Melbourne, Australia

Perth was great but Melbourne is incredible. Imagine a Seattle feel, but with a Midwestern touch--all on a river. We stayed at a Travelodge right near the river in South Bank which is the richest part of the town. I know what you're thinking, and no--the Travelodge in Australia aren't like the ones in the States. It's almost like we're staying at a Hilton. I'd walk outside and see DB-7's, Vantages, and Vanquishes wizz by while I'm too busy drooling over the Gallardo Spyder right in front of our hotel.

The interesting thing that most Americans don't realize is that Australia is doing quite well. They have considerable mineral resources in the Western Territories where they export iron ore, more than anyone else, to China. The value of their dollar has surpassed parity with the USD (even though that's not saying much). They will even be having a budget surplus in the coming months from all their recent growth. It's quite incredible.

We went to an AFL, also know as Australian footie, game where we had great corporate seats. The sport is a hybrid between rugby and soccer but has been around for several decades. Although I'm not a big NFL or NBA fan, I'd much rather watch footie than either one. Just the idea that they don't stop the clock and blow the whistle every other minute for some stupid foul attracts me more than money-hungry lockout thugs. It happen to be quite cold in the stadium so I went into their sports shop to buy a nice fleeced hat that happen to have a black and white comb like a rooster. It was a Collingwood Magpies hat who are ranked #1 but also happened to be the #1 hated team.

I found this hateful ranking out when I was relieving myself at a urinal when the man next to me turned and said, "You look like a f**king chicken." I'm pretty sure he was talking about my hat (hat literally meaning hat in this sense). I then grin, shook a couple times, and hurried out of the restroom. Luckily, the Magpies won even though my support for their team just happened to be because their fleece hat covered my ears.

Overall, such a great city and suggest for anyone to check out a footie game along with walking along the river area in South Bank. We'll be headed to Lorne and Brisbane in the next couple days so I'll be sure to follow-up then.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Perth, Australia

An almost 6 hour flight later, we arrived at Perth. Most people don't realize that Australia is similar in width as the United States so traveling from Sydney to Perth is much like traveling from New York to Los Angeles. And even more similar, Perth is considered to be the more chill surfer city--much like LA.

Perth definitely had a much more laid back mentality which is nice in a social sense but sometimes frustrating when conducting business. We attended a private school event in Perth named Hale School which has a better campus than most colleges. Our company sponsored an event where about 15 other schools attended to see our software in action with Toshiba tablets. Let me tell you, I feel that if I let any of my sons go to a public school then I'm failing them as a father. The private education that those Australian boys were getting is absolutely astounding. They study everything from carpentry where they design and showcase tables; to taking a month course where they live outdoors in a sandy peninsula up north that the school owns. On this outdoor adventure, they utilize pioneering, forestry, and fishing--all in real life situations. I'd say that's a little bit better than taking junior high algebra, eh?

I'm still undecided if having an all boys school is more beneficial than co-ed. Obviously there's a few less distractions but I'm pretty sure if I attended an all boys private school growing up, I'd be even more awkward around girls than I am now.

As I already mentioned, the entire country is ridiculously expensive--regardless of what city you are in. That being said, you don't have to tip! You know how amazing it is to sign a receipt after a $50 meal and have no obligation or expectation to tip? The locals say waiters make at least minimum wage which is around $15/hr, so I don't feel bad.

Besides freaking out occasionally since they drive on the left side of the road--everything is going great so far. I'll update our Australian Football League (AFL) game that we went to in Melbourne soon.


Cheers.

Wyatt

Sydney, Australia

Another continent marked off the list! Although, I did have a pretty bumpy 14hr ride from LAX to Sydney. Delta always has a good movie selection so I was entertained the whole flight considering I only slept a few hours. I don't really understand why a certain female individual would find it acceptable to constantly rub her arm against me while pulling up her blanket on the plane.

I can see how this could come across as being promiscuous; however, I assure you it was her just merely not comprehending the understood armrest boundary. Another somewhat controversial issue that I will discuss is how there should be an acceptable range of hip dimension of flight attendants. The flight attendants (men included!) that are more 'blessed' than others with a wider, childbearing frame should refrain from the airline serving industry. I lost count of how many people were clipped or caught in crossfire from this 'equipped' flight attendant. It's simply a hazard for her to walk to the aisles; otherwise Boeing and Airbus will have to build larger birds. **Please note I did not use the term stewardess once.

Thus far, things are incredibly expensive! $10.45 for a footlong chicken-bacon ranch Subway sandwich? Given all my expenditures are reimbursed, I still feel taken advantage of--which I'm not a fan of. I have yet to establish a typical Australian stereotype but then again I haven't left the airport. I'm sure I'll be able to make a generic, all encompassing description soon enough. More details to come once we land in Perth.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Talinn, Estonia

Big transition going from the lowest ranking EU member country (Bulgaria) to the leading GDP percent growth country (Estonia). Obviously the societal changes are quite big but being this close to the Arctic Circle is also a pretty big change. I had already been to Lithuania and Latvia so I had a precognitive idea about what the Baltic country of Estonia would be like. That idea was completely and utterly wrong.

There is little to no Soviet influence here in Estonia. The Estonian language is a proprietary language that closely relates to Hungarian but bares no Slavic dialect. The culture is very much Scandinavian which is quite refreshing coming from a Balkan, post-communist country. Even though there's close to 2 feet of snow everywhere, the Estonian capital, Tallinn, is incredibly charming and welcoming. I am currently living right off of the old town square so walking right out of my hotel has been the same for over 200 years.

In the Old Town square is a market where fur traders are selling their Russian-style hats and roasted almonds. There's a 50 foot Christmas tree that overlooks a large stage where the festivities are taking place. Although it is usually around 10 degrees now, the city lights, people, and buildings make the city feel much warmer.

Some of you may remember my mafia-style winter trench coat that I had back at AU. Well, unfortunately I don't have that with me here which makes me deeply regret not bringing it. Everyone is bundled up from head to toe and the parents pull their kids around the town in tiny little sleds. It's quite amusing to see.

Probably one of my favorite things about this town is that most of the restaurants are built underground to help save heat. You'll walk down a winding staircase to a cool Estonian pub or restaurant carved into a cave-looking dwelling that just makes you want to sit by the fire for hours. The food can be somewhat expensive but always good and the service is always friendly. Practically everyone speaks English very well so it's really easy to get around.

One of the deals that I had last week was with an Estonian conglomerate of dairy farmers who invented a cheese that actually lowers blood pressure. He gave us a tour of the whole factory and how the cheese is processed into its final product. Quite a cool guy and really cool to see how they add a bacteria that actually helps our body's blood pressure. It was about a 2 hour drive out to the factory which was about half way across the country. Another 2 hours and we would have been in Russia--not that I would ever want to go back to Commi-land.

Overall, it's a very small country with less than 1.4 million people, but it's an amazing country that I recommend everyone should visit. I uploaded a few pictures too. Hope all is well.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Lommel, Belgium

Well I'm no longer Bulgaria. My work is switching me projects and currently I am residing at the head office here in Lommel, Belgium. I arrived in Eindhoven, Netherlands this past Sunday and have been doing work in the office since then. Unfortunately I don't know where or what my next project will be. Obviously I have my hopes and dreams of where I'd like to go and what I'd like to do, but that's ultimately up to the company to see what fits best overall.

But! I would like to write about the incredible changeover from a post-communist country, who is also an EU member, to a well-developed country like Belgium. The biggest issue with countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and other Balkan countries is the infrastructure. I've never realized how the simple things around you create order and a sense of well-being. For example, in Bulgaria you can't turn right on red. This may not sound that significant of an issue but when the capital of a country has only 2 lanes down the biggest road, a simple traffic permission makes a world of a difference. Although in the States we absolutely despise everything related to traffic, our system actually works. In Bulgaria, if they even actually have working stoplights, they're timed at 15 second intervals where no one even can get through in time. All of these things combined with the lack of labeled streets makes and everyday drive take a lifetime.

