Moving Forward

I finally have started to see what my stay might be like once Davs leaves in the beginning of November. He's gone on the 11th, which means I will have to venture out and try to find some place to stay. Initially, I had wanted to go north to the tropics for living, but I've realized it's a little unrealistic without having a job. Here in Melbourne, I have a job waiting tables, and I'm starting a job working as a fundraiser for a Wilderness Protection non-profit. It seems to make more sense to keep those and find a place in the city I am most familiar, and do most of my traveling from here.

I still would like to go to Sydney a few times, and Tasmania which is a stone's throw so i'll have some easy trips to make while I save up some money and potentially go on a big trip in my last weeks here. With Davs, I'll be visiting Fraser Island when our buddy from college visits (google this island, place is absurd), and then, in his last week, we'll be going up to the reef for about a week, so I'll have been to most of the East Coast by the end of my stay. Ideally, I'd like to get to Southeast Asia at some point, whether that be Bali, or Thailand, or do a cross country train trip to either West to Perth, or North to Cairns. That way I could see some of the Outback too, albeit from a train, but better than in a "Man Vs. Wild" format.

I'm excited that I've found a city in Melbourne that is an easy transition for an American on a working holiday visa. Finding two jobs is vital to my having a good time out here, so hopefully I can keep them both and do some traveling at the same time. I'm anxious to see how my fundraising job will be, because from the sounds of it, I'm just going to be asking people for money to save the earth. Asking people for money is negative on the fun scale, but at least I won't know a single person or care what people think of me, as long as I have steady work who cares?

I've already begun looking into places to stay, and I think I may have found some pretty good deals close by that will help me stay in a similar routine that I've grown accustomed. It's nice having people out here helping me out that are Australian, as this situation could be infinitely harder without local knowledge. Looks like it's time for me to go...I had a 3 hour break between shifts at the restaurant today, which is awesome because it feels like two separate workdays based on how close I live. Waiting tables might not be fun, and is most definitely annoying, but when you can roll out of bed and walk 10 minutes to work, shoveling crap would be appealing.

Also, Sox in 4 over the Angels, with a huge series out of Jason Bay.

Weekend Update

So, Davs and I had another quite eventful weekend. We may not have jumped out of an airplane, but there were still a few landmark firsts to mention. Before that however, we went to a bar called The Local again on Friday night to watch our buddy Adam play some live music. The guy is straight up nasty on the guitar, can beatbox, and plays all the music you'd want to listen to. He's dropping an album, so become a fan of his band, SHERO, on facebook. He'll be dropping some free songs on there from the album so trust me and check it out, it's very legit.

On Saturday, after fighting off the hangover, we had an even bigger day ahead of us, as it was the Aussie Football Grand Final, the Australian equivalent of the Super Bowl. In Melbourne, this is easily the biggest sports day of the year, as more than half the teams in this league are represented by the city's suburbs. Friday afternoon, a few million fans converged on the city for a huge rally and parade, and Saturday, the city stopped for the big game. Luckily, Davs and I were invited to a house party where a dozen friends were watching the game, and it was the first time it felt like something Id definitely do in Boston. The people there helped explain the game to me, showed me they love grilling food and drinking while watching football, and made fun of me for not being in tune with the sport...all things I would make sure to do at a SuperBowl party with foreigners invited.

Needless to say, the booze won yet again, and we decided not to go out on the town, as we were warned that the city was going to be insane with drunken footy supporters, a combo not likely to be welcoming for Americans who no little or nothing about the sport. I'm all set with being hit in the face while Im here, so staying in and watching Lost was fine by me.

Sunday morning was a quite eventful one considering the carried over hangover, as Davs and I went to play some cricket with a few of the guys from the Grand Final party we went to. I had always wanted to play cricket, heck, I've always wanted to watch more than 5 minutes of it. My experience going in was about as minimal as it could be, which was great bc I'd rather have no ideas one way or another about what to expect.

First off, baseball skills do translate a little bit, but you almost have to unlearn any skills before playing. I preferred the throwing, though it is a much different way of throwing then in baseball. For one, it has to be a straight arm motion, so the way to hurl it to the wickets is to jog to a line and perform a windmill motion to throw it. Ideally, it should bounce a little before it reached the batter, and the main goal is to hit one of the three wickets with the ball or get the batter to hit it in the air, where it can then be caught for an out.

