once upon a time...

four APU students decided to study abroad in Australia. After a fun-filled first two weeks living in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, the fantastic four met some cool guys at the club. Little did they know they would be hanging out with them every other weekend, either in their hometown in Burleigh, or in Brizzy where the others lived. Their names were the “Egyptian Warrior Jamie”, “Architect Builder Scott”, and their new roommate the “VB drinking-bogan David.”

Their second trip to Brizzy to see their Aussie mates on the 20st of March was one to be remembered. Who knew? This time Jen’s sister who had been visiting for the week tagged along. The fantastic four, which now turned to five woke up early (10 am) to head on out. They took a quick bus to Robina Rail where they were going to transfer to a Brizzy airport train. The first time they went, the trip costed an amazing 15 or so bucks, which was a breakthough after their 28 dollar airport transfer from the Brizzy airport when they first came. But this time it costed only 5 dollars round trip after they got smarter and used their GoCards which allowed for a continuation fee.

Moving on, they made it to Jamie, Scott, and David’s house. When they got their they just relaxed for a couple hours as they had had some long nights before that in Surfer’s Paradise, but this night wasn’t planned to be short either as it was Alisha’s (Jen’s sister) last night in Australia. After making a quick beer run to FirstChoice (a “discount” liquor store) they were ready to play games. Little did the American’s know that Aussies don’t play games when they drink, they just drink. Lame. Alisha was jam packed with games, being a 23 year old, so we were saved. After playing a few games they decided it was time to go out. “The Fringe” was the bar/club of choice tonight. After a few hours dancing Matt and Jen decided to go exploring in the club.

Mistake numero uno. They walked up the stairs a few times without being stopped and continued to scope out the cool bar/club. They had pool takes, a balcony to look out on, and some lounge sofa on the second floor. Matt decided to use the restroom and when he walked back out Jen was being looked over by a security guard. Wondering what was going on, Matt walked over to check and see what was up with Jen and before both of them knew it they were being escorted out of the club.

After being booted out of the club, the only place to go was home. But they didn’t know where home was because they were in Brizzy. No phone, no address, and the only thing that they knew was that they 345 Aspley bus from Roma Street takes them home and that there is a Red Rooster across the street. So they walked down the street and ended up finding a wallet with 20 bucks in it, just enough for a cab ride to Roma Street where the main Transit Centre was and they could find the bus they needed. So they hailed a cab and told it to take them to Roma Street. It dropped them off their, just for them to find out that the Transit Centre isn’t open during the wee hours of the morning. So they just decided that they were going to take a little stroll around Brizzy to try to find a bus stop where the 345 will stop by. Jen was in heels so she had to take them off and walk around barefoot. With respect to Jen walking around barefoot, Matt did the same. The only thing that Jen wanted was to make it back in time to say goodbye to her sister who left at 5 in the morning.

1 hour later, Jen and Matt were officially completely lost in the middle of Brizzy with no reference point to anything. 2 hours later the same thing was happening, except they were double as lost. 3 hours later they were still lost and now Matt has glass in his foot and Jen had tears down her face. Finally accepting the fate that Jen wasn’t going to get to say goodbye to her sister they continued to trek on. 4 hours later of walking around, completely lost without any information as to where they were, they saw their first sign of hope. South Bank, Brisbane’s only man-made beach. So they retraced their steps back that Jamie took them on to Roma Street where they just decided to wait the rest of the night. They finally found Roma Street and were relieved to see something that they knew. It was now open for people to stay in, but they buses weren’t running for another hour and a half. They went to 7-11 to get some snack to hold them over and watched the dark night sky turn light blue as the sun rose around 5:45am.

They took turns taking five minute naps to make up for all the energy they lost during the night walking around and then played some games with the remaining coins from the 20 dollars Matt found earlier that night. Finally the bus came at 6:37 to Aspley and it was over. They got off the bus, opened the house with a key Scott gave Jen and heart Thriller by Michael Jackson being blasted at 7am. They were completely confused as they walked up to the steps to see Nanae and David drinking Red Bulls and talking. The four exchanged stories about how they were lost and they were looking for them and then Matt and Jen decided they are going straight home after the crazy night. They took the train back and knocked out until 7pm that day.

