CVD in Sydney

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noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:47:00 +0000

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It's the Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:15:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:18:00 +0000

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

Last Night in Manly

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:59:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:29:00 +0000

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:

Sydney Harbour

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:39:00 +0000

Hello all,

Here's a video I made of my first day in Australia, when I took the Manly ferry from Manly to Circular Quay. You all get to experience me seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House for the first time!

Here's the video:
Click Here for the video!

School is busy, so I don't have time to say much more. But life is good, and I'm surviving and more or less thriving! It's Friday which is great! That means the weekend is coming up, and I can catch up and prepare for my exam (a case analysis) on Monday. Oh joy! I am really enjoying everything though. It's a ton of work, but I'm meeting interesting people, and the living situation is going well (I have The Aussie and The Aussie 2 hooked on the Winter Olympics) so life is good! I can't believe I've been here almost three weeks already!

Law School has commenced!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:50:00 +0000

Well, I'm officially in law school! Survived day 2 of Foundations of Law which is a month long intensive course for the graduate entry students (people with an undergraduate degree already). I had six hours of class today. I was up at 6:15am, left the house at 7:15am, caught the 7:30 ferry and was on campus by 8:35am. Had class until 6pm, then got back to Manly about 7:30pm. So I'm pretty tired. And I get to do it all again tomorrow!

It's good so far though! Steep learning curve, which I was ready for. I haven't been in school for four years, so that's an adjustment too. Way too many readings, of course. But add to that the fact that I'm NOT in Canada doing my law degree...I really have to focus on the lecturer to understand his Australian accent. He discusses landmark cases and legislation that every Aussie knows to prove points (but that I, having been in the country for two weeks, am unaware of). I'm sort of scared to talk in class still. Things like that!

But I'm really enjoying the content (Did you know Australia doesn't have a Bill of Rights? Nor is there a right to legal representation if you can't afford it...) and I'm meeting lots of interesting people. I will be happy for the weekend though, I will have time to breathe!

Time for bed! I have half an hour on the ferry each morning though where I can do some readings...except when we pass between Sydney Harbour Heads because the ferry "experiences more movement than usual. Please remain seated or hold on to something while we pass the heads". So I can't read during that part of the journey or I might throw up! Part and parcel of studying in Sydney!

Olympics: An Australian Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:51:00 +0000

I went over to Marie's yesterday afternoon to watch the Opening Ceremonies. We were pretty pumped up for them! We had on our Canada shirts, I had tattoos, she bought Tim Tams...we were ready! Tim Tams aren't Canadian obviously, they are a famous Australian cookie/chocolate bar/wafer. And they really are delicious. I hadn't had them until yesterday, despite everyone who has been here encouraging me to.

Anyway, we watched and were very proud to be Canadian! I would periodically yell at passersby "Go Canada Go!", and would be met with confusion, as people here don't really care about the Olympics. Which is fine.

The Aussie and The Aussie 2 ceaselessly mock me about the lack of snow, whether Canada's hockey team will win gold, things like that. It's funny though. For instance, I'll walk into the room and The Aussie will say "The Aussie 2, I reckon the gold medal ice hockey match will be between Finland and Russia, thoughts?" "Ah yes The Aussie, but I heard Switzerland is strong, so they are gonna have to fight hard!" And I get angry. And they just love to torture. But it's fun. The actual term for this is "taking the piss". Interesting phrase.

The longest and most boring part was of course when the athletes come in. It was exciting when Australia entered since we were watching in Australia..somber when Georgia entered for obvious reasons, and then SOOO exciting when Canada entered! I made a little video of it, which I will hopefully post soon. It's very interesting NOT to be in Canada during a year that Canada hosts. It's quite a different perspective!

The problem with the coverage is that of course they mostly just follow their Australian athletes (20 men and 20 women), and so I don't know who to look for and watch for Canada..if they are in a heat of something, then it's exciting to catch a glimpse but it's definitely not the focus! It's very interesting!

Here are some photos.

English Conversation. Enrolment. Steak.

