I Surfed... I Think

This is just a quick short post to satiate you while I create a few longer posts that I will write covering the time Mari has spent here. As the title suggests, this one is about me surfing (or at least trying to).

Mari and I spent last weekend in Byron Bay doing many touristy things including surfing. Being from California, Mari has spent some time on a surf board and has the basic idea of what to do when that wave comes along. So I saw this as an opportunity for her to show me up yet again. And I was right.

We signed up with a company called Black Dog Surf School that actually had a dog that surfed. His name is George and he hangs out in the companies office most of the day. He has not really mastered the concept of facing the right way, but he does get on the board and surf.

We started with a few stretches (thankfully sans camera) and a few drills about foot placement and how to stand up on the board when the wave takes us... then we were in the water. For some reason the instructors thought that Mari and I should be the first two to embarrass ourselves... I was the only one to do that successfully.

It was slow going for the first few tries. I was able to stand up, but it just felt like I was standing on a board in the ocean... not really surfing. But then the instructors pushed me into some bigger waves and I finally felt like I was actually surfing. For some reason I was never able to wipe this dumb look off my face. Every picture of me, I look like I am looking at a horribly disturbing scene... but from a long ways away. So it is a bit of "squinting disgust".

On my last "surf" the fins on the board ran aground on the beach and I decided I would just step off the board instead of fall off like I had been doing all day. That turned out to be a mistake. My impossibly weak knee gave out from under me, I heard it pop, and there was quite a bit of pain that caused me to swear loudly at a crowded family beach. Thankfully it seems that I just sprained my knee, but it still put a damper on the day, since we had to change our plans.

If any of you super intelligent people want to make robotic knees, know that I am a willing guinea pig just as long as I get to keep a working pair.

That is all for this short and quick update. I will do another post soon to let you know all of the fun we got into while Mari visited from Japan. In the mean time, here is another picture of us surfing... notice my complete lack of form resulting in me falling to the back of the wave (like I said, "I think I surfed"). While Mari is making me look like a fool that is confused by the large body of water that just happened to be under me (Why am I wet? And what is that smell?).

Chat soon. Enjoy

Christmas, New Years... and Heat?!

I figured you all were itching for another riveting update from the expat down under. I am happy to oblige. Let's start with the most recent major holiday I missed. Christmas comes but once a year, as that old song (and animated short) says, and this year I spent it without any family. Well that is not entirely true. I spent it with Alan and Danielle and their three daughters, part of the Ferno family. When I realized I would be spending this festive holiday season with four (five if you include the dog) girls, I was instantly paralyzed with gifting fear. I had no idea what to get them. To this day I have yet to pick out a gift for my younger sister for Christmas. My mom always comes to me the night before and says, "I have this for you to give to your sister, it is already wrapped, just put your name on it". So logically, I called the women in my life and told them to find something and send it over to me. They settled on Culver shirts for the kids and a scarf for mom. Dad was easy to shop for, mini keg of beer in a bag, and I am done. The girls were ecstatic to get rowing shirts from a different school, and dad was more than happy to tap the mini and get to drinking. They were generous enough to gift me a lovely "Beers of the World" package, which were enjoyed over the next week.

And now for something completely different... Back in November, I heard about some YouTubers coming to visit Brisbane for a meet and greet. I have been watching some of their videos for about a year and figured... I have nothing better to do this Sunday, let's go wait in a line with young girls to meet famous internet people. So that is exactly what I did.
As I was waiting in line listing to a bit of music (standing to stretch my old man legs) with everyone sitting down around me, a security guard approached me signalled for me to come over. I took off my head phones to hear what he had to say. Our conversation went almost exactly like this, SG-"Some committed parents no?" Me-"Yeah, pretty crazy." SG-"You know parents can wait over in the cafe while the kids wait in line." Me-"That's convenient." SG-"So, you can go over there if you want and your girls will be fine waiting here." Me-"I'm not a parent, I am here to see people from the internet."
I found it funny because the group of girls behind me was in fact older than I was. So, that was lovely to have someone think I was old enough to have children that were fully developed. Any way, I met Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen), Mamrie Hart (You Deserve A Drink), and Jack Douglass (Jacksfilms).

My New Year's plans originally had me going to Byron Bay and celebrating with the Gordons. Last minute changes, had me coming back to Brisbane with no plans. So, what do you do when you have now plans? You go to the internet of course! I ended up meeting up with some Redditors and having a few roof top drinks and watching the fireworks then calling it an early night.

I watched them from a prison cell

Lastly, the weather. While you all are complaining about the snow, and the cold, and the "arctic vortex", I have been enduring the hottest January in Australia on record. I would trade places with you in an instant if we didn't have to bother with that pesky 16 hour flight business. This is no joke, I sweat simply thinking about going outside, I fall asleep spooning ice packs, and dread seeing stairs I have to ascend. Thankfully on the hottest day I was able to sneak away to a friend's pool and cool of. But as proof of the heat I was experiencing, here is a screen shot of my phone during the day. It is in Celsius, so sorry for making you do the conversion, but you will survive I am sure of it.