Just another day in the O-Z.

finally feeling...

like I've settled in completely. I got my rhythm down. Nothing really gets in the way anymore. And when something does change, it feels weird. I like it. The past weekend was definitely a good one. Ya Boy SHWAYZE came to town, in fact, came to our favourite nightclub in town and performed an hour long set, introducing a new song.
"Australian girl, I think I found you, I think I found you, Australian girl, I think I love you."
A funny part about concerts in Australia, if they are performing at a nightclub, is they don’t start until around 1am. Little do our American minds know this fact and we are like first over there at 9pm making sure we get in on time, first in line, rushing. When we get to the door, the fat security guard is standing there eating a Kebab, which are freakishly popular here, and nodding his head to our questions since he looks like Alvin and the chipmunks’ fat uncle with his cheeks stuffed. The way he ate that Kebab was if his 300 lbs hadn’t seen a meal in 3 days or something, even though I’m pretty sure I saw the wrapper of his first Kebab at his feet. Setting him aside, we decide to stall at McDonalds with a wonderful Big Mac Meal (our fav!), upsized to a medium for only 50 cents! Making it about the American equivalent of a kid’s meal... Yeah their portions suck over here, which doesn’t explain why Australia is also one of the more obese nations in the world. Especially with their naturally outdoorsy slash active culture. Like last night, I and Jen went out to Al Fresco’s Italian Restaurant, which I thought was Alfredo’s. I end up ordering the largest possible pizza I can order of the menu, and I finished the whole thing. I don’t even eat a lot. Australia needs to get a portion check on their meals.

Anyways, so after that sumo security guard sent us on our way and we ate at McDonalds, we had a full on 400 metre sprint race to the bus stop. No Joke. If you are a driver on the street, this is what you see...
Five happy 20 year olds (yeah I classified myself in that category) walking down the street looking back every few seconds for a bus to come. Then one of them sees one. Mind you all five of these young adults are dressed up in button up shirts and dresses slash heels, depending on their gender of course. Then it’s like a foot just stepped on the ant hill and it’s a mad 400 metre scatter to the nearest bus stop. All five of them break up, the girls ripping off their heels to run while the guys look like white Michael Jordan’s running down the court like it’s the final seconds of game seven of the NBA finals and the Bulls are down by 1 pt. And you think I’m kidding. Luckily our man Scotty wasn’t blessed with Australian running genes and somehow, as we all found out sometime in about the 10 seconds it took him to get to the bus stop, has some Kenyan in him too. It was a glorious moment as he stuck his hand out to flag down the completely packed bus with drunks and druggies loaded in it. The bus ride back was nothing special and we went back to relax for a few hours and then headed back out to the Shwayze concert. We were still able to get literally in the front row of the concert. I gave Cisco a high five and gave Shwayze...eye contact?

It was definitely one of the better nights here and I was singing along with every song. Just stoaked that Nana finally got to see Shwayze, after one failed attempt in San Diego, and I got to see him for my 4th time in Australia! The next day I ran into my marketing buddy, who I think is the female Australian version of me with her likes of Shwayze and Cisco and was telling her how awesome of a time I had in the front row and everything. Then I asked her, “Did you go???!”
Here was her response...

“Matt. Did I go??!? What do you think? You won’t believe this. I was sitting V.I.P. with Cisco and Shwayze the WHOLE night. I met them at Titanium Bar and Shwayze kept buying us shots of Patron. Cisco was IN LOVE with me and he held my hand as we walked from Titanium Bar to Sin City so they could play their set. You know that ‘Australian Girl’ song? Yeah he wrote that FOR ME. He was pointing at me the whole time he was singing it. I kissed him the whole night. He invited me back to his hotel room but I said no. I wasn’t going to be his groupie. He said he respects that.”

And I thought I had a good night...

Welcome to Australia ya’ll.

blog lag...

