ANZAC Day

Sorry for the delay in posting, Mom and Dad. Also, Happy Birthday, Dad. See? I didn't forget.

This weekend was ANZAC day. So you might be wondering what is ANZAC day and what does ANZAC stand for. The day is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. And you might be wondering what Australians do to commemorate this solemn day...Why, drink and gamble, of course!

I started the day walking to a pub where I was meeting my future flatmate. I walk from place to place here A LOT more than I did in San Francisco. Maybe it's because the public transportation was so much better in San Francisco. The public transportation here is of the quality that one would assume it was designed by the makers of the Ford Pinto. Maybe it's because in San Francisco, I lived on the top of a giant hill with every store, restaurant, anything else I would need, sitting at the bottom of the hill. That meant any time I was hungry and needed food, I either knew I was going to have to leave and ultimately come back and walk up that huge hill...or else convince myself I wasn't that hungry in the first place. Either way, my main mode of transportation, at least during the day, is my feet.

Once I got to the pub, I was immediately introduced to the game, 2UP. It is the Australian gambling game that is only legal to play on ANZAC day. Essentially what happens is someone from the audience is chosen to come up, and using a small paddle flip two pennies. People then bet on whether they think the two pennies will either both come up heads or both come up tails. It is worth mentioning that when people are betting, they are just betting with other people in the audience, so the time that everyone makes bets is just chaotic with people waving their money around either patting their heads or patting their butts, trying to indicate what they would like to bet on. For the 'chosen one' on stage who is flipping the coin, too many flips resulting in one heads and one tails will earn you massive booing from the audience, and if you keep it up, they will make you do push ups and if you still keep it up, sit ups. If when you flip the coins, they leave the paddle before it is above the height of your head, you will also endure booing, and also ultimately lead to push ups. You can imagine the fear this instills in people who might dare to volunteer for this role...

For the record, I didn't volunteer. My future flat mate volunteered me.
Now I'm not the most coordinated or graceful person to begin with. But to make it even worse, the second a drop of cheap beer hits my lips, I am moments away from having my motor skills be on par with those of a pot smoking chimp. I was fearful that I would be unable to live up to the high standards these strangers in the audience had for me...and even more so, I did NOT want to have to do push ups. You can see in the video what I was wearing...



Fortunately, the Gods smiled on me, and I got two heads my first flip, two heads my second flip and two tails my third, effectively ending my turn on stage. As I was busy high fiving myself for keeping my dignity intact, I misjudged my hop off the stage, and my dress simulated a parachute...and not in the sense that it slowed down my fall at all... Life: 89432752782394, Emily: Still 0

Awhile later, a small parade of Scottish bag pipers came in, hopped on stage and played a little 'Waltzing Matilda'



By the end of the night, we had made it to Oxford Street. Oxford street is your typical gayborhood. Much like the Castro in SF, it is clean, a lot of fun and covered in tons of gay bars and clubs. We decided to go dancing at a gay club. I was fine with this, especially cause I'm in no way interested in dating at all right now, and this way I could shake it, surrounded by gorgeous, shirtless men with perfect bodies and not have to worry about being hit on. This idea seemed so perfect in theory. They always do.

One of the shirtless, dancing men came over to me and said 'Look at you. You're so pretty. Let's dance!'. Clearly this guy was auditioning to be my new gay boyfriend (NGBF), and the outlook was looking good for him. We started dancing. I was having a great time until, all of a sudden, he grabbed my ass...in a very non-gay way. I was confused. Why would my potential NGBF do this to me? Was he kidding? I pushed him away and ran off the dance floor. It was here that my future flatmate informed me that some of these guys might have been bisexual as well as being gay and that would explain NGBF's advances toward me. Wrapping my head around bisexual guys who come to a gay club to try to pick up women was far too much for me at this point. I was tired. I had just been violated by a gay/bisexual man. It was time to go home.

Another fun fact that I've found out about Sydney's public transportation out here is that there is actually a law that all cab companies must do their shift changes at 3PM and 3AM. So what this means for me is that if I want to go home after a night out, I better not attempt to do so anytime between 2AM and 4AM. If you're going out on a weekend night, that is the exact time window you would WANT to be going home. What this ALSO meant for me was a long walk home.

So this weekend, I learned a little about ANZAC day and its traditions, lost a little dignity and walked a whole lot. Overall, another successful weekend in Sydney.