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:41:00 +0000

On Thursday night I went to The Aussie's church to volunteer for English Conversation. There are lots of "new" Australians as well as tons of language schools in Manly, so there are lots of people that want to work on their English skills. And honestly, not sure they want to work on them with Australians. Ha ha. Every English as a second language person I've spoke to finds it very difficult to learn and communicate with Aussies. Oh well. Anyway, so I showed up to have some conversation. We were put into little groups.

I had Moui from Laos, and May from Korea. Both were around my age. Moui lives here with her Australian boyfriend, and May has been here for about a year learning English at a language school. We had a great time!
It was very informal, so it didn't feel like I was teaching at all. And we are all so different and all not Australian, so it was fun discussing the weird things we find about the place and how it compares to our "home" country. We discussed how one becomes a lot more patriotic when one isn't in their own country. Perfect example is how excited I am for the Vancouver Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, which is on in just a few hours.

Before the "class" started, I was sitting beside a couple in their 60s. I heard them say they were Canadian, and I asked where they were from. They said Edmonton. They then asked me where I was from. I replied, Stratford. They both got very excited and said "Bob grew up in Stratford! On Norman St.!" So after that it was all very exciting! He left in 1967, so didn't know our family, but it was still awesome! He grew up on Norman St., still has a mother living on John St. And his sister also lives on John St. I honestly bet at least one of them has a bed and breakfast!

Ha ha it was fun! (For those that don't know, John St. and Norman St. are but a block away from our house). After the English Convo class was over, they came up to me and invited me out to dinner next week! So that is very exciting! I like when things like that happen; it makes the world seem very small!

So my girls were very nice and thought I was funny and stuff which was good. I got a photo with them after and told them to come next week! (Unfortunately, I now have class until 6pm on that day, so I won't make it back in time..but hopefully they still go!)

Then Friday was a BIG day for me: Enrolment! I would finally register to become part of the Law Faculty, and get my timetable for the weeks to come. My first month here is a Foundations of Law intensive, and it begins two weeks before the real semester starts for everyone else. I have known this for awhile, but didn't know what group I was in for seminars, and didn't know times either. So I enrolled, got my photo taken (both for participation marks, and for my student card).
It's weird here. They take your picture and then mail your student card to an address two weeks later. They don't have those machines that just pop the card out right there. I'll decide that it's because the card itself is way more high tech, not just that the university itself is low tech. Ha ha.

I asked to see my picture after he took it, and it is decent. He was laughing, though, that I asked. But come on. It's going to be my ID for the next three years, I can't be blinking in it or anything!

So we enrolled, which was actually pretty easy and didn't take very long, but it had been built up in our minds for so long that it was good the day was there! Marie met another Canadian, Charlie, and a guy from Singapore, Jonathan. She was so cute and so happy to be meeting new people! So we hung out with them for a bit, showing them where the bookstore was and where they can get their 900 page printed .pdf file of the coursework. We then went to their rez (International House) and saw their rooms. It made me happy I'm not living on campus! Way too much like first year undergrad for my liking! Not that I even have a better option at this point...but still.

I feel like I can come up with something that better suits my needs. But it was great to meet some new people in the law program. They were super nice, super excited, and not as young as I thought (24 and 25). I have a fear that I will be surrounded by 20 year olds...because I took four years off between my undergrad and this.

Ok this is getting a bit rambly. The point is, I have my schedule, and I start school on Monday!

Oh yeah The Aussie came back from his week long camping trip with his Year 7s (12 year olds). He called me on his way back and asked if I wanted to go for steak with him and Rob (an old flatmate from Ireland). As soon as he said the word "steak", I was in! And then he said it was a $10 steak with salad and chips (chips = fries). And I was DOUBLY in! So he came home and we got ready to meet Rob. It was fun. And the steak was super good. A $10 steak can potentially be sketchy some of the time, but it was really good last night. Then I started to feel really sick so I just went back to the apartment while The Aussie met some of his friends at Wharf Bar (which is a bar, on the wharf). Ha ha.

I'm heading to Newtown (where Marie lives) soon to watch the opening ceremony! Should be good. Then later this afternoon I am going to *hopefully see two potential places to live. We'll see if either of them pans out! Both are in Newtown, which is the neighbourhood I want to be in.

