. While it has been fun and the hostel itself was pretty cool - it was built about 100 years ago as a Salvation Army and it had a sweet rooftop patio along with a verandah on every one of its 4 floors - I was quite eager to actually settle into my own place and unpack my suitcase. It took so long to find a place because my French friend Etienne and I did not want to spend a lot of money and apartments in the heart of Brisbane are exorbitantly expensive (like everything here in Australia). A 'cheap' two bedroom flat in Brisbane is 200 dollars a week, plus all the other add-ons such as internet, electricity, gas, and water. After a brutally dismaying search, we found a place in the town of Northgate, 5 minutes from our university, and 15 minutes from Brisbane (both by train).
It is $125 per week and that includes all of the add-ons. We are ecstatic at our good fortune. It is a 4 bedroom traditional Queensland-style home with 15-foot high ceilings and tons of room. The tenants as of now are me, Etienne, another French exchange student named Elodie, and our landlady is looking for one more to fill all the rooms. Our dining room table seats 10 very comfortably, our front hallway is about 25 feet long, and all the bedrooms are obscenely large. We have a large wrap-around verandah that all three of our bedrooms walk out to (the fourth tenant will not have this luxury).
To be succinct, I am very happy with how my accommodations turned out. I'll put some pictures up shortly.
'Til then, keep on keeping on.
D James
I have been living in a hostel for three weeks. While it has been fun and the hostel itself was pretty cool - it was built about 100 years ago as a Salvation Army and it had a sweet rooftop patio along with a verandah on every one of its 4 floors - I was quite eager to actually settle into my own place and unpack my suitcase. It took so long to find a place because my French friend Etienne and I did not want to spend a lot of money and apartments in the heart of Brisbane are exorbitantly expensive (like everything here in Australia). A 'cheap' two bedroom flat in Brisbane is 200 dollars a week, plus all the other add-ons such as internet, electricity, gas, and water. After a brutally dismaying search, we found a place in the town of Northgate, 5 minutes from our university, and 15 minutes from Brisbane (both by train).
It is $125 per week and that includes all of the add-ons. We are ecstatic at our good fortune. It is a 4 bedroom traditional Queensland-style home with 15-foot high ceilings and tons of room. The tenants as of now are me, Etienne, another French exchange student named Elodie, and our landlady is looking for one more to fill all the rooms. Our dining room table seats 10 very comfortably, our front hallway is about 25 feet long, and all the bedrooms are obscenely large. We have a large wrap-around verandah that all three of our bedrooms walk out to (the fourth tenant will not have this luxury).
To be succinct, I am very happy with how my accommodations turned out. I'll put some pictures up shortly.
'Til then, keep on keeping on.
D James
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Super Rugby vs. American football
Oh hey!
Last night I watched some Super 14 rugby with some Irish guys who are in living in my dorm at the hostel at the moment. The two teams that were playing were the NSW Waratahs vs. the Hurricanes in Sydney. There was also a cricket game on the TV beside this rugby game. Here in Australia, the three biggest sports are cricket, rugby, and soccer. Cricket is so big that when I was playing Hold 'Em at the casino, my entire table stopped to look at a cricket game on TV at various points in the game, including the dealer.
By the way, the dealers in Australia are much more friendly than back home in Niagara Falls. After playing here two nights in a row for 4 or 5 hours both nights, I was quite chummy with a couple of them. (eg. "Why do you keep giving me crap hands Jamie? Why are you so mean to me? What have you got against Canadians anyway?")
Back to the matter at hand. In the interest of diplomacy, I am going to say that I had absolutely zero interest in the cricket game because I don't understand it well enough. I am sure that if I understood the intricacies of this gentlemanly sport, I would surely appreciate it much more.
Now if I may take off my diplomatic hat, let me just say that cricket is the worst sport in the world and I cannot fathom how people have so much vested interest in a bunch of people standing around for up to 5 days at a time. I couldn't watch it for more than 20 seconds at a time, and when I did, two players were either smiling at each other, or a bowler was running approximately 4 kilometres before releasing a ball.
