Flannel-in or TOO in?

Aussie rules football, or better known as AFL. It is the greatest sport to watch. It is so entertaining and the skill involved in kicking an odd shaped ball with such precision, 50 yards down the field into a teammate's hands, is in itself, amazing! Well the Grand Finals (aka league championship) was on Saturday. We watched it World Cup stylee at a a biergarten. There were two teams playing, one Geelong Cats, and the other, Collingwood Magpies. Now the Collingwood fans are a bunch of feral fans. In my case, they remind me of the Red Sox, but its more or less like routing for Nascar. Every Collingwood fan has Nascar fan tendencies.

Moving right along.

We were in the corner next to this table of guys. They were all about 25-28 and all barracking for Geelong. Except, every single one of them had a flannel shirt on. Now I've seen that these shirts are back in style, but, really? Girls sometimes ask what friends are wearing so they don't wear the same thing, but these boys ALL had on the same styled shirt, just in different colors. Did you all send out a Facebook note to each other? "Mate, lets wear our flannel shirts." "Great idea, totally keen." Or is it they all think they look so stellar in the SAME shirt?

I was in Sydney's east, which is like NYC's village. If I wanted to go to a rodeo, I would have gone, but boys, flannel might be in, but you just made it TOO in. Bed Bath and Beyond has less of a selection in the flannel section compared to your group of friends!

"I was RUNNINGGGG!"

My boss Dave's nephew was sick this weekend (just a cold) and wasn't well enough to run in Sydney's infamous City 2 Surf race. Dave asked if I wanted his bib to run in the 14 km (8.7 mile/ one-third marathon) race. It was on a Sunday morning and I only had birthday drinks planned for Saturday night, so why not?!
I woke up Saturday morning and took the bus (free public transport all day with your bib, # 6975) into the city. I hopped in line and I was just in time for the start.

Well this race had a gradient that was killer! (see below)

Last year I did the Belmar 5 mile after a Bon Jovi concert so I was pretty cocky. This race was legit. 85,000 took part in this race. It is the largest timed race EVER to take place in the WORLD. I was a part of making history.  as you can see through 6-8k there is a hill called "heart break hill." It wasn't as much of a physical heart  break as it was an emotional butt kick in more than a few ways. First off, your body will do anything your mind wants it to do. Second, how can you feel pain when there is a man with a hand-bike propelled wheelchair climbing a 45 degree slope next to you at a speed that is almost going backwards? There was a woman who didn't have any legs wheeling herself up the hill as well. It took me at least 20 minutes to climb this hill, but this woman was struggling, and to see runners who could barely breathe or walk, taking turns pushing this woman was heartwarming. Then, in the last 4k's a blind man came up beside me and was holding onto an orange band with another man. The other man was his guide, racing along with him. At this point I almost burst into tears (if I did I probably would have had an asthma attack, so I pulled myself together just in time.)  My hips were aching and my quads were burning, but the fact that these people were racing on this incredibly difficult course, was enough motivation to not quit.

After crossing the finish line when the clock said 1 h 23 min, I was quite satisfied. (That wasn't my official time though, because I didn't cross the start for at least 4 minutes after the clock started.) If you were to times this pace by three, I would have run a 4 hour marathon! That is pretty darn good, considering NYC's course doesn't have nearly as tough of hills. I also wouldn't have had several beers before the marathon either!

After the race I guzzled at least a gallon of Gatorade and water, then got a bacon and egg sandwich and met up with my roomie. I met up with her about an hour after and we grabbed a chicken sandwich and a much deserved brewski. City2Surf is kind of like a Seafood Festival afterwards. Its a giant party. Unfortunately, I was soo tired I couldn't hang past 1 pm.  I took the bus from Bondi Beach (which I got a solid 30 minute nap) to the train in Bondi Junction to the bus in the city, to my doorstep. I took a shower and by 4 pm I was lights out until 8 this morning. Although I was so exhausted, that was one of the most fun races I've ever run. I'm giving my body today to recover, but I have 18 miles more to run this week for my marathon training! I'm soo excited for NY, only 85 days left! Now I just have to raise $2950 more for PKD and I'll be set!

