America!

I cheated on Gloria Jeans today.

I can't help but to be overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and treason. At the same time though I felt like a bit of a rebel. I do not need to be tied down to just one awesome coffee establishment with lightening fast internet and a great staff. I am a young man, a free man; Free from the chains of Newcastle Corporate Branding.

In other news...

A lot of positive updates in my lifestyle over here.

I am moving in with Simon and Alex just up the road from Dan's place. Simon hails from Newcastle while Alex is originally from Miami. The two met, sparks flew, they wed, and now they are living in Newcastle while Simon is in school for a Human Resources degree and Alex works.

Simon is involved with the club here and after I was telling him my situation with moving out of Dan's place he and Alex were nice enough to offer to put me up in their spare room. After sitting down with Simon for coffee the other day I have decided that the knowledge inside his brain rivals that of the great minds in blogoshpere and even that of wikipedia. In just 30 minutes of sitting down with him, he put together a place for me to live, a job, and the best deal on a hotel room in Sydney ever.

the job: It is a small and awesome world where Alex happens to be an artist. She works for a graphic design/ad/marketing company here in Newcastle called Nodding Dog Design (noddingdogdesign.com). Last night I went with Alex to check out the Nodding Dog studio and it is unreal. It has this great vibe with a home/business feel. Definitely a creative paradise. Adrian(owner of Nodding Dog) offered me the opportunity to come in and work on some projects for him whenever I could.

Malcom Gladwell talks about the elements of success in his book "Outliers." Gladwell takes very impressive people and situations and explains the success in the most rational terms. For example he uses Bill Gates. Bill Gates became known for his programing prowess because was given the opportunity to program on a leading edge computer for hours upon hours free of charge. The timing was there, his work ethic was there, and he capitalized on the situation.

To look at my situation now; I move to Newcastle and within a month of being here I have this great opportunity to live with a graphic artist and work at an exciting graphics company. I think this is going to be an awesome opportunity for me to learn a lot while I am here in an industry I am very passionate about.

the hotel: (wotif.com) I booked a hotel room in Sydney on the site for 60% off the regular rate! They have deals for hotels all throughout the world.

Even better-The sun is out and surf is decent.

We have a game tomorrow(sat) in Sydney against the West club--a rematch from our lost to them 2 weeks ago. We will "bone crush" for sure.

"do you need me to come out there and own that city with you?" -Hewko, Adam Hewko.

First Surf

When I woke up at 5:30 this morning knowing I was about to swim 3,000 meters I was sure I would come home directly after training and take a nice 2 hour nap. In fact, I believe I have said that every morning this week and still have yet to take a nap. I have heard about the release of natural endorphins during and after a workout...it's science.

With my endorphins kicked into full gear I had a damn productive day.

1) Came up with a business to start while I am here in Newcastle.=$

2)2 hour bike ride=Legs Feed The Wolf

3)Got my first surf session in Australian waters=*Fresh

4)Bought a new pack of Tim Tams=Addicted

and finally...

5)Found out Bryce did his laundry today="Beaming with pride"

"That is why you gotta make fast power moves" Teddy "Freddy" Smith

Turning The Page

Just as you can feel the end of a great chapter in a book, I too feel the end of a great chapter in my life right around the corner. Feelings of fear, nerves, gratitude, and the hopefulness of being able to remember how to work a remote all clash together to make my move out of Dan's apartment very emotional. He is moving in with a friend where he looks forward to saving some extra cash while upgrading to a bigger place. I can only imagine Dan's feelings of despair and loneliness as he makes the drive to morning practice without me in the passenger seat. (Also when I am not there to open his door for him every morning as I still have trouble remembering the drivers side is on the right over here.)

As these tough scenarios present the challenges of today and tomorrow, I think back on the consciousness of a smarter; bolder man than I: Joe Dirt said it best... "Life's a garden, Dig It."

sunset from my place

Weekend Games

I've got a case of the Monday's after a big Sunday.

Sunday night always delivers in Newcastle. We met for Gab's birthday at a local bar/club that opened just for her and her friends to celebrate. I was lucky enough to get on the invite list and it turned out to be a really fun night.

