Living Abroad

Listen up, people! If you ever wanted to laugh at me, take advantage of this opportunity, because I give you full permission to do so, just this once!

If you didn't already know, the didgeridoo is an instrument played by the Aboriginal people of Australia. And now...by ME! I tried to play a didgeridoo yesterday for the very first time in my life! Alright, so admittedly this is a very weak attempt, but it's my first. And it's hard.

Not too inspiring, eh? One has to have very good lung power to really play. Also, good didgeridoo players have perfected the art of breathing in through their nose and at the same time breathing out through their mouth, in order to keep the sound of the didgeridoo constant and steady. Try to do it - it's nigh unto impossible!

But now, look at what the professionals can do with the aid of some creativity and a drummer:

It has been about three weeks since my last blog post. Three weeks! So for those of you who may have wondered: I have not been eaten by sharks, stranded on a desert island, or run off to Fiji with Wentworth Miller. I have, however, completed the portion of my trip where I live and work in Sydney! That’s right, friends and family, my trip is approaching its last month and I have begun my travels around the country. I have heaps to tell you about my adventures the past few days, but first allow me to give you a rundown on my time in Sydney:

Last Days in Sydney

Since I returned from my Jillaroo experience, life has become…well, life. Sure, I am living in a foreign city, meeting people from all over the globe, and not noticing the melting pot of accents so much as I did initially, but for a while now I have not had any grand adventures or new sightseeing. It’s just me, an apron, and a job near the beach. I’ve loved almost every minute of it, but due to how Americanized Australia is, I have had a hard time truly believing that I am living in another country. Sydney itself…well, it’s difficult to explain how much I can love a city and at the same time not want to make my stay here long term. It’s like New York on a smaller scale. Downside: dirty, crammed with people, impersonal. Upside: no shortage of shopping and basic non-necessities, short distance to the beach and beautiful sights. But even though I will never move here, I hope to visit again and a part of myself will always consider Sydney as a home.

Working at the Beach

I don’t think I’ll ever find a job more suited to me than working as a runner at Gertrude & Alice, a café/used bookstore on Bondi Beach. Essentially, I get paid to work on the beach, eat free food, borrow books at my leisure, and serve what has been voted as “the best chai tea in Bondi.” How I found such a perfect travel job for me, I’ll never know. But perfect it was – and I made some pretty awesome friends from all over the world while working there!

Australian Money

In my young life, I have worked my fair share of cash registers. But until now, they have all been in United States currency. While taking money and making change in Australian dollars took a bit of getting used to, it is quite a bit easier here. Firstly, Aussies don’t have 1-cent pieces. All costs in Australia are in increments of 5. Second, Aussie taxes are required to be included in the published prices. If a drink is $2.50, then you will pay $2.50. Period. I love this – it makes things so much easier when you don’t have to worry about tax! Third, no tipping. Certainly, you may tip if you receive exceptional service, but it is not expected, and you will not be starting an international courtesy war should you not tip your waiter. It makes things so much easier when you go out to a restaurant and know that since tax and tip are not a factor, what you see on the price list is exactly what you are expected to pay.

Canadian or American?

Working in a café/bookstore is a good way to meet people, particularly the locals. I have begun to recognize people by name, and many more by face, and they are coming to know me as well. Many people have struck up conversations with me due to my accent, most by asking me first if I am Canadian. (Some have been more reluctant to guess and simply ask me, “States or Canada?”) When I asked two people why most people guessed I was from Canada, one responded that Sydney attracts more Canadians. The other said I sounded more Canadian because of my speech and word choices. Huh. Who knew? Guess I gotta get me more American slang, yo! Um, or not…eh?

Response to Poll

Thank you Karen, April, Lisa, John & Nathan for your votes on what I should do during my trip! So far zorbing, scuba diving, and jungle swinging have made my list. Unless time, money and bravery allow, I'll probably skip the skydiving, shark diving and ballooning. Stay tuned - I'll be posting updates shortly on my first trip to the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests!

Meet some of my new friends!

These are a few of the ladies I worked with at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore.

