Summer/Winter Travel Plans

12/17/13
It's December, and that means summer. I haven't yet titled this blog post yet, but it will need a title. I'd rather not post "hey mid december!" as my title, but if push comes to shove, that's probably what will happen.

Let's just (and by "let's" I mean, I'm gonna write, and you're gonna read) talk about what I've been up to:
I've been unemployed here for over two months now. Amazingly, I'm not destitute. I'm not rich, that's for damn sure, but I'll survive on what I've got until I have to leave. I've been casually looking for employment, but at this point it's too late. In fact, I'm about two months too late. What I really should have done was start looking for a new job immediately after quitting Foxtel, but I didn't, and now I'm relatively stuck. Frankly though, I'm content with my decision. A little bit of extra cash would have been nice, but I'll get by with what I've currently got, plus my Australian tax rebate, and credit card. I get a distinct impression that what will likely happen is that I'm going to be coming home with a smidge of debt. But with a little luck I'll be able to knock that out swiftly.
What's left for me is what I want to do with my remaining time here. The month is booked pretty solidly, comedically. January specifically. My thought was that I'll leave Melbourne immediately following my last day on my lease, but I have a few gigs afterward, and furthermore Australia Day is on January 26th (it's like Australia's 4th of July), about a week after. While I could obviously celebrate it anywhere in Australia, and my plan was to be in Sydney, but it's really more of a bbq/hang out with friends holiday. I'd really rather be with friends rather than strangers on a day like that. So if that's how my plan goes, I leave Melbourne on the 27th, go to Sydney for a week or so, hit up Queensland for about a week as well, see Uluru (the giant rock I'm obliged to see), and then leave the country. Pushing my departure from Melbourne by a week really cuts into my tourist time, but so be it. Actually, maybe I can go to Uluru and back between when I leave Melbourne and Australia day...  Clearly I have to look into my further plans.

The only thing I know for sure is that I have to leave the country on February 21st. The plan had been to go to SE Asia for a while, then New Zealand, then home, but in part due to my financial situation, and partially because I'd really have to get back earlier, I'm thinking about skipping Asia. I know it's maybe not the right decision, because how long until I come back to this part of the world. I think what I really need to look into is what I can do and how long and how much it costs. I still really want to go skydiving in New Zealand, and want to spend at least a week or two there. I've started to wonder why I want to go to Asia at all. In part, it was because it's so cheap there, and it's a great place to lounge. Drinks are cheap, food is cheap, travel is cheap. But how much do I care about that? It's just another place to spend my remaining money. I honestly think what I've done here is as good or better than that would have been. I find myself having a really great experience going out constantly here. I have friends here. Any night of the week something is going on, and I know I'm welcome. It took some time before it happened, but I really feel home here now. I'm beginning to dread going home. I've also started seeing someone, and it's been nice having companionship. I'd forgotten how much I like simple things like holding hands walking down the street. Sleeping around is alright, but I miss somebody to actually care about. I'm not sure exactly what happens next, since I obviously have to leave here, but for now I'm in a good place. There's obviously plans that I could make, or at least think about, but part of me really doesn't want to. I'd rather let things go how they're going to.

What I think I need to do now is talk to somebody with a bit of information about travelling. I also think I just need to let myself max out my credit card and worry about the consequences later. Sorry Future Dan, but things might suck for you.

Prologue Part 5: San Francisco Tourist Destinations

Saturday 2/10/13

I want to start off by talking about a few things I missed last post: there are a lot of funny road signs (including "speed hump", "trucks not advised", etc); wild parrots in addition to pigeons. SF reminds me of a like a really nice shanty-town. Not like the quality of the buildings (because they're super nice), but like how everything is arranged. It's odd, and very hilly/mountainy.

I've been in San Francisco for about 5 days now. I like it, but I'm not sure how much I'd like living here. It seems like there's always something going on. I'm sure it's more relaxing once you live here.

I figure I'll go  sequentially through the past few days:
On Thursday I went to an open mic. The place was called "Brainwash", and it was a bar/restaurant/laundromat. Quite the different experience. I got to the place about an hour before the sign-up started and there was already a decent sized line, which was the approximate order for the show. Also, women went to the front of the line to get more women in the show, and kept bumping bigger name people in front too. The long story of it is that I waited about 5ish hours to get 3 minutes of stage time. Hooray...
Will and his friend Julie (I think? I've met a lot of people) came out to see the show, and we ended up getting drinks at a nearby bar. They were both quite amused that I called it a cowboy bar since nobody there was a cowboy (but still, it was a fucking cowboy bar). I had a weird, but humorous situation there: after telling me that she wanted to spend the rest of her 25th birthday night with me, the stripper daughter of the President of the American Bar Association (who, btw, also told me that despite her lack of a law degree, she is a really great lawyer) told me I'm what's wrong with "fat America" because I didn't agree that Family Guy should be taken off the air for their offensive Downs Syndrome jokes. Ah, cowboy bars.

