Lately

I have been staying with my sister. Which is cool, I get along pretty well with her roommates, especially Mark. I have been introducing him to Mystery Science Theater, Tim and Eric and other greatness. Speaking of MST3K, I was browsing a pawn shop the other day and they had MST3K vol. 4 on dvd for $15, I think I will pick that up today. It has Space Mutiny which is a favorite. I would love to get the one with Time Chasers.

I do more than just go to pawn shops. Yesterday I went to the botanical gardens with this German girl Madi I know from couchsurfing.com. She is great fun. Anyway we almost wussed out because it started raining buckets, but then it cleared up. The weather in this town is so unpradictable! I didn't wear a jacket or anything because it was bright and wonderful when I left the house, then it started raining on and off. Anyway, it cleared up so we walked to the gardens. They are really well made! It is more of like a arboretum than a garden, lots of trees and trails. While there we saw some cool little lizzards (by little I mean about half a meter long) and some kangaroos. We joked that the poor kangaroos must be so fuckin sick of tourists always taking their picture. So, as we progressed through the gardens it started raining again, harder than before. We got tottaly soaked, and took shelter in the visitor's center and waited about 5 minutes til the rain passed. It was alright though, warm rain really and a warm day. I ended up being mostly dry by the time we walked back to the city.

spot the roos

I took the bus home, and it was the 5:30 bus so it was packed with people going home from work. The bus gets on the freeway, and there is a motorcyle with 'L plates' (learner plates) next to us. Well the guy drove into the side of a car, then bounced off it right infront of the bus. Miraculously the guy managed to keep his bike upright. Well the bus driver had to slam on his breaks (going highway speed) and people standing fell over and shit. I was standing as well, but coincadentaly I was holding the bars with both hands because I was doing imaginary pull-ups to pass the time. Anyway, no one was hurt! But the bus, motorcycle and car all pulled onto the median and exchaned info. The bus driver casually asked if everyone was ok, and everyone goes "aw yeah" "no worries" and so on in such an australian way.

After that I went and had dinner and tried new beers. The woman who made dinner was something of a beer drinker and wanted me to drink some proper Aussie beers. There are a couple craft beer breweries down here who do "bottle fermentation" which is something done in home brew as well. Basically you put sugar in the bottle, allowing it to ferment further. That way the beer you drink is fresher, since it fermented more recently, and therefore you don't have to comprimise flavor with preservatives. It is fascinating to me.

Currently I am watching this weather channel, with a map of Australia and the clouds over it, the colors are photonegative though, it is kind of trippy. Then it switches over to weather cameras around the world, a lot in Europe, showing snow on the ground and buildings. The whole time classical music is playing. It feels like a Kubrick movie. It just showed Seattle actually. I am doing this because Carly woke me up early to see a gang-gang cockatoo outside, aparently they are rare in this area. They are grey with a pink head. Anyway, they were gone by the time I got outside.

I am getting used to Australia. It is a really neat contry and I like the people a lot. If it stayed this warm all year I wouldn't go back to America. Haha. I guess I have been here for 3 weeks now. I need to get my arse down to Melbourne and start heading up the coast. I will wait til I get my tax file number so if a job oppertunity comes along I can snag it up. Thats all for now, I will put some photos up on facebook.

Write me an e-mail or facebook message and tell me how you have been!

"give me and old jew and i'll be happy"

Hey everyone. I am staying with my sister at the moment. Today I had dinner with my Grandma, Uncle and sister. There has been a little bit of family drama and stuff that I got caught in the middle of. Not worrying about it though. Tonight I had Jameson whiskey for the first time. Top notch for sure.

I am still chilling in Canberra while I wait to get my tax file number and stuff. I am having a good time though, the weather is great. Yesterday I tried making a video on my webcam, I want to make beer review videos. Anyway, the audio and video didn't sync up well so I will have to try again.

Yesterday, I was outside and heard a whiney bird noise. My sister told me it was a baby cockatoo yelling for food. Then there was a chirpy sound and my sister said that was the mom puking into the baby's mouth. Well we looked into the tree and we could see the momma feeding the baby. Kind of cute.