Now with all those complaints about the Bulgarian transportation infrastructure aside, it is an amazingly affordable place to live. Bulgaria is not in the eurozone yet (meaning they haven't adopted the euro yet) but their currency, the lev, is pegged to the euro. This keeps the currency relatively stable and a simple 2 to 1 exchange rate for the euro. To put things in more relevant terms, the most expensive footlong Subway sandwich, fully loaded, will only cost $4.00. Now obviously the Subways in the States have the $5 footlong (as I start chanting the commercial) but keep in mind this an American franchise in a foreign country which typically means they always jack up the prices. To further elaborate, you can buy an entire rotisserie chicken for $4.75 or maybe you'd like a 20 oz Sprite for $0.65. So even though Stalin left plenty of Commi-blocks laying around, it's nice to be in a country where you don't break the bank.

Well, the next time I should be posting could be from Asia, Central America, or still here in Europe--who knows. Hope all is well.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Bran, Romania

Happy post-Halloween everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their trick-or-treat season back in the States or wherever you may be. From what I hear though, most of the trick-or-treat'rs are too old to be going door to door. Nonetheless, I never had much of a sweet tooth to make it worthwhile.

So! On to my travels/job/European adventures. This past weekend I traveled north to the great country of Romania to spend Halloween. We left Sofia early afternoon this past Friday to start the 7-8 hour drive north of Bucharest to an area known as Transylvania, near Bran. Obviously you immediately think of vampires and scary things when hearing the word Transylvania. Surprisingly, the small village of Bran is quite charming--but in a creepy way. That's what I wanted though. I wanted the entire Halloween experience of being in a foreign country where terror crept around every corner. Our hotel was owned by an incredibly charming family that did not watch us sleep or perform any rituals--at least none that I was aware of.

On to the more important things at hand... castles. The first castle I visited was the ruins of an old castle where Count Dracula's wife threw herself off of several hundred years ago. It's near the Transfăgărăşan road that cuts through the Transylvanian mountains. Some of you may better know it as the "Top Gear Romanian Road." 1500 steps later up to the castle at very high elevation, I was able to stand where Dracula's wife took a nose dive thousands of feet off the side of a mountain. I haven't read the books, but being there sure made me want to.

Probably the most amazing thing during the trip--the road. The Transfăgărăşan is a work of art that any car enthusiast would love. Dozens of hairpin turns and banked curves to force you to smile while driving. Even driving our puny, little 5-speed Renault Megane was enjoyable. If you are wondering more about this road, or want to see it; simply click here to see the video from Top Gear they made in Romania where I drove. The supercars in the video make it worthwhile to see as well.

After I drove back from Dracula's wife's castle, we headed to Bran's Castle.. most commonly known as Dracula's Castle. I have added some photos that show how awesome this castle is. We went at night to take advantage of the whole 'Dracula/Halloween' experience. There are an incredible amount of rooms in that castle with endless staircases that lead to more and more rooms. I would absolutely love to live in a castle like Bran's Castle where you have a quaint little courtyard and overlook a small village. I just hope they wouldn't call me Count Wyatt the Impaler like they did Dracula.

Well, after Dracula's awesome castle I drove straight from Bucharest, Romania to Sofia, Bulgaria which was about a 6 hour drive. The roads aren't too bad but we got hung up at the border which is always a pain. The border police stamped over my Russian visa in my passport which didn't make me too happy. I best look at it as they're conserving pages because in this job you fill up passports in under a year.

Hope all is well your way. Feel free to look at the extra pictures I posted.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Belgrade, Serbia

A new country down! And boy, let me tell you--Serbia is awesome! It's nothing like what you hear or think on tv. Because we all know that the media (especially CNN) is always spot on about world news. Sure, there may have been several men walking around suspiciously in  track jackets carrying handguns, but the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

To begin with, there were castles in Belgrade. I never have been a tough cookie to please but when castles are involved, it's always easy for me to have fun. But before I get to that point, let me tell you about my journey crossing the Bulgarian-Serbian border.

