Pics of my Bondi apt...so sunny!

Anzac Day

Went to the horse races on Saturday and won twice!! It was beautiful weather and good times sipping champagne and making random bets in the sun. Yesterday was Anzac Day - a day of remembrance for fallen Aussie and Kiwi soldiers. It is the one day of the year that it is legal to play 'two-up' in pubs in Australia. It's basically heads or tails...one person stands in the middle of the ring or bar and flips the coins and the rest of the crowd is betting, $5, $10 up to $100 on whether the coins will land heads or tails...simple and lots of fun! Lots of yelling and beer drinking. We waited in line quite a while to get into a popular pub for the game but it was well worth as we immediately made our right down front and I got to be 'the spinner' flipping to the coin til I crapped out by tossing a tails. Afterwards we partied the night away dancing to live music and eating at the 'best pizza place in Sydney' according to my crew.

Today I realized that I am domesticating myself..haha. I am hosting my first proper aussie bbq. All the cheese, crackers, chips, pita are set out AND I chopped tomatoes, peppers, avocado and made a lovely salad. First time for everything :) I ALSO marinated chicken over night in bbq sauce - which is now chilling in the fridge waited to be thrown on the barbie with the various types of sausage. BBQ is scheduled for 1-5 and it is now 1:30 and no word from the Aussies. I'm assuming mostly 3pm arrivals. :) Wondering if I should hit the beach for a bit..beautiful day.

Best news yet is that I now have wireless internet hooked up in my apt...only took 1 month. It goes on the blink a bit but happy to have something.

Get on skype so I can catch up with you all...

Latest adventures

Well I decided to go for it and do laser hair removal. The burn mark on the bed where I was to lie down was a bit concerning, but I went for it anyway. It actually wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, but it was definitely not fun. More like someone snapping a rubber band against your skin over and over and over again. But I think in the end it will be worth it - especially at a 20% discount. :) Hair removal seems to be a pretty competitive market here. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Next appointment in 5 weeks.
That's probably the latest in terms of adventures. Met some new Swedish friends this week - continuing my international friend streak. They have 2 dogs...one small and one the size of a small horse...pretty funny to see. Still enjoying good weather - feels a bit like Fall some days, but today still in a sundress and thongs (flip flops :) ). Electronically I'm hoping to make some major improvements in the next week...starting with internet, webcam and then hopefully a TV. I haven't missed TV much but want to at least be able to turn it on when I'm relaxing on my enormous couch.
Very excited for another long weekend next week...celebrating Anzac day (Australia day of some sort). Apparently everyone goes to the bars on Sunday April 26th and plays two-up..basically gambling on whether a tossed coin will land on heads or tails. It gets pretty rowdy. And on Saturday I'll be going to 'the races'...hopefully in dress and funny hat.
That's all for now...

One month and going strong

It feels like a ton has happened since my last note, so here goes. Before Easter weekend (a nice 4 day break here in Oz), a friend took me to a free spa night where they essentially feed you cheese and crackers and champagne (obviously perfect for me) and sell you things. So I got a free facial and my first ever spray tan (which I really liked)...and by the time I left I had purchased laser hair removal sessions starting next week. I'm a bit nervous but mostly excited...I'll keep you posted on my progress :)
After that, I headed down to Jervis Bay a few hours south of Sydney for a few relaxing days in a cute little town Huskisson on the beach. I went with 2 new friends, both Brits so I mostly drank hot tea the whole time...a childhood tradition I plan to reincorporate into my life (especially since I am the only person on earth who doesn't drink coffee). It was a great weekend. We stayed in a lovely little B&B run by who else but a british couple. It was clean and homey and the breakfast was amazing every day. There are great national parks so we hiked and went wine tasting and saw lots of great wildlife (which you can see on FB). Snakes, kangaroos, wallabys...good times.
We also had an amazing dinner at a treetop restaurant where I tried kangaroo meat for the first time and loved it. It's like a very lean, melt in your mouth steak. Although, I have heard that it depends on who is cooking it. I didn't practice my left-side driving - I handled the map and navigating instead...so next time there should be good stories on that.
Last night I went to my first AFL (Aussie Rules) game at the sydney cricket grounds. The stadium is great and we managed to get tix from a member so we sat right before the 'dugout'. I loved watching...so fast-paced and impressive. It reminds me more of soccer/ultimate frisbee combo...nothing at all like NFL really. Lots of running, no pads, and lots of kicking/catching the ball. They literally play on a HUGE field nonstop..I don't think they had any time outs and are constantly subbing in and out like ice hockey. The Sydney Swans kicked the Richmond Tiger's butts...so a good time was had by all. :) I was with three French friends and we had absolutely no clue what was going on..prompting the Aussie guys in front of us to ask how we had member tickets..ha. They were quite nice about explaining the game though. And to top it off, after every game they let the entire stadium run down on the field and play, run, catch etc. Really fun and we got some good photos in the player dugout.
That's all I can remember for now...I'm off to an American Expat Meetup to play some touch football at the Domain - a park down by the harbor. Then off to a movie screening of an Aussie war film (in which I gather they take credit for winning WWII - gotta love Aussie enthusiasm :)).

