"I hope you can the time of your life..."

So this is it.

In the midst of emptying drawers and packing bags, it hit me that yeah, I'm ACTUALLY going home. Like for real. After months of anticipation, then months of great times, and hours of talking about what and who we miss from home, it's finally here. I'm dreading the 30 hours of traveling, but before I know it I'll be sitting watching ESPN and eating pizza and wings. My mouth just started watering.

Everyone keeps asking "so what are u feeling? happy? sad? relieved?" I couldn't even tell you. It's such a mix of everything that it's almost impossible to describe. This has been my home for the last 6 months, and now I'm putting my life in 2 bags and heading back to a place that has moved on since I left 6 months ago. The world didn't stop when we all left home, so going back will definitely be a little weird.

Castaway is a classic, and one of my favorite movies. When Tom Hanks leaves the island, I could never understand his attachment to it...until now. I feel exactly like he does, albeit to a lesser extent (I had technology and other people here!).I've become attached to this place, the people and what it offers. It's exceeded my expectations and then some, except I wish I had Wilson here.



I really am going to miss this place though, it's treated me far better than I deserve. From late night walks on the beach, to lounging with kangaroos, to paying more than any human ever should have to for beer, this place has been great. I'm putting the final touches on my masterpiece packing job, and then it's off to the airport tomorrow morning at 7am. Gonna be a long flight, but at least America is on the other side! I'll update and put a finally wrap on things once I get home.

It's been a good run Australia, it really has. I'm gonna miss you.

Melbourne Cup and Heat Waves and Life and Leaving

Sorry for taking so long to post something - I blame it on my lack of desire to do anything productive with my life in the last few weeks here! I haven't hit the gym as hard as I wanted to, have eaten the worst foods possible for you and have been sitting in the sun far too long. Updating my blog would of meant me doing something productive, and I couldn't do that to myself! Two weeks have gone by since I last wrote anything. My mom emailed me and said update your blog, some people actually read it. No they don't I said, but it gave me motivation to do it. So I apologize.


The Melbourne Cup. What a great time! It's a month long event with the "race that stops a nation" on November 3rd. There were 10 of us that went on that day and tickets were $50, not too bad for a great time. It was about 70 and a little cloudy, which is perfect because everyone was dressed up nice and if it would of been any hotter, I would of been sweating SO much. There were 120,000 people there and it was just a great time. Poor Life Choice #1 - I had to throw money down on a horse because I mean, you're at a horse race. I decided I was going to ride Master O'Reilly to the finish. I knew he had it in him, so I put $20 on him to win and $20 on him to place. He came out quick, and was in the front of the pack for awhile, then fell back a bit but I only needed to him to place to win a good chunk of change. He had it, and then on the final stretch he started to fade. Fast. He needed oxygen. He needed wheels and a motor. As any lucky Irishman would have it, he finished a photo-finish fourth. Fantastic. See ya later $40.


After all the races we headed to the casino because we were already close to the city. This would be Poor Life Choice #2. We got some food at the casino and then hit the roulette tables hard. The casino was PACKED with everyone from the race and tons and tons of Australia celebrities that I had never heard of. Right before roulette I threw $2 in the 2 cent machines not hoping to win big, just wishing for a sign that tonight would be a big night. Nothing. I told the Maddy who was sitting next to me, "It's NOT gonna be a good night." Once you say that in a casino, you might as well just leave. Maddy and I played roulette for awhile, putting $5 or $10 on red every time. She ended up $50, I was up $100. We decided to cash it in and head home, not a bad night I'd say. On our way out we see our friend Ryan who literally lives at the casino and makes MONEY. He says to me hey stay and hit the blackjack tables with me a bit then we'll head back. PLC #3 - never listen to Ryan. He wins, and he wins big. So no crap he wants to stay at the casino. My unlucky Irish butt needs to get out of there if I'm up $1, let alone $100. So obviously I stay. Fast-forward to 2 hours later: I'm down $100, down another $20 to Ryan, but up 5 beers. Some say win, some say lose, it depends on how you look at it. Moral of the story, I walked away from the casino and the racetracks a poor man, but a better human.

Classes had ended so the rest of that week we just hung out. We went to the Sky Deck which overlooks Melbourne and that was really cool. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pics, but trust me when I say it was cool. That's also when the heat wave started. Now I'll be honest when I say I sweat like Pumba from the Lion King. It's bad. I sweat when I eat, I sweat when I type, I sweat when I sit in an ice bath. It doesn't matter when or where, I sweat. So sitting in a room, without a fan, with ZERO wind, and +95 degree heat does NOT end well for me. It was literally hell. It started on Saturday and I had my biggest exam the following Monday, so for 2 days I sat in my room drenched and soaking trying to study. The heat wave lasted for about a week and half and finally the past 2 days have started to cool down a bit. Thank God.


We went to the Queen Victoria Market a few days ago and that was a lot of fun. I've been there before and will probably go once more before I leave. It's a huge open air market that thousands go to everyday. Usually the prices are set, but there are some people that you can negotiate down quite a bit. I'm not a big fan of confrontation or anything close to that, so arguing with someone isn't quite up my alley. But it's fun to watch people.
I finished my last exam on Wednesday, so the past couple days I have just been hanging out doing nothing. It's relaxing. My bus pass expired so if I want to go to the city I have to pay like $10 for an all day pass so I've been sticking around campus trying to catch some rays.

