6 Straight Weeks in Melbourne….Time to Make My Own Fun

Recap

As of my last entry, I gave everyone much needed forewarning for these stories I am about to dispense. Not that they are overly rambunctious or include any unnecessary sexual fetishes, but if my previous entries have been any indicator, 6 weeks without any blogging action has reduced my carpel tunnel and has allowed me to write until my wrists become limp from excitement.

Back Story

After we got back to Melbourne (from Sydney), I was ready to take advantage of this city on more advanced level. For the first 2 months of my time in Australia, I had been away on vacations and traveling up and down the coast line on a pretty frequent basis. I got to Melbourne on July 13^th, and after exploring and getting to know my surroundings for a few weeks, my parents came in to visit me in early August. We then went up to Sydney for a week, I came back, and a week later I was up in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. After that weekend getaway, I was back in Melbourne for 2 more weeks before I headed up the coast line for an 11 day Australian adventure during RMIT’s spring break. Lastly, immediately following spring break and I was off to Sydney again (which I just got finished writing about). However, traveling is waht truly makes my experience here worthwhile. It would be nice to be able to sit here and write about my amazing times out and the personal growth I have been undertaking, but all of that growth and development really happens from seeing more of the world and all of the people that surround you. Without traveling and incorporating yourself into new experiences, I find there is very limited potential for any significant amount of maturation. That and traveling is simply a thrill and a great way to let my hedonistic side hunt for pleasure in new places, in other words, it’s an amazing amount of fun.

Ever since I planned all of my vacations, I saw this one 6+ week gap on inactivity. Aside from my 21^st birthday and Uni games (which I will cover later in this story), it seemed implausible to imagine that after 10 weeks catering to my inability to sit still, I would be forced to stay stagnant for such a long period of time. Even as I continue to write this and I am 2 days away from my next vacation, I cringe at my once prevalent feeling of boredom. Being abroad does not seem worth it to me if you stay still. I can get to know a city after about 2 weeks. Even if I love it, like I do Melbourne, it is still a repeated series of activities. Go to certain bars, go out for dinner, play goon pong, get messed up, all of these activities I regularly participate back home in College Park. Going through the motions was something I felt would be inevitable, but something I never wanted to personally confront. The reason I love doing the same things over and over again in CP is because I have such an amazing group of friends back there, where my friends here are nothing short of stellar, they still lack the certain quality I need to satisfy my unique fun seeking needs. I felt confined to my current location and needed ways to break free from repeat activities. So that is precisely what I did.

Before I get any further, I sent out an email as a summation of my experiences thus far. I know I sent it to most of my friends and family, and I got some amazing responses back. I wanted to include it at this point for both my personal records, and also in the off chance that someone reading my blog now, never got a chance to review my email; or I just never had your email address in the first place-but then how would you know about my blog… anyways:

[G'day family and friends!

(I apologize in advance, and will do so again, for this lengthy email. Two months is a very long time, and this overly long email typifies that).

I hope everyone is doing amazing back in the states and please keep me updated with everything going on! I had some time on my hands and I wanted to fill you all in on my life and share a few of my many insights I now have.

So onto my reason for writing everyone, if my absence over the past few months did not give it away, I hope the title of this email did; I have been in Australia for the past 2 months and could not be enjoying myself more! Time appears to be flying by with no regard to me, or my desire to live here for as long as I possibly can. As disturbing as it is, I only have 8 weeks left and live in fear for the day when November 24th comes.

These past couple of months have been amazingly consuming. I have traveled around the entire east coast, met countless internationals, made many new friends, picked up a book or two, all while being separated by an equator, prime meridian, and 13,000 miles (or 21,000 Km) of ocean and land. I came over here without any friends from the University of Maryland and I decided that it was best that way to do it. Maryland is a popular destination for many graduates of Wootton High School, and I had a misguided sense of security during my freshman year with 126 of my graduating classmates surrounding me. It was amazing to have some of my best friends at college with me, but I felt I was cheating myself by not being submerged in an entirely new climate. The fear of coming over here alone was a major motivation and ultimately aided my decision to study abroad. Fortunately, however, meeting new people and making friends happened right away.

My first few weeks here were spent traveling around the suburbs of Melbourne with a group between 3 and 10 other people. We got out to see an Australian Rules 'Footy' game, went to the nearby beach, attended an orientation along with the other 200+ international students (30 of which are American), went to a few house parties, and got to see first hand affects of the poor exchange rate and how expensive everything seems over here (yes, alcohol included). The next few weeks came and passed and I was able to get to know more of the fellow Americans. I was living in a student apartment complex and there were different organized events, socials, and pub crawls all around the city limits which acted as a great meeting ground.

After those few weeks passed, my amazing parents made the 13,000 mile hike across the pacific and joined me and my 'mates' down under. I couldn't remember a time when I was happier to see them. I still remember leaving my Thursday class in a hurry to meet my parents and then running into my dad the Marriott lobby. It was amazing to have them over here and able to share with them, first hand all of the experiences I was having. We were able to travel along the Great Ocean Road and see natural landmarks including the 12 apostles, which are free-standing cliffs in the middle of the ocean and look like giant fingers sticking through the ocean floor. We also walked through the Jewish part of town where my froward thinking father attempted to pick up an 17 year old Jewish girl for me while I sat idly by remembering the nice 13,000 mile buffer than was previously in tact. They also took my friends and me out to dinner and were able to see my daily life in its truest form.