Hasta luego!

PS. The office manager here (the Sydney Mamajo) is still not happy with me for eating Skippy...so she is threatening a bald eagle bbq. oops.

Getting Settled

I got to move into my new apt the night before my birthday...what a great gift to wake up in my own place! after a couple of weeks, i got approved for an awesome one bedroom apt with lots of light and a balcony. i bought most of the living room furniture from the guy who moved out AND the bbq (grill) on the balcony, quite convenient.
It was a busy work week but was topped off with an afternoon golf session on friday with ebay. I guess the media perks don't only exist in NYC :)
Today I got a bunch of kitchen stuff from a co-worker - I have more stuff in my kitchen now than I did in my 6 years in NYC...you guys would get a kick out of that. Pots, pans, rice cooker, wok on and on and on. I have a washer/dryer unit in my place which is awesome so testing that out today as well.
No internet at my apt yet (killing me along with the fact that I haven't unlocked my iphone yet). So I'm at a friends updating all of you before we head off to a Rugby Union game...my first. I will be cheering (not rooting) for the Waratah's - the Sydney team.
Happy birthday Leah - have a fabulous weekend of celebrating :)
I hope to be back on skype soon and with a webcam. MOM GET ON SKYPE! someone help her...
cheers :)

Making Progress...

I am moving into my own apartment tomorrow!! As irony would have it, after 2 weeks of trolling the streets of Sydney begging for apartments, the realtor from the first apartment I saw (and also my favorite) called and said my application had been approved. After a second look to confirm, I went ahead and put my deposit down. It is a modern, wood floor, one bedroom with a lovely balcony and washer/dryer. Good light and space. I bought most of the living room furniture and the grill from the guy who is moving out so now I just need a bed. Really excited about the grill though...called a bbq here.

I also had a great weekend of beach and sun and meeting new international friends which involved a lengthy political discussion with some new dutch friends about obama and healthcare...luckily we agreed on most points :) I am totally wiped out from sun and sea and lawn bowling (it is actually quite tiring when you over-exert yourself running and walking beforehand!). I'm looking forward to a relaxing Sunday night and a busy Monday of work, lease signing and moving.

I'll leave you with some funny dutch anecdotes of mis-communications in english. one guy was leading a training at work and at the end of the day he said, 'ok day's over...drop your pants'. of course he had meant to say 'drop your pens'. this story of course led us to repeating drop your pants all night and discussing possible merchandising and URL buying to coin the term. :) another good one...one dutch girl who waits tables in bondi referred to potato wedges as 'wedgies' for several weeks and couldn't figure out why everyone giggled. 'anyone want some wedgies?' ha - no thanks :)

Oh can't forget that my visa came through on friday just in time for the 23rd of the month payment cycle...very happy about that.

sounds like the weather is shaping up back home...love springtime in nyc!

One week down under

It's been one week in Sydney and I can't decide if it feels like 3 days or 3 months...a whirlwind of personal and work life. Right now I'm sitting on my bed in a spare bedroom of a colleague I just met. She rescued me from a possible homeless fate and I am most grateful! Work is full-on...a new aussie (pronounced auzzie my american coworker tells me repeatedly :) term that feels very appropriate right now. My office is kind of like the UN, with people from countries all over the world and a few Aussies mixed in. Sydney in general is very very multicultural which is great.

The benefit of my extensive apartment search is that I have walked a lot all over the city and so now know my way around to a decent degree. The city itself is pretty small and so it's easy to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood, potts point to paddington to surray hills and then a quick hop and skip on the bus to bondi.

I also made 3 friends this week. I met a British girl for a lovely night out in potts point for dinner and drinks (thanks vaness!). I met an American guy who has connections to softball and other sports leagues (thanks doug!). and tonight I had dinner with a friend of my sister's and her friend. Of course with the world being as small as it is her friend who joined us for dinner has only been here 1 month and already knows 3 of my co-workers, including the girl I am currently staying with. Nuts. She also has a birthday coming up so I may do a joint Sunday afternoon lawn bowling birthday party with her overlooking bondi beach in a couple of weeks.

So I definitely feeling like I'm settling in to the city even though I haven't found my own place yet...fingers crossed for tomorrow. I really love Sydney so far...it seems to be the best possible combination of LA and NYC. Great weather like LA with tons of outdoor cafes and bars and balconies and terraces...pretty tree canopy streets. But it is a small walking city like NYC, but smaller and surrounded by water that you can actually swim in. Just an awesome place.

