England!

Well I flew out of Amsterdam and into manchester. where i caught a train back to sils. it was good to get back to a familiar place.
so i didnt do much when i got to sils. i arrived just one day before laura and anna were to come. although louise was there. so the next day i planned to go meet the girls in manchester. trouble was that they're train was late. so i waited for the expected time... they didnt show up, and i got worried that i might have missed them. so i quickly got on a train and headed back to sils. when they arrived we just hung out that night. didnt do much.

we had a few days together. we went to lvierpool for a day. that was nice. saw the beatles place, where they played. lots of old buildings. and a nice harbour.

we were also planning on going to york, but decided to go to ireland instead.

we did go into manchester alot. the girls speant their fair share of money. lol. bought truckloads of goods. i bought some shoes. and some other things.

so our ireland trip. we made the decision to go to ireland just because we thought we could afford it, plus the accomodation was very inexpensive. so the night before we left we had a chance to book a ferry ride costing 70 odd quid. we thought it was good. so we got up real early (5.30am) got a train to Liverpool. once there (around 9am) we begun our mission to find the ferry dock. so we walked to what looked like the most obvious place a ferry could be. turned out to be wrong. then we asked a guy who told us that its just around the corner. about half a mile walk. simple we thought. 30mins later we find the boat, but have no idea how to get on it. so we stand there watching it... we then ask another guy where we go to buy tickets. 'oh just around the corner' everyone said. so we finally find it. its in a place much like port kembla, absolutel no where. so we walk in with 10mins to spare. and ask to buy 3 tickets to ireland. ha ha ha . . .

turns out you have to be there 1 hour before it departs. so we never could have gotten it. and the next ferry was 12 hours later. so we were pretty devo. then the lady behind the desk, who i thought at first was very rude, decided to help us out. so she looked up another ferry company, rang them, found out train times, connections and how much it would cost... then called a taxi for us to get back to the station.

very nice. once at the station we figured out that it would cost us 26 quid to get all the way to dublin. one of the main reasons we needed to get to dublin that day was because we already payed and booked the accomodation. but it turned out that 26 quid got us all the way to dublin. that was about 3 train rides too. and the ferry was quicker then the original ferry ride. 3 hours oppesed to 7 hours. awesome.

so once in dublin we ate out, drunk some beer, and did a tour of the bottom half of ireland. it was awesome. one thing about dublin, was that it was very very expensive. you forget that its in euros, so you have to double everything. and one beer was 5 euro. thats 10 bucks a beer.

okay enough blogging for me right now...

im currentlly in birmingham. having an awesome time here. everyones beens o friendly. stayed with jason one night. now im at rhonas house. she's living in a student house. so everyone is cool, young and knows how to party. wooo! haha

anywho...

venice and amsterdam so far!

Okay so i have no idea where i last left off...its been so long since i've blogged.

but, right now im sitting in roberts apartment in amsterdam. robert is a cool married man who has kindly offered us his house. just to let you know us is not me, us is me plus 3 others. 2 americans and 1 australian(not including me).

so right now im sitting, just finished a croisant for breakfast, watching the misreable rain drisling from the sky ruining our plans for the day. so we are replanning.

our plan is to see the van gough museum, and to do a tour a of a beer factory.

im sleeping on a self inflatable mattress with my sleeping bag. its quite comfortable actually.

now ben gillard is singing avril!

Venice was nice. we had a hotel in Lido, which was in expensive courtesy to our cool methods of sneaking me into the hotel. which worked quite well. first night we went on a hunt to find a nice cheap restaurant in the jewish ghetto, which is apparantlly the largest jewish collection of people in western europe.

we found the nice restaurant and had some good food. then we wondered around venice a bit, finding our way back to the hotel.

the ferry was good. we probably used it about 10 times and only payed once. they never checked our ticket, so we just kept using the same one.

the next day we went on a gondala ride...which was very nice. but expensive.

we wanderd around venice for a time, eating lots of gelato and taking in the sights.

venice is a very magestic city. i wonder how they built an entire city virtually on water...the ends of buildings literally stop at the water. its amazing.

venice was good. we saved money by going to a supermarket and buying groceries to last us for lunch (nutella and bread), and for breakfast we had a fridge in the room...

anyway i should go, im getting lots of stares by the travellers i am travelling with... :P

hopefully next time i can blog some more.

oh i saw the red light district last night...in amsterdam. very very unique. nothing like it. i'll try explain later.

jack.

Luzern and Labri

So i just finished my time at labri.

it was an awesome time. i learnt so much, just by talking with people, and everyone challanging principles i've assumed were fact my whole life. anyway thats just the short of it. i will be going back there.

but i stayed with Peter and Margot for one night, possibbly the best night of my life. i had all meals provided. everything i needed. washed and ironed clothes. if anyone had a shred of hope to be good at hospitality, they should model it off of them. they cooked marvolous meals, bought me a train ticket, soap, shaving cream andfood for the train trip. plus some extra money for singapore. oh my goodness...

anyway, labri was good. i got my trains there good, then the bus dropped me in the middle of a village in the swiss alps. i had no idea where it was. so i just started walking...eventually i came across this one person who asked me if i was for labri? john. it was just by sheer chance that i saw him though. so he took me in.

once there i settled in to my basement room. i stayed there a total of 9 nghts.

the food there is amazing. they pump you full of good quality food. i suppose it was an ideal of shaffer to have good hospitality. i like seeing that flourish onto the existing labris today. also the sense of community at first can be overwhelming just because everyone knows each other, but after a while you find your niche and just set it there. i spoke aot to a women named robbyn. we spoke over a lot of issues and she challanged me heaps. it was really good. just about feminisim, etc etc...

so an average day is waking up at 8am, having breakfast, then cleaning up, then going to either study or work. study is whatever you want to do in farrel house. studying a book, listening to a tape. work was good also. you can do anything from chopping up wood, or just sweeping.

then theres the lectures. which are either the most boring thing in the entire world, or fascinating. depends who does it.

i fell down pretty sick at labri with a fever. we hitchiked down to aigle to use the internet, then on the way back it took us so long to get a hitch i just got sick from standing in the rain for so long.

after the sickness, i was good to hang out with people. it sucked that it was on my first few nights there. oh well...

anyway...it was good.

now im stuck in luzern with no place to stay and no contact for tiffany...fun fun fun...i just hope it doesnt get too late or im gonna start getting a bit cold ya know...

peace.x

Oktoberfest.

oktoberfest was the best thing i have ever been to in my life...probably.

now im off to labri.

i wish i could be bothered blgoging it all down. because i had an amazing time...i'll be breif huh

met 3 english dudes. lived right around from sil. plan to meet up. they were funny.

first night came in late from train. girls said "meet us at the beer halls" little did they know that the beer halls are about the size of a football field. and theres about 6 of them. so i had no hope of finding them.

