G'day Mate

At 7:30am this morning I touched down in Sydney. Bless. Truth be told the journey around the world was worth it as soon as I got to the customs desk and the young man held out his hand for my passport and said, "G'day."

I looked back at him, smiled, and said, "G'day Mate."

He didn't look up from my passport and replied, "You're not from around here are you?"

I couldn't believe he figured it out. I mean I thought it came across quite naturally. Clearly my US passport was the giveaway.

So the good news is, I'm in OZ, the bad news is, it's raining. It NEVER rains here. No beach for me as I gaze out my window at Bondi Beach right across the street. No worries though, as they say here, I just took advantage of the rain with a much needed workout and a visit to the spa where the lovely Thai lady got rid of 35 hours of cramped seating, 3 months of stressful work, and put me in a hot tub with a view of the beach. I feel much better.

And here's my other keen observation so far. Australian accents are all it takes to be hot. I have run in to various hotel employees that I'm quite certain I would not find remotely attractive in my home country, but as soon as they open their mouths and G'day me--the gigs up. Talk about your rugged hotness, I'll put some shrimp on the barbie for these fellas and I don't even like seafood. So to speak.

I plan to master an Australian accent before I return so that I can completely dominate the male population going forward. Forget "The Rules" "He's just not that in to you" and "The Secret." I've got yer best-seller dating secret. Learn how to say G'day, no worries and n'oi and you're in like flynn.

Cheerio. Time to crash - jet lag isn't horrible, but it's 7pm and I'm tired. G'night.