The life?

Over the past 4 months, I did a complete 180 and forced myself to stop doing what friends/society wanted me to do and to start doing what I myself, wanted to do. I gave up on night club security because not only is it garbage, shit and employees are treated like numbers and not respected but also because the pay isn’t worth what one has to put up with on a nightly basis until 5am.

I have always had this hidden notion that because I spent 7 years studying criminal justice, law and mastering in criminology and crime prevention, that I needed to follow this road of government work, doing what is right and obeying the law at all times even if it was morally unacceptable. I’ve always been a believer that I would much rather love my job and make a mediocre living than hate my job but make a killing (my reason for coming to Australia in the first place).

My passion is entertainment and all things considered focusing mainly on music. A good friend of mine once asked me what my dream job was and I said without hesitation DJ. To be able to play music I love to someone in a way in which it gives him or her feel good attitudes and emotions has been something that has always kept its place at the back of my mind since 2005.

Becoming more engulfed in my own music, I also ventured out into the world of acting. At first, I felt it was something I needed to study up on, go to school and be tested about, but quickly realised I could gain all that knowledge by throwing myself into the industry head first. As of the writing of this blog and since getting into acting in July, I have been in two web commercials, 13 short films, 3 viral commercials, a music video and casted for two feature films being submitted to Cannes Film Festival, Tropfest, Toronto Film Festival and Melbourne Film Festival. All done by myself, without the use of an agent and over the course of three months while also studying and working on the side.

It has been exciting work and has given me the opportunity to showcase my personality and put my character through the ultimate test. Maybe it’s because I am a minority? Or maybe because I am an American accent among a population of 22 million Australians? Whatever the reason may be, it is working out extremely well and I am loving every minute of it.

And so the question again pops up asking: “what happens come December?”. I have always had this mentality to come back home in February after graduation but held off to continue doing my passion: traveling. And now, everyday I constantly re-hash my plan of going home for good in December to pursue other ventures: music and acting. I fear coming back home to the US, puts all that on hold (whether permanently or temporarily) and forces me to work in an industry that limits my passion, my free-spirit and my thinking. At the same time, staying here I can continue to find bigger and better roles while working part-time and re-focusing my attention on music. The only downside though is it’s a huge risk with JUST a part time job on the side (since I’m a foreigner). One that if it doesn’t pay off, leaves me thinking what have I truly been doing the past x amount of months/years. And this is the thought that scares me, not having the security of work but pursuing a passion and hoping it works out in the end.

I guess it is better to be 26 and enjoying life than what I constantly see everyday on Facebook statuses from friends from back home. Not having kids, being tied down by someone and being able to enjoy life and do the things I WANT to do is what makes my time here and my life so rewarding. But at the same time, I am continuously bogged down by when I am coming, how I am needed home and how I should just return home, as it’s been 2 years. At times, I feel instead of coming home for good, I should come home for a few weeks to feel if it is right for me or if it’s not my time yet. Maybe I’m scared to come back to the US? Or that doing so means it’ll be time to put everything else aside and start a career?

I seriously don’t know what I want in life or where I want to go with it. Whichever the path I choose, I cautiously hope to have the support of friends and family…

-H

G.R.E.

The reason why I chose to pursue my masters degree in criminology was two-fold. First and foremost, I felt my employment status at the time did not reflect what I truly wanted to do in life or what I was capable of doing. Working security for a nightclub that had no room for promotion and a commissioned sales job reliant on quotas, led me to a very unhealthy lifestyle in which I gradually became depressed, exhausted and without a social life. The second reason for coming was I found myself always talking about ‘Australia this’ and ‘Australia that’ with friends and such. I wanted to continue with my education and felt not only could I go back to Australia and obtain my masters degree in Criminology but because universities in Australia did not require Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores as do US universities for postgraduates.

I have always hated standardised testing and while many of my friends slaved away hours a day studying for the SATs for college in 2003 and taking the PSATs numerous times to prepare for the SATs, I went in winging it. I feel a standardised test is just that, standardised. Why try to cram for a test where you should either know the information or not? And because so many of my friends crammed for it, they obtained higher than average scores that did not truly reflect their true knowledge of skill level for a university setting. I took the PSATs scoring 800/1600, and then the SATs scoring 960/1600 and again scoring 1000/1600. No studying whatsoever and good enough to get into Washington State University and graduate with two bachelors degrees.