After that week, they ventured up to the tropical Great Barrier Reef and left me in the chilly Melbourne with my friends. After 4 more days of traveling, they came back to pick me up for another excursion up the coast to Sydney. Together we walked around the entire inner city, took countless pictures in and around the Sydney Opera House, went on a cruise of the Sydney harbor, took a ferry to and walked around the local beaches, ventured further north to a national park where we held a Koala and fed kangaroos, and then witnessed the beautiful Blue Mountains. Finally we capped off the eventful trip by climbing the world famous Sydney Harbor Bridge and the 1,427 steps that came with it. Then at night we ate a great dinner and were fortunate enough to see a witty Alfred Hitchcock inspired play inside the Opera House. The next day I was forced to head to the airport by myself and back to Melbourne I went. The worst part about this trip was that Mindy had a locked in work schedule, along with a friends wedding to attend and was not able to join my mom and dad in Australia. Every stop we made were thinking of her and how much we would have loved to have her along, but thanks to the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) enabled skype, I was able to regularly stay connected to her. It was amazing to have them over but my time here was far from over.

The next few weeks flew by. I traveled up to Surfers Paradise and Brisbane with 5 good friends. We went to the Great Australian Zoo, made famous by Steve Irwin, and then went on a wine tasting tour through the Gold Coast. We finished the weekend by rolling down a 1/4 mile long track angled 30 degrees, all while inside a giant rubber ball filled with water, otherwise known as "zorbing." It was one of the best weekends I can remember having, and I was able to grow much closer to some fantastic friends.

I got back just in time to write a few papers and then off I was for Spring Break. It was a very weird feeling starting spring break in the beginning of September before my friends back home even started classes, but I was in no way complaining. We booked an 11 day package along the entire east coast of australia. We started in Sydney for a day, then headed to Coffs Harbor where there were some less than amazing weather, but great night life. We then went to Brisbane and I was able to meet up with a friend of mine from school here and he took us out to a 3,000 person club outside the city which was infested with professional football players and the cities finest bar goers. Then we were off to Frasier Island for 3 days. Frasier island is a dingo infested, tiger shark breading island composed of only one man made road, and the rest were beaches that allow for fisherman and drivers to share the same highways. We traveled around in 4x4s and camped out an an aboriginal camping ground. This island has some of the most amazing views I have ever seen and with a camp fire and boxed wine around us, we had an amazing time. We were paired with 10 other international travelers, all of whom were a blast to hang out with and I continue to talk to them regularly. Spring break ended with 2 days in Airlie Beach, and then a 2 day/2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsundays are a chain of islands similar in size to the Florida Keys and boarder the Great Barrier Reef. At night the sky was so clear it was literally like staring into a constant stream of fire works, lit up with stars for amusement. The 28 people on board spent the days snorkeling and sun bathing, and the nights hanging around the captain and sharing stories from our home towns. In my ideal life, I would do nothing but hang out with a few friends on a this boat and sail around for months at a time, pick up a job on one of the islands for gas money and then get right back to the sea. Back home I am used to a constant level of energy and activities, but on this boat I could be happy doing nothing but listening to music and catching fish. Finally once on land, I had to get one thrill out of my system which I had been looking forward to for almost 2 years, I went SKYDIVING! For over a minute I free-fell from 14,000 feet above the islands until the parachute above me opened and the instructor and I coasted onto land with the biggest smile on my face that I can ever remember having. I could not imagine a better way to spend my time here and I knew I was living life to the fullest.

I came back and immediately went right back to Sydney. It was an organized trip through my University here, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and included 3 other schools and 110 other international students. I met dozens of great people and got to see the city of Sydney for an extended period of time with in a much more social light. After this trip I could definitely see myself living here at some point down the road. The night life there is phenomenal, there are more open air markets here than in Turkey and more scenic walks than the south of France (not that I have been to any of these places.... but I can imagine). It is an awesome place to travel to and somewhere that I will make certain I get to again after my studies here.

So I greatly apologize for this lengthy message, however cramming in over 2 months of activities into an email less than 5 pages is much harder than I imagined. I would like to say that every day here is a day better than the one before it, but that is far from true. I have had days where I missed the comfort of home and my familiar surroundings. I have also had days where I want to move here the minute I graduate and never look back. I have had more experiences here than any other time in my life. However more than just a forum for socializing and working on my Australian accent to show off to the American ladies back home, it is a growing opportunity that I have not overlooked. I have met people here from around the world that are living out of their backpacks for months, and sometimes years at a time. I have evolved in a way I thought was far from possible. I am more independent and more responsive to change, and I now have a greater appreciation for family and friends than ever before.

I have questioned my motives for coming here more than once, simply becasue my life back home was so well orchestrated. I have a fantastic family who I love more than words can describe, I lived with 3 of my best friends, and was surrounded by my other amazing friends, in the best housing on campus, I was on the executive board for the two best business organizations in the business school, and I was in the best fraternity on campus with plans to move into the house this year (I may be biased, but these are all facts people...). However I knew that I was complacent back home, and that I did not want my surroundings to change. So until I tested myself by moving across the planet, I would not be able to completely grasp my full potential in life. Thus my decision to drop everything I was doing, and study in Australia. It is a growing experience, and I certainly have grown.

