misconstrued thoughts

Helplessness Blues

2011-03-14T15:34:00.000-04:00

- Fleet Foxes

Friday

2011-03-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

- Rebecca Black (Just trust me on this one)

(thanks for the tip, @jackmjenkins)

Who Said North Means Up?

2011-02-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

The Piper's Song

2011-02-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

- Gypsy and the Cat

I've listened to this song way too much. Or not enough. One of the two.

Young Blood

2010-12-06T15:08:00.000-05:00

- The Naked and Famous

The Onion - Spot on. Again.

2010-11-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

Twitter vs Facebook

2010-10-21T16:59:00.002-04:00

Twitter makes me like people I've never met and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life.

Truthful imagery via @shaylamaddox

Glasklart

2010-10-03T22:02:00.001-04:00

The Glasklart theme for the iPhone is really pretty. Figured out how to update the theme to include icons for apps the developer hasn't packaged yet, and replace some less than appealing ones with others.

Ocean

2010-09-30T15:54:00.006-04:00

- John Butler Trio (Bonnaroo 2010)

JBT puts on an awesome show. Check out and download concert sets for free (and legally!) on their Archive.org artist page.

Steppin'

2010-09-27T22:02:00.002-04:00

- The Delta Saints

Banff. I Think I'll Go.

2010-09-26T21:07:00.002-04:00

via Flickr user D_A_N_

Sunset and Soon Forgotten

2010-09-15T17:50:00.004-04:00

- Iron and Wine

1, 2, 3, Go Home. Thoughts From Africa

2009-09-15T18:40:00.006-04:00

Again, this was originally written in June, 2008, but never quite made it on to the blog.

June 6, 2008
Our last day in Tanzania had nothing official planned until 2pm, when were were suppose to depart our hotel/resort thing and head to the airport. Most were anxiously waiting around so when some buses arrived early to start shuttling people to the airport, we hopped on. Things at the airport were more than chaotic. There seemed to be some confusion with our boarding passes, as none of them had been printed with any seating information. Ethiopian Air (I say that, but I mean one poor woman at the podium) had to call each passenger up and assign them a seat. People got mixed and matched and separated from their traveling companions. Despite that, the plane still left close to on time.

We took off at 5:20pm Tanzanian time on June 6th, and arrived at Washington Dulles at 7:05am June 7th in super heavy fog, we couldn't even see the wingtips. Doing a little math with the time zones, it works out to roughly 22 hours in transit. Almost as long as it took me to get from Canberra, Australia to Nashville, TN the previous November.

I had a wonderful time in Ethiopia and Tanzania. I think Africa is a place everyone should go if they have the opportunity. Here are some things I learned:

Africa Time - There were hardly any clocks to be found at the places we visited. Hotel lobbies, restaurants, conference rooms... the only clock that was where I expected it to be was on the nightstand. I think this is a reflection of the mindset of the culture. Time isn't really that important. Almost everything we attended or saw started a little bit late. Lunches were pushed bad, buses that don't show up on time, plenary sessions moved to larger venues at the last minute, etc. Noone really seemed to know what was going on, we just went with the flow. I think it made many of us uncomfortable. We live with such structure...
The drastic separation of haves and have-nots. The wealthy have it MADE in Africa. Cheap prices for goods, cheap labor, cheap real estate... Unfortunately, supporting all of this cheap stuff is a huge amount of poverty stricken people who very literally have nothing. For example, in Arusha, there is a giant glass and steel hotel right downtown. Outside, people sell fruit from donkey-drawn carts for cents. At the airport, a group of men dig a drainage ditch. It's cheaper to hire them for a day then to rent a backhoe. At one of the Masai villages, an investor talks to a client on his satellite phone while children crowded into a hut read along with their teacher from a few tattered books.
Those children at school struck me. Bob Legg, Jane, Leah and I had a long discussion about how excited these children were to be in school and be learning. Education isn't a staple of adolescent life like it is in the first world. Not every child has the opportunity to be educated, and those that are fortunate enough take it very seriously. The dedication the children we saw in school was amazing. It's almost surreal to see 50 elementary aged kids hanging off of every word the teacher speaks with rapt attention. That would never happen here. We take our education for granted, even growing to resent the learning process. I wish I had had their attitude toward education while I was growing up...

Africa - Continued...

2009-09-14T19:22:00.010-04:00

I just filled up my Moleskine, and going back through it I found written journal entries from my few weeks in Africa over a year ago. I never finished posting those entries to the blog...

June 5, 2008
I had a great opportunity to experience the natural beauty of Tanzania. Bright and early, myself, Jane, Leah, Shauna and two professional photographers (Adrian and Fritz), piled into a safari van and headed off to a nearby national park. Holy crap. Our impromptu safari turned out to be yet another one of the many highlights of the trip. We saw wildebeasts, antelope, baboons, monkeys, giraffes and some crazy bird things up close and wild. It's one thing to see all of those animals at the zoo (as I had a few weeks earlier in San Diego), but quite another to see them in their natural habitat and interacting. Fritz proclaimed himself 'Art Director', telling the driver where to stop so as to get the perfect framing for our respective cameras. Our guide took us to the rim of the Ngurdoto crater, which is miles across and full of jungle, due to the rich volcanic soil.

We spend the rest of the day driving around searching for an elusive elephant (never found it) and eating bananas. Oh the bananas. We bought them from a old man on the side of the road, who stood up from his stand, walked to the banana tree behind him, and picked fresh, tree-ripened bananas for us. Best fruit I've EVER tasted.

That night we had our last reception, which was basically an opportunity for summit delegates to drink, eat, and schmooze. It seemed most attendees were anxious to live it up, being the last night in Tanzania. We nabbed a quick interview with Chris Tucker and our friend Shauna before deciding that was enough filming, there was much fun to be had.

Digital Nostalgia

2009-05-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is go through old family photo albums of my childhood.

Being able to 'watch' myself grow up is pretty interesting (especially with parental commentary), and I'm thankful my parents took as many pictures as they did of family outings, holidays, and vacations. But you know what I'm afraid of? That my (potential) children won't have stuff like that.

With the advent of digital everything - most of the pictures I take never take a physical form. I have lots of photos, but they're all stored digitally. I don't want to gather the family around a computer screen and click through photos, there's a lot to be said for perusing actual, physical photo albums. Aside from that, technology is progressing so fast these days, are my (potential) children going to have a cd full of .jpegs that their fancy future-computers can't read?

When the time comes, I think I'll buy a photo printer to keep them around the old fashioned way.

Whiners

2009-05-19T17:53:00.004-04:00

We're all apt to whine a little bit here and there, but excessive complaining gets real old, real fast.