The batter's main goal is to protect the wickets. That's literally the only thing you have to do. If it hits the wickets, you're out, if it doesn't you keep hitting until that happens or someone catches you in the air. The kicker here is that a main strategy by pitchers is to throw it directly at the batter, and hope to ricochet off the body and into the wickets. Not so sweet, but once you become oriented in the game, hitting balls directly at you becomes happenstance. Davs and I were surprisingly good for first-timers, and there's a chance I may join a casual team while I'm out here.

On Sunday night, I pulled an all-nighter...not to get weird and drunk again, but to watch my beloved Patriots dominate the Falcons at 3 AM. It was well worth it, and though it ruined my sleep schedule for the week, there's nothing better than seeing Brady get a W. This team seems to be a few weeks away from being where it should be, so hopefully they can tread water and win a few games while they work out the kinks and rust. I forgot what it felt like to see a team that might win, as opposed to a team I know is going to win, but it makes for a more fun experience watching the games. With those games and now the Sox playoff games approaching, I should have my hands full each morning with sports to watch from across the world.

In other news, I got another job somehow, so it looks like I'll be a full time worker now which is pretty cool. Unfortunately this job is fundraising face to face for a non-profit here in Australia raising money and awareness for the Wilderness, but beggars can't be choosers and I'll wear the hat of a tree hugger any day of the week if it puts some money in my pocket...plus nature is definitely worth saving out here. More to come on that, but as long as they don't catch me littering, it looks like I'll be able to survive my team here monetarily. Go Sox and Pats.

NEW ZEALAND

It's hard to accurately describe my trip to New Zealand. First off, scenery-wise, it's by far the best I have seen in my somewhat minimal experience. Nowhere else can you see a glacier, tropical rainforest, teal blue ocean hundreds of waterfalls and dozens of huge mountains all within a half hour of each other. We drove 1500 KM, well Davs did almost all the driving, as my only stint on the left side of the road left both of us queasy as I was toeing the outside line where the only thing between you and a gorge is a barrier that barely reaches above the tires of the camper van. 1500 KM is a long drive, that's for sure, but it gets a lot longer when you need to stop every 10 minutes to get out and take more pictures. It never got old looking through palm trees and lush green rainforest and seeing glacier lakes and snow-capped mountains.

Secondly, about skydiving, I would HIGHLY recommend doing it, regardless of your fears. I was as horrified as anyone, and can prove it with the pictures of me on the plane and leading up to the jump, as I hate heights and flying, but this was the coolest thing I have ever done. The hardest part by far was the initial ready position because it means dangling out of a moving plane 12,000 feet above the ground, but once the first 2 seconds of the fall happened, it was unbelievably exhilarating and truthfully not scary at all. I never actually felt like I was free falling because from these heights, the ground is so far away that it never looked as though it was rushing towards you, if anything, it felt more like floating with a ton of wind in your face.

The actual fall took about 45 seconds, but to me it felt more like 15 at the most.

The chute opening was 1. relieving, because I knew I wasn't going to die; and 2. peaceful, as I could have the most clear and easy conversation with my jumpmaster as we floated above the most picturesque views I could ever want to see. He even let me handle the controls which was amazing, though he showed me the sheer power of gravity by doing a controlled spin, making me feel like I was on an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens, the scariest part since dangling from the plane. I plan on skydiving again, so that should say it all. next time though, I plan on staying sober the night before because a hangover is amplified by a hundred when you have the biggest adrenaline rush of your life, then come down from it. It felt like Jim Beam booted me in the groin, then asked his buddy Jager to kick me in the duodenum.

The next big part of our trip was spent in Queenstown, a sweet mountain town that is known as the adventure sports capital of the word. You can do every dangerous activity you can imagine, but Davs and I worried more about going on pub crawls, and luging down the mountain on go carts over their paved paths. Most people go once or twice, we went 8 times, and could have easily done a dozen more if money wasn't an issue. I wish I could say more about Queenstown, but to be honest, after 5 each day, it was, "which 5 bars should we go to, and should we do Jager bombs, or beers, or both?" I like those problems.

All in all, I am so grateful that I got to see this country, as I would have never expected to see it in my life. It's the most unique place I could ever hope to see and if you get the chance to see it, don't hesitate for even a second, because I promise it will be worth it. Middle Earth is a once in a lifetime place to visit, but hopefully, I'll see it again.