A lot of people have left already which is extremely sad and we hate to see them go. I feel like we'll never see them again, but I'll see them in like 2 weeks back at school. All the people still here have exams tomorrow and Tuesday so it kind of sucks because they are all studying and I just want to hang out. I've watched more chick flicks than even a girl should watch, so if you need any suggestions I've got your back.

I've tried to start packing and boy is it a disaster. I hate it. I struggle packing to begin with, and the fact that I have SO much crap that I just have to throw out pains me! There's nowhere to put it for the kids next semester so we either have to throw it out or donate it.


Well that's basically what has been doing on around here lately, not too much except starting to pack and watching movies and laying in the sun. I've got a tub of ice cream and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days waiting for me. What am I, a recently dumped teenage girl who eats her emotions? A hopeless romantic? C'mon grow up. I can't even look at myself in the mirror anymore.

Melbourne Cup

About to head off to the Melbourne Cup. It's basically the triple crown of horse racing rolled into one day. 120,000 people and just a great time. I just had to iron my pants and shirt, I don't know how my mom does it. I think there are more wrinkles now then when I started! I obviously have to throw some money on a horse and looking through the list, I think I've found my guy: MASTER O'REILLY. I'm putting it all on him and we'll see. Well I gotta go get spiffy, hopefully I come back with a big W from O'Reilly!

I thought we didn't ACTUALLY have to do work here...

The past 2 days I've been trying to cram 4 months of marketing class into my big head. It hasn't been fun to say the least. Not to mention that my room turns into a sauna during the day, so the past two days I've sat here sweating my butt off trying to concentrate and study. My room is a mess, with papers and books thrown everywhere on the floor. To make matters worse I was listening to a lecture online and our teacher said "40% of kids failed this final last year, it'll be the same or higher this year." Great, just great.



Last night was Halloween, but they don't really celebrate here so no outrageous costume for me this year. Last year I went as Jackie Moon of ABA Flint Tropics fame. See: Semi-Pro and below. I dressed up as procrastinating-sweaty-kid-cramming-for-an-exam-in-a-heat-box. Terrible. I feel much better about it though because some of the people that did go out to the city said it wasn't too much fun AND there was a huge storm last night so everyone got soaked.



After this hellish exam on Monday I have 10 days of relaxation. My last exam is on the 11th and they gave us the questions already so it shouldn't be too bad at all. On Tuesday we have the Melbourne Cup, basically the Kentucky Derby of Australia, only bigger. It's basically the Preakness, Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes all rolled into one. It's a month long event, but the huge race is on Tuesday so that should be a lot of fun. A bunch of people from our Spring Break trip are in Melbourne and are going on Tuesday too so it looks like it's going to be a blast. That's about it for now, I should probably get back to studying. I'll update soon and also try not to fail my exam. Yeah.

Random Spring Break Pics

1. White water rafting in the rain forest
2. Toga Party
3. Nights at the Woolshed in Cairns
4. Boys white water rafting
5. Rain forest waterfalls
6. Wask and I - is it love?
7. Togas with Liz and Bergen
8. Me in the Whitsundays on a boat
9. Everyone about to jump in the pool on South Molle Island
10. Cheers!
11. Thumbs up at the Great Barrier Reef
12. Bungy Jumping!

Update: Sydney

Wow it's been two weeks since the last time I updated my blog. I've talked to a few people since I've gotten back from spring break, but not many. I don't know where the time has gone! Classes ended last week and I'm already done with 2 exams, with two left on Nov. 2 and Nov. 11. Nervous? A little, seeing those are my two hardest classes and worth over half my grade, but I think I'll manage.

So I'll talk about Sydney a little bit because I forgot to mention anything about it. Sydney was awesome! I actually liked the city more than Melbourne, even though it was really touristy. But maybe that's why I loved it. We got in late Wednesday night and me and my friend Courtney stayed at this girl Lexi's house about 20 minutes outside the city. Lexi is from Rochester and I had known her in high school so she offered to put us up for a few days which was real cool. The weather was absolutely terrible the ENTIRE time we were there. It was about 55-60 and rainy everyday. It hadn't rained in weeks before we got there. And the day after we left? 78 and sunny. Just our luck.

The Sydney Bridge and the Opera House were awesome!! I loved it. Even though it was a little overcast and such we still had a ball. There were about 14 of us from Loyola there and the rest stayed at a hostel in the city. The Sydney harbor where the Opera House and Bridge are was real cool. Reminded me exactly of the inner harbor in Baltimore with restaurants and little shops everywhere. We walked around there for awhile and got some food and just hung out. It was pretty amazing to just eat and look to your right and be staring at the Opera House!





Courtney and I ended up spending a lot of time in Coogee which is about 20 minutes outside the city. We found this place called Arthur's Pizza and I think we ate there AT LEAST 5 times. Pretty gross to think about but the food was delicious. Basically we walked around the city for a few days taking it all in and sight-seeing. It was a lot of fun.

We also met up with a few of the people we met over spring break. One girl we knew had her birthday while we were there so on Friday we went to her penthouse suite in the city. A ton of kids from Sydney that were on spring break with us met us there so it was great seeing them. Our tour guides showed up even and we loved seeing them again. We went out to the city for the night and juts had a great time seeing everyone again. Overall just a great night.