so i hung out the english lads. we finally got into the beer hall...courtesy of a nice dish pig who likes australia. then once we were in we squeezed our way onto a table. where after a beer or two, we met some amazing germans. nices people ever. we drank beer. partyed. sang. dances. stood on the tables. it was amazing.

then they asked us if we would like to go to the after party with them. of course.

so we then walked with them to the after party. although i did lose the 3 english guys. found them again later.

so once at the club, it cost 10 euro. thats like 20 bucks. buuut because one of the germans dad was a football referee he had connections. so we all got VIP. how good. so we got in for free with no queue.

after many visits to the toilet we danced on the dance floor. sang along to the classics. met new people. amazing.

so then i just realised my situation. i was on my own. have no idea where the hostelwas. with the englishmen gone...

i then got offered a place to crash at one of the germans house. yeah-haa!! so then i just crashed at their house. it was great.

that was one amazing night out of 3...haha

okay i gotta got o bed cause i told peter and margot that i was tired. which i am. i just didnt realise i needed to sue the computer for so much stuff...lol

aight i will update everyone else later. im on my way to labri atm.

yew!!!

I LOVE GERMANYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Shroom Hunting, City walking and Beer drinking...

Aight...today was a great day. actually these past few days have been amazing. Right now im sitting upstairs in Phil's room typing this, while everyone is all downstairs talking about the difference between North Braveria and South Braveria.

I'm listening to amazing music...warm...and full!

So first of all I left Magdeburg, said goodbye to Leah and got on my train. It was a RE train so i had 2 connections...which is no problem for €36. SO I listened to music, read some of my book in preperation for Labri...So once i arrived i met Phil.

Phil is alices friend from Brayil. He's living in Marburg, Germany training to become a doctor. He goes to the Uni here, Phillips University (from memory). A bit about where he lives and why he lives there.

He lives in a massive, massive house. Its owned by about 100 different people and goes by the name 'TH'. It is a club. A fraternity club for students studying at the uni. All marburg has to offer is history and a university. so theres lots of these clubs everywhere.

he pays $60 a week which gets him his own room, electricity, gas, water, internet, cleaner, chef (all lunches and one dinner). the house is massive. theres a dining hall with the club sign engraved into the chairs. theres foxes everywhere because like fish, they call the new club members fox's. theres a table tennis table. a massive party room. a fridge full of beer (costs €1 per half litre of beer...just so you know how cheap that is, its equivilent to 2AUS dollars, also at oktoberfest they charge €8 per litre beer. very cheap.) its 3 stories. there are 8 rooms for 8 students to live permanetely. on the third story theres a movie theartre room, drying room, toilet, bathroom, two spare bedrooms with linen and beds. the 2nd floor hosts the 8 rooms for the students, a tv room plus 2 showers and 2 toilets. the 1st floor has the party room, 6 toilets, massive industrial kitchen and the dining hall...

and im staying here all for free. phil is an amazing host. every morning he has bought breakfast for me. chocolate musili with banana. croisants. lunch time we walk to the student hosue where we phil gets student discount, so he's bought my meals both days, and we eat the lunch served there. its fair average but its only €3.

when i got there it was phils birthday. so there was a party for him. everyone was very friendly. i got talking to two germans about oktoberfest. very friendly. they offered me lots of advice.

first day. phil took me around marburg and showed me the castle (Schloß) and the university and a music shop. then that night we had another party saying goodbye to a friend of theres. about 20 people were there. i was talking to James and thomas about the german language. they wrote down the numbers 1-10 and told me key phrases for oktoberfest ie. cheers, thanks, this rounds on me...(dunno if thats a good one??? lol)

then today i woke up had breaky, went to the student house for lunch, then helped round the house cleaning the yard. we then drove out to the bush to go mushie hunting. i found 2...that may seem fair...but compared to christian who got 2 bucket loads, it was pitiful. lol.

we left at 3 and got home at around 8. it was intense. lol. so why did we bother going into the bushland to pick wild and possibly dangerous and poisenous mushrooms???

well to make a stu of course...Christians mum cleaned them, chopped them up, mixed them with butter, cream, herbs, salt and pepper, bacon and onions...then served it with spaghetti...

it was to die for. amazing. whole thing probably cost about 10 bucks and it served about 12 people. with heaps of left overs. there were two 1 1\2 foot long pans filled with it.

there are small things that are making my stay here awesome.

phil plays guitar and has two...we jam all the time. we share music. its awesome

today phil left me his keys cause he was leaving to go to the uni for some work.

he bought cookies

everyone speaks german, but for me they speak in english. everyone is very very nice.

so yeah...my time here is aming...tommorrow we're going bowling. it just keeps getting better. lol

anyway...enjoy.

Prost!

Magdeburg

ya...so right now im in germany.

stupid keyboards.

so for the past few days ive been staying with leah...its been real good...checking out magdeburg...i went to the zoo today. it was fun.

yesty we hung out with all of leahs dancing freinds. they just came over and we chilled. they're really nice.

so tommorrow im seeing leah dance which should be good.

and i've almost eaten an entire bag of gummie cherries...so i kinda feel sick now.

but im sleeping on leahs floor, with a the aid of an air bed matress....

i generally have been waking up late...going down to german town and trying to learn german. im not very good. i dont want to seem arrogant for not learning it. but i just don't speak german sorry. lol

i bought my ticket for marburg today. so i just have to make sure that phil is still cool with me staying...

and thats it really...oh and ryanair are averge.

A Week With Sil

So right now I'm in the UK. Manchester to be in fact. it is the last day of my UK stopover for now, before i fly out to germany tonight.

So what have i been doing since i arrived here a week ago??

well not much really.

the first day i got here i just slept, cause i was so tired from the flight. which was very good. we arrived ahead of scheduale, then it was empty aswell so i just slept across three seats.
my first impression of manchester was of how cold it was. man it was chilly. i was shaking when i got there. i really had to do some shopping ya know. i only had two jumpers. and not really any winter gear. so the following day i went into manchester with sil. we caught the train in and she took me to her work. which is at the court house.

so i walked all around manchester that day. went to a couple of music chops. clothing stores. i walked away with a beanie, sweatband, leather *fake* jacket, cardigan and 4 t shirts. don't ask how much it cost. it had to be done.

i had a packed lunch courtesy of sil. thankyou sil.

the next day i woke up incredably late. i've been sleeping on a really really comfory mattress in the tv room. with an amazing feather pillow and a doona to diea for. so i did a lot of sleeping this week.

the next two days i just slept in late. watched some scrubs, top gear and crazy english television. went for a walk around hazel grove (where she lives in manchester) then the day after i went into work with sil to see her in action.

so i saw 3 guys go to jail. they stole something like 6000 punds worth of stuff, so they got 2 years. some had drug problems, some where just fools and thought what they were doing was gardening (drug farming)...haha

so now that i was turned off drugs i went to a free science and technology museum which was just like the science centre. that was fun walking around manchester seeing all the planes.

