catchin' up again (from australia back to coquitlam)

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Hello everybody,
So, with the last few group emails i've sent out, i think i started
out by saying,"....it's been a while", or ".....long time no write"
or something equally witty to all of that. The reality of it is
that staying put and just working and living doesn't give
entertaining material to write about, unless you want to hear about
me taking a spontaneous walk to the airport while severely
intoxicated (it happened....), or how my buddy's and i would walk
around spitting out random lines from "Anchorman" and have a good
laugh; funny to us, but not really too funny to read about.
In my last email i think i mentioned that i would soon be out to
Thailand, which at the time was true, but, due to my plans changing
more than a girl's idea of what to wear out in the evening, i have
not yet made it to Thailand, not yet.
I stayed in Cairns until the bitter end, until i had to return home
for my brother's wedding, which is where i am now (at home, not at
a wedding...). The last month and a half was good, uneventful, but
good. I finished at PJ's at the end of my three months work term.
It was a coincidence that i finished there at the end of the work
term, as i didn't quit or resign cuz it was time, but rather, got
fired. Yep, fired, for the first time in my life. It was a good
feeling, something else out of my system. In being liberal with the
dispensing of free drinks over the months, it finally caught up
with me one fateful night when the manager asked me to show him
where i rang the drinks in. I replied that i hadn't rung them in,
and he said i could leave, so i did. At the end of three months
there, i was ready to be done, so the quick termination was almost
like a breath of fresh air. After three months of working for the
proverbial man who got rich off of the poor, and having to put up
with co-workers of ugly girls and loser guys (some of whom are
reading this.....hello), it was good to be free.
To fill the time i did a few days of house painting, which i had
done previously at home, and i was reminded of why i told myself i
would never do it again, cuz it was boring and repetitive, and
about as stimulating as tea with the queen (or so i would imagine
it to be, sorry to the pom's out there who might not like the dig
at old mum, but remember, she's our queen too, or so she likes to
believe). My boss was a short short wearing aussie who called me a
'cunt' about five times in every sentence and never really let you
know that the work you've done was anything more than slack and
sloppy. Good times. To top it off, i was a day short of being
struck at by a friendly tai-pan, australia's most loveable and
venomous snake. That honour was saved for my buddy Will who
continued painting the house when i had the day off. Luckily, Will
makes Steve Irwin look like a kid who's handling his first hamster,
and was able to contain the snake until some wildlife services
people showed up, which i think was just a couple drunk guys in a
ute.
I worked at few weekends at Gilligan's after that, a large bar that
holds some of Cairn's concerts, and has Big Brother eviction
parties with the evictees, where they go on to committ indecent
acts in public with Gilligan's bar staff (a la Hot Dogs for those
who keep current on Big brother australia gossip). It was a great
place to work, big, loud, fun, and about 5 times a night i would
get told i looked like Dave Grohl due to my handlebar moustache, or
Ben Stiller from Dodgeball.
I wouldn't really call myself organized, or that motivated, and so
true to form, and cuz i was waiting on some further details, i
bought my plane ticket quite last minute. Plane ticket to where?
Vancouver!!! Home sweet home. That's right, i'm writing this email
from home, getting ready to celebrate my brother's wedding and a
few days. It's good to be home. Getting home is another story.
A trip that takes about 22hrs ending up taking a week, due to my
last minute booking. Cairns to Guam, Guam to Hawaii, Hawaii to
Houston, Houston to Vancouver. I was somewhat excited to visit some
of these places, Guam could be neat, how could Hawaii be bad, and
Houston.......well not so much, but apparently everything's bigger
there.
Guam, or the city where i was, was a japanese and american tourists
duty free shopping dream; Versace, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, and
all the other wacky stuff that people like to buy. A decent little
beach to wade in and snorkel around, but that's it. They used the
american dollar, and being that it's not a backpacker place there
were no hostels, so i got to stay in a motel for a couple nights,
which was nice, but a bit pricey. So, two days in Guam, and then to
the land of the luau.
Hawaii was great. Once again, i was hampered a bit by the costs of
things, as Hawaii is supposed to have one of the highest standards
of living prices in the americas, or world? i dunno. Expensive, but
gorgeous. Palm trees, sun shine, packed beaches with crystal blue
water, and heaps of americans, of course. I almost forgot that it
was part of the U.S. due to it's beauty and tropical feel and how
laid back it was, but you soon develop a jealousy for all these
americans who can go there to work without any special permits or
limitations, just as if they were going to work in their own little
town. I spent the night in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Packed
streets and beaches, bustling nightlife, palm trees and hotels.
Touristy and pretty. The next day i left on a 'business trip'
(trying to get a job in Maui in two months time) to Maui, a quieter
island. I basically only did some running around there, to the
place i'm trying to work, grocery shops, and hostel, not really
experiencing any of the wonderful things that Maui has to offer,
ie. snorkelling, scuba, huge dormant volcano, fishing. I was a bit
disappointed that i missed out, but still got to see that it was a
great great place with an atmosphere that i'd love to explore more,
and so i'm hoping that this job thing works out and i get to spend
some time there. Three nights, two full days in Hawaii total. Then
to Houston.
Contrary to popular belief and the T-shirts, everything is not
bigger in Texas. It is humid, and houston was quite dull. I was
quite dull. After a restless night flight from Hawaii, and arriving
in Houston for a 13hour stopover, i wasn't really too motivated to
explore, let alone a place that i didn't really choose to be, or
was reallly that interested in being. I got a ride into town from
the airport form a shuttle bus driver who gave me a deal on the
price and looked around town a bit. there wasn't really anything
there, and it was hot and humid. A few hours there and i decided to
take the hour long bus ride back to the airport to have a pint of
pop in an airport lounge and read to kill time (the only thing more
exciting than reading about it is actually being there........).
From there, to Vancouver.
The flight back was fine, i got in just before midnight, and my
parent's were there (late) to pick me up. So, now i am home, and it
feels good. If i was done my travels completely, then i think i
would be a bit depressed, but because i know i have only a limited
time here and then i'm out again, i'm very happy to be here to soak
up the home livin' and vancouver livin' while i'm home. I missed my
dog, the mountains, and my bike (which goes on the mountains). I'll
be home for 1 to two months, working at my old job to save up some
more money before i'm out again to either Thailand or Maui. If Maui
works out, then i'm off to there for a bit, then to Thailand, and
if it doesn't work out, then just straight to Thailand.
Brother's wedding on the 12th, good friend's wedding on the 20th
(just happens to work out really well), and then just hang out for
a bit, seeing friends and family (heaps of family here for my bros
wedding, most family in one place at the same time for us i think),
riding my bike and making the bling. Happy happy joy joy. Great
weather (pretty much the same as cairns winter weather) here.
Anywho, that's it for me now as i think that's me up until now, in
a nutshell. For the local people here, 604-461-4873. I'm going to
try to talk to everyone i can, so i should talk to you all in the
near future, but if you'dlike to take the initiative to call me,
i'd love to hear from you sooner.
Talk to everyone soon
west coast is the best coast
mark

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