My Trip to Manly

Apparently Manly, a beach city on the northern shore, is one of Sydney's most popular seaside destinations. And I am lucky enough to know someone who lives there. My friend Jason, who I used to work with at Insight, was transferred to Sydney for work and I met up with him on Saturday.

Even though the Manly Ferry takes about 30 minutes from Circular Quay, and the last ferry back to the city is at midnight (which I missed), I have to say Manly is a pretty cool place. It seems to be much more laid back than the city- very much the beach life atmosphere. We went to a bunch of different bars on the water and along the main strip. One place we went had a casino area and Jason insisted on playing slot machines, or rather a specific slot machine that had been lucky for him in the past. But I guess I was bad-luck because I'm pretty sure he lost $100.
My favorite part about going to Manly was that I finally got to see a beach and even put my toes in the ocean. It was night time so the view wasn't great, but the next day we drove past the water and even went to North Head which is incredible because it looks over the harbour on one side and then the pacific ocean on the other. It was really cool and lots of fun!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Or rather... Koalas and Meerkats and Kangaroos ... Oh my!
This weekend I went to Taronga Zoo with my friend Lisa. It was amazing and I think I took a hundred pictures, no exaggeration. First off, you have to take a ferry to the other side of the harbour and the zoo is on a hill right on the water overlooking the city. Basically an amazing view for the animals and for picture taking.

My favorite exhibit was probably the koalas because they looked so funny sleeping in the trees in crazy positions, and they were a lot fluffier than I imagined. The chimps were cool too because the were so "human-like". Did you know that humans can get blood transfusions from chimps? When I got there I was excited to see the kangaroos because surprisingly I haven't seen any since I've been here. But apparently they're no big deal because they were kept in this far off corner where no one went. Also, they were all asleep and not very exciting- boo.

The newest addition to the zoo is a baby Pygmy Hippo, named Monifa (almost my namesake). It supposedly looks like a tiny eggplant, but unfortunately we missed the viewing. Anyway, like I said it was awesome and, bonus, I finally managed to get a tan on my arms- sweet!

My Favorite Evening in Sydney

Yesterday I went to a welcome reception at the Opera House with Inga. It was for international students at my uni (UTS) and also from University of Sydney and University of New South Wales. It was pretty cool because it was inside the Opera House in this reception area that overlooked the Harbour. And at one point we even snuck into the concert hall to take pictures.

After some appetizers, champagne and chatting with other students, Inga and I decided to go to the Opera Bar, which was is right next to the Opera House and on the water. What a perfect night! The weather was great, albeit a little windy. And we watched the sun set over the Harbour Bridge while drinking wine and eating oysters. We had great conversation and lots of laughs.

Of course I should mention that on the way back, Inga threw up in the train and then fell asleep on me, but everything before that was exellent. Ha! Also when I got back to my flat my roommates were going out and invited me along. So I got to hang out with Will and Jen for the first time outside the flat. So... life is good!

Just a couple gals...

... sitting on a park bench in the middle of the night in the red light district of Sydney, drinking cans of Gin & Tonic out of plastic bags. Classy!

Friday at Home

I had a late class tonight and I have an all day session tomorrow starting at 9am. So, even though its Friday I think tonight is going to be very low key. On my way home I stopped at Sushi World because I have been craving sushi ever since I got here! And they do have "California Roll"- yay!Look how cute it is... First the rolls were not cut into pieces and apparently its okay to eat them like a hotdog (as I saw one girl doing), but I cut mine into pieces for old times sake. But I gotta say, my favorite part is the soy sauce- look at the packaging- its plastic fish with a twist off nose. Ha!

Well, I just took a sleeping pill, since recently I've been staying up until 3am watching old episodes of "House" online. I really gotta get some sleep tonight because I have a full day of class tomorrow- yes, on Saturday!

Goodnight!... or Good Morning!

St. Paddy's Day and More...