Oh yeah on Thursday I also walked around the Royal Botanic Gardens. Absolutely beautiful. A little lonely, though. It will be nice to go with other people another time!

Beach Studying

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Just in case you all thought it was fun and games around here...I am doing work!

I just happen to be doing said work whilst (Aussies love saying whilst) on the beach!

I'm still here!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:50:00 +0000

I haven't blogged in a few days. But have no fear, I am here. The internet situation has been a little bit sketchy of late. The Aussie and The Aussie 2's internet slowed riiiiight down because they used up the 15GB limit for the month, or something. (As far as I know it's not unlimited like it is in Canada, which seems to be the general rule everywhere..even at uni you can just use 5MB of data a day, and then you have to pay for more! It's weird.) So anyway, I am at the beautiful Manly Library right now paying 1.10AUD/hour to use fast internet. And I am ok with that, considering a bottle of water costs $2.50.

There are many things to tell. On Saturday The Aussie and I headed to Warringah Mall. It was my first time (other than the cab from the airport) driving around in Australia. What a weird experience! We did roundabouts. We did weird right hand advanced turns. We sailed through yellow lights. Apparently, here (or at least while The Aussie drives), yellow does NOT mean stop. Haha. The mall was beautiful, as is everything else here. It's sort of outside, yet not outside. And there are trees growing in the middle of it. Perhaps I'll go back and take some pictures at some point. It was rainy that day, and we had to walk through the rain between stores sometimes! It was so funny! It's sort of hard for me hanging out with The Aussie mostly because everything is funny and weird to me but at the same time I don't really want to be a tourist (I am here for three years afterall) so I try not to exclaim at such things. But come on, it was raining INSIDE the mall!

I also bonked into someone turning right around a corner. The Aussie said, "That happened because you're Canadian." Ha ha. Because here you'd never turn right on the inside, because there are always cars and/or people that you'd be used to going around. I'm starting to get used to it,though. I now always "walk left" and on escalators hang out on the left so people can pass me on my right.

I finally got my phone working, too. I am just on a prepaid plan right now since I needed a bank statement from one bank and an ATM card from another in order to get on a contract. I said to the guy, I've been here a week. I'm not Australian. Why do I need more than one bank account? It was rather frustrating but hopefully there's another way that I will find out later. Lots to get used to here!

Let me just say now how thankful I am that everything is working out with Marie. She really is awesome, and we hang out tons! We joke about how great it'll be when we actually make other friends... ha ha. No but it really is great. She came to Manly yesterday morning to watch the Superbowl, which started at 10am on Monday morning. SO WEIRD! It was the first sunny day since the day I arrived, too...but it was worth it to be watching/listening to the Superbowl and knowing that Florida is sort of close to Canada. Well, closer than we were anyway. We were originally going to watch at my apartment but figured we'd see if bars were showing it. We went to the place where The Aussie recommended us for dinner a few nights ago, but it was already packed. So we headed to the sketchy looking New Brighton Hotel instead. It was awesome. Quite an eclectic selection of folk, which is the best part! I had a beer, because it was Superbowl Sun/Monday, and not because it was 10am.

Afterwards we headed to school and got more things sorted. We FINALLY enrol on Friday which will be good. Everything will be in place to start class on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it! As much as holidying on the beach is great, I am here for a reason, and that reason is LAW SCHOOL. I'm interested in seeing how everything works, how the workload will play out, and I'm excited for the chance to succeed! It sounds corny but starting school is always very energizing.

PS School supplies (along with everything else) are WAY more expensive here. Almost $5.00 for a simple lined notebook. Sheesh!

Today was set to be another beautiful day so we headed to Coogee Beach, one of the many beaches in Sydney. It is relatively close to Bondi Beach (arguably Australia's most famous beach, but definitely not the best one. GO MANLY GO) in the eastern suburbs. Just to orient you: Manly is part of the Northern Beaches. University of Sydney is in the "inner west" and Coogee is in the "eastern suburbs". So it was about a half hour busride from Circular Quay (where the Opera House is) and then we were there! Beautiful, almost empty, glorious. Made us very very happy to be in Sydney! We relaxed, read, swam (watch out for blue bottles!), and ate lunch. We headed back to the city at about 2 and then I headed back to Manly on the ferry.