I know that I do not have everyone's email address so if you can think of someone who might be interested in seeing what I have been up to for the past 2 months please feel free in forwarding this message along. This message is to friends, family, family friends, and anyone in between, so don't be shy.

I know for a fact that I do not have the email addresses for the following: Steve/Kim, Tammy/George, Leslie/Bob Aunt Sandy/Uncle Sal, Uncle Paul, Joy, June/Brian, Sandor/Michelle, Peter/Dina, so if you know find yourself sharing any DNA with these people please help me out and forward these along :)

Once again, thanks for reading this and sharing in my experiences down under. I would not come close to enjoying this as much as I have, should it not be for my amazing friends and family back home who I eagerly look forward to seeing within the next few months. And I will be home for Thanksgiving everyone so look forward to seeing me before you know it!

Cheers,

Mitch]

….However before I decided to break free and head out of the city heres a little dialogue from what I’ve been up to.

Week-by-week synopsis

After returning from Sydney I was feeling rejuvenated having just been on a tour bus with 40 other Uni students and I was getting used to the idea of going out to have a great time and explore foreign cities. Since I knew I would be in Melbourne for 6 straight weeks I wanted to get used to the idea of going out here on a regular basis without the interception of a weekend away. To kick things off on a right note, I wanted to enjoy my frist week back. So my new friend Becca and I, headed out to Fitzroy with Joy, Olivia, and Joy’s friend from her apt Ben. We got some great drink specials and had dinner at a $4 pizza place which was amazing. The place is called Bimbos and it is a cross between a college dump and an indi living room. Hippie couches everywhere, a pool table as a dining table, barstools in the middle, everything that wouldn’t seem normal, but it made the place come together in a very friedlyt matter. After drinks and pizza, we wondered around the entire city of Fitzroy and checked out a few different bars. After meeting some interesting patrons at one bar and leaving Olivia to find a random bed to sleep in, we headed back.

The next day I accomplished my Goal that I have been setting out to do for quite some time, saw Finding Nemo! Becca and I had made arrangements to indulge our senses and check out what nemo looked like in 3-d. It was as if I was back in the theaters and I could not have enjoyed myself more. The enthusiasm that radiated out of me was apparent in the room and everyone had a great night-I seriously love that fish.

Afterwards, becca and I developed a pretty solid friendship and I was in need of further city exploration. She had never been past the boarders of this city, so I took that as an excellent opportunity to put my love of tour guiding and walking backwars, and my antsy tendencies to get the fuck around and not stay in one place for too long, and we spent the day walking around the entire city. We then randomly decided to go to St Kilda beach, but in stead of that, while on the tram, we made the abrubt decision to go to the famous chapel street. Chapel Street is known throughout the city/state/even country for the great night life, shopping, and culture-not so much museums, but just as a window into the personal lifestyles of the average Australian. We walked around and visitied several dozens of used book stores, with no Tucker Max in the shelves, I felt no need to stick around for too long. We did however walk around for hours and probably a solid 10 miles. By the end we were both exhausted, and in stead of going out that night, we decided to head to Crown and see The Dark Knight. Of course I had seen it already the first week I was in Melbourne, but Becca had not, and I loved it so much the first time, why not a 2^nd. Very solid day.

No later that week, after doing some work on various projects I wanted to get out for dinner. So Thomas Joy and I decided were in need for some more classy dining so we headed to Lygon again for some pumpkin soup and good company. Looking back on this week it was just a few fun nights out; nothing overly exciting but I was really enjoying the feeling of a local and appreciate this city and all of the many suburbs to explore and the bars to visit. There is a lot more to this than bars (while there are plenty, and I have been to damn near 50 by now) however, the towns surrounding, and the dining, and museums, and etc are some of the best in the world. Of course I have not been to any of these museums, but still I feel as though I needed to write about the beauty of this city.

21 Times Cooler In Australia

As the time continues in the amazing city, and I put off blog writing to 7 weeks after the festivities I cannot seem to grasp how much I have exactly…done. Therefore I want to make sure that I account that all of these stories (mostly in this blog, but of course in some others as well) has been to the great aid of my camera. I have taken 3,788 pictures so far, and that includes 25 albums, all of which tell me a story of how my time here has been. Therefore while the festivities of this next week in question may not be on the top of my head right now, but they are all told through a vivid recapturing courtesy of my cannon powershot.

This week I knew had to be big, regardless of the fact that I was 13,000 miles away from College Park and that my status as a legal drinker has not been up for challenge since I left LAX on July 11^th this year, I was till turning 21 and thus this night to match, at a much smaller level, the seriousness that my age now warranted. As opposed to running on and bantering like a child in desperate need for attention, I am going to get right down to the daily activities.

