Part 11: Reflections

So today marks the end of the year, one which I will be spending 16,810km away from my home (yes I worked it out), in probably sub-zero temperatures.
So to counteract the cold and the boredom, I am going to present here a list of the good, the bad, and the interesting of 2010 - on a public scale on a personal level. 
So I spose I'll get started.
Entertainment and Media:


Best Song of 2010: Closer To The Edge - 30 Seconds To Mars
Runners-Up: Search and Destroy, Kings And Queens, This Is War - 30 Seconds To Mars, Summertime, Sing - My Chemical Romance, Christmas Lights - Coldplay, Hell On The Throat - Dashboard Confessional

One of 30stm's best, Closer To The Edge represented the true meaning of their music with epic sounds and pumping the volume as loud as you can and letting out whatever emotion it is that you have at that moment. This song was nearly killed by the radio, but for me, that just adds to the success and brilliance of the song, and when you watch the video clip, it gives you an idea as to why this song is so special.

Worst Song Of 2010: Simon Says - Pharoahe Monch
Runners-Up: OMG - Usher, Anything by Justin Bieber, U.S Boy - Jenna Lee


Ok, so I know it wasn't released in 2010, but seriously, it is a truly terrible piece of music. Find out for yourself.

Best Band: 30 Seconds To Mars

Runners-Up: My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Dashboard Confessional, Breaking Benjamin

No real surprise there, from a period of around November last year to September this year I didn't listen to anything else. Every song on my play count was way over 1000, with Kings And Queens having over 5,000 as the most. This year I listened to 30 Seconds To Mars when I was happy and when I was sad, when I was angry, when I wanted to sleep and when I needed a boost, I listened to them through good times and through bad and they influenced my life in so many ways, not to the mention my slightly concerning obsession with Jared Leto. 30 Seconds to Mars was there for my best memories and my worst this year and I will not forget the more-than-music influence it had on me.

Best Movie:  The Hurt Locker

Runners-Up: Avatar, Sherlock Holmes

Seeming as all 3 were released in 2009, the movies released this year were not very good/interesting but the Hurt Locker surely does have a great storyline to it.

Worst Movie: Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Runner-Up: When In Rome

I haven't seen either of them, but come on.

Best TV Series: Modern Family
Runners-Up: Top Gear, Man Vs Wild, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy

Possibly the best father that teenage boys of my age would want to idolise themselves on, Phil, and just an extremely funny show. Extremely funny.

Worst TV Series: Junior Masterchef
Runners-Up: Top Gear Australia, The 7pm Project, Masterchef

All. Terrible. Shows.

Funny Shit: 

"Right from the start, We had no Idea who was going to win tonight."
..Just right from the start?

Best Sporting Moment/Event: 2010 FIFA World Cup
To see South Africa come together and host the world cup which didn't fail to disappoint was a proud moment for the country and continent and was very entertaining at the same time.

Worst Sporting Moment/Event: 2010 Commonwealth Games
Don't get me wrong I love athletics, but the Commonwealth Games has got to be the most un-interesting and un-inspiring global event in the world. It didn't help that Channel 10 flogged the public months in advance, saying that this would be where Australia comes together and dreams are made for all. I think the worst moment for this event was that every runner in the Kew High Year 11 Relay team, including myself, would've finished in around 5th place in one of the heats for the 100m. A guy from Nauru came last. Fierce sporting nation that it is.

And now on a personal level, I'll take a  look at the some of the events that were special to me in any way this year. The first year that I got drunk and the first year that I ate a meal (other than a happy meal) at McDonalds. Impressive.

Funniest Moment: And endless amount of possibilites for this one, but decided that it has to go down to drawing the outline of a Penis on a main country road with gasoline, and then igniting it to see a pyrotechnic spectacular - The Flammable Penis.

Watch here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=400346778423&subj=563348423

Scariest Moment: Watching the waves crash into the rocks at Bushrangers Bay before one enormous wave created a second of terror between Liam Garrard and I as we thought we were doomed to be swept off the rocks. Wasn't so bad at all in the end, but none the less.