But at the time, I was also looking at Arizona State University (ASU) and University of Southern California (USC) because of their excellent criminal justice programs. However, all three universities wanted GRE scores of which I refused to pay for to take once if not two or three times on top of study materials if I chose to actually study. So I packed up, left and came here to do my graduate degree.

After obtaining my masters degree, I then contacted WSU, ASU and USC once again to possibly come back to the United States and pursue my PhD in criminology with an emphasis on crime prevention. And once again, all three universities advised me they needed my GRE scores even after obtaining my masters degree. So it looks as if I have to bite the bullet and go full guns blazing for this damn test.

I have signed up to take the GRE in Sydney Wednesday, July 4th (Happy birthday America!) at 1:30pm. I’ll be flying down to Sydney right after work Tuesday morning to give myself time to relax and unwind before doing some last minute studying before the 4 ½ test Wednesday afternoon. Afterwards I’ll do some sight-seeing and relax with friends living down there before coming back up to the Gold Coast for work Thursday night. A relatively quick trip nonetheless, but only with one purpose in mind that could re-shape my academic future.

I’ve also decided to do somewhat of a basic skim of the material, seeing how a lot of it is high school math that I not only failed twice in college, but also haven’t touched it since 2004. So for the next 2 weeks, in between work and sleep I’ll have my eyes fixated to a computer screen and in my GRE prep notes to prepare for this gruelling beast of an exam.

If I pass with acceptable scores, I am hoping to apply at ASU, USC and my alma mater WSU in hopes of pursuing my PhD in the US instead of here in Australia. While these plans are not set yet and anything can change pending what the scores will be and if Bond University ever gets back to me regarding the possibility of doing my PhD here, I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket…

Until next time.

Cheers and 再见

-H

When the time comes...

At times I wonder if anyone even reads this, since I rarely post or don't seem to do much that is exciting. At the same time, I have fallen a bit behind on them as well (Ahem Japan blog) But I promise to get all that caught up in due time.

In the meantime...

I came to Australia under the plan to obtain my masters degree in criminology and then return home right afterwards to begin looking for work and possibly re-applying for the FBI. They had led me on a chase of employment for 5 months of flying back and forth between the branch office in Seattle and in Pullman where I was living and working (5 hours away). After the 4th cancellation of interviews, I advised them I would be withdrawing my name from the interview and pursuing a higher degree and attempting to find out what I really wanted to do with my life and if a government field job was the right move.

While I was set to return home right after my degree finished in January, a little birdy put this idea into my head that I could potentially stay and pursue my PhD and open great opportunities for myself. So I decided to stick around, swap over to a work visa and pursue my options.

In the meantime, I have done nothing but work 35 hours a week and thus eliminating my social life and shunning all friends out as I spend my two days off recovering and getting whatever I need to get done before I hustle out anothe 35 hours. But the more I work, the more I realise I have a masters degree in criminology and I should be able to get far better work than your average person with a high school diploma. Especially since all these security jobs that I work will hire anyone and those whom I have worked with seem to be stuck in the job for years with no possible advancement or promotion. Now this isn't to say that I hate my job, as I have been in the security industry since I walked out of Pizza Hut and started working at Stubblefields in April 2008. Every job that I have held since then has helped me to become a better equipped person with the knowledge and skill set neede to work in any security industry. But there are better jobs out there for someone like me. Jobs such as the FBI, CIA and NSA are lucrative with benefits and travel all over and they are looking for people like me whom have traveled and have the education and experience to back it up. So you'd think I would be able to find similar work outside the US? Sadly, no.

As a foreigner NOT in my host country, I cannot get the work I want as I am not a citizen. I could go through the process of becoming a citizen, but that is equating to more time, money and effort on my part. Especially since I am on a visa, the same would apply anywhere else I go throughout the world. Get on a proper visa, try to get citizenship, then find a decent job. Therefore, my options here in Australia (or anywhere for that matter) are very limited in what I want to pursue in life.

