Happy Fourth of July!

So here is my 4th of July installment of the SupaAbroad07 Blog. I would say not a ton has happened in the past three days other than planning for the future. In the past three days, I've spent mainly booking trips and figuring out tours, flights, and bustrips, and it looks like every weekend from here until August 10th will be booked. So that's good to have that all said and done, it will start off with a leisurely trip to the Sunshine Coast this weekend, followed by a trip to Fraser Island, then Noosa Everglades, then the Great Barrier Reef, the following week I'm going to run the Bridge to Brisbane 12K, then I'll be on my way to Sydney for my last weekend in Australia. So things are gonna be pretty hectic. This Friday, I'll be going to my first Rugby Match of all time, you bet I'm excited... the local faves the Brisbane Broncos will be taking on the Gold Coast something or another, should be a good match. Rugby is much faster than Aussie Rules football, so that is another thing to look forward to.

So what's been going on in my life recently, my research has becoming slower, and when i say that, I've kinda come to a standstill at the moment. I've learned about as much as I can about the operations and planning of the BRT system here in Brisbane... but oh yeah, I don't know ANYTHING about real estate and property valuation. Hmmm.. let's take a step back. So I spent today and yesterday trying to brainstorm (while looking up random things on wikipedia, checking my email, and searching for flights).... for ways to get plugged into the real estate market here in Brisbane, which brought me to a few online forums which actually seemed pretty interesting. So I think I may try to learn a bit about general real estate knowledge while being here. Probably couldn't hurt. Oh yeah, I got yelled at by another dude yesterday on campus. Apparently you're not supposed to ride bikes on the sidewalk? But here's the catch, I wasn't really riding it, I was coasting it (while on it) from the bike rack to the street ( a seperation of about 15 feet), I really think this guy waas just having a bad day, apparently my apololgies "weren't good enough". So much for making academic connections while being here.

But today is the 4th of July, and I am a bit sad for not being in the states right now. If you didn't know, the 4th is by far my favorite holiday, BBQ and hanging out with your friends, not a bad way to go. The past two years I've spent my 4th of July actually with high school kids (of course having BBQ and then going to a baseball game, how much more American does it get?), but basically high school kids, where I had to be on my best behavior and chaperone... and then before that I was in Asia... so I'm not 100% sure where I'm getting this image of a perfect 4th of July, but nonetheless, I miss being in the states for the 4th. But if you're reading this, Happy Independence Day! But I did manage to have an enjoyable day regardless, I took an hour break from the office to go layout by the lakes on campus today, and of course thought about my many freedoms as an American among other things. Tonight, I had my chance to play some pick-up ultimate frisbee, which that statement does not even scratch the surface of how much enjoyment that gave me. It's a gift that I haven't had since I left Georgia Tech. Berkeley for whatever reason does not have enough green space to even throw a disc without injuring someone or causing some kind of leftist-demonstration. So I played ultimate tonight for the course of 2 hours and met some nice bloats (guys) who are gonna try to plug me in with the frisbee league which is going on this summer, which would be awesome.

Speaking of meeting people, it's been slow meeting many new folks. Most of the people I speak with on a social basis are my fellows here at the Lodge (which I've found a group of guys who I hang out with a bit), but some of the crowd here is a bit quiet and hesitant to go out on a friday/saturday night. I've also had a chance to see a few regulars at the gym where I say my causal hello to here and there. I guess I have also had all of the interviews, but I don't think I'm going to ask my friend the busway station architect to grab a drink with me and watch the game.

Spoke with Catherine a good bit today and it looks like our New Zealand trip at the end of this summer is shaping up pretty well. Should be an awesome time, and I'm really glad she likes planning, because she has taken a bit of the responsbility for that part of the trip. She also got up this morning and ran the Peachtree 10K, I was quite proud when she told me she was going to do it!

At any rate, my left leg is feeling like its going to fall off, and my eyes are starting to droop. So I think my note is coming to a close.