Courtney and I went to Bondi Beach on Sunday right before we left too. It's probably one of the most famous beaches in the world and it was fantastic. Tons of surfers were in the water and we just sat on the beach for awhile which was a lot of fun. It reminded me of what a beach in Italy would look like, I don't know why. We left Sunday got home at about 1 AM because our flight was delayed. Overall just a GREAT trip though! I really loved Sydney!

Spring Break and Sydney...Finally

First off I'd like to apologize that it took me so long to write about Spring Break. I've been dreading it because there is almost TOO much to write about! To write this I actually had to go back and look at the schedule of what we did to remember because we did SO much. Therefore this is gonna be basically a book, so if you're not sitting down or you have somewhere to go, stop reading now!

Pre Day 1: So even before the trip started we had to fly up to Brisbane. We stayed at this pretty nice hostel, but everyone was split up into random rooms. I walked in and it looked like a bomb had hit. There was crap EVERYWHERE. So we all ended up staying in 2 rooms which was uncomfortable and terrible to say the least. Also this girl Joy on our trip got cut with some glass in the leg after a random guy threw a glass at his friend. She was convinced she needed to go to the hospital so Josh and Paige took her. 4 hours later all she needed was a band-aid. Not a great way to start Spring Break for any of us.

Day 1: We met early on a bus near our hostel. It was 16 of us from Loyola and 40 other kids that are studying in Australia. Some lived in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and everyone was amazing. Our two "professional" tour guides were Tim and Pete, guys that became idols of mine. They were 25/26 and living the dream. Talk about the sickest job ever. Spring Break with college kids twice a year? All paid for? Sign me up. Anyways, we drove to the Steve Irwin zoo and stayed there for a few hours. It was awesome. We saw the Irwin family and went to a Croc Show just like the ones Steve used to do. It was definitely sad to see all the memorials to him and see how little his kids were. After the zoo we hit up a famous pub for a schooner and stopped to get some boxed wine (goon). Then we drove to our hostel for the next two days and set off on a booze cruise around Harvey Bay. It was fantastic, obviously. After the cruise we went back to the hostel where everyone partied by the pool until the wees hours of the morning.

Before I go on, I should explain a few of the traditions of our Tour. First there is the Sin Tin. A frequent depositor, I know all about. If you said, did, or almost did anything worthy of being called stupid, you had to throw $2 in the tin. At the end of the tour, all the money would go towards a homemade "punch" on the last night. The second tradition was the riders jerseys. There was a red jersey and a blue jersey, both terrible looking and ridiculously small. The red jersey went to the person that did the stupidest thing on that day, and the blue jersey went to the person that did the 2nd stupidest thing. A brilliant idea really. And you had to wear it all day, only taking it off when u showered or went swimming. I never wore the jersey, but Loyola maintained the top jersey for a lot of the trip. We're classy like that.

Day 2: Wake-up time was 730 and we headed off to Frasier Island and the fresh water lakes. It was an hour ferry ride to get there and we had to take off-road buses because it was just sand roads. The lakes were amazing. The water was warm, the sand was white, and we had a great time just lounging on the beaches. After a day of sun-baking we headed back to the hostel to pack for our 12 our bus ride. We had Mexican for dinner (which by the way, whoever decided that was a good idea before a 12 hour bus ride is CRAZY), and got on the bus to the Whitsunday Islands. The bus ride was absolute hell. The worst ride I've ever had in my life. But it was definitely worth it because the Whitsundays were UNREAL.

Day 3: We had to pack a 3 day bag for our island resort and headed off on some high-powered boats. We jumped some waves, did 360s and went flying through the Whitsundays. We stopped at Whitehaven beach for the day and it was amazing to say the least. Everyone drank wine all day on the beach and we tossed around the footy ball too. It was a little dusty because of the dust storm that had hit a few days before, but still some of the views we had were ridiculous. It was like what you see on postcards. After a day on the beach we headed to South Molle Island, our home for the next 3 days. That night we had a bag party, as in the only thing you could wear were the 3 garbage bags that they gave u at the front desk. They must have small trash cans here because those bags did not fit me AT ALL. We made it work, and by 3am everyone was in the pool having a great time.

Day 4: This was our day to "sleep-in." We got woken up around 8 and got some breakfast which was just okay. Nothing special really. I was hoping for the all you can eat bacon and eggs, but they had beans and toast. Weird I know. Today we just lounged around the unbelievable pool and on the beach. I won the Coconut throwing contest, something I'll be proud of my whole life. I feel like I have transitioned from boy to man after such a win. For my efforts, I got a jug of whatever girly drink I could think of (worth about $60 though!). In true Quinn fashion, I lost the ticket and couldn't get the jug (and in even more Quinn fashion, I found it 2 days ago stuffed in my wallet somewhere). That night was the Toga Party, and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't have a great time. It was amazing. We all danced the night away, and I'd like to say I had a great-lookin toga on. A masterpiece really.

