Congratulations to two sets of couples: Steve Goodfriend and Gillian Parrot, as well as Xander Meise and Ben Bay. Their weddings are this weekend. Sorry to be missing out on the celebrations but know that I am sending big hugs to all of you from kiwi-land. Have fun!
New Zealand is a beautiful country indeed. If you are interested in seeing more pictures of the South Island, click on the album below. As usual, they are best viewed in the slideshow mode.
 |
| New Zealand Nature Pictures II |
The southern coast of the South Island is full of sea-lions and seals(and sheep). It is amazing, and not a little strange, to have beaches and whole coastlines alone with these animals. I have posted a video (apologies for the quality) and a picture album of the critters. Enjoy.
 |
| Sea Lions and Seals |
So as you know, I decided to rent a very small car for a two-week roadtrip on New Zealand's South Island. The car has become a perfect storm...of sorts. The factors:
1) I have been sleeping in the car most nights.
2) I have been living off a steady diet of canned beans and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
3) I have taken one shower in the past week.
4) The weather is too cold to roll down the windows.
5) I am carrying around a pair of tennis shoes whose biological properties could wipe out an entire army. (They would have gotten Saddam into trouble with the UN, had he possessed a pair.)
It got so bad that I seriously became worried that the car rental company was going to assess a cleaning charge/penalty when I returned the car. The solution: Glade air freshener, the kind you use to scent a big room in your house. The only problem now is that I feel like I am drowning in a potpourri bowl. I guess reaking of "Garden Bliss" is better than the alternative...
Today was a good day. This morning, I signed up for a "Swim with the Dolphins" excursion off the east coast of New Zealand. The good news was that I saw dolphins, lots of dolphins. The other piece of good news is that I didn't swim with the dolphins. That may seem counter-intuitive...until I tell you that we were given TWO wetsuits (plus hood, booties, and gloves) to wear because the water was so cold. Remember that it is the dead of winter here. We couldn't get the dolphins to circle behind the boat, which is needed in order to swim with them. Instead, a pod of about 60 dusky dolphins sped alongside our boat for a few hours, jumping and playing, and I avoided frostbite. For a few more pictures of the dolphins, click on the album below (as usual, the pictures are best viewed as a slideshow):
 |
| Dolphins |
New Zealand is strange. They barely have laws; there are virtually no people here. They have no police; there is no violence. They have no traffic; there are no cars. Then how in the hell do I manage to get a #$@!!*$#@ parking ticket??? Incredible.
I hate to add this clip to an otherwise good blog, but this is the stereotype that EVERYBODY I've met, over the last 5 months, has about Americans...
Click on the album below to see some pictures of New Zealand's South Island. I decided to rent a car and am now in the midst of a two-week roadtrip around the island. Good times. Very good times.
 |
| New Zealand Nature Pictures |
Click on the album below to see pictures of the craziest thing I've ever done. I recommend everybody try skydiving at least once, but its not something I look to do again in the immediate future. There were several stages of fear associated with the experience:
1) I tell a woman at a travel agency that I am interested in skydiving. She says a group leaves in 15 minutes. I say yes. My legs immediately start twitching.
2) 15 minutes later I am standing in the skydiving office. I turn into a Chatty Cathy, saying anything to anybody who will listen.
3) We drive to the airstrip. I see how small the plane is. I have to pat my stomach to make sure it is still there.
4) The instructor, Sasha, tells us to suit up. Suddenly I can't walk very well.
5) Sasha shows us how we should position ourselves as we jump out of the plane. I think I am going to be sick.
6) Walking to the plane, Sasha asks what I do for a living. When I tell him that I am going to be a lawyer, he jokes that he may have to loosen my harness a bit. I am not in the mood for lawyer jokes.
7) The plane takes off the ground and climbs fast, very fast. I find myself wishing I was anywhere but here. 
8) We pull even with the mountaintops. I think this isn't so high. My instructor says we are at 3,000 feet. I hold on to the inside of the plane with a pit bull-like grip that would make Michael Vick proud.
9) Why the hell do we keep climbing? Are they trying to kill me? Its cold in here. These are the last thoughts in my head before my brain completely shuts down.
10) We hit 10,000 feet. I am within a hair's breadth of hyperventilating. I literally have to force myself to breathe.
11) Sasha straps into my harness. I tell him, "please don't let me die." He lets out one of those Dr. Claw-type laughs...you know, the ones from Inspector Gadget. I don't think he realizes that I am being serious.
12) The plane door opens. Sasha and I are the ones closest to the door, meaning we go first. Sasha tells me to stick my legs out the door. Because my brain has shut down, I will do anything Sasha tells me to, even if it means dangling my legs out of a 12,000 foot high airplane.
13) Sasha starts rocking me back and forth out of the door. If there was anything in my bowels at this moment, Sasha would be neither happy nor clean. I close my eyes and tell myself this is not happening. 
14) We are off! I open my eyes. The wind is coming up at us so fast that it is an effort to breathe. Not sure if I have slobber all over my goggles and forehead. I scream my only four-letter word of the skydive.