If someone refers to The Gap in Sydney, they’re most likely not talking about dressing their kids in preppy clothing or khakis. They may perhaps be referring to the hazardous gap between Sydney trains and platforms. Or perhaps they are comparing the gap in size between their Chihuahua and their neighbor’s Great Dane. OR they could be referring to something else entirely…

Let’s rewind to about two weeks after we arrived in Sydney. See, at about that point, Megan and I were still seeing quite a bit of each other and jointly experienced the unfortunate state of boredom. Moving to a foreign city is bound to be fun, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be right at the first. After settling in, finding a place to live, and beginning our job searches, we had not yet made friends or become familiar enough with our surroundings to know what to do or where to go, particularly after mid-afternoon. (Things close earlier here than they do in the States, despite being in the middle of a city.) After realizing that Megan and I deal with boredom in decidedly different and potentially mutually annoying ways, we determined that something had to be done. And so, armed with our daypacks and good walking shoes, we bought travel passes, allowing us complete access to Sydney’s trains, busses, and ferries for one week. Of course, we didn’t have a clue as to where we were actually going to go, but it turned out to be quite the travel memory in and of itself. Throughout the next several days, we developed a short-lived habit of hopping on and off random buses and ferries without a care as to where they were headed – only making certain that we had a way back. This is the way we first discovered most of the places in Sydney that I described in my Sydney Suburbs posting, including my first ferry view of the Opera House.

On that very first day, we took a bus to a pretty place we later discovered to be Watson’s Bay. Complete with green grass, jagged cliffs, sparkling blue ocean meeting the horizon, and even a little lighthouse on the cliff, it was made for Melanie to visit, yes? I think yes! What made this trip memorable, however, was Megan’s venture over the fence and onto the cliffs themselves. I wasn’t keen to join her (I love life, thank you very much), but as she was set on it, I agreed to take video and pictures. What I didn’t count on was hearing the comments of every person walking past. Bits of conversation such as “foolish girl,” “can’t believe anyone would…” and “did you hear someone died out there?” were enough to cause me to urge her back into the land of the safe and the sane. She’s fine, of course, but the interesting part came a bit later when we relayed our story and pictures to our Aussie roommates back home and Jessica exclaimed wide-eyed, “I think you went to The Gap!”

Apparently The Gap is an Australian cliff where many people have been killed or committed suicide. Saying someone “went to The Gap” is basically another way of saying someone met a tragic and untimely death.

Megan is not allowed on the other side of any kind of fence ever, ever, ever again.

Even if the view is to die for. (Pun not originally intended...but if it can't be used now, then when?)

Before I go on to new and improved Australian adventures, I thought I'd share a few videos from my Jillaroo week!

During our Natural Horsemanship lessons, we learned techniques that Tim used with the horses. It was interesting to see the way he trained the horses to respond to both touch and gestures before riding them, then translating what he taught them on the ground to foot and reign gestures while on their backs. One of the important things I learned was that in training a horse, you don't keep going until you reach the perfect movement. If they make one right step or give one little indicator that they are starting to understand what you want them to do, stop. Go away and let them think. Whether it takes one minute or three hours, the point at which you stop with the horse will teach them more than the amount of time you work with them. Interesting and makes a lot of sense.

So in order to make it fun for us while he showed us a few ways he trained the horses, we played a few games in our Wednesday class. One was a limbo match between us and the horse. If you spot me, pardon the fact that if it were a subject in school, I'd have failed Limbo long ago. But in any case, here is one of our feeble attempts to out-limbo the horse. (We had a music section, but they were slacking during the video. Tsk, tsk.)

On Thursday, we took turns catching and "wrestling" calves (in groups of two or three since the calves were very strong). Here's a video for the sole sake of showing you that despite what you shall soon see, I am not a wimp - these calves are strong! Even Collin and Ben found some difficulty in catching and keeping one.

So in case you wondered how many people it takes to throw a calf to the ground, the answer is two, plus a little time, effort, patience and possibility of failure. For my group, the answer was six. Three to handle the calf, two to direct, and one to take a picture. Hehe, calf wrestling, I fear, also does not seem to be in my future. Good thing I have other aspirations, because otherwise I would have had to try, try again. And that would annoy any self-respecting calf.

I should’ve been a cowgu-url. I should’ve learned to ro-ope and ri-i-ide! Wearing my six-shooter, riding my pony on a cattle dri-i-ive. Stealing a cowboy’s heart, singing those campfire so-ongs – oh, I should’ve been a cowgirl!