This morning was a perfect morning. But first let me acknowledge the fact that I haven't blogged in over a week. Maybe close to two. I don't know. But this will be a nice glaze over what happened the past week or two...

Every other Wednesday is great. All my roommates have class at 8 in the morning and I don't until 2 in the afternoon. I say every other Wednesday because the other Wednesday I have a bio lab at 9 in the morning. So today I woke up at 10:30, went to our porch-balcony thing to see the waves and decided that they were pretty perfect for my abilities. 3-5 ft, glassy conditions, peaking for nice rights and lefts even though I push for rights on every wave, and just a perfect day outside. So I threw on my boardies, grabbed my new Noddy 6'5 board shaped right in my hometown, the key, and walked 50 meters to the lovely beach. It was pretty chill, with just a few other surfers out there, and a douchy sponger who kept his distance. After a couple duck dives and nice timing to get out there i was rewarded with one of the better waves of my life. Super pumped i paddled back out and caught a few more. Surfed for an hour in the tropical warm, clear water and called it. Came back, cooked myself a delicious spam omelette and bacon, kind of reminded myself of Hawaii. SPAM. Opened up a note my girlfriend left me this morning, turned on some Olympics and saw Australia get their butts handed to them in the snowboard-cross. Jumped in the shower and headed off just in time to catch the bus and was on my way to school. That’s all i want to do every morning. Pretty simple, relaxed, and chill. Usually Wednesdays are the days that 2204 doesn’t like but i redefined that.

Anyways, to review the past week. Byron Bay, Jupiters Casino, and Valentines Day. Not necessarily in that order, but who cares. Molly’s dad surprised her last weekend by coming to Australia. Nice suprise huh? So of course the roommates milk this surprise for everything it’s worth, which resulted in a free trip to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is in a different state, which i have already been to might i add: New South Wales. The home of Sydney. If you thought that Cooly was beautiful, Byron Bay would knock your socks off? Not really, but i’d say it may have been a level up from Cooly. It was just pure beauty. We went to a lighthouse that stuck out of the bay and had epic surfing on each side of it. There really isn’t much to say about it besides the fact that i could sit there all day and just be completely satisfied basking in the sun and taking in everything around me.

Next was Jupiters Casino. This was something that we waited too long to do. I swear every other Bond student has been there at least once a week and we were just getting out first stab at it. Got all spiffy and headed out with thirty bucks in my pocket, assuming that things could get pretty out of hand over there. It was nice going in to. It felt like a little taste of Vegas, except i was able to participate in any part of it that i wanted to. Jumped on some slot machines, hit up the bar, wanted to try my hand at black jack but probably made a better decision and didn’t. Next time. Came out minus 30 bucks, but only at the price of a few drinks and an hour plus’ fun gambling. It was a classy night.

For Valentines Day i kept it pretty simple, simply because i am not impressed by whoever’s stupid idea it was to create it. I’m not a fan. But since it is Valentines Day, if i don’t do anything i’ll definitely hear it. So i did. Made reservations at Jen’s and my favourite Thai place, Chaingmai Thai i think it is called. I made reservations to sit outside in the lit up seating, but when i went over there to check on my reservation, i wasn’t down. So we settled for a seat indoors, which was still nice. Bought the Jacob’s Creek Three Vines Semillon Sauvignon Blanc wine that we had the night i asked her out and had a romantic candle lit dinner. Duh. It was simple, relaxed, and chill just how it should be.

So to say the least we have had a pretty chill week here. This week shouldn’t be the same though. Tomorrow we are going to Don’s Tavern at Bond at night, something special is supposed to be going down. Friday, hopefully we hit up Broadbeach since i just met this guy who said he can get us into this $20 club for free. Saturday Jamie and Scotty should be coming down from Brisbane. And Sunday ya boy SHWAYZE and CISCO are coming to Surfers Paradise.

“While you hatin’ I’m livin’ it up. I-I-I-I’m livin’ it up.”
Peace.


P.S. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure we jacked a street sign and a Nando's chicken. Deckin' the apartment out!

good day...

So Thursdays are the beginning of my weekends if y'all don't already know that. So here's how today went. Woke up at 12:30 pm, Nanae was at McDonald's using their internet, Molly is at Bond studying and doing a group project. Jen is at the apartment with me and we don't have anything to do, so we did an intense cleaning. Mopped the floors, did the dishes, cleaned all the trash and took it out, reorganized the living area, and everything else we could have possibly done. So we are all done cleaning and we decide that we want to do SOMETHING. Why not hop on a bus to Coolangatta, this place I've heard rumors about, but nothing special so why not. Here's how it went...


oh the plumerias...


random wild animal park place...


the best australian lollies...


cooly...


typical australia, right when you want a smoothie of course...


just our lovely home...


pure bliss...


they call it the "mile-long ride"...literally...


nandos. duh...


all day...


"gnar gnar"...


bragging rights...


two states in one day? why not...


sunset with the lady...


So the next day, yesterday, we went to Cooly again, because I just can't see waves like that and not ride them. Before we went we picked up a cool $180 short board shaped in Burleigh, so it has a special place in my heart. Booked it over to Cooly and paddled out. I ripped a bit on the short board, but definitely ate water
more than ripped it. Took out the Na Papa long board and rode a "mile-long ride" for real. I took the wave from the top of the bay to the bottom, and rode it for about a minute and a half, dropping in at like 3 different breaks on the same wave. For some reason I see a lot of Australia in my future.

free free free...

Yes it is true. Room 2204 has been blessed by some sort of higher power. This doesn't just happen to anybody. Especially with the prices of normal alcohol over here. If I can find a case (4 x 6 packs) of full strength, acceptable beer for less than 35 dollars, it's a miracle. While me, Jen and Molly were spending the weekend in Brisbane, we got a call from my roommate, screaming.

"GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR I FOUND A 30 PACK OF VB BEER, A 6 PACK OF EXTRA DRY, AND FOUR BOTTLES OF HARD LIQUOR!"

Amazing? The bottles of liquor weren't full, but there was some in there and the beer was at least 60 dollars worth. What did we do to deserve this treatment? I don’t know any of the answers to these questions but I have an idea. Assuming it’s one of our neighbors, possibly one that I may have talked to in the hour that I was locked out of my own apartment the other day, or one that one of my friends talked to when we had a bunch of people over for Australia day. Whatever or whoever it was, thank you.
We seem to be quite well at finding ourselves in these good weird situations that somehow fall upon us, in a way. Such as the random bloke that was staring at me every day from across our little pad in Surfers and follows us to the beach. Kind of creepy but I gave him a chance. He ends up being a super nice guy and drives me and all of our luggage (which is a lot when you live with three girls), to our new home in Burleigh. I couldn’t imagine carrying all of our crap on the bus with us.
Or maybe the time that we met a dude at the club, whose number we ended up getting, who just happens to want to continue his talks with us and ends up offering us a place to stay in Brisbane for the weekend. Which is what we ended up doing this weekend. We took a train from the Gold Coast to Brisbane Friday night with our desination being Scotty’s house. He is a 26 year old architect that is currently working on building a Supreme Court in the middle of Brisbane. Hmmm. When we get there, he picks us up, drives us to his house and starts cooking spaghetti with meat sauce for us. Wow. Busts out two bottles of wine and tells us to help ourselves. Introduces us to his roommates, one whom we already know (oh Andy…) and his third one (Jamie) who just happens to be the Australian version of me. Chilled there all night, played Guitar Hero World Tour and knocked out. Wake up Saturday morning and Scott is at work. So Jamie asks us what we are doing today.
“Nothing…”
He ends up taking us into town, in the middle of Brisbane and shows us around Queen Street, which is the crackin’ street in Brisbane. Also introduces us to this wonderful chicken place called Nando’s. Best chicken ever ya’ll. Some Portuguese style with amazing sauces and bomb chips. We bought him his meal because they are all being just too nice to us so he offers to get us waters. Sure. Comes back with four water bottles, which run for about three bucks a piece over here. We just can’t win in trying to show our thanks to these Aussies. Then after shopping and just kickin’ it in town, we decide to go see a movie. Now this was a real experience. First off, Jamie buys our tickets. 55 bucks... Then the ticket lady asks where we want to sit. When you go to a movie over here you choose your assigned seat. It was exciting. We saw Sherlock Holmes and chose smack dab center seats in the middle of the theatre. I don’t quite understand why we were able to get these awesome seats, or why other people don’t choose them first, but to us oblivious Americans it was definitely a win.
When we get back there is a party going on back at their three story house for Andy who just happens to be moving to Melbourne tomorrow to work. End up socializing with like 20 other Australians who are always intrigued by the pathetic American culture. Most of these people were like 25-30 years old so I felt a bit sophisticated to say the least :)
After the party we end up going out to the club in downtown Brisbane with Jamie, Lian, and Scotty. Of course Jamie buys our cab ride over there and the club is free. He also buys us a round of Jelly Donuts. Ever had one of those? No? Google it. They are amazing. Dance for a few hours up over there and then come back, with Jamie buying the cab ride, once again. Wake up the next morning, take the train back home and I would say there is a micro hurricane going on in the middle of summer. Wow. Go buy some steaks. Jump on the roof and throw ‘em on the barbie. Ever grilled in the rain in the middle of a storm on the roof of a 11 story building? Didn’t think so. It’s definitely an interesting experience. Bring ‘em back into the room and eat a lovely dinner once again. Talk about a good weekend.