Don't get me wrong, I can find security work just about anywhere here, but they don’t care what degree you have, they’ll hire anyone and there isn’t room for advancement, travel or promotion. I feel if I am to waste 7 years on school to obtain two bachelor degrees and a masters degree as well as put myself in 6 figure debt, I might as well make use of it and come back to proper job that pays well without the need for a visa or being limited due to regulations as a foreigner.

And while the PhD would be nice and padden the resume/experience with the possibility of having full grants pay for it, I feel I can do without it instead of spending another 3-5 years in school. The PhD may or may not add additional pay to my annual income levels, but it would further open up employment for me in regards to teaching, something which I have no desire to do. Overall, I would be getting the PhD because I'd be getting it for free or relatively cheap while I wait for further job opportunies to become available. Which is the reason why I pursued a masters degree in the first place.

Unfortunately though, I dread coming home, because I fear there may be work that I don't want or feel qualified to do and I will be stuck in the same rut a majority of my friends back home are in. However, I would need to come home to find that said work if it exists. At the same time, there are these jobs that suit me but they take 9-14 months before getting hired on as an employee due to background checks, polygraphs and psychological interviews. Therefore, I would be looking at coming home and working a mediocre job for 2 years before I get anything solid that I want. But in order to apply for these said jobs, I must be in the United States to do it.

Having said that, and after contemplating it for a few weeks now and discussing it with numerous friends and family, I have decided it is in my best interest to not pursue my PhD here at Bond University or anywhere outside of the United States for that matter but instead come back to the US to pursue a career position with my degree and get the ball rolling on the hiring process. While I can leave and come home anytime, I still have much traveling that I want to do (China, South Korea, Thailand, India, Europe) and so will wait until the holidays before coming home for good. Potential dates being from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

I still have plans of coming home in August for a few weeks to see family and friends and determine if this is what I really want to do. At this stage, I feel there is no further need to be here and just being here is preventing me from starting the hiring process back home with potential employers. Another option would be to pursue a PhD in the US but most importantly somewhere close to home suggested universities being WSU, USC or ASU (all have heavy focus on criminal justice).

But for now, this is the path that I feel is right for me. It may seem a bit hasty at the moment and as I always believe, anything can happen that changes that path. But I haven't been happy these last few months with what I am doing with myself whether it is because I am in the wrong career or that I just need to come home and get things started. Either case, it is time for me to change that and move on to something better and higher paying.

Until then, Cheers!

-H

DCH

BAM! Been awhile since my last post. I've tried to make every conscious effort to fully revamp and update this blog but it's taken a lot of time. So have patience as I get everything merged over.

My lease at Varsity on Main ended December 21st and in the meantime, was looking at a place to live with my then current roommate Perri and our friend Craig. Long story short, Perri moved in with her girlfriends and we picked up Dom to find a place in Burleigh Waters to live for the next six months. We wanted something outside of the student accommodation and apartment nature and into an actual house where we had our own belongings without shared units, parking, etc etc. We ended up moving into a complex right behind Varsity Towers and a quick 3 minute walk from campus. Great two story place with our own small yard, single car garage with driveway and partially furnished.

I'm still in need of a bed frame and desk so in the meantime, my room is pretty bare. But I'm not really impressing anyone. Ha. The landlord is lovely, haven't met the neighbours and probably have no intentions on it either.

The housing complex is called 'This', but I found the name to be too boring, lame and well, stupid. So I drafted DCH ([D]om, [C]raig, [H]ardy). The order is significant as Dom found the place, Craig helped follow up on it and I just sat around and said "when do we move in". Plus anything else (CDH, HDC, etc) just sounds like a viral disease...

And so here we are. At DCH for the next six months and possibly the final stretch of my time here in Australia. While it's been great, I won't make any preemptive calls yet as I could stick around a bit longer or go somewhere else other than back home to Seattle.

In the meantime, thanks for reading!

Cheers.