Pardon the alteration of Mr. Toby Keith’s song – had to be done, seeing as how I have no actual desire to be a cowboy. So show of hands, who else can say they’ve done everything on that list??? No? I can! Well, except for stealing a cowboy’s heart...but that wasn’t included on the Jillaroo course curriculum, so I haven’t learned how to put that part into practice as of yet. But I did everything else, including strapping a toy gun onto my horse’s saddle so I could have a six-shooter. In case you are utterly and completely lost, allow me to announce that I am now a Jillaroo, otherwise known as an Australian cowgirl. For the past week I have been on a real working farm about an hour out of Tamworth, Australia, learning how to rope, ride, muster sheep and cattle, lasso, crack whips, train horses and even how to sheer and butcher a sheep. I slept in a bunkhouse, ate every meal around a campfire, rolled around in the dirt to catch sheep and wrestle calves, and perhaps most shocking of all, took 3-minute showers - gasp. Some people take these courses for holiday, while others take them for work experience or actual training for working on a farm. It’s a good thing on a resume for someone wanting to work in the Outback.

Since I was away from civilization and therefore without phone or internet connection for the entire eventful week, this blog entry can and will be fairly long. But don’t worry – I included pictures for you visual folk out there!

Day One – 18 Aug 2008

* 9:00 a.m. pickup from our hostel
* Quick stop at a second hand clothing store for work clothes
* Introduction and a cup of tea over campfire on arrival at the farm
* A grooming and saddling up lesson
* A lesson on Natural Horsemanship riding followed by a 2.5 hour ride including bush survival and local bush tucker

There are eleven students in my group, plus the farmhands and the family who own the farm and head the course. Most of my group, farmhands included, are 20-somethings from Australia, England, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Holland, and America. The bunkhouse is separated into two areas, one for students, one for staff, both connected to a common bathroom. The staff does all the cooking, but each of the students has been assigned chores each day, such as dishes or cleaning the bathroom. Every day starts with a 6:30 wake up call, and every mealtime is spent around a campfire with open-air oven cooked meals.

After our morning lessons and lunch, we were each given a horse which will be ours for the duration of our stay. They gave me a pretty white "intermediate rider" horse named Cheeky. They teach Natural Horsemanship here, which is different from the Traditional Horsemanship that I’m used to. No western saddle, no kicking the horse to go faster, and different reign commands than I’ve learned before. Will definitely take some getting used to.

My first impression of Cheeky: Nice horse, shies away from me when I try to touch her head, but follows my basic riding instructions pretty consistently. A little slow downhill and uphill but I’d rather her find her footing than for her to feel rushed and stumble, so I let her take her time.

Day Two – 19 August 2008

* Catch and saddle the horses
* A two hour Natural Horsemanship lesson
* A horse shoeing lesson
* A whip cracking and lassoing lesson
* Play some Natural Horsemanship games with horses
* A barrel race on horseback
* Mustering sheep on horseback
* A talk on sheep health and husbandry, demonstration of tail trimming and neutering a lamb
* A sheep shearing lesson
* Slaughter / butcher a sheep

It was COLD this morning – BRRR! Still, the staff somehow managed to get us up soon after our 6:30 wakeup call. We caught and saddled the horses by ourselves for the first time today, then left them to eat for a two hour Natural Horsemanship lesson, followed by a horse shoeing lesson and whip cracking and lassoing lessons. I’m a pretty good whip cracker if I do say so myself, but lassoing will perhaps be an aquired skill.

My Second impression of Cheeky: She’s Cheeky with a capital “C”. Lets me touch her face now, but still shies away sometimes. Hard to ride when she wants to do her own thing, and she’s also hard to control around other horses. Wants to be in the middle rather than around the edges of the arena like my group was supposed to, which meant that I spent my entire trotting and cantering practice correcting her, not getting any actual trotting and cantering practice. I'm not planning on sending her Christmas cards when all this is done, I can tell you that much.

But I suppose it was a worse day for the sheep we sheered and slaughtered. Lamb stew on the menu for tomorrow…yum!