One great thing about reading about the sports in the newspapers is that you will find it quite comforting to know that athletes in other sports on other continents give the same pre-fabricated, cookie-cutter answers to reporters' queries.
Reporter: How do you feel the addition of new young talent will help the team this year?
Veteran player's response: Oh I think they will help tremendously. they haven't been around long enough to be afraid of making mistakes. I just hope that I can show them a couple things along the way about leadership. But I'm very excited about the new kids we got coming in this season.
You can also regularly read about athletes involved in barfights, drug charges, weapons charges, and other nefarious activities that you thought could only be done by the spoiled North American athlete.
Back to rugby. If you guys ever have the chance to watch Super Rugby, do it. These guys absolutely terrify me. They are all so huge, but they are also built for speed. And when they pick up the ball and start running with it, they all have the exact same look on their face: the look of William Wallace. the look says two things at once. On the surface, it says, "I am running as hard as I can at you and I am going to try to rip a hole through your chest in the process." Underneath the tough exterior, a tiny little glimmer in their eye says, "I could die in the next 5 seconds." But even that is terrifying because there is another little glimmer in their eye that says, "And I am totally fine with that."
Honestly, i think I like it better than the NFL - and I love the NFL. But the little things that have bothered me about American football are all corrected in Super Rugby. For one, there are hardly any breaks in the action. These guys just give 'er for 80 minutes. Also, when these guys absolutely level somebody -I am talking like shoulder to the chest while possibly tearing off a piece of their lip while dragging them to the ground - they get up and walk away as if nothing happened. Both the guy who got leveled and the guy who did the leveling. This seemed so unconscionable to me when I first observed it. How can someone hit another person that hard and not be so jacked on adrenaline that they dance around and scream? They restrain themselves because they have respect for the game and their opponent. And it is a welcome reprieve from the overblown histrionics of Ray Lewis et al when they merely trip a player by the shoelaces.
The fact that these guys don't wear equipment blows my mind. It blows my mind. If I played in one of these games, I would - without a doubt - die. I would be struck in the head and die. Even if I was still alive after the blow, there is no doubt in my mind that my body would shut down to avoid suffering another blow like the one it had just received. For this reason, all of the men I watched playing rugby were not merely men; they were demigods in my eyes.
I can't wait to watch another match and actually learn all the rules and nuances of the game. I might as well because it's one of the only things they show on the television at bars and restaurants. While I am here, I should make an effort to totally immerse myself in the culture. If it isn't rugby on the TV, it is soccer or cricket. And Lord knows I won't watch that crap!
Til next time,
Don Jam
(By the way, I have not shaven in about a month. I am trying to grow a kick-ass beard. It is a disgusting sham of a beard and I believe it even just stopped growing. It has reached its peak. It is such a sad excuse for a beard that I think even the aforementioned Asians laugh at its feebleness.)
(By another way, I still do not have my own house so I had to come to the state library to use a computer. I got here at 9:45 and it didn't open til 10. I waited outside for 15 minutes with 20 other people until the librarian let us in. Let's hope that is the last time I ever wait outside of a library in anticipation like it is a friggin concert. What a loser.)
Last night I watched some Super 14 rugby with some Irish guys who are in living in my dorm at the hostel at the moment. The two teams that were playing were the NSW Waratahs vs. the Hurricanes in Sydney. There was also a cricket game on the TV beside this rugby game. Here in Australia, the three biggest sports are cricket, rugby, and soccer. Cricket is so big that when I was playing Hold 'Em at the casino, my entire table stopped to look at a cricket game on TV at various points in the game, including the dealer.
By the way, the dealers in Australia are much more friendly than back home in Niagara Falls. After playing here two nights in a row for 4 or 5 hours both nights, I was quite chummy with a couple of them. (eg. "Why do you keep giving me crap hands Jamie? Why are you so mean to me? What have you got against Canadians anyway?")