And now I'm at Manly Library! I'm really enjoying my time here, as I believe I've said before. I've been here over a week already; I can't believe it! I am enjoying slowly easing into Australian life, but look forward to when I can settle in my "own" place and figure out my life. Beach life is great, but it's giving me a false sense of relaxation, I think! The Aussie loves to quote Manly's catchphrase, which is "Manly: Seven Miles from Sydney, A Thousand Miles From Care". It really is true!

I'll attach some pics now! Enjoy!

Friday night in Manly

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:26:00 +0000

Cute kids at Shelley Beach for their swim lessons! All of these kids could swim better than me. They are like fish!!

It's currently Saturday night in Manly, but I thought I'd talk about Friday first! Marie went to McGill, and two girls that were headed to Canberra for a semester abroad, also from McGill, were in Sydney for a couple days. Marie is good friends with one of them, and just met the other one. I only knew Marie. Anyway, they came to Manly to spend the day which was awesome! The weather hasn't exactly been lovely since I arrived. In fact it's been pouring almost the entire time except for my first day here! But that's ok...it is needed. Anyway, we were hoping to get a few hours of sunniness so they would enjoy the beach. Thankfully it worked out! The surf was pretty high at Manly Beach and so the surf was closed (surfers can still surf, but swimmers cannot swim) so I brought them to Shelley Beach. It was very weird to be the one in charge of the day's activities! I'd only been there three days! But it was fun. The sun managed to come out for awhile, and they thought Manly was beautiful so it was good. They are both twenty, and definitely seemed young. So it wasn't like conversation flowed amazingly freely, but that is ok. When you only know two people in Australia, you can't be picky!

It started to rain so we went to a cafe, and then back to the apartment to wait out the rain. We found the channel that was showing Olympic specials! It warmed my heart, honestly! It was filmed last year (when there was actually snow) and almost every single person they spoke to was a Canadian athlete or a Canadian coach or a Canadian judge. So much Canada, it was great! And, oh, that accent! How neutral and lovely! Ha ha. I don't hear it much even with Marie, because she's from France so she has a bit of a French accent. So it was nice to hear again. I didn't realize how much I had missed it!
Lifeguards' surfboards at Shelley Beach:

Anyway, we watched a special where this blonde little Aussie reporter went to Whistler and tried all the events and was basically explaining them to Australians to prepare them for the Olympics. I was happy to see that they will be showing the Olympics on four different channels. Too bad I am already in class when they start, but maybe I can catch a few things! Then we went to a pub for dinner, after calling The Aussie for a recommendation. We didn't want to end up at some sketchy place, we just wanted pub fare and a beer. He sent us to the Ivanhoe, and it was yummy! Funny though, as we were the only girls there. Literally. EVERYONE was in their work shirts and black pants, relaxing with their mates after a day at the office. That's the last time I ask for a recommendation for a couple of 20 year old girls from a 33 year old working professional. Ha ha. It was funny, but the food was good and so was the beer so it was ok.

The two Canberra girls were getting quite tired at around 7pm, so I sent them back to the city on the ferry and wandered around the Corso for a bit. There was some live music playing which was nice and I was just standing listening about to head back to the apartment. A girl with a cruiser bike comes up to me and asks "What is this?" And I told her I wasn't sure. We got to talking, and turns out she was a nice Brazilian model/actress who is in Manly for a month visiting her boyfriend, who is studying English here for three months. She was VERY happy to speak with me, because of my accent. She finds it very, very difficult to speak with Australians, and has only been studying English six months before coming to Australia.

