I think i have found my backpacker hostel for Sydney. this isnt a decision that should be made lightly, as a poor backpacker can destroy you entire trip. it is not only a place to sleep, but because i will be walking pretty much everywhere (to save money, as i know sydney has a good public transport system) my hostel has to be somewhere lively in its own right and in close prox to all the major places eg the harbour, beach, many bars. anyway, back to my choice. i was recomended a bunch, and was prusing their website when one jumped out me, "FREE BEER ON ARRIVAL" well thats all i needed to know...if a hostel has realised that the first thing i would want after a crap load of travilling is an ice cold bruski then im sure the rest of their facilities will follow suit.
the name of the place is the jolly swagman..very aussie. it seems to have a nice youth atmosphere to it and tries to take care of things for you like transport to the main drinking areas and stuff that kids like to get up to . i mean i was reading a weekly timetable for the evenings and pretty much every night is a bar crawl or live music spots, which is kick ass. they stress its a great place if you traveling alone, which i am.
anyway, to all those season travels out there i need some advice. im pretty sure i will be charge for withdrawing money in aus, and im not going to use travellers checks, so does anyone have ideas on how i should deal with my money? im looking in your direction andrew.
I was walking on Nordhoek beach today and we run into this, what I thought was an ageing hippie from New England, actually turned out to be a quite high profiled retired air force officer who had retired out here. Anyway we had heard us talking about the election etc and the state of America and the situation and decided to chip in his two cent. But during a short talk, none of us could actually remember why we are fighting in Iraq? Well if we couldn’t remember, maybe nobody ever told us.
Well after talking about it I was totally consumed and really started thinking about it, and the more I think about it the more I get confused...very strange. So heres the deal: bin laden and his terrorist cell attack America on 9/11. Known terrorist who were trained by Americans in America....huh? And their leader, a known world terrorist, who up until a few years before had been receiving weapons and training from America...Ok mistakes can be made, bush thought bin laden was on his side..i mean they had him over a few years previous. So America, in response to this, attacks Afghanistan...besides growing provocative amounts of poppies (base plant for heroin), I’m not sure they did to much wrong to us. But heres a historical link, 20years earlier we paid bin laden to fight the invading Russians in the area...so he knows the area. But wait this is three months after 9/11, that’s a pretty good head start, and that’s even if he is in Afghanistan. What did we learn for Afghanistan? Well a 6ft6 guy on a kidney dialyses machine was too hard to find..oh and that American highly trained army can test out some new weapons...shame they tested the laser guided missiles on that Canadian regiment. so we are no closer to catching bin laden. by this time back in America, the public is whipped up into a sense of impending doom so much so in fact that they next letter in your mail could spell instant death. so the American public are not going to complain about waging another war....but they needed to produce something to get the brits on board. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. two things i would like to point out here. First weren’t we in Iraq only 10years ago..and didn’t we already sort that out. but ok maybe Hussein developed more, but my second point is what defines weapons of mass destruction. if i really wanted to, and was so inclined i could make enough c4 to level in a matter of days..how come bush didn’t come for me? Maybe it wasn’t really about the weapons and the freedom of those Iraqis? ok, you may think some of this conspiracy or whatever, but i would like to say that i have relatives in the foreign offices and in the ministry of defence, and lets just say there security clearance is just a tad high than the janitor. Anyway, they were absolutely convinced that there were WMD, passionate about it....so where were they. i would like to point out that one thing that may have made the US seem a little more genuine in this aftermath of this is that WMD doesn’t have to be a couple of nukes sitting somewhere...why cant it be a person. a nuke by itself is harmless, the one who can make it is the dangerous one. But the Americans never made this distinction. Blair didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of bush by asking what was going on, and frankly i don’t think bush really knew what was going. i think he was sat down and told that if we do this we get lots of oil and your daddy will say you did a good job...but what about bin laden isn’t he the reason why we are supposed to be going to war, he has been helped out by Hussein. Oh hes probably dead so we don’t need to worry....BALI, KENYA, AND A RECENT VIDEO SAYING THERES MORE TO COME..oh yeah hes dead.
