Well it has been 9 days since my last post, but a lot has been accomplished. Hey! I said more regular, not scheduled regularly.

In Life these past 9 days:

• The St. Louis Cardinals won the National League Championship Series and are currently 1-0 in the World Series against the Texas Rangers.
• Julie & Mike McCourt had a beautiful baby boy named Riley Francsis McCourt. (I know...I liked Wilson Francis McCourt better too!) Both baby and Julie are doing well, hopefully out and about soon...keep them in your prayers.
• I survived the 10 midterms/finals/quizzes/practicums/papers that I had over the past two weeks (11 days actually). Yes, it was insane. I'm hopefully catching up on sleep this next week.
• Bryce and Eileen Fortner were married on Saturday, Oct. 15 and had a beautiful Billiken wedding.
• Steve Jobs, the inventor and creator of Apple, Inc., passed away from respiratory arrest due to his long battle with pancreatic cancer.
• I successfully passed two practicums which proved that my "Critical Skills" and "Medical Administration" skills are satisfactorily up to par.
• My Philosophy teacher is still just as delusional.
• No one close or relatively close to me or my family has passed away or suffered from severe illnes. #ItIsAboutTime

As Fall Break approaches, and I break my yearly tradition of visitng ISU over their homecoming weekend, life has finally slowed down. At this moment in time, I have no tests coming up. No papers to write. No things to plan or do. I have work today and tomorrow, and a clinical orientation tomorrow morning. I have a couple weekend desk shifts to attend, and one night I am on call. The highlight of my weekend is volunteering in the Medical Tent of the St. Louis Rock & Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. So that is where I will be, probably all day on Sunday. Look for me there, as I'm on the sweep team! We'll see how it goes, I get a free T-shirt!

Best,
Wilson

Long Time Gone

It has been a while since my last blog. In fact, it has been months since my last update, but it hasn't been for lack of desire or finess to write, it has been lack of commitment and "something worthy to write about." I struggle with writing something that I won't be judged for or writing something that means something to someone. But, truth be told, you can't please everyone. While this blog started off as a way to communicate with the homeland while studying abroad in Australia (or so I said, as I actually had started it beforehand as a "True Life: Blogger" movement I tried to pull off).
Overtime, having left Australia and no chance of returning for a long while, continuing my education here at Saint Louis University, pouring my brains out in the Pius XII Memorial Library night after night, have been a tough endeavor. This blog post in fact is now in part two, as the first time I wrote it and attempted to come back to it, it disappeared on me. All of my writing genius gone to waste. However, here I am...writing again. I, like a few others I know (you know who you are), turn to writing for comfort, an escape, to show off your talent(s), and/or the pure love of using words and creativity to make something great. Currently, I'm pretending to take notes in my Philosophy 105 class. The professor is semi-delusional and talks about Meat, Alcohol, Naked Greek men wrestling each other, and other "philosophical" topics. Long story short, I'm not a fan of this class, but I get other stuff done when I don't pay attention. Hence...this blog.
I hope this blog becomes a semi-regular experience. While many other things that I enjoy in life have dissipated due to my extensive school/work/other load, I hope that writing is still able to be a part of it, regardless of how or what the topic is.

So here is my official re-Kick Off to my blog. I'm no longer in Australia, but my life is still just as interesting. Well, at least I like to think so. Jordan, you tried to get me to do this a while ago and I claimed I would. If you are reading this...here I am! Julie--Even though your baby is coming and you might not even know that much about my blog...I'm writing again.

Best to you all.

Until Then,

Wilson

Sweet As…New Zealand: Days 5&6

Being woken up by Amy’s driving through bouts of sleep, and eventually her asking me to drive, for the safety of myself and my friends, I got behind the wheel and drove us to Fox Glacier. Here, we put on some heavy duty boots, wool socks and other hiking equipment before heading out to climb New Zealand’s 3^rd largest glacier.

After a lot of walking and a few lessons on how and why the glacier formed, we finally approached the base of the massive, frozen beast that lay before us. We hiked about 1/5 of the way before strapping on our crampons, ice hiking spikes, and began hiking the intense trails of Fox Glacier. Weaving in and out of the frozen abyss, we touched the walls of ice, stomped on the tundra like path, and went through icy tunnels. Along the way, we took some pictures, talked more about the glacier, and even tasted some of the ice that was not (all that) dirty. As Justin, Dan and I drudged through the glacier path, we came along a small pool of crystal clear glacier water. We each dipped our hands in and got a nice drink of the ice cold water. Thirsting for more, I, the brave soul that I am, took a water bottle and filled it up, savoring the fresh ice mountain spring water for all of my friends to try. We passed it around, tasting the freezing cold, completely fresh spring water as we continued the hike. Hoping to pass another pool just like it, we hiked on and saw a whole lot of the glacier, more than any other group of half day adventurers saw. As we continued on, we found another pool where I once again filled both of our water bottles with the refreshing spring water. We met a nice, American couple from Texas who we shared our glacier treasure with. We continued downward and finally reached the starting point of our glacier walk. After a very long walk, we were all exhausted, and slightly hungover, from the day. We stopped, made the rest of the food we had, including Ramen, pizza and hot dogs, and then drove on, hoping to reach Christchurch at some point.

With Amy driving a majority of the night before, much to the relief of myself and everyone else, I once again braved the wheel and drove through the winding roads. With Emily Sieb as my co-pilot, she helped me to navigate our way to a good stopping point. With every campsite in the town we were in close, and looking for a place to stop, we settled for a nice little parking lot and called it a night. As day 5 ended, our trip was much more than the success we planned for.

The morning of day 6 started as Amy got behind the wheel and woke up the entire RV with her not so refreshing driving. Dan awoke with a cheery “Hi friends! Did I get the scooter?” after a plentiful 12 hour snooze, and the rest of us were quickly awake after the bouncing and swerving on the road. I swear, those jackrabbits and that wind really do affect your driving these days!

After we returned the RV, we headed back to the airport to fly home. As we checked in, the lady behind the ticketing counter told us that all of our luggage had to be less than 7kg. Freaking us all out, we started throwing away stuff we didn’t need; putting on multiple, multiple layers (I wore 7 T-shirts, a jacket, 3 pairs of socks, and a hoodie) we braved through security with wishful thinking. As soon as we got the clear to head to our gate, we peeled of our layers and waited for our flight home.

With 6 days in New Zealand, we only got to shower once, ate PB&J for too many meals, bungy jumped the 3^rd highest bungy in the world, climbed New Zealand’s 3^rd largest glacier, and road tripped on the left hand side of the road through the country. Crossing 2 things off of my bucket list, I ended the most epic (and expensive) vacation of my time in Australia and cannot wait to return to the country of “Sweet As”.

With finals looming before me, I wish you all happy and safe adventures until I tell you of my next excursions.

Until then,

Wilson

Sweet As…New Zealand: Days 3&4

After waking up, what felt like way too early, on Sunday, April 10^th, we refilled the water, dumped the waste water, met and fed a nice little duck we named Ronald, we headed out for Queenstown to test our limits at bungy jumping.

After a long, very rocky drive, we stopped at a nice little rest top, filled up on fuel and I got behind the wheel to spare the others from Amy’s not-so-subtle/safe driving. Having done my fair share of driving through the backwoods of Stonington and other parts of Illinois, as well as trips to Eminence, Missouri for canoeing, and my past experience with the family Suburban, the RV was hardly any different. I handled those New Zealand curves like it was my job, allowing the others to regain consciousness from all the whiplash they received after the first leg of the journey. Having been my birthday, I thought it was pretty sweet to be road tripping through the South Island with my window down and the tourism radio on. We arrived in Queenstown midday, and after a nice birthday celebration with a Hannah Montana singing card, a new stick of Burt’s Bees chap stick, and a match as a candle, we decided to have a walk around the town before heading to the greatest part of our trip.