Advertising in Australia

The marketing in Australia is so overtly sexual. I attribute the absence of this in America to the high population of uber-conservatives in the bible belt beating everyone over the head with their copy of 'Going Rogue', who never like to let us have any fun. I find these advertisements and marketing strategies extremely entertaining, and they're actually quite effective. I read studies about the increased brand recognition when using more edgy forms of advertising versus their less offensive counterparts. Clearly there are definitive advantages to marketing of this sort. I wonder how the pet grooming place here called 'Heavy Petting' fares against the other pet groomers. It already has the distinct advantage of being memorable. Besides that, and one in San Francisco called "Paw-trero Hill Groomers" (it was located in Potrero Hill...God, I love puns) I can't even think of the name of a single dog groomer I've ever seen.

Last time I was in Australia, there was a very popular (and quite memorable) Eclipse gum campaign was running in the city. The ads showed up on bus stations, sides of buses and billboards. Here is one of the more popular ads...



Other taglines in this campaign include “Get some!!”, “Bring home a couple tonight!”, "Freshen up your old pick up lines!", "Clean breath, talk dirty" and another few so raunchy, that I'd rather not post here.

This all kind of resurfaced for me last night, walking around and seeing some of the names of places and marketing ploys. All of these pictures were taken within a few block radius, FYI...




These gems are for a pizza by the slice joint on Oxford street. The pizza there looks like absolute garbage, however given their creativity and the fact that they provided me with entertainment, at 3AM, I would happily patronize this place. I equate this example to giving money to a homeless guy who has some great talent or trick. Normally I probably wouldn't give a random homeless guy on the streets any money (San Francisco's abundant population of homeless people has made me pretty jaded about giving money to any of them) however if that homeless guy in question is able to provide me with some entertainment, I will happily fork over a few bucks. A good example of this is the San Francisco 'Bush Man' - A homeless guy who has made himself so famous by jumping out and scaring people, he is in several guide books.



But I digress...



Shockingly, this establishment does not sell vodka or gin.



As with before, this is NOT the kind of place you're going to find a rake or a shovel, but you will DEFINITELY be surrounded by tools...and maybe a hoe or two. HEYYYOOOO!!!!


As I mentioned before, this was in about a 3 block radius, so expect more of these to come as Sydney is quite large, and there is no shortage of 10 year old boy brained people here (myself included) who will continue to find this type of marketing incredibly entertaining and make it very likely we'll shell out cash for shitty products that we don't need. But hey man, marketing works.

The Office, round 2

Found these professional photos online that will probably show more of the office...

http://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/305276/pictures_inside_google_sydney_office_funpark/?image=1

The Office

As promised, I wanted to get a few pictures up of the office. It is very cool and a lot of these pictures don't really do it justice, so if you want to check the real thing out for yourself, you're gonna have to come down to Sydney and see it! :)

The Lobby

The 'Library'

The game room

The 'Down Under' room - Notice the tables are the 'lights' and the chairs and table are on the ceiling

Bathtub as a conference table...Totally normal.

Chat with Pat

danahyp: hey how far are you from Bondi Beach


Emily: like 15 minutes by car, can take 45 by bus
Is that another team you're looking at?


danahyp: do you have car down there


Emily: srsly?
I can barely drive on the normal side of the road in a U.S. car and I've been attempting to do that for ten years
Though I do appreciate you seem to be making all of your life/career/living decisions based on my proximity to you


danahyp: well obviously
I mean that's why I went to Ireland


emilykarp: Huh?


danahyp: I'm joking
I am clearly stalking you

Flukes vs. Fate

I'm not sure if this happens to everyone in the world, but at least to me, it seems that my life is filled with more crazy coincidences, twists of fate and straight up ironies than the average person. A good example is what happened this weekend. My friend and coworker, Lindsey (who incidentally was the one who recruited me to come to Australia in the first place), invited me to go to the Ranwick races with her. More on the races later. Anyway, a few of Lindsey's friends came and met us. A few girls from San Diego and a few American guys. After chatting with one of the guys, David, for a bit, we discovered that a coworker and friend from San Francisco, JP, was one of his closest friends from home growing up. This didn't seem too strange to me at the time, since I figured Lindsey knew JP in San Francisco and that's how she knew David, but it turned out this wasn't the case. Lindsey didn't even know who JP was and actually had met David through the San Diego girls. She had met the San Diego girls through a girl she met when she was staying at a youth hostel when she first got to Australia. David knew these girls because they are all getting their masters at the same Sydney University. Ironically, JP had told David about me and that I was coming to Sydney so that he should try to meet up with me but never followed through on giving him my contact details. I texted JP when we discovered this and he was blown away that somehow, on the other side of the world, we had somehow managed to meet each other completely independent of his assistance. I have to say, I do love that my life is like this, since even if everything in the world is completely chaotic, it at least creates the semblance of some kind of divine plan or purpose in the world...or at least in my life.