Day 5: Today we got up at 630 (3 hours of sleep) and boarded a yacht to sail around the Whitsundays. The views were spectacular, and the weather was amazing. We saw dolphins and sea turtles swimming along side us, it was spectacular. We stopped off at a little island where we could go snorkeling through one of the reefs. This is where I almost died. We anchored a good distance away, and they offered to take us all in the little motorboat to the island. Obviously, being a manly man, I thought I could easily swim there. We all jumped off, and got our swim on. Me and big Mike swam together (I knew if there was a shark I could hopefully outswim him). About halfway I decided I wasn't going to make it. That was it. I had been doggy paddling for what seemed like forever and I was only halfway there. I thought of my Dad and how he tells a story of how him and my uncle almost died swimming to a boat in the ocean. I started to laugh, therefore taking in about 3 gallons of water. Somehow I managed to make it to shore where I kissed the ground and laid there for 15 minutes. We went snorkeling through the reef and saw some amazing stuff. Basically Finding Nemo in real life. Amazing. Afterward we went sailing around the Whitsundays and jumped off the yacht a few times to cool off. It was beautiful, and words can't really describe it. That night we had a 6 hour bus ride to outside Cairns and stayed the night in a little hostel. We got in around 12, got 6 hours of sleep and got up for white water rafting.

Day 6: We hit the river for an amazing day of white water rafting. I loved it, and it was really amazing. They were level 4/5 rapids, and the water was incredibly warm. We had the 4 guys from Loyola and our 2 tour guides, so we definitely thought we'd kill this river. Turns out, of every boat that day I'd say we were the worst paddlers. Lazy, inconsistent, and not in sync at all. Just a poor overall effort. If they had hung beer in front of us, we would have paddled for days. We hit the rain forest after this and got a quick tour around which was really cool. We headed into Cairns to Gilligan's, our hostel for the rest of the trip. It was a huge place, and there were 8 of us in a room. All the Loyola people stayed next to each other and we had a huge shared balcony which was awesome. That night we went to The Woolshed, our hangout for the next 3 nights. The food was awesome and the drinks were flowing. We spent the night there with our tour guides and everyone had an amazing time.

Day 7: This was our day to chill out and do whatever. Some of the group went skydiving (too pricey for me!), and the rest of the us walked around, sat by the pool and relaxed for most of the day. At night was when the real fun started. We headed back into the rain forest to our Night Bungy Jump Party. If I said I wasn't nervous I'd be lying to you. A lot. The place was in the middle of the rain forest, with a huge bar and decks overlooking the jump. There was a big pond at the bottom and everyone tried to touch it as they jumped. The walk up was the worst. I got halfway up and said OH MY GOD. I felt I was almost to heaven. At the top they did it in order of weight, so me and the guys had to wait about 30 minutes before we could jump. That was awful. Girls were crying on the edge and wouldn't jump. Every 5 minutes the tower would sway from people jumping off and it was just scary. They finally called my name and I went for it. They wrap a towel around your legs, and then tie a rope around the towel. Then they hook the bungy to the rope. Doesn't seem to safe does it? I got to the edge, smiled for the camera, and he said 3-2-1 and I jumped. I don't think I can tell you what was going through my head when I was in the air. Everyone tries to touch the water or at least get their head into it. I went waist-deep. I don't know how, but I'm pretty proud of myself. Maybe I should stop eating. It was one of the most terrifying, yet amazing experiences I've had. Everyone said it was scarier than sky diving and I believe them! After that I went to the bar, for awhile, and calmed down. We headed back to town and hit up The Woolshed again. Another amazing night.

Day Eight: Another 630 wake-up call (same time every day on the trip), and boarded a luxury sailing yacht. We headed out for a 2 hour cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. Saw some dolphins and sea turtles again which was real cool and everyone laid out on the front deck to catch some rays. We tied up near a part of the reef and had a few hours to do whatever we wanted. We got a quick lesson on scuba diving and we all signed up to go. The 4 Loyola guys went and I had the tank and all the gear on. It was a little rough, but we dove in and they showed us how to breathe. You have to equalize as you go down, and we were going down about 30 feet. This is where I start to hate myself. We went to the side of the boat and grabbed onto a ladder to work our way down. We kept hitting the boat, and I think it started to freak me out a bit. We started to go down, and I was being so fast and was legitimately scared. I got about 10 feet down and couldn't really equalize my ears. I could of kept going but I was too scared. I think the problem goes back to the day at the other reef. I had a terrible snorkel and I kept sucking in water. I started to cough and it would get worse and I'd have to swim to shore to fix it and catch my breathe. There was no shore or place to catch your breathe when you're 30 feet down. If I was given more time, and maybe a one-on-one with an instructor I would have definitely done it, but everything was so rushed. I went like a bum but I called it quits and headed back to the top. A bunch of us went snorkeling for awhile and I took some awesome pictures with my underwater cam that hopefully come out. It was really amazing. Words can't describe how cool it was. I saw so many fish, some stingray, and luckily no sharks. Life To-Do List: Snorkel/(sorta) Scuba dive at The Great Barrier Reef. Check. I also learned that one of my worst fears is open water. We were a pretty good distance away from the boat and I just got extreme scared. I think I've seen Jaws a few too many times. We headed back to Cairns and went on a pub crawl for the night. Another great night which included watching one of our tour guides get tasered. Awesome!

