Money, it's a crime, share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie!

The alternative to this blog title was, "The People You Meet When You're Sober"

I want to start this off by saying this has to be the most beautiful country I've ever been to. Hands down.

Now the fun part.

While on the flight from Sydney to Cairns, I found a $2 coin on the flight, I definitely pocketed my first bit of Australian coin as a nice start to the trip.

Interestingly, the $2 coin is the size of our penny. Easy to lose.

Made it through customs with all my insulin and whatnot. Made it to Gilligan's Backpackers, which, in reality, is just an awesome party house. There is a waterfall pool, a huge bar, and its in the middle of Cairns, thus making it very easy to get from one place to another.

Internet is $2 for 30 minutes, so I used that little coin to call home and check on things. When I finished up, I still had about 10 minutes left.

We had an orientation at a hotel called Rydges with pizza and salad and whatnot. Ross, Kym, and Ryan were our leaders for the Program, so I got to meet them. I got a little stuffed koala for correctly answering who the Prime Minister was. Answer: Julia Gillard.

The ATM didn't want to be in the picture, the punk.

When that was over, I walked over to the ATM, entered my PIN, told it how much I wanted, and waited anxiously for my first Australian bills. As I waited, a guy from Switzerland walked up, asking if I knew where to buy cigarettes. I told him I had no idea, and he, being very inebriated, asked where I was from. "Texas" was the obvious response. I turned back around to get the deposited money, and the machine had reset itself. Nothing. Not even some awesome slight of hand by the Swiss. The machine simply ate the card, and never gave me the money I wanted.

Of course, now I'm freaking out. The Swiss was a little down the road, and he was my only witness and my only suspect. I ran down there, and asked him if he saw anything happen with the machine. He said he never saw the card come out. I said that I was going to talk to reception, and I asked if he would serve as my witness. He very willingly came along.

I tell reception about my card, and the Swiss starts to complain about how the cigarette machine didn't work. I wasn't paying much attention to his problem, I had bigger ones. The lady goes outside and returns saying the machine works fine.

In short, I lost my debit card on Day 1 of my Australian adventure. I returned to Rydges, told the leaders, and they advised I call the bank. Unfortunately, it isn't a bank per-se, just an ATM. So either way, I was screwed. I went to bar, still thinking the Swiss had something to do with it, hoping to get it out of him. We talked Texas, Switzerland, George Bush, etc. I convinced him to show me his driver's license, which showed me that he didn't have my card, because I was able to see into his wallet.  Finally satisfied that he didn't he didn't have my card, I went up and went to bed.

Both of these people have a legacy that will last generations. The other is George Bush.

I still had to call my bank to tell them that I needed a new card ASAP. Fortunately a roommate had a little too much to drink and his arrival to the room woke me up around 3 in the morning. I made my way downstairs and called home. The lady who issued me my card was out to lunch and would be back within the hour. Now, I'm out of Internet time, no money, no nothing.

I went back up to my floor and had a seat on the couch, trying to calculate my next move. An "Asiatrialian" stumbled his way out of his room and struck up a conversation with me. He tells me that he tried to stop drinking, and that it lasted about 5 months. I asked how long ago he decided to stop and the answer was, "5 months ago…" He finally went to bed and I went back downstairs to hope the computer would magically work for me. Desperation set in and I decided to look in the cushions of the downstairs couch. BINGO! My little friend, the $2 coin, was there, waiting for me. I went to reception, bought some more internet, and called home. The bank would issue me a new card and I could have it by Tuesday. Finally, at 5 in the morning Australia time, I went upstairs and went to sleep.

P.S. I'm writing this article about a week after it all went down, so here is a bit of retrospect. After suspecting the Swiss of stealing my card, I saw him every now and then during my stay in Cairns. In fact, he was on my Cairns to Brisbane flight. Since that incident, he has become someone I can call on if I ever go to Switzerland. You don't study abroad to meet Americans!