OH! I found a disc golf course today! I am buying too much sports equipment in Australia.

Well my sister's car broke down, we are chillin watching Bruce Almighty. Pretty bad, me and her room mate and making fun of it the whole time. I guess this means I have nothing good to say. Jameson whiskey is good. The end.

2 weeks

Let me preface this by stating that I am buzzed. Moving on...

I realized, I have been in Australia for two weeks now. Things are picking up for me! I had a real good day today. Firstly, I slept in. I had some bizarre dreams last night, I don't remember them I just remember waking up and going "that was a strange dream." Anyway, a sleep in is good. Then I got up and played some Settlers of Catan on asobrain.com and won. A good start to the day, for sure. So I kind of killed time and stuff til 2 pm, then I got a bus to Belconnen and went to the mall because all the major banks have branches there. But before I did that I went to the K-mart (yeah they have those here) and looked at their sports stuff, I thought it would be cool to buy a little cricket set before I come back so I can teach you all and play it in the park. But while I was there I looked at basketballs. Well I spent a while bouncing them and seeing which was best when I heard over the intercom "security to sports," real fuckin subtle right. By then I had picked the best one, but there was no price so I took it to the check out and asked how much it was and it was $4.50 Australian. A STEAL! So I bought it, and the lady had to check my backpack before I could leave, ha! But I didn't take anything so I was off the hook. I then went to commonwealth bank and to my surprise they let me open an account with only one ID! Great news to me, and I put in $100 and they will give me a card which I can use as ID to get my medicare card. YAY! I might not die in this god forsaken hellscape of a country.

Afterwards, I went into the city to meet up with someone I had contacted on couchsurfing.com. Her name is Madi and she is German, might I just say, I fuckin love Germans! They are always such fun people. Anyway we tried to walk to the lake but got lost and chilled in a park a while and chatted. We are going to go to the lake on Wednesday, to make up for today's failure, and maybe go on a hike this weekend. Pretty chill. So after that I went back to the place where I am staying for about half an hour, then my sister came and picked me up. She took me back into the city and we saw her roommate's band perform in this really cool little venue. It was a fun show, the music was good, I had a new beer and it was great. Then I started talking to this dude from Holland, his name is Harmon or something, and we got along pretty well. He asked what I was doing in Australia and I told him 'drinking beer' and then we complained about how expensive beer is here. Then out of no where he bought me a Heineken so I could have a good 'European beer.' He was rad. He told me he was planning on going to this festival in a couple weeks and asked if I wanted to go, I told him 'hell ya' but I don't have a car. Well, turns out he has a car. Then he said tickets were $140 and I told him that was a little steep and he said he would help me pay because he would rather not go alone. HA! I figure I will accept his hospitality because it could be really really fun. I love travelers.

After the show, my sister and I went to a restaurant called the pancake parlour. It is like Shari's except really badass. We had Russian Blintz and 'deluxe fries' which were basically diced potatoes with bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onions. Basically the perfect drunk food. Then we got lost trying to get home (by we I mean Carly got lost, I don't drive in this city, don't blame me.) So instead of being dropped off at Leanne's, I am staying at my sister's tonight. I cracked open a beer and started writing this, so I guess we are all caught up.

I will have photos on facebook tomorrow. Take care y'all. Love ya.

Bad habit, bad habit for drugs.

Today was V-J day. By which I mean, Valentine's-for-Jesse day. Shall I start things off by stating I just made a massive gross fart. Yes, I shall. Moving on, I am at my sister's house. The thing about Canberra, is most of the houses were built a few decades ago and follow a similar pattern. First off, they are brick. Brick, brick, brick. Secondly, they are small. They have a couple modest bedrooms, a family room, dining room, kitchen and the two bathrooms. If you didn't know, Australian homes have a room with just a toilet, then another room with a shower and sink. It is handy because you can blast some deuce when someone is in the shower. This house has some lovely puke-green carpeting, eucalyptus leaf patterns in the sink and the standard bizarre-ass tile floor in the kitchen. In short, it is quintessentially Canberran. I approve. So if you hadn't guessed yet, Carly got in today. But first let me fill in my morning.