So let me tell you about the Ranwick Horse Races. Australians LOVE to gamble and they also LOVE to dress up, and as I've established previously in the blog, they love, love, LOVE to drink. The Ranwick races allow them to indulge their three major passions all at the same time, so clearly this is big deal. Everyone gets all dressed up, the women wear hats and the men are in seersucker suits. Everyone drinks champagne and bets on horses. It's definitely a step up for me from the dollar days at the dog track in Sarasota. You would think that I'd try to keep my bogan (Australian word for white trash) past at the dog track under wraps amongst all of these fancy people dressed to the nines. I did not. After educating everyone on how to bet a quinella and an exacta, I felt compelled to enlighten everyone that the reason I was so well versed in horse racing was because I had spent many a Friday afternoon surrounded by mullets, gorging myself on $1 hot dogs and beers.

Here are a few pictures of the track and of some of our group






The third picture is an example of some of the crazy head pieces some of the women were wearing. This chick was presumably trying to look like a little Indian. Hers wasn't even half bad compared to some of them. Some of the womens hats looked like dessert.



After the the races, our group continued to explore what Saturday night in Sydney had to offer. We went to dinner and then a few pubs. Near the end of the night we decided to go out in Darling Harbour, since it was close to my corporate housing and shockingly we found that mere steps from my front door, there is a bowling alley. After all of the strange coincidences and twists of fate I've had in my life, I began to wonder if the universe wasn't trying to send me some signs that I am supposed to be a professional bowler. After we played a few games, I decided the universe is definitely NOT sending me that message. I'm going to blame my poor performance on the southern hemisphere. If it makes water go down the drain the opposite direction, I think it's entirely plausible that it could screw up my technique. At least, that's what I'm going to believe for now. Regardless, I'd say my first full Saturday in Sydney was a great success and really a lot of fun.



Today (Sunday) has been absolutely beautiful. My Australian friend, Scott, and I met up today for brunch and then we explored the different neighborhoods of the city. Scott has a car and was driving us for most of the time. I'm either going to have to completely hit the reset button in my head about what should happen when someone is driving or else I need to be blindfolded when I'm riding around with someone in Sydney. It is so strange, first of all sitting in the 'drivers seat' side but not having any controls and secondly, going against every conditioned response I've developed from 10 years of driving (badly) in the states. I mean, doesn't it just look odd to have the driver on the right side?

Hi Scott!


During our journey, we went through Kings Cross, which is generally known as a kind of seedy area at night. There are strip clubs, hookers and brothels. There are also bars and clubs that are open all night. During the day it wasn't so bad, and actually was quite lively with a market that is there every Sunday. When we drove to Wollomolloo (sp?) nearby, Scott pointed out that this is where all of the Navy ships would dock. A fun fact he let me in on is that this is actually why Kings Cross developed as it is today, with the brothels and whores. It was so the sailors could have a 'bit of fun' when they were at port. I thought this was very interesting and made total sense. However it left me wondering what the hell Nevada's excuse is.

So overall good weekend, topped off by finding out that I got the apartment that I really wanted. I'm stoked I'm going to be living in such a nice place and even happier that I'm going to be living with someone who seems so cool (along with a third guy who is Scottish, who I am yet to meet). Everything has been going along really smoothly and falling into place so well. It definitely has helped to ease any fears or reservations I've felt coming to this new place. I'm always a bit terrified when I move somewhere new. I have been so fortunate every time I've moved anywhere as far as the people that I've met and the opportunities that I've had. I always am worried that no one person deserves to be this lucky and that if things aren't predestined and are just based on random chaos and luck that some day my luck will run out. But it hasn't yet...and maybe it won't. Fingers crossed!

What a difference a week makes...

I remember distinctly what I was doing at exactly this time, 2PM last Friday, my last day in California, before I boarded a plane and left the U.S. for who knows how long. I remember being unable to grasp that in a few hours time, I would be starting an entirely new life. At that time, I could only see it as the end of something. I was too sad to come to terms with what it meant when I got off the plane at the other end. Now, I'm only a week in, and my perspective has completely changed.