We used to have to whine to each other - expressing concern and lamenting on it to some poor, uninterested soul who could just go away (or at least stop listening). But now the cranky people have found a way to sneak up on me.

I like Twitter. I do. But the problem is that you have to actually read a tweet before you can determine whether or not it's something you care about. Every once in a while, I get a long, drawn out sob story spanning multiple posts that I just don't care about. It's gotten worse recently with this while FMyLife thing (I bet you can guess what 'F' stands for), where people post the trivialities and problems (that most people have) all over the place. Facebook, Twitter, even FMyLife.com...

Are people so insecure these days that they feel the need to publicly 'F' their lives because the the Apple Store Genius Bar is taking a little too long to replace a hard drive? It's astounding.

I do realize that I'm whining. fml.

Heima

2009-05-11T20:10:00.003-04:00

I have to write this while the experience is still with me.

I bought the musical documentary 'Heima' and it came in the mail today. It's about the band Sigur Ros and a concert series in their country of origin, Iceland. And, it's incredible.

Listening to their music I didn't think any visual could ever match the depth, power, and emotion of their music. But I was wrong. It's hard to describe, but the Icelandic scenery coupled with some really powerful imagery of people make for a powerful and emotional documentary/art film.

What Is Mae?

2009-04-16T20:37:00.003-04:00

There's a rare few albums that are good the whole way through.

I think Mae's got the best one: The Everglow. Taken as a whole, it's probably my favorite album in my (iTunes) music library. No song has less than four stars, and I'm kind of picky with my stars.

It's designed like a story, and it flows like one too. The tracks move seamlessly from one to the next - there's even a prologue which encourages you to follow the music with the booklet from the cd case. I love this album. How it's non-traditional. How it's not based around a 'single'. How every single track is outstanding.

And I listened to the whole thing again this evening. Start to finish, as it should be appreciated. Although this time in lieu of the booklet - the iTunes visualizer provided some strangely emotive stuff.

Tennessee Tornadoes

2009-04-11T18:06:00.012-04:00

I'm in Florida for Easter weekend, but apparently missed quite a storm in Tennessee.

Tornadoes. South of Nashville. Crazy. Is that even how you pluralize tornado? Anyway, I just an article about this guy who's house was flattened in Murfreesboro - but not only that, his wife and infant child were killed in the storm as well. That's pretty much the worst day you can have.

I don't mean to trivialize the saddening paragraph above, but I'm not into this blogging thing for sadness - which is why I'd like to comment on 'worst day ever' guy's neighbor, who the AP interviewed about the storm:

"It sounded like seven freight trains and 22 vacuum cleaners all going at the same time," [Eric] Funkhouser said.

Really? Of all the people they could have found to give profound, articulate commentary on the tragedy his neighbor just experienced, they got the guy who compares it to something he could not possibly have experienced. Well hang on... it IS Tennessee, maybe Eric Funkhouser and his freight trains and vacuum cleaners was the best they could find.

...and sometimes, MSPaint is the best tool for the job.

Pronunciation Scromunciation

2009-03-28T19:21:00.010-04:00

I spent a good deal of time in Australia once, where they refer to the material cans are made out of as 'aluminium.'

'Al-ooo-min-ee-um'. Not 'al-oom-in-um' as I was used to.

Turns out that there's a very good reason for this difference, which is explained by my current book:

The confusion over the aluminum/aluminium spelling arose because of some indecisiveness on [the discovering chemists] part. When he first isolated the element in 1808, he called it alumium. for some reason he thought better of that and changed it to aluminum four years later. Americans adopted the new term, but many British users disliked aluminum, pointing out that it disrupted the -ium pattern established by sodium, calcium, and strontium, so they added a vowel and syllable.

Greetings from the left coast

2009-03-26T20:05:00.002-04:00

I'm in LA for the weekend.

It happened a little randomly, though. One of my friends at work has a sister who lives in Studio City (and is married to David Hodges, formerly of Evanescence), and came out to visit. They were nice enough to allow Emily Causey and I to tag along.

I don't really care what we do and would be totally happy sitting by the pool and hanging out in their awesome house.

Facebook Wisdom

2009-03-18T17:06:00.006-04:00

My old friend Caitlin Chapman always makes me smile. Her Facebook status today:

Caitlin Chapman wishes people would quit bitching about the new facebook layout and worry about something meaningful for once.

And a little more follow-up:

I mean seriously, the worldwide economy is in the shitter, our country is fueling (with guns AND money) a slightly-south-of-the-border war between Mexican drug cartels, and the pope is telling people in Africa not to use condoms even though over a million africans died of aids last year, and that's just the good news on the CNN front page. But apparently, all people our age have to worry about is how much they've been inconvenienced by a superficial change in the layout of an inconsequential (and free, I might add) social networking site.

She's so wonderfully correct.

Nothing Like a Good Live Show

2009-03-16T21:37:00.002-04:00

Live music is great.

Give me a good live album over a studio mix any day. I think it captures the essence of the band more realistically. If it turns out that the band is really horrible live (Our Lady Peace), then so be it, at least you know what they're capable of. The flip side is where I start getting excited, though.

I love Dispatch, but their studio albums lack the passion of their live counterparts. I think All Points Bulletin is one of the best albums I've ever heard. It's a similar story with Counting Crows, although I love them regardless. I just bought the Live At Heineken Music Hall and can't turn it off.

And then there's Buffett, who has more albums than you can shake a stick at, but he really shines as an entertainer at his shows. If you can't get to one of his concerts, at least pick up some live stuff (Live in Anguilla is a good one).

Cable is Overrated

2009-03-12T22:37:00.003-04:00

I canceled my cable TV plan about a month ago on a whim.

Just up and did it one night. I don't watch much TV, and the things I do watch I can find online (Daily Show, The Office, etc). I do miss watching the news in the morning, but have taken to turning on NPR instead.

Recently, I got an update from Boxee about their new alpha software for Windows. It's been a mac/linux based media aggregator for a while now and I've been interested in trying it out. I think it's going to change my life. It consolidates streaming web video for TV shows I'd otherwise miss, shows and movies I have on my network drive, video podcasts and internet radio in a clean, easy to navigate browser. I love it. It's free.

Sorry cable TV. You're dead to me. Except still can't watch Ace of Cakes...

Oh, That's nice.

2009-03-09T19:01:00.005-04:00

Call me bitter, but some people don't deserve the credit they're given.