I went got up earlyish and got ready. I had plans to meet up with this girl and shoot some hoops. Well we wandered around a bit and then went to the ANU (Australian National University) which is an alright campus, but really pales compared to an American university campus. We shot some hoops and had fun, then we went to this multi-cultural fair deal. There was mariachi music which I appreciated, made me feel good to hear Mexicans. Oh funny story. I was walking to the market the other day with Ryan's (the son of Leanne who I was staying with, a 17 year old kid who is pretty chill and has a good sense of humor) girlfriend and there was this lowrider Cadillac. I told her in the states that would def be a Mexican's car and she told me that down here it could belong to anyone really. But yesterday she saw it being driven and she reckoned the guy driving it was Mexican. haha. I so called it. ANYWAYS, the multicultural whatever was cool, I had an Ethiopian beer called "St. George Beer" the dude told me it was brewed near Adis but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Budweiser poured into a new bottle and resold for $5. I am an asshole for thinking that, but yeah whatever. So I was debating asking the girl I was with out for Valentine's day but I just wasn't feeling it so I went home. On the way home I stopped by the shops and bought two 'Slabs' of beer (a box of 24 bottles) and carried them back. Holy shit, let me tell you, 48 bottles of beer is HEAVY. While I was walking back I ran into Ryan and his GF and his younger sister and her BF and they were heading to the shops. They offered to carry some of my bottles but I said "If you can't carry it, you don't deserve to drink it." Words of Wisdom.

The moral of the story is I love beer. I have decided that this Valentine's day, my Valentine is beer. First V-Day single for a while, and yeah, women...PSH. Beer and I have a good understanding of each other, so happy Valentine's Day, Beer. ...(I love you)...

Last night, before I forget, I made a burger with fried egg and 'bacon' (aussies call bacon what I would call ham.) LOVE IT. I hate fried eggs, but for whatever reason I love them on burgers. mmm mmm.

Oh a revelation of Australian beer, I figured it out finally. In the states we have micro-brews and imports and good shit that runs about $8-10 for a six pack if you are feeling schnazzy or whatever, but we also have your PBRs, or Icehouse, or Colt 45 for when you're broke but still wanna get schnockered. Well they don't have that here, every time you want to get some beers you have to basically get the good stuff. I can find imported beer from Germany or Belgium that costs less than a domestic beer. They really need to fill the gap of just cheap-o pisswater beer that gets you buzzed for cheap. Furthermore, there is no malt liquors! No Old English, no Colt 45, no 40s at all that I have seen. Yeah they have bigger bottles of XXXX Gold or VB or whatever but it is still expensive. The first thing I want to do when I get back to the states is throw back a 40. The second thing I want to do is throw up that nasty ass shit because I got accustomed to good beer all the time. Then I want to kiss a girl and eat a hamburger with fried egg.

Yeah, so back to the beginning. I am at my sister's place and I have been watching Summer Heights High. I love it, but I feel like I prefer the Mighty Boosh. Both fantastic shows though. She's got a BAD HABIT, a BAD HABIT for drugs. My sister was telling me that after production of the show, a real girl named Annabelle died of an extasy OD in Melbourne right before the show was going to air and they almost cancelled it. Don't know how true that is though.

Well, I am sill waiting around for my WWOOF book, then I want to head to Melbourne. I am excited for my big trip up the coast. Wewt. Won't be for a little while at least though.

Until next time, drink a 40 in my honor.

_jes

beer beer beer

So I was going to update this for some reason, but I feel like I didn't do anything today. I went into town, and while I was there I actually thought to myself, "hey there isn't a proper game store, I bet one would do well here," then I rounded the corner and BAM! a display of Catan and Carcassonne. So I went in, they had an ample supply of German games, nice chess sets and upstairs they had 40k, M:TG and a blood bowl league sign up. haha. Pretty well rounded game store. The games are HELLA EXPENSIVE though, I calculated the converted cost of Ticket to Ride and it was $80 U.S.!! The German games here are like %50 more than in the states. WTF! I don't know how they compete with the internet. ($50 for ticket to ride is overpriced IMHO) So I asked the guy if he was hiring and he told me to bring in a resume! I don't know though, I want to travel around Oz before I get tied down. Whatever.

