Living in the city for a few days

Hello there, it has been a few days, thought I'd give you an update. I moved out of Curt's house. He and his girlfriend came back from Finland after a one month vacation. The picture above is from the movie Deuce Bigalow where the main character house sits for a guy and messes the place up a bit. I left Curt's house in good shape with the exception of the plants. I am no botanist, but I believe they will live. I'd give more details of that movie, but I know for a fact some of my readers wouldn't want to see it. Yep all 12 of you. So I'm currently in a hostel right in the middle of Sydney. Its a pretty nice place and not ultra expensive. I'm rooming with three German guys who have never met each other. Das Gut! Nah I don't know any German. Nice guys. Hostel life is great because of the people you meet.

I went to a job placement agency today. I'll be starting Monday morning working at the NeverFail water headquarters about 20 minutes north of the city. Neverfail is like Dasani. Coke owns it. Or is it Aquafina? I get those two confused. So I'm not entirely sure of my role right now, but its really just going to be answering phones and taking orders. Not glamourous, but hey its $22 an hour ($14.50 USD). And it lasts for six weeks. So I'm not working for the Coca-Cola company, I work for the agency that placed me there. Get it?

Going to look at an apartment tonight in Sutherland (Sutherland...get the pic???) That's about 25 minutes south of the city or five stops closer from where I was living. I had written this woman about her extra room, so I hope it works out because I don't want to stay in the hostel too long. Finding a room isn't easy. I can't believe how many scam artists there are out there, but they are so obvious. On three or four different occasions someone has contacted me saying their husband is in London so they are there visiting them and all I have to do is Western Union them the rent money, then I can move in. Others have incredibly cheap apartments for rent right in Sydney Center ,but require $1500 deposit up front. I'm glad I'm not falling for these. I hear that sometimes rooms are actually cheap in the city because when you get there, there are 7 other roommates crammed into a small space. So that is why I'm hoping the place I look at tonight is good for me.


Well that's it for now. I need to get some rest. Not feeling so hot today. I think the move to the city and stressing a bit about the job and living situation have me under the weather. We will talk to ya soon!

Apartment and job hunt begins

So its been over a month since I arrived in Oz. I've played a bit. Saw the beach a lot, had some fun. But this weekend and next week I will focus on why I came here: to live and work. Finding a place is kind of tough for a couple reasons. The first one is that I've never done it before, and the second is because I don't know what the future holds. I might get a great job somewhere after I sign onto a place. I'm confident I'll find a place within a week, but to be certain that it is the best fit for me, I don't think I'll be able to know that for some time.

The job also won't be easy, but I'm going to be dropping my resume off at as many places as I can and try to get some interviews. One girl I know here is a recruiter for Coca-Cola Australia. Can you imagine if I went over to the evil empire? What would the sports equivalent of that be? Johnny Damon going to the Yankees? BABE RUTH going to the Yankees? Not sure. Anyway, I'm open to see what jobs she has to offer because a job is a job, and I don't believe Australia's Coke sales will effect g. housen's business much.

It is Friday evening. No plans tonight. I might just head out and see what I find. An amazing thing I've found is that the biggest drinking day of the weekend for Australians is Sunday! There's a club here in Cronulla where on Friday and Saturday night, I could get in without a line, but on Sunday night, there is a line halfway around the block with people dressed like they were going out on a Saturday night in the States.

I'm missing the NFL playoffs right now even if there are no Patriots present. I have the NCAA hoops tournament to look forward to. If it is like last year, CBS will broadcast each game online. Hopefully that happens.

Have a great weekend, stay warm.

2008 year in review

Happy New Year!

Today at 4pm I watched on TV the ball drop in New York City. It is so strange that I celebrated the new year 16 hours before most of you!

I was hoping to do this post before I rang in the new year, but I ran out of time. 2008 was one of the biggest travel years of my life and I saw some pretty great things. So this is a litte review of where I've been. Seeing as 9 is my lucky number, I have a good feeling about this next year.

January

I rang in the new year in Boston, MA then headed back to Keene, NH for a week before flying out to Maquoketa, Iowa as a event coordinator for Up with People. I can't say I have any plans for a return to Iowa. It was the the harshest winter I can remember experiencing.

February

Watching the Super Bowl at my friend Bear's house in Waukesha, WI was a fun time. The outcome of the game of course still saddens me. It was a long three hour drive in the snow back to Iowa. After that I traveled to Des Moines to spend a week with the Cast A 2008.

March

My next city was Enid, Oklahoma. I drove from Iowa, through Missouri, and then onto Enid. This is another state that I may have visited for the last time, but you never know.