Flash Back to Saturday:

We traveled into Sydney for a double header against the Syndey University squad. I played in the Men's A League at 1 pm and the Men's B League at 2. Sydney Uni has a nice indoor pool and we ended up playing just 25 meters. That came as a pleasant surprise as I knew I would be going for 2 in a row. The Sydney Uni team looked like they have been training and playing together a bit more than us. We played with them until the 3rd, where we lost a bit of our composure and gave up some easy opportunities which they took advantage of.

I played the full first half of the Men's B League game right after we got done with the Men's A League and definitely started to feel my body fatiguing. I like having the opportunity to play in both divisions as I am getting back into the flow of the game.

The drive from Newcastle to Sydney is rapidly becoming more and more familiar. The guys here talk of Sydney like I talk about L.A. There are a lot of "uuhhh"'s and "ooohhhh"'s and "damn Sydney traffic" coming from Juice in the driver's seat.

"Juice" is the coach of the club. He and his wife, Karen, have been unbelievably generous since I have been here. Karen hooks it up with some really tasty meals and their son Campbell is a hilarious little guy. Juice works super hard to keep the club together and devotes a lot of time and energy into the team.

Sunday game against Wests Club was close. It was what I call my "rock bottom game." I played terrible but I am looking at it knowing I can only get better from that performance. We should have smashed them but we could not finish our opportunities. My year off definitely caught up with me in yesterday's game. I feel like I am still creating a lot of opportunities but my fitness level is not up to the level it needs to be. It is a challenge to find my role within the team but it will come together with more practice sessions and games. There is always something new to learn and challenges to overcome. That is what makes being an athlete exciting.

Dan Jones

Ladies and Gents;

It my pleasure to introduce you to one of the finest beings produced by the city of Newcastle, Australia: Dan Jones

The world was blessed with this guy sometime in the 70's I think.

Dan helps coach the Hunter Hurricanes and is also known around town as the paint guru.

He was nice enough to offer up the extra room in his apartment for me to call home during my time here playing for the Hurricanes.

Dan enjoys cold beers and Vegimite.

He talks so highly of this Vegimite stuff but it did not pass my smell-test so I am going to stay away from it for now.

Your the Man...Dan

First Game in Sydney

Last night the Hunter Hurricanes traveled to Sydney for my first game against the Drumoyne team. The level of play is separated into 3 different divisions.

We entered two different teams for Saturday night competition and I ended up playing in both the Mens 1st league as well as in the Mens 2nd league.

With back-to-back games I was cautioned to keep my eyes closed as much as possible in my first game(Mens 2nd League) because of the pools water quality.

This turned out to be a very real caution. Drumoyne uses half salt water and half chlorinated water in their pool for a mixture that comes out smelling foul, tasting foul, and is rough on the eyes.

The Hurricanes gave a great fight against Drumoynes 1st rate team who had John Hahn(former Pepperdine "Waves" All-Star) in the cage. It was great fun to see a familiar face and to catch up with Hahn and his family in their hometown.

The club has a full bar on the top level and I was able to sneak away with a hot dog and a cold beer after the game.

On the drive home we stopped for food and I ordered my Australian Kebab...delicious.

With a tired body and full stomach I decided to catch up on some needed sleep and passed out the whole way home.

With Sunday and Monday off of training I hope to grab some waves and explore more of this interesting city.

A=Australia; Australia=Awesome

A running list of why (in my experience) Australia is awesome....

Whiskey/Coke: the easy way

Here it was decided that buying a bottle of coke and whiskey separately and then having to mix was too much effort in search of that buzz. That is why you can go to the market and buy cans of premixed Jim Bean/Cokes. Awesome

Kebabs

We traveled into Sydney last night for our first game against Drumoyne. I won't go into the game now except that I actually played two in a row and needless to say my appetite was at bone-crushing levels. We stopped at a street corner on our way home where a Mackers(McDonalds), KFC, and a local pizza shop were competing for business. Obvious choice for me; my first Local Kebab. Awesome

Coffee

Granny Jeans (Gloria Jeans)Coffee Shop on Darby. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this coffee shop on my search for wireless internet and it has turned out to be my favorite place to hang(sarge). The coffee is excellent and it is the closest cafe to my apartment. Aside from the over consumption coffee effects. Awesome