Queenstown is a precious little village that looks like it should be in a movie. It is full of little shops and cafés and is right along the water’s edge. Throughout its streets, people walk around, sit outside and drink coffee, set up their easels and paint beautiful, scenic pictures, and play their instruments for people’s change. The weather was absolutely wonderful and the scenes were amazing. After hitting up some shops, we headed to A.J. Hackett bungy and arc swing. Signing some forms saying I knew the dangers, getting my weight and boarding the van, I was off to bungy jump the 3^rd highest bungy in the world, Nevis bungy. We headed to the back roads of Queenstown, put the van in 4-wheel drive, and high tailed it up a rocky mountain to the check in station.

Going to the bathroom to get rid of my nervous bladder, I strapped on a harness, reweighed in and headed off on the cable car to the bungy platform. Having the second biggest donk in our group, I was second to jump to my almost fate, relying solely on the elastic cords attached to my ankle. I sat in the birthing chair (some said it felt like the dentist, others like the gynecologist), and let the guy secure my bungy cord. Telling him it was my birthday, he shook my hand for a congratulations and I wobbled my way to the plank.

Looking out at the valley and river below me, I heard the countdown and leaped into a perfect dive. This was the most amazing feeling in the entire world! Free falling for 8-10 seconds. Pure bliss. A weightless feeling of nothing but looking down and being completely excited. That time felt like forever, and as I approached the end of it, I began to get nervous. Right before the cord caught and stretched to pull me back up, my life flashed before my eyes and I began to panic. Then, I felt the tension and bounced back up at least 50 meters. Plummeting back down and bouncing back up, and then failing to pull the rip cord, I rose back up to the jumping station upside down, only to be congratulated by my mates and the rest of the crew. I then watched everyone else in my group jump, went back to the station, bought the DVD to prove my jump and for all to see (Just ask!), and called my mom and dad. Thanks for not answering…on my birthday!

We then returned to Queenstown and headed off to our next campsite of the night for hot showers, grilled cheese, and some much needed sleep.

Monday the 11^th also came very early. With a lot of miles to cover and very little time to do it, we did not have a whole lot of time to stop and truly enjoy the towns of New Zealand due to our jam packed schedule. After some more reckless driving by Amy, we arrived in Milford Sound. Here, we went on a ferry tour to see many waterfalls, beautiful yet freezing cold, 300m deep water, and rock formations equipped with live seals. On the boat trip, I began to feel a little woozy, but was able to shake it off with some fresh air and fresh water mist from the massive waterfalls. Despite the day being cold and rainy, we got to see some lovely sights, and had we gone farther would have been able to see Antarctica. Lucky for us, that did not happen.

We then drove back to Te Anu and went on a glow worm cave tour. After a boat ride under the night sky through more beautiful mountains, we arrived at the cave and got to walk through seeing rushing water, amazing rock formations, and thousands of glow worms. Due to their bright lights, they almost looked like fake, glow in the dark paint all over the cave ceiling. We then headed back to the main land, and decided to cook some real food in our RV. We had NZ style Ramen and hot dogs (none for me of course!), and finished the night off by playing on a sweet as New Zealand playground. Hello, childhood! How have you been?

With a long way to our next destination, Amy decided to drive throughout the night while the rest of us partook in some adult like activities in the back. We played Old Maid and Uno, while listening to some country music and singing songs of American pride. After finishing off 2 handles of duty free alcohol (only the good stuff!) in about an hour, we were all in a pretty decent state at this point. We then met the Canaver’s, prayed the rosary and passed out to the lulling jerks of Amy’s driving. I wish I remembered a whole lot more of Monday night’s escapades, but celebrating my 20^th birthday, being in New Zealand, and Amy’s poor driving skills, things became blurry rather quickly. As Monday came to a close, the final two days of our trip were soon to follow.

Until Then,

Wilson



Sweet As…New Zealand: Days 1 & 2

After taking a plane, train, and automobile, along with the awkward question of “Have you ever driven on the right side of the road?” by Nugget (Dan Reiss), we arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand at around midnight on April 8^th with a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius. We took a limo (first time ever!) to our little motel to crash for the night and begin our adventure across the South Island of New Zealand. By the way, does anyone know the name of the movie with Josh Hartnett and Samuel L. Jackson, where Hartnett is a famous sports journalist and writes a story about a fighter, played by Jackson, who ends up homeless, slightly mentally ill, and tells stories of his past, most of which are lies? We only caught the end of it, and were wondering what it was called.

After some not-so-good motel coffee made from a coffee press/plunger, we headed to Maui Rentals and began our excursion. We watched the informational DVD, signed the paperwork, and headed out in our (assumed) 6 berth Maui motor home. I decided to co-pilot the first leg of the trip, holding my breath, saying many, many silent prayers and attempting to navigate and calm Amy down as she drove this massive, beast of an RV through roundabouts, windy-country roads and beautiful landscapes and mountains.

While the other comrades slept, played card games and mingled, Amy and I got us to a nice little town called Geraldine, where we made our first stop to use the toilets and see some NZ scenery. In this town, we visited some local shops where we got to try some New Zealand cheeses, fudge (not as good as yours Grandma Carolyn!), jams, marmalades, salsas, fruit cocktails, and, finally, some good ole’ New Zealand schnapps. We then headed back to our RV, made a nice lunch of PB&J, oranges and pretzels, and continued onward to our next destination.

We arrived in Lake Tekapo, with a loud, very high pitched scream from Amy, and came down to the water’s edge. Here, we witnessed some of the most gorgeous blue water with mountainous background almost too good for real life. I won’t lie…it almost looked fake!

 

After some exploring and more picture taking, we partook in our first set activity called the Lake Tekapo hot pools. Here, we stripped out of our trackeys and slipped into our swimmers, took a quick run to the pools, and soaked in the glorious 35, 39, and 41 degree Celsius hot pools for the evening. These pools use fresh, New Zealand, mountain spring water, all of which are sand filtered and heated using minimal energy, and actually produce heat as they work. After a long week of studying, flying, and tensed up driving, these were the exact relaxation we needed. We also visited the sauna, steam room, and even dared to jump into the 8 degree Celsius “Glacier Pool,” to prove our insanity.

After a long day and the hot pools near closing, we decided to head to our campsite and call it a night. Getting some comfort of home by watching “The Bourne Identity” with Matt Damon, we ended our Saturday, April 9, 2011 cuddling three and three into the two beds, only to wake up and start our next excursion just after dawn.

That’s all for days 1 & 2! Stay tuned for the next part(s) of my adventures.

Sweet As,

Wilson

SCUBA diving with Elvis, White Water Rafting with Canadians/Asians

I had a very expensive and interesting weekend in Cairns on March 17-20th. Sorry that it has been so long, but I have been very busy with school and catching up on old seasons of One Tree Hill. I sincerely apologize for this massive delay in my adventures. So, here is what Cairns is like...