-H

Japan

I realise I haven't taken the time to update my blog much since I've been swamped with my final semester at Bond Uni. Matter of fact, I've completely blown it off! In an effort to make things easier on myself and anyone (and everyone) that reads my blog, I'll be migrating all three (Japan, Australia, Pre-Depart) into one blog with different sections. This will also help with future efforts in blogging about my other adventures I go off on (Bali, China, New Caledonia, New Zealand, etc etc etc).

Much has happened since my 17 days here in Japan (should have only been 7...) and I plan on filling you all in on that. Just as soon as I return... Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Arigatō

-H

Varsity on Main

I know its been a while, but been busy with moving and whatnot. So here we go!

Finished with exams on Monday with Media and Crime being my last one, which was great as I had a few hours to prep my body in time for End of Semester Bash. It was pretty much one giant party to celebrate being done with classes for the semester (even though some students still had exams the next day). Australia is religious to the point that come midnight on Good Friday, the sale of alcohol is prohibited (weird, I know). So the bash was held on Wednesday. Luckily for me I went and I had a blast. The theme being, "You wore that?", we all looked like backup dancers for Justin Bieber, haha.

The next day was a bit rough being hungover but Thomas and I moved out of Varsity Shores and into our new place at Varsity on Main (VOM) with Julia. The place has never had tenants and was extremely nice for the price we pay, which is far cheaper than Varsity Shores (VS). Because 2nd semester is winter, not many study abroad students will be venturing over, so it will be a bit quiet. Overall, VOM is extremely nice and has that upper class feel to it. The first couple of days we cooked together before Thomas and his brother, Alex drove off to Cairns for the holiday period. Just Julia and I to fend for ourselves which in turn, she has a boyfriend so just me to fend for myself.

We have a 6 month lease on the place until October in which case we can either move out and agree to a month to month lease. It's a bit early to tell what we will do but will cross that bridge as the time draws near. I've decided to withhold the address as I've forgotten about the stalkers and psychos (ex girlfriends, you know how they are) that are out there, so if you want to get a hold of me, just Facebook, text or shoot me an email and I'll give you my address. In the meantime, looking for a job!

Cheers and 再见！

－H

Miitaristic testing

Today I had my first ever university controlled test. I say this because last semester, the test either consisted of a take home essay or one that the professor administered in class because the class size was so small (Chinese, 8 people). The experience was completely nerve-wracking to say the least.

I found out that day, that I had a reserved seat for the test: N-5. I found this awkward to have assigned seating but thought nothing of it. Normally I strolled there with my iPhone, earplugs in, and listening to my jam session before a big test (Linkin Park). I look inside to see the sport gymnasium lined with chairs and tables, roughly 200 give or take. Each chair corresponding with a different row and column number. On the doors leading inside the room were numerous signs that stated "no cell phones allowed" "no backpacks allowed" "no food or drink" "assigned seating per student number" and lastly "no baseball caps". It was as if I was walking through a military checkpoint. But my biggest concern was I had my phone on me and the attitude given off by the instructors leading the examination process ensured if your phone was noticed or made any type of noise, you were failed, barred and given swift punishment to Bond University and Australian authorities.

Once inside and wandering around looking for N-5, we heard a voice on the loudspeaker detailing instructions and barking orders at us. When to start, what to do, how high to raise your hand if you have a question and the sign in/sign out procedures if you needed to use the restroom. After the orders were given, we were allocated 15 minutes of 'perusal time.' I have NO idea what perusal means and even after taking the test, still don't know. You'd think the university would clarify this as half of us were sitting there blankly looking around as what to do (do we start taking the test?).

From what I observed, perusal time is 15 minutes allocated before the start of the exam to go through it before you actually take it. This would be extremely beneficial if they THEN allowed 5 minutes to go through your NOTES before taking the exam. I don't see the benefit or need of a perusal time as I am already psyched and/or doomed of taking this test, why do I need 15 more minutes of pain and suffering (perhaps someone can better explain the efficient use of perusal)?

Overall, throughout the process it was very strict and militaristic. It def had a private school feel to it with instructors walking up and down the aisles, two timers up front to monitor time and 8 more people at the front to watch over student's wandering eyes. When I was finished, I was extremely glad to be out of there.