Day Three – 20 August 2008

* Finish butchering the sheep
* A two hour Natural Horsemanship lesson
* Fencing and yard building
* Pasture improvement

No horseback riding today, but it was a taxing day with heaps of manual labor involved. It makes sense to me now why they started a bit slower this morning (we stayed by the shed and learned how to butcher the sheep we slaughtered the night before) and allowed us a bit more time to relax in the evening. It was definitely needed after tree felling, clearing pastures, and working on building a chicken coop. If anyone thought they’d just be shown how to do these things and not be expected to grab an axe and and shovel and put their backs into it, they were dead wrong! I’m glad we were so hands on though – despite the sweat, dirt, and sore muscles, I learned quite a bit today and had fun to boot! Plus, it was nice to take a semi-nap in the beautiful outdoors during our break!

Day Four – 21 August 2008

* Catch and saddle the horses
* Play some Natural Horsemanship games with horses
* Mustering cattle on horseback
* Yarding and drafting cattle
* A talk on cattle breeds and husbandry
* A lassoing competition
* Wrestling, branding and marking calves
* A demonstration in using working dogs

Yes, that’s right – today I mustered cattle on horseback and roped and wrestled a calf! Yeehaw! It was also our longest ride of the week. We packed our lunches to eat around a mountaintop campfire after we finished mustering the cattle, then headed back to the farmhouse.

Third impression of Cheeky: When checking her back hoof, she brought the side of her metal shoe down hard on my foot and then lifted her tail with the clear intention of farting in my face. On the ride, she attempted to bite and kick several horses. While mustering cattle, she reminded me of a shopping cart that constantly wants to veer right which you have to overcorrect to go left. As if all that weren’t enough, when we finished the first leg of our trip, she tried to headbutt me. Oh, joy. BUT I sensed a clear turning point on our ride back. I think I’m becoming more comfortable with this way of riding, and Cheeky and I were able to work pretty well together by the time we reached the farm. Despite the rocky start (or maybe because of it), I left today’s riding with a sense of accomplishment. I think I feel much better about my ability to keep her under control for tomorrow’s riding.

Day Five – 22 August 2008

* A lesson on maintaining saddlery
* Catch and saddle the horses
* Play some Natural Horsemanship games with horses
* A ride where we take the horses for a trot and canter
* Return to Tamworth YHA around 6:00 p.m. for a big night out

On Wednesday night Becky and Laura hid the radio so that the staff couldn't turn it on to wake us up so early on Thursday. Thinking ahead, they also hid the dinner bell, pots and pans, and anything else that could potentially be used to make noise. In retaliation, the staff made sure that Friday morning we woke to the loudest ruckus of clanging and banging I've ever heard at 6:30 a.m. It was quite funny.

Last day impression of Cheeky: Still a stubborn horse, that’s for sure. But I think now that I’m both more comfortable with this way of riding as well as getting used to her quirks, it was a pretty good day for both of us. Her biggest problem today was getting antsy and wanting to get going when she knew her turn was coming up for barrel racing or cantering practice. I had to reign her in every single time, and not without a struggle. Tim (our instructor & owner of the farm) showed me a few techniques to use with her, and so after getting used to the idea that I would be spending a fair amount of time getting her under control, my riding with Cheeky became more of a fun challenge than a frustration. And as soon as she did what she was supposed to do, I rewarded both of us with some exhilaratingly fast riding.

This day was not without its problems for others, however. During cantering practice, Kate (my new American friend through IEP) fell off her horse. Because she lost consciousness for a moment, she was sent to the hospital by helicopter to get checked out. Diagnosis: mild concussion and a bruised rib. She was walking and talking, but understandably sore and tired by evening. Thankfully, it was her last day and so she didn’t miss out on anything except for our Friday evening out in Tamworth.

Meet some of my new Jackaroo and Jillaroo friends:

Clockwise, starting with top left: Stephen (American), me (American), Andre (German), Danica (Australian), Jannik (German), Tracey (British), Laura (from Jersey?), Becky (Australian), and Marleen (from Norway?). There were more people not in the picture.

And there you have it - my Australian farm experience! Now that I'm back in the city, I still have an urge to look for some cattle to muster. Ah, well. Perhaps a few more Outback adventures will be in store for me during the next three months of my trip.

