The Australians really take their holidays seriously. Last week was the last week of school before the kids had their Easter holiday of 2 weeks. Going to school last Thursday was quite entertaining as the number of students in each class could be counted on one, or sometimes if needed both, hand(s). Friday was the first day off and the majority of the students decided that Tuesday would be their final day of classes. The school I am working at has classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is considered a homework day where students can come in and work on classes, assignments or projects in which they could use additional help. As a result most students figured they would start their holiday after school on Tuesday.
As for the rest of Australia, the country takes public holidays for Good Friday and Easter Monday. Most businesses are closed but some restaurants remain open and charge an additional 15% service charge. The parks in Perth were packed with families, and it is nice to see that they were taking advantage of their time off to be with each other. This week was difficult to be away from home, family and friends. Easter was usually one of the first weekends I would be able to get home from school and basketball to see family and friends and to celebrate the holiday. I do miss you all and wish I could see or speak with everyone more often; but things are going really well here and it has been a wonderful experience thus far. As for Easter, I was fortunate to be surrounded by many friends and lovely families throughout the weekend.
Since the last blog I posted I had mentioned my good friend Seth was leaving. The Bowler family entertained everyone with a BBQ in Seth’s honor. It was also the beginning of Jimmy Bowler’s half-way to 60 years old celebration! We had a large group gather and ate great food, played fun games and enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone was sad to see Seth leave, but he is planning on returning in July. Thursday evening prior to the BBQ I picked up the keys to my new apartment that I am sharing with Michael Haney. It is a wonderful unit and very plush. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit with a nice kitchen, patio, dining area, and a living room and family room. Luckily the unit came fully furnished with nice leather couches and an incredible entertainment unit! I guess I didn’t need to pack the Bose speakers!
In addition to the new apartment unit I picked up a new “whip” or car last week as well. I remain in a Camry, but this one has some tint to the windows and some rims in the wheels! Rolling around Kal in style…Hopefully with the new car I can get rid of the common mistakes of walking to the wrong side of the car, turning the wipers on instead of signaling, and looking right instead of left.
Now for the game updates. Friday morning we took off for Perth. The bus trips are not always ideal before a game, but I am enjoying the aspect of leaving at 6 am. It sounds rough, but for most of the duration of the road trip you are able to sleep no problem. I wake up a couple times for stops, but for the most part you wake up and you are there.
Our first game this weekend was against Rockingham. We were playing without Ryan Hulme for the first time since he departed for his wedding / honeymoon for the next month. We are going to miss what he brings to the team; he is a great shooter and a solid guard. Rockingham is known for being a very scrappy team; a team that if you give them enough confidence they can beat you. Fortunately we prevailed in the end, but I think we game them more confidence than we should have. We won the game by 10 points or so, but it was not a very pretty game to watch. I finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. I shot poorly from the field, but still was able to rebound. I was fortunate to have my “Perth family” and good friend Ben Beran at that game to support me and the Giants. Our club has a very loyal and supportive following. Sometimes when playing on the road we draw more fans for ourselves than the home team does.
Saturday night we rounded out our double header against Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn). This game was built up a bit as the former coach here (last 4 years) is now the head coach at Cockburn. As is usual with these situations, there is a lot made out of these matchups. Unfortunately for our team we lost to a better team that night. Cockburn is a very young team that is scrappy and plays hard. They executed their plays and we did not. I do not know what happened with me or our guys, but our defense was terrible and our energy / effort was not where it should have been. We lost by more than I would like to disclose, but I did end up with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Once again I did not shoot very well, but took enough shots to make it look like I played respectable basketball. We have much to work on and hopefully our upcoming tilt this weekend will go our way.
I spent the remainder of the weekend in Perth visiting friends. I was definitely not alone for Easter and my basket of chocolate was more than full. I had dinner with the Chegs after the game on Saturday and Ben picked me up to crash at his place. Ben plays for the Lakeside Lightning, another club in the SBL. He is staying with a host family in Booragoon, a suburb of Perth. The family he stays with is the Weirs. Jane Weir, whom I met in November when traveling with AIA, is best friends with Mary Anne Bowler, the mother of the family I stayed with in Kalgoorlie. Ben and I stayed up late catching up and talking about the differences in our teams, city, and between Australia and the US. I stayed up a bit later to watch TV. I have not watched much television since coming to Aussie, but I found MacGyver was on and was able to catch up on my ability to escape unpredictable situations with bubble gum, a paper clip, and a rubber band.
The next morning was Easter and Ben and I woke up early to go through the book of Matthew. It is quite uplifting to read the end of the Gospel on Easter Sunday. I attended mass with the Chegs at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Perth. It was a lovely mass and I was very excited to spend the day with Ben, the Chegs, the Weirs, and to meet Ryan Zamroz and his wife Stacy. Ryan is an import player for Geraldton, the other “country” team in the league. He went to Master’s College in California and is here with his wife and called on Ben to show them around due to his AIA affiliation.