As a senior at UT, my friends Tre Berney, Jane Barr and I produced a full-length Civil Rights documentary. And at the risk of sounding arrogant, it's damn good. We interviewed some really high-profile civil rights leaders in the process, including CT Vivian, Andrew Young, Ernest Green and Jesse Jackson, as well as renowned child psychologist Melanie Killen, broadcaster Richard Heffner, CNN's TJ Holmes and controversial Author Jonathan Kozol. It's a pretty big project for three kids from Knoxville.

The three of us traveled all over the United States (largely on our own dime) conducting interviews and gathering information. Tre directed it, Jane produced, and I filmed it in it's entirety. Dr. Bob Legg at the University of Tennessee provided direction and assistance from the University.

We submitted a draft of the film to Documfest: The International Documentary Film Festival and got selected to present. We won a Accolade Award, and apparently, Dr. Legg won second place at the Broadcast Educators Association Festival. Wait, what?

Yeah. Dr. Legg won the award. The University even wrote up a nice little article about it. They mentioned that Tre and I 'helped' with the documentary. And this is important: They spelled Tre's name wrong. The DIRECTOR of the film. This is a JOURNALISM department and they have staff writers who can't be bothered by getting names right.

Springtime

2009-03-08T14:33:00.002-04:00

The weather has been pretty incredible around here lately.

Ever since the snow melted (which was less than a week ago), I've taken to riding my bike to and from work. It's not too far, but I like how it gets me moving in the morning. Adrenaline > Caffeine.

Thursday was beautiful. Sunny and warm, there were people out walking their dogs and stopping to chat with each other. Just on my ride home, three people waved and said hello, commenting about the weather. I'd forgotten how magical Montreat can be. I can't believe I live here.

Irritatations

2009-03-04T17:13:00.004-05:00

I actively refuse to participate in any sort of 'chain' activity online. Although I'm sure you all would like to know which cute character I think you are, or 25 random things about me, but you're just going to have to do without. Sorry.

Also, I don't want to hear about how Steve Jobs is going to give me a new iPhone if I forward your email to 20 people.

Or emails concerning Barack Obama and how he's either:
A) AWESOEM OMG CHANGE!!!! HOPE!!!1
B) A threat to America somehow.
And I even like the guy. I do not, however, like a cluttered inbox.

But the ones that really piss me off are 'support the troops' and other red-blooded American Patriot crap. Who doesn't support the troops? Do the troops give a damn if I put a gaudy yellow ribbon on my car? It's doubtful.

Safari 4

2009-03-03T17:02:00.004-05:00

I tried to love the new beta of Safari 4. I really did.

And initial impressions were fantastic! It's super quick, and tabs on top are always a good idea, but that's about where the excitement stopped for me. Internal thoughts are as follows: "Most visited sites, that's handy," "Who uses coverflow for anything?" "At least it's fast..." "Hey, those tabs on top are UGLY" "I miss my Firefox extensions..." "Center clicking doesn't close tabs. Crap." "How DO you close tabs? Oh, on the left. Crap."

Granted, I'm running the Windows version, so that immediately tells you why I couldn't figure out where the little x was. In the end, my overall impression of the browser was good, but not mind-blowing enough to break me out of memory hogging Firefox land.

And Chrome is definitely prettier.

Ray LaMontagne

2009-03-02T20:46:00.001-05:00

I love Ray LaMontagne. He fascinates me.

He describes himself as a very private person and hardly ever gives interviews. He's been known to perform on an unlit stage and not interact with the audience between songs. He also (and this is my favorite part) has a cabin in rural Maine, about which he say:s "I get home, up here in the mountains, and I'm very cut off from everything." Ray LaMontagne is my kind of recluse.

Plus he's a damned talented singer/songwriter. It's not uncommon for me to put his songs on shuffle and hang out for an afternoon. There really isn't a song I don't like.

What're you looking for?

2008-06-29T16:12:00.001-04:00

Hey all, you might've run into this blog from an old link or something that hasn't changed in a while.

My Australia blog can be found at: joshutk-australia.blogspot.com

and my Africa blog can be found at: joshutk-africa.blogspot.com

My personal website is located at: joshutk.googlepages.com

State Dinner (Part II!)

2008-06-04T16:08:00.000-04:00

The remainder of the conference went well. We had opportunities to interview lots of insightful people, including Jesse Jackson and Chris Tucker. having 'Charter Delegate' and 'Press' passes allow us to be pretty much anywhere at the conference center. There is a reception every night with dinner, entertainment, and an open bar.

Last night was our second formal State Dinner (much more enjoyable than the first). The Summit had gathered around half a dozen heads of state from various parts of Africa to participate in a Presidential Plenary, so they were all in attendance at the dinner. They had set up a huge tent with a big state, live music, and buffet tables all around the outside. The speeches were blessedly short and to the point, which helped make everyone cheery and good-spirited for the rest of the evening.

At this point, I haven't checked my email or been online in five days. It's liberating. The people who know I'm in Africa understand that Internet access might be hard to find, and so assumed I would not be in touch. Actually, there is a computer center at the lodge (you have to pay), but I've decided against using it too much. I came to Africa to be educated about the continent and culture, not be tied to my own.

The Summit

2008-06-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

The Leon H. Sullivan Summit started today in downtown Arusha, about a 20 minute bus ride from our lodge. Opening remarks and forums started at 10, but we missed all that.

It wasn't because we were late (we were actually on the first bus), but because the registration process was unorganized and crowded. Charter Delegates, which we are, had to get special name badges to allow us in to lunch and other events. We stood in a sweltering tent with the public for half an hour trying to get our passes. There was no semblance of a line, and it was taking forever. The heat and humidity didn't help matters, and we had an additional "Press" credential line to stand in. Four hours later and a lot of patience and direction from a number of people, we had our necessary credentials and badges.

Interestingly, the Summit is being held in the same building as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, proceedings there were being held while we were in the building.

We participated in the Youth Forum that afternoon, which invited school children from the community to talk about issues important to them and discuss solutions with world leaders and youth advocates. One child spoke about how he was especially talented in tennis, but there was no way for him to advance his talent and make something of it. He said it is often the same academically. Opportunities to better yourself are hard to come by, if not non-existent.

The evening was the opening ceremony, which we believed to be a short welcome. We were all anxious to have a meal at the reception which was scheduled for after the opening remarks. The opening remarks, however, were more like speeches, and lasted on the long side of three hours. By the time we were allowed to proceed to the reception, we were tired, irritable, and just wanted to sleep. it had been a long day, so we skipped the reception and its promise of dinner.

Trees of the Future

2008-06-01T19:07:00.004-04:00

Our "Trees of the Future" tour was suppose to leave at 7:15, and we thought we'd missed it by the time we went to check at a quarter 'til eight. Luckily, Ethan, our guide, hadn't left let and we got the opportunity to go. I'm so happy we did, because the experience we had that day was amazing and emotionally challenging.

We visited an area where deforestation had eroded the land around a Maasai village. We were planting threes there to try to stabilize the soil and make the village more ecologically sustainable. The powerful part of all this was the children who met us upon our arrival in the village. There were probably 60 kids dressed in their tattered but matching school uniforms who sang to us as we pulled up in the buses. We spent a long time after planting the trees just talking to the kids and taking pictures with them. They loved being bale to see themselves on the camera display and would rush over to see it after you had taken their photo. They were even more excited about the video camera I had once they saw themselves on tape.

From there we headed to another, ecologically stable Maasai village, where, again, children met us and sang their greetings, chasing after our bus as we drove by to meet with their teachers. Kids are kids, but African kids are especially sincere and good natured. They were excited to talk to us and show us their school. One thing we noticed in particular about African children: they take school very seriously and are excited about learning. Not all children in Africa get the opportunity for an education, so if the opportunity is provided, it becomes extremely important to them. American children, I think, take their elementary education for granted. The African children we met were more than happy with their dirt floor classroom and painted wall for a blackboard.

On the way back into Arusha, we passed by the town dump. Not a landfill, mind you. A dump. A fenced-in area full of trash. The most heartbreaking part? Children were walking amongst the trash, looking for things of value to sell.

Welcome to Tanzania

2008-05-31T14:59:00.000-04:00

Our flight to Tanzania from Ethiopia was scheduled to leave at 9:30 in the morning, and we were suppose to leave the hotel no later than 8, but, like most of the activities so far, everything seemed to be running late. We got on the road to the airport around 8:30. Ethiopian Airlines whisked us through security (the regular line was huge) and we were on our way to Kilimanjaro International Airport for the Summit.

The hotel in Tanzania we were assigned to was Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge. It sits between Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro and has a fantastic view. The whole complex is really nice: swimming pool, health club, golf, gardens, and a few restaurants. The Tanzanian hosts there were extremely helpful and friendly and would drive you around the place in golf carts if you wanted a ride somewhere.

Unfortunately, Tanzania is Yellow Fever and Malaria ridden, requiring the use of high-deet insect repellent and a good awareness of mosquitoes. Our room had a net that covered both beds to prevent mosquitoes from getting in. It's frightening how those little bugs can ruin your health. We don't give them a second thought in the States.

Tomorrow is a free day so we've signed up for a village visit where we can hopefully talk to some Africans about their perspective of African-Americans and some quick and dirty interviews for our documentary.

Slums and State Dinners

2008-05-31T00:42:00.000-04:00

On the agenda for our second day in Ethiopia was a visit to the Ethiopian Airlines main facility for a tour. It was explained to me that since they had given us such a deal on the flights, they wanted to be able to show off for us “wealthy American investors" of which the delegation has plenty. It was thoroughly boring, though we were given the tour from inside a bus and weren't able to hear the guide - so that probably had something to do with it.

Afterwards, we took a tour through the outskirts of town and the countryside on our way to lunch. This experience was eye-opening and sad. I had prepped myself to see poverty-stricken residents in Ethiopia, but the miles and miles of slums and low-income housing we passed was disheartening. Being on a big bus draws the attention of people, and with a police escort it's even more obvious that you are comparatively rich to the people you're passing on the roads. I am by no means rich or 'wealthy', but I felt embarrassed and saddened by the people who waved and smiled and the children who screamed and laughed and ran after us waving. I know I should appreciate how fortunate I've been in terms of personal and family wealth, but honestly - it made me feel like crap.

Keeping with the drastic separation of wealth and poverty in Ethiopia, we emerged from the small towns and villages and into a gorgeous retreat and spa center overlooking a lake. Our big buffet lunch was situated among little thatched roof bungalows, waterfalls and extensive gardens. Our meal - like the night before - was delicious. I took a little self-guided tour of the resort after lunch and found a workout facility on top of a building and an absolutely beautiful pool which waterfalled off into the gardens. Back outside at the busses, we found some sugar cane growing. One of the drivers had cut a stalk off and gave us some to share on the bus. Fresh sugar cane is awesome. I could have stayed and relaxed there all day, but we had to get back to the hotel and dressed for the State Dinner we had that evening with the President of Ethiopia.

State Dinner: Opulent, refined, formal... and LONG. I had high hopes for dinner with the Ethiopian head of state, but it was a little too formal for my liking. Dinner was served in seven courses by what mush have been 50 or 60 waiters. The food and the band were both good, but the 'comments' made by important dignitaries afterward took SO long. People were falling asleep by the end of it. One woman almost fell out of her chair. I guess we were all still a little jet-lagged.

Ethiopia-Bound

2008-05-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

We sat in traffic all the way to Dulles, but still had time to spare at the airport. Our flight was a chartered Ethiopian Airlines 767. As part of the United State Delegation to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit, the people on board the airplane were a little different than your typical commercial flight. They were all chatty, fun, and friendly, getting to know each other and networking even before takeoff. There were no grouchy, stressed out businessmen who just wanted to get home or haggard parents with screaming children. People stood up and walked around introducing themselves and chatting while waiting for a bathroom. In addition to Andrew Young, Chris Tucker was also aboard and traveling with us to Ethiopia and Tanzania. After re-fueling in Rome, we arrived in Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia, where were were greeted by dignitaries and officials and given roses as we de-planed.

Because of our delegation status we were given a lot of liberties by the Ethiopian Government. There were no serious customs inspections or declaration forms, we were just whisked onto buses and taken to our hotels (the Addis Hilton and Jupiter Hotel) with a police escort. The drive through town was a little startling. Slums and shanty towns were interspersed with commercial buildings and banks. Armed military personnel were stationed every few blocks, and the hotel was gated and guarded. This wasn't your typical vacation.

That's not to say Addis was all bad that first night. We had dinner at an amazing little cultural restaurant which was themed like a grotto on the inside. Cave elements and torches welcomed us and wine and hors d'oeuvres were promptly placed in our hands. The spicy Ethiopian food was awesome, if a little bit spicy - and the entertainment (live band and dancers) was phenomenal, engaging the audience in dances and song. It was all excitingly different for me.

Africa? Wait... what?

2008-05-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

This semester, I've been involved in producing a documentary looking at the American Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's and how the steps made then apply today. It is an independent study project undertaken by Tre Berney and myself, along with Jane Barr, our producer. Long story short, we had just conducted an interview with Andrew Young, and through conversation he mentioned a trip to Africa he was planning as chairman of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. The foundation's eigth Summit was to be held in Arusha, Tanzania, and he invited us along to participate.