Back to the matter at hand. In the interest of diplomacy, I am going to say that I had absolutely zero interest in the cricket game because I don't understand it well enough. I am sure that if I understood the intricacies of this gentlemanly sport, I would surely appreciate it much more.
Now if I may take off my diplomatic hat, let me just say that cricket is the worst sport in the world and I cannot fathom how people have so much vested interest in a bunch of people standing around for up to 5 days at a time. I couldn't watch it for more than 20 seconds at a time, and when I did, two players were either smiling at each other, or a bowler was running approximately 4 kilometres before releasing a ball.
One great thing about reading about the sports in the newspapers is that you will find it quite comforting to know that athletes in other sports on other continents give the same pre-fabricated, cookie-cutter answers to reporters' queries.
Reporter: How do you feel the addition of new young talent will help the team this year?
Veteran player's response: Oh I think they will help tremendously. they haven't been around long enough to be afraid of making mistakes. I just hope that I can show them a couple things along the way about leadership. But I'm very excited about the new kids we got coming in this season.
You can also regularly read about athletes involved in barfights, drug charges, weapons charges, and other nefarious activities that you thought could only be done by the spoiled North American athlete.
Back to rugby. If you guys ever have the chance to watch Super Rugby, do it. These guys absolutely terrify me. They are all so huge, but they are also built for speed. And when they pick up the ball and start running with it, they all have the exact same look on their face: the look of William Wallace. the look says two things at once. On the surface, it says, "I am running as hard as I can at you and I am going to try to rip a hole through your chest in the process." Underneath the tough exterior, a tiny little glimmer in their eye says, "I could die in the next 5 seconds." But even that is terrifying because there is another little glimmer in their eye that says, "And I am totally fine with that."
Honestly, i think I like it better than the NFL - and I love the NFL. But the little things that have bothered me about American football are all corrected in Super Rugby. For one, there are hardly any breaks in the action. These guys just give 'er for 80 minutes. Also, when these guys absolutely level somebody -I am talking like shoulder to the chest while possibly tearing off a piece of their lip while dragging them to the ground - they get up and walk away as if nothing happened. Both the guy who got leveled and the guy who did the leveling. This seemed so unconscionable to me when I first observed it. How can someone hit another person that hard and not be so jacked on adrenaline that they dance around and scream? They restrain themselves because they have respect for the game and their opponent. And it is a welcome reprieve from the overblown histrionics of Ray Lewis et al when they merely trip a player by the shoelaces.
The fact that these guys don't wear equipment blows my mind. It blows my mind. If I played in one of these games, I would - without a doubt - die. I would be struck in the head and die. Even if I was still alive after the blow, there is no doubt in my mind that my body would shut down to avoid suffering another blow like the one it had just received. For this reason, all of the men I watched playing rugby were not merely men; they were demigods in my eyes.
I can't wait to watch another match and actually learn all the rules and nuances of the game. I might as well because it's one of the only things they show on the television at bars and restaurants. While I am here, I should make an effort to totally immerse myself in the culture. If it isn't rugby on the TV, it is soccer or cricket. And Lord knows I won't watch that crap!
Til next time,
Don Jam
(By the way, I have not shaven in about a month. I am trying to grow a kick-ass beard. It is a disgusting sham of a beard and I believe it even just stopped growing. It has reached its peak. It is such a sad excuse for a beard that I think even the aforementioned Asians laugh at its feebleness.)
(By another way, I still do not have my own house so I had to come to the state library to use a computer. I got here at 9:45 and it didn't open til 10. I waited outside for 15 minutes with 20 other people until the librarian let us in. Let's hope that is the last time I ever wait outside of a library in anticipation like it is a friggin concert. What a loser.)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
My First Post
Hello to my friends and family,
I have been in Australia since the 29th of January and it has taken me three weeks to post my first entry. That seems like a long time, I know. I assure you my tardiness is warranted and I will give you a brief rundown of what has transpired since I arrived in the land down under on a humid Tuesday morning 3 weeks ago.