SO! The reason I went downtown is because I met up with Leanne (the woman who I am staying with, my mom's friend from school that I have known since I was a pup) and then we went and had lunch with my Grandma. It was my first time seeing her since I returned, first time I had seen her in a few years, first time I had seen her since my grandfather died about a month ago. It was strange, I never had much of a relationship with my Grandmother, but today she seemed distant, reclusive. I was awkward. It suddenly became real that my Grandad was gone. It was always a world away from me but he is really gone, and it makes me sad. He was a genuine man. And he loved his wife and she loved him. I can't pretend to even imagine how hard it is for her. I am trying to reach out to her though, maybe I can make it easier, I doubt it but I can try.

On a lighter note, I had 3 new beers today. One was quite good, one was pretty good and one was too 'wheaty' for my taste. My list is now at 41! I will be done with my list by the end of March at this rate.

Oh one thing I hate about Australians, they don't understand the letter "R." They ignore it whenever possible in speech, which is fine i guess, kind of annoying "caa paak" (car park). BUT TODAY THEY CROSSED THE LINE! Now, I have heard the expressions "this avo" meaning this afternoon, makes sense, but I read a text that spelled it out "ARVO!" Why throw in the 'R'!!?!? There is no good reason, you don't pronounce the R, it doesn't fit into the abbreviation correctly, WHY INCLUDE IT!? Avo, avo, avo, it works, aRvo is ridiculous. I ridicule you.
So maybe I had more to say than anticipated.

Love you all, I miss my cat Otis. Everyone be extra nice to your animals for me.

_jes

Canberra, to date

Well I haven't posted in the last couple days because I haven't had much to say. I have been chilling in Canberra, which is the capitol of Australia. That being said, there isn't a whole lot here. It is a mostly a suburban city, full of families and old people and shopping centers and more old people. It isn't so bad though, I have been relaxing a bit and playing some catan on asobrain. Today I went into the city and walked around, there is supposedly some multicultural fair or something in the city but there wasn't much when I was there. I have been trying to establish myself down here, but they won't let me get a lisence without proof of residency and I can't get a bank account without a lisence and I can't get a tax number and I can't get medicare and blah blah blah. I am getting the beraucratic run-around which frustrates me to no end. However, it is good news to you back home who want me to come home because I am pissed off and can't properly establish myself. To console myself, I bought beer and a burger on the way home. I finally found an Aussie beer I really like, its called Little Creatures pale ale and it has a picture of one of those little baby cherub angels on it. It is real hoppy and flavorful, yummy yum yum. The burger was pretty epic too. It had a fried egg, bacon, beet root, lettuce, tomato and a pineapple slice on it. Plus chicken twisties. mm mm

Oh, I found a deal at the bottle shop for 2 six packs of Bitburger, each with a free pint glass, for $20 aus. A pretty damn good deal, considering Bitburger is good and beer here is expensive. I was happy.
My bug bites I had for a couple days got a lot more intense and super itchy. They swelled up and got all discoloured and I looked like a leper. It has gotten better today, but it is still unpleasant.
Anyway my sister gets here Friday, so I will probably stay here til then, and then maybe stay with her a while, her room mate was thinking of going to Wollongong and I might go with him. Then I will probably head to Victoria (where all the fires are) to Melbourne and then head up the coast. I bought my WWOOF book and I have to wait for that to show up. Then I will be farmer jes. I am excited to be on the bounce soon. I miss home, I miss my friends. There were people playing soccer in the park today and that made me wonder why I never did that with my friends. When I come back we are playing soccer in the park.

Write me messages on facebook people! I want to hear from you. Photos going up soon.