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day! I am so jealous of all the stories and pics I see on facebook. But, I did manage to get out and celebrate too. I went to an Irish pub called Paddy Maguires with Jackie and some of her friends. Unfortunately, I didn't have any green beer but I did have tequilla shots (huh?) and I tried a new drink- kind of. It was a beer cider (Catherine's fav!) with black currant added. It was bright red and so sweet and delish!
Since, it was a "school night" we only stayed out until 1am or so. But before we headed back we stopped to get late night fast food. We went to a place called "Hungry Jacks". I implore you to visit the website for this fast food chain. Does it remind you of a chain in America with a similar logo and identical menu? Very strange...

The next day after sleeping until 2pm, I went to the movies with Lisa (shes one of the girls I met at the Meet-up, from Montreal). We saw "Confessions of a Shopoholic". I have to say that although I did love the entire book series, the movie was completely different except maybe the names. I mean, hello!, the main character is supposed to be British (in the books) and instead they made her American! Oh well, it was still cute and a good excuse to get to the movies.

Since then I have been trying to be a good student. Actually I just finished my very first assignment. I had to write a paper for my Event Creation Workshop class and I chose to write about Mardi Gras. It was hard trying to remember how to write papers and create constructive arguments... its been five years after all. But I think... or hope... its okay because I am so over it!

PS- Happy birthday sis! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

Girls Night Out

Last night I went out clubbing in Sydney for the first time. I went with my friend from class, Jackie- pictured below. She's from South Africa and incidentally we have all the same classes together. She is also studying Event Management.
So, we went out with her flatmates and some of their friends. Oh and one of her roommates is actually American, from Denver- so there are other Americans here, who knew? Anyway we went out to Darling Harbour. I'd been there before during the day, but apparently at night time it turns into a huge party spot. There are so many clubs and bars all around the harbour.

I don't remember the names of the places we went to, but I do remember that I caused the group to not get into one of the clubs...typical! No actually, it was because I was wearing flip flops, or "thongs" as the door guy called them and I was all like 'Hello! You're lucky I'm wearing any underwear at all!'- Ha! So I guess I am going to have to start wearing heels again!

It was a lot of fun, the last place we went was playing old school music and we danced so long and hard that I lost one of my earrings- sucks! But a guy I was dancing with did buy me two beers so that made up for it I guess.

Here is a picture of some of the group, there were 8 of us at the beginning but people kept dropping off as the night wore on and I ended up getting home around 3am!

English is a Funny Language

I think I may have found my favorite word, or I more precisely my favorite pronunciation in Australian English. It's nothing weird or terrific... it is simply the pronunciation of "Z". No, not "zee", but "zed". LOL!

I don't know why I love it so much, I just do! I can imagine kids in school learning the alphabet: "...T-U-V-W-X-Y and Zed". And when I was at the Moonlight Cinema in the Park (see below) somebody left their car lights on: "License plate T-R-4-Zed-2-W". It’s wonderful and love it!

Although, I must admit a close second place favorite is the pronunciation of "aluminum"... as in the foil you put on top of your left-overs. Did you know that in most countries, except the US (of course) this word has an extra "i" before the "um"? It looks like this- aluminium, and pronounced "al-loo-min-e-um". Huh? So weird, right? Loves it!!

One Month Anniversary

As of yesterday I have officially been in Sydney for one month, so I decided to celebrate by treating myself to "Moonlight Cinema in the Park". I'd gotten these tickets and was hoping to go with a friend, but plans fell through so I was brave and went alone.

The movie that was playing was "Revolutionary Road", which I had been wanting to see anyway. Plus the tickets were for "Gold Grass Section" which meant I had a reserved spot in premium viewing area and a free glass of wine- the wine was called "Gold Grass" too.

Now I got there kind of earlier because I wasn't sure how long the train and walk would be, so that's why no one is sitting around me in the picture, but it actually was pretty crowded by the time it started. That is, except for the seat right next to me which was empty. I liked the movie (although very depressing) and I loved watching it under the stars, but I wish I could have shared it with someone.

So hurry up and make your plans to come visit me!

Gay Mardi Gras

I knew, even before I got here, that I wanted to see the Mardi Gras Parade- after all it is one of Sydney's largest events. But it wasn't until I started reading about Mardi Gras in Time Out Magazine, that I got really excited. See there are several parties and events surrounding the actual parade and here are just a few of their names: Underwhere? Party, Tranni Panic, Tounge Twister, Bear Essentials, Bingay (Bingo Party). Ha!

Unfortunately I didn't make it to any of these pre/post events, but I did go to the parade yesterday. I went with a friend I met during orientation, her name is Inga. She lives kind of far so we decided to meet at Kings Cross train station and walk to the parade. It should be known that Kings Cross is the "Red Light District" of Sydney. And while I was waiting for Inga I couldn't help but notice the names of the stores that surrounded me, names like The Pleasure Chest and Porky's Night Club. Luckily it was daytime or else I might have felt a little over dressed compared to the scantily clad ladies that were standing in the doorways of these establishments.

So the parade started at 7:45pm, but we had to get there early to get a good spot. After getting a little lost, we made it around 5:00pm and there were already tons of people. So I bought a step stool from a street vendor because turns out everyone has something to stand on. And we claimed our spot on the corner of Oxford Street and Flinders Street, aka middle of Sydney's gayboorhood.
The parade was awesome, I won't be able to capture it here in words or in the pictures later because you just have to be there to truly appreciate it. But it was incredible to be surrounded by so much excitement and love. We were right next to the big screen TV that showed a live feed of the parade, and also next to the deejay. There was confetti, bubbles, fireworks, but surprisingly no beads were thrown. In fact none of the floats threw anything, and alcohol was not allowed on the streets although everyone was drinking.

As I mentioned I was standing on a tiny stool which probably had a 10 inch square on top. After a few hours of standing in one spot without moving my feet, I had lost most of the feeling in my toes, legs and knees. We decided to cut out a little early and recuperate at a bar close by, and let some locals buy us beer!

Here are some pics of the parade. Unfortunately, I didn't get good pics of any hotties although there were many, but that's okay because the hottest gays I know are back home in Texas! I miss my bois!

Metric System Working In My Favor

As another means of discovering the "new me" in Sydney, I recently joined the gym at school. My body apparently wasn't ready for this step because this morning I had to roll out of the bed instead of sit up like a normal person. The 100 crunches I did yesterday must have sent my abdominals into some sort of shock. I am I still not walking completely upright.

The good news here is that I am loving the new metric system used in Australia. I ran a bit yesterday and was pleased to see that the distance on my treadmill read "5.00"... I realized later that it must have been in kilometers and was really only like 3 miles (1km = 0.621m). But at the time I thought it was pretty cool that I could run 5 of anything especially since my running shoes have seen little or no action for quite some time.

Then I did maybe the bravest thing I've done since I've been here.... I weighed myself at the gym. The unit of measurement for weight in Australia is kilograms (1kg = 2.205lbs) which means that the number that displayed on the scale was like half the number I usually see. So I think I'm loving the metric system. In fact, I think I'm going to start using kilograms as my official unit of measurement even when I'm back in the States. It's such a tiny number that it makes me feel like I'm in middle school again. So if you're looking for a confidence boost, I recommend changing your scale to "kg" too.

Expats Unite

An interesting fact that my sis, Melissa, pointed out to me before I left home was that once I arrived in Sydney I would officially be considered an "Expat". As a person who is temporarily, or permanently, residing in a country other than ones upbringing or legal residence, I am now an expat or expatriate. Hmm... sounds like I did something bad!

So anyway, last Saturday I was feeling particularly lonely- mainly because I was not making the progress with my roommates that I'd hoped and had spent my Friday evening watching season two of "The Office" alone in my room. I was chatting with April online and throwing myself a pity-party (her words not mine!) and simultaneously googling "how to make friends" (...literally... don't judge!). And April found a Meetup group online called "The Sydney Expat Connection". They were having a meetup that night at a bar and April kindly urged (read: forced) me to sign-up and RSVP for this meetup.

Of course I was hesitant because not only am I painfully shy in new situations, but also I thought joining this group would officially make me a lonely loser. Well if I am a lonely loser then I found the group for me because I ended up having a lot of fun- surprisingly.
The meet-up was at a bar in Circular Quay (pictured above) called "Cruise Bar", and the group had a table area outside on the patio. When I first got there, I went straight to the bar for some liquid courage and after my initial awkwardness wore off... or maybe the beers "wore on"... I met lots of interesting fun people.

One girl, from Montreal, lives right around the corner from me and she is about my age so we exchanged info to get together another time. I also met a bunch of guys (because I typically make friends with guys easier- must be a jealously thing about girls...mine, not theirs) that were from all over- one went to UT in Austin and graduated a couple years before me, another was from the UK, another was from Australia (why he was at an expat party I'm still not sure) and others. One guy even asked for my number, but I don't really expect that to go anywhere.

So all in all a wonderful way to spend a Saturday night. And I was pretty surprised how comfortable I felt doing something that is so out of the ordinary for me. I ended up staying until a little after midnight (it started at 7:30). And I found out that there are tons of other meetup groups and activities all the time. There is even one for American Expats that I am looking into.

So thank you April for telling me that if I didn't go you would stop being my friend. I wouldn't have gone without your support! :)

Thursday Night Classes

As I mentioned I have classes only two days a week, Monday and Thursday. After the scariness of my first day of classes, last Monday, I was very much relieved on Thursday after attending Event Management (5pm) and Event Creation Workshop (7pm).

These two classes seem like they are going to be a lot of fun and more along the lines of what I was expecting. In both classes the instructors are going to have guest speakers who will talk to us about events that they have managed. Some examples of these events are Elton John concert, Mardi Gras, Sports Events, etc. So I am very excited.

Plus one of the instructors is also the Director of the Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM). This group, associated with UTS, hosts a program called "The International Event Management Summit". And our instructor said he would probably need volunteers from our class to help out at this event. Awesome right? And this year the summit will be in the Gold Coast which apparently has some of the best beaches in all of Australia.

Yay! I'm starting to get excited about school- does that make me an official nerd or what?

My Three Flatmates

Even though I moved into my student housing a week ago, it wasn't until this weekend that I met all of my flatmates. I haven't really had the opportunity to hang out with them much, but heres what I know so far:

Will: Aussie, in his first year studying Engineering. He just turned 20, today actually, and he seems to be quite the party boy. He always has new people at the apartment and the only thing in the refrigerator right now is his beer. Although he does have a baby face, I think he's cute especially with the accent. I think he was most impressed with me when I came home with some beer and he said "You're gonna be an Aussie before long, drinking those longnecks". The beer I was drinking was pretty big probably the size of two regular beers.

Ron: From Zimbabwe but has lived in Sydney most of his life, in his third year studying Medical Science. At 23, not only is he the second oldest in the apartment, but he is also the RN of the second floor. The RN, which stands for Resident Networker, is the go-to person with any issues and the person who enforces the rules. But Ron seems to be very laid back and friendly. He is the owner of the flat screen TV in our apartment and it seems like he likes to watch movies a lot. Yesterday he took out "Love Actually" and after that I knew we'd get along great.

Jen: Sydney-sider, studying Industrial Design and International Studies. Jen is 21 years old and she just came back from spending "summer break" (Dec-Feb) in Aspen. She is a ski instructor and apparently quite the world traveler. She went to school in Melbourne, took a year off before year twelve to live in Japan, since then has traveled and lived all over, in places like in Canada and the US, and after this year she is going to study abroad in Switzerland. So from what I can tell she is very much the "cool girl". Both in personality and in appearance. Maybe too cool for me! I was hoping to become friends with her, but I guess only time will tell.

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to blog about my flatmates (Clay!), but I wanted to get to know them a little better before I did. Hopefully I can get some pictures soon.