Date: 2004-01-15
To: The ponderings of a foreigner...
Miles today: 0.0

in the quest for the test to fulfill an achievementeverybody's only in it for themselveswhen the fact of the matter is they just don't careto extend a helping hand to anyone elseso tell me why, did you have to lieand try to make me all confused about the U.S.A.when the fact of the matter is you just don't careto comprehend or understand a single word I sayI don't want to have go I against I"I against I" - Bad Brains.This trail, is definatly going to be an "I against I" event, mind v body.....Work is winding up. Life is winding up. I've most of my stuff all packed away. (2 boxes, Told you I dont own much).Everything is slowly moving toward that culmination of moving out. moving north. then swapping continents. the coldness creeping in under the door. scratchy woolly socks. the pink nose. the blush of cold on the cheeks.Trying to organise a drink with some brits before we all leave. This way we will be able to recognise each other, not like our non-merkan accents will give us away as foreignors or anything...Ive also been debating my journal. I want to be able to spring a lengthy, witty, entrancing entry each day.. What are the odds of that happening? Yeah, I know, Pretty low I rekon... I had thought of two journals. One for me, one for everyone else. Mine would be cues of the day, to help with my memory. The stuff nobody wants to read. "Got up, ate, walked X ate did this did that. slept." I dont want gaps in my journal, the days of no entries and voids, then I'll be like 'My memory is so cactus, what did I do on that day?? where was I?' and a few years on I wont remember... hints to make me remember. The other would be the epic tale struggle and dementia, of an australian slowly losing his mind to brakish water and lyme disease, only updated when and where I thought I had enough info for a journal entry, or I was at least coherant for 10+ odd sentences...There will be no, 'got up, walked, slept' two sentence journal entries. Its my homework for the trail, some kind of mental challenge, or torture if you will. Gotta keep the mind sharpish and not zoning out all the time. My minds payment for not working for 6 months.Ive also been looking at 'survival' tips whilst in america.. Even tho I'll only be there a few days before hitting trail...Things to note;Obviously I have not been, so I dont know the truth to these _yet_ - American cheese is coloured, they add orange colouring. Apparently cheddar in america is akin to orange tasteless rubber...- Butter and Margarine have been phased out as unhealthy in place of mayonaise type stuff. eeeeeeeew- Milk is not milk. They add lots of cream. 50/50 milk means half cream half milk, not half fat skim milk!- Bread is sweet unless you buy sourdough bread. Sounds very odd.. I'll have to be carefull with my sweetener allergy... maybe they just add normal sugar? maybe its like a sweet brioche?- Canned Beetroot slices in australia is nothing like canned 'beets' in America...- Milo (chocolate to an australian) is sorghum to american farmers, which is maize to us! confused?- A biscuit in america is similar to our scones, but not sweet. Their cookie is a catchall for what we know as biscuits.- Lightswitches are opposite way on/off to ours. usa = push up to turn on, aus = push down to turn on!- powerpoints dont have an on/off switch! all the wall sockets are 'live'!! (and you ground yourself, rather than earth yourself).- The whole jam thing. our jelly is their jello, our jam is their jelly. I'm not sure how/where the peanut butter fits into the picture...I wont go into words + pronounciation... Suffice to say I'll be going though maybe 6? of the 8 regional dialectic areas...(check the american dialect map http://www.evolpub.com/Americandialects/AmDialMap.html )It should be very interesting language wise.. with me doing the most headscratching 'uh.. can you repeat that please'?