Watch here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=375627398423&subj=563348423

Worst Moments:
3. Missing 30 Seconds To Mars Live, Twice.
Two times this year I had my hands on 30 Seconds To Mars tickets, once in Melbourne and once in Switzerland. Both of them co-incited with other things which meant I had to miss out both times, but am hoping that the gay saying 'third time lucky' will come into play next year.

2. Losing State Relay 
After the incredible success of 2009, coming 2nd in this year's state relay was a huge letdown and a little bit embarrassing in front of friends and family. "But Ben, you guys did great! Second in the state is an amazing effort!"
No, I never want to hear anyone say that shit to me. It was a bad feeling, but thanks to all my friends for the support and for ensuring it was forgotten as quickly as possible.

1. Saying Goodbye.
Not a doubt in my mind that November 20 was an exceptionally difficult day and the worst feeling I had this year. Saying Goodbye to Emily as she left my house and then walking back into my room, knowing that for the next 71 days I would not see her or any of my friends was the most bitter of pills to swallow and for about 45 minutes I just could not handle it and let my emotions get the better of me.

Best Moments:
3. Portarlington
Spending a couple of nights in Portarlington with the Brotherhood - Derek Liddall and Alex Glinski, at the D-man's country pad was a sweet chill and included things such as finding $150 floating in the water, going face to face with a gang of Scooter Banditos and coming across the real live version of Alf Stewart on a bus. Good times.

2. First drunk weekend at Cape Paterson.
Spending a weekend down at the beach in the Summer with Emily and Jess Dal Pos, and Alex Silvestro (and local losers) marked only my second (and third) time getting drunk. The unfortunate decision was made to buy a slab of Tooheys Dry (never ever drink), which were warm, but had little souring impact on what is now known to be as a fantastic weekend. We witnessed all kinds of things; (club)houses with noses, debating whether you had enough money to buy a Pillow and Doona meal from McDonalds, slipping on rocks that you had little idea existed, or pretending you're Bear Grylls and climbing 30cm up a cliff then stating that you're scared and can't get down because of the fear. Fantastic memories that I'll remember for a long time.




1. Flinnys '10
But without doubt, the best time of 2010 was spending 3 nights at my holiday house with Alex Glinski, Derek Liddall, and Liam Garrard. My holiday house is technically in Flinders, but it is really a 6 acre block in the middle of nowhere completely enclosed by trees, and it has amazingly loud speakers. The 4 of us brought down lots and lots of alochol, meat, agrum, shapes, and oreos, and encountered the best few days together. We knew what the trend of the trip was going to be from the start when we finished unpacking everything and decided to open up the beers, and from then on it was pump loud music, eat meat, dance like crazy, have ride-on mower championships, ride some of the worst and smallest bikes going around, screaming at each other for hours pretending you are father and son, terrorising bullants, gasoline-on-road fun, saying that you will cook a barbeque for everyone - turn it on - start cooking - walk away coz you ceebs halfway through, doing whatever the fuck you want, and just kicking back with your mates and talking about anything and everything: every single activity listed was performed whilst drunk. A truly fantastic way to spend the holidays and is officially my best moment of 2010.


As for My Life In Europe, things are going well, I am awaiting the festivities of New Years Eve and needed to cure the boredom, so why not pulbically express your year on the internet huh. I wish a happy new year to everyone and I can't wait to find out what memories will be created in the coming year with everyone.



 

Part 10: Milestones, Realisations, And A Dog.