We'll see how I did come May when grades are released, but am really glad the test taking procedures within the US are far more lax. By enabling procedures of letting students know just by looking around they will fail due to attempt to cheat, makes it more worrisome then just a simple "hey here is the test, take this". And the day someone aces an exam because the answers are written inside their baseball cap is the day I bring two baseball hats to an exam (haha).

Cheers and 再见！

-H

Semester 111

First week of classes are done and over and I'm starting to fall behind on the blog with the second week almost done and over. The schedule for this semester I thought would roughly be the same as last semester, but with me taking on the Post Graduate Students Association (PGSA) as President and subsequently Bond University Students Association (BUSA), I've added a bit more to my plate. Not to worry though, everything is under control.

This semester I am taking Chinese 2, Media and Crime and Social Research in Criminology. Chinese is a bit more the same but more or less expanding on grammar and tone. Our professor's style of teaching is spoken first and then worry about the written later on. Which makes sense. As a child you learned to speak first well before you were taught to write. So I feel this will be another successful semester of it. I've also done some thinking in regards to pursuing a Chinese degree, but that's for another day...

Media and Crime is also an interesting class. The idea behind the class to watch the way media reports on crimes and news and events associated with those crimes. We first looked into Dennis Ferguson, and while many Australians may feel the man will forever be guilty, the idea that the media has continually hunted this man down all throughout his life is what we focused on. As part of our final project we are looking at a media outlet of any type of researching the variable effects it has on society. I think for our presentation we are looking at the relative differences between what is shown in the popular American show Criminal Minds and how it differentiates to that of reality.

Lastly, I am enrolled in Social Research. More or less your typical mean, median and mode class in which you go out, conduct a survey and then scholastically (I use that loosely) write about the results. We start next week and I am still debating what my research will be based upon but I'm looking at three topics: The correlation between those who speak 2+ languages and their grades, the concept of the CSI effect on society or integrating social networking into cheating on significant others and how far can one go before being condemned as 'cheating'. So interesting topics and I have a week to decide.

Other then that, school is well under way! Almost into week 3 already... Sad day today as it was Australia Day (Australia's 4th of July) AND A PUBLIC HOLIDAY yet we still had class. How messed up is that? Not to mention many services on campus were not even operating. Yet students have to still go to class? Come on now....

Cheers and 再见！

-H

Run Forrest, Run!

Today was a pretty slow day. We had a major pub crawl last night (in the process of getting a video and pics done for the blog) and just wanted time today to relax and enjoy life in the slow lane before it picks back up Monday. While it was mainly library time on campus and quick stop at the IGA to pick up some milk and bread, I decided to go for a run.

Now it had been about 2 weeks since my last run (4km) and about a week since my last workout. I've been somewhat slack these last few weeks as student association, post grad association and classes have taken over my life. Luckily the hectic first week of classes are over and I can get back on track with the working out. Speaking of, look out for a blog in the the next day or two about my impression on classes and the education system in Australia.

When I arrived in Australia I had weighed in at 260lbs. At 5'11 I am classified by the BMI chart index as OBESE. However, I could come off as stocky, perhaps big boned? Oh, who am I kidding, I'm fat. Working 50-60 hours a week in the US did not help my health ethic, so I made it a priority to get back on track while down here Australia. Fortunately so far I have dropped close to 20lbs and since my last weigh in (3 weeks ago) stood at 242lbs. This is a huge achievement for myself as I weighed 225 going into WSU in 2004 and would like to get back to that weight and lower.

Tonight I put on my running shoes and decided to just go run. I signed up for a new program called Map My Run as well as downloaded the app for iPhone, as it seemed like the program with the most positive reviews. Needless to say, I ran a 7.10km (4.41mi) in 48:40. Roughly 11 mins a mile and while that's absolutely horrible to a healthy person's standards, that's amazing for me. In the US, I wouldn't dream of even running a block and constantly drove to campus that was merely 10 mins away.

So with that, I hope to be at 230lbs by the time winter rolls around (April-May) and to possibly 210lbs or so by the time August comes through. My ultimate goal is to go sky diving, and at my current weight I would either be paying overweight fees or just denied the option to fly with some companies. I need a catchy motto for this... Something like "Drop the weight and drop out of a plane" or "Double digit goal" (100kg is 220lbs, so 99kg, you get it...). There we go. Stay tuned!

