1-7

1-7

That is the current record of my two fantasy football teams.  One league I am in with 7 Brits that know nothing about "American" football, and the other is with the Issaquah boys that we have been doing for well over a decade.  Basically what I am trying to communicate is that NFL does not exist down here, I have watched one game, and all I know for sure is the Hawks are 4-0.  Games start at 3am on Monday morning and are pretty much only on while I am at work.  Sucks, sucks bad.  Another team that I am actually able to follow is the also 4-0 Washington Huskies.  Huge game coming up this weekend, and it will be the first televised in Australia, so while the rest of you are out Saturday night watching the Dawgs, I will be at a sports bar on a Sunday at noon trying to find a place that has ESPN 2.  Can't wait, and I am not being sarcastic.  I even have about 6 of the Brits shouting U-dub upon my entrance or exit of a room.  Its pretty great.

I asked for some topics to write about and here is some of the questions I was asked.

How are the Aussie Women??

- Crazy, they are fun and loud and quite unstable.  I know I am making a very broad generalization here, but from what I have encountered in 6 months, they are equal parts awesome and equal parts nuts.  I have been on a couple dates, been in the trenches and I have not taken marriage off the table, but its teetering on the edge.

Lingo that I find stupid

- Mackers- this is what they call McDonalds, its a dumb nickname and all the menu items are not good and overpriced.  EXCPET the .30 ice cream cone, oh god how much do I love the .30 ice cream done.  Best deal in the country.

-How you going- How are you doing, how are you?  I have refrained from adopting this and have yet to ask sonmeone, but you will hear it 5-6 times a day.

-Unlucky- Aussies will say this is anything on the planet does not go your way.  Miss a crazy basketball shot, "ahhhh, unlucky."  Get caught robbing a bank, "Ohhh rough go mate, unlucky"  

-Toliet- Bathrooms do not exist, only toilets

-Return- This is a round trip, its a tiny thing that drives me crazy.  If you are going to work and back it doesnt take 2 hours round trip, its 2 hours return.

-Take Away- This means to go.  This phrase is also annoying

Ill do some more as I am too agitated now. 

Here is what has been going on lately for me:

Monday- Work, Men's league hoops, home, bed

Monday 2- Work, Co rec league hoops, home, bed

Monday 3- Work, Workout on the roof at the hostel, movie

Monday 4- Work, make up an excuse as to why I can skip working out (I had a vegetable earlier in the day, its too windy to run, or the walk to the bus was at least a 5k (about 100 feet) ), bed

Friday- Sleepwalk though work, nearly pass out at my desk, get off work, 100% awake and ready to go enjoy the Sydney nightlife

Saturday (park hoops, try not to get robbed, win some games, explore the city)

Pre Monday (Sleep, blog maybe, watch the dawgs on pirate internet tv, movie, hate life as its almost Monday)

*Weeks do vary, and I am making them less exciting than they are, part of that is to keep this pg and the other part is that I live in a freaking hostel full of idiots (not all the people in here are idiots, just most)

Here are some pictures of recent events:  I apparently need to take more pictures..........  The first two are murderball, USA vs New Zeland vs  Australia.  US #1 and Australia is #2.  Turns out US is still #1, weird!!!!

The bottom one was 5:30 am on a Tuesday, while you were all enjoying Labor Day, I was drafting my 0-4 fantasy football team.  The things we do.  And one fun night out (ok those wont post, ugh, next time)

Much more to come soon, again anything you want to know just ask.  

Nearing The Halfway Point

Really can't believe it has almost been six months since I have felt the sweet US soil on my feet.  The time is flying here, except from 8am till 4:30 every Monday through Friday, that is work time and work time is terrible.  In six months I have managed to do a number of amazing things, meet some great people, and attempt to make the rest of this planet hate the US that much less.  They do by the way, they hate us real bad.  I understand where a lot of that hate comes from:



As long as you are not an arrogant A-hole, then people will usually give you a fair chance to prove their US hate wrong.  Trouble is you have to act like a beta wolf and basically submit to their ideas and belief structures in order for them to not see you as a threat and start attacking all things USA.  Its a delicate dance and I have gotten pretty good at dancing it, unlike all other real kinds of dances.  This Syria business is not helping out either, but in reality we are damned if we do damned if we don't.  I'd compare peoples feelings towards the US as bandwagon hate.  Same kinda reason Dane Cook went up in flames.  He made some bad movies and probably got a bit full of himself, but his comedy never changed and was still funny.  Then some people turned on him, and that became the norm, hating Dane was in fashion and people without a real reason to dislike the guy hated him in the same way that a person who spent $20 to go see "Good Luck Chuck" or "Employee of the Month" did.  (My Best Friends Girl, was awesome, don't care what you say, Alec Baldwin was in it.)