Alright people! Here is the inevitable blog entry in which I go on and on and on about what I have learned throughout Sydney’s suburbs. Please forgive me if I sound at times like a travel guide, and my feelings will not be hurt should you choose to skim this entry. (Unless you are an immediate family member, in which case you are naturally held to the highest of standards.)

CITY CENTRE

I spent most of my first week in the downtown area, and I still spend time there every couple days because that is where my exchange program office is located. The center of the city is basically where I know I can find $1 sushi rolls (on King & George Streets), specials on smoothies (one block from my program office), a three-story bookstore (be still, mine heart), and fashionable shops, bars and restaurants everywhere in between. An important lesson I have learned is to watch my back in the central business district (known as CBD) – the taxi drivers aren’t exactly polite, plus if you don’t keep pace, you can count on getting trampled by crowds of businesspeople power-walking to their next appointment.

One tip I am going to share with you, should you go to Sydney: Don’t forget to look up! Yes, that’s right – stop (hopefully out of the way of the people ready to run you over), tilt your head back and LOOK UP. It’s funny how easy it is to become wrapped up in the craziness on the ground level of the city and not notice the amazing architecture and history right in front of your nose. Some of the buildings are pretty amazing. (Not all of the buildings. Not even most. But some are worth looking up for.)

CIRCULAR QUAY

Firstly, it's pronounced "circular key." It's funny how one feels like laughing at the tourists who come through pronouncing it "kway." Then I remind myself that I did too...only three weeks ago. But we won’t talk about that...

Circular Quay is what I think of as the "connected and connecting" area in Sydney. That's where I go if I want to catch a train, bus, or ferry to just about anywhere. And walking down by the ferries at night will give you a gorgeous view of the Opera House, the Bridge, and the Harbour. Not to mention, there are pretty decent restaurants overlooking the views which I have yet to frequent due to their pricey menus. Thankfully there are also a few cheaper options not right on the water, one being McDonalds (which is called "Mackers" by Australians, as I came to realize after a few confusing conversations).

DARLING HARBOUR

We discovered Darling Harbour one day after misunderstanding that our roommate was telling us to find a place in Darlinghurst. Darling Harbour, Darlinghurst...anyone could make that mistake, right? Well, not anyone who has been to both places, apparently. As we figured out for ourselves, one is home to fancy shoppers and well-to-do businessmen and the other is known as Sydney's red-light district. Haha...yeah... (But don't worry. I may not have mace, but I have daylight, a pointy umbrella, and Megan. She took a kickboxing class, so she's practically on par with the karate kid now.)

Darling Harbour, by the way, is the well-to-do of the two. We didn't actually see the water in the harbor due to the fact it was filled with yachts for the Sydney International Boat Show. If you want to go shopping in Sydney, go to Darling Harbour. It’s not the cheapest place in the city, but there’s a three-level mall complete with fancy restaurants overlooking the water. That’s also where you’d find the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World, FYI. And when we’d finished our day there, we took a ferry ride back to Circular Quay and saw yet another view of the Bridge and Opera House, just approaching sunset. Beautiful!!!

KINGS CROSS & DARLINGHURST

Known as Sydney's red-light district, we were guaranteed to meet an interesting assortment of people almost immediately after stepping foot off the train at Kings Cross. Despite the shady shops and strange people in this area, we did discover a fairly decent pizza place, a chocolate shop and a temporary job for Megan. (A DECENT job , people!) What place can be so bad if it has all that, right? Of course, right! Megan’s first job was at a little take away shop directly across the street from the station. And as her friend, I was entitled to free chips. I've decided Darlinghurst, while not a place I will spend a considerable amount of time, is actually an alright place to visit.

DOUBLE BAY / EDGECLIFF

I often say I live in Edgecliff because the two are so close and I take the train to Edgecliff to get home, but the truth is that I actually live in Double Bay. You know how some Arizonans refer to Scottsdale as “Snottsdale”? Well, here the locals have a habit of calling Double Bay “Double Pay” due to the high incomes of most of its residents; people also jokingly refer to it as the plastic surgery capital of Australia. Apparently it’s viewed as a nice place to live, which Megan and I didn’t find out until after we moved in. Lucky us, it is a nice place to live – our place is in a cute apartment building only a short walk from expensive shops, trendy cafes, and pretty views of the harbor.