i tried to model a plane jet engine on a computer while i was there. my plane flew for 5 metres before plummetting to the ground. obviously the is no sciecne gene in my blood...thats okay. i can still watch mythbusters and watch them blow stuff up.


so i've been listening to this band called The Thrills. they're amazing. i encourage you all to listen to them. everyone would like them.

on the weekend we went to blackpool. some crazy combination of south beach, las vegas, time zone and kings cross. there were lights up everywhere like vegas, then there was no actual casinos, actually just one, but time zone machines. it was all on a beach strip. then next to those was night clubs...so what happens i guess is that a family comes to black pool, drops the kids off at the arcade games, then go next door clubbing...then they all meet up afterwards...haha...maybe not.

but lots of hen parties, dudes dressed up like girls, girls looking manly, and bucks parties.

so tonight i'm sleeping in an airport ebcause my flights from london at 6.30am. so i need to be there early. and screw paying for accomodation. so yeah...thats me.

we had a baked dinner alst night. best meal by far since leaving aus.

so now im pottering around doing bits and pieces getting ready to leave.

aight....i might blog again in germany. actually i will.

sorry about the long delay in blogging. after a while you get over it.

but im doing it to remember stuff..

aight...peace.x

Annapollis! with a touch of Anna!

Hello World! (programming reference)

 

For the last 3 days I've been in Annapoliss...Chilling out watching TV. Except for today. I  went to experience everything DC has to offer. It is an amazing City.

 

Oh i'm staying with Anna's church friends, Kathy and Phil Dalby. Who have been really nice to me. Housing me and ensuring that I have plenty to eat and a roof over my head.

 

So DC, I was taken there by Kathy and Phils daughter, Rachel and her Boyfriend, Tim. It is amazing. We saw the Washington Monument, the Whiter House, Linconl Memorial, Rossevalt memorial, Korean memorial, WWII memorial, Museum of NAtural History and the Air and Space Museum. Smithonians, if they were a people, are amazing.

 

We started out with the white house, then walked everywhere. thankyou obama. although not everyone in america is Pro-Obama. I think everyone in Australia is though, which some americans find hard to believe. lol. they don't even know who Kevin Rudd is.

 

so tommorrow i fly out to England at 8pm. My plan is to go to there church then get dropped off at the subway and make my way towards the airport. i'll have my guitar so i can chill out playing it (perhaps busking) before my flight.

 

Before annapoliss i was with the Thomas'. staying with everyone Josh, Nina, Jacob, Sam, Jay, 3 Venusulaians, Kevin, Cpt. Brian and Cpt. Ruth. plus me. Thats a lot of people in one house. i loved it. so much fun there. we would play brall all day, then eat, then play some more brawl, talk about swords, eat, then play some basketball. then eat. go shopping. see movies. it was awesome.

 

and before that was NYC. which was expensive. lol. i seem to be working backwards. but guess how much my ticket to washington was???????? 3 dollars. thats right. only 3 dollars for a 4 hour bus ride. amazing. america is the land of the cheap i guess.

 

so i'm very excited to be leaving america. not cause i had a bad time here. but cause i've got some really exciting adventures ahead of me. i've got england, then germany, then switzerland all lined up. staying with Leah, Phil, one of alices friends, oktoberfest then Labri. afterwards i'd like to go to scandanavia to stay with some friends there. so yeah. its all looking good so far. very excited.

 

anyway thats really all i have to say. i'll blog again when i arrive in the UK to let you all know im there, if you care.

 

aight (american slang for all right...hahahahah)

 

enjoy.x

Sitting in the Kitchen

We're sitting in the kitchen finding out what movies are coming out under the new Disney/Marvel alliance.

SPiderman 4/5/6
Thor
Xmen Origins: MAgneto

plus so many more...

today we tried to go apple picking. but failed. cause the price was so expensive.

Rev Gen

Greetings readers of my blog,

I am currenttly sitting at a computer in a hotel. It is free internet at that and there is no one else in the hotel so I seem to have quite a bit of time on my hands...I thought blogging would be nice.

So today we're off to RevGen, which is a music festival with Relient K, Switchfoot, Underoath and many more! We'll probably leave in about 2 hours (which would be 3 O'Clock). I'm very excited. especially to see Relient K. As I have never seen them before...however...

The irony of my situation is straight after this gig, they are flying to Australia to perform in Sydney...I laugh. The one time I get to see them, and possibbly have bragging rights for all my friends, they go and play back home. HAA!!!

Not to worry...I get to see Underoath too. And Switchfoot. And Jon Foremen.

So we've snuck an extra person into the hotel we're staying. 6 people in 2 double beds. Thats 2 on the floor. They let you somehow have 5 people in...thats why its only 1 person snuck in.

Before I was here I had to catch a train all the way to Stamford to pick up the tickets. It was nice to see Captain Ruth and Captain Brian again. I'm considering asking them if I might be able to stay with them sun, mon and tuesday night...just cause I did my finances and I only have $120 left for an entire week. Lucky I don't have to pay for accomodation in Washington (9th-13th) and I've already payed for accomodation here (till the 5th)...which leave me with 6th, 7th and 8th to find a place to stay. hmmm??

Oh well. It is the joy of travels. and the stress. I like it though.

Anyway I'm gonna go make my sandwiches (penut butter an jelly) and eat some Breaky.

Until next time...

I thought it was worthy...

I thought it was worthy to write a blog about where I am...right now if things in hollywood exsisted in real life i'd be surrounded by snow and possibbly burning books to stay alive...???

anyone???


NYC public library, i'm at one of the computers where they filmed the scene where they pulled the books from the wall. I cans ee the skirting around the outside. it's amazing.

just thought I'd share...ya know!

Hello

Okay so probably the last time i blogged I was in NYC, now it seems to be a theme appearing cause right now i'm back in NYC.

and this computer has a pretty sweet keyboard. so it helps to write alot down, which is what i need to do.

so i was in Boston for a few days (fri, Sat and Sun) amazing place. really clean, well kept and very prestigious. they charge lik 40 000 a year to go there.

so i met up with Amy Cook. I met her through a facebook group we made via IEP. We caught a bus from NYC to Boston. Its meant to take about 4 hours, this one however took 8 cause of the traffic. what happens is everyone works in NYC, but lives in Greenwhich and Stamford, Coneticut. so the traffic between these places (about a 40min drive) is unbelieveable during peak hour. Why cant they all catch the trains? well they do...theres just so many of them.

once in Boston we found our hotel, after meeting this dude named Kevin, who ended up stealing 30 bucks from me. i'll explain later.

we got our room. which was nice. had a kitchen. with a fridge. bit pricy though. i'm not gonna say how much. the only reason we did it was because there was nothing else available. it was in a nice part of boston though. surrounded by college flats. so the next day we woke up around 10oclock and then went into do a tour of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. It was pouring that day. We thought it would be healthy of us to walk. So we did. and ended up getting wet everywhere. we took a tour of Fenway park, which is cool. Amy was more excited cause she watches baseball back home.

