Weekend stuff

Nothing much happened on the weekend. I went to Bondi again and got majorly sunburned cause my sunscreen sucks. It's sort of a gel instead of a cream and all the blowing stand stuck to me. I still have sand on me from that day. And because of the wind, everyone left the beach and I had to stand at the very front of a packed bus. This working holiday is seriously starting to get me down. I'm almost tempting to just stop it now and go back home to mommy and daddy.

Friday Adventures

Well it seems my sister is collecting a bunch of friends. I feel silly now with no friends of my own and tagging along with her. I feel vibes of being an unwanted party member. Friday I went to Manly Beach with my sister and her friends. We took a city train to Circular Quay and then bought tickets for the Ferry. The big one wasn't in service, so we took a smaller boat over there. The Sydney Opera House is really beautiful. I've only obviously ever seen it on pictures, but it seems a lot more symmetrical in real life. The white tiles that make up the large triangular sections are actually more apparent up close.

When we got to Manly we had to walk a bit to the beach. Everyone who was young was wearing swimmers and thongs, that's just how it is here! Turns out the high school kids' last day before a 2-week break was that day, so they were out in full force. The young kids hair styles are very interesting around here, they're big on the rat tails and spiky hair dos. Kids were playing rugby on the beach and a lot of them were a couple hundred feet out in the water letting huge waves hit them. The sky was blue as blue gets and so was the water. Just a really beautiful day and a nice breeze as well. Some lifeguards whistled a bit because they were afraid some people were getting too far out. You're only supposed to swim between red and yellow striped flags.

We went back to Sydney around 2pm. While my sister and her friend were getting some groceries, I waited outside on a bench. Two guys sitting next to me started to talk to me, asking me if you think they're going to win. I was confused and then they mentioned my shirt. It turns out my American Eagle shirt was very similar to the Manly-Warrinagh Sea Eagles shirt. So it was a bit of a funny convo because I know nothing about sports. Turns out they are from 'all over the place', and not Australia at all. They warned me of Australian women. Three will approach you on a night out; one will wrap herself around you and start to flirt, another one will embrace and kiss you and make you feel special, while the third one will take your wallet. Very interesting advice.

So we got on a bigger boat on the way back, and we sat on the top deck outside. Lots of tourists obviously, and once we got around the bend and saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, they all crowded up on the deck and started taking photographs, blocking my spectacular view. Oh well, I figure I'm here long enough so I can experience this all again, potentially.

Today I also realized my Canadian Permanent Resident card runs out BEFORE I am scheduled to leave the country. Very very interesting. I'm not sure what I will do about that.

See ya'll later and thanks for reading.

Thursday Night

Well that was fun. The event held by IEP actually ended up being in a different bar than I though, about a 35 minute walk away from the hostel. So I googled up the walking instructions and wrote them down in a message on my mobile. As I was leaving the hostel I thought to myself, maybe I should have gone with some people. But since I don't really know anyone yet, I ventured out alone. As I got closer and closer to the bar I realized that walking instructions generally give the shortest routes, not the safest ones. I should have stayed on the main streets. Once I saw a past-her-prime prostitute and an old man with a big black dog, I started to feel a bit scared. Thankfully by then I was already pretty close to the bar, and just quickened my step a bit.

The bar is called The World Bar. Some IEP coordinators were there already, at 8pm. I was actually the only one that came there early. I now realize it's not cool to leave so early. Next time I'll remember to show up late like everyone else! The beer I tried was not Fosters, like many people outside Australia think Australians drink. It's actually made largely for export. The beer I drank was Coopers and Carlton Draught. Pretty good stuff. After a while I started to lose count of how many I had had! I had some good conversations with other international students/travelers, but had to shout really loud over the music. They also passed around 'tea pots', with I don't know what was inside, but you basically pour them into shot glasses. At 12 I left and stumbled on home. It had been a pretty great night.