April

I was in Enid less than four weeks and was happy to leave OK and head down to Brenham Texas with the cast. There, I visited the Blue Bell ice cream factory and also was part of a private tour of NASA in Houston, TX.

May

In May, my next city was New Braunfels, Texas. It was directly inbetween Austin and San Antonio, so I was able to visit the Alamo, Sea World and Six Flags.

June

I had a break from Up with People in June and flew home to Keene. While there, I took a weekend trip up to Ottawa, Ontario Canada and visited a former Carnival Cruise friend. I visited Parliament while I was there and also saw a friend from Up with People 2000. After that, I flew back out to Denver for one more stint with Up with People.

One of my biggest influences, George Carlin, died on June 22. It was the first time I can remember where a celebrities' death had me sad for some time. Growing up, I had dozens of his CDs, books and movies. I was fortunate to see him in concert in Minneapolis in 2003. He will be missed.

"Flammable, inflammable, non-inflammable....Why are there three? Doesn't it seem to you like two words ought to be able to handle that idea? I mean the thing either flams or it doesn't flam."

-George Carlin

July

July had me going to Breckenridge, Colorado for my last set up with Up with People. It was the toughest set up I had done and my body and mind were officially ready to leave Up with People. Breckenridge is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Unlike Oklahoma and Iowa, I really look forward to returing.

August

I spent three more weeks in Denver after leaving Breck. It was a great time working for Up with People out of their warehouse. I then flew to see some Carroll College friends in Waukesha, WI. While there, I went down to Chicago to see my dad who happened to be there on business. I took in my first Cubs game and saw another old friend from Up with People 2000.

September

Back to Keene for what I believe was my longest stay at home since 2001. My job for the next three months was with g. housen in Brattelboro, Vermont. I must have drove a few thousand miles in that time, seeing New England's fall foliage at its finest. After 14 months with Up with People, returning to the beverage business felt so easy and comforting.

October

I visited Ottawa again and saw about 5 friends this time. Three of them work for Cirque du Soleil and they hooked me up with amazing tickets to Corteo.

November

I didn't go anywhere in November except to Durham, NH for my good friend Ken Macie's wedding.

December

My first month in Sydney had me visiting Sydney, Cains and Brisbane. I rang in the new year in Cronulla, a beach town about 40 minutes south of Sydney.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog. I'm having a lot of fun with it and realize that I've missed writing like I used to. Feel free to share this site with other people. Thanks for the comment too. I will check in again soon!

Some Photos

Here are a few photos I said I would post. I will try to post more, but getting a good internet connection is still sometimes tedious. Have a great New Year's Eve. Talk to you in 2009.

The following two photos are from my first weekend in Australia. I participated in the 8th annual "Fridge to Fridge." This involves 80 guys on bikes, some of them custom made just for the event, biking to about 8 or 9 different homes in the Sutherland Shire, and essentially having a beer or two at each stop, with a big party being held at the final stop. Sounds dangerous, probably is a tad, but I walked away unscathed. The theme was the Beer-jing (Bejing) Olympics. So everyone had to dress up as a country. Curt and I had cardboard boxes on and we represented Cuba. How patriotic of me.

This is Cronulla beach, in the town I'm looking to stay in for a year. Not a bad view.

My first day going to Sydney by myself I took this picture. Kind of a cloudy day. It was great to finally see the Opera House with my own two eyes.

These are the friends I met scuba diving in Cairns. Remember I didn't take any photos of the actual scuba diving. Swedish girl second to left.

I took this photo at the koala sanctuary in Brisbane. Not a bad photo for a camera I bought at Wal-Mart. There was this really energetic koala that stood out. His name was actually Ryan.

And here I am feeding a kangaroo. I was a little nervous because everytime I see a kangaroo on TV, it is kicking someone in the chest.

This is a shot of the Harbour Bridge with a Royal Caribbean ship in the foreground. It brought back memories seeing the ship in port.

This is the same day, although the second time I went to have a look around Sydney. This time I walked all the way up to the Opera House. It truly is an amazing piece of architecture.

Not the greatest photo, but it was another cloudy day in Sydney. This is the world famous Bondi Beach. Usually, on a sunny day, there are thousands of people here. When I return, I'll take a better one.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Day and Weekend

The weekend after Christmas has been an eventful one. First off, my Christmas day was a good one. I had a great meal at the York’s house. We had a pot roast and prawns (shrimp). Friday night I went out with Eoin to a house party on Cronulla beach. Saturday, I went to the city with Mike York and Eoin, and witnessed King’s Cross for the first time. It is the part of Sydney that never sleeps. Clubs, bars, dance clubs all open until the sun comes up. We actually didn’t go into any of them but we had a walk around and decided to do it up big at the Cross another night.