We arrived late Thursday night to Gilligan's Backpacker Hostel on St. Patrick's Day, saw multiple partiers in their best green attire and dodged a few drunken fights as we checked in. After some room placement mishaps and an Australian girl yelling "You have been evicted!" on repeat (just like Big Brother, but not Julie Chen style), we made it to our room and called it an evening.
The next morning, we were off to the marina to begin our Scuba diving tour. On the boat, we met Elvis the entertainer who is responsible for some of our fabulous pictures as well as a few laughs here and there. As we began our excursion, everything was fine until the boat started moving. Family: Remember when we went deep sea fishing in South Carolina and I absolutely hated the boat part of it and felt horrible that evening? Yes...that happened again. As we were sitting in our scuba info session, I was doing everything possible from having to yell "Plan B" and run to the back of the boat. After it was over, I sprinted outside for some fresh air, luckily able to keep my small breakfast down.
Scuba diving was one of the most AMAZING things I have ever done. Being able to breathe underwater and see all the fish, corral and everything else so close and clearly was life changing. "It was like being in Finding Nemo," as some would say. We got to hold sea cucumbers, stick our hands into a massive clam, hold sea urchins and saw so many things. We did 2 dives, and the second one was very relaxed and we kind of got to do our own exploration, and it was definitely well worth it.
After a long day on the boat and a very nice sunburn, we headed back to our hostel, found dinner and called it another early night.

Saturday morning we had another early morning wake up call and headed up (I believe) to the Tully River to do some EXTREME white water rafting. Now when I say extreme, I mean extreme. They gave us life jackets and helmets and we braved the grade 4 currents (I think that is what you call them). We were thrown from the boat, flipped out, at one time thrown out by our rival boating gang, and the boat completely flipped over. Everybody but 2 people in my boat drew blood of some form, an I got some lovely scrapes from rocks and what not. White water rafting is absolutely no compairson to rafting/canoeing, but if you are a good or decent swimmer and comfortable with falling out of a boat into the river and risking your life, definitely do this! It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.

• Mother: You would have absolutely hated this weekend
• Dad, Aunt Angie, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tammy, brother/sisters/cousins: You would have loved this! We should definitely look into doing this some time.

Again exhausted from our day, we had dinner and ended our evening casually. The next morning, we watched our friends Sky Dive from 14,000 feet and then had some amazing breakfast at a little cafe. Cinnamon raisin French Toast covered in honey, with ice cream and delicious fresh fruit....and I got a macaroon on the side! It was amazing! The macaroon made me think of all my little FG nuts and Todd the Baker, and was definitely worth it.
We then went to a local bar, sat around watching some March Madness, before some old 'Stralian man switched it to Cricket/Rugby/Soccer, and had a couple jugs of beer to round out our day.

Weekend in Cairns was definitely worth the experience, but very strenuous on the bank account. I would go on this trip again if I were to go back and do it all over again, just prepared myself a little better.

Word on the street is that I have around 46 days left in the Land Down Under. A trip to New Zealand with my mates, a small adventure in Sydney, and then a trip to Perth with Aunt T stand before this, but I miss you all and miss home a little too.

See you all very soon!

Until Then,

Wilson

A Mexican Fiesta and Meeting an Australian Celebrity

After a normal week here at Bond Uni, with the pressures of midterms over and the latter projects beginning to pile up, I figured nothing would do me better than a little fun at the Mid-Semester Bash: Mexican Fiesta style. So, on Thursday, me and my fellow mates decided to witness the USA vs. Rest Of the World basketball game, which was quite an interesting sight. As most of USAs team were white boys, the other team had a wide variety of color, size, and nationality on their team....and were killing us in the beginning of the game. As time went on, and the crowd, myself included, got more into it (did I mention beer was only $2?) USA came back for the win. We were quite proud of ourselves and all decided to go out in style that evening, with our best Mexican attempts possible.

Going with the Mexican theme, I personally adorned the party with a Mexican Stash, my moccasins, and a self-made poncho that said "Donde esta' el Taco Bell?" Let's just say...I was a riot!

After a long night of speaking Spanish, and some attempted Italian, we called it a night before things got too out of hand.

The next morning, forgetting I had a Child Molester Mustache (it is only Mexican if it is at night and with a poncho), I went to breakfast and walked through campus. Let's just say...I got a lot of awkward stares and at first didn't know why. I apologize general public for looking like such a fool.

That Saturday, it was a friend's 21st birthday so we all went out to celebrate like good American mates we are. We made our rounds at the two bars, both equally lame, around campus and ended up at Varsit Tavern with a small group of people. While standing and chatting over a couple brewskis, someone mentioned to me "Hey, see that guy over there? Yeah, he is the captain of the Gold Coast Titan's Rugby team." At first I didn't believe him, but I was the only one with the courage to go and talk to him and find out. So I walk over there, beer in hand and 21st birthday party at on and sit down in front of a well dressed man and his friend.
"Word on the street is you are a pretty important guy here tonight? Are you the captain of the Gold Coast Rugby team?" I ask. He slightly chuckles and just says "Yeah. I am." Still not believing him, we turn to the rugby game that is on TV and he goes "Watch this play. I totally blow this kick." And sure enough, he did. So, I shake his hand and he says "Scott Prince, #7 and I'm the captain." Likewise, I ran to get a pen and anything he could write his name down on (a Varsity Tavern business card...classy I know!) and got his autograph. It is even made out to me...be jealous!
Once everyone else figured out it was really him, they all wanted to storm in and meet him too. Me, being the fly kid I am, sat right next to him and when I attempted to get a picture with him...everyone joined in! Sad moment, but hey...he was famous so I didn't mind.

So yes, I got to sit and have a beer with the captain of the Gold Coast Titans Rugby team (sorry ladies...he is married and has children), and went to their game last night. It was very exciting, yet slightly confusing to watch. I may or may not have yelled "We want a touchdown!" a few times. I give those boys credit for running full speed at other men doing the same with no one to block for them. Times are still grand here Down Under. Let's see what other excitement I can find.

Until Then,

Wilson

Mardi Gras in Sydney!

We left the glorious Bond University at 9pm Thursday night and headed to Sydney in New South Wales. The 12 hour bus ride was anything but marvelous, but we survived. After arriving at our hostel, The Wake Up, we set our stuff down in the down stairs bar, had a bit of brekkie and got ready for our day.

We walked all around the city, seeing the touristy sights and some of the local secrets. We walked through the Botanical Gardens that were full of fruit bats, by the Art Museum that had lots of famous artists and what not (naturally), lots of statues and other stuff.

Dodgeball inspired statue,

                                                                                      or statue inspired by Dodgeball?

We also saw the ANZAC Memorial, which is the Australia New Zealand Army Corps Memorial, which I will be celebrating this April in a local pub playing some form of Australian drinking game. Hey, it is what we were told to do!

We also saw St. Mary's Cathedral, which is one of the biggest churches in Australia and was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but a few lucky characters decided to sneak some. I was not one of the, as I wanted to keep my limbs.

We continued our walk and finally got to see what we had all waited for, and expected.....

The lovely Sydney Opera House. It is just as beautiful in person as it is in pictures, and gives you a rush when you think that this is the image you saw every single day during the Olympics of 2000. Behind the Opera House is the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which we got to go to the first look out and see over it. (It costs almost $200 to climb it)
After our tour of the city, we returned to our hostel and went out on our 3 hour booze cruise on Sydney Harbor. A 3 level boat with an open bar, pizza, a dance floor, and heaps of good times! After the boat docked we wandered back home and called it a night.

The next morning we awoke for another brekkie in the bar down stairs, and headed out to see The Blue Mountains. These were lovely sights, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them to everyone. It is something to see, but one of those "I came. I saw it. I won't need to see it again" kind of things. After a full day of mountainous sight seeing, we came back and started prepping for the Mardi Gras parade. We put on our neon clothing, acted a fool, and walked in a giant pack with other people down to the parade. Asian photograpehrs thought we were quite the sight and were snapping pictures of us, but there were some dressed a lot more crazy than we were. I won't go into details of this night, mainly because I don't remember most of them or am too embarrassed to say so!

Sunday, we took a ride on Manly Ferry around Sydney Harbor again to head to Manly and Shelly Beach. If anyone has seen the Amazing Race this season, yes this is where they were for their first leg of the race! It was so crazy to see the spot that Phil was standing, and all of the other parts of that leg of the race. Can't wait to do it when I get on the show!
We then headed to Bondi Beach, one of the most famous beaches in Australia and spent the day there. The water was a beautiful blue and crystal clear, the sand was soft and white, and everyone had a great time. We had a quick dinner and then had to head back to the bus for another long trip back to Bond Uni. We arrived home at around 6am and immediately crashed on top of our beds, dying to stretch out after cramming behind a bus seat. (Thanks a lot Kendall and Leeann for putting your seats back so far!)

So my weekend to remember at Sydney Mardi Gras was rememberd for the most part, just a little blurry at times. Oh well, we will see where my next adventure takes me!

Until Then,

Wilson



Sore nipples, Limbo, and Surfing at Mojo Surf Camp

Hello my lovely followers. I sincerely apologize for the lack of blogging, but it has truly been a crazy couple of weeks. I want to bring you up to speed on my latest endeavors here in Australia.

• I had my first Australian exam.
• As I was up late studying for it, and came back late from studying, I almost overslept it and missed it. Luckily, I have a trust friend that came and woke me up for it, and I think I did fairly well.
• I got back my first real Australian assignment.
• And did FABULOUS!!! I got a mark of Distinction, border line High Distinction, and my tutorial leader (?) told me I was very close to that higher mark and would be there in no time.
• I learned how to surf!!!!
• Read below!

So as my Friday, February 18th, approached and I anticipated surf camp all day like a child waiting on Christmas, I didn't expect it to happen like this. A hot pink, Mojo bus pulled up and a guy named Linton jumped off yelling "Who's ready to get crazy!?!?" If that wasn't enough excitement to get me going, I don't know what else could have added to it. On our way to Spot X in New South Wales, we stopped at a convenience store and perused through the candy aisles to see what Australian wonders we could find. I got a Crunchie, which was absolutely AMAZING! and we should totally get in the states, and some other type of chocolatey wonder. Australia's main chocolate manufacturer is Cadbury, which in my opinion tastes like cheap chocolate. I guess that's what I get from having Gramma Carolyn's annual Christmas and Easter gifts of Fannie May Chocolates.
After reboarding the bus, and listening to some very interesting Australian Hip Hop and lame Australian jokes, we continued onward. We switched drivers to a very funny Mate named Al who told us "This is my first time ever driving one of these things. If anyone wants to try, come on up!" Al also told us we would be on our way, but we had to pick up his dog first. Thinking he was joking we continued to watch the very inspirational movie "Blue Crush" (Thanks Tierr and/or Julie Swigert for letting us borrow this back in the day!). Next thing we know we are in a small, quiet neighborhood when our bus stops and Al runs off. Next thing we know, Al's little puppy, which was actually quite fat, climbed on board and made his way to the back every now and then introducing himself.
After we arrived at Spot X, "Sexy Dan" got onboard to introduce himself and give us a tour of Camp Mojo. Camp Mojo is a small campground that has a mess hall where we got our meals, outdoor seating, a fire pit, a makeshift stage with a stripper pole, and a movie room. We were led around and shown to our cabins, which were actually trailer homes that had been gutted and filled with bunk beds. We all claimed a bed, headed down to the beach to see the absolutely astounding full moon, and then called it a night.
After a very early 7 a.m. wake up call, we went to a hearty breakfast and then went to our first surf lesson. We learned the "Love 'N Safety" of surfing, which included: Always look cool, Don't wee in your wetties, and Tickle your nipps for good hand placement.
Then we grabbed our boards and headed to the beach to continue our lesson and work on Pop Ups. You know when you see people learning to surf in the movies and they practice paddling and figuratively jumping up on their boards? Well, it is true! Except we did it like 15 times...after he was semi confident in our popping up skills, our instructor Fister (it's last name) sent us out in the water. Surfing is no easy feet. You paddle your little heart out, attempt to pop up and then forget everything you have been taught. This happened a few times, but once you got the hang of it you feel pretty cool!
Note to all the men out there...DO NOT WEAR A CUT OFF WHILE SURFING! My nips had a great deal of chafing and took a long while to recover. The salt, sand, foam board, and friction of a T-Shirt did quite the work on those boys.
After our first lesson, which had many failures and many successes, me and my mates took some kayaks out into the water and had a look at the estuary, and then messed around until our next surfing lesson. Same instructions as last time, except this time Fister wanted us to practice some tricks. He wantes us to try a "Switch Foot" which entailed completely switching directions on your surf board. Let's just say easier said than done. While I had some pretty good runs, I had my fair share of bad runs. Regardless, I was satisfied with my surfing debut.
After some relaxation, a much needed meal, and another trip to the beach as we watched the harvest moon rise, we decided to engage in some Mojo Surf Camp night activites. For some reason or another, this included me doing Limbo. Me, a 6' 3" white American, beat out heaps of people! Yes, I won the limbo contest, beating out short, skinny little girls. I guess Toohey's Dry has some limbering effects! We then met some very lovely Norwegians and fellow Americans and played drinking games (Learned a new one!). That night I went to the beach with a few lovely people and we sat by a fire, took shots of Smirnoff (don't ask why!), and then went swimming, for some...clothing optional. (Mother my clothes were on the whole time! I swear. It was only the crazy Irish guy that wanted to flaunt his goodies!)
Then I had one of the most amazing showers of my entire life! The next morning, slightly hungover, we braved the waves one more time. This time we tried paddling out, through, and under waves. This was so difficult! Trying to grab onto your board and flip over, an Eskimo Roll, under a wave and then come out on top of it was quite difficult.
Regardless of my once again sore nipples, my weekend was amazing and I can now scratch surfing off of my Bucket List. The photographer got amazing pictures and they will be posted very soon. Other than that, nothing new. We are planning a trip to New Zealand very soon, and we are going to Sydney for Mardis Gras this weekend. Hope all is well back home!

Until Then,

Wilson

A Classy Valentine's Day

Alright my trusted followers that are vicariously living wild and warm adventures through me...at the request of Miss Barbara Swigert, here is another post about my life Down Under.

Well, since my last excursion I have not done anything to incredibly wild. Who am I kidding? I'm always wild. Well the last 13 days since my previous blog post I have partied, met some really cool people, partied, eaten some really good Australian ice cream called Magnum, and various other things to immerse myself in the culture....(which basically means partied). Just kidding mom! I'm studying a lot!

Well as all of you love birds and single-ites know, just this week was the beloved Valentine's Day. Well, Australians hate Valentines Day just as much as most Americans, and acutally laugh when they see that all these American girls were waiting to receive their flowers, teddy bears, chocolates, and various packages at the mail room. One Australian girl even said "Well I know nothing back there is for me because we don't celebrate this crap!" Such a romantic!