Of course her English was great, which I kept telling her, but she wouldn't believe me. Anyway we had nice chats and she invited me to her apartment in Little Manly, which is about a 10 or 15 minute walk on the other side (like, not the beach where I am). I am craving social interaction at this point, so of course I went! She gave me this weird Brazilian tea which was really weird and yummy. We were going to go on a night bike ride to Shelley Beach to see the animals and things that come out at night (fuzzy ones, not scary poisonous ones) and I agreed to meet her back at her place at 9:30pm. I went back to my apartment and then got a wave of exhaustion, and I couldn't head back out. I called her on The Aussie's phone (I didn't have mine yet) and cancelled, and she was gracious so it was all good. I have her number though so will definitely/hopefully hang out with her again. She's here til the end of February, and I am too.
Me and Aline in her apartment after I enjoyed the weird tea:

Wow this is getting long! Maybe I'll post this and then continue on with today!

Weird yet true.

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:39:00 +0000

The Aussie just poured himself a bowl of uncooked rice. I thought he was going to prepare some delicious meal of some sort, but no. He stuck is iPhone in it. I guess it's so damp and humid here he has to do that occasionally to keep it working. Odd!

I also went cupping again. The Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was awesome. I was wandering around Newtown and saw a sign for it, so I went in and had it done. They do a pretty intense back massage first, to prepare you for the cups. Then they feel for certain pressure points, and then the cups go on! These ones were a little more painful than the ones I had done in Hong Kong, but that was ok. It wasn't excruciating or anything, just a little more of a tug. I think most people that see my back now (as it's so hot out, I am in tank tops and bikinis all day) don't really know what is going on with it. They may assume it's some strange tribal tattoo of some sort. But a few people know what it is. The Aussie knew as soon as I came home, and a few guys at one of the stores asked me about it too in a way that made me realize they knew what it was. So that's good. But I think most don't!

Enjoy the pic!

Manly Beach: Video!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:50:00 +0000

Hello all,

Wow I am doing a lot of blogging. So much to share! Here's a little video I took right after dropping my stuff off at The Aussie's apartment. I walked across the street to this:

Click Here
Just click on the link, you'll be taken to YouTube and then you can see!

What is this?

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:44:00 +0000

I got off the bus close to Circular Quay (where you get the ferries, right by the Opera House) and then walked to Wharf 3 which is where I catch the ferry back to Manly. Anyway, as I was walking by a little grassy area, there were pigeons picking at the ground. Then, I saw this!

It was amazing! Just foraging around in the grass with its crazy weird beak!
When I got home I showed The Aussie the picture, and he had no idea what it was. I said "You don't even know your own wildlife?" Sheesh! So I don't know what it is. But it's neat. Just hanging out in the CBD (Central Business District = downtown) of Sydney!

Day 3 in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:12:00 +0000

Yesterday was my first foray into Sydney. I didn't mention much about going to my campus because I was quite tired, but I will try to remember what happened. I find there are so many new things to see and do that I have to make a conscious effort to note them in my mind so I can talk about them here.

One thing that just popped into my head: The Aussie made a meat pie and then watched cricket. For those that don't know, that is VERY Australian. I read much about the Australian loves of meat pies and cricket so it was hilarious to see it happening in front of my very eyes as I read in the living room.

I love school!

But I digress. Yesterday I saw the University of Sydney campus for the first time, and opened my bank account successfully. There's a branch right on campus, and it was very streamlined and modern looking. For instance, the tellers stand pretty much behind a very sparse desk, there aren't tills of bills or anything. They punch the amount they want into this machine that is between the two tellers and it spits out the money they need. It's all very minimalist actually. And the people that help you open accounts and things are just at an empty desk with LITERALLY only a laptop. Very neat! Very friendly too. I had some good chats while I was there, probably because they are forced to be friendly but also because my accent and lily white skin give me away as a foreigner!

The weather was quite rainy yesterday, though. Not what you'd picture Sydney weather to be like (if you are picturing Sydney weather at all). At one point I was caught under an awning with a group of five Australian businessmen (very tanned and very good looking. I am pretty sure everyone in this country is attractive. Men and women. I honestly have not seen an unattractive Australian yet. Is it something in the water??) who were discussing the issue of grout between the cobblestones on campus. So I learned quite a lot about grout as I waited for the downpour to end. Apparently the grout situation is unacceptable and one of them needs to provide a whole new set of specs to get this matter dealt with speedily and correctly. Who knew!