Can-ber-ra

Is pronounced Can-bra. Okay on with it. I left Sydney today, lets see, I am covered in bug bites still, more infact. The mossies feasted on me again last night. OH! Good news, I got my camera working again, so I will be able to upload more photos. So this morning I kind of chilled a bit, had coffee and toast and read more audacity of hope. A lot of today was spent heading to Canberra. The bus ride is 3 and a half hours long, and I figured out that inland Australia reminds me a lot of Eastern Washington, maybe thats why I am so anti-Eastern Washington. I only have room in my heart for one bush city. Anyway the geography really changes as you head inland. The lush green landscape turns into dry yellow grasslands dotted with eucalyptus and oher trees that are a little less tropical looking. Anyway, this is the Australia I am used to, the Australia I feel comfortable with. It isn't like I am coming home or anything, more like I am visiting an old friend or something. It really is a strange part of who I am that is impossible to explain. The Aussies out here are more rough-cut. More G'days and such than in Sydney.

I am staying with my mom's friend basically and her family. It is like a family friend type of situation but I feel real at home here, it is nice. I had a couple new beers putting my list at 33. I also had a nice lamb dinner, yummy yum. So, I don't have a whole lot to say, check out my facebook for new pictures, the rest of my sydney trip which unfortunantly had a sizeable period of broken camera. I hope you are all doing well. Oh I am going to shave, so yeah check out my facebook because I want you all to vote and tell me what style to shave. See y'all

Oh for some dumbass reason I keep saying "Thank you very much" like I am elvis or something.

Manly times

Well, today was good and bad. Mostly good, I woke up (after getting friggin tones of bug bites last night) and got some breakfast (or brekki) made for me, can't beat that. I found out the people who live here get all their food from dumpster diving. Haha. I am okay with that though. Oh speaking of bugs, Sydney is full of nasty-ass cockroaches. Holy cow, did not know. I guess I should have assumed though, I saw one in Bellingham once even. Also there was a huntsman spider in the house last night, pleasent. Look it up on wiki, they are huge buggars. Anyway I don't want to think about it too much so I am moving on...
I went downtown and caught a ferry to Manly today, a town near sydney. The boat ride was half an hour and I got to see the city from a cool vantage point. Sadly though, my camera broke today. It just displays a message telling me to turn it off and turn it back on. Super bad timing. I tried smaking it but that didn't work so I am all out of ideas. I am tanning a bit, and my freckles are def coming out more. I think I have lost a litte weight too, but I have a ways so go.
Tonight is my last night in Sydney for now. I will miss the hip stores and good transport, but it is time to go to Canberra and work some things out and see my grandma.

I will get my last pictures on facebook sometime. Later.

Day 4

So last night was kind of a bust. The open air theater was cool but there was a lot of waiting around and not really being interested. The movie was "Soldiers of Peace" which had some cool stories but was kind of simplistic and didn't have any real solutions to real problems. After that the guy I was with wanted to get drinks with this girl so I got ditched but I was happy just to be going home. I then proceeded to sleep for a long time. I am actually on a pull out bed which means I am sleeping on a mattress for the first time in like a week so I got really good sleep.

Today I went to the shops and got hamburger fixins and made burgers for me and a couple of the other dudes. One of the guys, Oliver, has an uncanny resemblance to Bret from Flight of the Concords. I then thought I would try to skate to Bondi Beach, my directions were good for a long time then I got hellza lost and I was worried about getting burned. It is officially buttsex hot down here. So I took a bus downtown and then got on a train back to Newtown. The public transport is really good but it gets pricey.

So one of the guys who lives here does like economic forums and stuff and has a bunch of people upstairs (where the kitchen is) doing a meeting or something. So I am hiding downstairs and being online a lot. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to facebook, but my camera lense got all greasy so any light gets super amplified. Adultswim.com wont let me watch their videos since I am in Australia so I downloaded this hotspot sheild device which makes the website think I am in the states. Take that adult swim you nancies.

I am going to Canberra in a couple days I think. We shall see. I really really love Newtown, I would def go to the Uni of Sydney just so I could hang out here. Maybe the novelty would wear off but it is just such a sweet part of town. Anyway the city is starting to look like just any old city and I kind of want to go into the less developed parts of the country and see some nature. The hot weather is nice, I can think about stuff like hanging out at the park or camping or just skating around town. I skated a ton today, the city isn't that great for longboarding but it is manageable.

see y'all

Day 3 part 1

Last night was fun, I played a couple games of Catan with my hosts. They ordered a copy from America and are quite good at it. I got stomped both times, once by Naomi and again by Josh. It was brutal. They also made me fantastic home made pizza and we had baily's and milk for desert. Fantastic! This morning I was introduced to The Mighty Boosh, I had seen a clip online once but it was a lot better in conext. It is actually a hilariously clever show. After that I said my goodbyes, but I think I need a Catan rematch before I leave town.

