Week 9: Mike vs. Turning 21

Wow! I’m amazed you made it this far. You’ve already read through, like, 19 pages (single spaced) of words. To be completely transparent, this entry is actually written some 10 months after the events below. Weeks 1-8 were written in real time, but with all of the ridiculously cool stuff I was doing each week, I found myself getting rather behind on this blog. I took pretty detailed notes each week, but some of the smaller things that happened each week may not be completely recalled. So just as a small disclaimer, weeks 9-12 are being written in August of 2016. I will reference my notes, talk to the goons (we still hang out all the time, post-aussie), and remember as best as I can! (Weeks 13 & 14 were written in real time, I couldn’t wait to write those ones.) Anyways, back to the Australian shenanigans.

            After our incredibly eventful trip to the Great Barrier Reef, it was time for the dawning of a new age, the day that has been the most anticipated event in the past billion years… me turning 21. As awesome as it was to turn 21 down under, it doesn’t quite have the same ring as 21 in the states (remember the drinking age in Aussie is 18). Either way, I wasn’t going to let this momentous milestone slide. My actual birthday was Saturday but my family was coming to visit on that day, so we pushed the festivities up to Friday. I called a few of the local clubs to get a guest list and try to finagle some sweet deals. I actually managed to score a $50 drink card at shooters, so they earned the coveted honor of hosting the party of the century. Most of the night was a bit of a blur and I won’t go into too much detail, but it was a phenomenal time. We grabbed some McDonald’s at circa 3am, and by that point it was just me, Liam, and Jeremy (our future-doctor/Australian friend). We played on the playground of the esplanade for I guess like, 2 hours, because before we knew it, the sun was rising! I then decided to go for a sunrise swim in the absurdly warm ocean. Now soaking wet, still in the clothes I wore to the club, we finally caught the bus back to campus. It was at this point where I realized my darling parents and brother would be arriving in just a few short hours. Great. I conked out for a couple of hours, woke up, showered the saltiness of the ocean off, and then dragged myself to the parking lot where my family was gleefully waiting.

            Despite my lack of sleep and soul-crushing hangover, I was excited as hell to see them. Mom and Dad had just spent a week in Fiji and my brother spent the week scuba diving some crazy World War II sites in the Pacific, so we all tried blurting out our stories at once.

            The place my parents got was sweet. I call it a place, because it wasn’t really a hotel, or an apartment, or a flat, but a mix of all three. It was in Broadbeach, right by the water and this place was siiiiiick. We hung around all day then celebrated my actual birthday in a more subdued manner than the night before, which I was perfectly okay with. Now with the fam present and accounted for, it was for some good ol’ Tassinari bonding!