Day 9: Our last day of the tour. We got up early, walked around town for a bit and then got a great lunch from PJ O'Briens, a cool Irish bar. It was $10 for Chicken Parm (with fries and a salad) and a pint of beer. Sign me up for that deal every day of my life. It was awesome. In the afternoon we headed to the Crystal Cascades to see the waterfalls and jump off some cliffs. It was beautiful and a we had a blast. That night was the last night, and the Sin Tin was emptied to make our "punch." We had a big party in the tour guides rooms, and then headed to The Woolshed for a private party on the balcony overlooking the city. It got pretty emotional as they showed pictures from the entire tour and a video. The guides had everyone give them $10 and earlier in the day they threw it all down on red. It hit and we got a $1000 bar tab for the night. They had all you could eat pizza and chicken nuggets. Maybe the best night of my life. Our party spilled onto the dance floor and into the rest of the bar. Another amazing, finally night. The next day we headed home and sadly returned to reality.

I've said this before, but words really can't describe the tour. I took pictures, but those just don't do it justice. I could argue it was the best 10 days of my life. At least an unforgettable 10 days. I met so many people, people that I'm talking to as I write this. I met people from all over Australia and from all over the US. We've already had one reunion, and I know it won't be the last. I've left many details out, as to not bore you and to give me something to talk about when I'm home. I've left details out from the nights activities because my mother probably wouldn't approve! Sure the trip cost me tons of money, but was it worth it? Absolutely. I wouldn't change it for the world. It was amazing and I'll never forget it. I'd love to leave you with a quote that sums up this Spring Break trip, my Australia trip in general, and hopefully my entire life. Be sure to live by it because I know I will.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

1 Fish 2 Fish

So I just got back from Spring Break. Wow. I don't even know what to say. Probably the greatest 10 days of my life! Words, pictures, videos - nothing would do what I experienced justice. The list of things I did includes the Steve Irwin Zoo, Fraser Island, Sailing the Whitsunday Islands, laying on Whitehaven beach in the Whitsundays for a whole day, bungee jumping, Scuba diving and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and hitting the city of Cairns HARD! And that doesn't begin to describe the experience I had. I have papers I have to finish that's why I won't get into detail about what went on because I'm super super pressed for time and SO tired from the trip. I leave tomorrow afternoon for Sydney until Sunday, but once I get back I'll make sure to update everyone on both Spring Break and Sydney. It's been a crazy 2 weeks and going to get even better in Sydney! I'll write again soon!!

Spring Break

Hey just about to head to the airport for our spring break trip. Got my bags packed, suntan lotion ready and my bucket hat on my head. I'm ready to go. We are going to the Gold Coast for 10 days. Theres almost too much to even explain but some highlights include bungee jumping, optional skydiving, scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, a booze cruise, and basically bumming around on the beach for 10 days. I get back October 4th and then head to Sydney for a week on the 7th. It's gonna be a pretty crazy couple weeks. I can't wait!! Well I better get going but hopefully I come back in one piece and I'm sure I'll have a blast!

Wine Tour

Beautiful day in Australia today. It was about 70 and sunny all day and I loved every second of it. Got up around 430am to watch the Jets/Patriots game (they had it on tv here that you can stream through your computer). Then my parents skyped me the Bills game which was great. Good win for them, they needed it. Had class for a half hour today and that was it. Came back around 1130am and took a nap for a few hours and tried to do some work until dinner. For dinner we went and got BBQ Chicken pizza from this new pizza place we found. So much for my Spring Break 09 Diet. That one went down the crapper a few weeks ago! The pizza was real good though, not the same as home, but pretty close. Now tonight I have to proofread a paper due tomorrow and finish another due Wednesday. Probably will go out and shoot around with this girl Maddy and this kid Josh later tonight to blow off some steam. 3 more days until spring break!

The wine tour was great! Not a big connoisseur of wine, but I enjoyed it. We went to 4 wineries in the Yarra Valley and got a nice chicken parm lunch at a pub in the tiny town of Healesville. I decided I'm not a big red wine fan, but it was starting to grow on me a bit. I may have offended the lady at the first winery when I said her Cabernet Sauvignon tasted like ham. It really did though! After I said it, everyone agreed with me (I think it was the oak flavor that made me think of smoked ham, but she still looked at me like I was CRAZY!). I was a big fan of the Viognier (subtle hints of apricot, and it was delicious) and Sauvignon Blanc. Those were my 2 favorites and ones I went back for more of. All the wineries were big on their own type of champagne. The first place was really good, and they had an apple cider wine that was AMAZING. Almost bought a bottle. The last place we went to had great champagne too. We got full glasses at that place. They had one that was a red wine champagne which was real different and I thought I'd hate but it was actually really good. We had an awesome bus driver named Brad who was like 25 and great to talk to. He just made fun of all the girls the whole time for being "half-pissed" off a glass of wine. A good guy in my book.

Got some work to do now and then early to bed because even MORE work tomorrow. Hopefully I can get through this week and have a great time! Cheers.

Wining About Work

This week has been pretty terrible. I have mountains of work due next week before we leave for spring break, and the weather has been so nice that I've had no desire to want to do any of it. Tomorrow we are going on a wine tour all day through Yarra Valley. I'll be honest, I'm not a big wine drinker, but I'll take one for the team. Maybe I'll come to like it a lot more, we'll see. We are going to 4 different places, plus lunch at a pub. It's through our school and they drive us to and from on a bus so it should be a lot of fun. I have 5000 more words to write for 2 of my papers and then Spring Break. I can't wait. I just got to get through these papers which seem never-ending. Hopefully I can buckle down and just do it, even though I've been saying that since Monday. Oh well, you're only in Australia once!

Oh, and clever title right?!?!

Broken Hearts...and Chairs.