Of course the entire week I was ½ excited and ½ bummed, mostly because I knew it was not going to be done up in the same fashion that a 21 year old birthday celebration would be in the states; but regardless, Aussies do seem to love turning 21. For most Uni students, their parents pitch in like $500 and book out a room and put some money of the tab for drinks and celebration for your 21^st. I highly doubt Marty and Shelley would be so keen on that idea, especially after putting down thousands of dollars for my journey over here, which I am already very grateful for. So instead, I left it up to my friends here to get me drunk off their own bar tab, very generous of me, I am well aware. I made some great plans for the weeks festivities. My birthday was on a Friday, so we were going to celebrate Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday morning was the Grand Final for Footy, so I was planning on going to a party with my Australian friend Cory to that, at his mates house. All and all I figured I would stay very busy and thoroughly entertained.

All that week I had a few classes and minor assignments to take care of. So by the time it was Thursday, and I decided to skip class in celebration, I chilled in my room and Thomas and I wanted to make sure the alcohol would flow free through the day and night. We started watching entourgage or the Office, or some show online and then I decided I was ready to start drinking, so before long he headed down to his room, and back up to mine with a very appreciated birthday gift, a glowing green bottle of pure European Absinth. That combined with a “How the Camel Got His Hump” book, similar to the drink menu from Cookie, and a book on Uluru from Olivia, and a shot book from Emily, and a set of shot glasses from Thomas, and the Uluvka from my roommates back home, and a shot book/mini ping pong table/drinking game set form mindy, and a LaCoste shirt from my parents, I was set to have an amazing night. The trick with the absinth apparently is to put a shot+ in a glass, then pour cold water over sugar cubes to let it dissolve into a sugary absinth master concoxion. IDK how masterful it was, but it tasted like green peppermint with added water and sugar. People then gradually arrived, I continued to mark down, in colorful shots on my arm the amount of drinks I was consuming. After showering and chugging my absinth while in said shower, I promptly vomited my turkey sandwich. Do not eat an actual mean while chugging 140 proof alcohol. Bad Idea. But I was no where near drunk, just had an unsettled stomach. So as the people began arriving, we did some shots of Uluvka courtesy of my friends back home. Much love to you guys. Then Cory and Olivia showed up and we were about 10 all together, then we headed down to Federation square we we had a rushed bar meal and rubbed elbows with the rich and powerful that Melbourne was serving up on the high society scene. We chilled there at the Transit bar for about an hour before heading downstairs to another bar, I have since forgotten the name, but it was a good place. The reason I know it was a good place was becssue I vaugley remember that after going back for 3 consecutive shots in 10 minutes, and as my speech began to slur, the bartender had cut me off. CUT ME OFF! I’m sorry, but I was only on shot 15 or so and I had to make it to 21 by midnight. So I plead my case, I tried to stop slurring my words, which was quite difficult by this time because I already slur them when I’m tired nd sober, and now I was exhausted from drinking, and very very drunk. We settled on an arrangement that I would have a glass of water, which I pretended to drink as I poured it on the ground, and wait 5 minutes. I waited 2, demanded another drink, and out of spite he charged me for a double, I paid him and demanded another drink, so that drink quickly ensued. It was shaping up to be a good night.

By this time a lot of Joy’s LAX friends had also come by. To my happiness, the numbers were up to around 20 for my celebration. The people were very friendly and continued to buy me drinks, so I was equally friendly. Cory and Olivia then hit it off more than anyone had projected they would so they called it a night earlier than everyone else, I won’t get into the story too much, but just for my memories, Cory got shafted the next morning-sorry buddy, I guess you seem a lot cooler w/ 8 or 9 drinks down.

Anyways the LAX crew was growing in numbers, and I met one of Joys friends Leigh, such a sweet person, and of course wouldnthca know it, a Jew! This of course applies for a later story, jewish movie festival and yom kippur, and the phillepe and man on wire, and of course her crazy sister, damn I guess she has gotten me more tapped into this city than I realize. Anyways she was just one great part of the night. I also meet Joys friend Sarah, a little tiny asain girl who would technically me by 2^nd Australian, but she was asain so It’s not an authentic aussie girl…ya know? But she was rambunctious, yes I guess that is the best word to describe her. Anyways she biuys me a shot, grabs my abs, and just starts making out w/ me. She is pushing 5ft and 90 lbs, so she really put some force into it. Later on in the night as I make her buy me a shot, she proclaims, “why do we need to dirnk, lets just go into the corner to make out,” I think we reached the arrangement that we would do the shot, then make out-so we did. This was at the other bar btw, young and jacksons. We stay there for about 30 mintues, and then saunter around the city, after loosing ½ the party and loosing Brendan b/c the bouncer thought he was too drunk and refused him admittance-sounds about right. After wondering around, we settled on St. Jeromes, a cool hidden ally hipey place, were I got my 21^st shot…tequila, of course, my favooooorite J I do love tequila. And then we hang out for a little bit send a few more patrons on their way back home, and then it becomes me, Jim, Christina and Max. After we leave the bar and run into dozens of angry street people (this story is being told w/ limited memory, strictly pictures). Then we hit up hungry jacks, and while that may seem like a horrible idea considering I do not eat fast food, after the 30 mintues I spent convining everyone to “gimme sum” and “feed the chicken” it wasa amazing. Also the quad stacker was well worth it. AND THAT CONCLUDES THAT.

