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It's the Weekend!

I just finished week 3 of law school! What a nice feeling to have the weekend come around again. After class tonight I went with my friend Mel (she's the dual citizen from San Fran) to the Clare Hotel to meet up with her boyfriend and a few of his work friends for some post work Friday afternoon beverages. It was very fun! Here in Australia, if you see places like Cooper Hotel, Clare Hotel, Marlborough Hotel, these are actually pubs or bars. So when you come to visit me, keep that in mind!

It was nice to relax after the week, and then I walked back to my house in the pouring rain, which surprisingly was also nice. I don't mind walking in the rain if I'm heading home, but it's the worst when you get soaked heading TO somewhere as opposed to FROM somewhere. So I was drenched when I got home. I could have taken the bus but it's so warm here, the rain doesn't leave you chilled, it leaves you refreshed!

When I got home Chaska (the 13 year old daughter of my landlord) had two friends over and they were very hyper and being teenager-y. One of her friends is named Ra. I said, "Ra, like the sun god Ra?" "Yep!" Wow. I am sure getting exposed to some interesting folk in this lovely place I call home! (Thanks Mom and Dad for NOT naming me Ra.)

Here's a photo of me studying with Mel. Just so you know I do actually study here. I don't just go to bars for after work beverages and converse with children named after Egyptian gods.


(Ok..we may or may not be fake studying...but I still think it counts...)

And on a sidenote: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Hockey Morning in Australia!

I was up bright and early on Monday morning to get ready to watch the hockey game!! I had been to the semifinal at a bar near Darling Harbour (fancy touristy area of Sydney), and there were lots of Canadians at that one, and we knew it'd be even BIGGER for the gold medal game! No matter that it meant waking up at 5am, leaving the house at 5:30am, and meeting Marie at 6am to head to the game! We arrived about 6:30am and there were already a ton of people there, but we got some good seats with a clear view of the HUUUUGE screen!



Plenty of people dressed up in Canada gear, facepaint, and wigs!! And flags too! It was very exciting even though I was so tired. (I'm still getting used to my new digs, and it was quite windy all night and all the trees and branches scrape against all sides of what me and my friends call my yurt. It pretty much is a yurt. Ha ha. So I didn't have the most restful sleep, which is the point of this aside.)

We met up with Jason from our law program, who is "mad about ice hockey" and plays for a local Sydney ice hockey team. I now have to refer to hockey as "ice hockey" because there is field hockey here that's way bigger so if you say just regular ol' hockey everyone assumes you mean that! So "ice hockey" it is.
Jason was excited to finally have a use for his Crosby jersey..he got it last year and had never worn it!


Everyone was totally pumped for the game! It was amazing.


Marie and I got these wigs from Go Lo, which is a dollar store that Marie found in the mall near uni. How great are they!!


We were all pretty excited nearing the end of the third period. We thought we had it in the bag! But then, The US scored, and the entire bar was in a state of shock!! (except the six people that were actually cheering for the Americans). We couldn't believe it! It was heartbreaking.

We still had faith though. Jason said that Crosby would do something great, and we just had to be patient. (Jason is the Aussie, you'll remember). And he was right!! When Crosby scored, it was pandemonium!! We were sooo excited, we were hugging strangers, and then Marie burst into tears, which totally made me burst into tears! We waited for the medal ceremony, and the whole bar sang along to our national anthem. It was so great. If I couldn't be in Canada for it, the James Squires Pub and Brewhouse on Darling Harbour was where I wanted to be!!

Here is Marie celebrating the win!!



I love CANADA!!


After the game we had class!! It was a busy day! I was very thrilled to be Canadian that day! As I am every day in Australia..but especially because WE WON GOLD!!!

I have an American friend and I made sure to text her to rub it in!!

Flatmate Family Foto

Goodbye, The Aussie and The Aussie 2!! I'll miss you!

Last Night in Manly

It's about midnight on Friday, and it's my last night in Manly staying with The Aussie and The Aussie 2. We've had some good times over the past four weeks, and I will miss them and of course the beach! It won't just be a hop, skip, and a jump to lie out on the sand with my readings. Instead, it'll be a twenty minute bus ride. You see, Coogee Beach isn't too far from Newtown, and although it's no Manly, it's still pretty great! So even though I'm leaving my beach paradise, other beaches are never far away.
And neither is Manly, really. I'll be back to visit.

But the fact that I've been here for a month already blows my mind! It sure doesn't feel like that. Everything has gone so smoothly, it's been wonderful. I hope this trend continues.

Tonight I was invited to dinner and a movie with the Canadian couple, Bob and Sue, that I met a few weeks ago at the English Conversation night. We first had a drink during sunset at a little bar overlooking Manly Wharf, which was amazing. Then we went to the Wood and Stone high class pizzaria and had tandoori pizza and potato and bacon pizza! Both were delicious. Then we rented The Castle, which is a famous Australian comedy that is well known and well loved. It was really fun. As I was leaving they were finding things to give me, because they are just in Manly a few more weeks. I got a vegetable steamer, which is cool! And the best thing is that Bob gave me his laser printer! It was so great!

I was completely spoiled by them, and the conversation was really great and they were so interested in hearing about law school and offering me advice about school and life and Australia. So I am happy that I met them and we already talked about getting together again in December when they return. How fun to make a plan that far in advance, knowing that I actually will still be here then. It's a little bit hard to wrap my head around!

I survived week 2 of law school as well. It's great to really appreciate and not take for granted weekends. When I got back from the movie I hung out with The Aussie and The Aussie's Godmother From Portland's Colleague, a nice gentleman who is crashing on the couch for two nights. He is sooo excited to be in Australia, it's great! Life has become so normal for me here sometimes I forget that I am in Australia. So it's nice to see someone else who's freshly off the plane to realize how amazing it really is.