When you picture a Sports God, what do you see? That's a rhetorical question because I'm going to answer it for you. I'm looking up and you know what I see? An old guy, peppered to very gray hair, depending on the stress level. A man who apparently once got food poisoning from the Anchor Bar and decided "ya know what, I'm gonna screw over the city of Buffalo - Hell, all of Western New York - along with every sports team that resides there, for awhile. Actually no, that's a waste...FOREVER." No other words are needed to describe this man. He could have 3 eyes, 7 noses and 1 toe, I could care less. He could be a genie or be able to grant me millions of dollars or be a beautiful single mid 20s blonde chick. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE.

I haven't written about the Bills game, or anything for that matter, for a few days now. I'll give you 3 options for why this might be... 1. He had so much work there was just never enough time to write a silly little blog because he would NEVER want a reason to procrastinate. Or 2. He was teaching the elderly to learn how to scuba dive. Or 3. He had collect pieces of his laptop, and his shattered hopes and dreams, from the street, conveniently located 2 floors down right outside his room (the one with the hole in the screen) after Monday Night.
Given those options it seems tough to chose a winner, but I think we all know which one it was. Yes, great choice, I do love the elderly.

Where to begin? Lets talk about the positives of the Bills 25-24 loss to the Patriots in front of a national audience on MNF in what would have been one of the biggest wins for the franchise in a decade .... ok now that the positives are out the way lets talk about the negatives. WHAT HAPPENED!! I was halfway through the email to my old roommate from Boston telling him "hahah did ya catch the game there buddy? You know, the game you were supposed to win by 30 but ended up losing by 11? Yeah that one. Tom - I am playing Like Carol - Brady looks TERRIBLE, and so do your chances of winning the AFC east this year." How STUPID can I be?!?! I should of known. Oh, wait I DID KNOW. Because as I sat there watching the Bills crumble like a dried out birthday cake, I wrote down on my pad, "How will they lose it this time?" Even I couldn't of guessed this one.

Bad things happen to good people. But hell, when does it stop?! It almost doesn't even affect me anymore! I skyped with my dad right after the game and we both had nothing to say. We couldn't even be mad. It's like we knew this would happen, we just didn't know how. I think we both actually laughed. Luckily I'm 26000 miles away or else we probably wouldn't be talking for a week. He just hates fixing holes in the wall, I don't get it.

As New England was thinking of ways to win the game, we were thinking of ways to lose it. And that's what it comes down to. Bad teams lose games they should win. Good teams win games they should lose. Bad teams know how to lose. Good teams know how to win. And as much as I would love to think of the Bills as a good team, you can't keep dropping these CLOSE games and consider yourself good. However, once they get over that hump, that's when things will change (I've been saying that for 3 years now). I'm not a big fan of moral victories, but the Bills did show a lot of positive things. Alex Van Pelt called a game good enough to win. Trent played good enough to win as well too. And Fred Jackson is a beast. Him and Marshawn? Scary. The Bills outplayed NE for 55 minutes. Embarrassed them actually. NE should have been up 20 and been already game planning for their Week 2 game against NYJ. And then reality came crashing down on everyone. I've read thousands of descriptions of the game from experts and fans alike, and it still makes me mad. JUST GO DOWN LEODIS.

No need to dwell on the past though. It was one game, and it's over with. If they come out firing against Tampa (which they should because it's at home and Tampa isn't quite NE), then they will be fine. It was a monumental loss, but it still only counts as one loss. It's one game.

Which means I'm fine with 15-1.

Bills

Patiently awaiting the Bills season opener. I downloaded a TV tuner on my computer through my school's network, and they show Monday Night games, Sunday Night games, and the occasional game at 1 or 4. Not only is it on my computer, but it's in HD too! Even better than at home! I'm working on the rest of my paper tonight, about to finish my first of 3, and then going to bed for an early day tomorrow. I'm waking up at 730 so I can listen to the pre-game online and then get ready for the game. I'm hoping it's a good game because I'm skipping a few classes for it! We'll see...

Saturday and Sunday

Pictures: 1. Ice cream and Mike Wask 2. Penguins 3. Shark 4. Building from the city 5. America in a pot

(More pictures from the aquarium and the city at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com)

I've been doing anything and everything to keep myself from doing work this weekend. Grocery shopping? Check. Gym? Check. Clean my room? Check. Reading every article ever written by Bill Simmons and then contemplating my life? Check. Next thing in line - a blog update.

On Saturday I woke up pretty early and hit up the aquarium in the city with a couple kids from Loyola and one of our Australian friends Lockie. On the train ride in something fell into my shoe, and I went to pull it out, only to find that it was a big, SHARP piece of glass and it sliced open my finger. Great way to start the day. But the aquarium still turned out to be great! $20 to get in and there was tons of stuff to do there. We saw penguins, sharks, sting rays, tons of crazy looking fish, jelly fish and weird creatures that live in the reef. We then walked across the street to the casino which is along the water and has tons of amazing restaurants in it. We got chicken parm to go and ate it outside near the water. I forgot to mention it was about 75 and GORGEOUS out. We then got ice cream and walked along the water back to the train. Overall it was a pretty solid day.