15) We are in free fall for 45 seconds. This is both the longest and shortest 45 seconds of my entire life. I think my stomach is still at 12,000 feet.
16) We reach 5,000 feet and Sasha pulls the chute. Thank God it opens. Arms, check. Legs, check. Family jewels, check. Wow, I am still alive.
17) We reach the ground. I kiss it.
18) Several hours later I get feeling back in my legs. I stop shaking. It dawns on me that I plummeted 12,000 feet earlier in the day. My adrenaline surge fades away and I am exhausted. I blog about how stooopid I am.
 |
| Skydiving Pictures! |
While I may not be stooopid enough to go bungee jumping, I was stooopid enough to go skydiving today! HOLY @@#$!$(!(!$()@!&^! That was the craziest thing I've ever done. Throwing yourself out of a plane 12,000 feet above a lake is not normal. Our top speed during freefall was 125 miles per hour. My body is still shaking several hours after jumping and I think I still have slobber all over my forehead...
While I don't get the official photos and DVD until later tonight, I thought I would post a few of my homemade clips now to give you some sense of my mood before and after the jump. Click on the images below to play the videos. Enjoy.
Just had a few random thoughts that I wanted to share with you.
Two more reasons why I love America: One of Australia's national symbols is the boomerang. New Zealand doesn't have much going for it besides its unparalleled beauty and its rugby team. In the last two weeks I learned that 1) Americans win the international boomerang competition in Australia every year, and 2)Rugby has been an Olympic sport exactly four times. The U.S. team won two out of those four times. (And we don't even care about rugby!) Listen up Brazil, Argentina, and Germany--it is only a matter of time before we win the soccer World Cup. And for some reason Americans have a reputation for being arrogant....
Southern Hemisphere's weather. It is beyond bizarre to see snow in the middle of August. It goes against everything that I've known for the last 27 years.
The Final Countdown. As my 6-month vacation wraps up, I can't get that damn Europe song out of my head. "Dadaa-da, dada-daaaaa....its the final countdown."
Borat. If you thought Borat was big in the States, he was an even bigger hit internationally, especially among the backpacker community. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a Czech guy say in his best Khazak accent, "Very Nice!"....
Moby Dick. I am still chasing the conclusion of Moby Dick. I have been reading it for five months and I still haven't gotten to the chase scene. There is no way that I am coming back home without finishing this book.
If you want to see more pictures of Kiwi-land, click on the album below:
 |
| Auckland and Queenstown |
My friend just sent me this picture, which he took on our hike to Everest Base Camp. It reminds me just how beautiful the Himalayas are. (Its a little hard to tell, but I think I am looking up at Amadamblam.) 
Here is another shot of the new baby (my dad and nephew pictured). I hope you aren't getting tired of seeing these pictures, because there might be one or two more coming your way in the near future.
Sorry for the cheesy video, but its my first attempt at posting something from my camera. Click on the image below to play the video:
I've arrived safely in Auckland, New Zealand. Tomorrow I fly down to Queenstown, on NZ's South Island. I've decided to forgo the North Island because I only have three weeks in the country and the South Island supposedly has more dramatic scenery and extreme activities. Looking forward to doing a little snowboarding in August. Ciao for now.
I am still flying high, more than a week after becoming an uncle. Good times. (Aaron and Theo pictured above.)
I don't know if I am running out of creative juice or its just that the First World isn't very funny. Either way, I don't have anything amusing to report. I left Australia today and am now in New Zealand. Australia was beautiful, felt like America, and provided me with many fond memories. I have to go back to Oz, if only to see koalas, kangaroos, Paul Hogan (google him if you don't know who he is) and a rugby match. I have added a few pictures from my final stop in Australia. Take a look while I go mull over the idea of starting a desk job four weeks from today...
 |
| Fraser Island, Australia |
My God, I've just seen one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Its called the Whitsundays island chain, part of the southern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. I was on a racing sailboat for three days with a 23 Germans, Irish, Scottish, British, and Australians. You know what happens when these people get together? Let's just say that the skipper and I were the only sober people in the entire bunch. There is a reason people from these countries are stereotyped as having drinking problems. Jesus. My travel companions couldn't detract from amazing sailing, turquoise water, cotton puff clouds, whales, dolphins, turtles, and the most beautiful beach on earth--Whitehaven Beach (pictured above). I've included some pictures to make you guys jealous; don't hate me.
 |
| The Whitsunday |
If this isn't precious, I don't know what is. Congratulations again Aaron and Lucie. Theo is beautiful.
Roth nose?
Click on the album below to see a few of the Great Barrier Reef pictures. I probably won't have a chance to develop the underwater pictures (the ones without the whale shark) until I get back to the States. Enjoy.
 |
| Great Barrier Reef |
I am really enjoying being in this country called Oz. It is beautiful, huge, and has almost no people . (Oz is slightly smaller than the United States but only has half the population of California.) I have no funny stories to report; I just wanted to give you a sense of where I am. I started with five days in Sydney (SE Oz) and then flew up to Cairns (NE Oz), where I spent two days diving on the Great Barrier Reef. 