I move tomorrow to my wee jungle. I hope the living situation works out well. I'm a little nervous just because I got really comfortable in Manly with The Aussie and The Aussie 2 and starting something new again may take some getting used to. But it's all part of the process.

I've missed every single Olympic event, including the hockey games. BUT, after we thumped Russia, I celebrated by bringing Quatchi to the beach and wearing my Canada bikini!




GO CANADA GO!!!

A wee glimpse of aspects of my new place!

I went to my new apartment today to drop off the bond and pick up the key. (A bond is basically a security deposit) Mel wasn't there yet, but we were in contact via text, and she said she'd be there momentarily. I rang the doorbell and some Chinese cleaning people opened it, and I said I was the new tenant and could I come in and wait? That wasn't a problem. I then sent a text to Mel telling her I hope it was ok that I was let inside, ha ha.

Anyway, while I was waiting to give her the bond money I snuck a couple photos of two aspects of the place that I love.

The first, is Mohika! Check her out! She's three, and was very excited to see me again and she hung out on my lap just like Maggie does, so I really like that!


The second, is the jungle I will be living in! You can't even see my bedroom, but it is in the back there..if you walk a bit further you'd come upon it suddenly! Which I think is sooooo cool. I took the picture from the back door, so that gives you a sense of the wildness of the place!



Then Mel came home and we chatted for a bit and she said she was very excited to have me move in and asked about my family. I told her all about everyone and then she said that while I'm living there they can be my very own Aussie family. So I thought that was nice! Then while we were chatting, a bird came in through the doggie door at the back and started to hop on the kitchen counter! Mel yelled "Get out, ya cheeky bugga!" and the bird ran back outside through the doggie door! It was basically amazing! Ha ha. Oh the joys of life in Australia!! It's just normal for a bird to come into the house and try to find food and stuff! I love it!

Weekend Off!

So I survived my first week of law school. Although I do have an "assessment" tomorrow, I really enjoyed my weekend free of 6 hours of classes! On Friday night we finished class at 6pm and it was soooo freeing to not have to think about anything for a few hours that night! Marie came with me to check out a potential place to live in Newtown (I may have already blogged about this), and I ended up getting it! And I'll move in next Saturday!

I'll be living with a woman and her 13 year old daughter, and they seem really neat and fun and slightly eccentric, but in a harmless and socially fine way. The place is very neat, and very impossible to explain, so maybe when I go on Tuesday to drop off the bond I'll try to take a few photos. Or else you'll just have to wait until Saturday when I move in!

Funnily enough on Thursday night The Aussie and The Aussie 2 asked if I wanted to live with them longterm because we are all getting along so well. I told them I would let them know. And then I saw this place the next day and it seems great and is much closer to school (a ten minute bus ride rather than an hour and a half commute) and I'll have my own big room with use of the kitchen and living room. But truly I will miss Manly!

It's a great place to be and I'm happy I could enjoy it for my first month in Australia! And of course it's been really fun getting to know The Aussie and The Aussie 2, so I will definitely miss them. I'll still come back and visit of course, maybe on weekends when it's glorious weather and I can enjoy the beach!

On Saturday I went to breakfast with The Aussie and a whole group of his friends, and that was quite fun. Then I did some reading on the beach, it was gorgeous weather and has been 30 degrees all weekend (even at 8pm tonight it was still 29 degrees) but the humidity has been really low, which makes it much more tolerable. And of course the ocean breezes come through the apartment all the time so it never feels too hot. I wonder how hot Newtown will be in comparison. I'll invest in a fan if need be (no air conditioning to speak of as a general rule in people's homes!).

Saturday night I went out with The Aussie and a different set of his friends, and that was also really fun! We went to the Manly Skiff Sailing Club, which is a members only club but if you live further than 5km from it, you get in for free. And it is right on the wharf, and we went when it was still light and then watched the sun set from the patio, and it was amazing. Then we headed to some little hole in the wall bar in Manly that is well loved (one of the couples we were with had their impromptu engagement party there) but is closing down! So it was the last night on Saturday. So that was enjoyable too, as I hadn't been out in Australia yet!

Today was pretty low key, it was gorgeous out again and I woke up early and went for a long walk along the beach...so many people were out enjoying the day. Manly gets really busy on weekends, as people from the city come for a day trip to enjoy everything! So the locals get sort of annoyed, especially those locals trying to find parking, as was the case with The Aussie 2 this afternoon.

The boys put the room up on Craigslist to rent out, because I let them know that I'm moving out...so we had about six people come through to look at it today, and they selected a friendly German girl as my replacement. So I guess she'll move in on Saturday! She's really nice, a student going to Macquarie University, which is a school a little closer to Manly. The turnover of tenants is very high in Australia, that they put the ad in last night, and have their new flatmate chosen already! And they got tons of calls and emails, but just chose six to come and look at it. That's another reason I'm grateful that I was able to find housing without too much trouble, because I've heard horror stories!

Ok I best be heading to bed now. I have an "assessment" in the morning (our lecturer was adament not to think of it as an exam) so I have to be fresh! And then he has given us Tuesday off, which is great. I'm going to stay in Newtown tomorrow night and hang out with Marie and Sarah, so that should be fun.

Here's a funny photo for your enjoyment. My friend Chris sent me flowers on Valentine's Day with a really nice note that he hoped I was settling in well and that the flowers would brighten my day. Of course The Aussie and The Aussie 2 were incredulous that I got flowers from Canada, but then they agreed that they were very nice and really added a nice touch to the apartment. (I think it was also good for when people came to look at the place!) Anyway, The Aussie is a photographer, and he wanted to get some shots of the flowers before they died...they've lasted quite awhile in this weather which is great!

So I took a photo of The Aussie taking a photo:


And here's the photo: