Yup, it's a lot to cover but no worries as each will probably only be a paragraph. So, last weekend was a new adventure as I traveled down to Freo for some fun and footy!! Saturday started off fairly ordinary as I worked out and watched some footy on TV. As the afternoon rolled along I jumped on the train and headed South to meet up with Paul in Fremantle. I arrived around 6 and we picked up some food (kebabs are delicious), some beer, and headed back to Tony's place to watch the last game of the day. Once the game ended, we met up with his friends to head to the bar and to watch the international students (first weekend in Fremantle) make fools of themselves. The night was fairly uneventful as many of the students were too tired to go out, so we just went to a few bars and ended the night with some pool and more kebabs.
Sunday night was great as Paul and I got to go to our first AFL game!! The game took place at Subiaco Oval which is in the city in the area called Subiaco. The game featured the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers. It's a huge rivalry, but usually West Coast dominates. In this case, Fremantle railed the Eagles for a 44 point win! We enjoyed the game while sitting behind the goals in the Fremantle section at the West end of the stadium. It was a great vantage point as I have tons of pictures of the play, the halftime show (tons of little kids playing footy all over the field), and the stadium. We really don't have a favorite team, so we just cheered along with whoever was playing well. The stadium is massive, but only has a capacity of about 35,000 as the size of the field dictates the size. Still though, the stadium was extremely loud as every fan was passionately screaming at the opposition and the refs. I can't wait to go to a game when Alex and Kristyn and Lisa visit! it's quite an experience!!
This week has been interesting as I finally started work!! The company is called Meerkats and I am loving it. I haven't really done a whole lot of work yet, as I am still learning, but the atmosphere is incredible. It's such an upbeat and lively place that it seems everyone LOVES their job. In my four days here I have not heard one person express any dis-satisfaction or annoyance or anger with the place. How refreshing!! Just yesterday on my birthday they got me a cake, presents, and even sang to me after only having been here two days!! I was blown away at the level of team spirit and enjoyment and genuine love for their work. If I ever start my own company I will try to model it after this place as Meerkats just seems to brew happiness and comradery.
i hope everyone back home is doing well and staying warm. Take care and I will have pictures up soon!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Bali Trip!!!
So, in addition to landing a job (see entry below), the company is taking all the employees to Bali for 4 nights in June! The trip is a retreat for team building as we learn about the future of communications. Meerkats pays for practically everything except for a few meals and drinks. What luck!! I will have to miss a game, but I've talked to my coach and he is all for me doing some traveling as well as playing footy. I'm absolutely floored by this news...
Meerkats
Guess who has a job!! After all the searching and the two months of relaxing at the beach (which I will miss) I have finally landed a job with Meerkats, The Brand Leadership Company. I originally interviewed with Meerkats back in December just before the holidays as they are one of my original contacts from home (Nelson Schmidt). My second interview was last week and apparently I impressed them! So, the patience has paid off and I will finally be working and learning another world of advertising!!
The company seems like they will be great to work for as the atmosphere is extremely relaxed (the guy I interviewed with last week was wearing cargo shorts, Converse All-Stars, a backwards baseball hat, and a halfway buttoned short-sleeve shirt), they are located directly downtown near the train station and the main shopping centre, they understand my football commitment and are willing to help me work around it, and they have some great Clients around the area which I will be able to work directly with. I begin work next week and will work straight through to mid-August (Visa limitations). I am very excited to be working again. It will help me get into a good daily routine and put some coin in my pocket!!
The company seems like they will be great to work for as the atmosphere is extremely relaxed (the guy I interviewed with last week was wearing cargo shorts, Converse All-Stars, a backwards baseball hat, and a halfway buttoned short-sleeve shirt), they are located directly downtown near the train station and the main shopping centre, they understand my football commitment and are willing to help me work around it, and they have some great Clients around the area which I will be able to work directly with. I begin work next week and will work straight through to mid-August (Visa limitations). I am very excited to be working again. It will help me get into a good daily routine and put some coin in my pocket!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Scarborough Eagles
Well training is fully underway as we have just completed our second week of pre-season. The training hasn't been overly difficult and my running has paid off as I find myself keeping pace with the squad. We practice every Tuesday and Thursday night for about an hour and a half to two hours, depending on the level of intensity and effort during the session. It's extremely different than playing at home as everyone is here determined to work very to become a better player. At home, the players wanted to work, but weren't nearly as intense as over here. I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of footy here.
