In the Meantime...Another door opens

So it's now the middle of July and boy-oh-boy has this been a month that is full of suprises and emotions! In a matter of a week my whole life was kinda flipped upside down and now I'm learning to deal with it. These are the things that I've done and have planned... Geez this no-job thing is great! :)

1. Went shopping in Austin with Mom...
2. Came back home to Brownsville to get started on my life (resumes, job apps, etc).
3. Worked out a World Gym.
4. Played frisbee on beautiful South Padre Island with my friends Justin and George.
5. Enjoyed a night at Louie's Backyard with the guys.
6. Checked out the new local restaurants.
7. SCUBA diving off the coast with Justin and his mom.
8. Camping out in Colorado with my brother for a week.
9. Travelling to Central America for 3 weeks with Sarah.

Everyone is asking... what's next? Taking time to travel has not only shown me what what I want out of life but also what I want to put into life. If ever you have the chance to step outside of your comfort zone, do it. Take that step, open those doors... if one closes, another will open.
I have one last bit of travel to complete this journey and then the options are endless. I am ready to begin working as a professional. I crave responsibilities. I have motivation. I want to share my talents with others and prove to employers that I am a valuable member of their team. I want to challenge my mind. I want to receive monetary rewards. I will get my own apartment with my own furniture and I might even ... get a dog!!! I will take the opportunities that life throws at me. I will swing at curve balls. I will continue to challenge myself physically. I have never allowed myself so much freedom. I know that things will work out and It's just a matter of where to start!

Final Thoughts...

There is a thing called culture shock... and I've experienced it upon my return.

Americans really are fatter despite what I kept telling everyone in Australia (I saw it for myself in LAX).

The cafes here are so depressing because the lattes are burned and the food unfresh.

I didn't have any trouble driving on the correct side of the road in Texas.

I no longer have an addiction to my cell phone, in fact I keep leaving it lying around the house and I don't know where it is. Then again, no one calls me.

I should work for the department of tourism and try to educate Americans on how their behavior overseas affects our image as a country.

My bedroom at my parent's house is a mess and it's going to take days to get all the goods ready to take to Salvation Army.

I think I missed working out at the gym more than anything.

I am happy to be back in the U.S. where you can return things you don't like hassle-free and driving is not an inconvenience.

Christchurch... final destination

There's not a whole lot say about Christchurch because Meagan nor I had the energy or the interest to explore it for very long. We were counting the hours until our flight took us back to Melbourne or rather back to the U.S. There was a very beautiful cathedral and some descent shopping but we just walked around... grabbed a coffee... you know, how we do it.

Snowboarding

To make our trip to New Zealand that much better, we arrived in Queenstown only 2 days before the mountain opened up for ski season. We rented sweet snowboards and all the equipment that we needed and took a bus to Coronet Peak only to have beautiful weather on the slopes. There are only about 30 runs (as compared to the parks in the U.S. with about 200 runs) but it was still fun to get out in the snow. The odd thing was that there were absolutely no trees on the mountain... so the runs were pretty much anywhere you wanted to go!


The second day of boarding was much cooler because there was a complete "white out" and we literally couldn't see 3 feet in front of us. There was no way to distinguish the snow on the ground from the air around it so we couldn't even tell if we were going up a side hill or staying on the path. The paths were virtually unmarked which is the reason I found myself way off the track at one point. At least it made the runs more challenging.

I am pretty proud of myself because after learning only a year ago, I would say that I'm pretty good at this new sport.