So life is really good right now.

It's sunday at 9:45PM. Im getting ready to hit the sack early so I can wake up Monday morning to watch Big Blue in the Super Bowl at 10AM.

I had previously written this whole bit about why I came to Australia(below this one with a little more detail about my flight, etc). That I was searching for the body of Bodhi from Point Break, convinced that he survived the dreaded 50 year storm. But I figure I'll save that for the 4 people that might find it funny. Truth is, I got into business school and kind of just said fuck it. I always wanted to come out here, worked with a bunch of awesome Aussies at Camp Cedar, booked a flight and here I am.

Ive been here a little over a week now and I am really starting to love it.

The flight out went really well. I was originally stuck in a middle seat, 52B, next to a 400 lb bulooga whale, convinced that this was a sign of a shitty trip to come. But after a little flirting with some flight attendants (male and female) I managed to secure a nice window seat next to a sweet Australian girl and had a pretty reasonable flight. An Ambien some Red wine and that movie with the Rock finding a little girl on his door step and I found myself in Sydney.

I got lucky. I struck up a conversation with a couple of 30-something Chicago meatheads in the bar in the San Fran airport and then stumbled upon them while setting up my phone at the airport. We ended up sharing a cab to Bondi and better, I had people to contact.

I had a hostel for the first couple of nights. I'm no snob (in Collegiate/Penn terms, otherwise yes), but this place was pretty fucking gross. I slept with my head in my hands on top of the pillow rather then risk the potential skin disease that may come with planting my face into the sheets.

So I arrived Thursday morning at around 9:00AM.

I checked out the beach and was amazed. Beautiful women. It was like an Unterberg sales conference. And this wasn't Daytona. The fashions were so weird/different. Dudes in speedos, women wearing really weird sandals. I probably stood out like a sore thumb in a pair of ASU shorts and some new balances.

For the rest of the weekend I hung out with my two chicago meathead buddies. We went to a bar in Bondi the first night, the second night I hung out with some Irish blokes from my hostel and then the third night was Australia Day. We went into Darling Harbor (center city) for the celebration which was incredible. Picture Independence day but with people that actually like their country.

The bars are all incredible. Its all Australians and Irish people. People are so genuinely happy. They all sing along to the songs at the bars and not cause they are awkward or bored like they are most of the time back home, but because they genuinely just like singing. Unfortunately for me, there were no Coldplay tracks at the bar, but when Wonderwall by Oasis came on, I hugged a bunch of Irish and sang my little heart out.


I also moved into my flat that first Saturday (week ago). Through a friend of a friend I fond a place with this older Australian couple (mid 30's) and their friend who had recently broken up with his girl friend.

It couldn't have worked out better. I have a place about 4 blocks from the beach, the people are very friendly and amazing cooks. Two things are really fascinating about the group. First their knowledge and interest in American politics. They know more about the elections that I do (not saying much) and just seem very curious.

Second, their taste in televsion. It's so bizarre. These are nice, smart, normal people. Yet they watch the crappiest television imaginable. They are obsessed with Sci Fi. There favorite show is Starship something or other starring Macgyver and the dude from Parker Louis Can't lose. The other day I caught them deep into Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift.

So the first weekend was great. But the two chicago meatheads went off travelling.

This was good because these guys really liked to drink. It was exhausting.

This week I found myself taking it easy. One, because I needed the rest but also because I didnt really have much else to do. I got into a nice routine of 11am wakeup, breakfast, check the internet for about an hour or so, go for a run/exercise at this local park, lunch, beach, relax, dinner, sleep. Not bad.

But I was a little bored. I didn't really have any people to hang out with. I didn't want to just show up at bars and strike up conversations.

But things really worked themselves out.

I have been meeting people thru friends of friends from back home and then friends of friends of friends.

On thursday I went to see the West Sydney Razor Backs, a professional basketball team out here, play, along with a couple of Aussies that I was put in touch with. It was a couple, the guy was 6'10 and friends with Luke Schensher, the fromer Georgia Tech stand out 7-footer. Apparently Im going to hang out with him in Adelaide in a couple of weeks. It's really a goal of mine to accumulate as many 7-foot friends as possible for my Facebook profile picture. Currently it's Longar Longar of the university of Oklahoma, but Schenscher is definitely within reach.

The game was a blast. The talent was about as good as a Dartmouth/Brown game but it was still awesome to see.

Friday I met up with this girl Kristen, another friend of a friend back home. She has turned into my saving grace out here. She just moved out here for work just a couple of days before I got out here and is kind of in a similar boat. She couldn't be a sweeter kid and she also has a really pleasant phone voice. She's gone out of her way to introduce me to people that she has met, mostly through work. We went out had some fun.

Saturday, same thing. I met a couple more American girls on the bus to the bar. It's weird, never in a million years would I strike up a conversation on a bus in New York, but out here, it just seems normal. It's just weird being a "foreigner." These girls were from Jersey. Cousin Evan would be proud.

I met Kristen and a bunch of her co-workers at this bar in the city. Great time. I met this 6'0 blonde Australian girl, fell in love. You get the drift. But it was a blast. Australian girls seem to really take to Americans. I guess I am finally the guy with the accent. And I can also defend my lack of fashion sense as just being "American." No one knows better. So t-shirt, jeans and Tims it is.

But it's really been a lot of fun. Really couldn't be happier.

The culture is just incredible out here. Everyone is so friendly. It's so tremendously diverse - the other night my flat mates had two Germans named Jergen over for dinner- and people are really interested in hearing about life in the States, especially New York.

It's been ten days and it feels like its been a year.

The other night my housemates cooked Beer Can chicken. They put a chicken on a half full can of beer and cooked it. Maybe the best chicken I have ever had.

That kind of sums up the experience so far. It's just been great and different. I can't even imagine how much fun my friends from Penn had studying abroad here. The weather, people, nightlife are all so awesome.

It's surprisingly extremely expensive out here. I've just been pillaging cash. The only thing that is cheap is beer at bars. But otherwise, it's more expensive than New York. Good time for the American dollar to be at an all time low I guess.

So yeah, that is where I am.

A couple of days ago I was convinced I would only stay in Sydney for a month or so but now I really never want to leave. My damn brother and his damn wedding to his damn perfect fiancee who I love, otherwise, I may have stayed out here till school started.

That's all for now.

Hopefully everything is going great back in the States.

Big Blue tomorrow morning. This could be a lot of fun.


All the best,
Jon