The next day of the celebrations were even that much more of a blurr. The day started off hanging out in fed square and grabbing some food on flinders ln before the crazy footy show in fed square. The tv cameras were out in full force, there was a mock jumo and catch feature like at the Superbowl, there were some 50 ft inflatable men in footy uniforms, a much scaled down version of superbowl fanfare, but still pretty cool to see, and on my birthday especially. We then continue to drink, get some bottles and some beer- do shotguns and then get drunk in the room. We then headed out to Lion in melbounre central where I was given the courtacy flaming birthday shot. It was weird and strong but very very free…and it was on fire while it was poured so as a fan of shiney lights and alcohol, I obliged…oh anad then I smoked the fumes…that was weird. Then we got some nachos so I would not vomit pure alcohol all over myself and heded off the the chill on ice bar. This palce was unreal. Got a jacket and a hat for the admission, which was free to me for the birthday, and also a drink. Of course we were supposed to hand back in the hat and jacket….but that will be covered a little bit later. After 3 jager bombs? A bunch of ice luges, some ice drinks, out of glasses….made of ice-so sick… and a lot of other pictures later, our 30 mintues were up and my penis was freezing over. However before you could stop me, I just ran out of the place saying “I stole the jacket, I stole a jacket!” This thing is actually pretty tight, but I didn’t remmebr taking it til the next morning, and by that point they had my credit card and I’m sure had already charged me the $100 for the jacket, or so I claim. But in anyevent the jacket is awesome and well worth it. It has a chill on nd jagermeister logo, so it will definitely replace my old winter coat. After chill on, we met up w/ tyler (whose tyler? Hes a mother fuckin g), we sang the MD fight song on the streets, and then headed over to Yak bar where cory works. He set us up w/ a row of free shots and he became my new best friend. Shots of vodka and whatever on him and we all gathered around. I don’t even want to think of what comes next, becsue after trying to pop a balloon w/ my head against a plaster wall, and my head starting to bleed, I was being escorted out onto the tram, where I then proceeded to vomit, ALL OVER MYSELF, and the tram as well. It was notewrhty of course, but very very gross the next morning waking up w/ sharpie on my face, booze in my hair, and vomit on my leg. Fair enough to say I did not end up making it out to watch the footy grand final the next day, but it was a great weekend. Thanks for all the lovin you all put forth.

The Next Week- Chapel Street, Being Jewish, and Golfing

So this week marks my 12^th week down under and throwing it all together in the messy form that I have gotten used to. It was a pretty stellar week if I do say so, being a Jewish student at UMD is as common as having Clymadia as a Koala, however I figured it might be more difficult to celebrate the holidays this time, being so far away from everything I am used to. I am talking, of course, about Rosh Hashanah an Yom Kippur. This week, on September 30^th was Rosh Hashanah and fortunately for me, that person Leigh, Joy’s LAX friend I mentioned from my birthday, had gotten in contact with me and given me some good places to check out for the holidays. Additionally I had been speaking to this girl Amie, whose sister apparently met Mindy at Chabad while visiting NYC for a few weeks. So the Jewish Geography is definitely an international game.

To start it off I found this Orthodox Hebrew Shul in the city, and opposed to the Jewish part of town which is a solid 10 miles south, and a lengthy tram ride, I figured that the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation would be the perfect fit. I exchanged emails with the Rabbi and he expressed to me that there was a very open guest policy that that no fee would be required to attend. Great guy, however he informed me that services started at 9 and while I am usually very late to services at B’nai, I felt as though I should step up my game for the rabbi of a foreign orthodox synagogue. So I did, but of course, everyone ELSE showed up late. So I was sitting there, like an idiot for a sold hr before anyone else showed up. By 10:30 the services were geared up and ready to go. Shortly after, a guy with a thick Long Island accent came up to me and asked if he could sit down, apparently I was wearing a big USA flag on my back. Anyways, just like when I am surrounded by jewish teens back home, I now had someone to rudely interrupt services with as I made conversation with him about how he’s from LI, and I go to MD, and therefore we have the same disdain for the LI girls, but just love those uggs and tights they wear. So the services were very nice, very very long, all of 6.5 hrs, but very nice none the less. After a brief snack and some more services, we went to do tishlech at a near by pond and then back to my place, where I was in desperate search for a belt. See, the day before, btw this is also UNI games week, which I will cover next paragraph, I was playing golf, and randomly the buckle just fell off; looks like it was from overuse, or I’m just a fatass, eitherway, it broke. But I had no time to get a new one by the time I was home, and my friends that were available did not have any nice brown belts, so I fashioned to fix mine w. scotch tape. 30 mintues later, in the corridor of the shul meeting the rabbi, it snapped, and I was just awkward and embarrassed. But pulling it together, like I must, I just buttoned my jacket and pretended that nothing happened. However I was invited back for dinner at the rabbi’s so I wanted to get my belt fixed by then. So instead of paying $70 for the cheapest brown belt at the mall, I borrowed my roommates, who is maybe 130 lbs. That was a stretch. However I made it to the meal and enjoyed the company of the fine jews around me.