That's all for now folks! I think my next instalment is going to be somethings I have learned at my job. So not really an update, but hopefully it will bring a smile to your face. Until next time... 

So I moved to the other side of the world...

"Welcome to Australia!" Was the first sign I saw as I deboarded the massive 747 after haphazardly stumbling down the jet way wearing clothes that reeked of 36 hours of travel in coach. I had finally made it to the land down under... again.

I know that I promised everyone regular updates to my blog just as I have done with my previous travels. But I have let you down once more. So, here is a two month one week and five day late blog post.

I settled in quickly to the house I have been staying in. A quaint little cottage in the very eclectic suburb of West End. I spent the first two weeks sleeping on a "swag"in a furnitureless house, eating my meals while standing at the kitchen counter. Thankfully, I was dispatched with a U-haul-esk truck to pick up a mattress and furniture only a few weeks into my stay. So I am now in a house that is furnished... just in time for me to move out.

The job hunt got off to a slow start. I began by abusing every possible contact I had down here begging for an opportunity to show them how important social media was. Interview after interview, office tour after office tour, nothing seemed to be the right fit. If you are looking for a quick way to feel down about your prospects, try getting turned down for four jobs in a month and a half time. All bad things do come to an end though, one turn down turned into a reference, which turned into a week of work experience, which turned into a three month PAID internship, which could turn into a full time job.

The potential full time job in question is with the major news paper in Queensland, The Courier-Mail. I am working with their social media team, designing posts for multiple platforms and trying to increase their reach and engagement numbers. And it is quite the learning experience.

You guys came this far, here is a picture of a penguin in a Christmas tree costume

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I had originally intended to just grab a turkey sandwich and call it a day, but at the persistent nagging of one of my newly found friends, I planned a whole dinner. I was quite a bit nervous, seeing as I had never cooked Thanksgiving dinner before. I have always been the designated bartender/wine pourer at the family gathering. But I did not have to impress anyone who had a Thanksgiving dinner before, because they were all foreigners (one German, one Mexican, and one Australian). So with the help of his culinary holiness Alton Brown, I was able to make a delicious meal. 

I have also been lucky enough to spend some time on the coast in Byron Bay with my ever so gracious housemate. The house we stayed at was beautiful and the company was even better. There was a local surf festival while we were there as well, but we really didn't make it down that far.

For the moment, I believe that is all. I do have to get ready to leave for work now. But I will do my very best to continue with regular blog updates. Feel free to comment or leave questions, I know I have left so much out, but I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Sorry for the length, I hope the pictures made it a little easier to manage. Here is one final picture. I may have left Ohio, but Ohio has not left me.

India: The Land of Mystery

I made it to India at 4:00am. I somehow dragged myself off the plane and made my way towards customs with my passport and visa in hand. I hurriedly filled out the customs intake form while in line to go though the customs line. I passed through customs with no problems and was then off to collect my bag. So far, there was nothing different about this place.. but that ended the second I grabbed my bag and made for the exit.

Outside the terminal, there were a few hundred people just waiting, some waving signs, some staring blankly at you, and some actually doing something productive at 4:30 in the morning. Upon not finding my driver in the first wave of people, I proceeded to the second way and was relieved to see a tall Indian man's eyes light up when I looked at him. He eagerly waved a sign that read CHRIS BOURGRAF       OHIO, USA.

What a relief.... I shook his hand and he introduced himself as Dinesh, and then informed me that my scheduled driver decided to call in sick, so he and his roommate made the trip to Delhi to pick me up. At this point I was a little lucid from the lack of sleep and the drastic change of climate, location, and people that now surrounded me. So for the 45 minute drive from the airport to my flat my eyes began flickering at 1000 mph. You know like in the movies when someone is reading something that becomes progressively more important as they continue reading. As it turned out, neither Dinesh or his roommate knew where my flat was, so we drove in circles for a solid 10-15 minutes asking random people on the side of the road.

Upon finding my flat... Wow...
First off, It is called UniWorld Spa. And it is pretty close to that description. I am on the 8th floor out of 18 or so and it is quite a flat.

And to top it all off, this is the view I have from my seat at breakfast every morning. 



After finishing breakfast, doing a little unpacking, and taking a nap. I was then picked up and taken to the school where I would be working. Mind you, this was around 10 am and I had only taken a 1 hour nap.

I think I met close to 50 people that morning and had to hang around the office till 5:30 that evening. To say the least... I was exhausted. I got back to my flat and the care taker asked me (in broken Hindi/English) when I wanted dinner. I was unable to articulate "as soon as possible" to him, so I settled for 7pm. I don't remember eating, or getting ready for bed, or anything else. I just remember barely being able to function. Thankfully my flat has air conditioning in each room, so I turned that bad boy on and fell asleep in seconds.

And thus concludes my first day in India.

I promise not to do day by day updates, but the first day was pretty staggering. I will be sure to update you soon on what I have been getting into. Until then!