After my few classes of Monday, me and some fellow American mates decided "Let's do Valentines Day like a very classy American!" So we got online and ordered Pizza Hut Pizza for the 5 of us, obviously doing the 3 for $13 meal DOUBLE! So we each would get our own pizza and have a community one to spare. (Do they have Hot & Spicy Pizza Mia's back home?) So we placed our order and started our walk (it costs $8.50 to deliver and we live 5 minutes away, plus it is 85 degrees here) to Pizza Hut when we got the great idea..."Let's be really classy and swing through Dan Murphy's and get beer or some sort of alcohol to go along with it. All 5 of us go into the store and begin our search for soemthing good. We ended up each buying something seperate for our individual selves, as a 24 pack of "cheap" beer is circa $45. (And Barbie, they don't have Miller Light! They have other forms of Miller but it is MUCHO expensive). Dan Reiss and myself each got 2, two, dos, du, boxes of Sunnyvale Fruity Lexia Wine (which costs approximately $19 for both and they are 4 liters a piece....What up Franzia!?!).
Now, my box of Goon had a ripped bottom. Being the American I am, I said "DISCOUNTTT!" thanks to my great friend Adam Sandler who taught me that in Big Daddy. So as we are walking to check out and I'm standing in line, in front of a mom and her son, my box breaks! The goon bag falls out and bounces on the ground and the little boy laughs hysterically and the mom slightly chuckles. The guy at the register goes "Oh, would you like me to tape up your box for you?" Yes please! What can make boxed wine even classier? Taped up boxed wine!

After leaving Dan Murphy's we went and picked up our pizzas and walked home (we were called very American by having 6 pizzas and tons of alcohol...we embraced it!) to enjoy our Valentine's Day feast. We illegally watched a movie on the internet and pigged out. A night well spent if you ask me. What did you do for your Valentines Day? Anything exciting? Barbara, did Julio put a ring on it?

Well this weekend I have Surf Camp Weekend to look forward to, so be prepared for pictures and a new blog post about my epic failure/domination. I'm going to hit the pool.....

Until Then,

Wilson

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

After recovering from scaling Mt. Everest, I mean Mt. Warning, with a day of shopping at Pacific Fair, the largest outlet mall I have ever seen, and a little beach action, we headed off to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday to see some Aussie animals in relatively natural habitat.
As we arrived at Currumbin on Sunday morning, we didn't really know what to expect. We meandered through the first two gift shops before getting our park maps and starting our journey on what would end up being the best zoo experience of my life.
As we first started walking, we came across a small fenced in area that had some trees. We didn't think much of it, but then we spotted what was inside. Koalas! Yes, my first Australian animal to be documented on camera. It was very exciting to see, but not very exciting to watch. Koalas are the most chill animal ever and spend a majority of their time sleeping. After snapping some pictures, and trying to talk to them, we carried on our journey to the next adventure. Oh, and I got to hold a 7 year old Koala and got my picture taken with it! She was quite the chunk, but was unbelievably soft.
After continuing our walk we saw various other animals and sights, including a children's play area where we released our inner child. We made our way to this big, open fenced in area where we found...you guessed it, we found the Kangaroo area. You walk through a gate and our free to roam about the area and pet and take pictures as you feel. Obviously, I did just that!
While at first, the ones we were near were quite old and mainly just laid there or stood while we pet them, as they just wanted food from us. Then, out of nowhere, a stampede of Kangaroos comes dashing from the trees. It was quite impressive to see, and the little Asian boy next to me was very excited!
We continued petting and visitng the Kangaroos and the occasional Emu and then decided to partake in the Green Challenge. The Green Challenge is an obstacle course that includes zip lining, climbing ladders, suspended cables, and other obstacles along the way (it was great practice for my future Survivor days!). We got to wear these sweet 80s/space jump suits and a harness, but neither were comfortable for the weather.
After the obstacle course (which was very tough in some spots, especially with sore legs) we continued onward to find Dingos, Wombats, Cockatoos and other animals. We took a train ride through the park and wrapped up our day at Currumbin. We rode the bus to Burleigh Beach, where we enjoyed a late lunch of Kebabs and Gelato. Best way to end a day with Kangaroos, I'd say.

Well that was my latest wild activity, we shall see what this weekend has in store. I apologize that this post was quite lame too, I'll do better next time.

Until Then,

Wilson

The Test of Strength and Will at Mt. Warning

First off, thank you to my 16 followers! You guys are great and I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences here in Australia.
Secondly, I apologize it has been forever since my last blog. I'll try to be more consistent.

Well, I put my Nike Dual Fusions to the test last weekend as I hiked up the 3,973 ft mountain in New South Wales, Australia. Due to its proximity and height, Mt. Warning is the first place to receive sunlight on the mainland of Australia.
As we left Uni around midnight, we got on our Koala Coach bus and drove the hour long trip to Wollumbin National Park, arriving around 1:00am. After getting our 1.5 L water bottle, snack packs, torches (flashlights) and redbulls, we split up into groups based on ability and began the trek up. With the time change, it was 2:30am when we started.
At the beginning it was just some easy stairs that we were climbing, and I thought nothing of it at first. The humidity and night heat was relatively comfortable...at first. After we surpassed the steps, we hit the trails. Being the "athletic" people we are, we chose the fast group and kept a very, very quick pace. Looking back, it was like we were running up this mountain, which some people actually did do after daybreak (crazy, I know!).
Pitch black darkness and a small flashlight while climbing huge rocks and stepping into the unkown was quite the challenge (Mom, you would have hated it!). Along the way we spotted glow worms, toads the size of my foot (much fatter of course) and spiders. They were sights to see, but only to see. Also, a few people had leeches on their feet (I ended up with two on my ankles, but they did their deed and fell off before I even knew it had happened).
After almost 2 hours of hiking, we finally reached the top. The last 30 minutes or so we had to hold onto chains because it was so steep. Crazy in the dark navigating a torch and foot holds while holding on. You kind of just kept your feet moving constantly so you didn't fall down and hit the person behind you. Might I add, the kid behind me had a knee brace on because he re-tore his ACL while at the beach one day. Bad deal, I'd say.
After reaching the top, we ate our snack packs and waited on the sun and the rest of the hikers to come up. At the top it was almost 20 degrees colder, so being covered in sweat and water didn't help. After what seemed like forever, the sun finally started making its way out, but there was so much fog that we saw this:

YAYYY FOG!!!

It was truy exciting to see absolutely nothing! So, we decided to head down the hill and venture our way towards some brekkie. As we walked down the hill I did snap a few pictures of the sun FINALLY coming out.

It was absolutely lovely to see in real life. The hike down took about just as long, as we were fighting off tiredness, exhaustion, and the longest trek we have ever made (P.S. I didn't go to sleep the night before). After finally making it down, I kissed the flat ground and screamed "LAAANNNDDD!" and enjoyed a nice sausage sandwich and Lollies for breakfast (quite the combo, but I would have killed for some of Mama Cheryl's French Toast!). I relatively changed out of my sweaty, damp clothes and reboarded the bus for another hour drive back to Uni.
After arriving back I immediately showered, put on my trackies and jumper and went to sleep, as we returned at about 10:30am. After being awake for over 24hours and hiking for 4 hours, I was exhausted. Definitely worth the trip though, try it if you get the chance. And hey, maybe one day I'll go back and run it like those guys we saw....


In other news, I once again got published in UNews and you can read my article ==> here.