Today was pretty laid back. Everyone has tons of work to do before we go away for spring break so the stress level is pretty high right now. I went food shopping today and got some good deals. I definitely shop by whats on sale, not by what I need. I definitely didn't need 4 things of peanut butter, but they were $1 each so I bought them. I REALLY didn't need 12 cinnamon donuts, but for 94 cents how could you say no?! I went to the gym when I got home and now have to TRY and do work for the rest of the night. I don't know how well this is going to go.

I also broke my phone AND my iPod over the weekend. My water bottle must have opened up in my backpack, and when I went to grab my keys they were both floating. I don't think I'll be able to dry them out but maybe. It sucks not having a phone, but not having an iPod when I go to the gym is even worse!

Someone just told me that you supposedly can get Monday Night Football games here on your computer. So I'm HOPING that I'll be able to figure it out and be able to watch the Bills on Monday. It seems the consensus is the Bills are going to get blown out AND be terrible all season. Usually going into the first game of the season I'm bursting with confidence and excitement. But to be honest, I have little to none of either right now. I feel like we are already 0-6. I'm trying to be optimistic, but they had SUCH a bad preseason that it's tough for me to think they will make the playoffs, or even break .500. Firing their offensive coordinator 10 days before the season starts? Definitely crazy, but I'm going to hope they made the right choice. I love Alex Van Pelt, and I think playing behind Kelly all those years when they were running the K-Gun will allow him to hopefully help this unproductive no-huddle they are running right now. I hope their offensive line can gel and buy Trent time while also opening holes for Fred Jackson and Marshawn. Also, I love Aaron Maybin. I think he has a huge upside (1 sack in each of his 2 preseason games), but it will take awhile for him to get used to the speed of the game. He's still so young and has so much to learn. I guess only time will tell.

This is going to be a make or break season for almost everybody on the squad, so here's to them making the playoffs. Or at least keeping me from throwing my chair out the window.

Broken Hill

I apologize in advance. This is a long post because so much happened. It makes sense to me, but maybe it wont to you. Probably because you weren't there. But my friend always said "do what makes you feel good," and writing down nonsense makes me feel good.

Almost don't even know where to begin. So much going on right now, it's crazy! I guess I'll start in the most logical place - what I had for dinner last night. Had me some Velveeta Shells and Cheese that my parents mailed me from home. You know what they tasted like? Freedom. Democracy. Oil. Liberty. You know, AMERICA.

Also just read Bill Simmon's new mailbag. An idol of mine. A true American hero. What a night.

So more about the middle of nowhere - I mean Broken Hill. Literally it was in the middle of nowhere, 13 hours north of Melbourne. On our way there we went 3 hours without seeing lights, other cars, and humans. Nothing. No cell phone service just wide open space. And I loved it. It was amazing.

On the way there the bus in front of us hit a kangaroo, narrowly missed a cow and almost took out 3 sheep. We stopped for dinner at this nice Veterans Club. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I took full advantage of that offer and had inappropriate amounts of ham, roast beef, and potatoes. Then God looked down on me and said "You my son have not eaten enough. The soup is Baked Potato soup. Go forth and make me proud." 5 bowls later I felt I had.

The first 3 nights there we stayed at The West Darling Hotel. It was a mix between The Ghost of Mr. Chicken and The Shining. Scariest "hotel" I've ever stayed in. I took pictures, but they don't even begin to do it justice. We stayed above an old bar, so the first night we went out and hard drinks with are teachers and everyone on the trip and then TRIED to fall asleep with the lights off, but no one could.

Saturday we went to an underground mine about an hour from Broken Hill. Broken Hill was, and still is, based upon mining. It wouldn't exist without it and it is a huge part of the town's culture and personality. We suited up with hardhats and lights and headed down into the mine. I thought I was going to be more scared because it was so small and tight and real steep going down, but I wasn't. I figured if something were to happen, everyone is gonna die so no big deal. I don't know how that made me feel better, but it did. It was awesome down there and we got demonstrations of how they mined in the olden days. Later in the day we went to a mountain to watch the sunset which was beautiful.

Saturday night we went to The Musician's Club which was a bar/casino/concert hall. Everything was extremely cheap there and they had karaoke. Unfortunately I did not get up and sing because we left before I was due up, but that might have actually been for the betterment of everyone there. Our teachers were there and for this class mine is a 23 year old blonde Australian who is extremely smart. And good looking. With much prodding (and a LITTLE liquid courage) I decided to drop some pick-up lines on my teacher. Me: Are you okay? Her: Yeah, Why? Me: Because you just fell from heaven! I wish it stopped there. Me: You just dropped something. Her: What? Me: My jaw. Again, I wish it stopped there. But it didn't. All in all I dropped twenty, yes that's 2-0 lines on my teacher. My TEACHER. She laughed them off though and thought most of them were good. I guess I'll find out how good they were when I get my grades back.

On Sunday we went got a tour of Broken Hill and went to the Miners Memorial that overlooks the town. It was interesting and the guy that gave the tour was an older fellow who had lived there his whole life and had worked in the mines. What a character he was. We then headed to a sheep farm deep in the Outback, but on the way we stopped for some camel rides. Camel's have to be the coolest, but ugliest and meanest animals out there. They look so cute/cool from far away, but when you get up close you're like WOW these things are ugly AND they seem so upset. I guess if I had to have kids jump on my back all day I'd be mad too. The sheep farm was awesome. We saw a sheep shearing demonstration which was real cool and found out how the wool is used and how it is processed. Then we took a hike a few miles into the mountains to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, and we saw a few wild kangaroos. We had a fabulous dinner of takes and sausages, along with some apple crisp, chocolate cake and ice cream as dessert. Then everyone gathered around the fire and roasted marshmallows for the rest of the night.