An eleven-hour bus ride later, I find myself in Airlie Beach, about to get on a racing sailboat to explore The Whitsundays islands (see picture on the left). I will eventually work my way down to Brisbane by next Monday, when I fly to New Zealand.
I might just be the happiest man on Earth today. It started off with sunrise on a boat anchored next to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), 3 hours off the Australian coast. I saw, swam with, and touched a whale shark, the biggest fish in the sea. (My dive instructor had done over 4,500 dives on the GBR and this is the first whale shark he had ever seen.) It is exhilirating to accomplish a life-long goal...diving on the GBR.
After coming ashore tonight, I discovered Erika, my cousin, and Jim got engaged. Congratulations to both of you. Jim, I welcome you into the Roth family with wide open arms. Erika, you couldn't have chosen a better guy. Congrats.
Then the BEST news of all: Lucie, my sister-in-law, gave birth to Theodore Roth, a very healthy baby boy!! I spoke to Aaron, my brother, and my parents in Lucie's London hospital room. I don't know who was crying more--me or the new baby. My dad joked that the baby has lots of hair, which must come from Lucie's family because it sure as hell isn't a Roth feature... (I will post pictures as soon as I can.) Congratulations Aaron and Lucie on being new parents and to Mom and Dad on becoming grandparents. I've experienced amazing things over the last five months, but all pale in comparison to becoming an uncle. I am thrilled!
This morning I saw a whale shark, the biggest fish on Earth. I was confused as my dive instructor began waving wildly and sprinted off at an angle. I figured something was wrong and that we had to get out of the water immediately. To my great shock, I then noticed him swimming straight toward a MASSIVE creature, the biggest I had ever seen underwater. It was an enormous shark, about 28-30 feet long. (By comparison, the great white only grows to about 20 feet.) I followed the instructor and only became nervous when he grabbed my scuba vest and dragged me next to the shark's tail so I could touch it. One swipe of that tail and I wouldn't be writing this email. Nevertheless, it was amazing. 
The funny part of the story is that I debated for a few hours whether to buy a disposable, underwater camera for my two days of scuba diving. In the end I decided to buy the camera in case I saw anything spectacular. The whale shark was just such a moment! So what happens when I go to grab the camera to take a picture of this monster? I can't find the damn camera anywhere! I look everywhere for it. I couldn't even find the camera after the shark left. It wasn't until I was back on the diveboat that I found it sanwiched in between my scuba vest and my wetsuit. D'oh! Imagine my embarassment when all the dive instructors, none of whom had ever before seen a whale shark, asked how many pictures I took of the shark....Oh well, I hope at least the turtle pictures turn out.
If for any reason, you want to learn more about whale sharks, click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark
Sydney is easily one of the world's most beautiful cities. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver--laid-back and aesthetically pleasing cities surrounded by water. Sydney's strengths: they speak English, they use dollars (albeit Aussie dollars), the winters here are a joke (70 and sunny), the meat pies are scrummy (British slang), and they have opera! Sydney's Opera House is about as perfect a building as they come. I saw The Barber of Seville there last night. I had a good chuckle thinking about an American watching Australians sing a story in Italian about southern Spain.
For a few more pictures of Sydney, click on the album below (sorry there aren't any pictures of koalas or kangaroos; amazingly, I haven't seen any yet):
 |
| Sydney |
My stay in Cambodia was short but while there I saw Angkor Wat, one of the world's most spectacular man-made structures. (If anybody wants to learn more about Ankor Wat, check it out at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat.) After Angkor, it was back to Bangkok for a few days of handicrafts shopping and turning down prostitutes. I arrived in Sydney, Australia today. SE Asia was amazing but I can't tell you how nice it is to be back in the First World. I have a few days to explore Sydney and then it is onto the Great Barrier Reef for 10 days. My travels are quickly coming to an end; going home is not as tantalizing for me as it was for Odysseus (but then again he was gone for 20 years...).
For a few more pictures of Angkor, click on the album below:
 |
| Angkor Wat, Cambodia |
My sister-in-law should give birth to a baby boy this week, making my mother and father grandparents and me an uncle. Exciting stuff. Lucie, I am thinking about you and Aaron, and wishing you the best of luck from Australia. I can't wait to hear the good news.
So I am sitting in this restaurant in Cambodia (shouldn't all good stories start out this way?). Its the kind of place where they encourage their patrons to write on the walls. And I am sitting there thinking to myself that these walls really need a "block M." (For those of you who did not have the fortune of going to the University of Michigan, the "block M" is the University's symbol.) As the thought dances in my head, out of the corner of my eye, I spy it....a "block M!"
I've said it before, but its worth repeating. The University of Michigan is the best school in the world. Others schools may be better academically. Other schools may have better athletic programs. Certainly, almost all other schools have better looking people. But you will not find a school with more loyal and proud students and alumni. No other institution could provoke such a wave of euphoria and pride with one single letter on the wall of a restaurant 15,000 miles from home.