so check it...

We are finally moved into our HOME! So weird calling it home... My home is in Australia, for the next 3, possibly 4, hopefully 5, months. Yeah, I think I want to milk my student visa for everything it is worth. Australia is already the best time of my life (yes, I know all you loyal blog readers have probably read that 10+ times before) and I haven't even paddled out yet. Is that possible? Apparently.

So you know how like when you are watching a new reality TV show and the season is starting. Let's say the Bachelor. And all the girls are going into the new sexy house that they are going to stay in for like the next month, while they cat fight and drool over one stunning looking bloke? But anyways, they go into the house for their first time and they are running around screaming, calling their rooms and beds and crap. Yeah that was us. All four of us. Me two times, since I was first in and then when Jen and Molly had their go, I went for round two. Duh.

Okay, long pause, I just got thrown off.

Anyways, yeah so our house is dope. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I am planning on doing an MTV Cribs-like clip of our house so everyone can see what's up. Yee. Get it. It's the real deal, and it's our/my house. So we moved in and the first thing we did was go out and have a feast on the roof. Went to Coles (grocery store), blew a couple hundred notes (bills), and bought food for a feast (garlic shrimp - seasoned steak - ranch salad - white rice - garlic bread). Threw some shrimp on the barbie, cracked open a coldie (XXXX Summer), and did my thing. It was serene and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Chillin on the roof of our apartment, beach on one side, sunset on the other. Got that Rastafarian music playin in the background. So nice.

Next. I have a girlfriend. Yeah, I'm putting it on blast here. The lovely, drama-filled, emotional, fake blond, insecure, sensitive, stubborn, valley girl. She's mine. I fended off many good-looking, cut, athletic, instrumental, all around good guys (like Kip) to be with this AMAZING [she doesn't like that word :)] woman. After weighing out the pros and cons of dating this lady, I decided that the cons outweighed the pros so much that I should have never started talking to her. But oh well, I was in too deep so I just asked her out.

Just kidding.

Jen is definitely one of a kind in the best way possible. She makes me laugh (at her) all day long. I never know what to expect from her. She loves rice, sushi and luke warm water. She doesn't wear earrings because shes too sensitive. She doesn't look at prices when she shops. And she has a tattoo of a continent in which she's never been. Definitely special. I can talk to her all day, whether it be joking or deep, emotional, serious talks (just how she likes them). She loves the beach (crucial) but she's still a city girl. She's beautiful. She's low-key good at a lot of things I wouldn't ever even think about her trying and she loves Jesus. I'm in like.

