G'day!
For the second time in 2 weeks I went in to work this morning only to be told by my boss that there isn't much for me to do, and that I should just go home and enjoy the day. As you can imagine, I didn't complain too much about it!
Unfortunately, the surf is looking flat today (Swell report rating = 1/10... bleh). It's friggin' 32 degrees outside and I don't feel like being in the sun too much, so I decided to take a few minutes of my day to share with you a "method to success" I've discovered recently. It's called 30 Days of Excellence.
30 Days of Excellence is a really good way of adding new positive habits to our lives, or getting rid of bad ones. It's super simple, and it works. Aristotle once said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." I'm sure he would have been a fan of this method.
The first step is to figure out what habit you want to add to, or remove from your life. In my case, I wanted to improve my posture (who doesn't!). I wanted to sit straighter, but mostly to stand up straighter (chest out, head high). I really believe that a good posture has a massive impact on the image we convey, so better get it straight! Pun intended :P
Once you've figured out what you want to change about yourself, you have to commit the next 30 days to making a conscious effort everyday at incorporating the desired behavior into your life. It can help to put reminders around, like a post-it next to your computer or something like that. Also, I found it useful to tell my roommates to notify me whenever they saw me with a less than excellent posture.
Over the course of the 30 days, you'll feel that the new behavior is becoming more and more natural, and that it's starting to require less effort. After 30 days, there are very good chances that you'll have assimilated the new behavior. Boom, just like that, you're a slightly better version of yourself than a month before. Pretty damn cool, isn't?
Vince Lombardi (famous NFL coach) said that "the quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor", and I couldn't agree more. We all are the master of our own life, and we're blessed with the power to make it exceptional. It's just a matter of making it happen.
I've finished my first 30 day period and my posture is definitely a lot better than it was. I still find myself slouching occasionally, but I catch myself quickly and correct it.
I've just started my second 30 day cycle; the new habit I'm trying to acquire is to always answer to my emails, FB messages, and text messages, etc, as soon as I read them. Way too many times have I read a message, felt lazy and told myself I'd just reply later, then totally forgot about it.
From my short stint at the Labatt office in Vancouver, I've learned that "email management" is one of the most important skills in business, and it's one I intend to master by the time I return to the corporate life in a year.
So, if you send me a message in the next month and you don't get an answer within the next 24 hour, please be sure to tell me I'm slacking on my 30 Days of Excellence!
All right, that's all I wanted to share today. If you have any similar "tricks" like that, I'd love to hear them. We can never have too many ways of making ourselves a bit better everyday.
Adios!
Phil
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Embracing the Aussie culture, mate!
Howdy!
What's going on! I know this post is a bit overdue but I've been crazy busy lately. 2 weeks ago was the madness of Unigames, and while our team's performance was less than stellar (0 wins - 8 losses, point differential of -92...), it was good fun. To be honest, I didn't do the best job of managing and coaching the team. We had a few late nights that week (!) and our first game of the day was generally at 9am. Needless to say, sleep came in small quantities. Let me tell you, there's nothing like managing a baseball team that's down 12-1 in the 3nd inning on 4 hour sleep! Uuuhhh..
Last week I was involved with a sports camp for kids at Uni. Added to my regular job and a few big assignments due for school, it made for a pretty hectic few days. While the experience of being a camp counselor for kids anywhere between 5 and 12 was a worthwhile experience, I'm sure glad it's over. Kids just never get tired of running around, and I must have given at least 100 piggyback rides over the course of the week!
Even if I'm really busy with all sorts of stuff, I don't really mind it. Reason being, my #1 goal for my trip here in Australia is to fully immerse myself in the Aussie culture and make the most of the experience. I feel like I'm incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and the last thing I want to do is to spend my time here being lazy, or doing the same things I would be doing back home. So I try to get involved and do what the Aussies do. And it's going quite well so far.
My surfing is starting to be legit, to the point where I can proudly call myself a "surfer". I had a real good session yesterday and rode a few waves all the way to the beach which was a first on my short board. It was a bit of an adaptation going from a long board to a 6'8 board but I know in the long-run it'll make it a lot more fun.
Every time I go surfing, I'm enjoying it a bit more. Besides the obvious thrill of riding waves, there's also a bit of a spiritual component to this sport. Now I won't get all Zen Master on you, but there's something special about being in the ocean, away from the shore, my cellphone, my worries (don't have too many of them fortunately). Nothing but the sound of the ocean, the water, the sun, and a big smile on my face. This setting really brings clarity to my mind and oftentimes it's where my best thinking happens. I love it.
I'm trying to hit up the surf about twice a week and at that rate I'm hopeful that I'll be able to ride a few monster waves by the end of next year!
Another big part of the Aussie culture which I've discovered since I got here is Australian Football, or Footy as it is affectionately known. It's definitely the most popular sport in Western Australia. From watching it a fair bit, I can tell you it is one hell of a sport. It's basically a mix between soccer, football, and rugby. It's a really complete sport and to be excel at it one needs to be fast, have amazing cardio, have the ability to kick with precision, catch the ball way up in the air, be able to tackle and get tackled, and overall have a good feel for the game. I bought a footy just recently, started kicking it around a bit with my mates and I'm loving it. The new season doesn't start for a few months but I'll sure be honing my skills until then and if everything goes well I'll be joining one of UWA's teams after Christmas. If you've never watch any Footy (which is probably the case for most of you) I strongly encourage you to watch this video.. You'll see why Aussies think it's the best sport on the planet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIReSJhQor0
A funny story about Footy... 2 weeks ago the Grand Final, basically the Australian equivalent of the Super Bowl, was taking place. The protagonists were the St.Kilda Saints and the Collingwood Magpies, 2 teams from the Melbourne region. There was much anticipation leading up to the match, and even I was getting pumped about it despite being new to this sport. The day of the game, I went down to my buddies' house (who conveniently live 2 houses down from me) to watch the match on their big screen. It was one of the best Footy matches in history and after an epic 3 hour battle, the final score was... 68-68. Because of some weird rule, there is no overtime in the Grand Final, so it was called a draw. As a result, they had to have a rematch the following week.
Now, can you imagine the Superbowl ending in a draw and being replayed the next Sunday? So bizarre! It was only the second time in history that it had happened and most people were upset about it. Personally, I was quite happy to be able to watch another high-quality game and deepen my knowledge of the sport! Unfortunately, the rematch was somewhat anticlimatic as Collingwood smashed St.Kilda 108-52 to be crowned 2010 AFL Champions.
Another part of the Aussie culture I've been wanting to get involved with is the scuba diving. It is a well-known fact that Australia boasts some of the finest diving in the world, and since I live 5 km from the ocean it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do it since I got here. However, through a very favorable turn of events, this might change very soon.
Last week, my Indian roommate moved so we had to replace him. The new guy, Chris, is an Aussie from Queesland, and he works as a professional "commercial diver". That means that he goes underwater and builds or repair structures such as bridges, oil rigs, etc. In his spare time, he's really into spearfishing. He's told me a few stories about it, and it sounds so damn cool. Last week he went out with his brother and he speared a friggin 30kg Kingfish! He had to fight it for about half an hour and got dragged over more than a kilometer, but he managed to haul it on the boat. That night, he chopped it up all up into filets so now we have about 60 beautiful pieces of fish in the freezer! I couldn't be happier about it, because fish is super expensive at the grocery store here so I hadn't had any in 3 months! I've made a Thai fish green curry earlier this week and I'll be sure to toss a few Kingfish filets on the barbie this weekend. Chris has already agreed to take me out spearfishing with him sometime soon... I'm sooo excited about this and if I'm lucky I'll be coming home with enough fish to feed me for a few months!
As I mentioned in a previous post, summer is right around the corner here and beach season has officially begun. The funny thing about living close to a beach is that it's easy to take it for granted and not take full advantage of it. Don't worry though, I have full intentions of being down there at least every weekend. Kicking the footy around, playing beach cricket, going for a surf or ocean swim, reading on the beach, whatever, I've been dreaming of this for far too long not to live it up 100%.
The forecast for this Sunday is 27 with perfect blue skies and I am set to partake in my first Sunday Session. I had never heard the term Sunday Sessions before, but from all account they are an integral part of Aussie culture. In the summertime, instead of partying hard on Saturday night, the Aussies will have more relaxed night, maybe a barbie and a few beers but nothing too outrageous. Then on Sunday they stroll down to the beach around mid-day, enjoy the sun and have a few brews during the afternoon.. Then as the day starts winding down, everyone walks (hopefully still straight at that point!) to the Ocean Beach Hotel bar, where basically a late-afternoon party takes place! After the OBH, one can either invite people over for a sunset barbie at home, head over to the Claremont (a bar close to my house where Sunday is the big night), or simply call it a day and start getting ready for Monday morning. No matter the decision at this point, it doesn't matter, those days are apparently epic. I have no trouble believing it.
As you can see, Australia has much to offer if someone is keen to really get involved. I often wish I could enjoy all this with some of you, but I guess that is the great tragedy of traveling. Living the best experience of our lives, but without the people we love the most... Oh well, c'est la vie.
Anyways, I'm done my pot of green tea and I've written a fair bit, so I'll leave it at that for today. I've got a few more interesting projects in the works to continue my Aussie acculturation, but that's another story for another day!
Take care my friends!
Much love,
Phil
What's going on! I know this post is a bit overdue but I've been crazy busy lately. 2 weeks ago was the madness of Unigames, and while our team's performance was less than stellar (0 wins - 8 losses, point differential of -92...), it was good fun. To be honest, I didn't do the best job of managing and coaching the team. We had a few late nights that week (!) and our first game of the day was generally at 9am. Needless to say, sleep came in small quantities. Let me tell you, there's nothing like managing a baseball team that's down 12-1 in the 3nd inning on 4 hour sleep! Uuuhhh..
Last week I was involved with a sports camp for kids at Uni. Added to my regular job and a few big assignments due for school, it made for a pretty hectic few days. While the experience of being a camp counselor for kids anywhere between 5 and 12 was a worthwhile experience, I'm sure glad it's over. Kids just never get tired of running around, and I must have given at least 100 piggyback rides over the course of the week!
Even if I'm really busy with all sorts of stuff, I don't really mind it. Reason being, my #1 goal for my trip here in Australia is to fully immerse myself in the Aussie culture and make the most of the experience. I feel like I'm incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and the last thing I want to do is to spend my time here being lazy, or doing the same things I would be doing back home. So I try to get involved and do what the Aussies do. And it's going quite well so far.