So today I guess I'm going to Manly. I'm not sure how we're getting there but we should figure it out. Again I don't have the camera with me so I don't have any pictures to post yet, but I will as soon as I can.

_J

Thursday so far

Well today was interesting. My sister's two friends and I went to Bondi Beach. This beach is quite amazing. The sand is this crazy yellow colour, and so soft and smooth. Pretty much all I did was watch the surfers and sift my hands through the sand over and over. I also listened to some of the girls' stories and it was interesting. We had to take a half-hour bus ride there, and I still can't get over how everything drives on the other side of the road. I hope I don't accidentally look the wrong way some day and get hit by someone. I didn't go in the water because my sister said it was cold, but I figure there will be plenty of time to go again. Also I didn't have any sunscreen so I pretty much curled up into a ball the whole time avoiding the sun as best as possible.

The next half of the day was also pretty cool. We met up with a Scottish guy Ian, and he showed us two possible apartments we could live in. One was $160/week and the other was $120/week. Of course the more expensive one was much nicer, sort of like a dorm room in university. The other one was a bit more quaint, in fact some rooms are separated by the open sky, the whole apartment doesn't even have a roof over the whole of it! But apparently Aussies don't care about this sort of details. In fact I might just want to live there, since it's available. I might do the 4-day surf camp next week, but not 100% sure about it.

After this, around 4:30pm I finally went down to the 'GoodGames' store, take a few steps and you miss it. It is wedged between some Asian store and a McDonalds. I took the long steps up and lo-and-behold, it was a typical gaming store. Kids were playing MAGIC and other card games and just being nerdy, cool stuff. The arcade machines there were Japanese style, so you sit down to play and your opponent is on the other side. I asked the clerk for change for $5 and started to play Street Fighter IV for the first time! I was so excited. But my excitement dulled over time as I realized it didn't really have the same feel of the classic 2D games. It's an OK game but nowhere near as good as I imagined it would be. Graphics are fantastic but that's about it. I miss the 3rd Strike characters and the good feel of the game, it's just missing now.

After that I went to McDonalds for supper. They have a pretty good selection, in fact there are two different panels, one for beef-based burgers and the other one for chicken-based burgers. The important thing is that they had an equivalent of the long-lost Big Xtra burger from back home, called the McFeast Deluxe! I was in heaven! Unfortunately, they have this strange option for ordering: namely, you have to select if you want the regular, medium, or large size menu. Their large is our medium! I guess it's no wonder people are getting fat in North America when they have different concepts of what is medium and what is large. Also, Burger King is called Hungry Jacks here, but I haven't tried any yet. Oh yeah, and Coca Cola tastes terrrrrrrrrrrrrrribbbbbbbb

bbbble here! It's the worst stuff ever! Tastes fake or something. My favourite drink of Coke on the Rocks™ has been desecrated. Oh well, it'll be something to look forward to when I get home.

So now I am headed to a bar for the first time to try some Aussie-beer. Should be heaps interesting.

Outtie.

_Joram

Wednesday in Sydney

Well Wednesday was a bit of an overwhelming day for me so I basically went to sleep afterwards. Basically we had an orientation session that lasted for about 3 hours. We learned about Australia and what kind of things there are to do here. We learned about housing, jobs, social events, not to touch box jellyfish, and about a surf camp. The surf camp is what I really remember from it, because I really want to do it! It sounds like a lot of fun. I have to pay around $500 for a week of lessons, but that's the fixed rate. Everything along with housing and food is provided for. So I am definitely considering it. Some people back home told me that I should learn to surf, so I might as well use that opportunity!

So afterwards I spent nearly 2 hours on the fancy iMacs they have at the IEP office, just browsing around and looking for a job and fixing my resume up. During this time my sister left to get her bank card, but when I went back to the hostel to meet her she wasn't there yet. So I waited for a long time (until about 8pm) and she finally showed up and said she met some friends and had dinner with them. It's amazing how fast this girl can make friends... so far I haven't made any yet. My withdrawn and introverted nature prevents me from reaching out. Hopefully that will change once I am forced to meet people, because tonight is the SCUBAR event with IEP so I may have to force myself to talk to people.