We then went to catch the train back to get changed and ready for the game that night. it was a good game. red sox won. i bought a red sox hat. very apropriate. and we met some cool americans who amy spoke to, only about alcohol though. haha. so after that we went back to our hotel where we met this random guy called Matt, who took us to a party up the road. it was cool. there was a fire and beer pong, which we won of course. and lots of americans drinking beer from a keg in red cups. it was awesome. haha

we stayed there till 4am. haha. we woke up the next day at 11 and decided to go for a walk to MIT and Harvard andn to Copley Square. In downtown boston everything is real clean. really really clean.

oh i offered this kevin dude a ticket, cause i was buying them for the red sox. he said yeah, so i bought him one. then he never showed up to come. then he dissapeared from exsistance. so i lost 30 bucks. i learnt something that day. never trust strangers. ha

so downtown boston is really nice. well kept. clean. full of young people shopping. alot of the shops house stationary...im guessing cause everyone needs alot of it here. haha. its full of young students.

anyway we then just hung out that night. then left for NYC the next day....which is today. it was a nice 4 hour bus ride. on a comfry bus. now we're in NYC. relaxing. hitting up the sites tomorrow.

anyway im gonna go the internet is not free here.

i hope this blog sufficed peoples requests. i hope that sentence makes sense.

anyway

peace out!!!

Session 6 over

Wow

its been a while since my last post.

I've been to NYC since my last post. amazing that city is. I randomly just bumped into the Loo's on a random street in NYC. just walked into them. it was amazing. best surprise of my life.

I was an extra on the set of a movie 'Get Him To The Greek'

I saw NBC studios, Rockefella Centre, Grand Central, Statue of Liberty, Central Park...

I can't member much more, plus I don't have much more time. There is a que to check their emails. so i must leave and depart. but we're going to an all american quisine tonight...CHILLIS. hopefully it will treat its employees better then the one in Wollongong. lawlstickers.

Session 4 over

So session four is over. I'm in the office cause some of the staff members have looked at some inappropriate websites, so the IT dudes have taken them away. Luckily the internationals have the right to use the office computers cause we're from overseas.

So we're hitting up Red Robbin tonight. A massive 'Chillis' style restaurent with unlimited soda, and unlimited fries. I'm so excited, because after weeks and weeks of camp food, it sounds similar to what heaven will be like.

+ burgers with bacon and chicken.

Okay So we're just about to leave.

Session 4 was hectic. kids spoiled, and crazy. session 5 is kids from poorer areas, so it should be better. Irony???

Aight

Peace my lovers.

The Scheduale

Okay so I don't know how to spell Shceduale, but I don't care. ha

 

So the run down of what happens at camp is this:

 

7.00am - Wake up

7.15am - Wake campers up and get them changed for flag raising

7.45am - Flag raising

8.00am - Breakfast (usually finishes at around 8.20)

8.20am - Cabin clean up

9.30am - Devotions

10.45am - Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature)

12.00pm - Lunch

12.20pm - Hangtime

1.00pm - Siesta

1.45pm -  Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature)

3.00pm - Change for swimming

3.20pm - Canteen

3.30pm - Swimming

4.30pm - Quick shower change for dinner

5.00pm - Dinner

5.40pm - Hang on lawn waiting for clubs

6.00pm - Clubs

6.45pm - Flag Deraising

7.00pm - Freetime

7.15pm - Evening Activity

8.30pm - Showers

9.00pm - Devotions

9.30pm - Lights out

 

11.30pm - Staff Lights out

 

So thats the general run down of camp. I'll give a breif description of what each time slot involves, in detail, so I can remember it after camp, and so you guys can understand some of the situations I find myself in. (This is mostly for me, so I can remember the stuff thats been happening)

 

7.00am - Wake up: We wake up earlier then the campers to make sure they get up on time. more often then not the campers are up before us. i usually sleep in till about 7.30. but sometimes the councilors shower beforehand or before bed. its their choice. i tend to shower throughout the day (after swimming) or before bed. the showers don't have and stables on them, like at port hacking, its just the physical shower with a mere curtain blocking the water. so when we shower we try do it when the campers can't come in, ie bed time, before they wake up.

 

7.15am - Wake campers up and get them changed for flag raising  - waking the campers up is probably the easiest task to do all camp. just because they tend to get up early anyway.

 

7.45am - Flag raising - so flag raising is a ceremony that americans do. mst of the kids are too tired to talk at this point. but you do get the occasional fart here and there. everyone stands in a rectangle around the flag pole. someone plays a trumpet which sounds dramatically like 'The Last Post' then they pledge they're allegience to the flag by quoting something and putting their hands on there heart. i've never done it.

 

8.00am - Breakfast (usually finishes at around 8.20) - breakfast starts at 8 with a song of pray (be present at our table lord, be here and everywhere adored, these mercies blessed and grant that we, may live to love and serve but thee ？？？）we have an array of food, all baked, baked fried eggs, baked toast, baked fried french cinamon toast and sugar coated cereal. yummy...not! theres sometimes gogurts, and juice. I try to get the campers to stay as long as possible in breakfast, because the majority of problems happen when they're bored back at their cabins fighting with each other of donated lego pieces.

 

8.20am - Cabin clean up -  possibbly the hardest thing to do on camp, just because no one wants to clean. they have to mop, sweep and make sure their beds are straight with shoes under beds and bags neatly packed. i usually sit on a chair and tell them what to do. it depends what kind of campers you have though. some kids who work at home have no issue doing the chores, but some who have never even touched a broom complain. they sweep by using the broom like a vacuum cleaner and wondering why its not working.

 

9.30am - Devotions -  devotions is where we gather all the boys and learn about jesus. trouble is the christian ed director is from northern irlend, so none of the kids can understand her. so most of the time it involves us telling the kids what she's saying, then trying to get them to do their worksheets without fighting. this goes for an hour, with a song at the start, then perhaps a game at the end.

 

10.45am - Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature):

- boating is where the kids hop in these bright fluro boats and paddle accross the lake, staying inside the bueys, usually the kids like it. i love it cause i just sit on the dock and talk to the lifeguards. Kat leads that. she's got family from the southern land of america.

- arts and crafts is where the kids go and paint, draw, colour and glue. in the end they always make paper airoplanes, in my end I always pour enormous amounts of PVA glue on my hands, wait for it to dry, then scare the kids into thinking my skins peeling. hahaha. Laura butchers in charge of A&C. she does an amazing job.

 - Athletics is usually basketball, basketball and soccer, and basketball. plus some baseball, and maybe some volleyball...oh and dodgeball. they love dodgeball. enrique leads that. he's from columbia.