If you'd like to see a bunch more pictures here's the link to my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2136049&id=1701105&l=2c06dabc7a

Working Man

I'm not going to lie to you, the biggest wild card of this whole journey to Australia was the whole, "will I have enough money?" thing, and whether or not I was going to have to do the whole, "Selling my body, or drugs, or both." Luckily for me, I have found a job waiting tables, and not one that will feature me in the next episode of "Locked Up Abroad." Now that I have a job, albeit part-time, I know I can at least feel comfort in the fact that I will really only have to spend the money I earn, and travel on the money I saved in Boston.

The place I'm working is going to be a very laid back spot to work, and I can walk there in a little less than 5 minutes, ideal for any slacker/lazy person. Waiting on tables here is so much different than say in the North End of Boston, because there, my night depends on how many patrons come in for dinner, how well they decide to tip, how many people are staffed, and whether or not I botch orders. Granted, some nights were phenomenal, because occasionally there are huge bills leading to huge tips.

In Australia, gratuity is damn near frowned upon, and I saw a bill today for 198 dollars, and a 2 dollar coin tip. If that happened back home, I'd most likely have to find out where that person lives, and egg their house. Here, it's common place, as I am paid an hourly wage that doesn't require gratuity. The tips are icing on the cake, but I'm guaranteed the 19 bucks an hour they are promising me, regardless of service, amount of customers or general talent on my behalf...what a country.

Another aspect of this that is perfect is the fact that every time I approach a table, I'm something relatively exotic. Before menu questions or drinks queries, it's, "Where are you from?" "Or, a Yank are ya? I won't hold it against you." I talked about my trip to New Zealand with one table and got some tips about where to go, and another table talked my ear off about Boston because they spent a week there and fell in love with it. Another table was French men, and well, the French are the same wherever you go, I'll leave it at that.

The trip to new Zealand heads out of Melbourne at 5:50 in the evening, and I am absolutely pumped. To prepare, Davs and I have been watching Lord of the Rings, and planning our road trip on a daily basis. Right now, our trip looks something like this:

-Arrive in Christchurch at 11 PM on Thursday, find a hostel, and crash...after about two hours at a pub. Note: I wonder if this city was started by Catholics?

-Pick up our camper van early the next morning, and hit the road, driving from the East Coast to the West Coast. Apparently, some of the views and scenery on the way is pretty unreal, so we'll most likely stop a bunch to snap some pictures and act out about a dozen Lord of the Rings quotes.

-Our first Major stop is a gun range, called Cowboy's Paradise. That's all I needed to hear to set this up...basically just shooting a lot of guns and riding horseback along a pristine lake and canyon. Hopefully I won't shoot my own eye out or Dick Cheney someone, but I have a feeling I'm going to be a marksman, because I'm a dead shot in Duck Hunt.

-We're driving down to Fox Glacier the following day as soon as we wake up, or in my case after a night of staring at the ceiling and crying, as we are set to skydive over the big chunk of ice and the unreal landscape it has created. I just puked in my mouth a bit thinking about skydiving, so I'm going to move onto the next point and say that I just don't want to be a human pancake. I made myself watch and re-watch the second episode of Band Of Brothers, so I can realize how lucky I am that I don't have to fight in enemy territory after landing. I can pretty much do that for anything scary and it helps, because honestly, who jumps into enemy territory?

-After a successful skydive, I'll be making sure to change my underwear, or my pre-emptive Dipends, then driving to Queenstown. This city is supposed to be in a beautiful area, and seems to be the destination for any people looking for adventure sports, skiing or debauchery. We'll around here for two days with only a guaranteed stop kayaking out at Milford Sound, which if you google image it, has the prettiest vistas I have ever seen. Davs also wants me to bungee from the highest place to do so in the world with him, but something tells me my leap out of an airplane will be more than enough man crying for me (speaking of which, almost had a man cry to the news of Swayze, who was once honored by being the name on the back of my men's hockey league team, the Moose Knuckles. That guy was the best.)

So that's my weekend, more or less. We'll probably throw in a few different hikes in LOTR territory, I refuse to leave until I find either a Shire or Mordor. Look forward to a million or so pictures and possibly even a video of my skydive by Tuesday.