Easter was a day full of faith, food, and friends. We had a wonderful brunch with the Chegs and then headed to Kings Park to show Ryan and Stacy the city. After Kings Park we made our way to Fremantle, a city known for its’ arts. It was a wonderful afternoon and it is always fun to hear people’s stories. This couple was married not too long ago so that they could travel with Ryan’s basketball. Although that would be tough to do, it appears they are having a wonderful time traveling together and experiencing the world. After Freo we made our way to the Weir’s where there was no shortage of food. They continued to bring out appetizers until there was no room for the main course. Then we continued to eat more food and dessert. I was uncomfortably full.
Monday was another day to tour around Perth. Ben and I picked up Ryan and Stacy and went back to Freemantle. The town had a huge market open for the holiday (normally on Sundays) and street performers all over. It is a beautiful town on the ocean, and actually a huge port for Western Australia. We went back to Fremantle so Ryan and Stacy could meet up with a teammate of his from Geraldton to carpool with. I was doing the same thing later in the day to get back to Kal. We all hung out together for the afternoon; 2 Geraldton players, 1 Lakeside player, and 1 Giants player. It is not that often that you see opposing players hanging out like that. We spent most of the afternoon shopping, eating and site seeing until we were all quite content with the large crowds. This past weekend was a lot of fun and I had a tremendous time seeing some familiar faces outside of Kal.
This week has been really nice as I have not had to work at the school. I am lucky to have some time off even though I only started a month ago. This week Mike and I are running a basketball camp for kids ranging in ages from 8-12. It has been a lot of fun meeting all the local kids that we see at the games and to see them all having so much fun playing basketball. I guess we are seeing them learn a thing or two as well! The camp ends today and it should be fun to pass out the awards to the kids.
As I mentioned last week my friend Seth was leaving, but two friends were going to be coming through this way on his coat tails. Woody and Rusty showed up on Wednesday and are planning to hang out for a bit in Kal. They have been back packing through the eastern states of Australia and through New Zealand the last 3 months. It is exciting to have some friends here and to tell stories and remember the good times back at UMD. Upon their arrival to Kal, they were thrown a welcoming BBQ by whom else, the Bowlers. I think Kal will provide something for them that could only be found here! They are insisting on dressing up for the basketball game this weekend in body paint or costumes like they did at UMD for the games, but I don’t think that will be happening. They showed up with a lot of luggage, but the most entertaining thing they had with them was their portable kitchen cupboard filled with all their essentials. It was basically a carry-on sized travel bag with random dishes, food, and cooking equipment. I think an oven, stove, refrigerator and dishwasher will be a welcomed adjustment for these two boys.
After playing basketball the last couple months with AIA and now in Australia I have come to see some of the friendliest, most welcoming and generous people. Families have taken in complete strangers and put myself and others up for short periods of time or extended periods. On the Fall tour we had numerous families that our group stayed with, were fed by and cared for by. Australia has been no different, and actually the people go so far out of their way to help you. Families extend invitations to have you over for dinner or to welcome you to town in Woody and Rusty’s case. It is quite remarkable and I feel very fortunate and I am thankful to have been shown that kind of generosity.
On a side note before I end this post I will leave you with a fun observation. The currency of Australia is quite different than ours. First, they throw it around a lot more loosely than at home. A $50 bill carries the same value to them as a $20 bill does to us. Foreign currency has the same effect as a poker chip does. When you are away from the currency you are familiar with and use as a basis for spending you tend to spend it as if it does not have a real monetary value. It is the vacation phenomenon that people go through. Why do people spend $15 on a drink when they are on vacation but not at home? Mentally, on vacation money holds a different value than it does at home. The same thing happens here. You spend a little more freely and purchase things you normally would not.
The actual difference in currency appearance baffles people here. “How in the world can you function in the US and have all your bills look the same? They are all the same size and color. How do you tell them apart?” This is a common topic of conversation. In Australia each bill has a different color and sometimes size. $50s are yellow, $20s are reddish, and $10s are blue. I would talk about $100s, but I don’t roll like that. This is great, and I can see how not having that could throw some people off. My question to them is, “What if someone is color blind? Then how do they know the value?” The answer is obvious, they read the 50, 20, 10, etc listed on the bill. Well, that is how we tell the difference in our bills. Australians do not have singles at all, instead they use coins. They have $2, $1, $.50, $.20, $.10 and $.05 coins. The ironic thing is that the most valuable coin, the $2 coin, is the smallest size wise. The less valuable $.50 and $.20 coins are far bigger than the $2 and $1 coins. To show that there is no rhyme or reason to the madness, the $.05 and $.10 are tiny as well. All that change in your pocket is a nuisance. I wonder if it is socially acceptable to purchase something for $30 or so and pull out all your change. In the states that would not fly, just ask Cosmo Kramer when he buys a calzone.
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