Before and after the festivites for the Jews, I was participating in another holiday, Uni Games. Uni games are basically like the Olympics for Australian universities, all over the country. I signed up to play golf, and with no tryout needed I figured it would be a cool way to meet some new people, get out on the course, and of course get a sweet RMIT sweatshirt and golf polo. Since I did all of those, met some really cool people, enjoyed golfing at 2 pretty nice courses, one of which designed by Greg Norman, and also got my RMIT merchandise, I was very content. There was no big there involved for me, just because the games were in Melbourne this year, and typically there is much more team bonding when you are forced to travel together as a team. But it was still a lot of fun, and I got to meet the fine golfers of Australia. Not playing for 3 months put me at a slight disadvantage, but I got a 93 and then an ‘89’, with a few fortunate drops of course. I played pretty decently and didn’t loose in my 4-sum, of course 2 of the guys dropped out one day, and the next day I was playing with a coach who was damn near 60, but still I came in below cost.

Later on that week, the same person who I had been talking to, Leigh, got us tickets to some Jewish film festival that her sister volunteered at. I figured some free tickets couldn’t possibly be a bad idea so why not. As it turned out, it was a series of short films, some of them very funny, some of them about how Jewish people eat a lot of pastries, so it was more weird than funny, but Judaism the Musical, that was a winner. After we decide to leave 30 minutes into it, we grab some $4 pizza and Lucky Coq, have a few drinks, and then head to the post party for the film festival…and wouldn’t ya know it-OPEN BAR! Man this night turned out to be pretty sweet after all. I also met the guy who preformed in Judaism the Musical, and his friend Daniel who will be touring around America next year and we got to talking for a while. A very solid, random, series of events.

Later on that week we went to this thing called the dream festival. Similar to the 4:20 concert on the national mall w/ O.A.R., but w/ less weed and more hippies. We listened to some funky music and then went out to dinner in the city. Walked around for a bit, and then got way too involved at one bar with the live music. You can’t play love me by the cardigans around 4 Americans and not expect us to sing along, honestly. We also got to taste test Joy’s supposed AMAZING dumpling place. It was as good as she claimed, and cheap too. A vivid and imaginative host who felt the need to run around as if he had a chicken for a body and no head on (like a chicken with its head cut off, you get it?), but after we brought our own booze and played quarters at this crazy asian dumpling house, with the host trying to get rid of us every 4 minutes, it was a pretty sweet night out.

And the next month comes to an open

The transition into October meant one thing, well 2 I guess, the weather was getting warmer as Summer approached, but more importantly, my time was running out here. It began to hit me that my time here was limited in a very real way. I am scheduled to leave November 24^th and could not imagine that date approaching because this entire time it seemed so far away, as if it was a fictional date in the back of my head. It did not seem real, but believe me, October was here, and I was on my way out.

The Next week was mostly crammed with running around town, went to Chapel street a couple of times, bought a sweet Australia Track Jacket, chilled around the village, and went to far too many bars. However it was also the day to celebrate all days-Yom Kippur! That enthusiasm was slight sarcasm btw, but it was actually a very nice day. I went to the same services that I had went to for Rosh Hashanah and met the same team of Rabbis and my American LI buddy. Gotta love the Jews in Melbourne. It was a very pleasant day at shul, but after that I headed back and grabbed Becca to take her to the break fast. However even before that, I went to Safeway to try and mimick the amazing Devild eggs that I have grown accustom to all those years of celebrating with the Nadels back in North Potomac. However my onion, paprika, tangy Australian mayo, and egg concoxioun was no where near Mindy Nadels creation. I tried tho, however futile, I did try. After that we headed to the train station and went to Caufield to be picked up by Leigh. We were shuttled over to her home and got to meet the entire rubin family. Including her hilarious sister who despite beign 30, looks 22 and acts 14. She is the same person who volunteered at the jewish film festival, and also the next week she got me tickets to the premier of a film in Melbourne, ‘Man On Wire.’ We talked about her semester abroad at GW, her time as BBYO coordinator in LA, he disdain for the Washingtonians and love of the So Cal crowd. Assuming she moves back there, we will have to get a drink in the States.

After services and break fast, Becca and I made the journey into Richmond to celebrate Christina’s 20^th at platform bar. Becca and I were exhausted so we chilled for a while, gave our birthday wishes and then headed back, but not before we were all abruptly thrown out. This is because someone gave Max a hug, and then smashed his head into a glass and he started bleeding-enough was enough so we all went back to ‘get good’.

The next day, I decided to keep my Jew going and accepted my invitation to have dinner with Mindy’s ‘friend’ she met at Chabad, and her sister. This girl who I had been speaking with, Amie, had originally entitled her email to me as “Kate (the girl in NYC)’s brother.” Clearly Amie is a girls name, so I was just confused, but whatever, people had weird names. After proceeding to ask me if I was werid, prove it to her that I was normal, describe myself to again prove my normalness, and then converse over random details of being picked up and heading back to her place, I was weired out. I don’t think that sentence made any sense, but summation, she came on way too strong trying to be funny, and was not. But after actually meeting her and her family+friends, it was actually a great night. There have been very very few bad nights here, so it makes me laugh to say ‘actually’, but still I would like to emphacize that regardless of her initial efforts, she was a very friendly, entertaining person. We discussed the typical American stereotypes and the election-and after about 5 hrs of wine and 6 month old meat, it was a great night. I skipped Christina’s actual birthday because I was beat, but we enjoyed the time together the last night, so I felt as though my efforts were met.