That is the case with the world vs the US.  I am not sure how many of you have had the chance to really travel outside the US, but when you get the chance to, you will be captivated by the disdain the world has for your home country.  I usually take it as a challenge to prove them wrong, or I just agree with them and then passive aggressively insult them until I go to far and they figure it out.

Anyway, I was not planning on writing about this at all, but I guess its something new and interesting.  Life updates, I am still in the hostel as looking for rentals is a real hassle and with work and hoops and whatever else I can find to do down here there is not that much time.  I'll either end up living here until I come home, or finally get my act together and find a rental.  Hoping for the latter, expecting the former.  Work is good, bank account is getting back in shape, as am I...slowly.  A buddy in the hostel and I are doing Shape Up September.  Rules has been tightly followed and are:
-1 drinking session a week
-No fizzy drinks at all (EASILY THE HARDEST PART FOR ME)
-Daily workouts or sporting activites
-Cut down spending by making meals
The goal is to shape up the body and the bank account.  We are thinking Out of Shape October since the O was a tough letter to do exercise related word, but I would be willing to reexamine if anyone can come up with a better word.

Good Luck to the Dawgs today.  I got up at 6am to watch the game, its on at 8:30.......awesome.  Happy Birthdays to cousin Mykel and the girl next door since I was four, Michelle Gervin.  I am sorry I was not there to celebrate with both of you.  Next time I write, since not a lot of excitement is going on, I''ll answer any questions you guys have regarding my life down here or Australia in general.  I already have some good ones from Brenden Lawrence and Lindsay Bushnell.  The more the better.  Email me at scottmorrisonhall@gmail.com

Happy New Stadium Day

Its the best time of the year, unless you live in Australia, where it is still pretty good.  I have scoured the city and will not be legally watching the UW game as its not on any network up here.  Pirate websites it is for me...all season long...ugh.  It is kinda cool to be the biggest Dawgs fan in an entire country/continent.  Hope everyone has a great time, the stadium is awesome, and Dawgs win by 23.

As promised once I got my laptop, here is the mostly picture post.  Congratulations to my friend Bennett "such a good lawyer/Steffy belongs to the club now" Taylor and Lindsey "LGD 2" Stewart on their engagement.  Great people, very happy for them.

I still have zero skills at posting pictures, so these are in a random order (see above).  Ill try to give a little feedback on each.  UW kickoff in one hour, so I have 50 minutes to get this done.  Above picture is Ash Scott and me encountering yet another deadly Australian snake.  Ash was killed.

Sydney skyline at night, the picture is not blurry, the city is.  Australia doesn't do anything right

I just liked this one.  Then I drank it

The hostel in Airlie Beach had countries flags on each door.  This was ours.  Yep, 'Murica.

Repping my hoods.

"I want that"

This lady was a kick, and decided rules be damned she was going to let us try every wine they had.  Jessica, Karly and I drank a fairly good amount of each one of these bottles, which led to Kim's first experience driving in Australia.  There would be a 10th bottle later, but I must have taken this picture before that.  For the record I still dislike wine, but the results agree with me.

View from our airplane ride around Fraser Island.  It was about a 20 minute flight and Kim white knuckled it for about all 20 of it.  She was very excited to get on the plane, and then more excited when it landed safely on the beach again.  Amazing views, but as I said before, not a whale in sight.

I shipwreck, not really worth stopping the bus for.

Facial hair on display and some hometown love.

Really wish I would have been in Airlie Beach for this.  Having seen these people on the basketball court, I can assume they dont throw well either.  

This is my foot, it was weird.  Not worth the $15 cost

That is rain on my glasses, I was the only one laying out on a lawn that usually has about 100 people on it at all times.  I still managed to get burnt.