Now I know that American's geography is a bit sketchy, so I'll give you a refresher course. You may remember Yugoslavia and how it got split up into many smaller countries. Well, in my job--I concentrate heavily on EU member countries or those who are applying to become EU members. Bulgaria is a current EU member (no clue how or why but that's besides the point) and Serbia is not. That being said, I'm American so it doesn't really apply to me because whenever a border patrol officer sees blue he immediately smiles and says in slavic English, "American blue, eh?!" This statement is me followed me laughing and acting like I've never heard that one before.

But being American and having that fancy, beautiful, work of art passport (you should really look close at the new American passports.. they're amazing! amazing quotes and sweet pictures) did not help me out this time. We didn't have the registration in our car so it looked like we literally stole the car. My reaction? Well, I pulled out a picture of our team with the Bulgarian Prime Minister and asked if I could call the American Embassy. Only problem was... we were already past the Bulgarian border into No Man's Land at the Serbian border. They didn't a rat's *cough* about me being American or who I'd met.

We had to turn back around and get our registration which was a hassle. But 5 hours later we made it to the great city of Belgrade, Serbia! Nice construction, clean streets, and new buildings all around the city facing the Danube river with a huge castle as its center. It's definitely in the top 65 European cities I've been in...

But things went well and had a nice drive back to post-communist Bulgaria which has a number of stray dogs and gypsies at every crossing. That being said, lunch never costs more than $4-$5 to get full and I can drive like a maniac and never get pulled over. So fun is had by all.

I updated a few pictures from Belgrade as well. Hope all is well your way.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Brussels, Belgium

From post-communism back to the European Union stomping grounds--that was my journey earlier this week. It's somewhat refreshing to go from a $3.50 cab ride across town in Bulgaria to a $55 cab ride half-way across Brussels. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm currently on assignment in a country where I can live like a king on the equivalent of a welfare check.

So, since my last post I have taken some more pictures throughout Bulgaria. I traveled all along the Black Sea up to Nessebar and Varna. The city of Varna is kind of like a communist San Francisco. It has the sea port feel but still the lingering sensation that something from behind is going to rob you. That something that comes up from behind you in San Francisco is completely different then that something that comes up from behind in Varna, but you get my point.

After working on the coast for less than a week, I traveled back to Sofia to start work up in the Bulgarian capital once again. Not many things have changed but it is getting a bit nippy outside. The leaves are starting the change which is nice, but the winters here in Sofia are said to be the most depressing thing ever. I hope to not be here during the first snow, but our project is off to a slow start so it's not looking good. I would prefer to spend my winter on assignment somewhere in Asia. I don't necessarily care if it's cold or warm--I just don't like communism and snow together. Why do you think Hitler failed to invade Moscow during the infamous Soviet winter? Sure, the snow is terrible; but add the even colder atmosphere of socialism and everyone freezes.

On a different note, I found out I will be spending Dec. 22nd through Jan. 4th in Brussels, Belgium. So anyone who is interested in a European winter vacation, be sure to hit me up. I'm not sure what Christmas or New Years day is like in Paris, London, or Amsterdam but I need to find out what city to spend what holiday. I'll have nice housing arrangements set up in Brussels but still would be good to branch out from the Flemish area.

Don't forget to check out the updated pictures! Hope to update more soon.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Burgas, Bulgaria

I finally made it to the Black Sea! Warm waters, sandy beaches, and absolutely no tourists! Tourist season for Germans and other western Europeans is over so the east coast of Bulgaria is pretty deserted. Right now I'm sitting out on my balcony looking at the Black Sea and there's just resort after resort that stretches for miles down the beach.

I'm staying at the Festa Hotel via Pontica in Burgas, Bulgaria. Supposedly it's a 5-star resort, but eastern European standards and a bit different than others--no offense Bulgarians. Don't get me wrong, growing up in rural Michigantown had its benefits, but this hotel is on another level. My suite has more rooms than I know what to do with and even 2 separate bathrooms. I thought about renting out the other rooms to some local gypsies to make a few extra levs (bucks). But I don't know where I would put their donkey or cart.

