Dear Blog. Sorry I have been away for
so long. But here is the abbreviated version of the goings on in the
life of me, because I am sure you have better things to do.
I finished work in April. Had
withdrawals that ski season was over, so I traveled around the Lake
Tahoe area for awhile in search of still open ski resorts. I find my
Mecca at a place called Kirkwood. Late season powder dumps, colliers, and cliff jumps capped off what was an otherwise mediocre
ski season. It was quite epic.
I returned to Utah and proceeded to do
as little as possible. I didn't win the mtn. Bike (thanks for the
help anyways) so I again brought back life to my old one and for a
month I mostly just did that. There was a trip to Moab in there
somewhere that was a real good time, lots of RSL games, and some
random summer fun. I was quite glad summer came a bit early, as I
haven't had a Utah summer in many years and am still at least a year
away from having another. So despite the absence of income I had a
lot of fun.
Soon though the waves beckoned me and I
returned to Maui. Saw Reed and Caitlin for a day then fulfilled my
life long dream of being a homeless beach bum. I put a futon
mattress in the back of my car and slept wherever I could find a
private enough spot. Usually a beach or the church parking lot with
a faucet for the teeth brushing and whatnot. I showered at the beach
and poached tourist hotel pools. Surfed as much as I could and got
free meals from the dinner cruise left overs. Terese joined me, and
soon she found an actual home to live in so I bummed some floor space
there for a few more weeks. The surf was pretty good and I was out
twice a day. I did a once over tour of Maui with Terese but soon the
time came to go down under.
I got to Australia on June 21, I left
on June 19. For me, the day of June 20 didn't happen. That was a
bit of a trip. That date line thing is quite weird. The flight was
a bearable 10 hours. I had a bulkhead aisle seat with more leg room
than I could have ever hoped for. After some weird disenfecting
spray down on the plane I had an incredibly unpleasant night sleeping
on a hard, cold airport floor before catching my bus to my new home,
Jindabyne. Winter in Australia looks nothing like winter at all.
For all of you who didn't believe that I was actually going to be
skiing in Australia...there is some merit to your disbelief. It
wasn't until I boarded a magical train that took me through a
mystical tunnel to the land of the Snowy Mountains that I actually
believed there was snow in this country. Where I board the train to
Perisher ski resort there is no snow and the trees are alive with
greenery. 15 minutes later and one ride on the Hogwarts express
through the Narnia wardrobe, I emerged onto a winter mountain-scape
that affirmed that I would indeed be working at an actual ski resort.
It's a bit weird. Though the Aussies have a very strange definition
of the word powder, and half of their ski lifts are annoying things
called t-bars, I am indeed a ski instructor at Perisher Blue.
It only took me two days to get sorted
and begin working. As it is the beginning of the Australian winter
holidays for school kids (the equivalent of Christmas break) it has
actually been VERY busy. I've been working a lot and lucked out with
some kids who can ski the whole mountain and have been kind enough to
show me around the mountain in exchange for some skiing tips. They
have also been helpful in learning the strange vernacular tendencies
of the Australian language. I share an apartment with two Brits, two
Aussies, and a Canadian. I'm getting a great idea of the worlds
opinions of Americans. Most of it is funny, some is disturbing. But
I was just as dissappointed that no one actually says “Gooday Mate”
as they are that I don't say “Y'all”. The bus ride and
subsequent car rides have caused several brief panic attacks since I
am still not used to driving on the left side of the road. I've been
sure of at least 10 head on collisions that luckily never happened.
Apparently they are all used to driving on that side. I have given
it a go myself, as the only designated driver in a 500 mile radius.
More difficult than the left side of the road is the right side of
the car. The blinker and gear shift are in the wrong spots and I'm
always driving on the left shoulder of the road. There is more car
on the left side here. Americas need to be different has become
quite frustrating as I have no idea how much snow 20 cm is, how far
20 Kilometers are, or how cold it is at 2 degrees C. The toilet
draining direction remains a mystery since I have yet to find one
that flushes in that way, they've all been front to back flushers.
But the biggest disappointment is that 75 percent of TV is American,
which means they are all pretty used to the American accent, denying
me of having that sexy foreign accent that they have when in America.
The resort is large but only in terms
of acreage, er...excuse me, in terms of hectares. It's not that high
from top to bottom or in altitude. But It's still got some really
fun terrain. I can't say much for the weather though. I've yet to
see a snowflake. Icy bullets falling coming horizontally are quite
plentiful though! I was issued a rain jacket as part of my uniform.
Ugh. Jindabyne, or Jindy is a quaint little town of about 3000
people, that has bulged to about 40,000 with all the employees of 3-4
different ski resorts in the vicinity. I like it though. The
kangaroos run around and get run over just like deer do in Utah. I
don't know how they all escaped the zoo but it's sure weird seeing
them run around everywhere all wild and stuff.
The sun is in the wrong part of the
sky, and I can't find the big dipper anywhere, but in general I am
quite well and things have all gone very smoothly. I have very
limited internet access so feel free to email me in some form but I
apologize in advance for my delayed response. I will try to keep
this here blog updated as much as possible. Let my adventures down
under begin! But for now...cheers mate!