9:13 am: I stepped off the plane
9:15 am: I walked into the airport
9:20: I waited at customs
That could take awhile. Let me make it less comprehensive and briefly explain what I have been doing. The first day I slept from 4 pm - 2 am. Then I read a book in the lounge from 2 am - 5 am, then I slept from 5 am - 8 am. Then the next three nights I slept from about 9 pm - 6 am every night. I then wandered about this new and strange city for about three hours until stores actually opened at 9. Then I grabbed a delicious breakfast each morning and read a book. Then after breakfast I would walk around and discover more of the city until about 1 pm. At 1 pm I would eat a delicious lunch while reading my book. After lunch, you can imagine what I did until dinner. Then at dinner, you can also imagine what happened.
This was a very strange period. On the one hand, I was discovering a whole new city and discovering a whole new culture. On the other hand, I was going through some weird emotional swings and I could not seem to get rid of this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I can only assume that you know me quite well if you are taking the time to read this, so you must understand that usually the only emotions I experience are happiness and delirium (I am usually hovering between the two).
After four days of discovering, I spent one day in my room, watching 8 episodes of the Sopranos in a row. I did this partly because I was sick of walking around in the sunshine, only taking breaks to read in the park, go swimming at the beach in the middle of the city, or stop in to play some poker at the casino (it was a rough few days, I tell ya). I also just didn't want to leave my room. And thirdly, the Sopranos is frigging amazing. I bought some bread, some bananas, and some peanut butter. Then I laid in my bed stuffing a piece of peanut butter, a piece of banana, and a piece of bread in my mouth while watching those crazy mobsters. I finished off 6 bananas, a loaf of bread and the whole tub of peanut butter on that Saturday. I also ate 6 nectarines. It was quite the day. That sounds depressing? Is that what you just said? Well you are WRONG! It was fun! I was HAPPY!
Anyway, since that day my emotions have become stabilized and I am having even more fun. After the airport found my luggage (they lost it on the flight over. By the way, Australians are so laid back that they seemed totally unfazed by the fact that they lost my luggage. From what I have heard since, it is a very common occurrence with Qantas Airlines. I can believe this based on the line of 20 people at Missing Baggage when I was there) and I found a place to live early this week, a load was taken off my shoulders and I have been enjoying my time immensely.
I have made friends with some great people in the hostel in which I have been living for the past three weeks. I've befriended some British women and blokes, a couple German dudes, A New Zealander, a couple Swedish girls, some Irish lads, some French folks, and even Americans! A hostel is just as cool as you would expect it to be. My hostel is called the Palace and it is 4 stories tall with a rooftop patio that is the absolute dickens for sitting outside and reading.
Basically, what I am saying is that I haven't wrestled a koala, I haven't boxed a kangaroo, and I haven't played knifey-spooney with any Australian outbackers. But I am still having one hell of a time - and I still have all that stuff on the agenda. I will try to keep this blog updated regularly once I move into my own house tomorrow. I will also try to keep it shorter.
Keep on keeping on
I have been in Australia since the 29th of January and it has taken me three weeks to post my first entry. That seems like a long time, I know. I assure you my tardiness is warranted and I will give you a brief rundown of what has transpired since I arrived in the land down under on a humid Tuesday morning 3 weeks ago.
9:13 am: I stepped off the plane
9:15 am: I walked into the airport
9:20: I waited at customs
That could take awhile. Let me make it less comprehensive and briefly explain what I have been doing. The first day I slept from 4 pm - 2 am. Then I read a book in the lounge from 2 am - 5 am, then I slept from 5 am - 8 am. Then the next three nights I slept from about 9 pm - 6 am every night. I then wandered about this new and strange city for about three hours until stores actually opened at 9. Then I grabbed a delicious breakfast each morning and read a book. Then after breakfast I would walk around and discover more of the city until about 1 pm. At 1 pm I would eat a delicious lunch while reading my book. After lunch, you can imagine what I did until dinner. Then at dinner, you can also imagine what happened.