Please go to:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/abbyschrader/RunforPKDINGNYCMarathonTeam 


to make your donation today! 11/6/11


Thanks!!!

Americana goes Aussie- Part I

Out the window goes gargantuan brewed coffees and Staten Island accents. I now drink skinny capps with poached eggs and say "Oy!". I call my living room a lounge room and coaches lounges. I take the bus to the city (sometimes to sneak that Venti brewed coffee from the American Starbucks-I have found four locations in Sydney!) and ride a push bike instead of a bicycle. I look right left right when crossing streets.

Here are some of the new terms I use in daily conversation:

Arvo- Afternoon- "Let's grab lunch this arvo."
OTT- Over the top "Her outfit was OTT."
mobile- Cell phone "Call my mobile."
devo- devastated "I'm so devo my meal was crap."
toats- Totally- See below
froth- when you like a guy "I'm toats frothing on ....."
perv- see froth
babe- hun - "Hey Babe." -Sounds common but EVERY girl says it.
suss- sort out- "I'm going to suss out my finances before I book my plane ticket."
bloody hell- For crying out loud/Damn it -  After burning my oatmeal- "Bloody hell!
far out - In any instance you want to use the F word or say No way - When I read the bus timetable wrong this week and realized I'd have to wait 40 min for the next bus: "Bloody Hell! Far out!"
How ya goin'?- How are you. "How ya going today?
mate- bud, guy, homie, sweetie. "Hey Mate!" "Mate, what were you thinking?"

That's all I can think of for now, but I will let you know more in Part II!

BALDING

I was sitting on the bus into the city early in the morning this week. As I looked around, I saw at least four men in their mid 20s with some serious balding. One guy was bold enough to close shave and polish his dome. Well done champ! No use in saving something that's not there, or worse...saving something thats better off gone.

If at any stage in a man's life, he has to grow his ranga (as in oRANGAtan) beard into a comb over turban, you deserve to be made fun of. If you thought you would never get an 'ole bird to marry you, guess again. I'm pretty sure a pterodactyl wouldn't even touch down on your landing pad homefry!

Sorry mate, God hates you. He put hair on your ENTIRE body except your head. Cruel joke. Good news, you have eyebrows...along with enough hair to weave enough blankets to keep an entire family warm this winter. At least you're comfortable in your own skin, or shall I say fur, to deal with the bareness of your belfry. 

Good news and bad news Prince Billy. Good news is, you got your mum's ears. Bad news, you got your dad's hairline. Good thing you still had the hair for the wedding. You really should have worn your wedding hat. Might have had better pics without that glare coming off your scalp. Bummer though that you won't have hair to hold your crown when Grandma E and Papa Prince croak. Let it go. SHAVE IT!

Then there is "THE DONALD"

Some guys just don't know when to give it up. I guarantee there is a baby squirrel nested in there. He might even hide a beer or a flask in there daily just so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of having his hair. Can one get "FIRED" for hair like that? DT...its over. You have the hot 2nd wife. You're a grandpa. Get old and get bald already! If not...I'm pretty sure you can afford some decent extensions? Or maybe you could hire a better stylist who could color your hair properly. Andre Agassi got rid of his extensions and was a better man and player for it. We would all love you much more. Now that you're not running for President 2012, you can by all means be a baldy! 

Note to all balders: 

   1st step: Acceptance. 

   2nd step: A sharp razor. 

  Get it done!  

Rain Keeps Falling Out My Window....

It is BUCKETING here in New South Wales. Thank you mini cyclones. Highways are closed down, my Rainbows (that would be my flipflop, there would have to be sun for real ones in Sydney) have kept my feet stained for about 2 weeks. This is madness! Remember that June we had had 2 summers ago? Yea...this is worse. It hasn't rained like this for four days straight in 131 years. There hasn't been a July with this much rain in Sydney in over 60 years. NUTS! The saying in the states is March is in like a lion and out like a lamb and April showers bring May Flowers? It's a not like that here, mainly because of the whole 'opposite sides of the equator thing". Well July showers bring Floods! Where is Noah. I need an Ark. My hair hasn't been straight in a month. You can probably tell by this email that I'm slightly bitter I haven't seen sun. I need my Vitamin D and drinking milk just isn't cutting it! I think this is why I left Denmark. I NEEED sunlight. Maybe I'm just long overdue for summer? It's been 11 months since I've had one. Six weeks or less and I'll be beaching it like it's nobody's business! For my sanity, please pray for sun! It's looking like I might need a rowboat to get get my new flat. Well maybe a rowboat with a three horsepower? It's kind of far!!