Work is so much better here because the people are much more friendly. It just goes to show, the closer you are to water and sun, the people become nicer and less suicidal. The two port cities are Burgas and Varna, both significant players in the Black Sea trade and infrastructure. Upon Bulgaria's EU membership, there's been a ton of customs reforms and policies so trade has somewhat been rejuvenated. But that's my business talk coming out, I'll leave that for the conference room.

On a side note, the highway between Sofia (the capital) and Burgas does not really have mandated speed limits. So while I was driving our little 5-speed manual Renault, I noticed a green reflective vest walking out towards the road. Now see, the cops here in Bulgaria are a bit different. They don't hide in their cars waiting to pull someone over. Instead, they sit on the hood of their cars with a wand in their hand that has a red dot at the end. If they think you're going too fast, they simply stand up and stick the wand out towards your car.

I somewhat knew this as I was speeding by the officer, but then realized the most important thing in the entire world: I'm American. After realizing the cops here do not pursue anyone, I chose to simply keep driving on. Saying that I "ran from the cops" would definitely be an exaggeration; however, I did not respect his authority (said in Cartman's voice).

Alas, speeding past cops and swimming in the Black Sea is quite enjoyable, but I do work mind you! It's tough to talk fancy all day in boardrooms and do research on companies to see if they are still receiving money from commies.

A few pictures are updated as well! Cheers.

Wyatt

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Things have an interesting way of always working out, eh? You may ask, "Wyatt, why would you start out your post with a weird comment like that? Is there a story behind it?" The truth is, my last post started with the word 'well' and that's originally what I wanted to start this one out with it. So no, there is no weird story behind it, I just simply didn't know how to start my post--but now I have.

So I'm still Sofia, Bulgaria. Flew back in from Brussels two weeks ago and have been loving the post-communist life style for quite some time. The people are finally starting to warm up to me, the men at least. I no longer smile or say ridiculous phrases such as, "please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome." Instead, I just look angry at the world, grunt, and be as rude as possible. It helps me fit right into society. I call it being cultural and understanding their way of life.

Biggest news that has happened is I witnessed my first earthquake! Supposedly there was a sizable quake back in Indiana when I was there but I was asleep so it doesn't count. But we were in a meeting with a milk processing company outside of the U.S. Embassy (don't worry, they don't process the milk near the embassy), then all of the sudden the whole building started to shake. At first I thought it was bad indigestion, but then I realized I did take my Metamucil earlier than morning so that definitely couldn't be it. That's usually the train of thought that my body goes through. First: make sure what ever happened wasn't directly caused by one of my bodily functions. Second: check the area for human remains. Luckily for the people of Sofia, it was only an earthquake and not one of my bodily functions.

Of course now my parents (correction--Mom) are ashamed that I am once again talking about one of my bowel movements instead of living/working abroad. Well, to be honest, Sofia could be more interesting. Not more interesting than one of my bowel movements of course, but you get my whiff... err drift. Sofia is a great city, don't get me wrong. But unless you like clubbing every night or stargazing at the reflection of lights off of abandoned communist blocks, you're out of luck. But the food is great and cheap, which is always good when you're a broke college student fresh out of college. Thank you once again Anderson University for an amazing education but also an equally amazing amount of debt.

Originally we were planning to go to Budapest, Hungary or Thessaloniki, Greece this weekend. The driving ended up being too much and we have a jam-packed schedule next week. We meet with big companies such as Astra Zeneca, HP, Kaufland, and Novatris Pharma. Good news is Bulgaria has a national holiday on Wednesday so we don't have any meetings that day. Instead, we stay cooped up in our luxury hotel doing prep and background work for the upcoming meetings. I asked if they have fireworks, food, or star spangled banner festivals going on anywhere but I couldn't really get a straight answer out of anyone. Man I hate when people try to shove their culture down others' throats.

Well, I think that's about it for me. If you didn't get any of my jokes or need things broken down further I have the nursing home version available for download, just feel free to video Skype me to ask for it. Just remember I'm 6-9hours ahead of you. Hope all is well on your end.

Cheers.

-Wyatt