Whether the Weather...

Snow.

I had seen very little of it. Nowadays, I still haven't seen a super tonne-load (like they're getting in Philly/Baltimore/DC), but i've seen enough to make me giggle and then go all silent, tilt my head and open my mouth a wee bit.

The pretty kind.

And, as a side point, i've discovered that when it snows, it's often not even that cold. Two points here: since I arrived in the USA on January 14th, i have quickly adjusted to what is truly cold. At first i felt cold when it was something like 40 degrees farenheit. Now i've discovered that those people wearing t-shirts during that weather weren't completely, ludicrously crazy, but maybe just a touch silly. The second point is that, other than relativity, it's the cussing wind that is the eerk of all living creatures. It is the wind that makes my ears want to divorce my body but only after stabbing me multiple times in rapid succession in the side of the head. That one night - walking back to my car from the bar in Harvard Square, Boston - ugh - it was a deathly cold walk of fear at wind's evil doing. The guy wearing shorts and a t-shirt that night was completely, ludicrously crazy...and then some.

It's about time i told you what i'm doing in the USA.

Wells...i'm keeping busy, that's for sure.

Basically, my volunteering for Travel for Teens involves me driving around the country (currently in my little Toyota Yaris hatchback rental), going to super lovely prep type schools; camp fairs; and house visits in super lovely areas, and promoting our company's spring break and summer trips.
It's been fun!

First of all i studied up on the trips - the Travel for Teens office in Philly is a hot-bed for people Skype messaging each other when they are actually only 4 decent-efforted leaps apart. Since it's also not at all top secret but also not that much interesting, mum's the word for the rest of the goings ons (pssst...i will tell you - just between you and me - that there's also a dog in the office named Se7en who could possibly be super evil but by all appearances is friendly, placid and never barks).

Next i did some further on-the-road training with Fritz. Fritz has one foot in a post-surgery mega boot. He couldn't drive, and sometimes when he walks he sounds like a pirate, so i, after having never driven for a sustained period of time in the USA before, took the wheel and drove to NYC. All hell broke lose when it was discovered that Fritz was into hip-hop and so was his entire CD collection that he brought. Needless to say, i'm writing this blog now, so all's well that ends well.

I learnt the company craft from Fritz, then we crashed on the upper west side, with a pitcher or two of the finest cheapest beer we could find, in between.

NYC is gorgeous in the winter. We walked the city, caught the subway around, did some research, and found a coffee shop to crash out at and do all our laptop and phone business type things that are essential and boring and made tolerable and faster by lattes.

Before too long, Fritz is gone, I'm visiting schools in Massachusetts, I'm making friends with couchsurfers, I'm doing house visits in areas where celebrities such as Bill Clinton live, I'm catching up with old buddies in New Jersey (great times), I'm flying from Philly to Miami and visiting schools down there, I'm catching up with my roller-coaster buddy in Fort Lauderdale, I'm talking to the guy I'm sitting next to eating my dinner with at a sports bar (and we're having another great time), I'm watching silky smooth Dwayne Wade get schooled at basketball by my countryman, Andrew Bogut, I'm flying back to Philly just in time to drive like the evil wind to Boston and escape the heaviest snowstorm in Philly in forever and ever (the accuracy of this statement can be attributed to Fox News), and after schools and fairs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, I'm now in New Hampshire, writing this.

I talked about Ned and Kate's parents in the last blog...

Seems like I'm doing a US tour named: 'Travel for Teens staff - meet their parents'...with me last night getting a home cooked meal that was delightfully delicious from Nic Emery's parents. Fantastic stuff, there. I could write a blog, indeed two blogs, about Jerry's intrepid edge-of-your-seat stories and Juliette's split pea soup. Divine. Had i ever met these people before? No. I was just scared of snow, they lived close to the school that I was going to the next morning, so Nic hooked me up. Best couch-surfing-gone-sleeping-on-Nic-Emery's-bed-surfing ever.

Watch out Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA. I'm heading in your direction....

...and this time: i have a beanie.