I have moved

So I have started a new blog www.whatjustinisthinking.wordpress.com Its fun, you should check it out!

Cheerio blog

So i guess this concludes Justin's oversea Fun, and it has been fun. I've learned alot, probably grown up a bit, become more independent, met some very cool people who i'll strive to stay in contact with, met some rels, experienced different cultures and have actually come up with some pretty solid ideas of what i want to do this year and with my life. All up study exchanges get two thumbs up from me.

I've quite enjoyed this whole blog thing, so i'll probably kick up a 'justin's musings on life' blog later this year, stay tuned...

10th

Today i just steadily made my way back to London - things worthy of mention include the Australian girl who got in trouble by the bus driver on ride home for drinking beer (fosters) on the bus, and the cement trough come flower bed that we passed near Camden that was inscribed with the words 'Metropolitan drinking and Cattle trough association' Wha??!!

I met up with Emma and we went out for Indian and later on that night i discovered that i didn't actually have my plane ticket to get back to Aus, and that i'm leaving a day earlier than i thought - lucky i checked eh?! I've almost got the ticket sorted out now, so it's alright, hehehe.

9th

The day started with a relaxing walk along the wide sandy beach and a quite amble through the town. for lunch i had two types of cheese, olives, a baguette, coffee flavored moose and apple juice sitting in the main square, it really was nice. I also had fun with the language trying as much as i could to pass my self off as being French. It is so much fun, it's hard to believe people actually talk like this, it all sounds so fancy and cool - i was saying bonjour and oravwa to as many people as i could, the lady who served my crepe for dinner even said 'bon apetite' what a hoot! It's almost like they are just saying everything fancily because they know i'm a tourist and are really having me on.

8th

At Victoria coach station at 9:25 i decided with the help of the cashier man to go to Calais as it was the cheapest European destination at £22 by coach. Upon boarding the ferry at Dover i got talking to Rachel a French girl who has been working in Essex for seven years. Her accent almost sounded South African andover lunch on the ferry she told me how she was actually losing her French because she was always talking in English and how this annoyed her parents who only spoke French - what on odd concept, losing your first language.

In Calais i found a youth hostel and had a nap and then went out for tea at a Pizza restaurant. I had the most beautifully ugly pizza ever. It was a quattro fromage and had melted cheese daubed on it like a painters pallet - the moldy blue cheese looked particularly wrong, but tasted so right!

7th

My only objective today was to catch my plane to london which left at six in the evening, so i spent the first half of the day on the beach where i had a swim and checking some emails on the free internet that was available in the supermarket of all places. I left for the airport at two giving myself an hour to get there and three hours before the plane left I figured i would have a lot of waiting to do but i didn't want to risk being lat. I'm very glad i left so early. I caught a sheroot to the town station no worries but boarded a train going in the opposite direction to the airport. A very kind army girl found directions for me and showed me the right platform. Finally when i was in the airport i got pulled up by a security lady who passed me onto a pretty intimidating man wearing a black suit. He questioned me very thoroughly for at least fifteen minutes about my trip asking where i stayed and demanding receipts from the places. I got a bit nervous under this sort of scrutiny, but i soon warmed to the task and told him as much as i could in the greatest detail and even offered to let him read this journal i have been keeping. He seemed pleased with my answers but he gave my passport to another suit clad man and took my bag into some 'questioning' rooms with me following dutifully at his heals. Despite my best efforts he wasn't keen on small talk. The room had many smaller areas cordoned off by curtains - i was told to place my bags on a bench and have a seat. At about this time i started to t a little nervous again but i thought 'what's the worst that can happen? You will be strip searched and you won't have a funny comment ready to say' Thankfully nothing so tragic happened. My black suited friend came and took me into the curtained room and told me to take off my shoes. "Now I'm going to body search you" he said "Well then i'll try not to smile too much". He kept a pretty stern face and started patting me all over and swiping me with his metal detector, things go a bit more exiting when he swiped the metal buttons on my fly and asked me to undo my pants, but apart from that it was all G-rated stuff. Back in the main room i was asked to open my bag and watched two lads go through my stuff very thoroughly, checking al the seems of my jackets and pants. My wallet and electronic stuff was taken into another room to be examined and taken apart. The battery from my phone had ben taken out and replaced as had the lens from my camera. I was really impressed at how thorough they were and i told this to he nice lady who walked me around to book my luggage in, she was a great deal friendlier than suit man. Finally i was through to the departure lounge with only a couple of minutes to spare and i got chatting to a four year old girl. According to her, her parents are in Australia or Switzerland and she and her brother are going to visit them soon. She was with her brother who had a pretty deformed head and a lady who she didn't refer to as her mum, but seemed quite conformable with. As i was wondering what her story was Denise walked by so i had a good chat with her. After the five hour flight back sitting next to a nice Jewish couple and their nineteen month old child i met up again with Denise and she offered to let me sleep on the floor in her room that night. I accepted this very gratefully as it sounded a hell of a lot better than the airport bench that i'd planned. We chatted merrily all the way to her place just up the road from Alisons and i made the most of hearing her fantastic Irish accent and had to suppress a laugh every time she said a word like 'think' as 'tink'. She grew up on a dairy farm in Ireland with nine brothers and sisters with fun names like Fergal and Dermot. Brilliant!

6th

Our first full day in Tel aviv and our last day together, we started it off with a nice sit on the beach, then a stroll through the busy market place. Rhys bought some gifts for his family and i tried not to get into too much trouble with the sellers who are very aggressive with their tactics. We pottered around for quite a while, had some bread for morning tea, then got ome fantastic felafel (yup we ate alot of it!). We covered alot of the city then ambled back to our hostel along the beach. Rhys got his stuff together and made his way to the airport. He had made a great travelling companion, we talked about big issues that affect the world and small issues that barely affect us. Long distance bus rides were thought of as a time to cover another important topic, not as a time to listen to an ipod and wait to reach a destination. Rhsy wanted experiences more than seeing sites and meeting people more than looking at things, as i did and we both didn't mind how cheap and nasty the place was that we slept at. But what made Rhys such a super travel buddy was how he viewed things that happened good or bad as an experience, and stayed up beat, such as when someone stold 600 shekals from him in Jerusalem or when we needlessly changed our sheckels in to $US instead of Jordan Dinas.