Cheers and 再见！

-H

Varsity Shores

G'day mates!

All moved in to my new place at Varsity Shores and I can say it's far better than Varsity Towers.

To think I was paying MORE to live in a studio apartment and was charged an insane amount for internet and laundry. About the same distance to the university as well.

Varsity Shores is located on the other side of Lake Orr and about a 10 minute walk from Bond Uni. From the street, you can actually see the university. The site consists of about 100 or so units that range from 2 story units to 3 story waterfront properties. There is a pool and rec room but will probably never use it since I work out at Fitness First. I've also noticed there are actual families that live here. While it is definitely suitable for families and kids, I feel bad for them come midnight when the drunks come out (haha). I will probably be spending the rest of my time here at Varsity Shores while in Australia as I don't like moving (even though it's easy when you just have a suitcase).

For Semester 111, I'm living with Thomas (German), Nick (S. Korean) and Chad (Canadian). So quite the diversity of nations that we have. Living with Thomas will be great as I can begin to re-learn and re-use my German as much as possible while at the same time learning Chinese. We'll see how that turns out... Nick just arrived today from Jakarta (visiting family) while the rest of us have been living there for about a week now.

The house (or would it be a duplex?) is two stories with the 1st floor being the entrance and garage with laundry room and Chad's room. The 2nd store leads upstairs to the kitchen and living room as well as Thomas' room, Nick's room and my room. I currently have the master bedroom with own bathroom and share the balcony with Nick who resides next door. Nick and Thomas share the public bathroom. I'll be sure to post a video blog soon of the place so be on the look out!



Cheers and 再见！

-H

Twitter Resolution

One of the many advantages of traveling is the many people you run into and meet. Some people, a casual acquaintance that you never see again while others become lifelong friends that you stay in touch with to one day hopefully cross paths with in China, Germany or Brazil. I enjoy meeting new people, hearing their stories and learning about where they came from and where they are going in life.

Because of this, I have ventured out to a new virtual new years resolution to carry out. Each day, I'll follow a new person completely random and chosen from my current followers. Businesses and organizations don't count and nor do people I already know who I choose to follow. This is strictly complete strangers. That gives me 365 new people to get to know and find out what runs through their life in 140 characters or less. Should be interesting. Likewise, I deleted about 300 people from Facebook that I either no longer talked too or just had a one time run in with. Since then, it has begun to rise again, as I make new friends down here in Australia.

Cheers and 再见！

-H

Driving

G'day mates!

Time is a flying and life is amazing. Life is SO GOOD, I can taste it in my spit. Finished my Chinese final and Epistemology essay yesterday and having said that, I am officially done for the semester. I have a nice long break until January 18th and in the meantime will be looking for a short term place to stay and then doing whatever traveling I can do before having to return to the grind of studying.

Because I was only here for 6 months in 2007, I opted out to getting a driver's license as I didn't feel the need to get one. I did however get my 18+ card which is basically a card that says you are old enough to buy alcohol and cigarettes. The 18+ card can also be used to gain entrance into bars and clubs. This is a far safer option than always carrying around a passport as well as cheaper too (passports are about $100, 18+ card is $20). This time around I figured I would go ahead and get an Australia driver's license just in case for whatever reason (good to always have it right?). What's amazing too is my 18+ card NEVER expires, so I am able to bust it out and continue using it from where I left off in 2007.

One of the great things about Australia is as long as you have an American driver's license, you can legally drive in Australia (as long as the license is not expired). However, because the Australian license can also be used for verification purposes in regards to age and address, I decided to get one.

The Australian system is a bit overwhelming. You start off on your learner's permit and then progress through 2 OTHER stages a provisional license before being awarded your open license. While under the provisional, you can only go a certain speed, cannot have passengers, cannot be driving at certain hours of the night, and the alcohol blood levels are .oo (.05 for open licenses). I was told applying for my license I would have to take the written and drivers test too. But, I spoke with someone else and they told me something different.