My surfing is starting to be legit, to the point where I can proudly call myself a "surfer". I had a real good session yesterday and rode a few waves all the way to the beach which was a first on my short board. It was a bit of an adaptation going from a long board to a 6'8 board but I know in the long-run it'll make it a lot more fun.
 |
| My beloved board |
I'm trying to hit up the surf about twice a week and at that rate I'm hopeful that I'll be able to ride a few monster waves by the end of next year!
 |
| Just give me a few more months of practice! |
Another big part of the Aussie culture which I've discovered since I got here is Australian Football, or Footy as it is affectionately known. It's definitely the most popular sport in Western Australia. From watching it a fair bit, I can tell you it is one hell of a sport. It's basically a mix between soccer, football, and rugby. It's a really complete sport and to be excel at it one needs to be fast, have amazing cardio, have the ability to kick with precision, catch the ball way up in the air, be able to tackle and get tackled, and overall have a good feel for the game. I bought a footy just recently, started kicking it around a bit with my mates and I'm loving it. The new season doesn't start for a few months but I'll sure be honing my skills until then and if everything goes well I'll be joining one of UWA's teams after Christmas. If you've never watch any Footy (which is probably the case for most of you) I strongly encourage you to watch this video.. You'll see why Aussies think it's the best sport on the planet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIReSJhQor0
A funny story about Footy... 2 weeks ago the Grand Final, basically the Australian equivalent of the Super Bowl, was taking place. The protagonists were the St.Kilda Saints and the Collingwood Magpies, 2 teams from the Melbourne region. There was much anticipation leading up to the match, and even I was getting pumped about it despite being new to this sport. The day of the game, I went down to my buddies' house (who conveniently live 2 houses down from me) to watch the match on their big screen. It was one of the best Footy matches in history and after an epic 3 hour battle, the final score was... 68-68. Because of some weird rule, there is no overtime in the Grand Final, so it was called a draw. As a result, they had to have a rematch the following week.
Now, can you imagine the Superbowl ending in a draw and being replayed the next Sunday? So bizarre! It was only the second time in history that it had happened and most people were upset about it. Personally, I was quite happy to be able to watch another high-quality game and deepen my knowledge of the sport! Unfortunately, the rematch was somewhat anticlimatic as Collingwood smashed St.Kilda 108-52 to be crowned 2010 AFL Champions.
 |
| Collingwood Magpies, 2010 AFL Champions |
Another part of the Aussie culture I've been wanting to get involved with is the scuba diving. It is a well-known fact that Australia boasts some of the finest diving in the world, and since I live 5 km from the ocean it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do it since I got here. However, through a very favorable turn of events, this might change very soon.
Last week, my Indian roommate moved so we had to replace him. The new guy, Chris, is an Aussie from Queesland, and he works as a professional "commercial diver". That means that he goes underwater and builds or repair structures such as bridges, oil rigs, etc. In his spare time, he's really into spearfishing. He's told me a few stories about it, and it sounds so damn cool. Last week he went out with his brother and he speared a friggin 30kg Kingfish! He had to fight it for about half an hour and got dragged over more than a kilometer, but he managed to haul it on the boat. That night, he chopped it up all up into filets so now we have about 60 beautiful pieces of fish in the freezer! I couldn't be happier about it, because fish is super expensive at the grocery store here so I hadn't had any in 3 months! I've made a Thai fish green curry earlier this week and I'll be sure to toss a few Kingfish filets on the barbie this weekend. Chris has already agreed to take me out spearfishing with him sometime soon... I'm sooo excited about this and if I'm lucky I'll be coming home with enough fish to feed me for a few months!
 |
| How bad-ass is this!!! |
As I mentioned in a previous post, summer is right around the corner here and beach season has officially begun. The funny thing about living close to a beach is that it's easy to take it for granted and not take full advantage of it. Don't worry though, I have full intentions of being down there at least every weekend. Kicking the footy around, playing beach cricket, going for a surf or ocean swim, reading on the beach, whatever, I've been dreaming of this for far too long not to live it up 100%.
 |
| Cottesloe Beach, my second home for the upcoming summer |
The forecast for this Sunday is 27 with perfect blue skies and I am set to partake in my first Sunday Session. I had never heard the term Sunday Sessions before, but from all account they are an integral part of Aussie culture. In the summertime, instead of partying hard on Saturday night, the Aussies will have more relaxed night, maybe a barbie and a few beers but nothing too outrageous. Then on Sunday they stroll down to the beach around mid-day, enjoy the sun and have a few brews during the afternoon.. Then as the day starts winding down, everyone walks (hopefully still straight at that point!) to the Ocean Beach Hotel bar, where basically a late-afternoon party takes place! After the OBH, one can either invite people over for a sunset barbie at home, head over to the Claremont (a bar close to my house where Sunday is the big night), or simply call it a day and start getting ready for Monday morning. No matter the decision at this point, it doesn't matter, those days are apparently epic. I have no trouble believing it.
As you can see, Australia has much to offer if someone is keen to really get involved. I often wish I could enjoy all this with some of you, but I guess that is the great tragedy of traveling. Living the best experience of our lives, but without the people we love the most... Oh well, c'est la vie.
Anyways, I'm done my pot of green tea and I've written a fair bit, so I'll leave it at that for today. I've got a few more interesting projects in the works to continue my Aussie acculturation, but that's another story for another day!
Take care my friends!
Much love,
Phil
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
How to live 100 happy and healthy years, part 1
Hello everyone,
Hope life is treating you well wherever you may be, and that the imminent arrival of fall in the northern hemisphere isn't depressing you too much. It's starting to get pretty hot in Perth, with forecasts of around 25-26 degrees through the week. From all accounts, we're quickly approaching "insane Aussie summer heat", which means temperatures in the mid-30's every day. To be honest, I'm really not too concerned about the crazy heat, because along with it comes the arrival of beach season, and bikini-clad girls everywhere. Good trade-off in my opinion. :)
Next week is the mid-semester study break here in Australia, and it should be a nice change of pace. I'll be partaking in the Australian University Games, which UWA is hosting this year. 5000 student-athletes from all over the country will be coming Perth to compete in their respective sports and socialize at the night events. I had initially signed up to be on the baseball team, but I kinda hurt my back at practice and decided not to play. Since I still wanted to be involved, I got "hired" to be the team manager. Yup, UWA Baseball Team Manager. Big responsibilities... NOT!!! Our team is a bit of an underdog too.. Out of 9 players, we have 2 cricket players who've never played baseball, and 4 girls who usually play softball. I better come up with some amazing strategies if we're going to hold our own against the mighty East Coast teams!!! Whatever happens, should be good times!
***
On another note, if you've read my last post, you would have seen that the item #61 on the list of things I want to do before I die is to "turn 100 years old, still be healthy and have an adventurous mind".
Since my arrival in Australia, my interest for health & well-being (and everything it encompasses) has reached new heights. Basically, I'm realizing that I have a true passion for this stuff, and I'm strongly considering steering my career in that direction. I already have a few business ideas in mind and I'll keep refining them over the next year. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to cross #11 "Start and run a successful company that will have a positive impact on the world" in the not-so-distant future.
I really believe that being young is a state of mind, and that you can be old at 25, and you can be young at 100. It depends on your mindset and your attitude towards life. But, it doesn't all depend on that. You can have the best attitude in the world but if you don't take good care of your body, eventually you're gonna run into some trouble.
While it is a complex subject, I believe that to live 100 happy and healthy years boils down to 3 dimensions:
The first one is nutrition, because if you don't eat right, you simply won't live 100 years.
The second one is physical activity, because if you're not good to your body, why should it be good to you?
And finally, the third and probably most important dimension is mindfulness. Sadly, very few people in the western world practice mindfulness/spirituality, and I hope that through my writing I can help you discover its benefits, and perhaps even get you interested in it.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I will write on post on each dimension, and while it may not count towards crossing #24 on my list, Start a project that will contribute to people living a more healthy lifestyle", it sure is a step in the right direction.
I realize that this might not be nearly as exciting to read as stories about surfing, wild parties on the beach, and beautiful Aussie chicks... But if you read on, I guarantee that you'll learn stuff that will have a real positive impact on your life. And don't worry, I'll write a few crazy party stories soon. ;)
Anyways, in today's post, I will focus on the nutrition component of living a long, happy and healthy life.
I will not be using any references because, well, this my blog and not an academic paper. However, rest assured that I have done a lot of research about this over the years and that this stuff has been proven to work.
All right, enough with all this intro stuff, let's get into it.
First, I want you take a second to picture in your mind how much food you buy and eat in a week... Got it? Now, take that small pile of food, and imagine that there's 51 other ones of similar size next to it. That's starting to be a lot of food, right? It represents the food you eat in 1 year. Now, take the 1 year pile, and make it 100 times bigger. You now have a bloody massive mountain of food in front of you. In my mind, mine is about the size of a house. I eat a lot, so yours might be a bit smaller, but that's not important. The point is, if you want to live 100 years, you're going to eat sooooo much food over the course of your lifetime.
Every little piece of food that makes up the mountain can be one of 3 things.
It can either low-quality processed food, that slowly but surely contributes to the destruction of your body and your health.
It can be medium quality food, not really bad for you, but not really good for you either. It's just food that gets you through day with decent levels of energy, no more no less.
Finally, it can be a source of high-quality fuel that will not only provide you with amazing energy, but also make you feel better, look better, think better, and perform better at everything.
Every time you eat something, you're choosing between those 3 categories. What will it be?
I am aware that many people eat the wrong things not out of bad intentions, but simply because they don't really know what's good and what's bad.
As an example of this, I've just started helping a girl I know here with her weight loss program. Long story short, she decided she wanted to lose weight and asked me my opinion on all sorts of crazy diets. Seeing how they were all crap (I believe that the way to lose weight and keep it off is by adopting healthy life habits, not by following some wacky eating scheme for a couple months before going back to eating the same foods that made you overweight in the first place), so I suggested to "coach" her through it. She was stoked to have a knowledgeable person help her, and I'm happy to be able to use my knowledge to help someone else improve their own life.
When we started talking about her current eating habits, it quickly became obvious that she's pretty clueless about what's good and what's not. Not having breakfast? No problem. The difference between simple and complex carbs? No clue. The concept of eating several small portions throughout the day as opposed to 2-3 massive meals? Never heard about it.
Helping her is not going to be the easiest task in the world, but I'm well up for it and I have no doubt that I can help her reach her goals. The results so far are very encouraging.
I got a little sidetracked here, so back to the main point. A lot of people want to be eat and be healthy, but they don't really know how.
So what do you need to eat to maximize your health, your energy, and your longevity?
The Basics
There's no one right way to do it, but here are a few general principles that I believe are the key to healthy eating.
-Start everyday with a large glass of water. It re-hydrates you and revs up your metabolism.
-Never ever skip breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day.
-Eat something every 3 hours (never let yourself get really hungry)
-Eat reasonable portions (if you follow the previous point, it becomes a lot easier)
-Drink at least 1L of water and 1L of loose leaf green tea everyday
-Cook with olive oil and don't use too much of it
-Eat as much fresh food as possible (if you live close to a market, I highly recommend you go shopping there. It's more fun, and you'll find yourself buying way more fruits & veggies)
-Whatever you buy at the grocery store is what you're going to eat that week, so don't set yourself up for failure (and never go grocery shopping hungry!)
-Avoid restaurant food whenever possible (you'll save tons of money too!)
-Allow yourself 1 cheat meal per week (treat yourself and eat whatever the hell you want. Can't go crazy over this whole nutrition thing either)
-When eating snacks, have a set portion (don't eat directly from the bag)
-Have fun with it. Eating healthy doesn't have to suck. Once you figure out how to do it properly, it can be as delicious, if not more, than eating crap processed food. No joke. If you don't believe me, maybe I'll cook for you sometime.