The next night, as is marked in my calander, I watched Die Hard and drank w/ Thomas. Sounds fun, but its all a blur at this point. The net day however, was a solid 30 degrees, aka 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Additionally, Joys parents were in town for 6 weeks and arrived on that Sunday. In celebration, we all went down to St. Kilda after Joy ran the mini marathon. We walked around the beach, snapped some pictures, stopped by the unusual Sunday market at St. Kilda and then headed back to do a bit of work. The next day Brendan and I hit up the public par 3 golf course. Its literally right down the road and only costs $7. However it’s a shit course, so the next time we went, we took the tram right to the 2^nd hole, got off right at the 8^th, and avoided the boring 1^st and 9^th, and also the starter. I’m a baddass, I know, don’t tell my parents. Anyways, this week marked the last week of the semester. And with that I was ready to explore my wild ways and get down to having more and more fun. So on Monday, with no classes, I played my game of golf, worked on my fashion paper, I know, I know, fashion; did some market research work, and then got it all out of the way for the next day-Phillips Island. Phillips Island is home to some Koalas, wild kangaroos, a few zoos, and of course, the ‘famous’ little penguins. All of 1 foot tall, and 5 lbs, these thing are like those woddely bowling pins that never fall over, or those pop up clowns that u used as a punching bag as a baby. They are absolutely miniscule, random looking, and confused as soon as they get to the beach. But they are cute. We took the drive down with Joys parents, had a very nice picnicked lunch, and then some dinner down the road in town. I already hit my koala fix earlier back in Brisbane, but seeing some more, and finally seeing a wild kangaroo was all worth the drive down. The penguins, not so much. I remember meeting this girl whose a friend of a friend over the summer who apparently spent a whole month down there on Phillips island volunteering helping out these penguins, I have NO idea how you could spend more than 2 days down here, unless of course you lived here and liked the small town, but in any way, she did it.

Later on that week I did some more work, tanked our fashion presentation, and then after classes ended we were offered some tickets by Jodi Robin (Leigh’s sister) to go see this premier on chapel street. The film is called man on wire and features this crazy French guy who grew up with this incestuous need to climb on tight ropes. So then we climbed on a wire between the 2 world trade center towers in NYC, this was obviously slightly dated. He did it back in the 70s as a poor Frenchman, but now he’s makin money, and apparently movies too. I got my picture taken w/ him, 2^nd row seats, and a signed poster, so even if I did not know this guy, and fell asleep for 10 minutes of the movie, id say I got my money’s worth for a free night. After that we took Joys parents, who also went to the movie, to the lucky coq. More $4 pizza and drinks. After that I went to 7-11 to empty my flask into a slurpee, which joys mom really seemed to enjoy.

The next night we ‘got good’ and watched some more movies after golf, but then the next night, while Joy was off w/ her parents in Carins, we got to see Thomas’ genetalia, and some other parts in a riveting game of stip poker. IDK how much was consumed, but after eating goon like a frozen slurpee, and finishing off a bottle of wine by Danielle, and then waking up the next morning w/ 4 Tupperware containers full of goon, we knew it was a good night.

The next night we went bar hopping w/ Olivia and capped off the week very nicely. After that, it was off to the Outback! This was such a sick vacatation, and even though it was one of the cheapest tours and we slept outdoors in swags and sleeping bags, it was unreal. I will include that segment in my next blog full of my tales of travels. But for now, the 14 pages, single spaced, is good enough. This has been several hours, days, and weeks of writing. Literally I have been trying to compile this blog for about 5 weeks, but my lazy ass could never come to write about what I knew would be an insurmountable level of wiritng. As I talk about it to myself, I need to take a break before my wrists fall off, yet again. Happy reading everyone and stay posted. I am off to New Zealand in 4 hours so I better start to pack.

Cheers,

Mitch

The following was written a few nights ago just as I began to contemplate how amazing my life has been recently and how much I appreciate all the opportunities I have, and the friends I have to share them with:

Feelings of depth

Just a minute ago I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep as I contemplated the upcoming morning and my first exam, which also marked one of the last times I will be doing something for the first time here. I recently got back from The Outback on a 5 day excursion with 2 friends from here, and 1 other classmate that I had met a few times, but randomly decided to travel with. It was on this trip however, with only 5 weeks to go in my experience, that I was able to truly appreciate my time here in a completely new light. As opposed to the run of the mill debautchery of enjoying myself back in Maryland, I have been fulfilling every whim and planting a seed in the ‘holes’ of my life. I have lived my life up to this point with a hedonistic light cast over my shoulder, and for the most part I have utilized every opportunity that has come my way. I am confident that in 5 years I will look back on my college experience as one with exctreme pleasure and the best years of my life, however while I have been here I was often forced to look at the past 3 years as if I was already removed from college. Asking questions like, was it worth it to head so far away with only 1 year left? And will I still be able to have a memorable last year of college if I am experiencing something atypical to my usual experience? I of course convinced myself that yes, there was nothing that I would be rather be doing that studying abroad and taking full advantage of all of my opportunities. However I did not realize what an amazing opportunity this was until just recently.