For starters, I can now tell that I could potentially be really happy here. The weather is so beautiful and the people are so nice. I know everyone says that about Australia, and it sounds like such a cliche that anyone says of a place that they enjoy, but I really want to hammer both points home. The weather is perfect. It is always sunny. It has never been so chilly I've needed a jacket nor so hot that I've been uncomfortable. It's warm and sunny, without being humid. There are refreshing breezes that don't make you cold. It is literally the most perfect weather. This is probably why most people don't have air conditioning or heat, and rarely need to use either if they do have them. I always knew that really bad or cold weather could make people depressed and grumpy, but I never realized how nice the weather got was also directly proportional to how nice the people were. I always assumed it was more like if the weather was below a certain shit threshold, people's attitudes got bad, but above that threshold, everyone was on a level playing field as far as attitude. I think I was wrong. The weather in SF was always okay, and on occasion, amazing, but nothing like Sydney. It's just pleasant to go outside and walk to work or walk home from work or just walk. I find myself to be happier and smiling more at strangers, as are the rest of the folks here. No surprise it's the #2 best country to live in based on the 'quality of life' index...and in case you're wondering, the U.S. is NOT #1 http://www.internationalliving.com/Internal-Components/Further-Resources/quality-of-life-2010

The climate and atmosphere have made me really take notice that this is a place I could definitely see myself being happy in. I don't know all that many people here just yet, but there is something about the atmosphere here that is calming and makes me think I'm really gonna like it here.

Besides that, I have been looking for apartments which has also helped me face up to the reality that I am in fact going to be living here. Now, apartment hunting is about as fun as a cold sore, and I have definitely already seen some shit out there, which can be a bit disheartening, but I'm also realizing how amazing people here are as I'm meeting more and more of them as I look for places. Last night I actually found an amazing apartment. I would be living with an Irish guy and whoever else he would decided to take the other room (it's a three bedroom apartment). I don't want to get too ahead of myself and put too many eggs in one basket, but I really like this apartment and I really liked the guy too. I think we'd get along really well. We actually went out for a few beers at the pub after I checked out the place (which may give me an edge over my competition, as most of them are coming to look at his place Saturday and Sunday morning so they'll likely be stone sober...though no guarantees of that in Sydney). I got a chance to chat with him and he was quite a cool guy. He's 31, been in Australia for 9 years, he's one of 8 kids, 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He's the baby but he assured me that just because he was the youngest it did not mean he was spoiled. I guess Irish families tend to reproduce like catholic bunnies, so they're never sure if the newest kid really is the last hence no spoiling of the 'baby'. I went to dinner with him and his current roommates and got on with them pretty nicely, so I'm hoping I was able to charm him enough that his life wouldn't be complete without having me as his roommate. He promised to get back to me on Sunday and let me know how all the showings went so hopefully I'll have good news soon. If I get the place, I promise to post tons of pictures immediately.

This all already had me in a great mood coming in to today, and then today proceeded to only get better. First, I was able to get a Google voice number through Google so that all you guys can call or text an American number and it goes to my Australian cell phone (or mobile as they call it here) with no international charges. I can also call anyone in the U.S. using that number, again, without the expensive fees. I'm really stoked by this because it eliminates the only major thing that makes me feel like I'm on another continent and just makes it feel like I'm in a different state than everyone else (minus the massive time change and the fact that I'm writing to you guys from the future). In case you guys didn't see the number, it's (980) 428-6773.

The day only got better when I got an email from the receptionist that said "Flowers at reception for you!!! Lucky Duck!" My first reaction was to groan 'Ughhhh, my dad is SOOOOO embarrassing!' (Sorry Dad, love you!) As I walked up to the front desk I started contemplating the situation, and decided that my dad knew that if he was going to get me something, money would be far more well received than flowers. I decided to check the card. It turns out the flowers were actually sent from all of my old managers in San Francisco.



Look how pretty!!!

It was such a sweet gesture of them, and truly, in my last few weeks at the SF office, they really made me feel loved and supported as I took this new role, but also were very clear about how valuable I had been to the team and how much I was appreciated. At one point, months ago, I had bitched to my coworker and good friend, Lisa, that it seemed like someone was always leaving the team that we had to donate money for their going away or baby shower or whatever. I remember saying that when I left, I better get some good shit since I probably had donated over $80 to celebrate other people's departures and life choices. The team came through. In total I got a Nordstroms Gift Certificate, a little potted plant, a bouquet of flowers on my last day (that incidentally Lisa objected to because she said they had already gotten me something) and now a bouquet of flowers, round 2. It's not the actual objects that are important but what they represent to me. It was very obviously acknowledged that I was leaving, and the fact that they made a point to address it and let me know how appreciated I was, as an employee and a person, really hit home. By the time Lisa leaves the team, I hope she gets a pez dispenser.