This place puts chocolate on everything.  Chocolate fries and chips were good, do we have these back home?

The skyline again, I didnt want to risk taking it off and mess this post up, so here it is again.  Contact me if you would like to come down and see it in person.

This is from the roof of my "hotel"  It was a 10 k fun run, about 100,00 people.  Is that a lot for a fun run?

I posted this on FB, but this is the billboard I see each night that is hypnotizing.  Wish it was Pepsi though.  Oh and they did not cost $3.00 a can.  1000% markup.

The other half of the billboard.  Its huge

Life on the road.  Upper left is the van with big Neil, slept next to him for nearly a month.  It was a tiny space, but no worries, we are both really big, so that was good.  When you travel with no power one of your biggest priorites is charging your electronics.  I spent about 5 hours in this laundry room charging my I pod, I pod, Kindle Fire, Shuffle, Galaxy, and cell phone.  The other picture you have seen.

This was a wallaby that creeped up on us.  He liked chips.

The overpriced ($25) Bundaberg Rum tour.  At the end they give you two drinks per pass.  I somehow was able to acquire 3.  Still not worth it, except a rum and coke is about $8 down here.  Downside is I was a bit tipsy at noon on a Wednesday and about to get back in a hot stinky van.

There is the yellow plastic again.  Come on!!!!!!

The boys at the waterfall.  We followed around the tour bus and stopped where they stopped.  The water was cold and it was raining.  But the sights were fantastic.

This was the boat in the Whitsunday's night two.  The better of my two sleeping spots.  Ash and I got up early to see the sunrise with some of the Germans on the boat.  Is it called waking up early if you never really went to sleep??   

That says USA.  The Brits made fun of me and then did it themselves, expect mine was bigger.  Everything is bigger in the US, And better.

The four of us at the beach.  Coolest place I have ever been

Mom and sisters first night in the country.  So glad they got to come down and see what this place is all about.

The family at the vineyards in Newcastle.

Jess, Danny and I at the Bondi Beach.  I could write an entire post or posts about Danny.  Hell of a lad. (English speak)

This is the watering hole where the infamous snake appeared.  Joey did a back flip off the tree and into the water.  I got one foot wet and went running for my life

The Stand By Me picture.  No train came, or probably ever comes.

Sadly that is all the pictures I have for now.  Working has cost me a ton of free time and Kodak moments.  I also lost a ton of pictures that were on my stolen phone.  I hope someone is out there enjoying them.  Either way the Dawgs rolled today, I found a way to watch it down here, and I remain the #1 UW fan on an entire continent.  

Hope everyone is well, 6am fantasy football draft this week.  CANT WAIT 

You know how people say contact me if you really get into trouble, well..............

Quick status update. I am at a new place, left the Strand Hotel when I came home from work on a Friday and young French couple were making out on the extra bed. Good for them, but that was it for me, and with a job, it was time to move on. I am continuing the house hunt and staying at a much better place in the mean time.

 Now, on to this weekend. As like to do every Saturday I went to the park to play hoops. Things were going as planned as my teams were winning and I never had to sit out. After about a 2 hour run my team lost and I went home, except my bag was a little light. Got home and noticed that my phone was missing. Huge bummer, but I could fill out the insurance and maybe get it back. I was mad, but not pissed....UNTIL, I remembered that I took my wallet and that was missing too.

Saturday night status:
Bank of America account- $ in it, but I can't get to it, as I have no card, and there is no BOA in Australia
Amex Card- MIA
CommonWealth Bank of Australia- Card gone, $11.50 in the account
My paid for stay ends on Sunday, I have $11.50, my room for the week is $190, and my rail pass to get to work is $52.  I still have $11.50.  I have a passport, my cell phone just ran out of credits, I have to call and cancel my cards.

Sunday status:
Cards cancelled and on their way to Mom's house in Issaquh
I managed to get the wonderful Michelle George to purchase me a train pass for the week
My boy Stuart has looked the other way on rent, as well as loaned me $20 so I can buy something to eat.  I will be eating bananas, oatmeal and water for the week.  I still have $11.50.

Monday:
Things have managed to get worse.  Costco failed to pay me to an accounting snafu.  The last two digits on my direct deposit were transposed, no big deal though, the lady in accounting can handle it.  Big deal, she is on vacation and the replacement is worthless.  I will not be getting any money this week I have been told. F word.  I have eaten two of my 5 bananas.  However, I did get picked up for a basketball league and was 7-10 from three and this is an international 3, not that easy college 3 point line!!

Tuesday:
Still no money in my account.  I use my lunch break at work to go to the bank and ask if the money was put in my account, it wasnt.  I ask how much money I have in my account now, somehow it has decreased to $10.70.  I take $10 so I can eat at the Costco food court.  I am now the proud owner of .70.  People at the hostel still offer help.  Emma Miles to give me cash for whatever I need.  Fairly certain the .70 is all I will need for rest of the week.  My Co-rec team wins again and I am nearly late for the game as I got off at the wrong bus stop and have to run about 2k in my work clothes.  Pretty sure I am getting an eye infection.

Wednesday (today)
Accounting lady is back from vacation.  I again go to the bank for my daily bank account check.  Maybe one of the most intense moments of the trip thus far, as the teller lets me know there was in FACT a deposit into my account.  3 g's and I am back in business.  I have done a poor job here of explaining how dire a situation I was in.  And just as in this blog I tried to look at the whole thing with humour.  In reality if it wasn't for the great people that I am staying with.........I honestly don't know.  I mean really, I would have had zero money, zero access to money, no cell, and just getting on the internet to beg you guys to Western Union me money would have been insanely difficult.  Thank you again, Emma, Michelle, and Stu, you guys made this nightmare just a major inconvenience.

This will just be a quick one, as I really have figured out how to post pictures and will do a full picture/recent events updates later this week or weekend.

I guess this was not a "quick" status update.

Miss you all still.

Happy birthday Dad!!!!

