Ahhhh, the good life. That’s what I’ve been doing recently. All I do is work, read or watch TV shows, and take it easy. A number of my friends have left, which makes things a tad depressing, but my countdown til home has now reached 11 days. I’m getting real excited, and hope to see as many people as possible.
It was quite sad to be overseas for Thanksgiving. I did get to enjoy a nice dinner last night with a few friends, but nothing can replace time with family and eating turkey, gravy, stuffing, and an assortment of any delicious pies.
In sporting news, Beckhem mania has hit Sydney. The LA Galaxy are in town for a friendly with the home side Sydney FC. At the match on Sunday night, the Galaxy were introduced to the crowd. The Cove’s reaction was quite negative, espousing their usual hatred for the opposition. But the chants included mean things about Posh Spice and how Beckham was a waste of money.
Tonight is the friendly, and I’m excited for it. Getting to see Beckham for some reason really has me intrigued. I don’t know what it is, but I also think there is a hint of American pride at getting to see an MLS team match up against an A-League side. Kind of one league vs. the other. Also excited because I’m in the process of writing something up from the game for a soccer website. We’ll see how that goes.
Hope everyone is well and that I see you over break. Who ever you are.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Holiday
Well, not much going on here. Holiday seems more like workaday. I've been in everyday this week. Maybe I'll take off this Friday. But who knows. I need the cash flow, I guess.
One thing that's been troubling recently is the question of what to do with my life. A lot of nagging fears dangle over my head. I've sort of put off that question while taking this year adventure, but I'm heading right back to square one. I understand that one doesn't figure out what to do with the rest of your life right after graduating college, but still. I guess I'm frustrated at not having a better idea of what to do with myself. I'd like to work with a large publishing company, but there are hesitations there. I'd like to take a crack at sportswriting; again, various hesitations there. Only time will tell, really. I like sports. Working in sports in some capacity would be pretty sweet. I don't know. Enough about that.
Today is Thanksgiving in the States. Not here. And while that is sad to think that the last 21 years of my life I sat around and ate Turkey (ok, maybe not the last 21, but the point is made), it's fun to realize that I am living in a foreign country challenging myself. Let me add a disclaimer to that: I'm not saying those who are in the country aren't challenging themselves; realizing that I'm missing the holiday because I'm on this little journey makes up for it. A little bit.
Working has been alright. The experience of being in the corporate world hasn't been all that bad, but at the same time, nothing to write home about. I go in, do some work, go home, do some reading, go to bed, repeat the next day. The nice thing about it is the weak US dollar means that I'm making more; still I'd rather see the AU dollar fall to it's level of two years ago. .50 on the dollar would be stellar.
Of note, the Australian elections are this weekend. I found out from one of my co-workers that it is compulsory to vote. Every citizen has to, otherwise they are fined around $120. Kind of makes me wonder what would happen in the States if it was mandatory to cast a vote each year. Would it be a good thing, or would it be a bad thing? And is there any way to test this theory?
One thing that's been troubling recently is the question of what to do with my life. A lot of nagging fears dangle over my head. I've sort of put off that question while taking this year adventure, but I'm heading right back to square one. I understand that one doesn't figure out what to do with the rest of your life right after graduating college, but still. I guess I'm frustrated at not having a better idea of what to do with myself. I'd like to work with a large publishing company, but there are hesitations there. I'd like to take a crack at sportswriting; again, various hesitations there. Only time will tell, really. I like sports. Working in sports in some capacity would be pretty sweet. I don't know. Enough about that.
Today is Thanksgiving in the States. Not here. And while that is sad to think that the last 21 years of my life I sat around and ate Turkey (ok, maybe not the last 21, but the point is made), it's fun to realize that I am living in a foreign country challenging myself. Let me add a disclaimer to that: I'm not saying those who are in the country aren't challenging themselves; realizing that I'm missing the holiday because I'm on this little journey makes up for it. A little bit.
Working has been alright. The experience of being in the corporate world hasn't been all that bad, but at the same time, nothing to write home about. I go in, do some work, go home, do some reading, go to bed, repeat the next day. The nice thing about it is the weak US dollar means that I'm making more; still I'd rather see the AU dollar fall to it's level of two years ago. .50 on the dollar would be stellar.
Of note, the Australian elections are this weekend. I found out from one of my co-workers that it is compulsory to vote. Every citizen has to, otherwise they are fined around $120. Kind of makes me wonder what would happen in the States if it was mandatory to cast a vote each year. Would it be a good thing, or would it be a bad thing? And is there any way to test this theory?
Monday, November 19, 2007
Relax [Take it Easy]
Haven't been back for awhile. That could be due to the fact that not much has been going on recently. I recovered from my experience with tonsillitis/strep throat and have been just going to work and hanging out around the Village. In all honesty, that's it. That's my life. But I'm not going to leave a post with just that. So I will go into some detail as to what I've been doing.
I decided that once Uni was over, I would walk home from work everyday. This happens to be close to a three mile walk, so I'm getting a good amount of exercise in. It also gives me a lot of time to think about life and what's next on the agenda. It's funny to think that I came here to delay "real life", but end up facing the same issues posed to me during senior year. People have asked me what I want to do or what my plan is, and it's kind of scary to think about the future. I know that I'd like to work in the print/new media field, spreading information around to other people. I'd enjoy bringing truth into people's lives; it's depressing to think that the media is hesitant to tell people what is actually going on. Although I am not one to be the judge of that. I jest with people and my response falls into the line "if someone will pay me to read and write, I'll be happy." And the quote has some truth to it, but I don't want life to be that simple. I see people at work day in and day out and wonder to myself, "what are they doing with themselves?" Obviously, again I am no one to categorise what people are doing and what value it has, but I want to feel like I'm accomplishing something.