So it was a bit odd when he left. I opted for the great loner chiche of walking along the beach by myself and got pleasently lost in thoughts. Upon walking back down the beach i passed a girl that i had already walked by so i smiled at her and said 'how's it goin?' She smiled back, stopped and we started talking. Her hair was dyed bright red, she came up to about my shoulder and she spoke with a pretty strong Israeli accent. We walked for a bit and she told me about her life and i did about mine, but to a lesser extent. When we were sitting on a bench she told me about her singing ambitions and sung me a verse from American Pie by 'Madonna' after building up enough courage. I told her her voice was reat and she seemed really happy. Madonna she said started singing Karaoke and despite being knocked back many times she has succeeded. So she has looked into a Karaoke bar in Tel aviv and will become a singer just like her. We then went for dinner and i waled her to her bus stop. Another interesting thing that she said to me was when she was talking about her english skills and how she struggles with her grammar, but that it isn't a major concern of hers as musicians don't follow the grammar laws. "Do you know the Rolling Stones?" she said "The song 'i can't get no satisfaction' should actually be i can't get any satisfaction". She said she was twenty two and had just been a year out of the army, but she would have passed for 16. When she spoke she seemed so innocent and naive, but every now ad then she would swear or say something unexpected - certainly coming from someone i had only just met that would make her seem older. Ashley was her name, and we swapped email addresses and she said she asked if i'd meet up with her if she was ever in Australia. She hasn't left the country before but would liked to go to the US or Britain because she thinks they are nicer than Israeli's.
So that filled on of the only gaps that i had found in this trip - that of not actually meeting many Israeli's as the Couchsurfing fell through. But talking to her and Jael and Daniel in Jordan all for solid lengths of time have given me at least a taste of the Israeli mindset.

5th

At 4:45 in the morning Allan's alarm went off and he Rhys and I got up, changed and headed out of the hostel to tackle the 2km snake path up to Massada. We didn't get far though as the big gate to the hostel was locked. Rhys noticed a rectangular outline in the tarmac and thought it might be a sensor for cars so we both jumped on it and the gate opened, we didn't actually think it'd work... We made our way up the steep track and were on top of hte 300 metre rock well before the sun had risen. Masada was the last strong hold of the Jews when the Romans invaded, it is a fortified little city ontop of a rock. The Romans had to build a massive dirt ramp to reach the door and then had to burn the door down, whentey got inside they found all 900 Jewish people dead. They men had killed their families then ten people were chosen to kill all of hte men, then one person chose to kill those last remaining 9 men and himself. We scurried back down and had breaky with the three girls who also went up Massada in the morning and found that they were doing a col walk and camel ride ane were going to Tel aviv like us. We didn't get an invite to join them so we though we'd bit the bullit and just ask - as it utrn out they were just going to bum around the hostel or that was just their excuse to get rid of us. We never really figured out there whey were coming from, seeming really pleased to see us and very friendly but a little stand offish. We said we'd probably se them on the bus t Tel aviv and headed off to a waterfall near Ein Gedi about twenty kms away. We tried hithing and wee successful! A bus pulled over for us and we payed 16 shekels for the ride (okay perhaps not technically hitchhiking but the intent was there). We saw some cool animals like ibex and hyrax (dear and tail less possum looking things) at the waterfall place, then went to wait for the bus, but it was a little late and a lady in a small suzuki pullled over and offered us a lift to Jerusalem so we took it. Then with the hel of some very friendly locals we made our way to central Jerusalem bus station, then sat on the floor of the bus to Tel Aviv where we caught a sheroot to our hostel near the beach. Straight away i could tell that there was a difference between Tel aviv and the rest of Israel - it just seemed like a big Western city. The hostel that we stayed at too was different, very laid back and social. Still only one sex per room, but as Rhys said, they don't mix their cheese with meet, so haved mixed dorms must be way out of the equation. Rhys and i were starving and decided as this was our last night together we would make it a big one. Allen had talked of sending 200 shekals in one night on booze so we thought we'd aim to try and spend a similar amount on food. We managed to spend 70 shekals on Shwarms, pizza, chocolate milk and sweets - we went crazy! At the end of the night we got completly lost. It was fun, but we were quite tired, i was really sure i knew where we were, but i was wrong, very wrong. That was a pretty solid day.

4th

We had fruit for breaky and then walked about the old city abit more and checked out the dome of the rock in greater detail, at one of the security points we passed a security guard with what looked like an uzzi, a very very mean looking gun. We caught a bus to Ein Gedi, and talked briefly to a Canadian guy who like most canadians carried a 'canadian safety flag', a small flag on his backpack so that people would know that despite the accent he wasn't American. In Ein Gedi we met up with Denise (32) who is an Irish Garment Technician working in London. We swam and floated in the dead sea which was alot more fun than i've been told after a picnic lunch and then the we met up with the three sydney girls form Jerusalem. They were staying in the same hostel as we were planning on staying at in Masada, as was the Canadian guy Allen (27ish) who we were sharing a room with.

Rhys and i then went for a walk in a cool dry river bed which looked like hte stampede scene from the Lion King. As we were walking back we were approached by two men not in army clothes by holding machine guns - then about 100 Jewish school girls followed them, apparently that is how they go on excursions here.

Dinner was quite exxy but we ate bucket loads, and we stayed town there for almost two hours chatting to Allen and Denise, who has a fantastic accent.

3rd

Our plans changed yet again and we went back to Jerusalem instead of Masada as this was easiest. We hadn't booked tickets for the trip so spent most of it standing or sitting in the isles. Some army girls got on who looked younger than us, they wore earrings, and make up, and carried mobile phones, but they also wore the army uniform and carried machine guns. In Jerusalem we took a taxi to Yad Vashem the Holocaust museum, but were told that it was closed. But luckily we got in via the back entrance by walking in with two girls who knew someone working there. It really wasn't a barrel of laughs and was quite full on, but worth seeing - something like that should not be forgotten.
We walked back, picked up some milk, bread, sweets (there are lots of lollie shops here) and made macaroni cheese and ate it on a wall overlooking the city.

Our room here is better described as a walk in cupboard of average side.

2nd

We ambled around Aqaba in the morning before having cheesy bread for breaky cooked in a big oven. We then caught a taxi which pulled up for us in less than 40 seconds of us walking on the street, and headed back to Eilat. We were easlily viewed as tourist even before we had our bags on, and as a result may have got ripped off for some things, bu not to what it was worth to us in Australia.

In Eilat we had a power nap, laid on the beach and ambled town, saw the film 'august rush' on a tiny cinema screen which paused half way through for an intermission. Then we ate more felafel and looked out over the bay towards Jordan before hitting the sack.

1st

With a hearty breakfast of a bag of milk (our staple drink which cost only 2 shekels) and a pastry we took a taxi ride twice to the boarder of Jordan, the second time with Rhys' passport that was no longer safely tucked under his matress in the hostel. The guard at the boarder chatted to us about Australia where he was planning to study, and then advised us that it probably wasn't worth going to Jordan as the road to Petra were closed because of the snow. We opted to go anyway, but were a little disencouraged when we met some American backpackers going the other way who had missed out on it because of the snow. After walking the eerie 100m or so to Jordan through no mans land we met up with some Israelli's who also wanted to see Petra - Jael (ya-el) and Daniel. We struck a deal with a taxi driver to take us there and back for 80 Dina's which works out to be about A$40 each. We were then taken from the boarder in a samsung taxi to a driver who didn't speak much english in a corolla in Aqaba. On the way to Petra we saw a sleepy driver in a van smash into a guard rail (not too badly) as well as lots of dirt and mountains without any vegetation which looked just like piles of dirt from mines. It was getting quite hot in the car but when we stopped for coffee we realised it was actually quite chilly outside dispite the sun being out and not a cloud in the sky. Then all of a sudden we started seeing snow sitting on the desert floor - odd! It then got thicker and thicker until we had to take an alternate route because the road was blocked.
Our time in Petra was quite limited but was long enough to get a feel for how mighty it was, Jael and Daniel shared their megre lunch with us and we ambled through the ruins taking plenty of photos of the sharp gorges, cave, and the monumental treasury facade.

On the way back we had some thick turkish coffee and Jael and Daniel were dropped off at he boarder, and our taxi driver took us to a cheap hotel. Although he didn't speak much english he was good fun and we had a few laughs along the way. That night we had cheese burgers and realised for the first time that we actually missed not haveing cheese and meat together. Jordan is a lot more how i pictured the middle east to be that Israel, really baron and not many women about at all, the ones we did see were covered with the burquas, yet the ones that we saw on the music video's on the tv in our room were dressed just as scantily as you would see in any western country.

The pillows in Jordan were very hard.

31st

That morning it was very snowy - but not slushy and we bought some food for all our three meals for the day for 37 shekals, about $1.50 each per meal. A one armed man in our hostel told us that buses were not going out of the city because of the snow so we decided to take a sheroot to Tel aviv and go to Masada from there. It only snows in Jeruselam every 3 or 4 years and when it does it is a big deal and most businesses close down. Talia was going to Tel aviv that day so i told her that we were going also - she came down stairs but decided not to go - Pol came down too - which was both good and bad, good because it was nice to see her again before we split but bad because it meant that we couldn't part on her previous final statement which made me chuckle " Just remember if you stay in the dead sea too long your genitals might start to sting"

After a moment of panic in Tel aviv where i left my black bag containing my passport, wallet and camera in a sheroot we boarded a bus bound for Eilat - right at the bottom of the country. We had missed the bus to Masada and figuered we would do it on the way up. With us on the bus trip were many Israelli youths from teh army with their menacing guns and a lady who we talked to briely from Tasmania. In Eilat five hours later we opted not to be driven to a cheap hotel by someone at the bus station and went to the one accross the road - the little prince. It was quite cheap but very empty. We dried some of our clothes and our shoes there with a hair dryer that we were lucky enought to find. For dinner we had meaty `israelli take away burgers as we hadn't had meat in two days - i also had a malt fizzy drink which smelt like beer.

30th

Rhys and i woke early and went out into the street to a grocery store to get some breakfast (soup). While eating the girls emerged and we headed out into the snow. Rhys ad i wore bags over our socks to keep our feet dry, but they only worked for the first little while, before long we were stepping into puddles of icey slush without caring, our feet coldn't get any wetter or colder. The alley ways in old jeruselam created a maze that we got lost in frequently, but we finally found the Western wall - the most holy site in Judaism and the Dome of the Rock - one of the most holy sites in Islam. Both looked quite spectacular draped in snow. At the wall we all had a pray and then headed back through the ubiquitous security checks to have some lunch, and take off our shoes to warm up our feet. Then we met up with the girls' guide mate who took us around to some other places like the entrance to Hell before we went back to the hostel to warm up. Rhys and i couldn't get right into the warming up with too much vigor as the hot water in the showers wouldn't come on until four (an hour away) and there were no heaters to warm up next to or dry our stuff. As we didn't have any dry shoes or in my case pants (i was wearing my towel) we just stayed inside for the rest of the evening and night and didn't even get tea.

There haven't been many other times in my life when i have been this cold, but it was well worth it - there haven't been many other times in my life when i have been walking around old Jeruselam in the snow either!

29th

This morning i walked to the showers in my boxers, right passed a sign that said residents must always wear shirts when walking to and from showers...The bathroom here was sweet as, it had a mirror right near the toilet that opened up as a window and offered someone who was having a long sit a very pleasent view of the city scape. For breakfast we had cold pizza and mandarins and then realised that we had missed the only bus to Jeruselam and would hav eto catch one via Tel aviv. We waited for quite a while in a bus shelter while it rained then jumped on a bus for two or so hours. Talking to Rhys along the way made the time pass well. While in Tel aviv we had Maccas - big and dirty, i had a super size. (no cheese though) then a short bus ride took us to Jeruselam where it was really windy and cold and we both felt a bit tired - nto keen to walk around with our bas until later when we could find our couchsurfing mate Simon's place - so we sat down on the floor in a shopping centre and thought - then walked to a hostel and booked in, read the paper, and went out for felafel. Ont the way back at about eight we got talking to some girls from Sydney - all a bit younger than us (they'd just finished their HSC), went to private Jewish schools and had different accents to ours - rich upper class Aussie ones, i didn't know that they actually existed. For the first time i felt like i had grown up on a farm about half an hour from Tamworth - ha! There names were Talia, Polena and Naomi. They ditched us to watch a TV show but came back soon and wanted to go out with us instead to a bar. They were all thinkers and we talked about lots of things. After we had tea and were sitting back in our kitchen we went to the rooftop where it was snowing so we sung, danced, hugged and threw snowballs!

28th

We woke pretty late today, chatted to some fellow travellers, ate some of our expensive (though quite nice) cheese and fruit and with directions from the very kind hostel lady caught a bus to Nazareth. The bus ride didn't sit well with me at all, i felt a bit nauseous, and the almost constant beeping by the bus driver didn't help. But in Nazareth i felt much better once we were walking around. Rhys and i came accross a big church with nice mozaics around it so we wandered in. It was the chruch of ascension built ontop of where Mary lived and was almost thirty nine years old! We then followed the signs through the labyrinth of market alleys to our really cool inn, and unlike times of old it now had room. The inn had really high ceilings with murals on them and large tiled floors. Rhys and i sat on some cushions in the corner and sipped mint tea and listened to the calls of prayes at Mosques. We then heeded the advice of the owner and walked to Mt. Precipice which took us through the industrial part of town which was a little dirty, but the view from the top of the mountain made it worth it. However, on the way back we did have to pass an unofficial garbage dump which in the words of an American that we met in Jeruselam 'smelt like an abortion'. As we slowly wandered back we waved to by many people and honked at alot - it was a little disconcerting, much like we foreigners, which i guess we were. As we had Shwarma (like a kabab) we branched out and had pizza for dinner from a nice little place on the main street.

27th

This morning i met up with Reza again and he drove me to the top of the Bahai gardens where Tahereh had organised for me to take part in a tour of the Bahai administrative centre. This was good fun, but meeting the people on the tour was just as cool, two people from Darwin, one from Melbourne, one from Moldova and our tour guide from America. After the tour i met up with Rhys who had ambled up to the gardens and we had a tour of the Bahai gardens together, before checking out the Bahai information centre at the underpass.

Rhys and i then went in search of Elijah's cave which we didn't end up actually finding, but we had a nice walk in the process. We had a lunch of fresh breads and then bought food for that night including five slices of cheese for $5! We didn't know the price when we bought it... Soon we were exhausted so went back to the hostel, chatted, rested, ate, slept. Was very nice sitting outside under israelli stars sitting in old chairs chatting about Religion, philosophy and life with a good mate.

day 3

This morning after another great breakfast of egg, pita bread and carrot and apple juice we travelled the 30km to the prison city of Acca. Reza was a fantastic guide telling many stories about the places that we were visiting and making the trip so much more valuable. We followed Baha'u'llah's path as a prisoner, where he arrived, stayed in gaol, then was finally released and the houses that he stayed in. We also visited some crazy markets, where i learned to say 'thankyou in arabic 'shockran' and i saw a sharks head for sale! We had another fantastic falafel for lunch and then headed to the shrine of Baha'u'llah - the founder of the Bahai faith. All day long and on the way back to Haifa i peppered Reza and Tahereh with quesitons about the Bahai faith and we had some great discussions. I was interested to know how we would get along, but it all worked out really well, i would consider them friends now not just the parents of my ex girlfriend.

That night i met up with Rhys at the Port Inn in Haifa and we sat in the garden under the stars talking for ages and then walked around Haifa and got pleasently lost - it was really good to catch up with him again, but strangely odd as although we know each other quite well having emailed each other at least once or twice a week for the past year, this was only the third time i'd actually seen him.

day 2

Today after a large hearty breakfast the Khanlari's took me around the Bahai gardens which are easy to see from their 13th floor flat. I had read about the Gardens and seen pictures of them, but they were much more impressive than i could have imagined, my favourite detail is the streams of water that run alongside all the stairs from the very top to the bottom, it not only looks pretty but creates a beautiful burbling sound to accompany the stroll through the gardens. Reza and I then visited the shrine of the Bab and prayed there before we grabbed a quick lunch and i had a walk around Haifa. That night i had my first fellafel and we went to some other friends of the Khanlari's and had sushi and listened to a man play an interesting stringed intsrument by tapping it with sticks.

Israel Jan 24th day 1

Israel! The land of all things religious - even on the plane trip over i knew it was going to be interesting as there were many many ultra orthodox jews on the plane with me sporting the big black hats, yamakas and curly bits infront of their ears. With the arduous trip over (earphones to listen to the tv cost £3 so i opted to lip read - unsuccessfully) i got my passport checked three different times and was questioned very thouraghly on my plans in israel before i left the airport. Unfortunately a british girl who i had been chatting to was asked to move along as she was waiting for me while i was being questioned - i didn't get to meet up with her again...

Once through i picked up 600 shekals (A$200) which are very brightly coloured and found the train station where i waited to board the train to Haifa. While waiting a young chap in an army uniform and holding a serious gun sat next to me, most likely travelling back home after some army training - i had read all about this, but i'm just not that used to seeing guns like this about. That night i met up with Reza and Tahereh Khanlari at their place in Haifa and we went to some of their friends place for dinner.

I said 'Goodbye' before i Pierced off...

I have just left Leeds and with it many of the friends that i had made there. Along with the International friends that i hung with for most of the time i was there i also did make quite a few British chums, which is great as this was a primary reason for visiting the country. In the last three days before i left i went to a Christian dinner and question session with Helen the med student who i met at the Hypnodog show in the first week; i had coffee with Steph who studies French and Spanish, who i met at Salsa and Swing dance lessons; I hung out with French/American Ben who i have been playing a massive amount of Table tennis with and Abbey who often watches us play and i stayed with Taryn, a Bahai girl, at her place for two nights where we watched a couple of films, and had dinner and breakfast together. It's never easy saying goodbye to people that you've hung out with a great deal - but i think i'm getting much better at it. Possibly because for the last two years i have been making new friends and then seeing them off after every six months, and possibly because i have now visited those friends and know that it is not just possible, but highly likely that i will see them again.

We've all seen movies where someone starts somewhere new and makes a dramatic change to themselves and i've experienced it personally. Last year one of my best mates at Newcastle was an American called Casper. Or so i thought, he just invented that name up on the plane when he came out - his real name was Louie. I was slightly miffed that i had had the wool pulled over my eyes, but more than this i was very impressed - what a cool idea! So i thought i would try something in a similar fashion when i was in Leeds. I wasn't brave enough to attempt a name change, or speak with a lisp, or pretend i had a limp - instead i got an eyebrow piercing which i have just taken out. This was spurred by my own opinion of people who had piercings like this - i generally thought of them as being cool, rebelish, tough and young. Now if i just got a piercing in Australia, these connotations would certainly not be attached to me if people had already known me, so i would need to start somewhere afresh with it. So did the experiment work? Did i feel like i was being treated differently because of a slab of metal in my brow? The short answer is no. And whats more, ontop of this, i didn't feel any different or even feel the connotations that i had attached to this kind of piercing. Perhaps once or twice when i was around others who had piercings, i would feel a sort of kinship, like we were in on something together - but for the most part i didn't feel any different whatsoever.
It is also very hard to tell if people viewed me differently as there is no control to compare it too - and if i did feel like i was being viewed differently, was this because of the piercing, or my Australianness, or beard -which have also only occured since i've left the country.
I didn't think that it would affect peoples' views of me in a significant way - but on a superficial level i thought it would play a part - but perhaps because piercings of this sort are more prevallent in English society it isn't as noticible. I am fortunate enough to have two instances which back up these suppositions. On my Contiki trip Caitlin told me that she liked my hair and that it was what made me unique. In a similar artery (why don't people say that?) the teacher of the give it a go session on body language was saying that a good way of remembering peoples' names was to focus on something physical about them, she then said, referring to me 'I would remember you as the man with the beard'. So perhaps i have so many unique qualities to my appearance that a sliver of stainless steal is rendered erroneous. Or perhaps piercings of this sort do not really play a major part in how people define who you are. In my own age group i would readily believe this, but in other more older age groups i wouldn't have thought it would be the case. My relatives that i've met here for example, haven't really battered an eye lid at it. On my Grandfathers side this could be because there is already a son in law who has tattoo's up and down his arms, paints his nails, wears make up and he and his wife (Great Aunt Alison's daughter) have skulls on their chunky wedding rings. Perhaps... On my Grandma's side, my great Aunt Betty is quite conservative, and she did ask me if the pearcing had any significance, but appart from that it was not spoken of and we got on fantastically. Although one of the little cousins asked what it was, how it got there and whether that made me a robot. So perhaps in his eyes i was a little bit different.
I took it out because everynow and then it would get all puffed up, and this made me feel much worse than it ever made me feel good when it was all hunky dorey. It was a worthwhile experience, and I think i've found that my own opinions have changed more than those around me.

Things that have got me thinking...

I was playing football (soccer) recently with some English pals, and there was this one bloke on the other team who was your typical soccer player - Speedy haircut, Man U shirt, shiny boots, and in all fairness he had quite good ball skills and had made me look pretty average everytime i tried to get past him. So i made it my mission to beat him, and i did! He had the ball, i slide in, got it off him, hit him in the knee with my knee, he fell down, screamed in alot of pain and sat off for the next ten minutes. It was a bit of a hollow victory...


Not being a drinker i don't go out to bars much, but on Monday i went to The Library (a bar) with some people from Charlie Mo as a 'cheerio' for Steve the American. It was nice, i talked to many people and the music wasn't too loud. The highlight of the night though? Some golden English lingo...

"So Josh, how was your exam?"
"I thought it was a peach actually"

Brilliant.


Conundrums. We all come accross them everynow and again, and i had one just yesterday that was a real humdinger. I was walking around the back of the Union building and came accross two of my favourite handrails to slide down - short, sharp and untouched. But they were both covered in beads of water from the recent downpour. I was five paces out when I noticed this and knew that if I rode the rails I would then have to sport a wet mark that started at the back of my crotch and ran down my left leg, giving the impression i had suffered a rather nasty rectal failure. Yet at the same time I knew that the water on the rail would add as a lubricant, making the slide even faster. Conundrum indeed. With half a pace to go i decided to do what any extreme rail rider would and take the ride. I proudly wore my damp pants, and saw the mark on them not as a stain of seepage shame, but as a badge of honour for attempting that which other might flinch at.

'You Australian Twat'

Since i have been here i have copped only a small amount of flack from Poms for being an Australian, but i got my biggest dosage two nights ago when i was playing my nightly game of table tennis with American/French Sam.

'Err, we beat you in the final of the last world cup'
'You Australian Twat'

This is obviously part of going overseas as i would not attract this sort of attention at home, so i'm not angry or worried about it, but rather excited. But I was a bit baffled about the correct way to respond though. Obviously the socially acceptable thing to do would be to act all manly and throw some other sports statistic or fact at them and i was thinking of the last time Australia played England at soccer (3-1 our way) or mentioning the cricket. Yet this is like saying that my country is represented by sports teams, this is what my country is(and it is just a little too easy to beat an englishman with this sort of attack). Now i'm not the flag waving type and i despise nationalism, but I am proud about certain aspects of my country; that i get supported by my Government to go to University, that we are ranked 3rd on the UN's list of most livable countries, I quite like the landscape and Steve Irwin came from here.
So can i say this back to a jibe about the Wallabies footy team? I don't think it really matters, as these guys were so drunk that they wouldn't have remembered in the morning anyway...