This was a very strange period. On the one hand, I was discovering a whole new city and discovering a whole new culture. On the other hand, I was going through some weird emotional swings and I could not seem to get rid of this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I can only assume that you know me quite well if you are taking the time to read this, so you must understand that usually the only emotions I experience are happiness and delirium (I am usually hovering between the two).
After four days of discovering, I spent one day in my room, watching 8 episodes of the Sopranos in a row. I did this partly because I was sick of walking around in the sunshine, only taking breaks to read in the park, go swimming at the beach in the middle of the city, or stop in to play some poker at the casino (it was a rough few days, I tell ya). I also just didn't want to leave my room. And thirdly, the Sopranos is frigging amazing. I bought some bread, some bananas, and some peanut butter. Then I laid in my bed stuffing a piece of peanut butter, a piece of banana, and a piece of bread in my mouth while watching those crazy mobsters. I finished off 6 bananas, a loaf of bread and the whole tub of peanut butter on that Saturday. I also ate 6 nectarines. It was quite the day. That sounds depressing? Is that what you just said? Well you are WRONG! It was fun! I was HAPPY!
Anyway, since that day my emotions have become stabilized and I am having even more fun. After the airport found my luggage (they lost it on the flight over. By the way, Australians are so laid back that they seemed totally unfazed by the fact that they lost my luggage. From what I have heard since, it is a very common occurrence with Qantas Airlines. I can believe this based on the line of 20 people at Missing Baggage when I was there) and I found a place to live early this week, a load was taken off my shoulders and I have been enjoying my time immensely.
I have made friends with some great people in the hostel in which I have been living for the past three weeks. I've befriended some British women and blokes, a couple German dudes, A New Zealander, a couple Swedish girls, some Irish lads, some French folks, and even Americans! A hostel is just as cool as you would expect it to be. My hostel is called the Palace and it is 4 stories tall with a rooftop patio that is the absolute dickens for sitting outside and reading.
Basically, what I am saying is that I haven't wrestled a koala, I haven't boxed a kangaroo, and I haven't played knifey-spooney with any Australian outbackers. But I am still having one hell of a time - and I still have all that stuff on the agenda. I will try to keep this blog updated regularly once I move into my own house tomorrow. I will also try to keep it shorter.
I hope all is well back in Canada. This blog is not a true ‘blog’. Its main purpose is to update those who actually care what the hell I am doing here – those I would call my loved ones. Instead of sending you personal emails, you can check this site out and I can post some pictures and what-not as well. Thanks for reading and email me or leave a comment if you want. If you are reading this, I probably either love you or I am just very fond of you. For the sake of succinctness, I think I will just say I love you all and miss you.
Except for you, Sasso. I wish you would stop sending me naked photos.
Oh, apropos of nothing, the spiders here are just as huge as you would think. God, they are monstrous.
And also, today I saw a fat 10 year old kid wearing a t-shirt that said 'Wii Sports All Star'. Nintendo likes to boast that Wii can help get kids in shape. Someone should send them this kid's picture. Am I evil if I smiled at a fat kid in an ironic shirt?
Oh and also, you would not believe how many Asians reside in Brisbane. They are everywhere. And just like everywhere else in the world, they have crazier hair and clothes than anyone else. They also only talk to other Asians. I have had Asians in my room for a week who have not said more than one word. You know when you watch a show a about a serial killer who has been apprehended and they interview the neighbour? The neighbour will invariably say, "Ya, I saw him every day but he kind of kept to himself. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I never really knew what he was doing." That statement pretty much sums up how I would describe the Asians I have met while in Brisbane. I am not saying they are serial killers. I am just saying I don't know that they aren't serial killers.
Keep on keeping on
Donald James Frank Demers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)