Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

I'm a huge sci-fi fan, i.e; Star Trek, Dr. Who, Firefly, Stargate, etc and some my favorite episodes are always the ones about alternate universes. Where the plot is, if one thing changed in history everything was the same but totally different. That is how I feel about Australia. It's so much like home but different on every level. Example #1, the UTE. I still can't see one of these road beast and not say El Ca-mi-no to myself.

Rolling on Doves.

Next is the slang. Australian's have slang for everything. Everything.

• Chewie ~ Gum
• Footie ~ Australian Football
• Billy ~ Teapot
• Truckie ~ Truck Driver
• Lollies ~ Candy
• Mozzie ~ Mosquito
• Sunnies ~ Sunglasses
• Dunny ~ Toilet
• Chrissie ~ Christmas

And then there's the people. I compare Oz to the America of the mid-1800's. It has a whole continent of natural resources and not enough people; 19 million to America's 307. And a good percentage of the population are immigrants, here for work and a better life. Even the backpackers I meet are here because of the money and the chance to see the world.

ACCT #1111

I’ve been slacking on my reading and writing because of Gameboyonline.com. What can I say, I love regression and Zelda. I did buy two new books though, Ulysses and Across the River and into the Trees. I think I’ll tackle Hemingway first because man, that guy is gold.

It looks like I’m staying in Tammin for at least another week, making it little over two weeks to go. My boss loves me so much he doesn’t want me to leave, or the co-owner is going on vacation to Bali. I like to think it’s my winning personality.

Katherine, the English backpacker, flew back home but not before a going away party. It was a great night filled with very talented chicks playing guitar.

Favorite new word; whinge.

I’ve been living in Australia for 4 ½ months now and I’m still learning something new everyday.

The greatest Irish stereotype I've ever seen. A Good night.

preconceptions

She laughingly said, "and off he goes", as I walked out the door. It hit me like a freight train.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

~Kurt Vonnegut

The Perfect Meal (Ban Lung, Cambodia)

A lot people laugh when I respond Cambodia, as my favorite country. Between the rampant corruption, prostitution and extreme poverty it has a lot things going against it. It doesn't help that 25% of it's population was either killed or starved to death under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. From 1975 to 1979 ole Pol Pot dabbled in GENOCIDE. If want to learn more read First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung.

With all that said, Cambodians are the most amazing people you will ever meet. Happy, kind, gentle souls that will welcome you into there homes with an open heart. What follows in picture form is one great day and the best meal I've ever had.

Jessica and I hired two guys to take us into the middle of the jungle.

After sweating out every toxin I've ever ingested in the first 10 minute, we arrived somewhere a day into the jungle.

Our guides set out to cook. They filled a bamboo stem with fresh picked veggies, spices, and water and steamed it over a fire.

While we were waiting on the food, I swam in the local stream and swung off a vine, Tarzan style.

While I was swimming he was making a basket out of bamboo.

The Perfect Meal.

The sign in the tree next to where we had lunch. "Don't touch the mines or bring the mine." A sign about landmines or a rap song?

Stopped by the guide's house on the way back. He lives in an open air hut with his wife and son in the middle of a rice patty.

The baby stroller he made his son.

Dirty 30

And I'm 30... My birthday started off a little slow with me feeling sorry for myself. Then I realized it's kinda hard to feel sorry for myself when I'm exactly where I want to be at this point in life. I'm almost debt free and seeing the world on a shoestring.

So, I headed off to the local Pub, since it's the only place to get a meal besides the roadhouse and there I met Bevin, the coolest chick ever. Even her name is cool. Have you ever met someone named Bevin? She's an Irish backpacker that left her job as a school teacher to see the world and ended up in Tammin, working at the pub for a couple of months before heading off to her the next little adventure. She pretty much did the same path last year in SE Asia as me and it's crazy our paths didn't cross. You would be suprised how small the backpacking curcuit is, because I kept meeting the same people in different countries.

I have 3 weeks left at the road house and I have no clue what I'm doing next. I need to do 3 months of farm work to qualify for my second year visa. Between the flooding in the north, bush fires and lack of rain here, the farm jobs are far a few between. As soon as the rains come here seeding will start and Bevin suggested I put up work flyers in all the nearby town adversting my services. And since she has a car and I don't, she even voluntered to put them up for me. I also met a English couple that told me about work up north in Kununurra. So all I have to do now is wait and something good will happen.

Walk down any street
You can find
Look at any clock telling time
Sing some strange verse
From some strange song of vines
And you'll be where you want to be