Adventures, Musings, Commentary, and Associated Fun

Back from Tasmania...

Feeling the onset of a few habits coming back (i.e. horribly infrequent postings), I will try to head them off at the pass and put up a few thoughts.  Now that the semester has gotten going, I have settled down into a bit more of a routine.  Unfortunately, it doesn't mean I'm any less busy - just that I'm consistently busy now, rather than inconsistently as before.  Only a few more months and the (winter) holidays will be here...

This weekend I went to Tasmania for the ultimate Regional Championships, which served as qualifications for the National Championships to be held in Melbourne.  There wasn't much doubt about qualifying - Chilly will be going for our 3rd straight National Championship - but we still came out and played really well, which was a great feeling (it was also great to play in a competitive game for the first time since Worlds in November.)  We were missing quite a few of our key guys and big players, which made the high quality of play that much more satisfying.  Personally, I thought I played reasonably well, though of course there are things I can still improve upon.  I also took more of a leadership role given the dynamics of the team, which was nice.

I flew over a day early to drive around Tasmania and see a few things that I missed when I was there 2 months ago with my parents.  We stopped at the Bay of Fires, which is listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. (Hard to believe, but with Wineglass Bay as well, Tas has two beaches that usually come near the top of such rankings.)  To say that it was beautiful is, of course, a tremendous understatement; I'll post a few pictures once I take them off my camera.  We stayed at a friend's father's house on Friday night, and shortly after we arrived at  his house he had us out on his boat fishing.  While the hope had been to catch dinner, we had to settle for a (small) appetizer!  But you should have seen the one that got away... :)

In other news, I should (finally!) be moving into Trinity College tomorrow, which will bring my itinerant living to an end.  I'm excited, not least at the prospect of finally having a place to call home for at least the next 10 months.  Living out of a suitcase can get tiring.  I'm also planning a trip to New Zealand for next month to catch up with Aaron Columbus, who will be heading to NZ for a friend's wedding.  I can't wait, both to catch up with him and to finally see a bit of NZ...other international travel plans involve a prospective trip to Indonesia/Singapore in June/July and a potential skiing trip to NZ around the same time (during our winter holidays), assuming that I can get my financial house in order and save a few bucks between now and then...

Congratulations...

I thought this deserved its own post.

I'm bad enough about putting my own pictures on my site, but nonetheless I wanted to offer this one from Ben Flood (sitting in middle of front row, second from right) atop Mt. Kilimanjaro a week or two ago. Needless to say, I'm insanely jealous: I've wanted to visit Africa for a long time, and this trek in particular is one of the big things on my "to do" list before I check out. Well done, Benjamin!

News and such

World Cup update and related thoughts to follow another time (save for Argentina looking frighteningly good after two games - by far the best performers of any of the "big" teams so far. They play the Netherlands tonight, which has the makings of a great game - or a boring draw if they both use substitutes and play conservatively, knowing they are both through to the 2nd Round.) I figured an update on other, non-soccer events may be in order for those that aren't completely obsessed and ridiculously devoted to the game as I am...

-The first semester of my graduate school life has just finished. Without trying to focus on the Australia side of things - I feel like I do enough of that already - life as a PhD student has been a bit surreal, taken some adjustment, and had a few bumps along the way. (And yes, a few of these bumps have been self-induced in the form of not being disciplined enough. You didn't expect me to slide into the freedom of university life and be an immediate workaholic, did you?) Overall, though, I don't have any regrets about my decision to go back to school - or my decision on where to go (more on that later). In my enthusiasm, I jumped straight into the PhD program (they let you do that here, with appropriate qualifications); looking back, it may have been more sensible to start with the Masters. I can still switch over later, which I may well do.

-I'm hoping to go to Bali next month to catch up with Eileen, a good friend and SCUBA diver extraordinaire. I'm still looking into flight costs and timing, but I'm really hoping that it will all work out. From everything I gather, it's an extraordinary place, and one that I hope to be able to visit a couple of times while I'm in this neighborhood of the world.

-I received my first "thanks but no thanks" to a paper proposal. I had submitted an abstract to a conference in Singapore being held over the last weekend in July. I've been working with Al, another postgrad student (and good friend, pictured on the left here - don't worry, he doesn't always dress like this), on a comparison of terrorism and forced migration within Southeast Asia. Hopefully we can shop it around and find another home for it.

-That's it for now. I'll post a few soccer-related thoughts soon, as I've been woefully overdue in doing so up to this point. Tomorrow night is shaping up to be a potentially crazy evening, with the US/Ghana match taking place at the same time (midnight kickoff) as the Italy/Czech game to decide who gets to go through. It's then followed by the Australia/Croatia match at 5 AM; the Socceroos likely just need a draw and they will be through to face the winner of the US's group. Unfortunately, the best the US can do is 2nd - if Italy wins and we beat Ghana - but I'd take that in a heartbeat, given how poorly we played against the Czechs and that we finished the Italy game (a fantastic, exciting 1-1 draw with 2 Americans and 1 Italian receiving red cards - possibly the best result for the US team, given the circumstances, in recent World Cup history. Incidentally, the American on the receiving end of the brutal and clearly premeditated Italian elbow, Brian McBride, shown here, is from Arlington Heights, Illinois - hometown of one Roger W. Freise, aka Dad.) It should make for an extremely exciting, though very late, night - this place is going to erupt if the 'Roos go through, especially if they end up playing Italy. There's an enormous Italian population in Melbourne (and especially in the area where I live), so it would be a massive matchup if they played each other.