My commute:

I got back to Manly around dinnertime and The Aussie and I ordered in Thai. Green chicken curry to be exact. It was really good, according to The Aussie it's the worst Thai in Manly, but the cheapest. And I am always happy with the cheapest! The Aussie 2 isn't around very much, I think because he has a girlfriend somewhere else so he hangs out with her. I see him in the morning though on his way to the shower. He says "G'day." It makes my day. Ha ha.

I was pretty tired yesterday as a result of getting up at 5:30am, going into Sydney, running some errands, and getting the ferry back. So I crashed at around 9pm. I am not feeling too jetlagged thankfully. I think I have The Aussie to thank for that. If I had slept that first day, I would probably still be quite exhausted and on a funny schedule.

This morning I got up at about 6am. The Aussie left for work at 6:30am, and I think that's why I woke up because I keep my door open to let the ocean breezes in or else it's too hot, so I can hear everything in the apartment pretty easily. These boys go to bed super early and wake up super early. And when I looked out the window at 6am, there were probably already over a hundred people on the beach. Swimming. Walking. Running. Skateboarding. And it was barely light out! No wonder everyone here looks great.

I was to meet Marie at the front of the Law School building at 9:30am this morning. We finally got in contact and arranged that. Oh whoops, guess she doesn't have a secret name anymore to protect her identity. Anyway, I joined a Facebook group for Sydney Law School, noticed a girl from McGill had posted, and sent her a message and we got in contact and have been corresponding back and forth in the months leading up to our arrival here. So it was fun to meet her in real life. She's very chill and we get along well and we were both saying how happy we were to have eachother to figure everything out!

We went to an International Student Arrivals Orientation session at 10:30, and it was very helpful. Definitely put me in the "You are in school and not here to live on the beach" mentality. Which was quite nice, actually. Starting school is exciting! The possibilities are endless. Reality will hit me soon, however, but for now all of the newness of it all was lovely.

After the Orientation we went to see her apartment, and then had lunch in Newtown. That's the suburb I hope to find a place in. It was very neat! Such a stark contrast from beachy Manly, but in a good, fun and funky way. It makes sense that in such a big city there will be a lot of different areas that each have their own unique qualities.

I got back to Manly this afternoon and then went for a swim at Shelley Beach again. (Was going to go across the street to my beach, but then there was an announcement on the loudspeaker about blue bottles. The Aussie went down to check it out, came back up and said "Nope. You're not swimming here. There are literally hundreds of blue bottles on the beach." He didn't have to tell me twice.) I brought my book and just had a quick dip and then laid on the beach reading for a good while. It was awesome. It's also really neat to just people watch here! Not only because everyone is pretty (ha ha) but just the lifestyle is so different from Canada. Everyone is laid back, out and about, enjoying the weather, enjoying the views, enjoying the water. On my walk back I stopped and watched some surfers which was neat. I hadn't taken time to do that yet. I got that feeling of "Wow, I live in Australia now. Huh!"

I don't think I am lonely yet, which is good. I have a decent amount of social interaction per day, which is key when settling in somewhere.

Sydney!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:14:00 +0000

I ventured into the city today! After I caught up with a lot of you via Skype, email, blog and Facebook, I grabbed the ferry to Circular Quay. From there I took the CityRail to Central Station, and then from Central Station grabbed a bus to my new campus: University of Sydney! It was easy to do, so easy! Everything is in English and it's fast and good. Unlike trying to figure out Guangzhou's public transportation system, which is my most recent foray into foreign city's public transport.

The ferry was so awesome. We came around the bend from Manly and all of a sudden you could see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House come out of nowhere! It was rather breathtaking to tell you the truth. One sees these landmarks often in relation to Sydney (and I saw them even more from my guidebooks and research) so to see them in real life was very awesome. It is after 9pm now, and I've been up pretty much since 5am and I'm feeling tired. So I will post more soon!