Yesterday was Australia Day. Equivalent to the 4th of July for all you Americans. So yes, it was crackin. Nothing like throwing a little housewarming party three days late on Australia day. Yep. We had around 20 cool kids come over to our sweet little pad to kick it for the day and night of the best day of the year in Australia. What did we do? Oh the same thing we always do. Jumped up on the roof, bought 2 kilos of chicken, garlic and herb marinating sauce, made some rice, told people to bring other sides, and had yet ANOTHER feast at sunset. It was sweet. A bunch of friends just over at our new hot spot, guaranteed to happen again after how successful it went, just chillin and talking. Then when it got late we took it down to our apartment, got changed, jumped in the jacuzzi and went to the beach. Nothing like the beach at night. It was definitely another good day. Well that's been the theme of the trip so far, good days made easy by a five day weekend and two days of school. G'day mates. :)

livin it up...

First week of school. Check.

Easy as pie. Act dumb, play smart, and party hard. That's kind of the equation for a good time in Australia. I don't know who told me that classes over here were harder than the ones in America, but after one week, I'm definitely not convinced of anything along those lines. And it's a good thing. I think my two online classes I enrolled myself in back home are going to give me a harder time than the three I'm taking at the uni. Well anyways things are good. After everyday I go to school, which is two days (lovely), I come back to my lovely apartment in Surfers, crack open a beer and sit on the porch. It's a beautiful thing. It feels like I don't even go to school. I do have some homework I should be catching up on but I don't feel like doing it. Duh. An HD is a High Distinction in Australia, equivalent to an A in the states. A P is a Pass, equivalent to a D in the States. The saying around here is P's get the degrees and HD's get the G's. I ain't looking for any HD's over here. Sure they would be nice, but I got better things to do in another country. Maybe like make an easy 18 bucks an hour on a nearly 1 to 1 exchange rate. Or surf my butt off every morning since I'm living on a world renown break. Or try as many beers as I can because I can. I just want to experience the Australian lifestyle as best as I can when I'm over here and I feel like school isn't going to give that to me. But after straight A's minus my B online, while taking 23 units, I don't think I'm going to have too much of a problem. What it do baby boo?

Today we went to a fair at the uni and Nanae and I joined a mixed 4's beach volleyball team in a AA league (very competitive). I'm stoaked to kick some Australian VB ass. Nanae and I are going to tear it up with our hopefully legit other two team members. We've been peppering at the beach about four times a week with the wind and sun. It's a beautiful thing. Team Name: Peacin' it Together. What up? Aside from the volleyball club we joined we also go ViP entry into just about every club in downtown Surfers! So now we can literally hop from club to club for free, EVERY NIGHT. Over here they treat students like they are kings and queens. Half off bus fares and ViP treatment into clubs. Royalty. HA!

Australian day is January 26th and is going to be wild. It's like the 4th of July in America. And I'm definitely more patriotic in Australia than I am in America. I bought these sweet Aussie boardies for $80 bucks yesterday in town and I have my "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!, Oi! Oi! Oi!" tank to match it. I'm bout to be decked out in Aussie gear with a case of our new favorite beer brewed on the Gold Coast. South Sea's Beach. At first we were buying the South Sea's Pale Ale because it was cheaper, but we decided to step it up yesterday and spent that extra three bucks. I'm telling you right now, this beer is so smooth and light, it goes down like agua. BETTER THAN CORONA for all you corona and lime freaks (yes I was one of them too when I first got here). I think I'm definitely going to have to bring a few cases of these home with me. Conserve them for life.

Yesterday we also went on a mission to check out our permanent stay which we will be moving into in just two days. And boy is it BEAUTIFUL. It is, without a doubt in my mind, the hottest hotel out of the 20 or so that graze the beach in Burleigh. Only a two lane road separates me and the beach for 15 weeks.

So the picture above is the roof of our apartment where we will be throwin' some shrimp on the barbie our first night there (Sunday)!! Epic view right? Hopefully we will have an ocean view, but if we end up with a hinterland view we get the lovely sunsets every night. I'm definitely fight for the ocean view though. I'm tired and hungry and the moment so that is all today. How about some Kangaroo meat tonight eh?

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! OI OI OI!