Sunday, I spent at the beach with a lot of the people I met my first weekend in Australia. I didn’t get sun burned too bad. I’m actually getting the hang of putting on the sun screen every day.

I’ve been reading a book recently about Australia. It is by an American guy named Bill Bryson. Funny thing is, it has two titles. I was more than half way through the book back in May but lost it in my travels. In the states it is called “In a Sun Burned Country.” But I found it over here and the title is simply “Down Under.” Same book, but obviously published down here with a different name. Anyway, it is about Bill’s travels to Australia back in 1999. It is full of historical facts and good humor. It is a great read now that I know of many of the places he speaks of.
I’ve read another Bill Bryson book called “A Walk in the Woods” in which he hikes the Appalachian Trail. I read that book twice also. That is another remarkable thing. The fact that I read only a couple books a year and I’ve read two of this author’s books twice!

This week I plan on finding my apartment. My friend Eoin works in real estate and is going to introduce me to some contacts with apartments to rent. It will be good to get that ball rolling.
New Year’s Eve is coming up. I don’t think I will venture to the city for the big fireworks show. Instead a friend of Mike's has rented two boats for the day where we’ll have a party, I hear it is pirate themed. Then at night, I’m still unsure what’s going on, but I doubt it will be boring.

I ran into a girl in Cronulla over the weekend that I had never met in person before but had been corresponding by email in regards to being a possible roommate of hers. I only recognized her by her picture, so it was cool to meet her and introduce myself. She was kind of surprised to see me, seeing that it was 1am and we were both looking for cabs. I got her info, so maybe she’ll be another potential friend I make out here.

I just read about the Patriots. Bummmer! Doesn't hurt as bad as last year, but it still sucks. Now it is time for the C's and B's to continue their good seasons.

My next post should include some pictures.

Christmas time in Oz,

It is Christmas eve here in Australia. Although it sure doesn’t feel like it. I’d like to thank Jon Watterson for providing me with this great photo from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Also enjoy some photos from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Bad Santa and Elf - some of my all time favorite holiday films.

Three days ago I was out on Dolan’s Bay with Mike York and Eoin (Owen), another friend I’ve met here, sitting on a boat fishing, swimming and sharing a case of Carlton Draught. It was surreal. This will be the fourth Christmas in five years I’ll have been away from Keene, NH. I can’t say I’m getting used to it, but I will be in the company of good people on Christmas day. So that is a positive. I will be having Christmas Dinner with the York family so don’t worry that I’ll be alone, because I won’t.


The last couple days I spent with my friend Neshat from England. We walked all over Sydney. We saw the Opera House and the famous Harbour Bridge. Today we spent the day at Bondi beach, one of Sydney's most popular and famous beaches. Unfortunately it was cloudy and only 74 degrees, that's right, ONLY 74. A shame.


Christmas time in Australia is kind of strange. I hear holiday music wherever I go. I see Christmas trees, fake of course. There are even decorative lights on many of the houses with blow up snowmen in the yard. But it is 80 degrees or more! It feels like July every day. So this makes me feel less homesick than I was last January, when I was stuck in Maquoketa, Iowa buried under 2 feet of snow.



My memories of Christmas, or my favorite ones rather, are from when I was growing up. Each Christmas Eve, the Watterson family gathers at my grandparents, John and Barb’s house. We have a good size family, so the house was always packed wherever we were whether it is in West Keene or in Marlborough. I can’t remember if we’ve ever had the entire family there, but I will be thinking of my grandpa Watterson, Gram, my parents and Brother Jon; Brian and Kim Watterson and my cousins Ingrid and Sam. Also Daryl, Donna and kids Mariah, Frosty and Tank. My ant Kim Stanton and my Hollywood bound cousin Shelby Stanton. (Go rent The Clique! Shelby rocks in that) Also in the past decade, I’ve reunited with Toby Watterson and my cousin Paige. And I always remember the holidays as seeing my Nana. Gramp always had the job of handing out the gifts. I missed having my Grandpa at Christmas when I was home last year, as did the entire family. He was the best. I’ll be thinking of you all tomorrow. Make sure you have enough chicken wings for Jon and Donna!

The best thing about Christmas at home was we had two Christmas’s really. On Christmas Day, my brother and I would wake up early and open gifts with my mom and dad. It was always a special moment just amongst the four of us. In the last decade or so, we have started getting up later and not opening gifts until afternoon. There’s still a child inside me that wakes up hoping to exchange the gifts at 7am.