It's weird to think that Christmas is right around the corner. When the high temperatures are hovering in the mid to low 70s, Thanksgiving and the Holiday season is far from my mind. I usually associate a cool fall day with Thanksgiving, and hopefully a white Christmas. Usually doesn't happen, but it is fun to hope for. Oh and I've definitely started listening to Christmas music.
Just for kicks, the countdown to being home is now at 18 days. I've never wanted to be back more than now. Not that homesick, just miss the security of it. I guess.
I decided that once Uni was over, I would walk home from work everyday. This happens to be close to a three mile walk, so I'm getting a good amount of exercise in. It also gives me a lot of time to think about life and what's next on the agenda. It's funny to think that I came here to delay "real life", but end up facing the same issues posed to me during senior year. People have asked me what I want to do or what my plan is, and it's kind of scary to think about the future. I know that I'd like to work in the print/new media field, spreading information around to other people. I'd enjoy bringing truth into people's lives; it's depressing to think that the media is hesitant to tell people what is actually going on. Although I am not one to be the judge of that. I jest with people and my response falls into the line "if someone will pay me to read and write, I'll be happy." And the quote has some truth to it, but I don't want life to be that simple. I see people at work day in and day out and wonder to myself, "what are they doing with themselves?" Obviously, again I am no one to categorise what people are doing and what value it has, but I want to feel like I'm accomplishing something.
It's weird to think that Christmas is right around the corner. When the high temperatures are hovering in the mid to low 70s, Thanksgiving and the Holiday season is far from my mind. I usually associate a cool fall day with Thanksgiving, and hopefully a white Christmas. Usually doesn't happen, but it is fun to hope for. Oh and I've definitely started listening to Christmas music.
Just for kicks, the countdown to being home is now at 18 days. I've never wanted to be back more than now. Not that homesick, just miss the security of it. I guess.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Rain
Finally feeling better. My throat still likes to flare up now and then, but eating has now gone from tolerable to almost enjoyable again. No longer do I think a series of knives pressing themselves into the back of my mouth.
That lovely image aside, I spent the first full week of summer vacation at work. I'm still on the fence on what to do: either work my butt off and see less of Australia, or take it somewhat easy and go to the beach every weekend. My initial thoughts are to choose the latter. Heck, you only live in Australia once. I don't want to waste that working at a Legal Publishing House 50 hours a week. 40 should suffice. And I've had thoughts of trying to pick up a bar job on the side, but I don't need to work myself to death.
Home is now a little less than a month away. I'm very excited about this. Despite the fact that I'll be going from a warm, summer climate, into the freezing cold of the Eastern US, I can't wait to see friends and family. A level of uncertainty of where I'll be has me a bit worried, but I'll figure out.
One interesting event of the week: I went to an NBL game this week. The NBL is the Australian professional league; not bad, but no mind blowing skill on display. Midway through the first quarter, my friends Eamonn and Paolo noticed that the stars of the And 1 Mix tape tour were courtside. Mainly they noticed the Professor, the white dude with a mad handle. Sitting next to him was Escalade, a 375 pound, 6-10 black guy. He was huge. So we yelled to the Professor, and asked for a pic. He gave us the head nod to come down. Seemed like a nice guy. So Eamonn and Paolo got their pictures taken with the Professor. I didn't really care all that much to be honest. The game itself was exciting. Sydney won in the end, beating Brisbane, the defending champions. At the end of the game we ran into more of the And 1 guys. All in all, a cool night, although I wish I knew more about the mix tape tour.
Time to go and relax. Took the day off. It's been raining the last two weeks here. Not so much fun.
That lovely image aside, I spent the first full week of summer vacation at work. I'm still on the fence on what to do: either work my butt off and see less of Australia, or take it somewhat easy and go to the beach every weekend. My initial thoughts are to choose the latter. Heck, you only live in Australia once. I don't want to waste that working at a Legal Publishing House 50 hours a week. 40 should suffice. And I've had thoughts of trying to pick up a bar job on the side, but I don't need to work myself to death.
Home is now a little less than a month away. I'm very excited about this. Despite the fact that I'll be going from a warm, summer climate, into the freezing cold of the Eastern US, I can't wait to see friends and family. A level of uncertainty of where I'll be has me a bit worried, but I'll figure out.
One interesting event of the week: I went to an NBL game this week. The NBL is the Australian professional league; not bad, but no mind blowing skill on display. Midway through the first quarter, my friends Eamonn and Paolo noticed that the stars of the And 1 Mix tape tour were courtside. Mainly they noticed the Professor, the white dude with a mad handle. Sitting next to him was Escalade, a 375 pound, 6-10 black guy. He was huge. So we yelled to the Professor, and asked for a pic. He gave us the head nod to come down. Seemed like a nice guy. So Eamonn and Paolo got their pictures taken with the Professor. I didn't really care all that much to be honest. The game itself was exciting. Sydney won in the end, beating Brisbane, the defending champions. At the end of the game we ran into more of the And 1 guys. All in all, a cool night, although I wish I knew more about the mix tape tour.
Time to go and relax. Took the day off. It's been raining the last two weeks here. Not so much fun.
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