South Dakota...2

I began writing this as I just returned from drinks in a bar, in middle of day on Saturday. We went to a street parade this morning, which simply was like a shot out of a movie. Cheerleaders.. marching bands.. fire trucks. Cub Scouts. Political groups cheering.. oh the bliss of seeing it really reflected. One big stereotype! I went to a subway, simply because I felt ill from some kind of drinking and wanted something with at least some guaranteed vegetables. I requested a turkey sub. When it came to the salad section, I requested capsicum.

"Capsicum"
"What?"
"Capsicum", gesturing to the capsicum.
"What?"
"CAPSICUM" pointing to the capsicum.
"Green Peppers?"
"Ah, yeah."


The people are great. So friendly and havent actually come across anyone mean except an air hostess. But she was old.. Though I dont think many people have met an Australian in this area. They just want me to keep talking and ask questions about life for me. Do I have McDonalds and do I shoot Kangaroos (as mentioned previously).


I had a random guy on Saturday put his arm around me in a packed biker bar (yep, biker) and say "Do you feel safe now?" I had nothing to say to that, it was all kind of odd. I managed to shake out of his grip but he grabbed me again and brought me close into this buddies. Awkward. I broke free and we left.


Had a chat with a friend of a friend, slightly tipsy.. walking through Brookings, about the Dont Ask Dont Tell Policy. Little did I realise she was IN the army and also PRO Dont Ask Dont Tell. Wow, what a chat. Then she disappeared, whether she was lost me or if she was uncomfortable with the chat. Probably the first.

Tigh's friend Carla held a dinner party on Sunday night and I had a lot of firsts that night. Pheasant (wrapped in bacon) which Tigh JUST told me as I wrote this that his mom shot last weekend. Awesome. Then I had proper Mac and Cheese, and also and not least, Pumpkin Pie. All were great! Though the others at the table found it kinda amusing.

Some of the time has been spent with Tigh playing Super Mario World 2 and me sitting on his bed slightly watching, sometimes I can play Player 2 but it is more designed for Nerd's gfs who hover the Wii remote over stars to collect them, thats pretty much all player 2 can do while player 1 saves the Princess and stuff. Enough of talk about Nintendo. Though does anyone else hate Princess Peach in Mario Kart??




















I fly to NYC tomorrow morning, so will have to say bye to Tigh then. He plans to move to Sydney in January, and who knows? I just enjoyed the moment and hanging out here, he is a special fella and has been for two years in my life, and plan on having him in my life, to whatever extent in the future.



So NYC tomorrow, staying in tourist central, so lets see how that goes. Yellow Cabs and some kind of tall buildings around the place.

South Dakota... 1.

I landed in Los Angeles, and asked an information desk for some help. I told them I was going to South Dakota, and she then asked me, what state in South Dakota? I looked at her blankly and said, what city? No, what state?

Now I am in Minneapolis on my second layover before final destination for this leg, Brookings, South Dakota. I find it so surreal, seeing this part of the US that just seems so.. out of a movie. You fly over the landscape and EVERYTHING is a see of farms and roads. I am so used to flying over Australia and its just barren. Shows how much more population dispersement they have here. Anyways this is sounding like a grade 10 Geography lesson. Will be great to see Tigh in a few hours, and experience a small University town in the middle of the USA over homecoming weekend.

One of those days where it doesn’t end though. Flew out Thursday 2pm, and its STILL Thursday. The guy in front of me on the long leg from Sydney to LAX, kept dropping his pillow down onto me. Sure it seems fine but after a while, it really can get a tad irrirating. He was in a group of 4 guys and they were all probably 30 something, but I reckon guys don’t really grow up when they are in a group of mates. They didn’t shutup. No wait, I cant whinge, I am on a pretty cool trip.

So begins my attempt to write very often on this trip.

UPDATE after first night in SD.

Then I got into SD. The plane ride there was full of hunters. And not the type that hunt clay pigeons. These guys love bear and pheasant. They asked me if I hunted Kangaroos. I just said we hit them on the road and that hunting is stupid. THEN I discovered they were hunters, not before. Kinda awkward.

Met Tigh at the airport, was awesome to see him again. Before 10 mins had past I had onion rings. And then we went to a pub that had international night on. Tonight was "USA" night. Oh. The. Irony. Had a fun time, though not used to people smoking in the pub. Got banned in Aus 3 years ago now.

Just realised I can get away with wearing running shoes with my jeans today and not get called Jerry Seinfeld. Its... acceptable here. That and socks and sandals for some odd reason. Lets see what my first proper day brings. Photos coming..

That feeling...

4 days before I go on holiday. And that same gut ache I had before I went to London, is here again.

The pressure is placed on at work.. to get things done before I go, and things with romance just dont always go to plan. Not saying that in a whinge way, just unsure what to expect these days. Though as usual, feel like I should not write about it here, which is ironic.

I looked into my sister's eyes today. There was so much sadness. It almost made me well up with tears. Mum was visiting and as usual, everyone pretended there was this happy medium and families played normal. But I could see she was silently screaming. And it broke my heart.

No matter how many distractions there are, there are still the moments when you cant find another and you have to think about the past, the present and the future. There are so many clever sayings about all three of these states and how we can approach it all with a chirp and a smile. We dont chirp as we are not birds, but you get what I mean. But when you look at the reality of things, you can either choose to drown in the overwhelming feeling of what life is, or you can choose to keep going. Hoping it gets better and that all the spirals around you that make you sometimes spin a little, will get slower and push you forward to something with happiness.

This time next week I am gonna be hanging out with Tigh in Brookings, South Dakota. The week following I will be on a ferry looking at the Statue of Liberty and the week after that, looking at the white stone face of Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC. Then I hit the pavement again. We gotta keep going, anything else is an easy option.

Accidental call

So I went to call a mate the other day (it seems appropiate to start the sentence with "so", my apologies if this sounds offensive) but when my mate answered, he had a British accent. I was kinda confused but thought he was just being stupid so went along with it. But after a while I thought it sounded oddly like another friend of mine Matt. While he continued to talk, I glanced at my phone. I had called Matt instead. I must have sounded less confused and dazed then and continued to talk. He asked me why I called and I casually said, "Just to see how you were!" He thought that was sweet, and by the time I had hung up the phone, we had coffee plans for a few nights later to catchup. I dont drink coffee but you know, its what you call a casual catchup with a friend. If I said "Chai Latte" plans, it would make me sound like a wanker plus one. But then I just said it. Plus one.



This is a cat, I called him/her Lois. He/she stands outside our front door a lot and is always up for a bit of belly rubbing love.


It is getting quite intense at work of late. Coming up to Christmas peak time.. and the cogs are very much working overtime to get everything ready. It really is the most fun and most flatout experience, but also quite taxing on the body and mind. My gym and healthy eating really has balanced this out though. But is 7 times a week too much? I dont do weights everyday, 3 of them are cardio days, but I really find it relaxing now. Addictive... I have turned.

I fly to USA next week. I have my holiday planned and book flights in the next few days. Surreal to do last minute plans and holidays as it never sinks in, then you are on a plane, alone, and hurtling your way to the other side of the world for an adventure. Anything can happen! I could trip over a park bench in a street in Richmond, Virginia, or see a check out chick in Washington DC not scan BOTH the chocolate bars I was buying to sample the ones I had never tried. Freebie. It should be a good time and I will get to see some good friends, especially Phil, who I havent seen since mid 2008. Awesome :) And also Tigh, will be excellent.

This is my favourite song right now. Something about the feeling like you can jump down the street, waving casually.