So far we've had about 75 different players turn up to practice with an average of 55 players each training; another huge change from home as Milwaukee would struggle to get 20 different players in a two week span. These numbers are great for the club as each club is comprimsed of a few different teams. Each player is selected for the team that best fits their level of ability. Scarborough has four different teams...I think. There is the Main team, the Reserves, then 2nds, and 3rds. No player has a set team that they play on as each squad is selected on Thursday nights after practice. For instance (since participation is strictly voluntary), if a player on the Main team can't make a game, a player will move up from the Reserves to fill in; If a player's game goes down the toilet, that player will move down and another player will be moved up. Pretty simple, but it makes a person work much harder to maintain or elevate their level of skill.
As for myself, being American, my skills are behind the curve. In talking with Jared (the other Milwaukee player on Scarborough who has already been here a year), he and his brother struggled their first year with their skills, so it's to be expected. I know he's right, but it's still frustrating. Currently I'm working on mastering the correct kicking form. Back home I had a pretty good kick, but my form was very wrong. I try to kick just about every day to get used to the correct drop and form. It's frustrating because I'm so used to controlling a basketball and having the ability to palm the ball and place it where I desire; Here the correct drop isn't supposed to be held at all, but rather just guided to the correct position. Very awkward as I feel like I have no control. But still, it is coming along as I feel myself getting better every day.
The level of fitness and intensity is also a major change from back home. My normal training would be 4-5 mile runs and 50, 50 yard sprints alternating every day. Here, the training is much different as it's a combination of a number of different things. On Tuesday we started off with a cardio session, a half mile jog down to the beach, and spent the remainder of the time doing beach running. The end of the beach portion was spent doing an iron-man type work out in groups of five. Here is the synopsis; Run down the beach (20 yards) into the water, swim out about 30 yards, swim back in and run up the beach, run on the soft sand along the water for 35 yards, complete that two more times, and then finish with a 105 yard sprint in the soft sand back to the start. Not fun at all, but we still had a half mile-sprint back to the main training ground. I feel like I'm in better shape than I ever was last year.
Tonight Jared, a few other players, and myself are running Jacob's Ladder in Kings Park. As part of our training, our coach Mark Horn is requiring different fitness tests to evaluate if we're getting more fit or not. One test is Jacob's Ladder, which is a set of stairs in the main park in downtown Perth (like Central Park is to New York). The Ladder has roughly 300 steps and we have to run it six times and clock ourselves; that's about 1800 steps, or about 300 steps less than the Sears Tower Run in Chicago. This should be interesting.
So far we've had about 75 different players turn up to practice with an average of 55 players each training; another huge change from home as Milwaukee would struggle to get 20 different players in a two week span. These numbers are great for the club as each club is comprimsed of a few different teams. Each player is selected for the team that best fits their level of ability. Scarborough has four different teams...I think. There is the Main team, the Reserves, then 2nds, and 3rds. No player has a set team that they play on as each squad is selected on Thursday nights after practice. For instance (since participation is strictly voluntary), if a player on the Main team can't make a game, a player will move up from the Reserves to fill in; If a player's game goes down the toilet, that player will move down and another player will be moved up. Pretty simple, but it makes a person work much harder to maintain or elevate their level of skill.
As for myself, being American, my skills are behind the curve. In talking with Jared (the other Milwaukee player on Scarborough who has already been here a year), he and his brother struggled their first year with their skills, so it's to be expected. I know he's right, but it's still frustrating. Currently I'm working on mastering the correct kicking form. Back home I had a pretty good kick, but my form was very wrong. I try to kick just about every day to get used to the correct drop and form. It's frustrating because I'm so used to controlling a basketball and having the ability to palm the ball and place it where I desire; Here the correct drop isn't supposed to be held at all, but rather just guided to the correct position. Very awkward as I feel like I have no control. But still, it is coming along as I feel myself getting better every day.
The level of fitness and intensity is also a major change from back home. My normal training would be 4-5 mile runs and 50, 50 yard sprints alternating every day. Here, the training is much different as it's a combination of a number of different things. On Tuesday we started off with a cardio session, a half mile jog down to the beach, and spent the remainder of the time doing beach running. The end of the beach portion was spent doing an iron-man type work out in groups of five. Here is the synopsis; Run down the beach (20 yards) into the water, swim out about 30 yards, swim back in and run up the beach, run on the soft sand along the water for 35 yards, complete that two more times, and then finish with a 105 yard sprint in the soft sand back to the start. Not fun at all, but we still had a half mile-sprint back to the main training ground. I feel like I'm in better shape than I ever was last year.
Tonight Jared, a few other players, and myself are running Jacob's Ladder in Kings Park. As part of our training, our coach Mark Horn is requiring different fitness tests to evaluate if we're getting more fit or not. One test is Jacob's Ladder, which is a set of stairs in the main park in downtown Perth (like Central Park is to New York). The Ladder has roughly 300 steps and we have to run it six times and clock ourselves; that's about 1800 steps, or about 300 steps less than the Sears Tower Run in Chicago. This should be interesting.
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