You probably already knew most of that stuff, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to re-iterate it just in case.
The Best Foods in the World
Before I left home a couple months ago, I read an amazing book that probably changed my life forever. It was written by, Dr. Richard Béliveau and it was about the best foods in the world to prevent cancer. I won't go into great lengths about why certain foods are way better than others at preventing cancer, but I have compiled a list of the foods we should try to eat everyday to maximize our health and longevity. Try to incorporate these foods into your daily habits and you'll soon notice a difference in the way you feel.
• Garlic – 2 cloves
*Personal advice: Just start adding fresh garlic to all your recipes. Honestly, everything is tastier with garlic and it makes the kitchen smell amazing too.
• Brocoli - ½ cup
• Onions – ½ cup
*Same as garlic.
• Spinach – ½ cup
*Try eating it with a homemade vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper.. It's delish.
• Soy – ½ cup
*You can eat tofu, edemame beans, or drink soy milk (look at ingredients though, and buy soy milk that has "whole soy beans" in the ingredients, not "soybean protein"
• Chia seeds – 1 tablespoon
*Just mix them into a smoothie or add them to your cereal, it doesn't taste anything and it's one of the healthiest (and least known) foods on earth. You can learn more about them here: http://www.sacredessence.com.au/images/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Chia%20Seeds.pdf
• Tomato sauce – 1 tablespoon
*Eating pasta sauce every few days should do the trick here.
• Tumeric (mixed with black pepper) – 1 teaspoon
*Tumeric (curcuma en français) is spice used a lot in indian cooking. Its anti-oxydant properties are increased by 1000x if consumed with black pepper. What I recommend you do is pre-mix the 2 into a shaker and just sprinkle your food with it. It has a really nice taste and gives food a nice little kick.
• Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
*Sprinkle in a smoothie or cereals, it's easy and makes it tastes great.
• Goji berries – ½ cup
*Only learned about them recently, they've been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and are considered to be the most nutrient-dense berry on the planet. You can find them in most health stores.
• Blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries – ½ cup
• Dried cranberries – ½ cup
• Grapes/Raisins – ½ cup
*The easiest way I found to eat goji berries, cranberries, raisins, and blue berries is to simply mix them into a home-made trail mix. The one I tried today was unbelievable: Goji, yogourt-covered raisins, dried cranberries, and almonds. It's the perfect snack, and it's one of the most healthy things you can ever eat.
• Dark chocolate (70% or 85% cocoa) - 40 g
*One of my favorite power foods :) Biggest challenge is to not eat too much of it!
• Orange/Grapefruit – 1
• Green tea – 3x 250ml (or more)
*My favorite powerfood. I drink about 8-9 cups of green tea a day and I really don`t think I'll ever. Do yourself a favour and buy some proper loose leaf green tea, you'll notice a massive difference with the cheap stuff. If you're not convinced that it's worth switching from coffee/black tea to green tea, just read this: http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-beverages/organic-tea/health-benefits-of-green-tea.html
• Red wine – 1 glass
*Yup, it's true. 1 glass of red wine with dinner is not only a great way to relax, it's great for your heart.
• Fresh salmon – twice per week
*Best source of omega-3's. If you don't like fish, I really recommend you start taking Omega-3 supplements.If you're going to take 1 supplement, that's it right there. It works wonder for both your heart and your brain, 2 pretty important components of the ol' body.
The funny thing about this list is, most of the items are actually quite tasty. It's just a matter of getting in the habit of eating them daily. I've been doing it for about 2 months now and I actually feel like I'm eating the tastiest meals/snacks I ever have. I also feel like a million bucks everyday, physically, and mentally. I have lots of energy, my thoughts are clearer, and I recover much faster from my workouts.
If you have any questions about any of this stuff, feel free to get in touch with me. Also, if you're trying to lose weight or add muscle mass, I already have drawn out nutrition plans that are tried and tested (by yours truly). I'll be happy to share them with you.
Cheers and happy (healthy) eating!
Phil
Hope life is treating you well wherever you may be, and that the imminent arrival of fall in the northern hemisphere isn't depressing you too much. It's starting to get pretty hot in Perth, with forecasts of around 25-26 degrees through the week. From all accounts, we're quickly approaching "insane Aussie summer heat", which means temperatures in the mid-30's every day. To be honest, I'm really not too concerned about the crazy heat, because along with it comes the arrival of beach season, and bikini-clad girls everywhere. Good trade-off in my opinion. :)
Next week is the mid-semester study break here in Australia, and it should be a nice change of pace. I'll be partaking in the Australian University Games, which UWA is hosting this year. 5000 student-athletes from all over the country will be coming Perth to compete in their respective sports and socialize at the night events. I had initially signed up to be on the baseball team, but I kinda hurt my back at practice and decided not to play. Since I still wanted to be involved, I got "hired" to be the team manager. Yup, UWA Baseball Team Manager. Big responsibilities... NOT!!! Our team is a bit of an underdog too.. Out of 9 players, we have 2 cricket players who've never played baseball, and 4 girls who usually play softball. I better come up with some amazing strategies if we're going to hold our own against the mighty East Coast teams!!! Whatever happens, should be good times!
***
On another note, if you've read my last post, you would have seen that the item #61 on the list of things I want to do before I die is to "turn 100 years old, still be healthy and have an adventurous mind".
Since my arrival in Australia, my interest for health & well-being (and everything it encompasses) has reached new heights. Basically, I'm realizing that I have a true passion for this stuff, and I'm strongly considering steering my career in that direction. I already have a few business ideas in mind and I'll keep refining them over the next year. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to cross #11 "Start and run a successful company that will have a positive impact on the world" in the not-so-distant future.
I really believe that being young is a state of mind, and that you can be old at 25, and you can be young at 100. It depends on your mindset and your attitude towards life. But, it doesn't all depend on that. You can have the best attitude in the world but if you don't take good care of your body, eventually you're gonna run into some trouble.
While it is a complex subject, I believe that to live 100 happy and healthy years boils down to 3 dimensions:
The first one is nutrition, because if you don't eat right, you simply won't live 100 years.
The second one is physical activity, because if you're not good to your body, why should it be good to you?
And finally, the third and probably most important dimension is mindfulness. Sadly, very few people in the western world practice mindfulness/spirituality, and I hope that through my writing I can help you discover its benefits, and perhaps even get you interested in it.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I will write on post on each dimension, and while it may not count towards crossing #24 on my list, Start a project that will contribute to people living a more healthy lifestyle", it sure is a step in the right direction.
I realize that this might not be nearly as exciting to read as stories about surfing, wild parties on the beach, and beautiful Aussie chicks... But if you read on, I guarantee that you'll learn stuff that will have a real positive impact on your life. And don't worry, I'll write a few crazy party stories soon. ;)
Anyways, in today's post, I will focus on the nutrition component of living a long, happy and healthy life.
I will not be using any references because, well, this my blog and not an academic paper. However, rest assured that I have done a lot of research about this over the years and that this stuff has been proven to work.
All right, enough with all this intro stuff, let's get into it.
First, I want you take a second to picture in your mind how much food you buy and eat in a week... Got it? Now, take that small pile of food, and imagine that there's 51 other ones of similar size next to it. That's starting to be a lot of food, right? It represents the food you eat in 1 year. Now, take the 1 year pile, and make it 100 times bigger. You now have a bloody massive mountain of food in front of you. In my mind, mine is about the size of a house. I eat a lot, so yours might be a bit smaller, but that's not important. The point is, if you want to live 100 years, you're going to eat sooooo much food over the course of your lifetime.
Every little piece of food that makes up the mountain can be one of 3 things.
It can either low-quality processed food, that slowly but surely contributes to the destruction of your body and your health.
It can be medium quality food, not really bad for you, but not really good for you either. It's just food that gets you through day with decent levels of energy, no more no less.
Finally, it can be a source of high-quality fuel that will not only provide you with amazing energy, but also make you feel better, look better, think better, and perform better at everything.
Every time you eat something, you're choosing between those 3 categories. What will it be?
I am aware that many people eat the wrong things not out of bad intentions, but simply because they don't really know what's good and what's bad.
As an example of this, I've just started helping a girl I know here with her weight loss program. Long story short, she decided she wanted to lose weight and asked me my opinion on all sorts of crazy diets. Seeing how they were all crap (I believe that the way to lose weight and keep it off is by adopting healthy life habits, not by following some wacky eating scheme for a couple months before going back to eating the same foods that made you overweight in the first place), so I suggested to "coach" her through it. She was stoked to have a knowledgeable person help her, and I'm happy to be able to use my knowledge to help someone else improve their own life.
When we started talking about her current eating habits, it quickly became obvious that she's pretty clueless about what's good and what's not. Not having breakfast? No problem. The difference between simple and complex carbs? No clue. The concept of eating several small portions throughout the day as opposed to 2-3 massive meals? Never heard about it.
Helping her is not going to be the easiest task in the world, but I'm well up for it and I have no doubt that I can help her reach her goals. The results so far are very encouraging.
I got a little sidetracked here, so back to the main point. A lot of people want to be eat and be healthy, but they don't really know how.
So what do you need to eat to maximize your health, your energy, and your longevity?
The Basics
There's no one right way to do it, but here are a few general principles that I believe are the key to healthy eating.
-Start everyday with a large glass of water. It re-hydrates you and revs up your metabolism.
-Never ever skip breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day.
-Eat something every 3 hours (never let yourself get really hungry)
-Eat reasonable portions (if you follow the previous point, it becomes a lot easier)
-Drink at least 1L of water and 1L of loose leaf green tea everyday
-Cook with olive oil and don't use too much of it
-Eat as much fresh food as possible (if you live close to a market, I highly recommend you go shopping there. It's more fun, and you'll find yourself buying way more fruits & veggies)
-Whatever you buy at the grocery store is what you're going to eat that week, so don't set yourself up for failure (and never go grocery shopping hungry!)
-Avoid restaurant food whenever possible (you'll save tons of money too!)
-Allow yourself 1 cheat meal per week (treat yourself and eat whatever the hell you want. Can't go crazy over this whole nutrition thing either)
-When eating snacks, have a set portion (don't eat directly from the bag)
-Have fun with it. Eating healthy doesn't have to suck. Once you figure out how to do it properly, it can be as delicious, if not more, than eating crap processed food. No joke. If you don't believe me, maybe I'll cook for you sometime.
You probably already knew most of that stuff, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to re-iterate it just in case.
The Best Foods in the World
Before I left home a couple months ago, I read an amazing book that probably changed my life forever. It was written by, Dr. Richard Béliveau and it was about the best foods in the world to prevent cancer. I won't go into great lengths about why certain foods are way better than others at preventing cancer, but I have compiled a list of the foods we should try to eat everyday to maximize our health and longevity. Try to incorporate these foods into your daily habits and you'll soon notice a difference in the way you feel.
• Garlic – 2 cloves
*Personal advice: Just start adding fresh garlic to all your recipes. Honestly, everything is tastier with garlic and it makes the kitchen smell amazing too.