All though there are some many factors and back stories feeding into our eventual situation in Iraq, the reason is clear why we are still their fighting, cause went in first. When you fighting a nation America is very good and defeating them. shit, it took like 3weeks for the govt to topple, but to fight individuals is dam near impossible. i truly believe that we are in another Vietnam, but much worse as this will eventual course a real strain on economy which will lead to a series of recessions. we are attacking ourselves through are self righteous attitude that somehow makes us feel that we are right to pass judgment on others, and because of this, America is the most hated country on earth. Iraq was so corrupted and decrepit that we could have toppled it in a much simpler way...a subtle assassination would have caused govt to rebuild naturally. Instead we actively forced the Iraqis to make a changed based on our agenda.
FACTS ABOUT THE TWO IRAQ WARS
90's war: Americans wounded = 79, Iraq = 150,000!
04's war: Americans KILLED = 1212 and rising daily, Iraq = ???
Although Bush being relected really does suck. i have done some thinking, and there are someways that we have benefited from this whole election and bush being elected.
1. endless material for standup comedians
2. a figure head for bored teens to focus apathy towards
3. inspiration for the punk rock movement...if life was perfect it would render an entire musical style Obsolete
4. a reason for celebrities to show they exist outside of the tv
5. prove that there is hard evidence that there are evolutionary steps between us and "the bible belt"
6. proving that the bible belt know nothing about Christianity when the cant even see that Bush's running mate is the devil.
7. that we dont need to look outside america for terrorist ands fundamentalists with warped way at looking at reality.
8. a renewed belief in the american dream. if bush can gain the highest and most powerful position in the world, think what all those other Parameciums could achieve (if you dont know what the means..its a single celled organism).
9. it pisses the french off...somehow it almost makes it worth it
10. and most importantly it shows god is blind to colour, creed and intelligence
I suppose that i should tell everyone what im doing over the next couple of months, since everyone seems to be asking, and this will save breathe.
I am in a funny transitional british thing called a "gap year". basically, i would have cracked, gone postal and then quiverd up into the fetal position if i had to go through even one more day of education right now. when you have been in a english boarding school since 9 years old, you feel soceity owes you a break before you go of to be part of the highest educated in the country.
A gap year is the equivalent of the first year of college in america. you get very drunk and do very little work. thats we do 3 years of uni, and america does 4. anyway
my gap year started off in a crap but very necessary juncture...making money. and im not sure if it was punishment for something i did in a prior life or what but i had the worst job short of the democratic vote pusher in mississippi. i worked at cranbrook foods, a small cornershop/deli on the highstreet. i worked for bilbo bagins and the female form of the devil. it was 8.30 till 5.30 5days a week, and i had to bike 5miles both ways everday....great fun!!! my boss hated me, i could never do anything right in her eyes and i was always to blame. but she couldnt fire me as i had formed alittle following of customers. when working in a store where the average consumer is an 80yr old women, a nice young lad helping them with their shopping was the highlight of their day....we had one fan faint, actaully she just stood up from her go-ped to quickly. anyway, after enduring this hell for 2months, i had made enough money for my gap year (about 1000pounds striaght up, but im in the procces of yelling and those bastards at the IRS to give me my tax back...200pounds worth). so after a week or so at the new family home in slinfold, i deicide i didnt realy want to be around for an english winter. so thats what brings me to cape town. hot
weather and sun!
a gap year ussually has traveling in it, and come boxing day, i will be doing alot of that. first call hong kong for new years. an expensive place to do but worth it. then on the 2nd i fly to sydney and hangout with friends all along the bommerang coast. a quick trip to Nz is in order around my Bday, then back to sydney to go back to hong kong for the rugby 7's Wcup and a family reunion. then back to uk were im sure ill be forced into some other money making past time for awhile until the summer. ahh the summer...Sanfransico, LA and finally relaxing on a small island on lake muskoka in ontario. this may all change dramatically. you can never tell with a gap year. but if ppl are looking for me over the next 8months, reference ths post for rough location.
In light of recent political events, i have felt that it would be neglecting my duty as a citizen of the world to deprive you of my opinion on pretty much everything going on in the universe. for too long have i waited in the shadows of other blogs, making quick comments about a passing interest. it is now my time to speak out against the injustices of the world and share a piece of an impoverish student to the world.
TALK ABOUT AN OPENING POST!!!!!!
Basically, through this blog, among other things..you will get in depth access to the under belly of student life, the thought process, the priorities and the best place to find a cheap beer in Oxford. So sit back, please frequent and enjoy