Just skyped with Deb and the Hughes fam which was great...going to crash for the night since I have an early and full day of apt hunting tomorrow. Goodnight!

First few days in Sydney

It's been a busy few days thus far. I spent the afternoon in the office on Friday meeting people and getting my paperwork ready for possible apartment applications. It really felt like old ave a style - the office is very similar, with a totally open layout and only 2 floors of people. At beer o clock - around 4:30 I was asked to stand up and answer 10 questions as quickly as I could...the first one being 'name something you never told your parents'...actually almost stumped me! It was great to meet people and get a feel for the office here - very multi-cultural with representation from england, france, germany, canada, usa and of course a few token australians :) I'm sure there are others I haven't met yet. After a few post-work drinks I was ready for bed with a full day of apartment hunting planned for Saturday...

Up bright and early today (Saturday) - it has been quite the productive day. I caught Leigh and Alix on skype which was awesome...love the new couch Leigh! Got to see some night train action on letterman via skype - gotta love technology. I also saw several apartments and had help from my awesome American buddy (also from Jersey AND her sister goes to VaTech!) getting around Bondi beach for appointments. It was hot and a bit harried but I did find one apartment I like and have definitely been able to determine my criteria based on others I have seen. I've decided I'd like to live near the beach (walkable) and want a balcony and light coming into the apartment...even may give up the one bedroom and do a studio if need be to get my balcony. It is just so amazing here in terms of beach views and weather - I need a balcony to fully enjoy it :)...we'll see what I can find.

We spent the afternoon on the beach - I am by far the whitest person in Sydney so I will be working to change that over the next few weeks. It is really stunning...we climbed 'the rocks' and hung out with the fisherman and some adorable puppies playing in the wake. Then we went on a run around a few suburbs and I actually recognized some streets from the apartment hunting and was able to find my way back...major accomplishment. Now for dinner on the balcony with wine...yum!

Oh and I have also been mistaken for Australian twice already...once I was actually able to give directions but the second time not so much.

May be a rainy Sunday...hopefully I'll catch more of you on skype in the morning :)

Made it to Oz!!

I arrived at the airport in Newark to be told by the nice porter that my large duffel (one of 5 bags I was checking) was over 90 lbs and there was no way they would fly anything over 70 lbs...joy. So he took me over to the weigh station and I rummaged through and took out clothing after clothing and put it into another bag until I got it down to just over 70 lbs. Luckily nothing too embarrassing fell out. Then I stood at the Continental counter for an hour while they decided how much the would charge ONE person to check 5 bags, one of which was still 20 lbs over weight (50 lbs is the actual limit). $350 later they 'gave me a break' and I was off. Good thing I can expense that. :)

I made it through one bag of sour patch kids and 4 magazines in my effort to stay awake on my flight from Newark to LA (thanks girls!). I slept like a baby after 2 lovely tylenol pms from LA to Sydney, waking up for meals of course. On my way off the flight I heard a flight attendant refer to Adam Lambert being on the flight and I noticed him with a small entourage once I got off the flight. His entourage had been in coach with me. Then I ended up standing next to him in the line at immigration...he was hiding in a knit cap and huge black sunglasses and either no one noticed or cared. I considered snapping a pic with my iphone but decided against it.

Immigration was totally smooth - no issues with the visitor Visa. My bags came pretty quickly and luckily the dog came sniffing around before my large duffle where some paraphernalia may or not be hiding came around. :) I wanted to take a picture of my one cart loaded with all my luggage but I couldn't manage it. I was wheeling one bag with one arm and pushing the cart with 7 bags with the other and it was quite a process. The guy at customs took one pitying look at me and didn't even make me unload for the xray machine! He just told to me to go the exit! Love Australia already. Then a nice Canadian guy helped me push out to the taxi line.

So now I'm sitting in the lobby of my hotel while they clean my room. It's hot here! Had to change in the bathroom into summer stuff and cannot wait to get into a shower after 24 hours of traveling. Hoping to stay up for the day but the jetlag is starting to hit already...hopefully this post makes some sense.

Packing Up Again

I've gotten some requests to renew my blog now that I am off on another international adventure..so here goes. I'm hoping to have some entertaining expat translation/confusion stories to share over the next few weeks. For now, I'm having enough trouble getting my Visa finalized and packing up my life...not so fun yet but there is the great light of 80 degrees and beaches ahead :)

I'm officially off to Sydney March 2nd (be it visitor Visa or working Visa). After the Night Train slides in Vancouver and the Bachelor has chosen his soon to be ex-fiance...no streaming American TV in Sydney so I had to plan accordingly!

Keep in touch or just track my progress here if you want...I'll do my best to keep the updates frequent.

P.S. If anyone is interested in renting a FANTASTIC one bedroom apt on the upper east side let me know.