Talk to You Again Soon

Tuesday 20th May 2008
at 01:09am

So here we are as much it pains me to say it. At the last post of the season. Well, it kind of pains me and it kind of doesn’t. With so many other things taking effect now it’s time, like I said last week, to take a breather while the rest of our lives falls into place. I’m forecasting perhaps the first week of September and everything’ll be right as rain again. (A coincidence perhaps?)

Before I get into the Q and A I’ve got to say, after much writing, picture sorting and video watching that this week sure has been a tough one. I finalised the last of the “coming home” video and loaded it which was good and bad. Good to relive it, bad to think it was so long ago. I was looking at pictures both for printing and for the book and I can’t believe how many different things we did. I also watched alot of the old you tube videos just because I could. What a trip.

Just seeing the Regency Hotel, our apartment, Robbo’s truck and pictures from inside of Bay Park Mall was amazing. You couldn’t imagine what a picture of us at Kohl’s or Shopko is worth to me. I bet you can’t imagine actually taking photos inside either of those stores can you? To be honest, I couldn’t imagine not having them. They are some of the fondest memories I have when we were too cold to doing anything but go inside and let the boys go nuts in the toy section.

Anyway, on with the fun. Here are some of the questions we were asked either in person, via the site or via email over the period we were there:

Q1 How does a boy from Australia start to follow the Packers with the passion that I have?

We’ve been through this one enough haven’t we? For those that may have joined later on in the piece it’s a simple as me falling in love with football before I chose a team to support. As I started learn more about the small town teams, those not from NY, LA, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago for instance, I started to appreciate them more. Seeing the Packers play Minnesota was just what I needed to forge a long term commitment to the smallest team of all. And boy am I glad that I did.

Q2 Why the whole season, why not just a weekend or two?

I’ve answered this quite alot too. The truth is, I didn’t want to come to Green Bay just for the football. I like to say we came because of it, not wholly and solely for it. To me, living the life of a true Packer backer, if only for a season was what this whole trip was about. Flying in and flying out after a week or so would have left so many questions unanswered. The falling leaves, the freezing winters, Homecoming, Halloween and Thanksgiving were all parts of this trip that we looked forward to with every bit the same anticipation as game day.

Q3 What were our first impressions of Green Bay?

Honestly, it was alot smaller than I ever considered. Sure, we knew it would be a far cry from Sydney but even with those expectations we were a little shocked. Riding in our cab from the airport to the Regency Downtown we were left wondering just how informed our decision had been. After arriving Downtown we were even more shocked to see that there was no shopping area, restaurant, cafe or bar district and everything was down the Oneida side of town, a 15 minute bus ride away.

Having made friends quite quickly though we were lucky to be shown around town and within a matter of days we knew the world was our oyster.

Q4 What sort of an experience was week 1 versus the Eagles?

I know this is a cop out but to see what I said about week 1, follow this link. I couldn’t possibly write about it any more here and I have just compiled a whole list of things to add to the book based on that experience. To use my favourite term though, it was “sensory overload” from start to finish.

Q5 Favourite away game?

The best game was easily Denver. As I re-watched the video from that week last night all I kept saying was “Brett’s just thrown an 82 yard touchdown pass to I don’t even know who”. Of course, had I have been watching the whole way I would have known it was Greg Jennings but once he broke lose that was it, we were dancing in the stands like it was 1999.

The road trip to Kansas City was the best experience and making friends in St Louis was priceless.

Q6 Favourite non football moment?

Where do I start? Spending so much time with Kelly and the boys for one. Our commitments, particularly toward the end of the season made that hard but all of the time we were together was time I wasn’t away at the office like I was before. Thanksgiving was most certainly a highlight too. As was the first snow, shopping at Bay Park Mall and adapting to a very new way of life.

Q7 Favourite part of Green Bay / Wisconsin?

Oneida Street, Appleton Madison and as much as you’re going to hate me for saying it – Chuckie E. Cheese. The boys just loved that place like nothing else on earth. I can’t seem to get any of them out of my head.

