Sunday, October 6, 2013

October 6th

My first full week in Australia is drawing to a close.   I am still trying to get “settled” in but have a feeling that won’t happen until I am in my more permanent housing and have more of my things here.  Works is going well so far, lot of projects to managed and of course a lot of new products to learn, but all is good there.  It was really odd not having something to do on Monday night.  I can’t remember the last Monday I didn’t go to “bar night”, have a baseball game, or was out of town.  I did go to a local pub after work but was definitely missing my Monday Night Crew. 

Tuesday and Thursday I had baseball training.   I also can’t remember the last time I went to a real organized baseball practice as a player.  It has been at least ten years, either in college playing in an adult league or maybe even my senior year of high school.  The baseball leagues (and all the sports) are different down here as it seems every town has a club with multiple teams.  I am playing for the Newport Rams Seniors teams.  They are a division 1 club in the Victoria Baseball League and have 4 senior teams based on ability.  I am one of the “old” guys as most of the players are in their teens and early 20’s, but they have me on their 2nds team for the first game on Sunday…I assume cause they needed a catcher.  They also have a bunch of U14 and U12 junior teams and one women’s team.

On Wednesday, the other Clemson alum in Melbourne and her husband had me over for dinner after work.  She cooked a great meal of fennel and lemon risotto with whole wheat bread crumbs and toasted pumpkin seeds.  It was great to chat with someone about Tiger Town, the Esso club, and running down the Hill while in Australia.  We are planning a “big” watch party for the Clemson vs. FSU game, as that game should be on sometime mid-morning Australia time.

Yesterday, I drove along the east side of the bay to a place called Mornington it is a cool little town right along the bay.  The drive was awesome with lots of scenic places along the way.  I didn't take many pictures but will probably visit there again when I have more time as it's only about an hour and a half away.