Update from Oz

So sorry about the blogging efforts. Things have been a little crazy. I went to Melbourne the first week of July. It was so great to see my old family and friends. I did get a bit of a winter cold because it was freezing and rainy down there. All is good now. We are in 4th place in the league. Check out the website: League Website for upcoming details. We have a few more games left then head into playoffs. We play the #2 team in 2 weeks so that will be good.

On a cool note, I'm moving into an apartment with a girl from my team's (Kristen) sister. Kristen and her boyfriend Dan live right across the hall. Its in a town called Mosman. It will be so nice to live closer to the city. Since the season is coming to an end it will be nice to  be closer to the main areas of Sydney during the summer months. I'll send pics of my new pad out as soon as I get there. It will be nice to  be on my own again. It was nice to have the family feeling for the past few years, but lets face it...its about time!


So who is coming to visit me?! I'm waiting for some fellow Americans to get out here!

Hope all is well stateside. I miss everyone.

Cheers!

Winter Weather

I was looking at a job in Portland, Maine a few months ago around the same time the offer to come to Australia was put in my head. I loved Maine, but loved Australia more. The people are equally as wonderful and I had equal amounts of friends in each place. However, it was a hard decision. After today I now know I made the right decision.

I was to"ld that today was a typical winter day in Sydney". I just about fell over. Sunny and 68 degrees. The ocean was 72. If Sydney is perfection in the winter, what was UMaine in the winter?!

I have decided that my goal in the future if I ever do move back to the states...is to be a snow bird. However, after this winter...even Florida was cold. Therefore, I will be moving to Australia for some 100 degree summers and back to NJ for 100 degree summers. There really isn't any reason to be so cold for SOOO long. It just nonsense.

Last month there was frost on the car window.  I asked where the ice scraper was and my friends just looked at me like I was stupid. They don't even sell ice scrapers here, they use their credit cards if they have to!

I was told to bring a "jumper" aka sweatshirt to my game to warm up in because the gym was cold. It was about 75 and I was sweating.

Any place where you can wear flip flops all winter is my kind of place. So when is someone coming for a visit?! It might be winter, but its warmer than summer in Jersey right now :) Oh..and I don't have to worry about traffic or parking for the beach...I just walk across the street!

Birthdays

Hello!
So sorry it's been so long since I have last written about my "fun down und' ". Things have been great since the last post. I had a big birthday. I'm now 27...YIKES! I'm in my LATE 20's now. I remember when my two cousins who are 9 years older than me turned 27. The first thing I said to them was, "WOW, you're almost 30!". Well, one of the girls I coach who just turned 21 this past weekend wanted me to go to this bar called Shore Club in town for her party. I told her I would only go out if we went to Charlie Bar, because I feel like a dinosaur at Shore Club. (All the girls are 18 or under and are sloppy messes.) She then asked me, well, how old are you? I asked her how old she thought I looked. She said and I quote, "Twenty".  Then I told her I was 27. No joke karma is a (well you know). She immediately said with the most confused/disgusted face,  "WOW, you're almost 30!"

God Bless her. I'm her coach. I tell her what to do and to run for not shooting with her left hand, and she thinks I look 20. This is great!

I'd like to thank Bob and Wanda first and foremost. Even though Dad is bald, he doesn't have any gray hair and he looks about 20 years younger than he is. As for Mumma, I think that if she actually did physical activity, she would have a better bod than Jillian Michaels, but she doesn't do anything, and eats the saltiest, buttery, savory food in the world and still fits into her prom dress from almost 40 years ago. This is true to the fact, that medically, my genes kind of bite, but physically, my genes ROCK!

Next I'd like to thank Mary Kay. Been using your stuff for 7 years now... and I think it's doing its job.

