Return of the Guest Blogger

Hello from the Fugue State! 

Work has been such a mind-f this week. In the past 5 days, I've:

-learned 8,600 acronyms (and acronyms for those acronyms, it seems)
-undergone a pretty substantial staff change
-got upclose and personal with compliance and capabilities matrices and past performance reports
-watched my coworkers' souls die as we were handed an insane deadline for a 125 page proposal (guess who's working this weekend? thissssss guy!)
-almost sliced my hand off in a paper cutter

It doesn't seem like a lot, but my brain is very much melted. So, with that in mind, I'm handing the reins over to a ghost of guest blogger past, Odie!

Two years in and thirty days out

(Or, Little to No Expectations)

When I was leaving the states I had one expectation of my time in Sydney: to graduate with a Masters degree within the next year. Did this happen? Yes, but is that the whole story? No.

With less than a month left in Sydney, I find myself in a reflective place. A short summary would be crippling stress, emotional ecstasy, personal growth and a bout of sheer sadness.

            No matter how many times I try to write about my experience here, biographically, it always seems to come across as Douche Town, NSW (New South Wales). Audrey and I both came to the conclusion that I was too close to the experience to write about it on my own, so I outsourced some questions. A big thanks to Dana for sending me five out of the six questions here.  

            What will you miss most about your time in Australia?

The simple answer is Tuesdays. Tuesdays have brought me morning coffee at parks over looking the harbor, café breakfasts, odd hang overs, class with good classmates and more walks than I can remember.  

What was the scariest thing about moving overseas?

Honestly, the scariest part was probably stepping off of the plane when I arrived and having to find a place to live. Housing can be a task even on a local level, let alone in a different country where you have no support structure and are traveling by yourself. I was very lucky to say the least with how things worked out for me when I first arrived in Sydney.

What are some of your most valuable experiences from being a "foreigner?"

I'm not really sure what this questions means. That being said, I'll interpret the question like this; I was told by several people over the past few years that I'm the first American that they've met and liked. Luckily, I sound Canadian and 95% of the people I spoke with asked "Oh yeah! You're Canadian aren't you?" So if you're traveling from the States and have a neutral or soft American accent I would just play that card and brush up on your Canadian geography.

What did you miss the most about the US?

This one can be broken down into a few different categories I'm sure, honestly though I would have to say my friends. It seems like such a bull shit response but the reality of the situation is that my friends are my world. Most of my friends I've known at least ten years, the others, I've known even longer. In terms of food and cultural items, I would say I've missed hot wings and old bay seasoning. I was shipped a number of hot sauces and the seasoning several months back and they've helped get me through these past few months. 

What cultural behavior from Australia would you most like to bring back with you?

I would say how I carry myself in everyday life. Specifically, confidence in who I am as a person and other personality changes. I've always tried to live my life honestly and be truthful, but it's really stepped up to the next level. One instance comes to mind from a night on the set of Puberty Blues, when Pim the A camera focus puller asked me why I had done something with a camera or setting up a monitor and my only response was "Because I fucked up". Becoming more comfortable with spending time by myself and being able to relax, I'm generally a much happier person today than I was two years ago. 

What is the scariest thing about moving back?

I will have to get used to driving on the right side of the road again, but that isn't overly scary. I've lived in a fairly safe political bubble most of my time here and have not seen all of the negative backlash of our local and federal governments bickering like children. Not being able to find work in the field that I want to work in is probably the scariest thought imaginable currently. I had to turn down a four month contract on a TV series here. It was a job that found me, which is ideally what you want to happen. I'll just have to keep in mind that the East Coast may not be where I end up for as long as I hope, and that I will just have to visit as often as I can should I end up in parts unknown.

It isn’t much, but I feel it gets some of my experience across. Feel free to visit www.mymjus.com to have a look at some photos and read about things photography related.

Cheers,

Odie

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