• Brocoli - ½ cup
• Onions – ½ cup
*Same as garlic.
• Spinach – ½ cup
*Try eating it with a homemade vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper.. It's delish.
• Soy – ½ cup
*You can eat tofu, edemame beans, or drink soy milk (look at ingredients though, and buy soy milk that has "whole soy beans" in the ingredients, not "soybean protein"
• Chia seeds – 1 tablespoon
*Just mix them into a smoothie or add them to your cereal, it doesn't taste anything and it's one of the healthiest (and least known) foods on earth. You can learn more about them here: http://www.sacredessence.com.au/images/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Chia%20Seeds.pdf
• Tomato sauce – 1 tablespoon
*Eating pasta sauce every few days should do the trick here.
• Tumeric (mixed with black pepper) – 1 teaspoon
*Tumeric (curcuma en français) is spice used a lot in indian cooking. Its anti-oxydant properties are increased by 1000x if consumed with black pepper. What I recommend you do is pre-mix the 2 into a shaker and just sprinkle your food with it. It has a really nice taste and gives food a nice little kick.
• Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
*Sprinkle in a smoothie or cereals, it's easy and makes it tastes great.
• Goji berries – ½ cup
*Only learned about them recently, they've been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and are considered to be the most nutrient-dense berry on the planet. You can find them in most health stores.
• Blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries – ½ cup
• Dried cranberries – ½ cup
• Grapes/Raisins – ½ cup
*The easiest way I found to eat goji berries, cranberries, raisins, and blue berries is to simply mix them into a home-made trail mix. The one I tried today was unbelievable: Goji, yogourt-covered raisins, dried cranberries, and almonds. It's the perfect snack, and it's one of the most healthy things you can ever eat.
• Dark chocolate (70% or 85% cocoa) - 40 g
*One of my favorite power foods :) Biggest challenge is to not eat too much of it!
• Orange/Grapefruit – 1
• Green tea – 3x 250ml (or more)
*My favorite powerfood. I drink about 8-9 cups of green tea a day and I really don`t think I'll ever. Do yourself a favour and buy some proper loose leaf green tea, you'll notice a massive difference with the cheap stuff. If you're not convinced that it's worth switching from coffee/black tea to green tea, just read this: http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-beverages/organic-tea/health-benefits-of-green-tea.html
• Red wine – 1 glass
*Yup, it's true. 1 glass of red wine with dinner is not only a great way to relax, it's great for your heart.
• Fresh salmon – twice per week
*Best source of omega-3's. If you don't like fish, I really recommend you start taking Omega-3 supplements.If you're going to take 1 supplement, that's it right there. It works wonder for both your heart and your brain, 2 pretty important components of the ol' body.
The funny thing about this list is, most of the items are actually quite tasty. It's just a matter of getting in the habit of eating them daily. I've been doing it for about 2 months now and I actually feel like I'm eating the tastiest meals/snacks I ever have. I also feel like a million bucks everyday, physically, and mentally. I have lots of energy, my thoughts are clearer, and I recover much faster from my workouts.
If you have any questions about any of this stuff, feel free to get in touch with me. Also, if you're trying to lose weight or add muscle mass, I already have drawn out nutrition plans that are tried and tested (by yours truly). I'll be happy to share them with you.
Cheers and happy (healthy) eating!
Phil
Friday, September 3, 2010
What do YOU want to do before you die?
Recently, I've been watching, and re-watching an amazing show called The Buried Life. Some of you might have watched it already; it aired on MTV earlier this year.
This reality-documentary follows 4 friends from Victoria, BC (Duncan, Ben, Dave, and Jonnie) as they travel across North America in a big purple bus. The purpose of their adventure? Knock off every item of their list of "100 things to do before you die". The items vary from silly things to more serious enterprises, and while some are fairly easy, some are super hard to achieve. For every item on their list they accomplish, the boys help a stranger achieve one of their dreams. Amazing concept, amazing show.
Every episode is an action-packed 21 minutes. Everytime I finished watching one, all I wanted to do is get up, go, and conquer the world. For real.
If you want to check it out, you can download the torrents here . Alternatively, I think you can watch it from MTV Canada's website. If it's any incentive... The item they try to achieve in episode #1 is "Party at the Playboy Mansion". Easy.. right? ;)
After having been so captivated and inspired by this show, I started thinking... What do I want to do before I die? And since I'm a firm believer that having a to-do list (whether it be for a day at the office, a day off, a year abroad,etc) greatly increases the chances that we'll actually get shit done, I went ahead and started working on my own list. It is not complete, but I'm happy with what I got so far.
The exercise is actually quite fun and I spent a few hours with a big smile on my face dreaming up these ideas... And really trying to let me mind free of any limitation. I keep saying it (and this show serves as an unbelievable example of this), if you REALLY want to do something, and you can dream it up, there's a way to make it happen. It might mean coming up with creative ideas, getting help from others, working hard, and taking a few risk, but it's possible. And that's all that matters.
I invite you to start working on your own list... And if you need a few ideas, here's my own list so far.
This reality-documentary follows 4 friends from Victoria, BC (Duncan, Ben, Dave, and Jonnie) as they travel across North America in a big purple bus. The purpose of their adventure? Knock off every item of their list of "100 things to do before you die". The items vary from silly things to more serious enterprises, and while some are fairly easy, some are super hard to achieve. For every item on their list they accomplish, the boys help a stranger achieve one of their dreams. Amazing concept, amazing show.
Every episode is an action-packed 21 minutes. Everytime I finished watching one, all I wanted to do is get up, go, and conquer the world. For real.
If you want to check it out, you can download the torrents here . Alternatively, I think you can watch it from MTV Canada's website. If it's any incentive... The item they try to achieve in episode #1 is "Party at the Playboy Mansion". Easy.. right? ;)
After having been so captivated and inspired by this show, I started thinking... What do I want to do before I die? And since I'm a firm believer that having a to-do list (whether it be for a day at the office, a day off, a year abroad,etc) greatly increases the chances that we'll actually get shit done, I went ahead and started working on my own list. It is not complete, but I'm happy with what I got so far.
The exercise is actually quite fun and I spent a few hours with a big smile on my face dreaming up these ideas... And really trying to let me mind free of any limitation. I keep saying it (and this show serves as an unbelievable example of this), if you REALLY want to do something, and you can dream it up, there's a way to make it happen. It might mean coming up with creative ideas, getting help from others, working hard, and taking a few risk, but it's possible. And that's all that matters.
I invite you to start working on your own list... And if you need a few ideas, here's my own list so far.
1. Marry the woman I love
2. Have children and watch them grow up and live a happy, fulfilled life
3. Climb a mountain of more than 6000m
4. Surf in Bali
5. Go to an NFL game
6. Go to a NCAA football game at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide Roll!)
7. Do a road trip across the Southern United States
8. Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans
9. Go to the Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro
10. Help someone achieve their own dream
11. Start and run a successful company that will have a positive impact on the world
12. Live one year in Europe
13. Live one year in Australia
14. Live one year in South America
15. Live one year in California
16. Live 6 months in Asia
17. Live 6 months in Hawaii
18. Go back to Ibiza
19. Go to KaZantip
20. Be in Montreal when the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup
21. Write a book and be published
22. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
23. Make a speech that will inspire people
24. Start a project that will contribute to people living a more healthy lifestyle
25. Do a meditation retreat in a Buddhist monastery in Tibet
26. Find my spiritual mentor
27. Go to the soccer World Cup
28. Donate blood every year
29. Give something amazing to my parents to thank them for everything they've done
30. Spend a week at sea
31. Spend a week in a forest
32. Grow something and cook it
33. Have sex on a beach
34. Spend one day in silence
35. Do a tour of Europe on my bicycle
36. Open my own sports bar
37. Live with “indigenous” people for a month
38. Go Heli-Skiing
39. Scuba dive with whales sharks
40. Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef
41. Volunteer abroad for a month
42. Learn to sail
43. Raft down the Amazon river
44. Participate in Burning Man
45. Go to a major electronic music festival in Europe
46. Go to Oktoberfest in Germany
47. Go to a futbol game in South America
48. See Tiesto perform live
49. Visit more than 100 countries
50. Compete in a Muay Thai fight in Thailand
51. Compete in a jiu-jitsu competition in Brazil
52. Throw a party that people will remember for the rest of their life
53. Produce my own red wine
54. Jump off a 20m cliff
55. Become President of the Montreal Canadiens
56. Invent something
57. Start a foundation
58. Party like a rockstar in South Beach
59. Achieve some of the items on this list with my children
60. Achieve some of the items on this list with my grand-children
61.Turn 100 years old, still be healthy and have adventurous mind
60. Achieve some of the items on this list with my grand-children
61.Turn 100 years old, still be healthy and have adventurous mind
To be continued...
So, what do YOU want to do before you die?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
L'Auberge Australienne
Yo!
What's happening? How's everybody doing? Personally, I'm doing amazing. Writing to you from the UWA business school, I'm sipping some premium white tea, and blasting Gareth Emery's newest podcast (a monster!) in my headphones. Basically, I'm in the ZONE right now haha.
All right so there's been quite a bit of change in my life since my last post. Basically, I got kicked out of my house and had to scramble to find a new place to live. How crazy is that eh? Fortunately, as is often case in life, what initially seemed like a bit of a disaster turned out to be one hell of a blessing in disguise.
Let me tell how this happened.
As some of you know, I had found a house nearby the Uni, and I was living with 2 girls and 1 guys. Claire, one of the girls, didn't drink, didn't go out, and basically was pretty boring. Lauren, the other girl, was actually quite cool. But she was also a lesbian Australian football player, and while I fully respect that, she just hung out with a different crowd than what I was looking for. Finally, Nathan, Lauren's twin brother, was an all right guy, but he mostly hung out with his long-time girlfriend and made no effort whatsoever to help me meet people and get integrated.
Overall, my living situation was all right, but not ideal. We didn't fight or anything like that, but I could already tell that I was never going to become good friends with these people.
One morning, Claire told me "Phil, we need to talk".. with a weird tone. You know, that tone, the one that indicates that you're about to have an unpleasant conversation. We sat down, and basically she told me that her and the others had talked, and that they came to a consensus that they didn't feel like I fit into the household. And that they wanted me to move out within a week. Boom. Just like that.
At first, I was a bit shocked, and humiliated... I mean, I'm far from perfect, but I had been trying hard to be a good housemate. I was friendly, I cleaned after myself, I wasn't loud when they were sleeping... And here I was, halfway around the world, getting kicked out of the place I lived.
I went for a run to clear my head, and over the next 45 minutes, I realized that this was not a setback, but rather an opportunity to make the Australian Dream even better. I got back home and got busy. Started looking at websites, sending emails, making some calls.
That same night, I went to visit a house even closer to the Uni, in a neighborhood called Nedlands. The house itself was quite old, but it was spacious. It also had a massive backyard, and 5 guys, all UWA students, lived there. One of the counters in the kitchen was full of big tubs of protein powder and other supplements. A real boys' house! I stayed there for about an hour, chatting with the guys, and really felt like there was a good vibe in that house.