Two Weeks In...

So, as you can tell, it has now been a little bit over two weeks into my trip, and it's been a very cool experience so far. It's been a few days since I've written, busy, somewhat drunken days, and there are some cool things to get out there. Friday night I went to a bar where this guy we know plays live music on Friday nights. Turns out he's pretty much going to be famous and may be one of the more talented guitar/singers I've heard in quite some time, name is Adam Baluch, remember it.

Saturday was quite a unique day as well. I went clubbing, or "clubbin", as some like to call it. For those of you who know me, I fit in a club like a square peg in a round hole. I didn't wear a hat which automatically made me uncomfortable, and I had to worry about coming up with some sort of dance move to techno music, no small task for this guy.

The first place we went to pretty much saved me any trouble of worrying about appearances, because it was an outdoor festival where the main act featured and ensemble of didgeridoos mixed in with your typical "Night At The Roxbury" beats. That being said, it was a place packed with a lot of hippies who don't bath enough, some people with major emo sensibilities and a handful of people who were there for the free drinks and a 70 degree night outside. Dancing wasn't even a worry, as I was patiently double fisting Beam and Coke, and I practically looked like a prom king in relation to most of the party goers.

After that, we went to another uneventful club, and eventually got invited to some "private party." To me that meant, no more buying beers, which was awesome. I still had to worry about awkwardly being an American at an underground techno party, but hey, when else can glow sticks be a major accessory? As it turned out, it was a house party at the biggest DJ in Melbourne's house and a bunch of his DJ friends. If anything, they seemed to be excited to meet me and Davs, because we were now the exotic aspect of the party, people they've has ever seen, and they even ended up setting up a sort of beer pong game, in our honor. Luckily, I got to leave before any dancing ensued.

Today was a big day as well, as the Patriots ended up winning one of the weirdest and best games in a long time...from thousands of miles away. I love the internet, letting me watch that game at 9 AM in the future. I still plan on dominating all forms of fantasy football from my Australian vantage point, only the games that play at 3 AM here are going to be quite the challenge, though I plan on seeing or hearing every last one.

I also got a job. I know, I was shocked too, but the place must have been pretty desperate. I'll be waiting on tables at an upscale bistro about a ten minute walk from the apartment and probably working about 3-4 days/nights a week. I went in to see them this morning after emailing last week, and he told me to come in tomorrow because the were in a jam, so looks like I'll have to figure it out from there. A little bit of cash before going to NZ will be a welcomed sight, as I plan on sparing no expense on this trip...though the NZ dollar is .60 to the American dollar, so I will be saving a ton just in that respect. More to come on the first day of work and the impending trek to Lord of the Rings territory.

Settled

After a little over a week of being in Melbourne, I finally feel like I'm starting to get my bearings and understand this city and culture. I know what trams to get on and which ones to avoid. I know a few good places to eat, and what nights a few bars have happy hour. I know that my tightest pants would be the loosest pair on the block if I walk down the street from our place.

It's nice to finally have some sort of clue, not be a complete and utter outsider, and it will be nice to spend a few months in the same place. Melbourne is a city I would have never in a million years thought I would visit, let alone inhabit, so any time here is awesome. It's funny though, I always though of Boston as the place where the weather was crazy and erratic, but after living in Melbourne, there's no comparison. The one thing I can say about the weather here is that the only predictable thing about it is that it's unpredictable. I was walking yesterday, it was a nice day and there was very little thought in my mind that I needed to hustle back home or get an umbrella. Next thing I know, a long gust of wind comes through, and behind it is buckets of rain, from clouds that didn't look stormy and with zero humidity. With summer so close, I can't wait for some heat, but when that's here, I'm sure I'll miss the rain some days.

I also set up my trip to New Zealand, which is phenomenal. We are going to fly into Christchurch on the 17th, rent a camper van, and drive all over the south island, with stops at Fox Glacier for skydiving and hiking, Queenstown for sightseeing and kayaking and most likely at the fjords and Milford Sound which is supposed to be some of the most breathtaking views around.

I am pumped to do all this in a camper van, as road trips make for much better times than staying stagnant, though even typing the word skydiving made me quiver to the point of needing cold water to the face. I have a thing for heights, and something tells me jumping out of an airplane will be scary. Davs also wants to bungee jump from the highest place to do so in the world outside of Queenstown, but I may try to limit my near death experiences to ejecting from Cessna airplanes.