The new place I am staying is absolutely amazing. There is like a wall around it with a metal door I entered through. It looked a little sketch at first, but it opened into this courtyard with big tropical looking trees. And the house is the funky old warehouse remodeled into an amazing huge house. I met some of the room mates and the guy who I actually contacted online ran off. Anyway the people here seem like really chill dudes. I am really lucky to have found this place to stay. I am starting to fall in love with this part of town, it is really funky and cute. The people seem really great too.

Tonight I am going to Bondi Beach for some film thing I think, it should be pretty rad. I will fill you all in later.

Day 2

So I am paying for internet in Sydney. There is NO FREE WIFI!!! Frank from Munich would be much displeased. So this will be short-ish maybe. Today was rough kind of. I got really homesick for a while, I miss my friends hardcore, but then I just recall how you are all just a bunch of wankers I keep around to make me feel better. Just kidding, I love you all. Oh I had forgotten how friggin loud Australian birds are. Woke up to one this morning.
I miraculously found another place to stay for 2 nights. Everyone in Sydney on couchsurfing.com is being flooded with requests, but I will be staying in a house with 6 people and at least 2 other couchsurfers, so that will be nice. I am pretty much longing for social interactions. I purchased a 1-way bus ticket up to Cairns, which is barrier reef territory. It lasts for 6 months and I have unlimited stops (in one direction) so I am thinking about buying into WWOOF.org and just bussing up the coast, working on one farm at a time and seeing the country that way. I will burn through less cash and have more stable/relyable accomodation, and I wont have to eat potatoes raw for breakfast like I did today. I splurged on a slurpee which made me feel better and I think I will go to a pub and get a table lunch and a beer when I get back to Newtown in celebration of my new place to stay tomorrow.
I think after my stay with my new host I will head into Canberra. I need to get my tax card and my health care situated and I could just chill out without looking for couchsurf hosts and probably have my beers paid for :) I HAVE'NT HAD A BEER YET! This just occured to me. I need to get online on my laptop and put some photos up. Probably will do that in Canberra. Stay classy Washinton State, and by classy I mean cold. SUCKAS!

Day 1

Well, I made it to Australia. The flight, as always, was unpleasant. At Sea Tac my mother asked if I wanted a beer, so I got one and I was way early so I got another at the terminal. Well I got a little buzz and wandered into the bookstore and bought Obama's Audacity of Hope. I probably should have read it before I voted for the man, but it has reaffirmed my decision thus far. So the flight wasn't all that bad. My sister gace me sleeping pills and I think I probably slept 10 hours in tottal. Not too shabby. I am still tired as hell though, but I wont let myself sleep or the jetlag will be worsened.
I took the train from the airport into town and switched over to get to the suburb of Newtown. It is a really cute little place, the houses are all older looking and I swear every house has a small tree growing out of the 2 foot by 3 foot patch of dirt. I skated around with my luggage for a while, got lost, asked directions and ended up finding the house where I am staying. I am staying with the adorable hippy couple for 2 nights. They are tons of fun and really generous, I need to repay them somehow, maybe do the dishes tonight. Right now I am alone, getting some precious internet time. Free Wifi is hard to find around here. My hosts play Catan, I am hoping to get a game in before I take off. I have to send out a lot of requests on couchsurfing.com, they have all been coming up as 'no', sadly. I guess more people come to Sydney than Bellingham, go figure.
I went to a small beach today, nice and sandy with some rocks jutting into the ocean. I swam for a bit and remembered I hadn't applied sunscrean to my pathetically white upper body so I went to the shade and read. I don't want a sunburn on day one. Then we walked around the rocky bits and looked in the tidepools, there were some cool things, notable a bright green eel. Somehow I cut the top of my foot too.
So I am back now and I will continue begging for places to stay. Stay tuned.