The next morning I woke up, and it was clear-cut in my mind what I had to do. I texted Gabe, the guy in charge of renting out the room, and told him I wanted to move in. He texted me back a few minutes later, and said I was in. Boom. Just like that.
So now, let me explain to you why this post is titled "L'Auberge Australienne". As some of you might know, my favorite movie of all-time is called "L'Auberge Espagnole".
This movie changed my life. Like, it actually changed the course of my existence.
The movie is about Xavier, a 24 year old Frenchman about my age. His life in France is fine, but he wants to do something exciting and crazy. He wants to live it up. So he decides to move to Barcelona to do his Master degree in Economics. He flies over to Barcelona, doesn't really know anyone in the city, and his spanish isn't all that great either. He initially has a hard time finding a decent place to live, but he eventually moves into an apartment with 6 other students. One from England, one from Belgium, one from Spain, one from Italy, one from Germany, and one from Denmark.
Over the course of the movie, they all become really good friends and have amazing adventures together. When Xavier returns home to France at the end of the movie, he realizes how much this experience has changed him as a person, and he even ends up ditching his career as an economist for the government (on his first day!) to pursue his true passion: being a writer.
I saw this movie when I was 17, and trying to figure out my future. It really struck a cord with me, and inspired me. I realized that I wanted to live something like that too. I wanted to have crazy experiences, meet people from around the globe, and to do so I had to pack up and leave. That's what lead to my decision to move away to Vancouver for school, even though I didn't know a soul in the city, and my English wasn't all that great
Ok, so I still haven't told you why I named this post "L'Auberge Australienne". Although, I'm guessing that by now you have a feeling of where I'm going with this...
As I mentioned earlier, the house I moved into last week is comprised of 5 guys + me. Well, to put it simply, let's just say that amongst us 6, we have a solid representation of Planet Earth, and a cast of pretty interesting characters :).
Here's a brief description of my 5 roommates:
Gabe is from New Mexico, USA. He spent 4 years in the US Marines and is now completing his degree in Sports Science. He has one of the best "Game" I have ever seen, and he's teaching me a few new tricks every day :) He's also into spirituality and we've already had some very interesting conversation on that topic (how funny is it that the 2 topics we talk about all the time are how to seduce women, and how to be a more mindful and enlightened person...)
Berny is originally from South Africa, and he has lived in Australia for the past 10 years. He studies mechanical engineering, owns 3 cars and he's really into tuning them up. He also knows just about everybody at UWA (well, mostly the cool kids) and has already introduced me to a bunch of his friends. He also has the unusual talent of being really good at cutting hair. He might or might not have given me a bit of a fauxhawk 2 days ago haha!
James is a local, born and raised in Perth. He studies engineering as well, and really looks like a hobbit haha. He's into trance music, which is awesome as we will certainly be hitting up a few good DJ shows together.
Nish is from India. I actually haven't met him yet (he's been home writing his thesis) but he has been described by the others as "the craziest Indian dude you'll ever meet", and a "mad genius". He is infamous for going to bars stone-cold sober, and approaching as many as 100 women in one night. He also apparently makes some amazing Indian curry chicken, and loves to cook for everyone. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to meeting this guy!
Last and not least, John (aka Johnny), from China. At first, I wasn't too sure how he was going to fit in, given he comes from such a different culture. However, I have been pleasantly surprised. In is own way, he's one of the funniest kids I've ever met. While he knows very little about Western culture, he's really keen to learn about it and to fit in. We're helping him with his english, and he's teaching us to cook some amazing Chinese food. We advise him on how to meet girls at school, and he makes us laugh to tears everyday. Because he is so new to this whole culture, he often gets confused or asks the funniest questions. He also really likes goon, which the guys have him believing is a drink made by the Aboriginals. Whenever he pours himself a glass, he shouts "Aboriginals' favorite!!!" in his thick Chinese accent.. Priceless!!!
I have been in this house for exactly a week now, and it has definitely been the best week of the Australian Dream. We're not just a group of guys sharing a living space, we're a group of guys sharing an experience. It's not just a house, it's a home. We're all happy to be here, we all want to make the most out of the experience, and we want to live it together.
We don't even own a TV, and it made me realize how unimportant they are to everyday happiness. We have a massive kitchen and there's always at least a couple of us hanging out, chatting, making some food, DJing like John in the picture. Everything is quite communal, we share food, we help each other with the cooking, etc. And it's SO much better that way.
Yesterday, Johnny, Berny, James, Gabe and I were hanging out in the kitchen, and talking how crazy/amazing this all is. As recently as 50 years ago, this would have been totally unthinkable! A Chinese, a South-African, an American, an Australian, and a Canadian sharing a meal together (Mexican food prepared by an American!) and having a great time doing so.
Over the whole course of humanity, we are among the first generation of people who have the opportunity to do this kind of stuff. This is something truly special.
7 years after first seeing L'Auberge Espagnole and being astounded by it, my dream has finally come true. Sharing a house with other students from all over the world, and having an experience of a lifetime in the process. We've also already had a bit of crazy adventures together, but those stories are for another time, another place... :)
Have a great week, and if you are looking for something to do one night, rent/download L'Auberge Espagnole. I guarantee you'll enjoy it, and who knows... maybe it'll change your life too!
Adios!
Phil
What's happening? How's everybody doing? Personally, I'm doing amazing. Writing to you from the UWA business school, I'm sipping some premium white tea, and blasting Gareth Emery's newest podcast (a monster!) in my headphones. Basically, I'm in the ZONE right now haha.
All right so there's been quite a bit of change in my life since my last post. Basically, I got kicked out of my house and had to scramble to find a new place to live. How crazy is that eh? Fortunately, as is often case in life, what initially seemed like a bit of a disaster turned out to be one hell of a blessing in disguise.
Let me tell how this happened.
As some of you know, I had found a house nearby the Uni, and I was living with 2 girls and 1 guys. Claire, one of the girls, didn't drink, didn't go out, and basically was pretty boring. Lauren, the other girl, was actually quite cool. But she was also a lesbian Australian football player, and while I fully respect that, she just hung out with a different crowd than what I was looking for. Finally, Nathan, Lauren's twin brother, was an all right guy, but he mostly hung out with his long-time girlfriend and made no effort whatsoever to help me meet people and get integrated.
Overall, my living situation was all right, but not ideal. We didn't fight or anything like that, but I could already tell that I was never going to become good friends with these people.
One morning, Claire told me "Phil, we need to talk".. with a weird tone. You know, that tone, the one that indicates that you're about to have an unpleasant conversation. We sat down, and basically she told me that her and the others had talked, and that they came to a consensus that they didn't feel like I fit into the household. And that they wanted me to move out within a week. Boom. Just like that.
At first, I was a bit shocked, and humiliated... I mean, I'm far from perfect, but I had been trying hard to be a good housemate. I was friendly, I cleaned after myself, I wasn't loud when they were sleeping... And here I was, halfway around the world, getting kicked out of the place I lived.
I went for a run to clear my head, and over the next 45 minutes, I realized that this was not a setback, but rather an opportunity to make the Australian Dream even better. I got back home and got busy. Started looking at websites, sending emails, making some calls.
That same night, I went to visit a house even closer to the Uni, in a neighborhood called Nedlands. The house itself was quite old, but it was spacious. It also had a massive backyard, and 5 guys, all UWA students, lived there. One of the counters in the kitchen was full of big tubs of protein powder and other supplements. A real boys' house! I stayed there for about an hour, chatting with the guys, and really felt like there was a good vibe in that house.
The next morning I woke up, and it was clear-cut in my mind what I had to do. I texted Gabe, the guy in charge of renting out the room, and told him I wanted to move in. He texted me back a few minutes later, and said I was in. Boom. Just like that.
So now, let me explain to you why this post is titled "L'Auberge Australienne". As some of you might know, my favorite movie of all-time is called "L'Auberge Espagnole".
This movie changed my life. Like, it actually changed the course of my existence.
The movie is about Xavier, a 24 year old Frenchman about my age. His life in France is fine, but he wants to do something exciting and crazy. He wants to live it up. So he decides to move to Barcelona to do his Master degree in Economics. He flies over to Barcelona, doesn't really know anyone in the city, and his spanish isn't all that great either. He initially has a hard time finding a decent place to live, but he eventually moves into an apartment with 6 other students. One from England, one from Belgium, one from Spain, one from Italy, one from Germany, and one from Denmark.
Over the course of the movie, they all become really good friends and have amazing adventures together. When Xavier returns home to France at the end of the movie, he realizes how much this experience has changed him as a person, and he even ends up ditching his career as an economist for the government (on his first day!) to pursue his true passion: being a writer.
I saw this movie when I was 17, and trying to figure out my future. It really struck a cord with me, and inspired me. I realized that I wanted to live something like that too. I wanted to have crazy experiences, meet people from around the globe, and to do so I had to pack up and leave. That's what lead to my decision to move away to Vancouver for school, even though I didn't know a soul in the city, and my English wasn't all that great
Ok, so I still haven't told you why I named this post "L'Auberge Australienne". Although, I'm guessing that by now you have a feeling of where I'm going with this...
As I mentioned earlier, the house I moved into last week is comprised of 5 guys + me. Well, to put it simply, let's just say that amongst us 6, we have a solid representation of Planet Earth, and a cast of pretty interesting characters :).
Here's a brief description of my 5 roommates:
Gabe is from New Mexico, USA. He spent 4 years in the US Marines and is now completing his degree in Sports Science. He has one of the best "Game" I have ever seen, and he's teaching me a few new tricks every day :) He's also into spirituality and we've already had some very interesting conversation on that topic (how funny is it that the 2 topics we talk about all the time are how to seduce women, and how to be a more mindful and enlightened person...)
Berny is originally from South Africa, and he has lived in Australia for the past 10 years. He studies mechanical engineering, owns 3 cars and he's really into tuning them up. He also knows just about everybody at UWA (well, mostly the cool kids) and has already introduced me to a bunch of his friends. He also has the unusual talent of being really good at cutting hair. He might or might not have given me a bit of a fauxhawk 2 days ago haha!
James is a local, born and raised in Perth. He studies engineering as well, and really looks like a hobbit haha. He's into trance music, which is awesome as we will certainly be hitting up a few good DJ shows together.
Nish is from India. I actually haven't met him yet (he's been home writing his thesis) but he has been described by the others as "the craziest Indian dude you'll ever meet", and a "mad genius". He is infamous for going to bars stone-cold sober, and approaching as many as 100 women in one night. He also apparently makes some amazing Indian curry chicken, and loves to cook for everyone. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to meeting this guy!