I spent Friday in the suburbs near Will's work. I saw Palo Alto. It was a nice little town. Will's actual school was in a different town nearby. It felt a lot like Prior Lake; sort of rural-ish with tons of new buildings going up. I finally saw the German bakery Will adores. I got coffee and pretzel early during the day, then after will was done with work we had some beers and a pretzel there. And later, they just gave me a free pretzel. If you'd have asked me how many pretzels I was gonna eat on this trip, I bet I would have said one maybe, during the entire year.
We went to to Cobb's Comedy Club that night. I really wanted to see the Coco show during Sketchfest. The show was alright, but jesus fucking christ was it pricey. $25 per ticket plus a two drink minimum? Good christ, I was completely blown away. Rory Scovel was great though, as expected. We then went to a Taqueria. Pretty good tacos, but most surprising was the fact that I saw a friend from Minneapolis. That was a nice, unexpected surprise.

I spent the day yesterday doing all the touristy stuff. Will and I went to Fisherman's Wharf, and then crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was nice, but again, a bit touristy.

This post is already too long, so I'm gonna stop writing...

Tl;dr version: SF has been pretty fun.

Prologue Part 4: San Francisco

It's Thursday (2/7/13) morning. It's my second full day in San Francisco. I like it. It's a bit of an expensive city, and I really wish I would have thought about that... Additionally, I didn't expect so many places to cash only. I know that it helps keep costs down to reject credit, so I definitely appreciate that. Furthermore, since SF is a Wells Fargo city, there are ample opportunities for me to get cash. Thanks for reading through the boring parts of this post to get to here; it probably won't get less boring continuing on.

I've seen a few touristy things so far, and am getting a feel for the city. I have yet to take the Golden Gate Bridge, but I went up Coit Tower with my brother Will (he's my actual brother; I am not staying in monastery) which has a great view of the city, including sites like the Bridge and Alcatraz.

I tried to go to an open mic last night. We checked out a bar that had one where I got advice from a somewhat crazy lady gave who claimed to be a comic. It was far from where we were going though. The one we ended up checking out seemed good because it was nearby and apparently a pretty great bar. Guess what: it had burned down. The outside still smelled of burnt plastic... I plan on going to one tonight though. Beyond that, I would like to see Valley Meadows on Friday and one of the shows with Rory Scovel.

The picture is SF skyline from Coit Tower. The other picture is of a flyer I saw for an open mic that looked suspiciously like the logo for Stand Up! Records. Of additional note is that my tablet doesn't recognize the word "Prologue". What an idiot.

Prologue Part 3: Planes

I'm at the airport. I ended up bringing two suitcases. Turns out it was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be to bring everything I need.

I'm bored, so I figured I'd write something. Furthermore this it's the last time I'll be in Minnesota for more than a year. I'm past being terrified though. That was earlier today. I'm sure I'll miss it here, but for now it's the calm before the battle and I feel empty.

I just found out if my name is abbreviated just right, my middle name is Jose.

Most interesting thing that happened today: a guy with an eye-patch and a red bandana was on my plane ride from Minneapolis to Phoenix. I didn't see him plunder anything, but I'm still not 100% certain he's not a pirate. I tried to stealthily take his picture, but was unsuccessful. If you're upset I didn't brazenly take his picture, I was concerned he might make me walk the plank (do planes have planks?). Make due with the picture of what I wrote on the barf-bag.

Addendum: I've found out that my tablet isn't the best at posting my blog posts if wifi is any kind of spotty. I think I'll start dating and/or timestamping my posts from now on.

Prologue: Part II

I leave on Tuesday. I don't quite know how to react. I'm very excited, but also very scared shitless. Am I going to be able to find a job down there? Will I be able to integrate myself and my comedy into Australia? How will missing the launch of Taco Bell's Cool Ranch Dorrito's Loco Taco affect my psyche? These are some very real concerns of mine.

Still in the process of packing. In a way, I'm more concerned about California than I am about Australia. I'm not sure I can get a decent feel for SF and LA in just two weeks, but it's almost too long for just a vacation. Anyways, for now I'm gonna watch the Superbowl. Man, I really hope the Whocares from Wherever beat the Idontgiveashits! Yay sport!

I'll update again when I have something novel happen.

- Dan

Still just Ju-wallowing in Eden Prairie...

It's a month before I leave for Australia, so I figured I should learn how to blog.

For those who don't know, I'm Dan Juola, and I'm moving to Australia. I will be chronicling the experience here. The name of this blog is a play on a common mispronunciation of my last name. It's pronounced like "jew-oh-luh", but I so commonly get the pronunciation "jew-ah-luh" that I don't even correct people anymore. Furthermore, it's Finnish, a language that I don't even speak, so who cares. Point is, when said quickly, it sounds kinda like "jew-walla", hence ju-wallowing. (hooray for explanations!)

Right now is a stressful time. The ticket from Las Angeles (did I spell that right? it doesn't look right...) to Melbourne is booked for February 20th. I still haven't looked into where I can live temporarily once I land, and I'm deciding what I can and cannot bring with me. Lots to do.

The picture is of me at a donut shop right after I got some free donuts. They have delicious donuts and coffee with free refills.

Lastly, I ate a McRib today. I'd never had one before and I figured I should do something exceedingly American before I leave.