Thanks for your support and see you soon,

Until Then,

Wilson

Australian Life

Well, I apologize for the massive delay in my recent blogging adventures, but I have been super busy! Over the past week I have been studying (crazy! I know) and preparing for this HUGE presentation I have to give next week that is supposed to be 20-30minutes long. I don't know what these Aussie teachers are thinking when they assign a HUGE project in week 3...let alone to a Study Abroad student.
I also have had some recent "noteworthy" news in the last few days. I was published in University News, and you are more than welcome to read my article ===> HERE!!!
Other than that I have not been doing anything too wild and crazy. Australia Day was quite the sight. I had 3 classes that day (which was complete rubbish!) but in 2 of them we got Lammingtons, which are a traditional Australian dessert type things. They are a cake (sometimes lemon, sometimes yellow cake) which is sooo light and moist, and then they are covered in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. They are delicious. In my first course, my professor brought in homemade Lammingtons with little Aussie flags on them. She is a riot I tell you. She is an older woman with her spiky grayish blonde hair, who wears HOT pink lipstick everyday. She is hillarious in the classroom.
My other teacher bought Lammingtons, as she is a bit off her rocker (if you catch my drift). They were decent but not amazing. After my first two courses me and some fellow Americans went to Broad Beach for Australia Day! There, we saw everything possible with an Australian flag or emblem on it. There Australia Day is our 4th of July, we just do it better! There were people cooking out on the grill, throwing back a few (I mean a lot!) beers, playing music, games, having a good time. There were tons and tons of people on the beach, playing in and out of the water. A young Aussie boy even gave me a Weiss Bar. The first two times I thought he said a Whisper and I was like "Ughhh...what?!" But it was an ice box (popsicle) that was frozen mango and ice cream. It was really good...these Aussies truly have it made.
After a few hours at the beach, we had to run back for our last lecture, where we learned all about Aboriginal people and the development of sport, and then we watched "The Dish". It was a great way to really feel for the country I was in, and I thought it was hillarious. The goon I was drinking (sorry mom!) may have added to my presumed humor, but regardless...I liked it.
After class we came back to our dorm, and began the celebration. I put on my very best Obama T-shirt! and was ready to hit the town. However, after my long long day of celebrating and class, I just kicked back with some fellow Americans and represented our country best with some Family Guy and American Dad. Original..I know!
Today we went shopping in Pacific Fair, which is this HUGE mall that has outside stores and inside the mall stores and everything else in between. It was an awesome place and we will more than likely return soon!
Well, a shower and another Aussie adventure are calling my name. Between 1 and 2 a.m. I will be hiking up Mt. Warning, an inactive Volcano, and the bus leaves at midnight. Be prepared for a blog about that soon....

Until Then,

Wilson

Aussie Thursdays and Where's Wally? Pub Crawl 111

After a rough couple of days, I decided that nothing would put me in a better mood than a couple wild nights! So I decided to live up to the Uni experience and attend Thursdays at Don's. Don's is the bar on campus (yes, on campus!) that has great deals for Bond students, and has live entertainment and such to keep us all entertained. After kickin' it at Don's for a while, we took the free bus to Shooters, a "Super Club", in Surfer's Paradise. Now, Shooters is this huge club that has 4 rooms, all of varying themes and types of music. They have a stripper pole-esque room that has 2, yes two, poles in the middle of the floor, with booths and tables along the outskirts, mainly you just see people making out there. Then they have a HUGE techno room, that has platforms to dance on, strobe lights, smoke, the whole techno/rave experience. The R&B room is next, Miss Nancy Louise Davidson's favorite, where they have just R&B music, and its really chill. The last room, which I have only frequented a couple of times, is a room that has no DJ but a couple pool tables and "the Smoker Room". In this "Smoker Room", which is basically a small closet that has bars on the outside wall that lead to outside, it makes them look like monkeys in a cage (Thank you, Molly Regan). You are not allowed to have drinks in the "Smoke Room", just you and your fellow smoking people. I have not been in the room to smoke, just went in to grab my friend so we could peace out. After getting caught in the rain, talking to some lovely ladies from Bristol, NOT LONDON, England, and convincing half the street to eat at Theo's Kebabs (I got a chicken one, with everything and Hommus and Sour Cream. BOMB! I'll describe it next), we took the bus home and I got some shut eye. Oh, did I mention that I got "thrown out" of Shooters? Yeah....I decided to just jump over the railing to go from one part to the next (which I lifted my friend over the railing because she was to short, but there was no point in walking ALL the way around!). Well, apparently the bouncers didn't like that because they asked me to leave at that point. No big deal...we were done anyways.
Before I go into the wild details of the pub crawl, let me first tell you a few things about Kebabs. Kebabs are the best drunk food you will ever eat. Bill's Toasty does not have crap, I don't know if I'm allowed to say $hit, on a Kebab. A Kebab is kind of like a Gyro/Flafel. It is a soft, thick tortilla like shell (I guess) that they heat up. Then they put chicken, beef, lamb, or vegetarian match meat in it, along with 2 sauces of your choice, including: Hommus, Sour Cream, Garlic, BBQ, Chili, and a few others that I can't think of off the top of my head. Then they put cheese (it looks like a mozzarella or a legacy type cheese), lettuce, tomatoes, and some kind of ending herb seasoning thing on it. They wrap it up, put it in a paper sleeve, put a few napkins on top of it and hand it over. Your mouth waters before the first bite, and then you meet the most amazing food you have ever eaten. It is an epic experience. While eating Kebabs, at Theo's, Ozi's Kebabs and Pizza is right next to it. Well, realizing that Theo's was amazing, I convinced multiple people to eat at Theo's and Theo now loves me, well I assume he does.
Also, people from England are not neccessarily from London, and they can make great American interpretations.
After recovering from Thursday night, which was a very, very late night, I woke up Friday ready to face the world again. Buses for the pub crawl left at 4:00pm, so we decided to begin our day around 2ish. We were all dressed in bright yellow with black stripes shirts (like a bunch of bumble bees) and marched our way to the buses, from buses to bars, from bars to buses, and then repeated it at a total of 6 bars. Let me tell you, it was a very wild and entertaining time. At the first bar, they had two Skyy Vodka girls giving out shots, along with some Skyy makeup samples for the ladies. Well, two attractive girls giving out free alcohol to a bunch of college students on a pub crawl...let's just say we attacked them! They also gave some fried food, pizza, and water (who actually drank water on the pub crawl?!?!). Then we were paraded along to our next bar. Every bar after that gets a little fuzzy on the names and places they were, but here is what I remember:

• They raffled off a meat tray and seafood tray at a bar
• One bar had a topless waitress and other waitresses in thongs and bras (somehow I missed both sets of these!)
• At one stop, some girl was giving out "Bondbook" stamps (Bondbook is something on campus, but I'm not quite sure what. Voting is sometime next week) and apparently I lifted up my shirt and got 10 of them! By the end of the night they were all a little smeary, but nonetheless they looked good!
• I proceeded to yell "Where's the Beach!?!?" and lifted up my shirt to show off my stamps (and nipples apparently) at random times throughout the night. Word on the street is a woman shielded here child's eyes.
• People on the streets of Australia laughed and stared at the massive amounts of bumble bees stumbling through the streets.
• One group of girls vommed at the first bar and were given a cab ride home.
• It was great to see multiple people passed out in the bathrooms with vom all over them, as they didn't quite make it.
• We loved the bar that had $2.90 drafts of Carlton Mid!
• A bouncer at a bar kicked a stool out from under a guy while the guy was standing on top of it screaming and dancing. Apparently you aren't supposed to do that.