My next week or so now will be spent trying to find a job. I remember working in the North End at a restaurant, and seeing Mexicans or Russians or other foreigners come in looking for work...now I'm that guy. I'm hoping I can get one based on the fact that I can speak English and am really, really ridiculously good-looking, so I'll update on that situation as I get out and hit the pavement.

Aussie Football = Sunday Funday

When I'm at a huge Red Sox game, and see people at the game who are clueless about the score, and obviously not into the game or either of the teams, I get pissed and near violent at this waste of a ticket. Yesterday, me and my buddy were those people...in a big way.

The rules of Aussie football are very foreign to me, and from what I can gather, it is an aggressive combination of American football and soccer. It's a very entertaining game to watch, and the fans seem to love it, as yesterday's match was attended by about 90,000 people. That's more people than any pro sports game I've ever seen, and my guess is close to one million beers were drank, and 1/10th of those were by Davs and me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the beers were only 6 dollars, much cheaper than anywhere else in Melbourne and about half of what they'd cost at a Sox game. With no knowledge of the sport or teams we were watching, Carlton beers became the priority, followed by french fries, followed by more beers. It's a vicious cycle, but one that proved to give us all the entertainment we needed. Sure, we may have been a waste of a ticket, but we put more money into that stadium than everyone else, and that has to count for something.

A major realization I had yesterday as well, other than Carlton beers get you drunk, is that I am going to miss not being around for Boston sports. I can catch Sox night games online in the morning here, and will be able to watch Pats' games in the middle of the night at Davs' friend's house, but it's just not the same when there's no ESPN or daily coverage. I guess it's what you'd call one of those good problems, so I'm guessing I'll get by.

Being a Nomad

So for the past few days, my schedule has been something like this: Wake up at 5:30 while its still dark, force myself back to sleep until about 7:30, get up and Skype with everyone who has it set up, butcher cooking eggs, and then leaving the apartment with absolutely no plan or clue as to where or what to see. It's been awesome actually and I realized that now I know what it must have felt like to be a nomad. All I need to do is make sure I eat, sleep and not die, and I've done my job for the day. My expectations will change come next week, as I will be trekking out on an Aussie job hunt, though from what people have been telling me, I shouldn't have too much difficulty landing on my feet somewhere. Worst case scenario, I can always be an American con man.

My day yesterday was quite an eventful one. I finally made my way over to the beach, which was the right idea considering it was 70 degrees and sunny. The beach I went to was St. Kilda beach, and I will be frequenting that area a lot I'm imagining because there are some great bars and restaurants, and the views of turquoise water always seem to pull me like a tractor beam. I added some more pictures, so check them out. Seeing this beach was actually the first real time I felt like I was in Australia, or at least, what I expected of Australia because so far, the city and downtown area has left me feeling like I'm in a large European city. The trendiness of the people, the cooler spring weather, the architecture, and just the general pace of life is that of a bustling bohemian metropolis. It wasn't until seeing the bluest of blue water, people drinking beers outside, and weather so nice you'd never want to sit in a cubicle that it truly felt like the land down under. That being said, I obviously partook in the day drinking, sipping back a few Fat Yak beers and taking in the view.

As I walked to catch a tram back, a few clouds rolled in, and before I knew it, there was a terrential downpour the likes of which I've never seen in such a short time. It wasn't even humid, so it caught me completely off guard. I boarded the next tram even though it wasn't the one I needed and watched through the windows in awe as lightning and buckets of water fell from what was just a pristine blue sky. I asked a nice old Aussie woman about the weather, and she gave me the response that helped me understand why Melbourne has such erratic weather, and that's because it's the very first place that gets hit with any wind or cold air from Antarctica; another crazy reminder that I'm not in Medford anymore.

I stayed on this random tram for almost 45 minutes, not dressed appropriately for the downpours, and not sure if the neighborhoods I'd be entering were safe for obvious American tourists. I have STA insurance, but I'm not positive if getting stabbed falls under the coverage. Also, the tram car I was in was inundated with young students as I passed a school district, and it was quite awkward as they were all in uniforms, with thick accents, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was somehow near Hogwarts. To my own pride, I eventually hopped off at a familiar sounding street, took the right tram and found my way back without much of an issue.