-Oh, and I'm dating a really cool Swedish girl named Maria. More later, and yes - I will put some pictures up sometime soon! Bye for now...

Come see me!

I'm safely settled in at my new apartment. The address, for those that care about such matters, is...

37 Argyle Place South
Carlton, VIC 3056
Australia

And if you're interested in taking a look at my new place, our friends at United (and Travelzoo) have just the thing for you! While I'm not expecting ALL of you to come at once, it would be nice if a few of you gave it a serious thought... :)

http://airfare.travelzoo.com/international-airfare/230346

I'm going rock climbing in the Grampians National Park this weekend, and one our targets is Mt. Arapiles (pronounced uh-RAP-uh-leez). It's reputed to have the highest concentration of high quality climbs in the country, and one of the routes was for a time considered the most difficult climb in the world. While I don't know that I'm quite at that level - yet :) - I'm extremely excited about both getting my hands chalky and spending a few nights under the Southern Hemisphere stars. I leave early Friday morning and return Sunday early evening.

Heading off to do some work at the moment, but just read an interesting article about Fair Trade coffee. I've expressed to some of you my suspicions and doubts before: as a free trader and proponent of spreading globalization yet further, both experience and basic economic theory shows price floors and cielings - i.e. intentionally distorted markets - tend to cause more harm than good, with sacrifices in quality, quantity, and the rise of black markets all regular occurences in such circumstances. While aware of the marketing power (genius?) of "Fair Trade Coffee", it's enlightening to learn about the actual details of what a coffee grower must to do get that all-important designation...

http://www.reason.com/0603/fe.kh.absolution.shtml

Bye for now!

I'm here...

After a wonderful, relaxing few days in California (special thanks to Aunt Mary, cousin Brian, uncle Butch, and friends Eeva and Chris), I departed Thursday evening on the biggest adventure thus far in my 25 year life.  Life as a graduate student of International Studies at the University of Melbourne beckons.

The 13 1/2 hour trip to Christchurch, NZ went well; I managed both 6 hours of sleep and some good conversation with my immediate seat neighbors, an all-too-cute retired English couple from a small  town on their first trip outside of Europe.  My initial grumpiness at them taking the two seats next to me (I would have had a whole row!) eroded once we started chatting; they really were about as cute a couple as you can imagine.  Adrenaline (and a double espresso at the airport) kept me going on the flight to Melbourne.

I met a fellow Mebourne grad student from China named Michael on the way to our temporary accomodations.  We both immediately latched onto the other, and even now we've done just about everything together so far.  When you're moving to a place where you don't know a soul, these sort of things tend to happen.  I bought a mobile phone and am looking at my first flat later today.  Tomorrow, I hope to establish both a bank account and my official identity as a Melbourne student, with the requisite privileges.  Hopefully, I'll have proper accomodations within the next few days.

I'll save a proper posting, with postings, until then.  I'm safe, sound, rested and reasonably jet lag-free (slept 12 hours last night), and keen to have a beer while watching an Aussie rules football match later this afternoon.  Many thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and good karma...I hope that all of you understand that I do not know that I could have done this without you.  With much love, and all the best,

Chris

Cali...

I flew from Washington to Los Angeles Sunday, and am currently spending a few days in California before I head to Australia on Thursday.  For those that care, I'm leaving around 7 PM on Air New Zealand flight 19 to Auckland; my Auckland is Air NZ 243 and arrives in Melbourne (on Saturday) at 9:20 AM.

Total flight time: 19 hours 5 mins.

I'm in San Diego right now, hanging out with my good friend Chris and his wife Eeva.  If you're familiar with Flickr, you can check out some photos from their (Helsinki) wedding here. We're heading for a run now, followed by a swim and surf, conditions permitting...

New York

I'm overdue on posting - not an auspicious start to my blogging career, I admit. I was in New York this past weekend; you may have heard that it received the biggest snowstorm in recorded history over the course of Saturday and Sunday. 26.9 inches of snow fell in Central Park, and I had the temerity to take the train from Washington late Saturday night INTO the storm. (We received a measly 8.8 inches here in DC). In short, it was great; Sunday was spent staying on designated travel paths through the park (or risk an immediate lower leg freeze up to your knee) and kindly stepping to the side to let fellow pedestrians and cross-country skiers pass.