Packing a lunch

As of July 29th, I rejoined all you working stiffs and took a position at the corporate giant that is Costco. I am not happy about it, but after four months the bank accounts need the income. Here are some thoughts on my first two weeks of work, and a little comparison to how amazing I had it in Issaquah compared to Costco out here. -We do not have any chefs to make my breakfast and lunch everyday and low low costs. Nor do we have an inexpensive cafeteria. We have some fridges, benches, a coke machine, and the worst smelling breakroom of all time. More on that later. I really took Ian and the rest of the Costco cooks for granted, and forgot what is was like trying to assembly a lunch day in and day out. I hate it. -No one in the office uses headphones at their desks at work. Meaning I don't. No more Harry Potter/Jason Bourne books on tape, no more podcasts or hours of music. I sit there in silence and work, or zone out, and the time draaaaaags. That was a perk of the last job that I did not undervalue. I had not read that much since high school, with a loose use of the word "read." - THE BREAKROOM: You ever been in an office and a person heats up fish, and everyone under their breath complains or makes a little jab like "oh god, Jeff nuked some fish, what an ass, we are going to be smelling that for the rest of the day." Even something like popcorn, that smells good, will waft through and office like the bubonic plague. Well in this place, that is about 80% international, most pc way to say that and I do include myself. Most people bring their own lunch- see point 1- this entails mostly of leftovers or meals from their home countries. These are the curries, seafood, and whatever else you could call food. I am sure it tastes good to them, and I might not even mind it that much, however, when you reheat 18 hour old curry chicken, and open that container, its not just a smell, it makes your eyes bleed. I have been eating my meals out in the blazing sun and gusting wind to avoid it, and now I am the anti-social American, which is fine with me! -My Headphones trick- In order to avoid conversation with most people I put headphones in my ears, sometimes with nothing playing, that way they leave you alone. Not in this place. I am semi-flattered that people have US questions for me or would just like to get to know me a little better, but mostly I don't care and would like to be lest alone. This has to be some sort of problem with me, but I am never going to be best friends with these people, therefore if you see the headphones, leave me alone. -Monday Meetings: We all gather in huge room, whole office, and talk about last week and whats coming up. This is the whole office, about 80 people, 5 of whom are listening and we have a family dinner discussion. My god. That is just the tip, but I see this is getting kind of long, so I will just make this round one of things at work I would like to complain about. I almost left of 7 minute commute, has turned into hour and 15 minutes. Thank god for podcasts!!!! Not sure if I mentioned this before, but at the local basketball courts there was a guy wearing a Russel Wilson shirt. That is pretty cool- picture to follow when my laptop arrives. I have been staying in a dump for the past 3 weeks, but its been worth it because I have had my own room. Last night a nice french couple magically appeared on the other bed when I got home from work. I felt like my world was shattered. They are nice enough, but I got up this morning and tip toed around and felt bad about every noise I made. Needless to say the search for a new place has reached def con 1 priority. Heard the Hawks won, that is great. I will be getting up around 5am on Sundays to go watch college football. Pros will be "watched" from my desk at work. My fantasy draft will be at 6am on a Tuesday morning. I am going to miss football this year...... I mentioned earlier that I may have lost some man cards since arriving in Australia. The first being the incident with the snake, but I can defend that because the two weeks before I left Issaquah Head Basketball coach Jason Griffith was sending my youtubes top ten most deadliest snakes and engaging me in conversations about which snake was going to be the one to take me out. I am not scared of snakes, but snakes in the wild at a swimming hole. No thanks. The second card was easily lost because I started watching and liking the show Gossip Girl. Now again to defend myself I have ZERO tv options. This was off a hard drive I copied from fellow travelers and after having watched all of Modern Family (again) and all of Big Bang (again), and just about every movie on there, I turned to the dark side. Well the show is terrible and pretty much a NY version of the OC, and I love it. I suck. I do think I deserve a card back for the hellacious drive up the coast, it got a bit dodgy there for a stretch and I toughed it out. I lose another card however, because I recently signed up for a Men's basketball league. I told them my experience, age, height and skill level. They put me in a co-rec league. I'm not that bad yet, come on. This is a stupid story that blew my mind and I might be typing it just so I don't ever forget, but last Saturday I saw the same guy and girl three separate times over two hours apart in very different locations. That would be like not only running into a stranger that you were somehow able to recognize 3 separate times, but seeing them on Queen Anne, Bellevue, and then one last time on the bus coming home from a Seahawks game. I think I recognized him because he was probably selling drugs, was 6'5 and with an Indian fat woman, but still........ I got my haricut yesterday, first paid for haircut in 4 months, $10. First good deal since I arrived. And as promied here are the signs that you are travelling on a budget/backpacking (I or someone I know, really these are most likely all me, but if its embarassing, then at least I can say that one wasn't me, has done everything on this list) -You can easily go a day without going to the bathroom, and not going to the bathroom, I mean going inside a bathroom, no shower, no teeth brushing, nada. -Go through 2 razors in 3 months. the travel beard looks terrible, is easy to manage and cost effective. Does mess with your face tan. -Ask strangers or whoever you can to cut your hair, and strangly it turns out looking bad. -You did powerhour is box wine. You know it as Franzia, here it is Goon. Cheap and effective. -Sleep in your car. -Worn the same pair of underwear, or a bathing suit acting as underwear for a undesired length of time. I did this in college as well. -CLEANED your plate at every meal. Does not matter if the food was good, you are not wasting it or the $$ -Had the same $20 bill in your wallet for two straight weeks. Not spending money and getting by is an art that you don't really get to do at home. I have created my Opus on this trip. -Added to your wardrobe with an array of others people clothes that don't really fit. Thanks Kar for the jacket, I got the zipper to work even. -This one was great. Stayed in a restaurant for an hour after you are done eating to not only get hunger again and eat some more, but beacuse they were running back to back reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It was like we died and went to heaven, and got seconds. -Bartered taxi fares to the point of pitting them against each other. I don't go by the meter, just what is in my wallet, what I am willing to pay, and how bad does this guy want it. I am bringing this practice home with me. -Walked for miles and miles and miles because you are lost or too cheap to pay for transport. -Gone out sober with your friends, remained that way the whole time. -And, as my sister and mom recently learned, the feeling you got as a kid the night before and then subsequently the morning of christmas, well that is what the words FREE WIFI are. Like unwrapping your new Zeplin. Again sorry for no pictures and also if the format is weird, it made me type this is HTML for some reason. Hate HTML. Ill fix it later if I can from a different computer. Miss you all and also Congratualtions to Mykel and Stacey on ending their 18 year engagement and tying the knot this weekend. Really wish I could have been there for this one too. Scott