 -  Pioneering is where the kids learn team building excercises, rope tieing, bushwalking and how to build a stretcher. its usually a hit with the younger kids, although most of the time the kids can't handle the team building stretcher race. when I did i got so competitive i dropped a camnper and he started crying. lol. he didn't hurt himself. he just thought he did. matt leads that, he's from NZ. we also sometimes go to a punty waterfall.

 - Nature is lead by Ilona from Poland. we do scavenger hunt, frog catching and a bush walk to collect things.

 

12.00pm - Lunch -  lunch is the same as breakfast. try to keep them in as long as possible. they always yella t each other, and are always fidgetting. imagine 8 kids just constantly talking, yelling, playing, fidgetting, drinking their ketchup, eating their butter, and stealing other peoples cups. grrr. first time we ate lunch it took an hour for us to get served for some reason. then a storm came so we had to stay inside all day. lunch is sometimes corn dogs, pasta, burgers, sandwhices etc. all horribley baked.

 

12.20pm - Hangtime -  this is where disaster strikes all the time. kids when they're bored, fight with each other, say things they don't mean and get on everyones nerves. we try to distract them with legos or going to the athletics field.

 

1.00pm - Siesta -  i don't know why they ned rest during the day. we need to drain them throughout the day so they can sleep well at night. so for 45 mins we have to come up with some activity for them to do. it sucks. worst part of the day. so much yelling. so much fighting. if ever you organise a camp, don't ever put a siesta in. i reckon you need to drain the kids of all they're energy all day so they sleep at night.

 

1.45pm -  Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature) -  same as above.

 

3.00pm - Change for swimming -   they change into there cossies here. goes quickj cause they're excited about their canteen then swimming.

 

3.20pm - Canteen - usually an icecream, popsical or ice block. they have to eat before the get down to the waterfront.

 

3.30pm - Swimming -  the waterfront is run by Kat, a very very very VERY strict lifeguard who loves to save lives. we get down there and cannot go in until they're ready. we then sign in our campers. they get cheked for wristbands, then can go swimming for 10mins. the rules for the beach water front are...no running, no splashing, 5 people on the dock at once (out of about 40 campers), no jumping on one another, no grabbing onto one another, no swimming under water for too long, no going under the rope, no diving, pretty much no fun. all they can do is wade. then after 10mins they get out for a 'buddy check' where we make sure everyone is still there. that takes 5 mins. the campers, if you can imagine are all excited, so they're talking and smiling. they must be deathly quiet before they can get back in the water, as well as all facing the front in one single line. if their eagerness overtakes there ability to walk and they skip, they must return to the line to start again. the councilors have to stand and watch constently, as well as not alowd to sit down in the shade. if a camper needs to go to thetoilet two kids have to come and we have to sign them out. it is very strict.

 

4.30pm - Quick shower change for dinner -  this is a quick shower to rinse of the dirt form the lake. usually makes us late for dinner. kids just seem to think they can shower as long as they like.

 

5.00pm - Dinner - eat dinner. get kids to stay in the dining hall as long as possible so they don't muck up. cause they usually do. could be anything from spag bowl, beans, chilli, hot dog...all baked. and out of date.

*note* we get our food from a place called 'the food bank' which is where out of date food goes. so yes grandma and grandpa, i've been eating out of date food all camp, and if i choose to not eat it i will go hungry.

 

5.40pm - Hang on lawn waiting for clubs -  we hang and watch the kids with the other councilors. this is nice cause you can just lie there and chat with the other councilors.

 

6.00pm - Clubs -  i lead the guitar club, so no one else can do it accept me. which means i never get the 6-9 break. which im okay with. so the kids try to learn how to play E Chord. they usually can play it at the end of the week, but thats about it, i think they assume they will be able to play guitar like in guitar hero straight away. they walk away realising how hard it is, as well with sore fingers.

 

6.45pm - Flag Deraising - we deraise the flag, take it down similar to flag raising.

 

7.00pm - Freetime -  they usually play on the playscape. get time down also we could take it to them nures station.

 

7.15pm - Evening Activity -  involves playing family fued, scavenger hunt, amazing race (where they can't run...???), beat the geek, olympics.

 

8.30pm - Showers -  showers involve getting them into the shower and out. we only hasve 2 showers between everyone, so it can get pretty hectic. I usually bribe them with theire snacks that i have.

 

9.00pm - Devotions -  devotions can go anywhere from 5mins to 25mins. depening on how the kids are doing, we get them on their dressers and just run through some stuff in the bible. then pray.

 

9.30pm - Lights out - i sit in the room, any hint of a noise i say 'Shhhhh'. one incident I had to bring in the nightwatchmen to tell them to be quiet. grr. supid kids.

 

anyway thats my day in a nutshell...my fingers are sore plus i've been on here way too long...

 

until next time...

Session 3 over

Well now that session 3 is over, I can finally relax for more then 3 hours a day.

Kids are crazy. Especially when you have eight 9-10 year olds all yelling at each other. *sigh*

 

During the week, I can't wait for break. But somehow when break comes around, I keep wishing that the next session would start again.

 

So my fingers got painted last night...gold and purple. Don't ask, Justine did it. Now I'm on the hunt for nail polish remover.

 

I'm hungry.

 

I also got a package today. Thankyou to those people who sent it. The card was awesome. Everyone was fascinated at the interesting candy I had. They wondered why it took so long to chew it. They liked the wrappers though.

 

And yes Rosie, who knows what I might bring home. *wink wink*

 

I also went to the drs. today. It cost me, out of my pocket $200 roughly. About 130 for the drugs then about 70 for the actually appointment. Everyone should never complain with medicare in australia.

I've got to get my insurance claim form printed out and sent away asap.

 

I've also sat down with a friend at camp and written a song. Which is good. They want us to perform it at there church after camp. I don't know if it will happen. But it would be cool, cause then I'd have a place to stay. lol

 

Everyone thinks I'm from the UK.

 

I'm really really tired.

 

Thanks for the candy family.

 

ANyway We've got lunch very very soon. Probably going to be stale bread and oreos. actually I know its oreos cause I saw Ali packing them with oreos.

 

Also this break I'm going to Carolyns hosue, where we will see harry potter (half blood) and go to the beach. Should do wonders for my body and mind.

 

Her dad is making mexican lasagne. Don't know what to expect. But i'm going to an American home. oh yeah!!!

 

K lunch now.

 

Bye

Not much to report on really

Hey everyone,

 

Not really much to report on since my last post. But right now I'm at the start of my 3 hour break which is great.

 

I'm going to the beach this thursday though for break which is good. So I'm heaps excited.

 

Not really much to report on.

 

The kdis this week are great. No porblems with them at all.

 

They always think I'm called Josh from Austria. Guess me and Josh are more alike then we even think. lol

 

They also think I'm from Brazil sometimes. Also from UK. lol

 

K that is all.