On Monday we drove to Mildura, a small town about 5 from Broken Hill. We went on a tour of a few dried up lakes that the aboriginals used to use and had a guided tour by 2 aboriginals. It was interesting to view the land from their perspective. It wasn't just vast nothingness, but rather the land is what sustained them and it had immeasurable value. That night we went to The Pizza Cafe which was all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta. You ordered what you wanted and they just kept bringing it to you. It was unbelievable and so delicious. Right next to the cafe was the Mildura Brewery. We went there for a few hours and it was awesome. They had leather couches, really nice tables and chairs and tons of beer. My father would have been in heaven. I got a sampler platter for $6 and it came with 8 samples. I was a big fan of the Storm which is, to quote their website, "Based on the popular US Pale Ale style this is a hop-driven beer, characterized by citrus bitterness and aroma." We stayed there for awhile then finally walked down the street back home. It was a great ending to the week.

On Tuesday we started the long drive home, but before we got too far we stopped at winery. We got a quick tour, and then sampled wine for what seemed like hours! I liked the sauvignon blanc, but I'm not a huge wine drinker to begin with. All the girls loved the wooded chardonnays, but they didn't do it for me. No thanks on the wine, just take me back to the brewery.

So that's Broken Hill in a nutshell. A long, at times hastily written nutshell. I will post some more thoughts from this past week soon, most notably about the Buffalo Bills and their poor/terrible preseason.

I've posted picutures at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com There are about 200, and most of them seem like nothing because well, there was nothing. I feel like I keep saying that, but I take a million pictures hoping I'll get lucky and one will be good. Then I get too lazy to delete the bad ones. Hopefully you enjoy. Cheers!

Broken Hill

Just got back from Broken Hill a few hours ago. Great time, had a blast. It's weird being back to school because it's the longest I've been gone since I've been here. I have 4 classes tomorrow and a marketing midterm worth half my grade! I've got to stop procrastinating and go study for that, but I'll make sure to update tomorrow or the next day about Broken Hill!

Broken HIll

Penguin Island and Such

So I had a great weekend at Penguin Island. I put some pictures up at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com. The house we stayed in was awesome. Had 10 beds, a nice kitchen, couches, a grill and a 2nd floor patio overlooking the water in the distance. We got there Friday afternoon and went shopping at one of the local stores. We packed the fridge with just hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese, and beer (sorry mom!). If that's not heaven, I don't know what is. I suggested we go to see the penguins Friday when it was nice, but no one listened to me. They are like an airplane and have an arrival time, and they usually come in around 6:00 pm. Friday would have been a PERFECT day because it was 70, sunny, and flat as glass. But we didn't go. We opted instead to go on Saturday when it was 50, pouring rain, and so windy you could barely hold onto the umbrella. Because so many penguins came in on Friday (1200) only about 600 came in Saturday. You couldn't take pictures because it's their "natural habitat," but I got a few postcards and could reach out and practically touch the penguins which was awesome. Earlier on Saturday we went to a wildlife park where we feed kangaroos, wombats, emus, and anything else they had. It was basically a fenced in field and animals ran at you to feed them. It was fantastic, and we all got some really cool pictures. I got attacked my emu's and also saw a kangaroo boxing match which was sick. Basically we just relaxed, hung out, cooked, talked, and drank the entire weekend. It was a great experience and everyone had an amazing time!

Just came inside from a little grilling action actually. We had lots of leftovers from this weekend that we needed to get rid of so I ate A LOT of hot dogs and burgers just now. I was manning the grill alone tonight, and I don't want to say I did a phenomenal job - but I did. I had a lot of pressure on me tonight. The lights were on, I was sweating. Had a big crowd out there watching my every move, judging my every flip. Sure, I fumbled a dog or two, but with mistakes come success. I was able to pull through in the clutch, running a great 2-minute drill towards the end in order to feed everyone one last time.

A few things about grilling here and in general: 1. I love it. All men love it. It's a rite of passage, something that goes back to thousands of years ago to the time of the caveman 2. The grills here are electric, so it's like cooking on a hotplate; kind of weird and a little difficult. 3. I love women (and hopefully they love me), but the girls here for some reason think they know how to grill. If you can't turn it on (which they couldn't - it was a BUTTON you pressed), then you can't use it. Ok, so maybe you read The Idiot's Guide to Grilling, but that still doesn't give you the right to tell me when the burgers and dogs are done! Example: Tonight, deep into my 2nd pack of burgs, all the girls start telling me "oh trust us those burgers are done, we can tell." FALSE. They are NOT done and you CANNOT tell because I put those on 3 minutes ago. You would think, after cooking 20 burgs, and after everyone saying they were great, that I would KNOW what I was doing. Apparently not. All the girls huddled around the grill, assessing how I was doing, giving me their opinion on when to flip things and when to add cheese. I wanted to stick the tongs in my eyes.

So please, for the love of God, all I ask is that you step away from my grill. Girls, if the food isn't done up to your standards, drink more. There's nothing a little beer can't fix.

Pictures: Me + Kangaroo; 'Roo; Wombat; Part of the house; View from the beach; View from the balcony