Of course, none of us could really afford to go, although it sounded like a wonderful opportunity. Our advisor for the project had some leads for funding, and we wound up getting enough money from the University of Tennessee's "Ready for the World" campaign to allow us to attend the summit.

All of this happened extremely quickly, so we needed to apply for visas, get immunizations, and fill prescriptions as soon as possible. The turnaround time from when we got the funding to when the Summit delegation left was about two weeks... These are the semi-daily notes I kept about the trip.

Back in the USSA

2007-12-26T16:54:00.000-05:00

I've been home just over a month - so I thought I'd wrap everything up with a final post. My time abroad was hands-down one of the best experiences of my life thus far. I learned a lot about myself and my temporary host culture down under and half a world away. Normally, I wouldn't share such things with the world at large, but in this case it seems appropriate.

You don't realize how much your surroundings are a part of your state of mind until you experience the contrast of going through your daily routine in a strange environment. Stepping off the plane in Sydney wasn't a huge shock - more exciting than anything else. The part of my life that required the most adjustment was being cut off from the environment, people, and activities that had become a part of my daily life at home. It's easy to take your daily being for granted. My routines were basic, comfortable, and - might I say - a bit boring. It's refreshing to see your life from another perspective.

The biggest advantage of being in an all new place and making all new first impressions is that I could try things I had been afraid to or unwilling to try. I was forced to figure out public transportation, and while I had lots (and lots) of trips that could have been shorter, I can read a bus timetable like a pro and would feel comfortable doing so here at home. I obviously screwed up a lot trying out all this new stuff, but what did I have to lose? Time? I didn't care, and I was in good company throughout the four months I spent there.

I really don't need all the junk I've got. I left for Australia with one checked bag. When I was packing I couldn't think of much else that I might need. I had a bunch of clothes, a few books, and a laptop. You know what? I was perfectly happy and didn't need much else the whole time I was there. I look around my room at home and see all the 'stuff' I've accumulated over the years. A lot of it is useless, and only some of it holds any sentimental value.

There are lots and lots of things I miss about Australia, but that list is pretty boring. Here's what I won't miss:
- crap internet access
- relying on public transportation
- cheap things that for some reason cost much more in Australia
- shopping carts with 4 wheels that turn
- trash. everywhere.
- the lack of school spirit

Six things that I can think of right now. I think that's pretty good in contrast to the amount of things I'll miss - which I couldn't even begin to start, much less stop. My biggest regret? Not buying a Christmas ornament at the Sydney Opera House. My mom would have loved it.

The photo at the top was taken by friend and fellow study-abroad-er Lindsey Ritchey

I'm halfway round the planet in a most unlikely place

2007-11-12T07:59:00.000-05:00

I'm heading out this morning for the far side of the world. It's been a lot of fun, but I think I'm ready to go home. I've spent way too much money, and probably owe my parents a lot too, so getting back to Knoxville and generating some income sounds pretty good.

Our exchange group had a little farewell party at The Lighthouse on Saturday. Kelly, our exchange adviser, opened a 400 dollar bar tab for us and we shared stories, watched a slideshow and drank the afternoon away. I'm really going to miss these people.

None of us could really leave the rest of the group, so we wound up playing spoons and talking until early morning. Ah, Australia, I'll miss you.

If you know me even a little bit, you know I'm a massive Buffett fan, and his song "Far Side of the World" is especially applicable right now.

Stonefest: It's about a rock

2007-10-29T08:28:00.000-04:00

Ah Stonefest. The reason behind it has been obscured (it's a celebration to mark the placing of the foundation stone by Prime Minister John Gorton in 1968) in favor of it becoming the largest music festival in Canberra. Bands and DJ's perform almost constantly from Friday night to late Saturday night on four stages on various parts of campus. Not only that, but the week prior to Stonefest (aptly named 'Stoneweek') holds events sponsored by the Student's Association. Each residence makes a shirt, usually a crude pun, and students wear them all week to the events. Unfortunately, my design didn't make the cut (they opted for this piece of crap) - as I had no idea drug references and sexual innuendo were the shirt of choice. I'll outline the various days of Stoneweek; all drunken debauchery included.

Monday - Nemesis Day: Tie yourself to a friend and go drink-for-drink with them from noon 'til whenever you pass out.

Tuesday - Trivia Night: Aussies love their trivia. Prizes included flavored condoms. +5 points if you peed in a cup and turned it in to be tested for chlamydia.

Wednesday - UCtoberfest: Band, beer, and BBQ on the lawn. Followed by 'Cowboys and Indians' night at the bar. Horrible grammatical pun of Oktoberfest.

Thursday - Case Day: You have from 10am to drink an entire case of the alcohol of your choice, but there must be 24 of them. Pizza and music provided.

Friday - Stone Eve: Beer and BBQ with your dorm, then head off to the concerts.

The concerts were great. With four stages playing simultaneously, there is always something halfway decent to listen to. Plus you can wander around to the food vendors and t-shirt stalls. I only knew of one performer, Scribe, so I was especially excited about that show. He's a hip-hop artist from New Zealand, and his show was pretty rowdy, which made my front-row spot excitingly dangerous. Saturday drew more bands who I'd never heard of, but which weren't too bad at all. I think I saw about eight concerts all together, and that's not counting Monday!

The John Butler Trio had been scheduled to perform at the University of Canberra back in August, but had to postpone the show for some reason or another. I couldn't afford the ticket then, and couldn't now, but the fact that they'd switched to an outdoor venue (actually a stage from Stonefest) meant that I could at least find a nice spot and listen from outside. I found a spot. Actually, I found an amazing spot. An elevated walkway between two buildings provided an almost unrestricted view of the stage while still being outside of the venue. Perfect, right?

Not according to the security guards for the concert. Apparently, the few of us who were on the walkway watching the show could see it too well and were asked to leave. We conceded and retreated to another spot where, if you ducked and squinted, could see the screen with closeups of the band. We were temporarily satisfied with this, but got to talking about how great the view was before we were told to move. We decided that, since we were outside of the fence surrounding the venue and on public property, they couldn't really make us leave, all they could do was ask politely.

So we kept going back - failing miserably each time to assert our right to be there, and making the security guards walk up the ramp lots and lots of times. We ended up hearing most of the concert, and seeing the best bits (with carefully chosen times to return to the 'sweet spot'), so I was pretty happy about it.