So I had another 12-hour sleep, I think I have no excuses about jetlag anymore. And oh yeah I missed out on my chance to see Street Fighter IV, but I'm hoping that will come up soon enough.

So long then, I'll keep reporting as long as internet is available to me.

2nd Day is done

Well today was an interesting day of walking around Sydney. We walked to the harbor called Darling and went to the Aquarium and the Wildlife World. It was like a typical zoo, but more open. The sharks were pretty immense and it was cool to see them from underneath in the glass tunnels. It was pretty sweet seeing all the marsupials and animals only known to live in Australia as well. The Koalas like to sleep, so they just pretty much sit in trees and take it easy, sleeping and eating. That is the life I would like to have. We weren't allowed to touch them though because somehow there is some protection on them. Lots of interesting spiders too and some animals I have never heard about, like the Bilby, for instance.

Still haven't been to the Bondi Beach yet though, but maybe today. If I won't go there I'll probably go to the Taronga Zoo. More animals than the other place. And I may even upload photos if I remember to bring my USB cable.

As for place to stay and job, I don't have that settled yet, so I have extended the stay at the hostel. I am also excited because there is a Street Fighter IV machine near my place, I may go check it out soon. I have to make my pilgrimage to it. I just wish I had some more security and an idea of what will come next, instead of this drifting about, it's not a good feeling.

Well, later all.

Here I Am!

So after about 20 hours in the air, I am finally in Sydney, Australia. So far I've just got a room and walked around the city a bit. It's awesome hearing all the crazy accents. I only have a small amount of computer time so I try to make the best of it. It's on a mac too, so I have to learn some new commands.

The worst part of the trip was the 14 hours from LA to Sydney. It was just dark outside the whole time, with the sun behind us. It finally caught up to us when we were about to land, so we got to see the Sydney Opera House and some of the other famous landmarks from the sky. It's too bad I didn't take any pictures, but I promise I will make some as soon as possible.

I met some Norwegians in my hostel room. They are backpacking for real across Eastern Australia, and were headed to Brisbane to try out surfing. The Norwegian language is very interesting, sort of sing-songy German or something, very hard to describe. I didn't understand anything so it's safe to say the language is pretty far from German. I was talking to the guy and drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time, so it was sort of interesting. I fell asleep for real about 3pm and woke up at 5am, so 14 hours of quality sleep time!

Now I have to start getting into high gear and looking for a spot to stay. Hostel will only last me so long before I get tired of sharing a room with others. Job might be fun if I'm looking for something substantial, so I might end up just taking a typical backpacker job like harvesting or something.

Basically everything looks like a big city here, nothing too interesting to report on that front. It's a combination of European and American styles, and of course the cars drive on the wrong side of the street. It's unfortunate I didn't get an international driving license, cause then I'd be able to drive around with more freedom than taking a train or bus or plane somewhere.
Next update I'll try to put some pics up hopefully.

Until then, goodbye.

1 and a bit weeks to go!!!

Well I guess everything has culminated down to this. Something that was just an idea of my sister's has become a reality. I am heading to Australia for a 4-month(+?) stay and things are starting to happen. I've opened up a bank account, filed for a tax number, and I'm starting to see what kind of jobs and apartments there are to look at. This blogger format was the easiest option, so I chose it. Hopefully it'll last too.

My plans are to have fun, and to worry less. I also plan to play less games and seek out new interests, but there are no guarantees with that. I've always said in the past, and my friends and siblings can attest to this, that I wanted to give up videogames and find a new hobby, but to this day it hasn't happened yet. So I suppose I am bound to them for life. But I do appreciate nature and beautiful sites and sounds, so I'm hoping to have my eyes and ears opened to what's out there in the land down under.

I will try to update as much as I can, so that I don't fill up 4 pages with text. And I will try to put pictures in as well, even though I don't own a camera.

_Joram