Becoming Australian

You know I thought becoming Australian would come a lot sooner than two three weeks before I head home. Oh well. Today was Father's Day in Australia and we went out to dinner with Amanda's extended family. Guess what I ate.....................


This would be a crocodile. Yep, I ate freaking crocodile and LOVED it! Surprisingly enough, it tastes like fish. After I enjoyed, I felt a bit guilty. My friends said the next thing to eat to truly become an Aussie is kangaroo. Ya, ain't gonna happen. I would really feel guilty then. I believe that I have developed a sophisticated palate since I have been here. I have eaten lamb, duck, scallops, buramundi, and now crocodile.

This past week one of my best friends that I have made here, Kent, left on his mission. He is going to be awesome. I miss the kid. Probably because he reminds me so much of my younger brother. I sure have made some of the greatest friends here!
We had to get up pretty early and were trying not to get teary-eyed, but we totally did. Oh well, I guess we really love the kid!

This week at work my office was hosting a Work Experience intern. A year 10 or 11 student comes and learns about a certain occupation. Asher, nice kid, wanted to take pictures with all of us. I think he took like 10 with me, weird, anyways, here is a picture of all the people in my office. It's not that great of a picture, but it will have to do.

From left to right starting in the back: Bryan, Matt Malone, Asher, Chris, Mary, Linda, and the me. Chris has become one of my greatest friends. Sure going to miss her!

Birds - Scariest Movie Ever!

When I was like 10 I think my mother introduced me to Alfred Hitchcock. One of the movies we watched was "Birds." I look back at that movie and think birds, didn't think they could be crazy creatures, but I was wrong. Luckily it was just in the movie. Well, that all changed this past week when I visited Hanks - aka birdville. I couldn't take many photos because the birds were attacking me for food. So you can't see the true evil in their eyes as they were all over me. Amanda has those photos. The cockatoos, biggest/scariest bird I have ever been around. Their talons are massive and they dig them into your arm when they land. As much as I sound like I hate this experience, I actually loved it. The birds were beautiful. Some of the parrot-like ones looked like they could have been painted in thin air. I wish I had some cool pictures with me in them, but you will just have to admire them without me!
This past Saturday we celebrated little Amaya's birthday. She turned 5 about a month ago but never had a party. It was Disney themed so we all dressed up as characters. I was Minnie Mouse, Amanda=chef from Ratatouli, Amelia=Cruela DeVile, and Amaya was Tinkerbell. I wish I had better pictures, but once again they are on Amanda's camera. But I did take a picture of the cupcake cake Amelia and I made. It turned out pretty good.
By the way I am down to a month before I see this guy and .............then 6 weeks until I see these people. I am so excited!!!!!

Tire vs Tyre

Language, such a funny thing. I have come to see that not all English is equal. The first time I saw the word "tyre" I was so confused. It wasn't until I read the surrounding words "brakes, shocks, etc" to realize what they actually meant was tire. Some other words I have encountered are gos=gossip, breky=breakfast, licence=license, and this is hilarious "the town bike" think about it, you'll get it. Oh Costco, I miss my weekly daddy-daughter date/samples. Well, to my surprise, the first Costco in Australia was built here about a year age. This past weekend I got to go with my family here (the Wong's). For a few of them, it was their first time. It was so funny to see their faces and the size of products here. The only down side is that because everything still has to be imported, the cost savings is barely anything. We had a good time though. You know the notorious frozen cream puffs? Well, I introduced my family to them. And it was a success. Oh and my friend Kent was absolutely obsessed. He was in heaven and could have spent three times as much as he did. Reminds me so much of Dewbot!

Later that night we went to Eureka Tower, aka the tallest building in Melbourne. Ya, not the highest place I have ever been, but it was pretty cool. It is 88 stories and on that level you can go in the "BOX" it is probably 6'x6' with only six centimeters of glass between you and the plunging fall. They took a picture of us in the box. Millie was so afraid that if she touched the glass she would fall through it. So, if you can see it in the picture she is only standing on the metal linings. And don't mind my distracted gaze. I didn't know where we were supposed to look for the pic!
We took lots of random pics and had a blast. The friends I have made here are the best and they are truly a family away from home.

This is Kent and Amanda, my two best friends and the cutest couple!

Half Way

I can't believe that I have been here two months and that after tomorrow I will be heading down the slope. Life hear has gone fast! Not a lot has happened here, except I met Max Brenner. He is talented and satisfies me in the best of ways through the ultimate chocolate experience. Imagine thick, dark, warm, luscious nectar from the Gods. There is fondue, molten cake, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee, and PIZZA! Nothing compares to the hot chocolate. The consistency is like a melted Cadbury on a warm summer night. You can feel it coat the inside of your stomach as it goes down. Sorry if this is too graphic, but it is so good!!!!!! A quote situated perfectly above my head reads the story of my life.

Yummmmm!!!!My friends Evette, Kent and Andy took me to try the famous chocolate Pizza. It was pretty good, but would have been better if it was dark. I just love these guys, especially Kent. He is identical to Dewebot. I mean seriously, look at the face he is making. And isn't it perfect that all you can see of the quote is "Really Need Chocolate!" I couldn't say it better.


The CHOCOLATE PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine this, a sugar cookie, covered in molten, melted chocolate topped with marshmallows, bananas and little bites of candied nuts on each slice.



There is a car here, and for some strange reason it is very popular. Now this isn't very PC, but it is what I would call a Mexi car. Here they call it the UTE (aka utility). Apparently it drives like a coupe, yet holds like a truck. Um......no. It is uglier than sin. There are a few that are souped up with bright colors and sick rims, but this is just a plain-Jane white one. Hopefully I can find one that isn't too soft on the eyes. Classy right???

The City at Night

Earlier this week I went into the city with some of my friends. We were showing around these two other Americans that were visiting. Ya, I am already considering myself a local! It was cold, but I love the cold. Some people got hot chocolate, but I didn't. It wasn't cold enough for it. The pictures aren't great because my friend is horrible at doing it, but hopefully you get the idea.

We also went to St. Kilda. Glen said there were little penguins there, and we found some. They were so little and cute. Obviously they kept hiding from us in the rock crevices, so it was hard to get a good picture.

Andy told me I need to do something interesting in this photo. Ya, not sure what I was thinking. But this is the south-bank of the Yarra River. It was a really pretty walk. Can't wait to see it in the daylight with lots of people. By the way, Yarra River is like the Hudson, disgustingly dirty!


This is my friend Glen, and we were laughing/didn't know the picture was being taken so we look like idiots. This is Federation Square. It has really cool architecture, but most of the locals hate it. Not sure why?

Down Under

Yes, I have been here a good month and haven't created a blog. It will mostly be pictures, if I start taking them better, but if you want to see what I am up to check out the blog every once in a while.

Last weekend I went down to a place called Rosebud. A quaint town where not much was going, but full of people on their Winter holiday. I went with my friends Kent and Andy to visit our friend Amanda and her family. Everyone was so kind to indulge the weird American, aka me, in a hunt for kangaroos. They told me we weren't going to find any, but alas we found a whole heard of wild kangaroos. Here are a few pics. Check out the little Joey inside the momma's pouch. I can't describe how surreal it was being so close to these wild creatures. I'll admit I was a bit nervous because they were wild and who knows what could have happened. But it was truly magical.