This was the first week of holidays in France and it served up some memories, milestones and new thoughts. It was spent quietly in Paris where I realised that my diet has completely changed to mandarines, bread, foie gras, pasta and yoghurt. 
And Mentos. Don't forget the mentos.
The realisation I had is that I think Christmas is very underrated for everyone our age because the only meaning of it now is just spending another day with your family and getting some presents. Though for me it was spent in a tiny village in the French countryside, and it hit me that what if that was taken away from me? What if Christmas was taken away from me? The tiny little village with the cold and the french countryside around me reminded that it was taken away from me. I had no family, though I did get presents - a book, a candle and a recorder. Party time.
So I came to the conclusion that nowadays lots of people aren't very enthused by Christmas because it is just another day where you gather around a tree and open presents, enjoy a meal with your extended family, go down to the boulevard and see the christmas lights; however you spend your christmas, but ask yourself would you be enthused by christmas if all that was taken away from you? Would you miss your family and a christmas in Melbourne?
The answer to those questions came to me in the form of a dog. A little dog who came up to me and then when I walked somewhere else it followed me. This little dog looked up at me and I looked back at it and felt something I haven't really felt since I've been here - affection. A lot of you might be thinking wow this is incredibly awkward ben is writing about his love affair with a dog, but if you were on your own in a country on the other side of the world speaking a language you don't speak, and a little dog came up to you and wanted to stay with you, you might have reflected on the affection of Christmas and  the real meaning of it all - family. And perhaps receiving kick-ass recorders. It came in pieces so I had to put it together myself :)
...
Though Christmas did bring one very enjoyable present, the milestone that I am now over halfway into this trip. Now I am starting to talk better, to understand better, now I am starting not to think about the memories of my year with my friends but the memories we will create when I get back, now I'm thinking positively about the trip and am preparing to make the most of it, knowing that I am edging  ever-closer to those important to me, waiting in the sun of Melbourne. I was excited to return to Paris after two days away and my brain referred to it as 'home', so I can only picture the excitement I will have when I touch down on January 30, and until then am prepared to enjoy my time here as much as possible.
Christmas now may not be about Santa, putting milk and cookies out and getting excited to watch Carols by Candlelight (or Candles in the Domain for the West Heidelberg folk), but it is about the importance of remembering that you celebrate the day with your family, your friends, and that it could be taken away from you at any time. Maybe Christmas is about thinking of those in developing  countries or adverse situations who may not even have a family to celebrate it with. In any sense, Christmas is about Underestimation - how to avoid it.
And for me, it only gets better from here.

Paris, France

La Grande Roulière, France

Kicking it...

...In -2 temperatures...

...with Ms.Funfgeld.

 More photos of My Life In Europe can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=248416&id=563348423&l=723ed11648

Part 9: Hard Yakka

If you've ever wanted to find out what happens in a week here, it goes something like this. It starts on Monday at 7am and it requires at least 3 layers of clothes at all times, a Melbourne winter will never be cold again. There is school of course, where it is a really nice place to just sit back and relax, talk to some great people and (understanding or not understanding) not do a single bit of work. Most days have at least a 2 hour break between classes, so traditional french meals and cafes play a vital role in the week. As well as the game "time's up", a favorite over here.
A week over here consists of gatherings and actually enjoying the alcohol you drink and having a great time with the people you are spending it with. A week over here doesn't consist of coming across anyone like Alex Glinski, then you realise that you start to miss him, and everyone, and as soon as you get that thought, it remains in the back of your head and is the hardest thing to get out of your head. As soon as you think of home, you get distracted by it and you imagine it, or remember it, and you lose focus of the conversation around you. You are lost. And then you sleep, and you dream. You dream of home and everything is real, you dream of hugging people and smells and the wind and it feels real...kinda scary but yeah.
A week here consists of incredible highs and incredible lows. Paris in the snow is magical and you could pull up a chair and just look at it all night, it is like nothing else. Everytime you are occupied with something it is amazing, it is a great experience, fun, and enjoyable. Though as soon as you lose that grip on what you are doing, you immediately think of home, you think of people and how much you miss them and it feels like torture. 
A week here demands the best of you, the strongest of you and the boldest of you, and when you overcome it, you love it. Then there are 6 more weeks and 6 more challenges to go through.
It is Hard Yakka.

Favorite photo of Belgium.