My mom makes a breakfast on Christmas Day. She saves up all her days of cooking for making the best breakfast of the year! Hehe, mom I love ya! The Gemmell family always comes over. We’ve had some great crowds in years past with Jon, Marilyn, Lori and sometimes Todd Gemmell making an appearance, as well as Lori’s kids Benjamin and Katherine. Again, I’ll feel a bit empty without the presence of Grandma Gemmell and Jon Gemmell being with us this year. Gram always provided a laugh or good conversation. Jon brought the best out of everyone and had the all time greatest laugh. He taught the family to play cribbage and on those lazy holiday afternoons would always be up for a game. Grandpa Gemmell, I look forward to speaking to you again. We had some great talks before I ventured down to Oz. Also, the Harris family in Seattle, the Gemmells in Virginia and Minnesota – I will be thinking of you too.

I remember as a child calling up my neighbor, Ken Macie, and we were so excited to share with each other the gifts we’d received. Thank goodness he was the one who always received the video games! I know this is his first Christmas as a married man. So Ken, if you’re reading this, congrats on your first holidays hitched.

The holidays remind me also of playing hockey and traveling to Concord, NH and Fitchburg, MA for holiday tournaments. That was back when we were good and could actually beat Concord. As for Fitchburg, I can’t say that I ever enjoyed venturing down there. The arena was cold and we played against great teams from Mass like Leomenster and Chelmsford that beat up on us. We once played a game in high school where we were beat 10-2 with the only two goals being scored by my brother and me. I thought that was cool.

The holiday season always had us going out to Robin Hood Park and playing pickup hockey. A few years, my dad made a rink out of our front yard. We had some heated battles out there. Well more like freezing battles.

Another holiday memory was decorating the tree with my mom. I did grow out of it and now my mom puts up a heckuva tree. Make sure if you go over there, you notice her lights. It was also my job each day to add a heart to the advent calendar. There were 25 of them and they connected together to make a three foot hanging line of hearts. The first one had an angel and the last one with a star on it. Again, over the years, I grew out of the habit and now my mom is the one who keeps the tradition alive. But for a time, it made my day to add another heart, anticipating the big day.

So as you enjoy your white Christmas in New England, or wherever you are, I hope you have an amazing holiday. I do miss my family and friends I’ve met through Up with People, Carroll College and Carnival Cruise Lines. Take Care, I miss and Love you. Talk to ya soon.

Brisbane

Good morning, not a lot of time to post, so I'll make it a quick one. This picture is an obscure reference, but in the movie Rainman, Ray says "Qantas never crashed." So hopefully you get that. Its a stretch I know.

I left for Brisbane on Friday and arrived that evening. I took a train and a bus to Queensland University. My "Up with People" friend from England, Neshat had just arrived in town as well so a friend of hers hosted me there at the college. It was a tight fit in a small dorm room, but it worked.

On Saturday, Neshat, our host and I went to a Koala sanctuary. It was like a zoo. Pretty good time overall. I've never seen Koalas, Kangaroos, wallabees and other Australian wildlife. I took some pictures I will post soon. My impression on Koalas is that they live a pretty good life. They sleep 18 hours a day. On the other hand, Kangaroos look like prisoners, all laying down, not moving much.

We spent the afternoon trying to plan the next 5 days of our trip. We had this great five day plan that took us out to Frasier Island, spending two nights on a boat and eventually flying to Sydney. The problem was that it cost about $1000. And to be honest, Australia was getting expensive to travel around. So we decided not to do that.

Neshat and I went out on the town Saturday night with a guy from Malaysia that our host had asked to take us out. He was kind to show us to the "Valley" where the clubs in Brisbane are. It was really packed. An exciting scene of clubs and bars. I didn't bring the right shoes on my trip, so I wasn't allowed into the bar we wanted to go into. But my new Malaysian friend and Neshat were convinced they could get me in by doing the shoe switch trick. And remarkably they got me in. I had to change shoes with the other guy who was already let in. I wasn't really up for it but they wouldn't take no for an answer.

After a good night on the town, we arrived home around 2am Sunday morning and decided we wanted to get out of Brisbane. Brisbane is a great city, a college town. It is, however, 2 hours from the ocean. So we booked our flight for Sydney (The flight was 9 hours from the time we booked it!) for an amazing price of about $100 USD. I had only been out of Sydney for 7 days, but felt like 10-14. I'm ready to be here for good. The traveling was great, but I'm itching to start doing what I came here to do.

Next post will be a Holidy Post hopefully. So look forward to that.