I am here!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:18:00 +0000

It is currently 8:18am on Tuesday morning, and I am in Australia! I arrived yesterday at around 11:30am into Sydney. I claimed my baggage very quickly, cleared customs and declared a few items at quarantine (food items to give my future flatmates). They didn't actually bother looking at them though, I just told them what I had brought (Rheo Thompson chocolate, maple syrup and Iniskillin icewine) and then I was good to go. I picked up my "info packet" at the University booth as well. I have yet to look at that. The guy was leaving when I finally remembered to pick up the package, so it was good I caught him before he left! I think they are just volunteer students from the universities that man the booth.

Then I got a cab to Manly. My cabbie was from Southeast Asia somewhere, and had been living in Sydney over twenty years. His accent was incredible because obviously he had an Australian twang but still a heavy Asian accent. It was so neat. The drive to Manly from the airport was gorgeous. We had great discussions about Sydney and what I was doing here, and how he loves the city and how I would love it too. We figured out the address of where I am staying, and then we proceeded to the Harbour Tunnel (as opposed to the famous Harbour Bridge..I will see that today when I take the Manly Ferry into the city) and then meandered through all of these tropical suburbs. It was very surreal. I think that word can aptly describe the time here so far. Surreal.

We arrived in Manly and discussed how we'd get my things up to the apartment. He had to double park and I ran over to make sure the key was in the mailbox hidden under some flyers as previously agreed (thankfully, it was!) so I motioned to him and he parked. Then we brought my things up, I thanked him profusely and I was in the apartment!

It was pretty hot out, for me. Not hot for Manly weather, though. I found my room, and dumped my stuff. My cell phone didn't work though, and I had anticipiated that it would, so that was unfortunate. I had to let my flatmate know (I shall now refer to him as "The Aussie") that I had arrived and was able to get into the apartment. Thankfully, Ben and Jerrys ice cream is below the apartment, and I could connect to their wireless to send a quick message that I'd arrived.

My first impression of the apartment was that it was so beachy!! And that could be because I now live in the beach for the next few weeks. You can hear the waves and you look out any window and there are beach views. Pleasant ocean breezes as well, so it's not too hot and there's no need for air conditioning! I took a shower and then decided to venture out into Manly.

At this point it is about 1:30pm. The Aussie would return home from work at around 4-4:30, so I had some hours to kill without sleeping. The key was to not sleep until as late as possible that evening, so I would get used to Australia time more easily. I decided to go for a walk to explore. Because if I stayed in the apartment I would for sure fall asleep.

Manly is a beach suburb of Sydney. Their motto is "Manly: Seven Miles from Sydney, A Hundred Miles from Care". I would say that is pretty accurate. Most people are wandering around in their bikinis and flip flops (thongs) and lying on the beach and running down the beach and walking down the beach and on their cruiser bikes down the beach. Surfing, too, of course! There's good surfing right outside my window!

I walked down one end of the beach, got to the edge, and then proceeded to walk all the way down to the other side, ending at Shelley Beach. As I walked by I saw a family of lizards/iguanas/not sure exactly so I took a picture, realizing that I really am not in Canada anymore!

Then around 4:30 I wandered back to the apartment. I heard a door close upstairs and there was The Aussie at the top of the stairs, in his boardshorts and towel ready to go for a swim. I found my bikini and was coerced into joining him, even thought at this point I just want to sleep! We walked down to the beach barefoot and he told me a few things about swimming there. Always swim between the flags, because that's where the lifeguards are patrolling. (Actually, this is clearly very important because the nice man from Sydney that I sat beside on the plane said the same thing: "I will offer you one piece of advice for your time here. And that is always swim between the flags."

Then The Aussie showed me what else to watch out for, namely blue bottle jellyfish. There were lots washed up on the shore that we had to avoid as we headed to the water. He said they sting but it doesn't do anything bad except hurt for about ten minutes. Then The Aussie decides that maybe we'll go to Shelley Beach instead because there for sure won't be any blue bottles there. As we're headed to Shelley Beach we hear a child screaming in the water. "Ten bucks says he just got stung" says The Aussie. Nevertheless I was happy to be headed to the other beach.