Q8 What are we missing the most since coming back?

The difference in lifestyle. In every way, we are back to what we are used to. It’s almost like the challenge is over. Waking up to snow and below freezing temperatures, with the sun shining through beautiful blue skies will never cease to amaze me. I loved it. I also liked seeing the Packer “G” absolutely every which way we turned.

Q9 Who are we missing the most since coming back?

I can’t even begin to name names because it wouldn’t be right (even this picture is about 100 people short). At first I started writing a list but there are simply too many people to mention. The closest group of friends that we had, the Merediths, Rollings, Kuhnke’s, Lanning’s and Kouzov’s will forever remain dear in our hearts. I have to say though, that every single person that we had the pleasure of meeting or talking to touched us in very different ways. We miss all of you, even those that didn’t know our names but stopped to say hi just because we were the Aussie family. All of you, for your kindness, generosity and willingness to share a laugh will be missed for as long as we are here to miss you.

Q10 Was it all peaches and cream the whole way?

Not by a long shot. (Insert smiley face here!) Kelly and I for all of our smiles had one disagreement or two but what can you expect when living 24/7 inside of each other’s pockets for the best part of 9 months? Most of the time though we were on the same page and that’s all that counted. It’s funny in fact, how easy alot of people thought this trip was for us. Sure for the most part it was but there were definitely some times where, particularly with the boys, the travel, the finances, lack of family support and ever increasing commitments that Qantas was only a phone call away. I guess the difference is that with the vacation came and entirely new life and balancing the good and the bad from both was always going to be the key.

Q11 How much did it cost?

I am yet figure it out entirely for the book but with lost income it goes well into 6 figures. To put a number on part of it I can say that in airfare alone we are somewhere in the order of $20,000. Throw in 19 games (Badgers included), accommodation and living expenses for 6 months and you can see how easily it builds up. By the last few weeks, particularly from Week 17 onwards we were skating on extremely thin ice.

Q12 Tell us about the website. Visitors, comments, words pics and hours?

I’ll get into that in more detail, as with the finances later on. I can say though that the word document I typed my daily entries into, using font size 12, is about to surpass 250 pages. When you throw in the more than 500 uploaded photos you could turn that into a book right there. As for hours, I will figure that out too ‘cause I’m sure it will be an obscene amount.

Q13 Any regrets?

Sure. Whilst we all like to think that life can be lived without regrets there were a few things that could have made life a little easier on the four of us. For the sake of this question though, there aren’t enough to worry about so that’s the main thing. (Insert second smiley face here.)

Q14 Would we do it again?

By all means. We’d most certainly pre book all away weekends and take a little more care in organising our days but for the most, if the time was right and some extremely rich organisation wanted us to come back, I certainly think we would.

And that our many friends is that. I know there will be even more questions but for now I think that’s the most popular ones covered at least. I suspect I will get the urge to post again but I’m won’t hold myself to it. At least not until the week before the season anyway.

I hope you all have the most wonderful summer you could possibly have. As I was typing this Tezza just sent me a gorgeous photo of her flower filled back yard, gleaming under the sun of Green Bay with beautifully cover trees and the greenest of grass underfoot. If I didn’t know better I’d say I was a little homesick as a result.

Thank you to everybody who contributed in any way at all to what was a wonderful trip. And thank you to those who found my entries entertaining enough to stick around as long as you did. 3 months after we left we are still getting some 200 visitors a day to our site. You have empowered me like you wouldn’t know. Thanks to you I have the ability to believe in the dream and the idea that anybody can make anything happen. Your kind words, thoughtful praise and constant encouragement kept me going for as long as I did.

From Kelly, Benjamin, Lucas and I – thank you. You are a very special group of people, in a very special town, all brought together by a very special bond.

Go you Packers!

And with that, this is officially, the Once in a Lifetime Fan..........signing off.

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