Water so clear you can see to the bottom...hundred thousand dollar cars AINT nobody got 'em!

The Indian Restaurant

Driving on the WRONG side of the road haha. Sorry I mean other side!

The famous Bell Tower, with the Swan Bells inside. Not that interesting haha.

View from the River Walkway.

Why is this picture sideways!!! A good look of the city, sideways! lol

So of you may have heared the title of this post from Will Smith's song Miami. Only his goes, "water so clear you can see to the bottom, hundred thousand dollar cars everybody got 'em." This place is somewhat funny because it is a "rich area" because of the mining and ocean area. But everyone drives camry's and pedophile vans haha. I'm waiting for someone in a white van to roll down their window and as me if I want some candy! For as nice as the houses are and stuff you would think people would be driving mercedes, jags, and bmw's but I guess they dont care about that. Yesterday was more than eventful. Here's what took place...

10 AM

I wake up (a little before this actually) to another beautiful day of sunshine. And ANOTHER day of Marcus and Julia talking on the computer! I'm starting to realize that it's a good thing we didnt get a phone for overseas, otherwise they would both be broke! Or at least both sets of paretns would be. As much as I love sitting there listening too, "haha ur so cute...no, you are! haha you stop it. I miss you...aww but not as much as I miss you. (giggle) You complete me (finger pointed at the computer then to the heart)" I decided to take this party elsewhere. What do you know, beach time!

11 AM

Decided to go for a swim and read a book. This seems to be feeling more like a 7 month vacation everyday hha. I went on a short jog to the ocean and found a spot between two coral areas. The cool thing was I was the only one in the area, so I decided to lay out completely naked to get rid of any tan lines...haha yeah right. Just kidding. I spent some time reading "The Shack" that my buddy Mikey gave me. What a good book. If you havent read it I recommend it. I am about halfway through and I will probably finish it in a couple days because it's so interesting. A man's little girl is taken on a family vacation and brutally murdered in a shack in the Oregon wilderness. However years later he gets a "note" from God that brings him back to the place where all his nightmares are. I am about halfway through but it is an interesting book on faith and dealing with tragedy. After reading a chapter or two I decided to work my hamstring out in the water. The water is sooo clear, well you can see to the bottom. I found myself chasing after small fish underneath me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of a ton of bigger fish! As I approached within about 3 or 4 feet from them, the sand shifted and the area took off. They werent a lot of fish at all, it was one BIG one. A stingray to be exact. He glided away as I saw his tail follow behind. No I didnt not watch in amazement. Lets just say Michael Phelps might have lost in a swimming contest this day! I was back on the sand in about 7 seconds! I almost pissed in my board shorts! Oh well, at least I havent encountered Jelly Fish yet!

3 PM Some of the people picked us from the church and took us downtown in the city. I got to take a lot of cool pictures and will add them as much as I can. We needed to get a new phone while we are here so we thought today would be the day. Seeing as, we dont have practice...hmm imagine that! We went to the outdoor mall which was sweet. After that we walked to the river and saw the best sight in Perth! The river walkway is unbelievable. Everything is so clean and nice. They have a large ferris wheel that sits on the river to overlook the city area. They are also setting up for the arts festival that is a big deal here in the city. They have independent movies, and a lot of artistic world from all over the world. Nikki would be in heaven here. I actually went to a movie where you sit on the grass. It is like a drive in theatre but without the cars. And yes I did go by myself because I have lots of friends and apparently am very interesting :-/ haha. But it was a cool experience. If you have seen the Wedding Planner, it was a lot like the movie they watch in the park. We got to see "The Bell Tower" which is nothing special but it is supposed to be a big deal here. I think the bells are from London and they show the connection of Australia with England. I honestly could be making that up but hey that's what will make me a great teacher! It's not what you know, its how well you can convince your kids to believe what you are saying! haha That's terrible and not true. Hopefully Dr. Gaerte isnt reading this blog lol. We then visited a sweet place. It was an Indian restaurant named Annalakshmi. It's a vegatarian place that sits on the river. The catch is that you pay them whatever you feel the meal should cost. They ask for at least a 1 dollar donation but the rest is up to you! How cool is that! Needless to say guess where we ate? Ha nope we ate at McDonalds! Shoot vegatarian? Good one! But I'll try it soon enough!

7PM

Marcus went home to chat with his better half, and I decided to pub it with some of the people. I always enjoy meeting new people and drinking is almost like a cultural thing here, a lot like Europe might be. The age limit is 18 and it's not uncommon for most of the kids to start earlier than that. It's a lot different here tho. It seems to be MUCH more casual than party scene. However, talk about expensive! Wow, I got a pint of beer and it cost me 9 dollars, my identification, my left hand, 3 toes, and an internal organ of my choosing. I gave one of my kidneys because they arent good anyway haha. Seriously tho, 9 dollars for uno drink. Probably will stick to water and juice most of the time here!

10PM

This is my favorite time of the day. I usually walk down to the beach and just relax, listening to the waves and watching the moonlight bounce off the coral rocks and sand. It's the most relaxed I have been in a long long time. It is probably the place where I feel the closest to God as well. Tonight my prayers went out to a few people in general. First off to Jerry and his parents. I know they are having a tough time and it's not easy to experience that. I know how hard dad took it when Gramps Moore passed away. Another prayer went out to the Slavicek family and Conner and Kennedy's Grandpa. He is a good man and I pray that everything will turn out ok. I also pray for my teammates. No...not my wolves, but My "teammates!" I pray for Kais, Gaff, Mike, KJ, Winks, Eaks, Swanny, Plums, Hughie, Briggs, Sheck, Shives, Drake, and on and on. I miss those guys a lot and basketball isnt the same without THEM. Alright I suppose I will wrap this up. I pray quite a bit but dont have enough space to share them all! Miss everyone more than you can imagine.

P.S. I realized that even though I live in Australia, I'm American baby! And I dont feel that's changing anytime soon! By the way, what do you call two guys hanging out on the wall? Kurt & Rod haha. I need to find a new joke. Later