Overall, my new adventure couldn't be starting off on a more positive or promising foot. It's a very welcome and somewhat unexpected turn of events. Hell, now even Ben's comments about my toothpaste not being ADA approved can't get to me. I'm not in America. No toothpaste is ADA approved here. Even my toothpaste is fitting in better in Australia.

Bondi

We had our team off site at Bondi yesterday and I took this video of the beach from the place we were at. Afterwards we went lawn bowling (basically bocci ball) and had dinner and went out for drinks. One thing is for sure, Australians definitely party harder than Americans. At least, when they go out for drinks with co-workers. We had drinks while lawn bowling, drinks at dinner (a few bottles of wine), and then went out to a pub afterward for, you guessed it, more drinks. In the U.S., particularly with coworkers, I feel like there was an unspoken 2 drink limit. Here, it's more like there is a two drink minimum.

My team is super fun and really friendly. I like them a lot and they immediately made me feel at home. There is another American on the team, Maureen, and she's already been helping me out, giving me advice, looking out for me and generally being like an unofficial big sister, which is great. Strangely enough, she is the childhood best friend of the older sister of Dan, a guy I met in San Francisco. They all grew up in New York and knew each other there, then she moved to Texas, then Chicago, then came out here. He had come out to San Francisco to get his MBA at Stanford, and I randomly met him at a bar. When I told him that I was moving to Sydney, he told me I had to look Maureen up and say hi, to which I responded in shock that I had already met her (over video conference) since she was one of the people on my team. Definitely a 'small world' kinda connection. Sadly she is going back to the U.S. for about 5 weeks for a few friends weddings, so I'll have to figure out these first few weeks without her, but it is nice to have someone who knows where you're coming from and what you're going through when you get out here.

Incidentally Dan is also the source of many random coincidences in my life. Specifically, I had just finished reading the book 'My Horizontal Life: A collection of one night stands' by Chelsea Handler (highly recommended, btw, It's really funny), and I was reading the acknowledgements and I saw Dan's best friends' name listed. Turns out his best friend is really good friends with Chelsea Handler (from the TV show 'Chelsea Lately') which he only discovered after I introduced him to the show. Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think? This also serves as the first time I've ever (sort of) known ANYONE in the acknowledgements section of a book. It's even cooler to me cause it wasn't like I knew it in advance and went looking for it. I happened to just stumble across it.

In other news, Pat got an offer today from a Sydney rugby team. He is still going to come out and try out for other teams out here, but it looks like it is pretty much a sure thing that he will be moving out here in the next few months as well. It's nice to have that to look forward to as well. Plus I'm pretty much guaranteed to get hooked up with lots of free tickets to rugby games. So I'm definitely excited about seeing Pat...but more about free rugby tickets.

It's strange cause realistically, I've only been here for like 3 days, so everything still feels very surreal and I'm not sure I've totally absorbed that this is my new life. I'm still missing everyone a ton and getting sad, but then I realize I have only been here a few days and once more time passes and I get better adjusted, that will likely fade more and more.

Oh yeah, and I FINALLY got a working cell phone. You guys can call me at 011 61 466 772 964.

First day at work

Today was my first day of work at the Sydney office. The feeling that I can best equate it to is the same feeling you had as a kid who just moved to a new town and is starting their first day at a new school where they don't know anyone.

Just like a nervous kid, I woke up about two hours before my alarm was supposed to go off. I was nervous, apprehensive, excited. I laid in bed thinking about what today would be like. Would there be lots of cool people? Would they like me? I wondered what everyone was going to be like when I got there. I also started to panic about what I should wear my first day. I haven't given a second thought to what I have worn to work in the last 2 1/2 years, but today was different. Today I was not only in a new office, I was in a new country. I wanted to make sure I fit in with everyone and didn't do anything my first day that would warrant me becoming a social outcast. I could feel myself regressing 18 years into an insecure little third grader I settled on a pair of khaki pants, a green tank top and a pair of sandals. I figured that this was fashionably neutral enough to get by on the first day. I threw my laptop back pack on and headed out the door. On the way out, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. With the back pack and over-sized khakis, I really looked like I was 8. Seemed fitting.

I headed to work. Today it was absolutely beautiful out and I have a gorgeous walk to work. To get to where my work is, I have to walk across a footbridge that spans across Darling Harbour. I have to say, this is by far the most beautiful commute I've ever had to get to work. Though I wasn't doing myself any favors as far as 'fitting in' and 'not looking like a jackass' by stopping in the middle of the bridge to take pictures during morning rush hour, I figured it was worth it so you all could see what it looks like...





I got to work and the office is really cool. You walk in and the Google sign is decorated in a kind of jungle theme (I'll have to take and post pictures later) and there is a tire swing in the lobby. The entire office has huge windows with gorgeous views all around. In fact, this is the view I have from my seat...



Pretty sweet, huh?

My team was super nice, and one of the girls proceeded to introduce me to everyone in the office and tell me their titles which I promptly forgot 3 seconds after meeting them. Perhaps I still do have a bit more jet lag than I originally thought. Everyone seemed super friendly and I was getting more and more comfortable.

I think the highlight of the day was when I ventured into the micro kitchen and discovered the snacks they have in the Sydney micro kitchen. There were cheese wedges, really good potato chips (or crisps as they call them here), 'milk bottles' which essentially are marshmellows shaped like milk bottles dipped in sugar, snickers candy bars, carmello koalas and bacon and extra cheese cheetos. I'll type that again just so it really sinks in. BACON AND EXTRA CHEESE CHEETOS. I was in any 8 year old kid at a new schools heaven. Incidentally this heaven coincided nicely with my own. I did find it curious that despite Sydney's mini-kitchen being totally stocked with junk food awesomeness (presumably a representation of how Australians eat) and the mini kitchens in North America being much more health conscious, America is STILL the fattest country in the world. Australia comes in 3rd. Seriously, America, if the Aussies can eat all this crap and only be second runner up in fatty pants competition, then WTF are all of you eating?

Anyway, the rest of the day went along pretty smoothly. I was able to get a SIM card for my phone but unfortunately it still isn't activated yet. I definitely am beginning to recognize my reliance on my phone having not had one for the last few days, particularly because almost everything that I need to start doing here (getting an apartment, updating my forwarding phone numbers and addresses, etc.) requires the use of a phone.

Regardless, after my first day at the office, I threw on my back pack, looking every bit the 8 year old I did in the morning, and headed home. On my way home, I got checked out by a small group of boys who must have been about 17 years old. I was a little embarrassed cause this confirmed I looked about as young as I felt I did, but on the other hand...hey, I still got it. My commute home was equally as pleasant as in the morning as I also was able to take in these views...




Got back to my apartment, and began to see the value of having the keycard control all of the lights since all I had to do when I walked in was drop the card in and my entire apartment lit up, as opposed to me having to go around and turn each light on individually. This also makes sense that when I leave and take the key, they all turn off. Maybe there's more to that whole idea than I originally thought.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to continuing my adjustment. Tomorrow we have an all day team off-site that from what I understand will involve us going to Bondi, playing lawn bowling, which is essentially bochi ball and then going to dinner. Oh yeah, and drinking the whole time. I think I'll fit in just fine with this team.

ARRIVED!!!

So I'm here! Staying at the Medina Grand Apartments Harbourside, right in Darling Harbour. Though it wasn't so easy to get in here. Pics of my digs below, story of my trip below that...






The trip wasn't too bad overall. I was able to make it through one movie before passing out completely on the plane, courtesy of a few Tylenol PM's, then I woke up as breakfast was being served, fell back asleep and then was woken up by a flight attendant who told me I had to put my seat back in the upright position to prepare for landing. Besides having to sleep sitting up, it wasn't a bad experience at all.

On my way to baggage claim, I walked through the duty free shopping area. I was warned in advance that booze is expensive and if I had a poison of choice, I should get it here. Naturally, I got a set of Absolut Vodka bottles, which in american dollars were NOT a bargain, but for over here, I guess it's pretty good. I got to baggage claim, got both of my bags immediately (Thank God, no luggage left behind like last time) then I got in line to exchange the cash in my wallet for Australian money. I had $97 american dollars and when I exchanged them, I only got $87 Australian dollars. Who do I blame for this? America for having such a weak stupid dollar? The guy exchanging my money for having way too high of fees? Either way, I feel ripped off.

I went outside to get a taxi and immediately noticed how nice the weather was. It was only about 7am at this point, but it was warm. Not too warm. Just beautiful, perfect weather. This made me happy. The 7500 person long line for a taxi I immediately spotted after did not.