BONDI JUNCTION

This is where I would do my shopping if I weren’t on a budget. Westfield Mall has six floors, including a Target and a Borders, plus a movie theater. Right now the main reason I frequent Bondi Junction is because it’s the connecting point for me to get to my new cafe job on Bondi Beach and my art class on Bondi Road.

BRONTE BEACH

On one of my solo days (Megan was at work), I decided to meander down to Bronte Beach. Bronte is a cute little beach with more kids and grass than Bondi Beach. Also fewer people and quite a lot smaller and less trendy. Basically, if Bondi were the hardback bestseller of beaches, Bronte would be the cute paperback version you just want to stick in your pocket and take with you to the coffee shop. (Yes, that really is the way my mind works.)

I’ve more places to explore and some I’ve barely visited, but I’ll leave you there for now. Too much information cannot be fit into bite-sized blog entries…at least not without stuffing your mouth so full that you cannot chew. But beware - Now that I have my computer, I've some catching up to do!

I am proud to say that my quest to have my picture taken with a koala is at an end, and not even two weeks into my trip! Meet my new koala buddy:

He was exceptionally sleepy, so I don't think he'll remember meeting me. I learned today that because eucalyptus is so low in energy, koalas sleep about 20 hours a day. Hmm...I think I've met a few humans who could pass for koalas.

If you couldn't tell from the title, Megan and I went to Taronga Zoo in Sydney today. The weather was cold, but I don't think the penguins minded so much as we did. We saw seals, wallabies, a platypus, kangaroos, tigers, lions, bears, meerkats, red pandas, and a dozen other types of animals that escape my memory. Unfortunately, I was spoiled after being able to get up close to the koala. I had an overwhelming urge to pet a kangaroo, ride a giraffe, and take home a platypus, but I figure they probably frown on that sort of thing.

In other news, we drove across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time tonight! Alright, so we didn't really drive; we took a bus. But it was amazing to know that we were riding across that amazing structure, and with the lights of the city all around us.

Here are some more photos to leave you with:

Shh...Don't wake the koala!

Going in for the kiss!

See the cute Aussie!

Hello from Sydney!

Alright, it's time for a few updates on my basic needs for survival:

Accomodation
My program sponsor put me up in the Sydney Central YHA Hostel my first two nights, which if any of you has spent time in a hostel, you will know can be fun and, at the same time, not conducive to long-term stays. Megan had to book her stay separately, so we weren't in the same room, and we each shared with three other girls and two sets of bunk beds. The communal bathrooms were worth it when considering that the hostel had a pool, sauna, movie room, several common rooms, and a view of the city from an upper level deck. But...however much fun it was to be in the middle of the city, after only two nights, we were ready to find a place to unpack.

Lo and behold, by the end of those two nights, Megan and I had found a place to live! Our luggage-clad travels between downtown Sydney (in the middle of a World Youth Day parade and the arrival of the Pope's entourage) is enough for a story in and of itself, so for now we'll skip over to the apartment itself. We are now sharing a cute little flat in the Double Bay area with two sisters, Jessica and Lucy. It's only a 2-bedroom apartment, so Megan and I are sharing a room, but considering that we didn't pack our entire lives into our suitcases, it is the perfect amount of space for the two of us. And how's this for a plus - it's about midway between the center of the city and Bondi Beach! Our roommates are very sweet, and I've discovered that Lucy shares my love for all things Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice, so I believe we'll get along just fine.

Just for kicks, check out the crowd we had to fight to get our luggage-laden selves down to the train station:

Work
After spending most of the first week getting settled into our new home and figuring out the best ways to get around, we are ready to get serious about the part that will make our trip most worthwhile - making money! Er, I mean...getting to know more Aussies and their culture by working alongside them! Yeah!

Megan and I have had one real job interview each, and though mine said they would have a place for me, I haven't heard back as of yet. No worries - I've spent a considerable amount of time reworking my resume. Apparently, Australian employers like it if you spell things correctly. As in, Australian English...which bears more resemblance to British English than our more relaxed American spellings. Organisation, metre, centre, etc. Also, they don't use some of our educational terms, such as GPA's. Huh. Who knew?

Anyway, no job yet, but the search continues in earnest after I print out these resumes and dare to venture out in the rain. Will keep you posted. (Note to self: add umbrella to shopping list.)