Leeds University: Slide to success

Six out of every seven people who apply for Leeds University get turned away. This is a fact (or as close to as i can remember), so why is it that so many people want to come here? Is it because in its 104 years of existance it has established itself a worldwide reputation for excellence in a wide range of academic disiplines, because it is in the top ten Universities for research in the UK, has over 50 000 people enrolled in its courses, or because people want to follow in the great J.R.R Tolken's foot steps and be a student at this outstanding institution? The answer is neither of these (although 'did Tolken study there?' is a good way of cutting back Universities to choose from) but is infact that Leeds must have the best handrails for sliding on anywhere in the world. Right now for instance, I am already looking forward to walking back to my residence, as i will be walking thirty metres less then i walked here. Thats right there are three hand rails adding up to a whopping thirty metres for free, energy efficient, exhilerating transportation. Leeds has not got this reputation as a handrail sliders paradise because of the number and length of available handrails, but of their variety. This enables the avid student to experience all types of rail helping them to study and appreciate this fine art. There are two main variables that you have with a free standing rail - gradient and surface. If the pole is painted you will only slide on it if you are wearing business type trousers (i choose a grey pair as it doesn't show up any stains that you may get from the rail), but if it is untreated steel or aluminium ('untouched' in rail sliders jargon)you will slide with greater speed and can get away with wearing regular jeans. Gradient varies alot here at Leeds too, as the Uni is built on the slight incline of a hill, meaning that there is a good range to test your skills. I'm a big fan of the two short sharp untouched rails at the back of the union building, but my favourite are the triple, low-gradient painted ones leading off the Bragg building cluster where i am now - not great speed, but enough length to enjoy the ride and really test your balance.
If you want to improve the skills that will get you further, faster in life, then Leeds is for you, while your here why not try getting a degree as well!

My journey to the library

After finishing revising a chapter of France’s forth republic at a quarter to six today I decided to trundle over to the library to dip into Hunnic history, so wrapped up in my winter woollies I ventured out into the cold leaving my hall via the front entrance. Now I’ve been at Charles Morris for a couple of months and know the quickest routes to get to most places, and the quickest route to the library (now that construction work has finished) is past another Charles Morris block and round the back of the Union building. But the second I had stepped outside my hall I realised that I may have to change my plans, as leaning cautiously against the other Charles Morris block was a devious looking character. Now despite being initially put off by this mans appearance quite near my chosen path, I decided to walk as I had initially decided upon as the alternate route was not insignificantly lengthier, no hoody wearing lout was going to add an extra nine seconds onto my journey! So I walked precariously towards where he was standing careful not to give any eye contact until the crucial moment, then just as I passed I gave him a fleeting glance and our eyes lingered on one another for a brief moment, this was just as a gesture to say ‘look, we are both humans, we both exist, I acknowledge that you are here and are more than just the brick wall upon which you lean’. But he took proceedings outrageously further by saying right out loud ‘youright mate?’. Well I was dumbfounded, just because we both exist does not mean that we need to get all cuddly feely about it, not only was this a request for verbal recognition of his existence but he also required me to turn back upon myself to answer, a privilege only reserved for those close to my heart, or at least people I vaguely know or find attractive. So slightly miffed at his audaciousness I cunningly replied over my shoulder ‘yeah, yourself?’. But my words were in vain, as he ignored them and lobbed another unheeded question at me ‘spo-wee?’ he said, tapering his voice towards a higher pitch so as to kindly alert me that this car-crash of a sentence was actually a question. ‘Pardon?’ I replied. ‘spot of weed?’ he said more slowly, again with the questioning tone. No thanks I muttered, and I turned back around and continued on my way. I guess I should have trusted my first instinct and steered clear of the hooded rapscallion, but as it was he didn’t hinder my progress by more then nine seconds, so it’s not really worth losing sleep over.

Study time

Since i've been back at Leeds i've been spending pretty well all my time studying - with just enough time spare to catch up on emails, play a bit of table tennis, and do a bit of reading before i go to bed. It has been really fulfilling actually, although since yesterday i have had the sniffles and a stuffy head - not cool.

Glasgow to Leeds, though not as planned...

Andrea and Adam's bus back to London left at eight in the morning so we were up quite early and at teh bus station we said our goodbye's. 'It's been fun, see you when i'm next in America'. I then went in search of the train station where i thought i could get a ticket to Leeds for a remarkable £12, but first i had to find the station. I knew roughly where it was as the hotel receptionist had given me a map and shown me, but i had all day and was in no rush. Along the way i reluctantly withdrew my map and quickly looked at it, as Glasgow is the kind of place where if someone sees that you are lost they will cross the road to ask if you need help. Sure enough, on the second time i withdrew my map a lady did ask me if i needed help, but i assured her that i was fine. So as i ambled to the train station i thought about my stay in Scotland...'Glasgow was a very fine place, very friendly; people had fantastic accents; i got to see Loch Ness; I tried Haggis; saw some men in kilts at the Hogmany celebrations; but i didn't get to go to Edinburgh or try a deep fried mars bar - there's always next time' i mused. But as it turned out i could at least cross one of those two missed opportunities from my list as the only train i could get to Leeds bypassed Edinburgh and cost £49. So having no other choice i took it, and with in an hour and a half i was in the country's capital. My ticket to Leeds was not time dependent so i wandered outside of the station and had a look around the chilly but beautiful city. First i walked through a large park that was the drained out remains of a Loch (lake) which sat below Edinburgh castle, then i wandered up to the castle and had a nice look around the outside. It cost £11 to get in, and i didn't feel like walking around too much in there as my backpack was starting to weigh heavy upon me. Whilst taking photos of it, a worker there asked how i was going, and we got chatting. He told me where he thought a good chip shop would be that sold deep fried mars bars, so i headed in that direction, back over past the railway station, not before visiting the (free) kilt making and Military Tattoo mueseums. When i made it onto the street that the chip shop was supposed to be on i spied another mueseum that was having an exhibition on portraits. Now i'm not all that big on paintings, but i'm rather partial to a good photographic portrait, so i thought i would have a quick gander through the exhibition to see if any painted portraits would excite me. Before i could enter the room though, a lady informed me that i could not wear my bag inside and i could either carry it by my side or leave it at the front desk. My bag must wiegh in excess of 15kg so chose to leave it at the front counter where i recieved a token to show when i returned to pick it up. I went back into the exhibition and was very impressed by some of them, who managed to emulate photography amazingly 'why do that when you could just take a photo some might say' but 'why not!', i'd reply it looked fantastic. As i left the exhibition i decided i might just leave my bag there a little while, to liten my load for my search for the deep fried mars bar.
After finding that the place suggested by the castle employee was closed i went into a 'Walkabout' pub which is an Australiasian themed bar, and while i was waiting to ask someone, i had a look at their food menu. To my surprise, i found that everything on their menu looked fantastic! I didn't think Australians really had a specific food culture, but i must be wrong. Ther were chunky lasagnes, burgers, roasted potatos, salads, wedges and much more, all very nice and whetting my apetite. The guy at the bar with a very Australian accent (must be from Perth) gave me some very very rough directions on how to get to Old town where there was sure to be a 'chippy'. So i followed them and after crossing an old bridge and a pub called 'the Scotsman' (i just mentioned that because lots of people were having their photo taken infront of it - perhaps it is famous?) i found just the shop i was after. I ordered a burger, can of IRN BRU and a 'Mars fry' as it was advertised. Handed to me in typical fish shop styrofoam was my holy grail, i had found it, THE DEEP FRIED MARS BAR!!!! Now it sounds a bit over the top deep frying a chocolate bar - but deary me, what a fantastic over the top idea it is. The crispy battered shell holds the warm melted chocolate in beautifully and the two combine to form a brilliant filling treat. You should definatly try this at least once in your life time (perhaps any more and your arteries might clog up!) Just like the two minute noodles and toast in Wales, adding these two good things together was never going to be a bad conbination. I ate my burger and downed my drink on the walk back to the mueseum to collect my bag, as i thought someone might get a bit suspicious if they actually thought about a bag that had been abandoned, with the security announcements that are currently running at all airports and train stations. Thankfully my bag was still there, so i gave a donation to the 'friends and good pals of Scottish art' foundation and went to catch my train back to Leeds. The trip took me along the east coast of Scotland so i got a nice view of the ocean and rugged shoreline and also of the very green country side before it got dark and i arrived back in Leeds.

2 breakfasts + 2 playgyms = very happy Justin

That morning at 4am we were awoken by a fire alarm and all the residents of the hotel met up outside - the fire brigade was there but apparently it was just caused by someone smoking in their room. Smokers eh? Despite this i woke at 8o'clock so that i could have some of the fantastic breakfast that was provided; Croissants, pa chocolate's, yoghurt, cereals, toasts, fruit, and three types of juice. While i was munching away on a croissant the lady who was working there sidled up to me (presumably as i was the only person there) and asked how my new years was. She then mentioned that because not many people would be up, they were going to serve breakfast up until 12 not the normal 9. So with that handy piece of information i went back to our room where Andrea and Adam were still sleeping and slipped back into bed and slept until ten to twelve when we all got up and i had a second lovely breakfast.
The day only got better from there as we had a lovely walk around Glasgow, along the Clyde river which was originally used for transporting ships that had been built in the town and into a nice big park. Now i was quite impressed with the first play gym that we came accross, especially as it had a sign that said 'give priority to those under 12 years old', and as there was no one there we had free run of it. But things just got even better when we saw about 200 metres away from us, towering up into the sky four pyramid type consructions with inbuilt ladders, and from the top of each spouting what appeared to be giant swirling slippery slides. We hastely approached them, and found that it was indeed a mega play ground and it had a sign saying 'give priority to those under 16 years old'. I must admit, i was quite excited as this looked like the king of all play gyms - and i was not to be dissapointed. Inside we went and first up tested out the massive rope swings, then the slides, but found them to be quite slow and a bit wet. But a Dad who was there with his two daughters gave us two plastic bags to sit on for going down the slides, and they made such a dramatic difference! My word - these would have to be the coolest slides i have probably ever been on. And this is just another example of how nice the Glaswiegens are. After a quick play on a very crazy rotating swing, we set off in search of the play gym for those 18+, but figured it would probably be in the shady part of town...

Highlands and Hogmany

Early in the morning we rose, and very much enjoyed our complimentary breakfast (a couple of notches up from the usual cereal and toast of youth hostels) before racing to find George square where we would meet our tour operator who would take us all around the Scottish higlands. After a few moments of panic caused by the changes to the square because of that nights new years celebrations we found him and claimed the back seats of the 30 seater bus. Our tour guide 'Billy' spoke with a fantastic Scottish accent and made sure that we answered with an 'Eye' not a 'yes'. In that day we covered over 600kms and saw some fantastic scenery as well as having a cruise on the eery Loch Ness. I didn't see any monsters, but i wouldn't deny that one could live there. It is over 23 miles long and up to 300 metres deep in places! Througout the trip Billy told us stories about the old Scots and the country side, dropping in lots of fun Scottish sayings. My favourite was 'When i get back i'm going to have a cheeky wee drop of malt whisky, not your mamby pamby blended stuff'. When we did arrive back it was dark so we had a quick bit to eat and headed out to see the Hogmany (what the Scots call New years)celebrations.
We didn't have tickets to enter the square and see the celebrations, but thanks to some very helpful random Scots (who we could barely understand) we secured some and went inside with the other 17000 Glaswiegens. The band 'the view' played and then we counted down to 12:00 where Old lantine was played and everyone sung, and then Loch Lomond, which we had learnt the words to on our tour
"you take the high road,
and i'll take the low road
and i'll be in Scotland before you"
After this we shook hands with and kissed the people we were standing next too, and fought our way through the crowds back to our motel

London to Glasgow

We only just managed to catch our coach to Glasgow (we arrived just as the final boarding call was announced) bus once on board enjoyed the opportunity to see a great deal of Englands green country side during the day time, which lasts for about 8 hours and is slightly lighter than the night time. I sat next to a red headed twin from Manchester who was studying in Germany this year. It's not everyday that you get to meet single twins,(i mean seeing one and not the other - she had a boyfriend) so i gave her a good grilling on the sort of funny twin things that you always want to know if they actually happen ie. Do you dress the same? (quite often actually) Have you played any games on people where you switch places? (yes, changed classes quite often in primary school) Can you feel when she is in trouble, like a superhero? (no, that is silly). After she got off the bus at Manchester i started reading the book of Shirlock Holmes stories that Emma gave me for Christmas and tried applying what i had learned to people on the bus. I deduced that the girl sitting opposite me was less 18 years old, from a well to do family, was interested in trivial things such as fashion, had just come back from a trip to see some close relatives, and over the past 6 months had lost a lot of weight. I figured this as she wore fashionable clothing (ugh boots, jeans, nice top) but the jeans were too big for her, not the tight fitting form worn by girls her age. The boots were not worn suggesting they were not her only pain, she ate sandwiches and fruit and read a reality tv magazine boasting 'best celeb diets' and she carried a sleeping bag...So i'm not on the same level as Holmes (he would be able to tell you not only what pet's her neighbour had but their names aswell) but really, who is?
Finally after ten hours and about 600kms travelled we arrived in Glasgow and found our hotel within 2 minutes. The receptionist John was very lovely and we asked him a couple of questions regarding where we could get food and how to get to the tourist information centre. He had the most marvelous Scottish accent, and must have dropped in about seven 'wee's' in the five minutes we were talking to him - fantastic! After dropping our stuff in our room, we wandered down the street and bought some food at a fish and chip shop, one of the only ones still open (it was 10'oclock on a Sunday night). Because i promised my sister Dru that i would try haggis so i bought one (deep fried) and a burger(which turned out to just be a patty deep fried), some chips and a bottle of IRN BRU, a scottish fizzy drink. Back in the hotel we broke the haggis into three and munched away. Andrea knocked hers back, saying that the smell was alot worse then the actual taste. I would agree with that, but the taste for me came in two waves. Initially it didn't taste too bad, but then just before you swallowed it, it began to taste like how it smelled. And it's smell remined me of a sheep that Dad and i had to shift that had died and layed in the sun for three or four days, at the time i was close to throwing up, and this haggis put me in a similar position. Nevertheless i finished three mouthfuls of the stuff, so i can say that i've tried it!

Madam Tussauds and Monty Python

I met my Yankie pals early in the morning and we decided to walk to Madam Tussauds Wax mueseum, which took us up along Baker street, the same street where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Character Shirlock Holmes lived in the late 19th Century. After getting our tickets checked by the Australian man at the entrance to the wax mueseum, we busseled our way into the main viewing room along with a mass of other people. The models were all very clever, and it was easy to mistake one for an actual person as they were all just planted around the room, i was pretty impressed with Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, but i was dissapointed to find that just like my mate Tom Cruise, i would also be too short to date Nicole Kidman... We then walked through a couple of other themed rooms - pirates of the caribean, more celebs, sports people, royals, house of horrors, and then a history of the mueseum. Apparently, Mary Tussaud was commissioned in France in 17 hundred and something to make death masks of the French royal families who had been decapitated after the revolution. She kept copies for herself and went touring the country showing them to people, and slowly expanding her collection. So this light hearted attraction has a bit of a grizzly beginning.
After this we walked down the immensely busy Oxford street to get to Londons West end where we were going to see the Spamalot musical show. The street was so packed as a result of christmas shopping that we had to walk in a row behind each other just to make any forward progress. The musical was fantastic, losely based on 'the search for the holy grail' Monty Python movie, but with other fantastic additions such as a line of men doing a Russian dance that yelled 'Hay!' when an old lady dragging a cart of straw walked accross the stage. Classic stuff.

From Suffolk to Seppos

On the 27th i took a coach back to London and stayed at my Great Aunt Alison's place. The following day was my birthday and Emma my Dad's cousin came around and we had a marvellous big breakfast. I then ventured into Bayswater, a suburb in London to meet up with my American friend Andrea and her boyfriend Adam. I met them no probs at the hostel that they were staying at and we had an all you can eat pizza lunch for only £5 down the street, before i took them on a walk all accross London. Having spent about a month in this massive city i was just like a tour guide, which felt a little odd, but i think i did a good job. We walked through Hyde park, past Buckingham palace, the Guards avenue, Trafalger square, along the Thames opposite the London eye, past Big Ben and the houses of parliament and over Westminster bridge where we bought some roasted nuts. By this time my Seppo* pals were quite exhausted having been up for 18 hours and were a bit jet lagged, so we called it a day and went our separate ways. When i was back at Alisons i had a fantastic bath with almond oil, the lights dimmed, a good book, and rain tapping on the skylight - what an ace way to finish a 20th birthday!

*slang term for Americans (Americans are often called yanks which rhymes with tanks, septic tank = Seppo)

Wet not white Christmas

I stayed with my Great Aunt Betty for the week up to Christmas in a small farm house in Suffolk. We spent our time sitting in front of the tele drinking cups of tea, knitting and talking about family, English culture and the past. It was fantastic, i really enjoyed having a time to just vege out after all the travelling around.
For Christmas we opened pressies (Donnie got me some slippers to wear about he house, they are fantastic old mans ones in rich red and some other fun goodies) and then had a great big lunch at Kate's place (my 2nd cousin) of turkey with all the trimmings. I ate an aweful lot. After dinner we watched the Queens speech and a bit of tele, had a walk outside and then Donnie and I went back to her place and did a bit more knitting. All in all a most enjoyable day.
Apart from the obvious temperature differences between Australian and England Christmas' there are also a couple of other ones. As a result of the seasons Britons spend more time inside and therefore watch television on Christmas day. I have never done this at all before. The stations get right on board showing favourites like 'my fair lady' and the 'great escape' every year as well as more kiddy friendly movies. The English also play cheesy christmassy songs on the radio like Maria Carie, Cliff Richards and the Pogues. They are terribly catchy. Becky gave me a CD full of them so i can play them all when i get back home - hooray! I both love and hate them at the same time - but they will always bring back good memories.

Oh and it rained not snowed.