Last and not least, John (aka Johnny), from China. At first, I wasn't too sure how he was going to fit in, given he comes from such a different culture. However, I have been pleasantly surprised. In is own way, he's one of the funniest kids I've ever met. While he knows very little about Western culture, he's really keen to learn about it and to fit in. We're helping him with his english, and he's teaching us to cook some amazing Chinese food. We advise him on how to meet girls at school, and he makes us laugh to tears everyday. Because he is so new to this whole culture, he often gets confused or asks the funniest questions. He also really likes goon, which the guys have him believing is a drink made by the Aboriginals. Whenever he pours himself a glass, he shouts "Aboriginals' favorite!!!" in his thick Chinese accent.. Priceless!!!
 |
| The man himself showcasing his DJ skills! |
I have been in this house for exactly a week now, and it has definitely been the best week of the Australian Dream. We're not just a group of guys sharing a living space, we're a group of guys sharing an experience. It's not just a house, it's a home. We're all happy to be here, we all want to make the most out of the experience, and we want to live it together.
We don't even own a TV, and it made me realize how unimportant they are to everyday happiness. We have a massive kitchen and there's always at least a couple of us hanging out, chatting, making some food, DJing like John in the picture. Everything is quite communal, we share food, we help each other with the cooking, etc. And it's SO much better that way.
Yesterday, Johnny, Berny, James, Gabe and I were hanging out in the kitchen, and talking how crazy/amazing this all is. As recently as 50 years ago, this would have been totally unthinkable! A Chinese, a South-African, an American, an Australian, and a Canadian sharing a meal together (Mexican food prepared by an American!) and having a great time doing so.
Over the whole course of humanity, we are among the first generation of people who have the opportunity to do this kind of stuff. This is something truly special.
7 years after first seeing L'Auberge Espagnole and being astounded by it, my dream has finally come true. Sharing a house with other students from all over the world, and having an experience of a lifetime in the process. We've also already had a bit of crazy adventures together, but those stories are for another time, another place... :)
Have a great week, and if you are looking for something to do one night, rent/download L'Auberge Espagnole. I guarantee you'll enjoy it, and who knows... maybe it'll change your life too!
Adios!
Phil
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
College Life 2.0
G’day everyone!
What’s up? Wherever you may be, I really hope you’re enjoying summertime, and making the most of it! Believe it or not, it’s freaking 2 degrees outside here in Perth tonight! Since it has a huge window and no heating, my room is probably around 11 degrees. I’m in my sleeping bag AND wearing a hoodie as I’m writing this! I’m still trying to figure out how this all fits into the whole Australian Dream concept! :P
Fortunately, it’s warm during the day and things are good otherwise. I just finished up my second week of Uni, and it gave me a good taste of what a “typical” week will be like for the next year and a half of my life. It was fast-paced, a bit hectic times, and certainly not boring. While it has only been a couple weeks since school started, I’m already get a distinct feeling that my College Life at UWA is gonna be quite different from the original, much-praised, UBC College Life .
I don’t think I need to go into great lengths explaining what the College Life 1.0 was all about... You’ve heard the stories, you’ve seen the pictures (or better yet, you were there living it with me!)... Yes it was epic. Looking back, it feels like those were carefree days and it was all pretty simple. Go to a few classes, hit the gym for a bit, have a few beers with the Wolfpack, and see where the night takes us. Maybe some wolf-style hollering (“AWW AWWWWUUH” ) and if things got a bit wild, some wrestling at the church and perhaps even a lil’ dumpster flipping action on the way home! Hahah. Those were the days. If you want to know more about College Life 1.0., take a listen at Asher Roth’s instant-classic track I love College (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYx7YG0RsFY). Whilst what he sings about may not ALL be true, it definitely gives a great idea of what it was like!
Nope... as good as those days were, this time around it’s going to be a bit different. Both for the better, and for the worse.
How can I describe it... Well for one, this time I’m really trying to kick ass at school. I did well at UBC, but like my dad pointed out to me before I left, good is not always enough. It’s about being the best that you can be. So now I’m actually trying to do all the small things that make the difference between a good and kick-ass grade. I even try to look clean-cut when I go to school. No more going to class in my sweatpants with a 5 day beard. If I want to be top of my class, I figure I gotta look the part. Furthermore, beyond getting good grades, I actually am interested in learning all this stuff. The way I see it, the next year and a half of my life represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can gain the knowledge and the tools that will serve as the foundation to, hopefully, a successful career down the road. I think I’d have to be a fool not to do everything in my power to seize this opportunity to the fullest.
Secondly, not only am I trying to do well and be committed to school, but it is actually much more challenging this time around. I guess it’s not supposed to be easy to become a Master of Marketing right? The projects are larger in span and all the classes require me to do work every week, unlike undergrad where you could basically crack the textbook open a mere 2 days before the exam and still figure it all out with the help of one of these:
Thirdly, since I have a “real” job on the side, I need to be sharp for that. By the way, I should tell you that I have already had a promotion of sorts. My boss realized that by having me doing Administrative stuff, he wouldn't be fully using the ressources I can provide. As a result, I have now become the French Market Representative (I actually need to choose my title for my business cards... If you have suggestions please share them with me). Basically this means that I’m responsible to maintain and develop our customer base in the francophone markets of France, Switzerland, and eventually Québec. The best part is, I’m going to be travelling to Bordeaux, France, in October to attend a tradeshow there. And it seems like Im might also be going to Germany at the end of November, and possibly the USA in December. Great opportunities, but like I said, gotta stay sharp. I'm really grateful that this is happening and definitely plan on making the most of it!
Finally, with all the great stuff that Australia has to offer, I want to be in top shape during the days as to be able to explore and see as much as possible. Spending days being hungover seems like such a waste with all this cool stuff waiting outside. This means living a relatively healthy lifestyle with less partying , more exercising, and more power foods (I’ll write a post about those soon).
To give you a concrete example of what the College Life 2.0 lifestyle might actually look like, I invite you to take at how my nights unfolded over the last week (the daytime was basically a mix of work, school, and gym).
I could try to describe the book’s concept, but Bill Gates (who probably knows a whole lot more about the subject) has already done that so I will simply quote him. From the backcover of the book: “C.K. Prahalad argues that companies must revolutionize how they do business in developing countries if both sides of that economic equation are to propser. Drawing on a wealth of case studies, his compelling new book offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability.” Another fascinating read, which built on a few concepts from Monday’s reading. Helped push my reflections to new heights.
All right so...So far, 2 big nights of reading... and it’s only the second week of the semester! What the hell? We’re definitely far from the days of taking the plastic cover off the textbooks after a month.
The session took place in a fancy winestore near the Uni, and the sampling was for 5 white wines from a French wineyard. The organizer gave us a little course on how each wine was produced, what region it was from, and the characteristics that we should denote. There were bottles of each wine available for purchase on the spot, with the price tag ranging from 50$ to 150$. It was a bit of an odd environment to be in at first... Full of high-society people 2 to 3 times my age, and I didn’t know anyone except for my boss and colleague. Not really knowing what to do with myself, I just sorta hung out while drinking wine from the $150 bottle. :)
I eventually spotted 2 guys my age and realized that one of them was Macca, one of my new buddies from class. He’s doing his Master of Marketing right now but he did his undegrad in Wine Making, so he knew tons about wine. It was awesome to talk about it with him and he helped me understand better why is exactly this glass of wine I wa holding was worth like 20$. He also knew the owner of the winestore so we got permission to go down and have a look at the wine cellar, which supposedly is one of the best in Perth. There must have been a thousand bottles down there and they were priced anywhere between 100$ and 2000$. It was really cool to see and I was extra careful not to get rowdy and break something!!
After the wine-tasting, my boss took us out to a very nice italian restaurant. We drank some of his newly purchased wine while eating Barrimundi, which is said to be one of the finest fishes in Australia. Grilled to perfection, it was a superb culinary experience.
All in all, a memorable night, full of class and high-society living! Pretty far from the College Life 1.0, right?
Things got pretty wild, pretty quickly. All of a sudden, I was on a party bus, dressed up like a 80’s rockstar, drinking copious amounts of goon, straight from the bag. Now you may ask, what is this goon you’re talking about? Well my friends, it’s an Aussie specialty... A 4L bag of white wine sold at every liquor store for around of 10$. And it’s surprisingly good! So here I was on this bus, people I had just met were handing me their goon bags, everybody rocking out to classic 80’s song, dressed in their ridiculous costumes. It was hilarious, super fun, and totally ridiculous at once. Hard to see how things could have been any more different at that point than they were only 24 hours earlier!
We ended up going to a club called Electric Blue and it was truly a fun night... There’s just something about costume parties that makes them legend... wait for it.. dary!!!
Overall, this was pretty much a vintage College Life night (minus the wrestling and the dumpster flipping) and it felt great to just let loose and have a good time without worrying about anything.
Afterwards, I went out for Japanese food with my buddy Thomas from UBC who’s here with his girlfriend Hayley. It’s awesome that they are here as I really like them, and we have great fun together, like when the 3 of us went to NYC for New Years a few years ago. After dinner we went back to my house, built a bonfire in the backyard, and sat around the fire sharing some old stories and a good laugh. Perfect way to close out a week and finish out a day which, admittedly, was hampered by a mild goon hangover!
As you can see, College Life 2.0 promises to be different from 1.0, but very special in its own way. At first, I called it 2.0 because it is the second iteration, but come to think of it, it might actually stand as an upgrade for CL1.0. What do you guys think?
I reckon it will be crucial that I apply some of these worklife balance principles if I am to maximize the Aussie Dream on all fronts, without spreading myself to thin and ending up doing poorly in everything.
As a start, I will leave you guys for now and get ready to hit the books once again! I hope you enjoyed this second post and please keep the good comments and feedback coming, I really appreciate it.
Until next time! Cheers!
Phil
What’s up? Wherever you may be, I really hope you’re enjoying summertime, and making the most of it! Believe it or not, it’s freaking 2 degrees outside here in Perth tonight! Since it has a huge window and no heating, my room is probably around 11 degrees. I’m in my sleeping bag AND wearing a hoodie as I’m writing this! I’m still trying to figure out how this all fits into the whole Australian Dream concept! :P
Fortunately, it’s warm during the day and things are good otherwise. I just finished up my second week of Uni, and it gave me a good taste of what a “typical” week will be like for the next year and a half of my life. It was fast-paced, a bit hectic times, and certainly not boring. While it has only been a couple weeks since school started, I’m already get a distinct feeling that my College Life at UWA is gonna be quite different from the original, much-praised, UBC College Life .
I don’t think I need to go into great lengths explaining what the College Life 1.0 was all about... You’ve heard the stories, you’ve seen the pictures (or better yet, you were there living it with me!)... Yes it was epic. Looking back, it feels like those were carefree days and it was all pretty simple. Go to a few classes, hit the gym for a bit, have a few beers with the Wolfpack, and see where the night takes us. Maybe some wolf-style hollering (“AWW AWWWWUUH” ) and if things got a bit wild, some wrestling at the church and perhaps even a lil’ dumpster flipping action on the way home! Hahah. Those were the days. If you want to know more about College Life 1.0., take a listen at Asher Roth’s instant-classic track I love College (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYx7YG0RsFY). Whilst what he sings about may not ALL be true, it definitely gives a great idea of what it was like!
Nope... as good as those days were, this time around it’s going to be a bit different. Both for the better, and for the worse.
How can I describe it... Well for one, this time I’m really trying to kick ass at school. I did well at UBC, but like my dad pointed out to me before I left, good is not always enough. It’s about being the best that you can be. So now I’m actually trying to do all the small things that make the difference between a good and kick-ass grade. I even try to look clean-cut when I go to school. No more going to class in my sweatpants with a 5 day beard. If I want to be top of my class, I figure I gotta look the part. Furthermore, beyond getting good grades, I actually am interested in learning all this stuff. The way I see it, the next year and a half of my life represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can gain the knowledge and the tools that will serve as the foundation to, hopefully, a successful career down the road. I think I’d have to be a fool not to do everything in my power to seize this opportunity to the fullest.
Secondly, not only am I trying to do well and be committed to school, but it is actually much more challenging this time around. I guess it’s not supposed to be easy to become a Master of Marketing right? The projects are larger in span and all the classes require me to do work every week, unlike undergrad where you could basically crack the textbook open a mere 2 days before the exam and still figure it all out with the help of one of these:
Thirdly, since I have a “real” job on the side, I need to be sharp for that. By the way, I should tell you that I have already had a promotion of sorts. My boss realized that by having me doing Administrative stuff, he wouldn't be fully using the ressources I can provide. As a result, I have now become the French Market Representative (I actually need to choose my title for my business cards... If you have suggestions please share them with me). Basically this means that I’m responsible to maintain and develop our customer base in the francophone markets of France, Switzerland, and eventually Québec. The best part is, I’m going to be travelling to Bordeaux, France, in October to attend a tradeshow there. And it seems like Im might also be going to Germany at the end of November, and possibly the USA in December. Great opportunities, but like I said, gotta stay sharp. I'm really grateful that this is happening and definitely plan on making the most of it!
Finally, with all the great stuff that Australia has to offer, I want to be in top shape during the days as to be able to explore and see as much as possible. Spending days being hungover seems like such a waste with all this cool stuff waiting outside. This means living a relatively healthy lifestyle with less partying , more exercising, and more power foods (I’ll write a post about those soon).
To give you a concrete example of what the College Life 2.0 lifestyle might actually look like, I invite you to take at how my nights unfolded over the last week (the daytime was basically a mix of work, school, and gym).
Monday night
Did "The Terminator" workout, and came home pretty destroyed. Ate some dinner, then settled down in my room for a solid reading session. No Facebook, no messing around, just 3 hours of good ol’ reading for my ethics class. Fortunately, the material was quite interesting. It discussed the responsibility that Business Schools have in teaching ethics to their students, as they are the business leaders of tomorrow. Historically, the schools’ curriculum had been built around the concept of maximizing shareholder value (maximizing share price and profits), no matter what it took. But with all that’s happened in the business world recently (Enron, Worldcom, Great Financial Crisis, etc), the B-Schools’ focus is on training responsible leaders who will look to maximize profits, while also taking into consideration the impact that their decisions will have on the environment, the community, and society as whole. Great stuff to read about and it was definitely good source of reflection over the rest of the week.Tuesday night
Went to my Buyer behaviour class from 5pm to 8pm (after a full day of work). Came home, made some dinner, and got settled for another solid reading session. This time, the reading was for my Marketing and Society class. Here's the book we're reading for this class:  |
| Definitely a more lively read than a textbook! |
I could try to describe the book’s concept, but Bill Gates (who probably knows a whole lot more about the subject) has already done that so I will simply quote him. From the backcover of the book: “C.K. Prahalad argues that companies must revolutionize how they do business in developing countries if both sides of that economic equation are to propser. Drawing on a wealth of case studies, his compelling new book offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability.” Another fascinating read, which built on a few concepts from Monday’s reading. Helped push my reflections to new heights.
All right so...So far, 2 big nights of reading... and it’s only the second week of the semester! What the hell? We’re definitely far from the days of taking the plastic cover off the textbooks after a month.
Wednesday night
After spending the day at school, I went to the office for a quick 2 hour work session. Afterwards, my boss, Wayne, took me and another new employee, Jordan, to a wine-tasting session nearby. I had never been to one before, so I didn’t really know what to expect... But I had a feeling it’d be cool. And it was.The session took place in a fancy winestore near the Uni, and the sampling was for 5 white wines from a French wineyard. The organizer gave us a little course on how each wine was produced, what region it was from, and the characteristics that we should denote. There were bottles of each wine available for purchase on the spot, with the price tag ranging from 50$ to 150$. It was a bit of an odd environment to be in at first... Full of high-society people 2 to 3 times my age, and I didn’t know anyone except for my boss and colleague. Not really knowing what to do with myself, I just sorta hung out while drinking wine from the $150 bottle. :)
I eventually spotted 2 guys my age and realized that one of them was Macca, one of my new buddies from class. He’s doing his Master of Marketing right now but he did his undegrad in Wine Making, so he knew tons about wine. It was awesome to talk about it with him and he helped me understand better why is exactly this glass of wine I wa holding was worth like 20$. He also knew the owner of the winestore so we got permission to go down and have a look at the wine cellar, which supposedly is one of the best in Perth. There must have been a thousand bottles down there and they were priced anywhere between 100$ and 2000$. It was really cool to see and I was extra careful not to get rowdy and break something!!
 |
| Not-Rowdy Phil enjoying some premium wine in the middle of a world-class wine cellar |
After the wine-tasting, my boss took us out to a very nice italian restaurant. We drank some of his newly purchased wine while eating Barrimundi, which is said to be one of the finest fishes in Australia. Grilled to perfection, it was a superb culinary experience.
All in all, a memorable night, full of class and high-society living! Pretty far from the College Life 1.0, right?
Thursday night
While its' good to evolve, some things about the original College Life were just so damn good that they just couldn’t be totally eradicated. That’s why that night, my Irish buddies Sam & Robbie and I got on a party bus leaving the UWA campus and heading over to special 80’s party at a "secret" location. Things got pretty wild, pretty quickly. All of a sudden, I was on a party bus, dressed up like a 80’s rockstar, drinking copious amounts of goon, straight from the bag. Now you may ask, what is this goon you’re talking about? Well my friends, it’s an Aussie specialty... A 4L bag of white wine sold at every liquor store for around of 10$. And it’s surprisingly good! So here I was on this bus, people I had just met were handing me their goon bags, everybody rocking out to classic 80’s song, dressed in their ridiculous costumes. It was hilarious, super fun, and totally ridiculous at once. Hard to see how things could have been any more different at that point than they were only 24 hours earlier!
We ended up going to a club called Electric Blue and it was truly a fun night... There’s just something about costume parties that makes them legend... wait for it.. dary!!!
 |
| Having a good time at the club with my new friend, Emily from Denmark ;) |
Overall, this was pretty much a vintage College Life night (minus the wrestling and the dumpster flipping) and it felt great to just let loose and have a good time without worrying about anything.
Friday night
Went to a special guest speaker at the Business School. Sue Johnson, the CEO of a large company here in Perth ,was there to discuss the importance of worklife balance, and the art of harmoniously integrating all the different spheres of our lives. It’s a topic of great importance to me so I was excited to hear what she had to say about. The points that stuck with me were: - You need to be plan well and have the discipline to follow the plan.
- You need to use the resources around you.
- You can’t expect to be perfect in all of your undertakings.
- If you’re well organised, there’s no reason to be stressed out.
Afterwards, I went out for Japanese food with my buddy Thomas from UBC who’s here with his girlfriend Hayley. It’s awesome that they are here as I really like them, and we have great fun together, like when the 3 of us went to NYC for New Years a few years ago. After dinner we went back to my house, built a bonfire in the backyard, and sat around the fire sharing some old stories and a good laugh. Perfect way to close out a week and finish out a day which, admittedly, was hampered by a mild goon hangover!
As you can see, College Life 2.0 promises to be different from 1.0, but very special in its own way. At first, I called it 2.0 because it is the second iteration, but come to think of it, it might actually stand as an upgrade for CL1.0. What do you guys think?
I reckon it will be crucial that I apply some of these worklife balance principles if I am to maximize the Aussie Dream on all fronts, without spreading myself to thin and ending up doing poorly in everything.
As a start, I will leave you guys for now and get ready to hit the books once again! I hope you enjoyed this second post and please keep the good comments and feedback coming, I really appreciate it.
Until next time! Cheers!
Phil
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Sometimes, all you need is faith... and a bit of luck!
Hey!
Hope you guys are doing amazing. Things over here are good, and today marks the end of my second week in Australia. I can finally say that things are starting to settle down. As you can surely imagine, it's been a tad hectic since my arrival here, and today is the first day I'm taking to just relax and "recharge my batteries".
Hence, I'm writing these lines from my laptop as I'm lounging around in the sun, drinking some delicious Japanese green tea, and grooving to beautiful trance melodies. Pure happiness. :)
Looking back on the last 2 weeks, I can't believe how well everything has fallen into place. From arriving in a hostel by the beach with no plan whatsoever as to where I was going to live, what job I would get to allow me to pay for rent and groceries... To hanging out in the massive backyard of my new house 5 minutes away from the Uni campus, relaxing from my first week school + work, I can't help but smile when I stop to think how far I've come already.
Many thought it was a bit crazy of me to take off for Australia with no real gameplan, but I wasn't stressing over it at all. I just had faith that everything was going to work out for the best once I got here. And so far, this experience once again confirms what I've realized a while ago. Wherever you go, if you keep an open mind, a smile on your face, and believe that things will work out, they will. As long as you do the little things to put luck on your side, then god, the universe, or whatever you want to call it, will do the rest.
To give you a good example of this, let me tell you the story of how I found my job here.
But first, I have to put you in context...
I had left for Australia with my personal finances in a bit of precarious state. Once I got here, I basically had to find a job within a month or else my bank account was going to show a big fat zero. And that was not at all the way I wanted to start this adventure. Therefore, there was a bit of pressure on that front, especially with the horrible way my job search in Montreal had turned out. However, I truly had this great feeling that as soon as I got here, a good opportunity would present itself. I don't know how, but I just sorta... knew it. Then it was going to be my responsibility to grab it, and run with it.
So last Sunday, after a week of getting my school stuff sorted and looking for a house, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and go for a nice swim in UWA's outdoor pool. My whole life I have dreamed of being able to swim in an outdoor pool all year long, and finally it was happening. Naturally, I was in an amazing mood, and even a little high on life. I swam for about an hour, and once I was done, it was so nice out that I decided to hang around the pool deck and enjoy the lovely combination of sun and endorphins.
After a few minutes of this, a gentleman, about 60-65 years old, came up and started talking to me. Now I gotta point out that this happens all the time, Aussies love to chat up strangers, and once they realize I'm Canadian they get really excited. He commented on how good my swimming was. I thanked him and we started chatting about this and that. When he asked me what I was in Australia for, I pointed to the Business School (which is right next to the swimming pool) and told him I was here to do a Master of Marketing. He found it really interesting and and said he himself was in business and he was the CEO of a x-ray imaging company. He said that they were looking to hire junior staff members and that he felt that with my Bachelor of Commerce and my Master studies, I had exactly the profile they were looking for. He gave me his business card and told me to give him a call sometime.