Also, quick note...If you ever get a chance to see a movie in a Gold Class Cinema, do it. Run, don't walk. You pay a little extra, it was 18 bucks for us to see "Taking Pelham 123," but in return you get a fully reclining Laz-E-Boy Sofa and a waitress who brings cocktails and food if the need arises. We each had a cocktail and split a bottle of wine, making this average movie a superb experience, and it was in a the Crown Casino, so the buffet was phenomenal as well, mixing thai and Australian cuisine for only twenty big ones, and my appetite certainly helped me get my money's worth.

Now I'm off to catch another tram to go in a different direction to see where the day takes me. More updates to come.

Exploring (Cont'd)

Last night was quite a little time, as happy hour can escalate any situation. I went to a bar called the Lucky Coq, and no, it wasn't a gay bar. It actually was a fantastic place that served unreal 4 dollar pizzas and an exotic collection of brews. My personal favorite was a beer called "Bitch". I kid you not, and it was a very tasty beer as well. I can't repeat any hear, but you can imagine the uncountable number of jokes that can go with that one. I also learned a lesson...if ever inebriated, don't video sky with your parents from Australia. They're awake, alert, sipping coffee, excited to talk to their son, and I'm sitting here slurring, giggling and saying things like, "I am sho not sitfaced."

Once again, I had my daily wakeup at 5:30 due to the ol' lag and time-traveling, though I had no problem with a long morning, as I was spoiled again today with a 65 degree spring day, a tram pass, and no real agenda. All I had to do was run an errand to a store by the river, and see whatever I wanted, for soon I'll be looking for a part time job to bring in some cash. However, for these first few days, I'm making it my mission to see as much of Melbourne as I can.

I started walking down the road away from the river, to an area of the city I haven't seen yet, and unknowingly participated in a protest movement by a left wing party. They got me to sign a petition to lower fares for trams, and hey, I can get on board with that. Then, once they heard my American voice, asked me to subscribe to a newsletter for Socialist and left wing agenda, and wouldn't you know it, Barack Obama's picture was on the front page. I don't claim to be politically savvy, nor do I care that I'm not, but I'm all for moving away from those sentiments. I took a few pictures and went into the library, with the sounds of a microphone starting for what promised to be a rousing speech against government.

I know what you're thinking, "what nerd goes to the frigan library when exploring a city?" And believe me, it's justified. I just had read that there was a writer's exhibit, and I figured, hey, I like writing and exhibits, maybe there's a job fair. Long story short, it was boring and an obvious mistake, so my next choice, out of sheer man code, was to go grab a pint after wading through the hundreds of protesters. I threw up a few more pictures on Flickr, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to have some nice ones from the beach area. Oh, and I just set up a trip to New Zealand to fly into Christchurch and drive a camper van to Queenstown. More to come on that.

Exploring

Today was a day spent just picking a direction, and walking. I ended up in an awesome part of the city, Southbank, on the riverfront of the Yarra River, and what may be the heartbeat of the city. It was absolutely packed with people, and the architecture and cast of characters made it feel more like I was in Bohemian Europe than what I would expect out of Australia. The people were extremely friendly, and more than one conversation was struck when hearing my American accent.

I decided to get a better view of the city by going to an observation deck in the highest viewing spot in the Southern hemisphere. I wrote a review about it here that you should definitely check out: http://www.wherescool.com/spots/skydeck-88-melbourne/. Also make sure to check out my pictures of the day on my Flickr Photostream at the top left.

I have been adjusting nicely so far. I knew which tram to get on, where to get a good cup of coffee and how not to get mugged near Chinatown. It's still very weird to be walking around a city I know nothing about with no means of communication, no watch (I always just used my cell phone), and zero idea of what to do next. It's phenomenal. Tomorrow, I'll do the same thing, in the other direction.

I'm happy to say the food has been much better than I had expected before coming on this trip. I was half expecting it to be like English food, which in my opinion, is as tough as it gets in the culinary field. Outside of Gordon Ramsay, I'm as confident in British cooking as I am in French hygiene. I can't wait to start trying more Asian foods, and stepping out of my comfort zone with all the new cultural differences in front of me. So far, the trip is off to a great start, time to go out to some pubs.