Part 8: The Real Paris

From what I have discovered, it isn't the city of romance. Although it is everything else that you think it is and more. Riding through the streets and on the banks of the river you see buildings over 500 years old, you see tourist attractions every 2 minutes and plainly it just doesn't seem real. Paris is a place where you can be drunk and running down the street screaming your head off at nothing one second, and then having a friendly conversation with a gang of 10 'hardcores' the next. No one really cares about the road rules, beer tastes better here, and it's cold. I get jealous when I see that it got to 5 degrees somewhere in the world. The real Paris includes the people having a sense of arrogance because everyone in the world wants to be in their city, so yes, I fit in just fine. Today was the first day I got the question "do you live with kangaroos and koalas in your cities?" "Yes, sometimes you see them on public transport and you just nod and continue."....that's not what I said, which is a good thing because that wasn't funny. I'll keep trying.
Another thing about Paris is that there is not really any slang, not like the banana hektik shit we come up with in Australia, and no one here seems to know the real Australian. Apparently we all surf. Never mind though because there is one Australian who is prepared to publicly humiliate and embarrass himself, again, to show the real Paris the real Australian. How that benefits anyone I'm not exactly sure but I feel like I have an obligation to do something along those lines.
The real Paris is always enjoying the company you're with, enjoying the beauty of the city and the atmosphere of the culture. 
The real Paris, mainly, is about cheese. Lots of cheese. Lots of cheese in the fridge here, with pasta and fruit. At least I'll lose some weight. And the smell of the cheese - horrible. I seem to be always talking about Australia, the things that make it special and the amazing people I have back home. When I have time to just sit back and think, I think about my friends in Australia. I think about the weather, the beaches, the desert. Every day the thoughts of my friends are stronger, and I am now under 7 weeks away from seeing their beautiful faces again. And Coda. wooo
For now I wait, I sit in 8 hours of philiosophy a week understanding nothing that comes out of a lady that looks like a frog, and I (when im not sleeping) think about everyone and that what certain people said is coming true: I am becoming nice, still arrogant, but nice, and polite. The people of Paris bring it out of each other. That's the real Paris.

Favorite photo from England

Part 7: Supercars, Snow, and School

I realise I haven't done an update in quite a while, and mainly that is down to 5 days of horrible internet connection, but apart from that, it's also because lots has been happening. The last time I posted I was in Florence, enjoying the beautiful warm 9 degree weather...
That soon turned into 11 degrees (!!!!) when we arrived in Nice, France. At this point in time, I had gone through 12 days of less than 3 hour sleep, so I was a bit messed up, as you do. It's because my Dad and brother snore. And I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes - their snores do sound different. They are different pitches. Sometimes, if you concentrate hard enough, you can create a sort of melody from the tune of their snoring. And then you remember its 3 in the morning, and its like: trying to make a song out of snoring? Really?
On one of the days we went to Monaco, the 11th 'country' of the journey. And boy was Monaco messed up. Pretty much 1 in 2 cars were supercars, that is, Aston martin's, ferraris, bugatti's, bentleys, lamborghinis, porsches, mclarens - the list goes on. For those ill-witted people Monaco is one of the Formula 1 tracks of the world, and they day we went was the equivalent of Good Friday, so for a fundraiser the driver's of 6 Ferrari's would take the public out for a hot lap of the track. So you'd just be walking on the footpath with all the local traffic next to you and then a Ferrari would tear past you at 200km/h. = Hektik.

Monaco

At this point in time though, I was kind of over the whole sit in a car and then get to a place to look at things, and wanted to start my exchange, and get some sleep. So I arrived to a snowy Paris, everything completely covered in white and I waited for a while until I could go 'home'. To 3 homes. Yes, Jules and his family originally had one apartment in Paris, then they decided to buy the one next to that, and then they decided to buy the one under that. 3 apartments, in Paris, is not so bad. And a house in the French Alps, a house in Tunisia, and a chateau in the countryside (where im going for Christmas). Again, not so bad.
Though there is one obvious realisation when I arrived that it really is incredibly difficult to understand what the hell is going on. When it comes to listening to people it's ok, but sometimes you zone out for a second and then you have no idea what they are talking about, and then comes a non-yes or no-answered question, and you're screwed. You're screwed anyway because you can't put a sentence together. But there you go.
Today I had a driving tour around Paris to welcome me to the fine city, and was also welcomed by the worst snow Paris has seen in 23 years, and it's not even winter yet. Combine that with 9 million people and you get that it took us 9 hours to drive 20km. It was just lucky that the things I had to stare at were the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, La Concorde, Le Louvre, and things like that.
Back to school tomorrow, 8am-6pm which will be delightful fun, and there you have it. My life. 

The Snow in Paris

Part 6: Funny Photos

Some of the things I have come across so far:

Hitler's rise to fame

Not everyone's preferred interior design

scu-mi?

Designer retail shop for Emily.

Austria's No.1 Car Dealer...

The ah ...museum

And of course everyone's favorite

Enjoy.