Now at that point, the little wheels in my head started spinning pretty quickly as I realized that this might just be the opportunity I needed. So instead of thanking him and saying I'd give him a call later, I figured I might as well try and get an informal job interview on the spot. I asked him more about his company, their products, etc, anything to get him talking and really involved in the conversation. After a while, he said, "Phil, you look like the type of guy I'd like to have as an employee". He then asked me if I had anywhere I needed to go right now or if I was free for the next half hour. I told him I had all my time, and he said I should come and have a look at their office, which is only about 1 km away from the pool and the Uni campus. I said lets do it, so we got in his car (a HSV Grange, a really cool Australian luxury car) and went for a spin.
Once we got there, I got a bit intrigued by the building. It was this huge tower right next to Matilda bay, but it looked much more like apartments than like an office building. We got in the elevator and Wayne (the gentleman's name) hit "21" (out of 22 floors). As soon as we got off the elevator, I saw that there was only one door on that floor. This was a penthouse! We got in, and I'll never forget what I saw. Quite simply, the most exquisite view I had ever seen from inside a building.
We sat down on one of the couches and I tried to stay focused on my "job interview" even though my mind was absolutely blown away by the view out the window. We chatted some more and eventually he said he'd like me to come work for him as an Administrative Assistant. 15 hours a week, flexible hours meaning I can basically come in whenever I want, with the pay being a very reasonable 21$/h.
Now you have to put yourself in my shoes for a second. 30 minutes ago, I was just relaxing in the sun by the pool, and now here I was in this unbelievable penthouse/office, getting offered a job by a man whom I had barely just met, and who happened to be the CEO of this company.Woah!
I tried to gather my thoughts and analyze whether this was the right move or not, and then I just thought, "What would Freestyle Phil do in this situation?".
An opportunity like this doesn't come around too often, so I shook the man's hand, accepted his offer, and he told me I was starting the next day at 8am. Boom! Just like that I was officially employed in Australia. And I was going to be able to pay for my rent and groceries next month! Woohoo!
I have since gone to work 3 times and it's great. Basically this company sells x-ray imaging systems to veterinarians that allows them to visualize x-rays on their computer a mere 30 seconds after they've taken them. http://www.imagemetrics.biz/ Quite a niche market, but also very little competition for this product in Australia. Wayne is even considering expansion in France, and he said it was the fact that I spoke French that initially grabbed his attention when we started chatting by the pool.
The other employees are all young and quite friendly and they seem pretty stoked that I can assist them with all of their administrative hassles. It's quite a chill work environment (I think the view has something to do with it) and I'm really enjoying the "small company" vibe. Quite a change from a massive company such as Labatt.
They didn't really have a desk for me just yet, so I took matters in my own hands and got organized myself.
Now before you scroll down, hold CTRL on your keyboard and click this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WVsnZDslk, and wait for the song to start.
All right now, check this out. I present to you my brand new desk/workstation:
And here's the pretty decent view I have when I look around :)
Not bad eh? I can tell you it makes filling up paperwork a wee bit more enjoyable!
There's also been talks with Wayne that I might work full-time for them during the 3 month break the end of the semester, doing business development work around Australia. Sounds like a great opportunity to travel around the country in a more glamorous fashion than backpacking, while also getting paid good money for it. I'll see how things pan out over the next few months and decide then. Let's just say I have a feeling that whatever I decide to do, things are going to work out well. :)
Here you have it folks, the integral story of how I scored a job in Australia.
Now, for all those of you who are contemplating going somewhere, be it for work, school, and other pursuits, and are hesitant about making the big move... I hope this goes to show that uncertainty, yes, is scary, but that it's also exciting and filled with possibilities. The safety of home will always be there, but the window of opportunity to go explore the world without having to worry about kids, a house and all this adult stuff, is getting a bit smaller everyday. So don't wait any longer. Dive in, and I assure you you won't regret it.
As Mark Twain said, "“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
On side note, school started last week and that's going well too. All in all, I really can't complain about the state of things right now. And this week I'm gonna go get my surfboard and get started on my other little project- become a legit surfer! I'll let you know how it goes!
Have a great week, cheers!
Phil
Hope you guys are doing amazing. Things over here are good, and today marks the end of my second week in Australia. I can finally say that things are starting to settle down. As you can surely imagine, it's been a tad hectic since my arrival here, and today is the first day I'm taking to just relax and "recharge my batteries".
Hence, I'm writing these lines from my laptop as I'm lounging around in the sun, drinking some delicious Japanese green tea, and grooving to beautiful trance melodies. Pure happiness. :)
Looking back on the last 2 weeks, I can't believe how well everything has fallen into place. From arriving in a hostel by the beach with no plan whatsoever as to where I was going to live, what job I would get to allow me to pay for rent and groceries... To hanging out in the massive backyard of my new house 5 minutes away from the Uni campus, relaxing from my first week school + work, I can't help but smile when I stop to think how far I've come already.
Many thought it was a bit crazy of me to take off for Australia with no real gameplan, but I wasn't stressing over it at all. I just had faith that everything was going to work out for the best once I got here. And so far, this experience once again confirms what I've realized a while ago. Wherever you go, if you keep an open mind, a smile on your face, and believe that things will work out, they will. As long as you do the little things to put luck on your side, then god, the universe, or whatever you want to call it, will do the rest.
To give you a good example of this, let me tell you the story of how I found my job here.
But first, I have to put you in context...
I had left for Australia with my personal finances in a bit of precarious state. Once I got here, I basically had to find a job within a month or else my bank account was going to show a big fat zero. And that was not at all the way I wanted to start this adventure. Therefore, there was a bit of pressure on that front, especially with the horrible way my job search in Montreal had turned out. However, I truly had this great feeling that as soon as I got here, a good opportunity would present itself. I don't know how, but I just sorta... knew it. Then it was going to be my responsibility to grab it, and run with it.
So last Sunday, after a week of getting my school stuff sorted and looking for a house, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and go for a nice swim in UWA's outdoor pool. My whole life I have dreamed of being able to swim in an outdoor pool all year long, and finally it was happening. Naturally, I was in an amazing mood, and even a little high on life. I swam for about an hour, and once I was done, it was so nice out that I decided to hang around the pool deck and enjoy the lovely combination of sun and endorphins.
After a few minutes of this, a gentleman, about 60-65 years old, came up and started talking to me. Now I gotta point out that this happens all the time, Aussies love to chat up strangers, and once they realize I'm Canadian they get really excited. He commented on how good my swimming was. I thanked him and we started chatting about this and that. When he asked me what I was in Australia for, I pointed to the Business School (which is right next to the swimming pool) and told him I was here to do a Master of Marketing. He found it really interesting and and said he himself was in business and he was the CEO of a x-ray imaging company. He said that they were looking to hire junior staff members and that he felt that with my Bachelor of Commerce and my Master studies, I had exactly the profile they were looking for. He gave me his business card and told me to give him a call sometime.
Now at that point, the little wheels in my head started spinning pretty quickly as I realized that this might just be the opportunity I needed. So instead of thanking him and saying I'd give him a call later, I figured I might as well try and get an informal job interview on the spot. I asked him more about his company, their products, etc, anything to get him talking and really involved in the conversation. After a while, he said, "Phil, you look like the type of guy I'd like to have as an employee". He then asked me if I had anywhere I needed to go right now or if I was free for the next half hour. I told him I had all my time, and he said I should come and have a look at their office, which is only about 1 km away from the pool and the Uni campus. I said lets do it, so we got in his car (a HSV Grange, a really cool Australian luxury car) and went for a spin.
 |
| This beast of a car packs a 7.2L engine producing a whopping 500HP |
Once we got there, I got a bit intrigued by the building. It was this huge tower right next to Matilda bay, but it looked much more like apartments than like an office building. We got in the elevator and Wayne (the gentleman's name) hit "21" (out of 22 floors). As soon as we got off the elevator, I saw that there was only one door on that floor. This was a penthouse! We got in, and I'll never forget what I saw. Quite simply, the most exquisite view I had ever seen from inside a building.
 |
| "The Office" |
 |
We sat down on one of the couches and I tried to stay focused on my "job interview" even though my mind was absolutely blown away by the view out the window. We chatted some more and eventually he said he'd like me to come work for him as an Administrative Assistant. 15 hours a week, flexible hours meaning I can basically come in whenever I want, with the pay being a very reasonable 21$/h.
Now you have to put yourself in my shoes for a second. 30 minutes ago, I was just relaxing in the sun by the pool, and now here I was in this unbelievable penthouse/office, getting offered a job by a man whom I had barely just met, and who happened to be the CEO of this company.Woah!
I tried to gather my thoughts and analyze whether this was the right move or not, and then I just thought, "What would Freestyle Phil do in this situation?".
An opportunity like this doesn't come around too often, so I shook the man's hand, accepted his offer, and he told me I was starting the next day at 8am. Boom! Just like that I was officially employed in Australia. And I was going to be able to pay for my rent and groceries next month! Woohoo!
I have since gone to work 3 times and it's great. Basically this company sells x-ray imaging systems to veterinarians that allows them to visualize x-rays on their computer a mere 30 seconds after they've taken them. http://www.imagemetrics.biz/ Quite a niche market, but also very little competition for this product in Australia. Wayne is even considering expansion in France, and he said it was the fact that I spoke French that initially grabbed his attention when we started chatting by the pool.
The other employees are all young and quite friendly and they seem pretty stoked that I can assist them with all of their administrative hassles. It's quite a chill work environment (I think the view has something to do with it) and I'm really enjoying the "small company" vibe. Quite a change from a massive company such as Labatt.
They didn't really have a desk for me just yet, so I took matters in my own hands and got organized myself.
Now before you scroll down, hold CTRL on your keyboard and click this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WVsnZDslk, and wait for the song to start.
All right now, check this out. I present to you my brand new desk/workstation:
And here's the pretty decent view I have when I look around :)
 | ||
| Looking to the left |
 |
| Looking straight |
 | ||
| Looking right. See the buildings with the red roofs in the distance on right? That's the UWA campus. |
Not bad eh? I can tell you it makes filling up paperwork a wee bit more enjoyable!
There's also been talks with Wayne that I might work full-time for them during the 3 month break the end of the semester, doing business development work around Australia. Sounds like a great opportunity to travel around the country in a more glamorous fashion than backpacking, while also getting paid good money for it. I'll see how things pan out over the next few months and decide then. Let's just say I have a feeling that whatever I decide to do, things are going to work out well. :)
Here you have it folks, the integral story of how I scored a job in Australia.
Now, for all those of you who are contemplating going somewhere, be it for work, school, and other pursuits, and are hesitant about making the big move... I hope this goes to show that uncertainty, yes, is scary, but that it's also exciting and filled with possibilities. The safety of home will always be there, but the window of opportunity to go explore the world without having to worry about kids, a house and all this adult stuff, is getting a bit smaller everyday. So don't wait any longer. Dive in, and I assure you you won't regret it.
As Mark Twain said, "“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
On side note, school started last week and that's going well too. All in all, I really can't complain about the state of things right now. And this week I'm gonna go get my surfboard and get started on my other little project- become a legit surfer! I'll let you know how it goes!
Have a great week, cheers!
Phil
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