As I was laying in my bed I began to grow ever more conscious of the fact that I will be leaving Australia shortly, just as though I will be leaving the University of Maryland shortly. It is no surprise to those of you who know me to know that that departure will be among the saddest moments of my life, when I realize I am no longer a student here. More imminently however will be my departure from Australia. It has always been a bitter sweet realization because I am so excited to get back to my normal routine and move into the fraternity house and drink every night (I just realized I am going to have only TuTh classes next semester, so literally, drinking every night), and enjoy college to the level that it is meant to be enjoyed. Yet as odd as it seems, at least as it seems to me who has been counting down the days to a certain degree, that I am somber to pick up and leave Australia. Not that my friends here necessarily compare to my friends back home, but my experiences here will go unparalleled for the rest of my life. With no real obligations and with the financial dependence on my loving parents, there is no other time when I can truly search to see what kind of person I want to be. I think I have discovered that person, and I cannot believe it. I am someone who used to emulate the seth cohens and the ari golds of the world, living vicariously through my popular good looking friends in hopes that I too can see the eyes through the confident suave eyes of my peers. Then I became full of confidence Junior and Senior year of High School, and then ultimately grew into the person I am now, or at least was, in college, most notably during the summer between freshman and sophomore year. I learned that certain things were meant to be enjoyed and appreciated, and other things, things that brought negativity and inquisition to the world, were meant to be ignored. It does very little good to worry about something you cannot change. I used to think how much sweeter would life be if I ruled the campus and had my pick of any girl; simply ignore the small stuff that seemed to drag everyone else down with the misery of drama and insecurities.

Then that day came, not where I ruled any campus or picked from any girls, but where I was confident enough in myself to completely accept anything that happened with pride that I was who I am, and I can handle anything that could be thrown my way; be it a good looking girl at a party, or an upset friend who needed consoling, or even a personal loss and a rough summer of confusion and self awareness. My confidence was soon overshadowed again by my inability to accept the fact that not everything in life is perfect. I will not always get what I want, or feel as though I need. I will have several friends while abroad, but those friends will not be as numerous or close as my friends back home. I will see things rarely seen by other 21 year olds, but I will do so at a cost of separation from those who I care about the most. And finally I will generate amazing appreciation for life and all of the things that are available to me, but I will do so by exposing my vulnerabilities and undercutting my once inert confidence. Then I realized, confidence is not being able to walk up to a pretty girl in the room and ask her to dance, confidence is realizing that not everything you want, or that you thought you once needed in order to be happy, is a reality, and that you are not only okay with that, you embrace that.

I have grown more and more aware of my surroundings while abroad, both physical landscape and emotional growth opportunities. While I realize that it is important to have a secure internal appreciation for these things, it is also important to portray yourself to the world in a way that reflects that confidence. Not by being a womanizing prick, or by using overt use of the college slang, but by speaking with a manner that demonstrates your appreciation for life, and the pleasures that come along with it. With that being said, I am not advocating to myself, or anyone else searching for words of wisdom to denounce hedonism and leave yourself open to an onslaught of emotional pain and anguish. Quite the opposite; be so closed off that you forget what life was like while looking through the eyes of someone else. Do not open yourself up to how someone else views the world, you are you for a reason and in order to appreciate things, you must do so on your terms. You must not take statements or emotions at face value, be trustworthy, but only as trustworthy as you would be towards yourself. Enough of life is thought to be better lived with your mind and someone else’s body, or lifestyle, or house, or college, or experience. Would I like to be in college park right now? Yes. Would I like to be here in Australia right now? Yes. It is about the choices we make that define us, and that is the ultimate goal, self definition. What makes us who we are is the decisions we choose, and how we follow through with them. There is no wrong decision however, if that decision is what is personally felt to be a good one. I was recently asked why I did not climb Uluru, a sacred Aboriginal rock (Ayres Rock) reserved for those going througha writ of passage, similar to the Bar Mitzvah; and was it because I felt respect for the Aboriginals? No. The rock was closed b/c of extreme heat. However would I have gone had the rock been open? The answer is yes, I would have. I feel as though this is my life to live, and I will live so with respect for my fellow man, but I also appreciate the pleasure someone gets from climbing such a famous landmark and it is my option whether I want to take advantage of this. I would not be climbing because ‘everyone else was’, nor would I be to fulfil my own ego, I would do so because I wanted to, and while I respect the aboriginal way, I also respect my own pleasure and felt that I was doing to direct disrespect to any aboriginal tribe. Had there been a ceremony being conducted of course I would have not proceeded out of respect, but had someone been watching, I probably still wouild have went, because this is my life, and under no circumstance do I feel it is appropriate for someone to restrict someone else of doing what they want to do. This is my land too and I am not going to sit idly by and watch yet another person life life, regardless of personal reasons (cultural vs hedonistic), I am going to make my own decisions and stand firmly by them. Once again, I live my life, and you are free to live yours.

Table of Contents:

Recap

Back Story

Email

Week By Week

21st Birthday

The Week Of The Jew

Its October

Feelings of Depth