The First week....

So the first week featured some interesting events that smoe of will you will laugh at some of you will already have heard and for the rest will just be like WTF. So let me start and say that arriving in a foreign country that is 16 hours ahead of where you come from messes you up a substantial amount. So patience waiting for suitcases, getting checked by customs and trying to hail a cab when you thought someone from your office would meet you at the airport sucks big time.

I was fairly prepared by the girl that came before me (Jayna thanks) as to what I needed to bring and what to expect for the culture so adjusting to how society is has been a fairly simple task. People are much more laid back and much more likely to help you honestly when you are in a predicament. Not to mention anyone considering making a trip the American accent is a turn on. So some of the advantages of this trip have already reared there head in the first week of my arrival.

My first couple days on this continent consisted of some walking around to figure out where I am as well as lots of sleeping turns out losing a day and half messes you up a little bit. There is a fresh food market around the corner that I frequent as well as grocery stores all around that have assisted in my grooming into the next CHEF Emerill but there is still some honing needed to my skills so I will not quite brag about my culinary skills yet, but for any girls reading this who doesn't want all the cooking responsibilities in marriage think about 9 months of culinary expertise in your life...hey a guy can dream...

Anyways I am in an interesting part of town there is plenty to do between clubs, bars, and restaurants. The culture is very upbeat and a little flambouyant which is okay but a little culture shock as well. The fashion industry on Chapel St. does quite an amazing business and these people eat it up girls in jeans on a friday orsaturday just doesn't seem to exist perhaps its the summer weather or perhaps its alterior motives regardless I'm not complaining.

For many of you that are close to me this may come as a shock but I've had a bottle of Jim Beam not be opened in over a week until I had a Skype call with 200 Harvard, but I guess coming here has opened my eyes a bit and made me realize that there is life after college and perhaps I can be successful in my newest adventures as a professional without going out 3 or 4 nights a week. Those days were amazing and most likely will happen again when the mood strikes but I know the next 9 months will prove that they were times not to be forgotten but times to be left in the past.

Growing up I have realized is a little harder than I originally thought. Some alone time and reflection has probably been the best thing for me that could have happened. Not only have I been more productive but I see clearly more the person that I can become out of this experience and it excites me what may lie ahead.

So enough with the silly jibber jabber but here's what goes down in this city. There is a casino about 5 minutes away that I am in the green at so I am going to give it a week before I go back and hemmorage some more cash at which point if I feel aggressive may be able to aid a few people's travels to Aussie but probably not because I play about as aggresively as a deer in headlights in a casino but hey its worth the thought.

I have been to St. Kilda Beach which I have a few pics of on Facebook and The Royal Botanic Gardens and Flinders St. which are three of the more popular places in my immediate vicinity. I have a great Irish Bar around the corner called Bridie O' Reillys which I am going to head to when I finish this and that just about sums up what I've done in the first week.

Couple funny stories is that I've been hit on by a gay bartender at TGI Fridays on my first night out here.

A colleague from our Japanese Office, Slawek, came to Melbourne last week we went out 2 nights he was a big drinker but kind of a little guy so he was a little surprised at what I put back but guy was funny as all hell and had some great stories.

The two guys that I've been out with don't drink, which I didn't expect, but we had a great time anyways.

I'd also like to add they are still in the 90's for dance music so hearing Wannabe by the Spice Girls was awesome last week.

So there is my first week in a nut shell. Plenty more to follow. I'll be going to a 3 day concert this weekend as well Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton and The WHO in the upcoming weeks so keep your eyes peeled.

How I got here....

So about 2 months ago (December '08) my job offered me the shot to take a spot down in Australia that would allow me to live, eat, breathe and perhaps even do some work in the land down under for 9 months. Now for the most part those of you that don't know me that well I was always one to go with the flow and follow the crowd. However this offered the opportunity that I needed to excel and mature on my own and create my own identity. This is story of what transpired from that day on...