So I gathered my documents, headed to the Transportation office and in 15 mins was out of there with my open license! Easier said than done. I was looking towards getting a motorbike however, you must have an Aussie license for a year before you can apply for a motorbike license. So scratched that idea... Looking at cheap cars in the meantime!

Cheers and 再见！

-H

Movember

Hey everyone! It's been a crazy month with the semester winding down, working and getting everything organised for next semester. Everything seems to be going smoothly as the holidays approach. While everyone is shopping for gifts, I am usually just trying to find some decent peanut butter....
Anyways, in the spirit of November, I took on no shaving once again. This time it was a bit different. Australia celebrates "Movember" in which you shave, but rock a moustache for November. For the whole month, I swore I was in a cheesy 70s porn. BRILLIANT! So to combine the two events of no shaving and Movember, I decided to take a picture everyday leading up to my moustache that I would rock on Day 30. Great results and am pleased with the video! So check it out! And to all the women out there who hate their man for not shaving or rocking a moustache for the month, cut us some slack. We put up with your pink and breast cancer awareness month in October so the least you can do is support prostate cancer and depression awareness among men!

Cheers and 再见！

-H

iPhoneless.

你们好！

Sad to say, I recently sold my iPhone. So the video blogs will be on hold for a bit until I can fancy myself another iPhone or an actual digital camera that can take video.

Nothing new lately. As the semester winds down, you'll see more blogs as I travel around Australia for the holidays. My lease at Varsity Towers ends December 18th, so it is fast approaching. I've put in my application for Varsity Shores, as I want to still be relatively close to campus (just on the other side of campus to be exact). However, if I'm good to go for there, I can't move in until January 8th! Therefore from the 18th of Dec to the 8th of January I'll be officially homeless :-D.


I've been looking at different options to see which would be the best option to go with:

Option 1: Stay in a hostel on the Gold Coast for those few weeks until the place becomes available and then move in.

Option 2: Travel around Australia/Tasmania for those few weeks since I will be homeless anyway. Con for this is I have to lug around all my luggage while traveling.

Option 3: Butter up one of my Aussie mates to hold my luggage so I can travel light.

Option 4: Find short term housing until my lease at the new place starts.

Right now I am looking at Option 3 at the moment, as I have three weeks gap before classes start on Jan 17th. Store most of my luggage and then just have a backpack with all the basic necessities in it. For those of you who know me, you know I pack light anyway. So not a problem.

Still got a couple of weeks to decide, but looking to get it taken care of now so that I don't have to worry last minute. Christmas will either be spent in Sydney or Alice Spring (middle of Australia), so it will be fun!

Also, my facial hair is coming in nicely. I opted to just go with no shaving at all and adhere to my WSU roots instead of just rocking the moustache for Movember. But it's interesting to see all the women who talk to you NOW that you have facial hair compared to when you are clean shaven. Good to see the different tastes in women. No worries though, I'm still single. Plenty of American lovin' to go around ladies!

Cheers! ( 再见！）

-H

[Vlog] Food for the weak

Hey all! Just a quick update as I ransacked my kitchen the other day as I was starving! Enjoy!

Cheers!

-H

Movember

In 2007, I became aware of a growing trend on campus that all the men were participating in called "No Shave November". The premise behind it was, well, to not shave at all for the whole month of November. Unfortunately for me, I could not participate because working at Pizza Hut required strict grooming standards. However, come November 2008, I was fully ready to participate and take on the world. I don't grow much hair on my body, but after 30 days of not touching the razor, it became evident that most of that hair grows on my face. Not to mention the feel of a smooth face with some Nivea for men aftershave on December 1st is AMAZING.

Returning home for winter break and Christmas to the family was strange to them as they had no idea what their son was doing. Let alone, the Christmas pictures of their hideously looking child! Come 2009, I participated yet again, this time holding a full time job at AT&T and part time at the night club I worked at. The night club wasn't so bad, but I have a feeling my sales were drastically lower than usual because of that rugged look at AT&T. My boss just rolled his eyes as I let it grow out and asked when I was going to shave, and I promptly told him "Not til December 1st".