45 minutes (and $47 Australian dollars) later I was at the Grand Medina Hotel. I went to the desk to check in and the guy couldn't seem to find my reservation. He questioned if I was sure I was at the correct Grand Medina. This was not what I wanted to hear, especially after a 14 hour plane flight and wearing the same clothes for going on 24 hours. I was jet-lagged, tired and smelled like feet. I wasn't completely sure of my name, much less if I was in the correct location. I told them if I had internet access, I could pull up my confirmation number. They informed me of where I could find a pay-computer to use the internet.

I paid the $1 for ten minutes, and pulled up my confirmation number. I wrote it down but then realized I had 9 more minutes to surf the internet. I checked my email. In my email, my phone backs up my text messages so I was able to see that right at 10:36PM the night I left, I had gotten a text from someone that said 'Goodbye.' Maybe it was the Tylenol PM induced delirium I was in, maybe it was the amount of overall sheer exhaustion I was experiencing, or maybe it was because I smelled so bad that it was literally making my eyes water. Whatever it was, I burst into tears again at seeing this. In that moment, when I saw that text, something about my move seemed so final. Around this point, my 10 minutes of internet time elapsed and I had to go back to the front desk. Jet-lagged. Exhausted. Stinky. And now crying. I don't think I'll be winning any 'guest of the month' awards from these front desk guys. I gave them my confirmation number. Still nothing. This was not a good sign. Just as I was about to make sure these front desk guys thought all americans were unstable cry babies, another front desk guy jumped in and realized I had been pre-registered (whatever the hell that means) and wasn't in the normal reservations. But the good news here is that I was in the right place. Thank God.

I'm not sure if it's just cause I'm so out of it, but it has still been relatively challenging to figure things out since I've gotten in the room. At first I thought every single light and plug in my place was broken, until I discovered you have to put your door key in a holder near the front door to make them all work. Definitely never seen anything like that before. I'm definitely a little out of it now and not confident that what I'm writing right now even makes sense so I will update later...maybe once I've had a nap.

At the airport...

I'm writing this post from the gate at the airport. It still doesn't seem totally real. I'm *SO* excited for what is ahead of me but at the same time, am having a really hard time containing my tears because I'm sad to be closing this chapter of my life, and it has been a great one.

I've had a ton of great things happen to me in San Francisco. I've met wonderful people, created so many memories and overall been so ridiculously fortunate to have gone through everything that I did. It is truly one of hardest decisions I've had to make to leave this city and this life that I've created, but I know I would have always regretted it if I didn't take this opportunity and as someone very wise once said to me 'you can always hit the reset button.'

I spent my final day in California with Dan. We drove down to Pescadera which was beautiful. We walked on the beaches, explored a sandstone cave, had some 'world famous' soup from a little place down there, and we also got some pie of theirs which is supposed to be 'world famous' but I just remembered that I left it in his car. I guess I will never know if the Ollieberry pie is all it's cracked up to be (or what Ollieberry is or tastes like for that matter.) It was really nice to take in some parts of California that I hadn't previously had a chance to see. It makes me a little regretful that I probably never fully taken advantage of all of the beauty that was around me for 2 1/2 years, but the best thing I can do with that regret is apply it to this new chapter of my life, and make sure I explore everything that I can in Sydney.

Well, they're boarding at my gate. It's time to wipe away my tears, get on the plane, and in a few plane movies time, a few tylenol PM's affects and 14 hours from now, I'll be starting my new life. I'll finally be doing what the name of this blog suggests and what the reason I started writing this blog in the first place was; returning to Australia. Catch you all on the flip side! :)

Just for laughs...

Shortest week of my life

This is the shortest week of my life. Literally. Not only does it feel like the shortest week because every single day I have so much to do, and there are still so many people I want to see, but also literally, because I leave this Friday, April 9th for Sydney and I arrive in Sydney on Sunday, April 11th. I will have no April 10th this year. This week is literally one day shorter for me than any other week in my life.

Last night consisted of laundry, organizing what will go and what won't, cleaning, having my old roommate come through to measure her carpet and getting a garage door opener back. In the midst of my cleaning, I found the fortune from a fortune cookie on my dresser that is posted above. 'An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting.' This must be like the Nostradamus of all fortune cookies. How did it know? This one is way more accurate than most of the other ones I get. Most fortunes I have gotten are either terrible or barely can be qualified as a fortune. Let's review some other fortunes of the past...