Finally, I'd like to thank my best friends. You all keep me young.  When they see me occasionally steering down Lame-o Lane, they run after me and bring me back to LL Cool Drive.

Needless to say, I'm super pumped I look 20! Lets hope my 27 year old body feels the same way this weekend against the #1 team in the conference. More to come!

Surfers and Sports

I am privileged enough to live next to some of the most amazing surf in the world. No wonder every time I go to the beach I see 50-100 people sitting on the their boards, eagerly awaiting for their next ride. I find it quite comical that most of these people are fearless and willing to go head first into a 9 foot monster, yet they wear winter wet suits and the water is 75. SOFT!

Well last night I refereed a few games. It was men's league. I had a team of rugby players vs a team of surfers. The rugby players wore short shorts, had no necks and were about 6' and above. The surfers, on average, had blonde hair, dark tans (which I can't figure out because they wear winter wet suits) and 80% had some sort of ponytail.

Now the rugby players were tough and didn't complain once about a call (I didn't blow my whistle much, so there REALLY wasn't much to complain about. No blood no foul right?!)

Well these surfer dudes, they were such wingers! Cry, complain, and gripe. For dudes who look God in the face and say, "Bring in on, Bro." They hate when a guy can jump higher than them.  I have the utmost respect for surfers. It is really a tough sport. The core strength is something I wish one day to have, but know I will never have anything on Big Wave destroyer Laird Hamilton.

It is an interesting concept, however. I have friends and family members who never played a contact sport in their lives, but are killer surfers. They run like a Yogi Bear, chest forward, butt backwards, and have the hand eye coordination of a drunk orangutan. What's with that? Make a surfer chase a ball and the "Hot Factor" goes right out the window.

Yet the rugby players, played well together. They were tough. Never complained about a call (because I'm an awesome referee... :D) and were scrappy. They could catch, pass, shoot and run.  I'm sure each of them could eventually pick up a board and teach themselves to surf. They could probably pick up a mitt and learn baseball, too. But why is it that surfers who start out as surfers, can't pick up any other sports? The hard work, and determination are there, no doubt. What is it. What keeps surfers from being well rounded athletes?

I'm not really sure, but I'm going for a swim in the ocean, no wetsuit needed!

No Worries, Mate

I have had a few different views from some of my many places of employment. I've spent many years in a marina, and as much as I love to scrape a few barnacles, vacuuming bilges and musty cabins didn't always make for the best work environment. Then there was waitressing on the inlet. Great view, but I was always serving the people who were about to get on the boat I probably cleaned the day before and enjoy themselves in the hot sun, while I wore black pants on 98 degree days and ran in and out of a greasy kitchen all day. I also got to spend a summer in AC which wasn't too bad, especially during the crazy heat waves. 

There were also three summers I worked at the Spring Lake B&T as a lifeguard and server. Not a bad view, and I got to work out for a living.  That was a cool job. This is pretty much the same thing. This morning I woke up, ate some breakfast, threw on some workout clothes and headed to the 70 degree beach with my lap top. The commute wasn't tough. I walked out my front door, across the street, around the golf course and up over the dune to the sand. It was a little tough going at one point because with my feet so far in the sand, I was laughing at a few seagulls fighting over a chicken bone when a wave came and soaked my spandex. On my 10 minute walk, I saw several guys being towed in half a mile or so off the beach into 12' waves....NBD (No Big Deal). 

I then came upon the lookout and walked up the sidewalk to grab a skinny capp and found myself a nice picnic table, facing the golf course, watching surfers jump off the rocks into the surf and nailing these incredible double overheads close to the beach. I sent off a few emails, organized some paperwork, and here I am writing this and cannot believe it is noon already. (Also, I'm pretty sure Kelly Slater just walked by, but I didn't want to bother him! ) Speaking of Kelly Slater, his best friend and one of my favorite musicians, Jack Johnson, once said, 

''The ocean has taught me to have respect for everything non-human, not man-made, and to be able to feel the power of it. It makes you feel how insignificant you really are. It's not a negative thing. It's a very humbling thing, and it's a good thing to feel like that.''

I think I know what Jack was talking about. This is it. 

No worries, mate.