That for the most part was the pub crawl. Of course packing tons of kids into buses to parade around town, I'm sure the other drivers on the road loved seeing a rocking, bouncing bus filled with kids screaming, singing, pointing, showing their nipples (guilty!) and such at them while driving. After we went to all our places we ended up at Shooters where we met the red shirted group of Where's Wally? 111 to end our night. I, of course, went to Theo's towards the end of the night. Got asked if I was some kind of gangster by these girls from New Zealand. And then went to the beach to put our feet in the water while we waited on the buses to take us home. As we arrived at Uni with Sweet Home Alabama blasting on the Koala Coach, we called it a night and went to bed.
Today we went to the beach, explored a new one by going to Burleigh Head beach, and planned some future trips. Well that is enough for now...

Until Then,

Wilson

There You'll Be

So this isn't really what I had planned to have my next post be about, but it is a huge part of my life that cannot be ignored. Don't worry, I'll blog tomorrow (possibly) about more Aussie type stuff.

Every morning, I wake up and wish you were here...

   A year ago today (in Central Standard Time), I would have been in St. Louis, MO, studying chemistry in the Reinert ballrooms. Telling myself this semester I was going to do great things and get those outstanding grades I deserved. I went to bed later that evening, woke up at 7am Wednesday morning and went for a 5 mile run. I came back to my room in Reinert Hall, showered, finished up some last minute homework, and decided to check my email. Luckily, to my surprise, I had two emails from the person I admired most and hadn't talked to in a while, my Gramma. She sent me two of those corny forwarded emails, of course to me and a number of other people, with an explanation of how it was "...cute..." and stuff. I replied to her that morning, and then had to go off to my morning classes. I did the usual, Theology and then off to Chemistry...
   In Chemistry, I got a phone call from my Dad's cell phone. I ignored it and replied "I'm in class!!!" since I knew that they had just arrived to Florida, figuring they were calling to tell me about the nice weather and stuff they were having. He replied "Call me anyways" as pure as day. I ignored it until I got out of class at 10:51 am Wednesday morning, and called my dad. My mom answered and I was happy and expecting a "Hi we made it to Florida" phone call, but instead I got the worst news I have ever heard. I was on my way to my next class, and my mom said the 5 most painful, god awful words I have ever heard "Wilson, Gramma died this morning." I dead stopped in the middle of campus, someone behind me crashed into me.
   Life since then has never been the same. Looking back, life with her will forever be cherished. I still remember to this day the first time I ever watched the movie "Pearl Harbor" with her and Sammy. Halfway through the movie, at the end of the first VHS tape, I claimed I didn't feel well, when really the movie was just too graphic and I was scared. She had me sit on the couch next to her, smelling like laundry, hand creme, and soap, and I leaned into her sobbing away. Now, I can't watch "Pearl Harbor" without crying. I watched it last night and cried multiple, multiple times. I know the story is about two guys who have a lifelong friendship that fall in love with the same girl. Oh, and war, but for some reason I relate it to her. Every line, scene plot, and character reminds me of her. The song "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill, the soundtrack to the movie, is exactly how I feel about her. "...and everywhere I am, there you'll be."
   As I said in her eulogy, the hardest speech I've ever given (besides the line in my graduation speech, in which I teared up when I looked up and saw her face when I talked about her) "My Gramma always told me she loved me, my Gramma always told me she was proud of me, my Gramma was always there for me." "My Gramma will always love me. My Gramma will always be proud of me. My Gramma will always be there for me."

Gramma, I love you and I miss you, and life will never be the same without you.

...and every night, I go to sleep with one hand open for you to hold.

Until that day,

Wilson



First Day of Classes, excuse me Courses

Well, I seemed to survive my first day of classes here at Bond Uni. While I was supposed to have 3 classes (1 lecture and 2 tutorials (tuts as the Aussies call them)), tutorials were canceled this week, as they are like small discussions and interactions on what you learned in lecture. So i attended my first lecture, Freelance Writing: Magazine and Creative Non-Fiction. The teacher, an ex-American resident, wore acid washed jeans and flip flops with a button down. He basically made it big by writing financial advice columns in the States and Canada and went on to books, seminars, and eventually teaching here at Uni. He kind of lives a crazy life.
As one of the very few Americans in the course, I'm a bit worried, as not only will I stand out but I don't know anything about the newspaper and magazine business over here. He asked who in the class wanted to be a journalist, I was one of the few who did not raise my hand. However, after calling me out and asking what I wanted to do, he complimented me and said I would probably have much higher chances of getting accepted as a doctor over the next guy due to my "writing background." It was actually very reassuring. Suck on that SLU and Stacy Phillips-Keller! I can have a minor and still do great things.
Well, we shall see what other exciting things my classes lead to. I have Gender Communication tomorrow, Tuesday, and then Australian Pop Culture and Human Growth and Development on Wednesday.

Until Then,

Wilson

First visit to the beach!

Yes, I finally got a chance to go to the beach...It was absolutely goregous. We had perfect weather for our first time visiting the beach. Friday we stayed in at night, and during the day I went on another run. I am kicking myself for not taking my camera with me, as I found lots of interesting things on this one.

• Apparently it is just as cool to write the "F" word on public property and walls in Australia as it is in America.
• Australians too spray paint graffiti in quite impressive artsy words and male genitalia.
• They write lyrics to American songs on sidewalks and strips of caulking on sidewalks.
• They have absolutely stunning houses. I'll get some pictures of their homes shortly.

After a much needed recovery from my Goon filled Thursday night, Friday was a great day of rest for today's adventure. Me and 2 other lads went into Robina to attempt to donate blood. Apparently, due to all the flooding, counless blood banks lost all their supplies and are in desperate need of blood. They opened up their facilities on Saturdays in order to help with this lack of resource. Unfortunately for us, fortunately for them, all of their spots were full this morning, so we told them we would return sometime this week.
Then 4 buses, Koala Coaches if you will, loaded with Bond University students set out for an "Aussie Beach Day" at Broad Beach in Surfer's Paradise. It was so nice. This mornings weather was cloudy and rainy, but it ended up being hot and sunny, with a nice breeze. We were there for almost 4 hours when we headed back to Uni after a day of plenty of sun and water.
I got burnt, but not big time. I put on plenty of sunscreen mother, and reapplied very often. Except, I got burnt in the most awkward places. Lines of sunburn that seem completely out of place. As follows:

That was one streak on my forearm that got burnt.

 The picture I had here to much resembled my donk so I did not post it for obvious reasons. I apologize, but I have a mother and a reputation. Sorry for the inconvenience and let down.

 And the worst part of me that got burnt was.....

Correct...

My feet and legs! I guess I didn't think that I needed  to put any sort of sunscreen on them. I did however, remember to put it on the tops of my knees, but not my ridiculously white feet or my legs. Yes, it hurts. Yes, I'll remember it next time.

Well, I'm off to attemptingly drink the sunburn away!

Until then,

Wilson

Too Much Goon!