We head into the water when we arrive and it's absolutely glorious and refreshing and totally clear! I have never been in such clear water. There were big fish swimming around too. Right around us! They were touching my legs and I was getting all sqeamish but trying not to act too freaked out, for obvious reasons. I didn't want to be the wussy Canadian that can't handle some fins touching her legs! But then one touched The Aussie and he was just as bad as me about it, so I laughed and that made me feel better. He said most people don't care but he hates it! Good to know. Then we were sort of getting cold in the water, just chatting about this and that, so we went to dry off and warm up on the beach. (I know I shouldn't even be allowed to say that I was cold in 27 degree weather, but I guess the body acclimatizes quickly!)

We head back to the apartment and have showers. I honestly forgot that the ocean would be salty! I am used to swimming in freshwater, so when I went underwater I was quickly reminded that I am indeed swimming in the sea. At this point it's 5:30pm or so and I am fading. The Aussie is determined that I will stay awake until 8pm, so we head out to have some beers and mussels at a brewery. They were delicious! I'd never had mussels before. We walked around the wharf and The Aussie was showing me things and pointing things out and basically making me walk so I wouldn't sleep. Which in hindsight was a good call but I sure wanted to be in my bed sleeping at the time!

Oh yeah there's also one more flatmate (The Aussie 2, we'll call him) so I met him but he didn't come with us to dinner. He was watching the Pro Bowl on TV. I think. I was in the kitchen area and the boys were on the couches and they were chatting away about cricket and I could not follow the conversation. Then they began to talk about something other than cricket, and I couldn't follow that either. So I realized that it was their Australian accents, not the content! It's strange though; maybe they speak slower to me because I'm new. Fine with me! I'd much rather understand than not undertand!

I managed to stay up until 9pm, then I crashed. It took me awhile to fall asleep because of all the new noises (ocean waves, people talking as they walk on the beach, cockatoos) and because it was hot. But I got a good sleep and got up at about 5:30am when I heard The Aussie waking up early to head to work.

And now I am sitting in the living room enjoying the ocean views! I am going to go into the city today, by ferry. That should be beautiful. I plan on opening my bank account, getting a cell phone plan, and finding a fellow Canadian that is also starting law school. She's arriving this morning, and is staying in a residence on campus so it shouldn't be too hard to track her down. I wonder if jetlag will kick in again later..hopefully I can stay busy until evening again today just to be sure!

T minus 3.

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Well, I'm heading down unda in three days. I'm excited! But I couldn't sleep last night as a result. But it is good excitement, not bad excitement. I have everything in order; it's just a matter of getting on that plane. I hope that keeping you all updated in Oz will be a good little distraction from my studies. (Hopefully a deserved distraction!)

I don't really have much to share at this point, other than it is all becoming a reality. Finally. I have known since the beginning of May that I was accepted at Sydney Uni, and that's certainly quite awhile ago.

I will definitely struggle with missing all my near and dears, but that's part of it all. And I'm going on a big adventure so I'm sure it's a little bit easier for me to be the one going than to be the ones left behind.

Interested in where I'm staying when I arrive? Check it out! I'm staying in Manly, on the beach. Here's a nice shot of my views:

Here's the view from the window of the apartment I'm staying in when I arrive:

Sunrise on Manly Beach from the apartment!

One Month Away...

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:04:00 +0000

It is December 30th. That means that I have officially one month left in Canada before I get on that plane to Sydney! I am pretty excited about it, yet at the same time I can't believe that all the time spent waiting and anticipating has gone so fast! I found out that I got in to USyd all the way back in May, and it has been a waiting game ever since!

There isn't really much I still need to get ready, though. I have my plane ticket, I have my Australian visa, I have done all my health checkups, and I recently found my birth certificate that I thought had gone the way of the world. So I am in good shape! I just need to pack! And not be too nervous!

Of course I still have to go through all the emotional aspects, but I'm refusing to focus on that right now. Plenty of time for goodbyes in the next four weeks!

Welcome to my Australian adventure!

noreply@blogger.com (CVD) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:34:00 +0000

I am heading to the University of Sydney for law school!! I depart Canada on January 30th, 2010, and I can't wait!

Stay tuned as the adventure will soon commence.