First blog at camp...and I've bruised my finger

Well G'Day fellow Australians.

Right now it is 5.45pm on a friday afternoon and I am relaxing (was) in the sun. It is very chilled. The food sucks though.

We get the same treatment for campers for food. So it's best if we just buy our own food. So I've been living off of Pop Tarts (David) and Coke (David) for the past week.

Although today I experienced Friendlys, and American franchise (everything's franchise) which makes nice ice creams.

Yesterday we went to a mall, hence the facebook, hence the blogging now. All thanks to Apple.

So the camp site is very nice. Situated on  about 270 acres of green grassland, some bush and a dirty lake which we swim in with the snakes and fish. Theres air hockey, table tennis, pool and table soccer in the staff lounge...along with 2 cable televisions and sofas. So the staff lounge is the place to be.

The cabins hold about 10 kids in each side with a middle cabin for the Councilors. So between 4 councilors we need to control up to 20 kids. We have to keep in ratio at all times (1 Councilor : 8 Kids) and can never be alone with a kid, EVER!
We have about 60 staff from Dining hall , kitchen, councilors, support staff and program staff.

The four programs we run are Nature, Pioneering, Athletics and  Arts  & Craft. Theres also swimming at the waterfront.

I'd just like to point out the strictness of this camp.

No staff member can date any staff member under the age 14 (the age range of staff is from about 14 - 23).
No staff can date any staff members under 16 without prior permission given from their Parent/Guardian.
No staff member can lean, lie or relax on any member of the opposite sex (even if dating prior to camp).
There is consideration for curfew for staff members who are on break.

Plus so much more I cannot be bothered explaining.

Its fun meeting different people from Columbia, China, UK and Poland.

Anyway when I think of some more things to write I will write in.

Bye for now.

Test

I'm just testing my blog.

Well...

Okay so it's been a while, and the only reason that that is the case is because updating my blog has been problematic because they've blocked all access to updating it. So here I stand updating my blog in an Apple store...

I will however change my settings so I can email my blog. That might be better...

Camp is amazing. So far I've done 2 sessions. The kids are very different over then they are back home. They complain alot more and whinge about stupid things. 

Everyone is really nice. 

Umm not sure what else to write, plus my fingers are sore from standing up. lol

I'll write again soonish.

Peace.

New York, New York

Well it's been a while since I last blog-ged!

Alost has happened, although I only have 14mins to explain it all.

So when I first got here I had to wait till 4.30pm from 2pm to get into my room. which was frustrating, sitting around waiting for a room. As you can imagine.

But once I was settled, at about 6pm I decided to do a twilight tour of Brooklyn which was free, only to find out it was cancelled. So I caught the subway (a big sandwhich they ride on underground) into what I thought was Rockerfeller Square. So I popped up from the whole I came from and took a look at my first glance of NYC with adult eyes.

Well the buildings are tall. Very tall. They crumple sydney. Plus theres dozens and dozens of them. Everywhere.

I just walked for about 40 blocks, down to Madison Square Garden, to see the Flat iron building. I had no idea where I was going. I was just soking it all up.

Anyway turns out i was like a block away from Times Square, Grand Central and the Empire State building on that walk, even though I didn't see them. lol

So i went back to the hostel wondering what I would do for the night (it was about 9pm now) when some guy asked me if i'd like to come to a comedy show. I was like 'Hell yeah I love IT Crowd'.

Oh man it was possibly THE worst/most awkward moment in my life. Picture this:

An American, standing up talking to 6 people, 2 don't understand any english, let alone the humour of some of it, 1 12 year old kid, 2 english girls (sitting up the back) and myself (who stupidly planted myself right up the front)

He got no laughs from us. He kept swearing. His jokes were so lame. His excuse for his lame jokes was that his usual crowd were people who could drink. So then he decided to rip on us. He started paying us out. I wanted to leave.

haha the funniest part was when 4 english guys (about 20 years old) came down and sat together and starting making jokes about guy up stage.

Now i'm not mean or anything...he just really sucked. one of his jokes went like this:

'I think parents should be able to have the right to have an abortion right up until the kids are teenagers. Right? so like when one of their kids comes home with a tatoo...*makes a gun with his fingers*...BANG! Problem solved right?'

No one laughed at that. haha. Then he said 'F*** it' and walked off stage. hahahaha LAMECORE!!!!!!!

Anyway so the next day I got up at 11am. Yeah sleep in. it was awesome. so I then went out with Ang from Jamberoo. We had a sick day. Just check my facebook pictures. She's uploaded some.

we walked through Central park, then down to madison square garden: 60 blocks. 3.5miles

then in the nightime i met the coolest Brits you could ever imagine. they had the best accents (alot better then the americans we agreed) we got along one of them invited me to stay with them in England. SWEET!)

So I got one of there numbers to call the following day (today) only to find out (today) that the no. doesnt work. So im stranded in the hostel while they're roaming NYC. it is a sad night for me. :(

oh well maybe I'll meet some more new people...for some reason we get along better with the brits.

BYE

First day in NYC

Well I have arrived in NYC. its great. so nice. everything the movies make it out to be...i think. cause I havn't actually seen that much of it. Oh well...

So my first solo experience at staying in a hostel with 7 other males in a dorm...wow. So far theres a Swiss, Aussie and Japanease. I look forward tos eeing what other cultures can enter the room.

So tonight I'm gonna be going on a tour. Even if it rains. Just cause it's something to do.

The trip here was horrible. leaving at 11pm is the worst. Flying AA is even worser. And having to detour to Boston first...words are not enough.

haha Anyway i havn't got that much time left. Just a quicky.

peace.x

I leave for NYC

So i leave for NYC in 5mins.

had a great time in San Francisco. Loved it.

Now I start my adventure in New York...alone!!!

farewell...

I'm a fan of a Christian

Well today was good. Went to the North Beach festival... where I applied sun screen 3x. and still got burnt...*sigh*

So it was good chilling out in the sun. relaxing. the bands that played where pretty good. although not really my taste of music. but I had a good time, until a bunch of 6 or 7 American jocks came and sat down right on top of us. No really. They were touching me. I felt all I had to do was nod, swear and talk about my muscles to join in. But honestly, it was really annoying. Oh well...We just walked away.

So we walked back to our hostel and prepared for a night.

We caught the BART to Oakland then walked to Yoshi's, via Starbucks, where we sat down and enjoyed some very light, refreshing (cool) salmon filled sushi. A desert followed which topped the meal. The only thing bigger then my stomach was the bill.

We made our way into our reserved seats (Booth 37) to see Christian McBride and Inside Straight play. What a great stage it was though. very clean and modern (plus the toilets had automatic hand basins and towel dispensers. No joke, you could wave your wet washed hands in front of the towel and it would automatically feed you some paper towel. Thanking Yoshi's)

So the music just blew my small mind out of the liquid that surrounds it. AMAZING!!

Topped any performance all week. Best bass player I've ever heard and seen. The drummer was amazing. At 25 playing with Christian Mcbride. Wow! And the piano player... it was like his fingers had turned to silk and the piano was his neck which it wrapped around. They just worked. He was so quick, yet so smooth, yet so abrupt. Ouch!

If anyone is San Francisco, they must (must must must must) go to Yoshi's. Easily best night in America so far...

Now im in bed soothing my burn...

Aight you aussies...see you in NYC.

An excuse to sleep in...

Well these last two days i've been sleeping in a bit. Not because I don't want to get up, just cause i'd like to sleep a little bit longer. Plus when there's someone sleeping just across from you, who at any moment could open there eyes, it kind of makes it interesting to get out of bed without being seen.

So tonight we went to see some girl (so lame i can't even remember her name, i'm trying to drown out her horrible dancing now with some underoath...im drowning in my sleep: repeat) with an awesome support band. We unfortunately got these seats so that wherever I were to look, i could at least see 40% of her dancing. Picture this: a lady on stage with enough make-up for an ensemble of dancers in Southern Stars, a fake flower in her hair representing Hawai, a dress so tight that i'm surprised her belly didn't implode and the wrong kind of confidence to dance non-stop for an entire hour awkwardly with not even enough rhythm to tap one toe. Okay maybe it doesn't sound that bad, but for an entire hour she sang and 'Danced'. Anyway -

Today we had our own thing, walked to the Guitar Centre in San Francisco (obviously) then walked back, avoiding the tender area known as the tenderloin (named such because back when meat was delicious and yummy, cops would get paid a lot for working in such a bad area, so they'd use their significantly higher pay checks to buy nice tender tenderloins. So they decided, I guess, to name the place after the meat they ate.) and skirting our way back to Union Square. Where I did a bit of roaming...

Apple Store

Levi Store

Nike Store

Vans Store

Sketchers Store

Panda Express for lunch

Americans really do have the take away down-pat.

So my nights here are nice and comfy, but very noisy, as i sleep right next to the window (no issue at all there, love the cool breeze) so I always hear trucks at 3am dumping, picking and dropping their load all over my face. mmm that sounds a bit off...twas metaphor of sound.

these are the things I'll remember.

Anyway I'm gonna watch a video of an awesome drummer we saw the other night...

peace.

Good Morning

Yes it is morning, too far into the morning in fact. I slept in till 10am today. oops. i know i should be outside seeing the sites, i think we were just so tired from walking up the 202 steps to our room every day sometimes twice a day, that my body overruled any decision i tried to make.

So yesterday we went to Berkely. It's a very nice place there. very hippie central. lots and lots of really cool shops. nice cafes, nice second hand clothing stores, skate stores, hat stores, music stores. Very nice district. Plus its only about half an hour on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

We walked through the University of Berkely's Library. hich is about 1000000000x better then Wollongongs. Sorry Wollongong.

then we came home and went and saw a movie 'The Brothers Bloom' which is a farely average movie i thought.

so that was yesterday, today we're planning on going to Golden Gate Park, to a museum and tonight to see a bit of theatre.

anyway...

Peace.x

Okay so I know I just posted a post inches ago...but tonight was so good it was worthy of another post.

So we decided to go to this free Jazz club, actually we didn't know it was free and I was skeptical because the website was so dodgy. Anyway, we got there after calling ahead three times to find ourselves horribbly underdressed. Not to worry, so we sat down and just minded our own business.

Then this massive group just starting posing for a photo right in front of us. I was like "Okay?" anyway, while they were posing they bumped our chair and said sorry, I being the polite young man said 'It's alright'. Then the man she was with turned around and said 'Are you from around here?' Then Dad said 'No, we're from Australia'.

Well, turns out the lady who bumped our chair, who was part of the big group, 's fiancee was Australian too. Convenient, yes!

So then we got talking, and he asked if Dad liked rugby. Of course, he said. The the guy said he's here with Jean-Pierre Rive, an old French rugby captain, whos the John Eals equivelent. Dad was chuffed. So we got a photo, then just sat there watching this absolutely breath taking band play with this french rugby player turned artist.

Then we walked down to Yoshis and saw this funk band play. Probably more like soul/R&B but so good either way.

Thats the night. Best ever...

So this is Myself, Dad and Jean-Pierre...

Well greetings to all followers and friends...

Tonight, going to see a band play at a venue on Filmore street, home of Jazz.

At Rasselles Jazz club. Don't ask about the name. I know nothing. Its a big band so hopefully we'll see some cool liks.

today we woke up and walked across the red line (eek you say, well eek I did) through the slums of SF, onto greater things (Filmore St.). And what a fantastic place it was. saw the newly developed Yoshis in SF (oppossed to Oakland) had a coffee. Then went back to SF via bus (much much safer, but if anyone of you plans on coming to SF, or America for that matter, I recommend that you never sit in a disabled, elderly or pregnant seat as they most often are always filled by crazies, well that was my experience) to head out to our tutorial on Logic Express. Very intense. I think my brain will explode, cause there is so much stuff you can do with it. Anyway...

Now I'm sitting on the floor waiting for my fingers to stop typing so I can go to this BIG BAND gig tonight...it's going to be BIG.

Also, last night we made our way down to this awesome place for gigs, only to be told at the door (after paying $3 for a tram ticket) that I wasn't allowed in because I wasn't at that age yet where I can drink...why 21 America, WHY???

So we went back to this Jazz bistro just down the road where we saw some arrogant pianoist play off his chops for a tough crowd of single tabled guests with no interest in Jazz. Sucks to be them...

Anyway I must leave...so goodbye...

New Lap

well today i woke up fairly late...around 9ish, me and dad had breakfast, then went down to the mac store to pick up his new computer, which i am on now.

Its sick. The keyboard is slick as oil, and smooth as satin. Plus there's free internet...so for a small fee of buying a laptop, we now have free internet.

Last night we went to Biscuits & Blues and saw s

ome pretty, actually very good music. Now that i can upload some photos I will, so I can show you.

So I'll also upload some photos from the past week to show you what i've gotten up too...

This is at the airport...

This is a wing. And a sun.

Chinese Theartre in LA on Hollywood BLVD

Number Plate

Airport Sign (as proof i thought)

Me in Blue

Universal Studios - best day in LA

Traditional Hulk
Venice Beach
Guitar Heaven
Traditional Hulk - cost me a dollar

http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=mcmclintock 

Only 10mins

Aight...wow thats so american.

Okay so I have 8 mins now to write a blog. lets see how I do.

So today we went to Fishermans Wharf. Again. But it was really nice. Pier 39 was seen again, for the third time, and we caught a fairy over to Sausalito...which is a community which thrives off of the pockets of rich gullable tourists...ie not me.
although it does house some of the great names...i don't know any of them, they all just drive really fancy cars and live in big doll houses.

i got severely burnt today also. i think my nose is so red that some car mistook me for a stop sign. lucky its america and he just kept driving.

so we ate lunch at the wharf where sourdough is made. its a bakery thats amazing. mum always buys San Francisco Sourdough...and today i saw where it originated. kind of cool.

also i forgot to put my jeans in the wash, so now i'm wearing the same jeans that i wore on the plane, a week ago. they do need a wash...but i'm gonna have to wait a couple more days. lawlstickers.

so dad bought something ver special today...he's just picking it up now. a new laptop. from the apple store. we've booked in for some lessons on how to use Logic Pro Express as well...so now when we come back, we can record some really good stuff...

tonight we're going to see some jazz at a place called Biscuits & Blues. its just up the street.

sorry i was wrong, dad didnt get the laptop that would be tommorrow (consider this a live feed, not me lieing, just telling you things as they happen)...anyway

just for people interest American Apparrell jumpers over here are a quarter of the price. I bought a hoodie for 44 bucks. amazing.

ummm so yeah biscuits and Blues tonight should be fun...we made our own dinner last night and tonight. food is so different overseas. you have no idea. bread is sweeter, toasts crunchier, and many more stuff which i can't afford (in time circumstances) to tell you about...

until my next blog....

peace.x

It's been a while, and a while has happened...

Okay, first of my apologise for three things.

1. Sorry about a delayed response. Internet was very expensive at the Sheriton...$5.95/half hour

2. No photos yet. i haven't found a computer yet that i can upload them onto.

3. Any spelling mistakes are made in the desire to write down as much as possible. plus the keyboard squeaks alot.

So last I left you i think I was still in LA at this rubbish of a hotel.

So dad was sick. had a flu. no not the swine flu. just the flu-flu. he got it from being practical and getting a flu shot to stop him from getting the flu, which gave him the flu. gargh!!
So he couldn't do much. not like theres much to do in LA anyway. let me describe for you LA.

There is no CBD. theres no place where everyone can hang (ie lee and me) theres no pitt street, george street or any thing similar. everything is spread out so you need a car to get around. but by using a car you'd be stuck in traffic for hours after hours because everyone has one to get around, which they need cause its so spread out. STUPID PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

so i went on a tour with a crazy crazy american who i couldnt understand a word of what he said. i think he said something like LA gets 3 inches of rain a year. conveniently it rained on the tour. he said that was rare. bahaha as if. anyway...

i bought a guitar. not a guitar guitar...but a nice acoustic...mini. its so tiny and strong. its like an ant. small and mighty. its a Martin & CO. sounds good too. so my mission for LA was done after that...oh and universal studios.

i confeess im a big big skinny white kid when it comes to theme parks. after jamberoo i guess you could say i have taken a big interest intheme parks...and i tell you this, universal studios ate jamberoo up, then threw them back up, then ate them again. amazing metaphor. the entrance alone could compete with jamberoos entire shopping outlets. every ride had a souviner shop. they had the real marilon monroe...i think. hmmm...

it was nice.

So overall LA. in 5 words

Dirty.
Big.
Unfriendly.
Toursity.
Cheap/Nasty (i know thats two, but if i only did cheap, then you might think cheap in the wrong way)

oh one more thing we were forced to do valet parking. now some people might think it be nice. no it wasn't. sometimes you just want to park your car and walk to your room. instead we had to drive up to them and give them money to park our car for us. which we could have done. stupid tipping system.

So we took our hire care and drove to SF a day early. best decsion we've made all trip. we drove to a small inn called 'Sea Side Inn' very very dodgy. i thought i was entering a pyshcological thriller. i thought some killer would set his sights on me...they didn't.

we then took a drive along 'The Big Sur' a massive coastal road that went on for miles (i say miles not kms because it was measured in miles and it would be disarespectaful of the USA culture to say kms as they speant the time measuring it in miles)

there are some amazing little inns and places to stay along here. you know how people want ocean views because they're nice? well here i wouldn't be suprised if they DIDN"T want ocean views, just because the only thing these people who lived here saw, was ocean. it was almost like living on a boat, but on land.

so we arrive in SF (San Fransico) and took the B*************y car back (the car was lame). we then caught a train to Powell street where we walked to the hostel. now let me tell you this.
the hotel we stayed at in LA had no fridge, no free breakfast, no cheap internet and no option of buying your own food to save money. so the contrast between these places we stayed was so big i couldn't see the other side.

internet is so cheap now i love it. free wi-fi, laundry level 2, kitchen level 3, vending machine level 3, payphone level 4, information on live music, tours and free events lobby. it is amazing.

we have our own room with our own bathroom. soooo good.

anyway tonight we took a nice short walk down to fishermans wharf...hahah short. if short is long then it was short. it took us not long...but it was longer then we thought. which is okay. we walked around saw some cool things. profesional spray painters. saw the golden gate bridge in lights. saw pier 39. apparrantly its famous. there was nice stuff there too. got an ice cream. was freezing. i got told off for not have my ice-crea-drip-protector on. this is a small gadget that surrounds the icream cone (made of cheap disposable plastic) that captures all the dripping that tneds to happen on american ice cream cones.

now im sitting here trying to update this blog. wait i've finished. amazing. time for bed. my backs sore and my eyes are tired. have no idea how long this is. i have no idea how many mistakes. all i hope is that you can understand the gist.

well i will leavce you with one final word...





goodnight.

well im staying at a hotel in LA called teh Sheraton. its pretty funky. im just on the internet obviously atm...

dads sleeping. im on the computer. im not tired. i wish i could upload photos. but my camera is up in the room...
i just went on facebook.

the flight over was longer then i thought when iw as on the plane, then shorter now that im off. i think a principle of 'cant waiting to get somewhere else' might have applied in this situation.

tonight...actually it will be today it feels like the night though...weird...

today we're going to get some food, see some famous sites, then look at a music guitar shop...hopefully...

well right now im gonna let a man use the rest of my time, cause i dontr eally have that much to publish...he's having an issue with silly staff getting confused. haha. its kind of funny...it has such as imple solution...anywho...

The start of my Journey...

Well this is the start of my big journey around the world. I leave in approx 6 hours. How amazing is this.

I arrive in LA at 7am...and I leave Wollongong at 3.45am. Its so surreal, soon to be real.

so I'm packed...

so I'm not sleepy...i'm so wide awake its not funny. haha

I can't sleep.

Today there were many goodbyes. Alot of goodbyes. Thankyou to anyone who said goodbye to me. it was nicenice.

So I leave on the 1st June and return on the 7th December...however I just got news from Nadine in Singapore that they may be reloaccated back to Switzerland...or somewhere else...

So I may or may not be able to go there. not to worry. I'm sure god has it in his big wrinkly hands.

anyway i must be off to bed. although i wont be sleeping (sorta feels like santas coming) i will try.

you know you love me,

Gossip Girl

xoxo