Well it has been a few days since my last post, so I figured you would all like to read some more about my adventures Down Under. On Tuesday we had an "Official Welcome to Bond University" cocktail like party. I, being the American that I am, forgot to pack my Khaki pants (Mom, please ship those to me soon!) so I showed up in my very best Aussie business (very) casual shorts with a very nice button down. To be completely honest, I looked much better than the kids in jeans if I do say so myself. And ladies, it said Cocktail, not tease! (sorry mother....but let's be honest, it was funny!) Later that night we came back and put on our Trackeys and introduced some Aussies to American comedy, by showing Baby Mamma and The Hangover in the common room. They did ask the question "Are Americans really like this?" Sadly, we had to tell them yes, yes some of them are!
After a great night of resting up, we hit Wednesday hard! We went to a very intriguing (sp?) Study Abroad Info Session, where the guy told us that they lose people at the beaches and do around 200-300 saves per day. Well, if that didn't make us want to head to the beach, I don't know what does! After that session, we went to our very first "Wednesday by the Water" and had a barbie by the pool in our swimmers. Music, free food, a giant inflatable 2 person obstacle course, and the water in 80 degree Aussie weather was amazing! (How is the weather back home by the way?) After soaking up plenty of sun, what was I thinking when I said "No I won't need sunscreen"?, all of the Aussies could instantly tell who was American by our wonderful bright red, sunburnt skin. We went to dinner and then came back and taught some Aussies some American drinking games (i.e. Circle of Death, Flippie Cup, High-Low) and then attempted to go to the bar. Who knew that a bar was closed on Wednesday night in Australia during O Week? Lame.
Thursday was a day to be reckoned with! After partying with my box of Goon on Wednesday night (Goon is what the Aussies refer to cheap wine or alcohol. The Americans love it because it is like $9-10 for a box that lasts you and a friend for a good night, or two if a decent night! It tastes decent for the price, so we all party with it hard!) I decided to take it easy on Thursday day. I sobered up, cured my hangover (for the most part) and went on my first Aussie run. It was amazing! Got to see some of the side streets of Market Square and surrounding area. Then we ventured to the heaven of liquor stores: Dan Murphy's. Dan Murphy's is a huge wearhouse, probably the size of your average supermarket, that is FILLED with alcohol. It was every 18+ American-in-Australia's paradise. (P.S. to all the Swigert's--They had Miller Lite, but it was $45 for a 24 pack. And they only had Budweiser, so I had to side with some XXXX Gold instead of my lovely Bud Light. I must add that an Aussie called Bud Light "Piss Water" and other names of the sort. I almost slapped her!)We bought our fair share of alcohol and came back to party. The theme for Thursday's party was Tight 'N Bright, clearly us Americans could handle that. I put on my best attire and hit it hard with my box of red goon. Do not drink red Goon! White is manageable, but the red not so much. After drinking my fair share of my box we decided to wait in line to get into the party. Well that Aussie heat and humidity, plus a few slaps at neighboring standees bags of wine, I got a little woozy. Let's just say the Goon hit me hard and I didn't quite make it to the party.
              Thank you girls in the elevator that helped me to my room, sorry for being a Damn American!
Those were my goon filled nights, where to be completely honest, I acted like a goon myself! Just another day in paradise I guess.

Tomorrow will be our first beach day!

Until Then,

Wilson

Things that Make You More American

As my time Down Under starts, multiple things make me stand out as an American. They are, as of now, as follows:

• Cargo shorts, Basketball shorts, shorts that go past your knees, baggy shorts, etc.
• Nike shoes, Jordan shoes, etc.
• Tshirts, American Eagle polos, backward hats,
• Calling a fifth of Vodka a fifth (It's a 750 mL, Mate!)
• Asking for a glass of water or a water cup (There are some cups over by the basin if you want water.)
• When getting salads (vegetables) at Subway and you ask for Green Pepper (It's a green Capsin)
• Ketchup = Tomato (pronounced Tomahto) sauce and there packets are way different (Your look of amazement gives it away too
• "Where is the nearest beach?" Gives explanation..."but don't swim in the canals. They have Bullsharks that will rip your legs off!"

The beginning of a life Down Under

As I prepared to board the plane in St. Louis at Lambert International Airport, I hugged my mom, dad, and sister goodbye and proceeded on through security. After arriving in San Francisco Airport, I had to recheck in at the Quantas airline counter, re-pass through another airport security, spent $12 on a roastbeef sandwich, bottle of water, and a banana, and then waited to board my Qantas 747 airliner destined for Syndey. They call my group and I walk to the plane with my boarding pass in hand, only to find out that I would be sitting in the very last row, in the middle seat. Being 6' 3" and smashed between a bitchy black woman and her husband, a pissy fiancee' of some sort, and directly behind a woman who likes to put her seat back all the way without warning, with my backpack between my legs was not the most ideal 18 hour flight of my life. I got up twice during the entire flight. I got 2 meals, a small bag of "snacks", a hard pillow, a complimentary toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste, and the worst pain in my ass I have ever experienced. Needless to say, it was a pretty decent flight where I watched 3 movies, read almost my entire book, and caught some pretty decent sleep only to be woken up by turbulence...no big deal!
The airline staff was very friendly and, miraculously, can pour coffee and tea during turbulence while serving breakfast, breakey if you will. After departing the plane I had to locate both pieces of my luggage and attempt to make it through customs. Since I left the states in jeans, moccasins, my white T and Tshirt combo with a thermal over it and a jacket, I was sweating in the 75 degree, humid weather. After getting my luggage, I had to bear customs. Awkwardly enough, I stood on a yellow line with my bags facing forward, and a little cocker spaniel came and smelled my baggage. Unknowing to me, I thought it was a dog that was confiscated or being held in quarantine for a person so I reached down and pet him and he made his way onward. So I made it through customs very easily. Dear America and Mexico, adopt this policy...it works great!
I then had to wander all around this airport, walk outside and back into the domestic departure terminal, recheck my baggage, and pass through security once again (3 for 3 on airline security checkpoints, 1 for 3 on full body scans). However, in Australia, security must be not that important to them or they just assume that I didn't get anything in the airport that would do any harm. I walked through the metal detector with my belt, shoes, and stuff in my pockets with no problems. I then had to board a bus and be taken around to my terminal where I waited on my next plane to Brisbane.
When I arrived in Brisbane, I once again had to reclaim my luggage and attempt to find some people that were supposed to take me to Bond Uni (Bond University). This is when I ran into Helen and all the people doing the group Study Australia, where I boarded there bus and got a free ride to Bond, even though I wasn't supposed to be with them. Hey, I made friends and got there in one piece with all my luggage. Pretty fair trade in my eyes.
After arriving at Bond I checked into my dorm room, which is so classy compared to dorms in the states. I'll post pictures of it soon. After unpacking and getting settled me and my roommate, who is from Boston, went with his friends down to a "barbecue", which turned out to be a 17 year old teen center, and then left 5 minutes after. We then decided to go to this bar that was about a 5 minute walk from our dorm, might I add this was Sunday night at like 9 something. We went to the bar and tore that place up. Met some Aussies who told us "You are sooo American" as we were wearing shorts, American Eagle polos, backwards hats, flip flops, nike tennis shoes, and accents. Regardless, we made friends and had a good time. I ran into the SLU kids at the bar and ended the night stumbling home screaming in our faux Aussie/English accents until we stumbled to our rooms and passed out from our drunken state and our extreme jet lag.
We started our first day at Uni starving, hung over, and very American. On a rainy day in the states you would find it totally acceptable to walk around in a pair of flip flops, basketball shorts, and a white T or T shirt of the sort. In Australia...NO! These people are dressed up constantly. Jorts (jean shorts) are popular on men, as well as sleeveless shirts, tight jorts, and extremely short shorts...I'm talking inches above that knee. Every person we encountered knew we were from the states instantly, we attempted to fit in and look normal but it just didn't happen. The questions we asked, the way we talked, the way we looked made us stand out like sore thumbs. It was somewhat unbelievable.
As the day progressed we were deemed more and more American, until finally the night ended in a Toga party, that then proceeded to continue at a club, that then ended on a bus ride back to Uni and calling it a night.

That was my first few days down under, let's see what follows.

Until Then,

Wilson