Miscellaneous
Got my cell phone set up. Important for hearing back from potential employers. Also opened a bank account and got my Australian debit card. Wow - money in a foreign bank account. Sounds shady. I'll have to work on perfecting my innocent look. Which is difficult with Megan following me into the elegant bank lobby with a video camera. Looked like she was casing the place. (Another note to self: whistling innocently in a fancy foreign bank does NOT make you seem innocent.)

Found the local library, and let me tell you - the view is to die for! See a view of the courtyard below. Unfortunately, they won't let me get a card without jumping through hoops. Ah, well. I'll shrug my shoulders and remind myself that I didn't come to another country to hole up in the library.

Travel
We finally saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House the other day! We took a ferry ride across the harbour, and despite the wind & chill in the air, we had a blast! It's funny - I looked forward so much to seeing the Opera House, but it was the Bridge that floored me. It was magnificent! They have climbing tours and I'm looking forward to reaching the top one of these days!

Well, that's about it for now. I uploaded a handful of photos, so check them out in my photo gallery!

P.S. As I discovered from my Uncle Bud, if you want to know when I update my blog with news or photos, you can subscribe to it. Cheers!

Imagine this...two girls, one shopping trip, a dozen plastic bags filled with enough food to feed us both for the next month, and a long walk home...uphill. Two broken jars later (farewell, soy sauce and spaghetti sauce - you will be missed), our arms are killing us and I am seriously reconsidering the merits of the local bus system. But on the bright side, a few more such trips and perhaps these sore arms will turn into something I'll actually be able to flex! Yeah, mate!

I'm not opposed to walking. I love it, in fact. It's the only semblance of exercise that doesn't typically cause me to gasp for breath after approximately 30 seconds. (In case you're wondering, yes - I really am THAT out of shape. Running + Melanie = Bad Idea.) So even though my legs have been sore every morning this week, I refuse to give up:

I will walk from one side of Australia to the other if it means saving $7 in train fare!!!

Alright...so I must confess I haven't actually walked from coast to coast, but I have walked to and between Central Sydney and several of its suburbs, with several unintentional detours through residential neighborhoods. Here's one thing I've learned in my treks, particularly throughout Bondi (pronounced like "bonzai," only trade the "z" for a "d"): If you stop someone on the street to ask for directions, they are probably not from Australia. All the actual Aussies are on their cell phones or in their cars. I think they have tourist radar. Probably open their phones and pretend to be talking to their mum as soon as they see a tourist in need of directions glance their way. Oh, and other tourists seem to be realizing the above fact as well. Megan and I have been asked for directions on more than one occasion. Not sure why they didn't stop after noticing the very touristy "Top 10 Sydney" guide book I was holding.

One thing I have definitely noticed after having walked most everywhere in the past week is this: It makes you slow down. Obviously, it takes longer to get places, and you therefore have to schedule more time in your day and plan to do less each day than you otherwise would. I love it. It's like slowing down your hectic life for a figurative warm pot of tea. And you know how I feel about tea!

P.S. I'll be posting pictures soon. I don't have an easy way to download them to the computer at the moment.

I've been in Sydney, Australia, for 5 days and here is a sampling of what I've learned thus far:

Ask at least two different people for directions. "Just up the road" or the variation "just around the corner" probably means a few miles, while "too far to walk; you may as well take the train" is probably referring to a 5-minute walk down the street.

If this mild weather is as cold as everyone keeps saying, Australians wouldn't last a winter in Flagstaff or Minnesota. Pardon me for saying, but Aussies seem to be about as wimpy in the cold as Arizonans.

Ausralians shorten everything! Thankfully, someone told me right away that "this arvo" means "this afternoon." Basically, just shorten everything and add "ie" or "o" to the end. (chockie = chocolate, hollies = holidays, uni = university, milko = milkman) I could go on and on but I won't. Sometimes it's best to smile and nod and hope you later come to understand what you actually nodded to.

If you want to dress like an Australian, buy a few pairs of tights. They seem to be all the rage right now. (But guys, please leave this fashion to the girls. Thank you.)

EVERYBODY has TEA here! And they offer it to me wherever I go. I feel like I'm in England - it's awesome!!!