[note: I had class on Nemisis Day and didn't participate in Case Day. Such activities are more fun to watch from the sidelines with a beer, watching other people humiliate themselves]

STA Stands for [expletive] Travel Agency

2007-10-09T02:39:00.000-04:00

[UPDATE]
Halfway through writing to the STA in Knoxville, I got an email from... the STA in Knoxville. The branch manager, Scott, read my post and sent me a message explaining what had probably happened with STA here, and even researched flights that I could switch to (the lowest being $219, nice!).
[UPDATE]
My overpriced flight has still not been canceled, as the STA here is apparently the only branch that can do that, and they're dragging their feet about it. If I can get in touch with United Airlines 24 hours a day, why can't they?
[UPDATE]
It's been 3 weeks since they put it in to be canceled and refunded. I did a little internet digging and called the STA corporate office in Melbourne. I spoke with an extremely nice woman in the refunds department (I think she might BE the refunds department), who assured me I would be refunded this week. We'll see.

I hate dealing with situations that should not need my intervention, especially if they are potentially going to cost me 800 bucks.

Here's what happened: Back in May I arranged my flight to Australia through STA Travel on campus at UT. Because I didn't know when I would be returning to the States, I arbitrarily picked a date in November for my return flight, knowing that I would have to change it later on. Not a problem, they assured me. It wasn't. The problem came when I tried to add another leg to my ticket this afternoon at the STA at the University of Canberra.

I hadn't booked a flight from LA to Knoxville because it's really expensive to change the dates on a domestic flight (usually more than 100 dollars), and I figured I would just book it when I figured out when I needed to come home. The one way ticket from Knoxville to LA was about 250 dollars, a perfectly acceptable price. $850, is not an acceptable price, but that is what they quoted me. I figured I'd pay it, and then look around online to see if I could find a better deal, and then cancel with STA. I should have checked online first.

The most expensive way I can find to get from LA to Knoxville is 609 dollars. Cheapest? 260 dollars.

I trotted back to STA to tell them I needed to cancel my flight, to which they said it was a non-refundable flight and that there was "nothing we can do, sorry." They couldn't even switch my flight to another carrier. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this something I should have been informed of before I shelled out 850 dollars?

Frankly, I felt like I was being screwed over, so I called United Airlines. Two different representatives told me that they don't even sell "non-refundable" tickets and that they could refund my money directly after they received the payment information from STA.

Back on the phone to STA, I explained the conversation I just had with United. Their reaction? "We'll call you back." About 15 minutes later they call me back, and suddenly they are able to change the flight and carrier. "I found a cheaper flight for you!" the girl told me, as if they were doing me a favor. At this point I'm so disillusioned with STA that I told them that I no longer needed the flight and needed it canceled. I don't mind collecting my bag and checking in at the airport again if it's going to save me 600 bucks. I've been told that they're going to contact their United representative and get back to me tomorrow. I'll make sure I post updates.

Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere

2007-09-30T03:50:00.000-04:00

To prove my ignorance of Australia, I was unaware of the possibility of skiing in Australia until this year. Since being enlightened to this opportunity, it was added to my ever-changing and often forgotten list of things I'd like to do in my lifetime.

I thought I had missed the opportunity, as it is warming up quickly here, but Owen (an Aussie who studied at UT last semester, strangely enough) was headed to the mountains on the last weekend of the season, and Alex and I thought we'd tag along.

The guys at the rental shop suggested we go to Thredbo mountain - which had the most terrain open. I won't lie to you and say it was great weather, on the contrary, it was 35 degrees with winds at 39 miles per hour (to put that into perspective, it's almost fast enough to be classified as a tropical storm). The wind had blown the fresh snow from the night before into dunes, leaving behind nice big patches of ice.

After mid-morning, the sun started poking through the cloud (which was actually the snow getting blown around), and we found an area of the mountain with decent conditions, and even a few trails with the previous night's powder still unskied. Most people had given up on the day due to the weather, so we had the advantage of empty slopes and no lift lines. All in all, everything about the day in the mountains more than made up for the less than perfect weather.

This has nothing to do with Australia

2007-09-20T02:19:00.000-04:00

I have a piece of chocolate sitting beside me that I don't want to eat. It's not bad, quite the opposite, actually, I'm still enjoying the last bit which I finished a few minutes ago. The lingering taste is still satisfying and rich. I wouldn't call myself a chocolate connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I picked up a bar of Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa last night and have fallen in love with it. Unlike Hershey's, which I've read is a little over 11% cocoa, it's satisfying in a much different way.

Byron to Brisbane - Part 2

2007-09-02T23:52:00.000-04:00

After a late night of getting dressed up and checking out the nightlife in Surfers Paradise (which is amazing, by the way), we were all feeling like a lazy day on the beach, even if it was cloudy and windy. I can say one thing for sure about the people I traveled with - we're completely capable of entertaining ourselves without bungee jumping, skydiving, or giving some guy 100 bucks an hour to teach us to surf. Two or three of us were making a small sandcastle, when Jeremy came over and told us we weren't thinking big enough. We enlisted the rest of the group to help make our sandcastle bigger, so big, in fact, that people walking past on the beach would stop and take pictures, give us suggestions and (once they found out we were foreign) ask us about where we were from. It's amazing how friendly strangers are in Australia.

Sandcastle-ing is only fun for so long, so we would up body surfing through the big waves. One huge, particularly violent waved flipped me over and crashed me on my head, breaking a tooth. Ouch. Could have been worse (probably much worse), but still wasn't a pleasant experience.

So far, I've always had good luck with public transportation in Australia, but when we got out of our cab at the train station to catch a ride in to Brisbane, we found out that the track was under construction and the station closed. After a few moments of mass confusion (we already had our rail tickets), we found out that a bus would be driving us to the nearest operational train station, which was about 30 minutes away from seemingly anything. We accounted for most of the people on the platform, with nothing in sight but a parking lot and the bus we came on pulling away through the drizzle.

One long train ride later and we arrived in Brisbane. It's a beautiful city; on the river, warm (usually), and slow paced. I would have liked to spend more time there, but we were still able to make it out to Moreton Island (which is all sand) for some sight seeing and four-wheeling around the beaches and dunes.

One thing I love about Australian cities is that they have huge botanical gardens in the middle of the city (think Central Park, but with weird plants and trees). They make for great sights when you're just walking around town, and make great picnic spots. I was sad to leave Brisbane the next day, as I could have spent a lot more time there, but we were running out of money and had to get home for classes. All in all, it was a spectacular week with a bunch of spectacular friends in a series of spectacular places. This country is all right.

Byron Bay to Brisbane (Part 1)

2007-08-22T00:06:00.000-04:00

I was able to catch one class last week on my one day back at school in Canberra between vacations. I'm not too concerned about missing classes, though. I could have taken them in the States, but I am here to get the whole experience of Australia, which is much more substantial than simply attending classes.

Seven of us exchange kids had planned this trip up to the area known as the Gold Coast. Five Americans: Alex, Jeremy, Lindsey, Madeleine and myself; Juan from Mexico, and Steph from Germany. Any other group of people might have taken the setbacks we had and turned them into a negative trip, but we were relaxed enough to make the best of our experience.

Our first hiccup came in the form of our "Free Pick-up" from the hostel not showing up at the Bellina Byron airport (really just a runway and a garage). Jeremy ended up bargaining us a good deal with a van driver to Byron Bay. Our hostel was "37 seconds from the beach" according to the guy who checked us in, so we threw our stuff in the room and partied on the beach until we were too tired to move. We walked all around Byron the next day, up to the lighthouse and the "Easternmost Point of Australia", and then ran into a guy named Crazy Alex and wound up taking Kite Surfing lessons from him. Basically, you've got this kite that you can control and it tows you around the sand or surf. Really fun stuff, but one of those things that would be way more exciting if you could skip the learning process.

Byron Bay is an awesome little town. It's small, picturesque, and quirky. Little hippie shops, surf shops, organic restaurants and gelato stands dot the town, so that if you decide to get off the beach you've got some other options available. There's no McDonald's or chains of any kind, which adds to the eclectic feel of the town. A little pizza place called Earth and Sea is responsible for the best beer of my life, which, unfortunately, is only available at the restaurant, and only on tap. Guess that means I'll just have to go back. It's not all so mellow though, Cheeky Monkeys, one of the clubs we went to, held a wet t-shirt contest and beer raffle while we were there - Byron is completely capable of a party.

I could have stayed in Byron Bay all week, but we had to catch the train to Surfer's Paradise (yep, that's the name of the city). The problem? The train stopped coming through Bryron about three years ago, so instead of a eight dollar train ticket, we each shelled out 20 for a van. Whoops.

Surfer's Paradise is Byron Bay's worst nightmare. It reminds me of Miami, with high rise residential buildings lining the beach (which stretches for about 25 miles), exotic cars, and an overwhelming nightlife. Again, our hostel was on the beach, across from the Sheraton Mirage and next door to the Palazzo Versace Hotel. Behind was a marina with million-dollar boats and high-class restaurants.

As expected, our hostel lacked a hot tub, so Jeremy and I thought we would hop the fence at the Sheraton and scope out theirs. The bad news: They don't have one. Seriously. 700 Dollars a night and there's no hot tub to relax in (we assume they have them in the rooms, but still...). If the Versace didn't look like a fortress we might have tried it, so we returned home and told the rest they would have to live with a hot shower instead.

I'm going to take a break here. I'm tired of writing, and I bet you're tired of reading. We've still got another night in Surfer's Paradise and have to take the train to Brisbane despite the train station having no track...

Hi, I don't know you, but I'm crashing here all weekend

2007-08-14T13:02:00.000-04:00

I haven't really done much out of the ordinary and blog-worthy since about the second week of classes. There's a comfortable routine of weekly social events and class that had been making me very satisfied with my time in Australia. But like any routine, sometimes it's fun to break it and do something else. In my case, I skipped class for a week and took off for the beach.

Alex, Jeremy and I spent the weekend in Sydney with a few of Jeremy's girl friends (note the space) from San Diego who go to Macquarie University. It was amazingly fun even though (or because) I didn't know the people we were going to be bombing around town with. Annie, Brooke, and Christina were incredibly hospitable, giving up beds, blankets, couches and pretty much anything else to give three guys a free place to stay.

We hit up the Taronga Zoo, which, by itself is fantastic, but it is positioned on the side of a hill overlooking Sydney Harbor. We were watching gorillas and giraffes on a background that happens to be the most beautiful city I've ever been to.

Christina had organized a wine tasting tour for the next day. Now, I'm not a huge fan of wine (perhaps because of my ignorance of it), but wine country brings out part of you that you never knew you had. Suddenly I felt like a sophisticated 40-something refining my taste of 2001 Chablis, critiquing its blend and balance. It didn't hurt that the experience was shared with some of my best 'mates' from Oz.

I can't talk about Sydney without mentioning Pancakes on the Rocks. It's tucked away right underneath the harbor bridge, and they make some excellent dessert pancakes. I had fried cinnamon apples with ice cream, but everything the waitress carried past us looked delicious.

The weather was gorgeous all weekend - so much so that we though we'd go to Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, we overestimated exactly how warm it was and ended up shivering our way among surf shops and food stands. While still a great time, it made bundling up under blankets and watching movies later that night all the more enjoyable.

Back to Canberra the next day - but only to do laundry, re-pack and head up the coast!

There's always something waiting to kill you in Australia

2007-07-31T04:06:00.000-04:00

Great white sharks, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, jellyfish, and kangaroos. All of these things are good at killing other things, and Australia seems to have the most deadly species of each. We've been warned about brown snakes and red-back spiders around Campus. Apparently, a brown snake will chase you down instead of slither away if you come across one, and a red-back spider (a close relative of the Black Widow) will hospitalize you for a while. If you should, god forbid, decide to go for a swim, be wary of crocodiles, jellyfish and octopuses (octopi? octopus'?) which will bite, sting, and squirt you into into the emergency room. Seemingly harmless kangaroos will charge at you if you're unfortunate enough to tick them off, which is a problem because they occasionally hop through the residential part of campus. And not to mention the drop bears.... geez.

No wonder Steve Irwin always had something to do down here.

Gimme a Grogbog

2007-07-24T02:20:00.000-04:00

After the RSO Punch Party the other night (drinking, dancing, throwing drinks at each other, etc), a group of us headed out to a locally known late-nite food establishment called Checkers. That sounds too glamorous... it's a trailer they cook food in and serve it to you out the window. The upside of this is that they're open really late and the food they serve is amazing.

I've been told since I got here to get a Grogbog from Checkers, so when I finally had the chance I did. In fact I had two.

A Grogbog is a big hot dog bun with fries, bacon, cheese, and gravy on it. It tastes amazing. It also takes about a week off of your lifespan. Checkers has another meal which they call the "Cardiac Arrest" which costs $15. That's next on the list of things I've gotta eat.

Aussies sell beer at Parliament House

2007-07-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

I have no way of knowing whether or not there are cafeterias in the United States Capitol building, but I do know that the Australian Parliament house does, and they sell beer there. I get the feeling that this wouldn't go over well with some members of Congress if this were to happen in the States.

We're in the midst of RSO week down here at the University of Canberra. That means that each night, the Residential Students Organization has an activity for the people living on campus. If this were to happen at UT, it would be met with marginal interest at best and would probably include such activities as "Library Orientation and FREE PIZZA!" or "Campus Cleanup and FREE PIZZA!" Instead, the Aussies decided to arrange events that we'd go to and enjoy, such as "Beer Bingo" and "The Punch Party." I might have mentioned before that alcohol consumption seems to be engrained into the culture down here, although they always emphasize the importance of responsible drinking.

The exchange kids (there are about 30 of us, mostly American and Canadian), were recently introduced to "Goon," which is cheap boxed wine, reminiscent of Franzia, but cheaper. It equals out to be about five bucks per four-liter box, and is plenty worth the money, considering the price of beer is outrageous (25 bucks for a case of cheap beer, and, get this, 17 bucks for a six pack of Corona). Beer at the bar is even worse, so it's pretty common to "Pre-Game" for most things in the dorms.

Speaking of games, a group of us decided that we should go catch a football game. Understand that "football" can pass as any one of five sports down here, I'll try to explain. There is Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL (also known as Aussie Rules), soccer, and "Gridiron" (American Football). We wound up at a Rugby League game, because it's in season, and let me tell you, those guys are tough. No pads, full contact and very few penalties called.

Oh, and classes started this week. The atmosphere places more emphasis on individual responsibility than in the States. I have been given the course outline and assignments to be completed by the end of the semester, and it's my responsibility to get it done. Also, we're graded, or "assessed" only a few times per semester. Here's an example of how my grade will be figured for one of my classes:
Project #1 - 30%
Project #2 - 50%
Participation - 10%
Attendance - 10%
I guess I won't be procrastinating and sluffing off projects that are worth half of my final grade. Although most of my lectures are videotaped and online... I like being a pass/fail student.

One question I get quite a bit is "How did you wind up in Australia?" and it's one that I have not been able to answer very eloquently, as I don't completely know myself. I do know that I wanted to do something fun and exciting before graduating, but I didn't know what. My brother, Adam, took a semester off to hike the Appalachian Trail, which was cool, but not exactly something I was looking to do. Study abroad was something that had been brewing in the back of my head since my friend Jack Jenkins told me about his experience in New Zealand. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but wasn't sure that I would ever follow through with it. Study abroad wasn't something I wanted to let slip through my fingers, so I made a point of getting the paperwork together and applying. I think my parents were as surprised as I was when I told them I'd been accepted into the exchange program.

I would stay and type some more, but I think I've written enough as it is, plus its Beer Bingo and Two-for-One drink night.

Qantas gives you socks. Sydney gives you chills. Canberra gives you pneumonia.

2007-07-10T09:12:00.000-04:00

So I didn't end up sitting with either of my predictions. On all my flights (Knoxville-Chicago, Chicago-Los Angeles, LA-Sydney) I sat with guys, none of whom were overweight. Phew. My four-hour Chicago-LA flight was not an enjoyable experience. Every seat was filled, there were babies crying, and we flew through a huge cloud bank almost the entire way. Needless to say I was not looking forward to another 14 hours of that on the way to Sydney. It WAS painfully long, but I learned an important lesson in the LA terminal: Talk to people.

Seriously, do it. I met two other study abroad students that were Australia bound and we wasted away our layover chatting and walking around the disappointingly sparse international terminal. Turns out that one of them, Madeleiline, was also going to be at the University of Canberra, and the other one, Robin, was sitting right in front of me all the way to Australia. New friends, coupled with the fact that there was an empty seat beside me and the hospitality of Qantas Airlines made for a bearable flight. Besides getting two full and surprisingly decent meals, the airline gives you a little pouch with a lanyard, toothbrush, eye mask, and socks. I'm not sure what made them decide on socks, but I've got a pair now.

I mentioned in my first post that I would probably forget something important. Well, I did. I left my glasses on my desk at home, in their case, ready to be packed. I suppose I'll be surviving on contacts for a while. Good thing I've got enough.

My flight schedule worked out so that I ended up having a full day in Sydney, which is nice because I've decided that it is the cleanest and most beautiful city I've ever been to. It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking. I didn't even spend any money on tours or ferries and had a fantastic time walking around downtown, to the harbor bridge, Opera House, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. On top of that, it was 70 degrees and sunny, and it's the middle of winter down here.

It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking.

Arrival in Canberra was not as spectacular as I'd hoped. It was rainy and cold, and reminded me of Knoxville in November. I checked in, moved in and then walked to the mall which is about five minutes away. I needed basic things like bedding and toiletries, but wasn't expecting to pay as much for them as I did. At first I thought it was my math with the exchange rate, but everything here is pretty expensive. I paid 35 Australian Dollars for a set of sheets, and 54 for a quilt. Crap. This is going to be more expensive than I thought.

There was, however, a free barbeque dinner tonight for arriving students, where I met people from Kuala Lumpur, China, England, Mexico, Lithuania, Sweden, Japan, Canada and some other Americans, including Madeleine who I'd met at LAX. Everyone hung out and got to know each other, and then watched the rugby game (Australia vs. South Africa) while the Aussies who were there explained everything about the game to us. Part of our "orientation" the next day was to go bowling with one of the Senior Residents (like an RA), who then took us to the bar, where they gave the new foreigners a couple free jugs (pitchers) of beer. I doubt that would go over well in the States.

It's just been five days since I left, but I've made lots of interesting new friends and been to lots of new places. Although things will only settle down from here, I am excited to see what the rest of the week has in store for me.

I was told the other day that my accent wasn't "that bad," for an American. No worries mate.

Tennestralia - Pre Departure Notes

2007-07-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

Passport, check. Visa, check. Plane ticket, check. I think I've got everything taken care of, but I'm probably wrong.

This pre-departure period of my life is driving me nuts. I'm anxious, scared, and excited, and I bet all of those emotions are common.

The worst part?

I really don't have much to do these days, and my boredom allows plenty of time to think about who I'll end up sitting with on the 14-hour flight (hopefully a cute college girl, but probably an overweight software engineer). I also pass time by thinking about what I'm going to do with my 18-hour layover in Sydney, how much stuff I can fit in my bag and what my housing situation is going to look like. At this point I don't know what or where I'll be eating .

None of this bothers me, really, but I would rather relax and not have any expectations at all. I think I'm ready to go. Knoxville is hot these days, and it's going to be mid-winter in the southern hemisphere. I'd really like to check out the ski slopes down there, partially because I want to do it, partially because I want to say I've done it, and partially to make my brother Adam and uncle Jack jealous.

I realize this is a rather short first entry, but I wanted to introduce myself before I left. Feel free to facebook me if you've got any thoughts, questions, or ideas about where I should go and what I should see.