For all the craziness of seeing cars buried under 5 foot drifts and Manhattan traffic eerily absent, one of the most incredible experiences was to see New York...smiling. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the snow, not least the seemingly endless supply of both children and parents that descended (with us) on Prospect Park in Brooklyn and later Central Park. It was if people just needed an excuse to let down their guard and forget that being a New Yorker was supposedly all about being gruff, self-important, etc. On several occasions, as I walked around the city I saw people helping dislodge stranded cars. One or two people would start pushing, and immediately a phalanx of (usually) men would join in the effort. I was even repaid with a spinning tire slushie all over my jeans as a result of one push-job. I guess no good deed is left unpunished. All in all, it was wonderful to see everyone forgetting about everything and just enjoying the ridiculous amount of snow.

Here's an article about the storm from the New York Times (free registratrion required); they've got a slideshow too, but I found it a bit disappointing. The day after was notably less fun, as slush-puddle jumping became a city-wide sport and the gruffness resumed. At least everyone was nice for a day.

Istanbul, part 2

Considering the amount of time I spent there, I enjoyed Istanbul as much as any other city I have visited. I don't make that statement lightly; I readily admit to being spoiled rotten when it comes to visiting cool places. Istanbul, though, was unique, and I think I wil remember it for a long time.

Turkey is in many ways a schizophrenic country, caught between its Muslim identity, European ambitions, and geography (bordering EU Greece and EU-wannabe Romania, as well as Iran, Iraq, and Syria). As we caught our bus from the hotel to the city, one of the (Turkish-speaking) flight attendants pointed out that Istanbul is the only city in the world that bridges two continents (Asia and Europe, split by the Bosporus). I jokingly asked if this geographical happenstance was actually good description of Turkish identity. I made the comment both to let him know that I knew at least a bit about the country that I was in; I hate nothing more than to be considered the crass, ignorant "ugly American". The rest of the bus laughted at my comment; the telling part was his pause. He thought about it for about 5 full seconds, nodded slowly, and smiled almost Mona Lisa-like. "Yeah, I guess you could say that..."

While my comment was borne out of indirect experience, it was soon reinforced directly. The relatively anonymous ride from the airport - around the world, airports are always in the middle of nowhere! - brought the similar road sign font of EU countries, and yet the piercing minarets of the many mosques subtly undercut the temptation of accepting the European feel of the city. While it's a trivial observation, it crudely represents much of what I came to experience in my brief stay: Turkey strives to be "European", yet its Muslim heritage indelibly links it to its Middle-Eastern neighbors. From the other side, Turkey's long-sought EU membership frightens many EU countries precisely because of its Islamic-ness.

In a post-9/11 world, efforts have been made to turn this into a postive: including Turkey in the economic club (the EU) means more than the historical military club (NATO), and such a move would provide other Islamic countries, threatened with the easy populism of fundamentalism, with an example of moderation and modernization providing tangible benefits. Unfortunately, this has yet to move past the best intentions of its proponents, and provided the strongly-opposed few with the upper hand over the less-passionate supporters of Turkish membership. In the debate about Turkey's negotiations about negotiations about potential EU membership, things got pretty ugly, with Germany and France offering the (intellectually void) prospect of a "priveleged partnership", rather than direct membership. The Turkish angst/paranoia/duality - mixed feelings, put simply, with more than a bit of historical inferiority complex - towards Europe and the EU becomes more understandable when the EU dangles the most coveted political prize of the past 50 years (EU membership) and then procedes to issues yet further conditions. There are reasons to say no, but if you're going to say yes to negotiations about negotiations, one should be prepared to go in without a bundle of further conditions.

Can anyone blame Turks for being a bit fed up with the whole thing? I know I've opened a whole big can of worms here, and while I would be more than happy to amuse you with a few more of my thoughts on the matter, my primary point is simply to give voice to a few of the passing impressions I had of Turkey. It's really a wonderful country, and I hope to get back soon. Hopefully, as a EU member, for all the challenges that such a move represents.

Istanbul

I've finally had a chance to devote a bit more attention to this little operation, and I'm all too aware that there is still plenty of work to be done. This "information superhighway" and "blogosphere" I hear so much about takes a little getting used to. I've decided to go with TypePad for my blogging needs; feel free to criticize or praise my decision accordingly, but regardless I hope you enjoy the product once I get things up and running.

Last week brought a (somewhat) impromptu trip to Istanbul. As paperwork delays from the University of Melbourne continued to drag on, delaying both my application for an Australian visa and my actual departure - mighty frustrating - I thought I would make the most of it and tag along on one of my Mom's trips (she's a flight attendent - i.e. they pay her to travel around the world). I had heard a bunch of great things about Turkey, and the alternative was to sit around here. Why not, right?

While I was limited by time - we were on the ground for just over 48 hours - the immense charm of the country that others had described was immediately apparent. We launched into the city following our arrival at our hotel; I was excited to experience a city I had heard so much about, and 30+ years of flying has taught my mother how to function amazingly well following a trans-Atlantic all-nighter. Istanbul certainly lived up to its billing as an intriguing, enchanting city. The photo is of me standing in front of the famous Blue Mosque near sunset. It's difficult to catch the beauty of the Sun reflecting off the dome.

More on our adventures and some of my impressions in my next post. In the meantime, check out my Flickr page for a few photos from the trip. Ciao...