It wasn't until last year that I found out the purpose behind "No shave November". The idea of not shaving for the whole month originally was created by a group of Aussies down in Adelaide. The idea was to show support and raise awareness for men's health issues, more specifically prostate cancer and depression. Much like you see someone with a LIVESTRONG bracelet and you immediately now it's for testicular cancer within men, the symbol of not shaving is a way of showing support to those going through health issues.

However, the only difference is down here they call it "Movember". Moustache and November (obviously). So instead of growing your hair out, you just grow out a moustache. It seems a bit bizarre to me, but I am assuming many Aussie men can't grow full beards but only moustaches? Who knows... but now I have to shave everything BUT my moustache until the 1st. Which partially sucks, because after a few days, I look absolutely disgusting with just a moustache. So this year, as always, I'm helping raise awareness for prostate cancer and depression among men! See you on December 1st!

Cheers!

-H

Vegemite part 2

So I took a lot of flack for my last Vegemite posting. The reason why I "hate it so much" is because I spread it too thick, did not use butter and drank water afterward instead of "complimenting" it with milk. Yea I know, like it matters. BUT IT DOES! So therefore, I took it upon myself to re-do it with the necessary ingredients.

It wasn't as bad as before as the butter def. helps with the taste of it. And of course not spreading it on as thick. Will I be enjoying vegemite toast with my breakfast every morning? CERTAINLY NOT.

Cheers!

-H

Vegemite

For those of you who are either adventurous or Oceanic born and raised, know of the wonderful spread known as Vegemite. It's a heavenly goodness consisting of yeast extract, and some other ingredients no one has ever heard of. It's actually really healthy for you because it is LOADED with vitamins and minerals. The taste itself, is ABSOLUTELY horrendous.

I first tried this amazing stuff in 2007 when I first came to Australia. I had never heard of vegemite before then. As a nice gesture, I brought plenty home for friends and family so that they could try it out. Since I've been back here, Kraft, the makers of vegemite, created a counterpart called Cheesybite. It pretty much consists of vegemite with cheese in it. I'm told from my Aussie mates, it was to attempt to secure the American market for it. Unfortunately for Kraft, this stuff will NEVER stick in America. But then again, Australians hate Peanut and Jelly sandwiches... Enjoy!



Cheers!

-H

你好！

(Title says: Hello!)

Not a whole lot going on. Sort of like a plane taking off. Much excitement with takeoff and landing, but at cruising altitude it's calm and relaxed.

For our graduate criminology class, we have decided to research and write a journal to hopefully get it published in one of the criminal justice quarterly journals here in Australia. It may not seem like much to some of you out there, but to have your research published is a big deal for us. So what we are aiming for is research into the trafficking of exotic animals. We decided on this topic because 1. Nadia has partial work done for it and 2. exotic animals are the 2nd biggest trade item in the world behind drugs (#1) and ahead of weapons (#3). Yet, because it is not viewed as a big issue, the fines and penalties is usually a slap on the wrist. So I am very excited about it. Only 13 weeks to get it done!

Also stopped by STA Travel to pick up some brochures. What I am hoping to do is come December break (3 weeks), travel around Australia. With winter break in July (6 weeks I believe) I want to head north to Asia (Russia, Japan, China and Thailand). And then come my final summer break (December), I want to head to Tasmania (south) and New Zealand. So big plans ahead, let's see if we can fulfill em! So if any of you have friends or tips for those places, def. lend them to me as they will provide valuable and hopefully save me money along the way.

Lastly, got certified for my Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certificate. With this, I can now handle alcohol whether it be bartending or running a bottleshop and just selling it to people. I want to do something along the lines of security, but it looks like a 2 day course at $500 has to be taken in order to do something like that. Sooooo, I'm going to skip that (unless the company wants to pay for me!).

Also sent out postcards today, so expect those from me! If you don't get one, you're either not loved, didn't give me your address or the amount of time to slap a stamp and write "miss you, wish. You were here!" isn't worth my time.

Miss you all and I know you're having the time of your life over there in that fall weather. Hey feel free to come visit :-D


Cheers!

-H

[Vlog] Varsity Towers

NEW VLOG! CHECK IT OUT!

(Varsity Towers)



Cheers!

-H