"Don't forget, you are always on our minds." -Okay, stalker. Who okay'ed this creepy fortune so it make its way into my cookie? Especially since this the identity of fortune writer is anonymous, this is very reminiscent of George Orwell's '1984', 'Big brother is watching.' I think I got a little more paranoid after I got this fortune. Epic fortune cookie fail.

"Smiling often can make you look and feel younger." -I thought this was supposed to be a fortune cookie. Not a self help book. Or a WikiHow page. Getting a fortune like this leaves me feeling very unsatisfied and disappointed. Every time I go to crack open a fortune cookie, I get excited, kinda like a kid on Christmas morning. Then usually, once I open it and discover some crap like this, I feel like that same kid on Christmas, except right after I opened my present where I expected to find a sweet new bike, I find that I have gotten a membership to a cheese of the month club.

"Look for new outlets for your own creative abilities." -Again, cookie, I want you to be my fortune teller, not my guidance counselor. Don't pretend to be something you're not. No one likes a phony.


Anyway, I could clearly go on and on about how wise this particular fortune cookie was, but I digress. Going back to how short this week feels, when you're looking at a hard, imminent deadline in the face, and you have so many things to accomplish before that deadline hits, every moment feels more urgent. In my head, I imagine it being the cartoon equivalent of when some cartoon character is tied down on a conveyor belt, headed towards a buzz saw, and needs to make absolutely every second count to try to escape his predicament. Probably a poor metaphor to make, particularly because Sydney is by no means a buzz saw, but the conveyor belt makes a good metaphor for time, in that it is just going to keep moving forward, at the same pace, whether you like it or not, and all I can do is try to take what is left of my time on this conveyor belt, before the belt ultimately ends at SFO airport, to get everything done I need to and make the most of it.

That said, I should probably not be wasting my precious remaining 'conveyor belt' time, as I will now refer to it, blogging and instead focus my attentions on the tasks I have at hand. Especially since this week is only getting shorter.

Updates...

So Ben arrived here safely, as you probably already know, but no guarantees he's going to leave the same way. When he arrived and I tried to put him to work, he quickly vetoed most of the tasks I asked him to do and requested my credit card. Mom and Dad, I blame YOU for his insubordination.

DAY 1:
When I was getting ready for work, Ben was also up, bright and chipper! (I'm cursing the east coast time change right now). As I was getting ready he, in no particular order, tried to put a fanny pack on me and insist I wear it all day and act totally normal, took off his shirt and flexed behind me in the mirror while I was putting on make up, let me know that my toothpaste is not ADA approved and kicked me and yelled 'THIS IS SPARTA!!!'

After his leisurely morning of drinking coffee at a coffee shop, surfing the web (probably for porn) and other such hard labor he decided to grace me with his presence and into Google for lunch.



Look how hard he's working! In the massage chair behind me while I was at my desk, slaving away.

When I got home from work, I was running around, trying to pack and get things ready to go. Ben watched TV, occasionally looking up to admonish me for not paying attention to him, and for packing too much. He also informed me that the one task I had asked him to do, which he said he would do (going through the fridge and throwing out old condiments) he had not done since the condiments 'all still looked good.' I gently explained that this was not the point and since I am leaving in a week, it is doubtful I will be involved in any sort of dare that requires me to ingest a full refrigerator door of condiments.

Day 2:
I wake up and can already hear that Ben is up in the living room. I'm really looking forward to when he adjusts to West Coast time. I get in the shower to start to get ready. When I get out, I see that my bedroom door is wide open. I know it was definitely closed before. Ben is sitting on the couch, trying to look like an angel. I am in sheer terror. I go to look at my phone and notice it has been removed from its charger and is nowhere to be found. I go out to the living room to ask Ben what he did with my phone, to which I only get the response, 'Warmer, warmer, oh, colder, you're so cold right now, you're in Antarctica...'. Eventually I find my phone shoved in a rolled up carpet. Ben says 'Great! You found it. Now you can go find your laptop.' He insists this is all an April Fools joke, but I really see it as him taking and hiding my shit.

I am only half kidding about killing him, since I do love my baby brother very much. Of course, we're only 1.5 days in, and I'm only half kidding so we'll see where the rest of the week takes us.

Anyway, the rest of my morning was pretty hectic at work, but on the bright side, my team gave me a gift certificate and a little plant as going away gifts. The little flower was wilting when I got it but I watered it and put it by the window and look at it now!



Unfortunately I can't take it to Australia cause of customs, but isn't it pretty? :)