I thought this was kind of funny. This is a picture of a warning label on a pack of cigarettes. This was pretty much the first thing we saw when we landed and walked through the duty free store at the airport.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Pack of Cigs
I thought this was kind of funny. This is a picture of a warning label on a pack of cigarettes. This was pretty much the first thing we saw when we landed and walked through the duty free store at the airport.
More Productivity
G'day mates!
I'm not sure what is going on....but I am a new woman. I have accomplished more in the week I have been here than I ever did in a week at home. I hope I keep up this work ethic for the rest of my life. Oh, and I haven't been napping either. Kind of a metaphorical 180 for being on the other side of the world....not sure if that made any sense, but you know what I'm saying.
Yesterday, we were able to move into our place (no more sharing with random people!). We then hit up K Mart and got a bunch of cleaning supplies and scrubbed the sh** out of that place. Then we made ANOTHER trip to a grocery store and stocked up. We have more food at our house now then I ever did at school. We also fixed our resumes and sent them out to a bunch of places (still no job...but I'm making a solid effort).
We are also only one week in and already have some landlord drama. The other night we went out to the Coogee Bay Hotel (C to the B to the H as we locals call it) and our landlord, the Saudi Prince (SP as he will further be referred to), was there. We weren't really talking to him but we did start talking to these Irish blokes....who turned out to be the boys living in our apartment who SP evicted. SP got mad at us, the Irish guys tried to turn us against SP, and we basically got put in the middle of something that has nothing to do with us. The next day was rather awkward seeing as though the Irish guys were in the apartment above us and SP was in the apartment below us. Luckily the Irish guys are gone and SP told us he wanted to "start fresh" (something I personally didn't understand considering we didn't do anything). I think part of the reason this even became an issue is that SP is only 24 and doesn't quite get how to be a good businessman yet. Not that I'm one to give any insight since I am only 22.
Today is a little gloomy...so again we're trying to send out some resumes and try to find some work. I'm running short on the funds - so I need a job stat. Ok, I'm gonna find one. Right now!
I'm not sure what is going on....but I am a new woman. I have accomplished more in the week I have been here than I ever did in a week at home. I hope I keep up this work ethic for the rest of my life. Oh, and I haven't been napping either. Kind of a metaphorical 180 for being on the other side of the world....not sure if that made any sense, but you know what I'm saying.
Yesterday, we were able to move into our place (no more sharing with random people!). We then hit up K Mart and got a bunch of cleaning supplies and scrubbed the sh** out of that place. Then we made ANOTHER trip to a grocery store and stocked up. We have more food at our house now then I ever did at school. We also fixed our resumes and sent them out to a bunch of places (still no job...but I'm making a solid effort).
We are also only one week in and already have some landlord drama. The other night we went out to the Coogee Bay Hotel (C to the B to the H as we locals call it) and our landlord, the Saudi Prince (SP as he will further be referred to), was there. We weren't really talking to him but we did start talking to these Irish blokes....who turned out to be the boys living in our apartment who SP evicted. SP got mad at us, the Irish guys tried to turn us against SP, and we basically got put in the middle of something that has nothing to do with us. The next day was rather awkward seeing as though the Irish guys were in the apartment above us and SP was in the apartment below us. Luckily the Irish guys are gone and SP told us he wanted to "start fresh" (something I personally didn't understand considering we didn't do anything). I think part of the reason this even became an issue is that SP is only 24 and doesn't quite get how to be a good businessman yet. Not that I'm one to give any insight since I am only 22.
Today is a little gloomy...so again we're trying to send out some resumes and try to find some work. I'm running short on the funds - so I need a job stat. Ok, I'm gonna find one. Right now!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Coogee Beach
WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is one block away from the beach. I repeat: one block away from the beach. And it's pretty cheap. But it's pretty gross....which is not exactly unusual after four years of college (especially our house sophomore year with 6 girls). Kelsey is convinced that the guy who owns the apartment building is a Saudi Prince who has too much money and is bored which is why we're getting it for so cheap. I feel like if that actually were the case we would be getting it for free.
We can't move into our place until Monday, so until then we are staying in a room of a different apartment in the same building. It's definitely going to be nice when we have our own place and we aren't trying to fit 8 suitcases into a very small space.
Yesterday we went all over Sydney. We hit up the Opera house then walked to Darling Harbor. Not shitting you....we walked like 10 miles. In flip flops (actually, they're called thongs. And apparently you sound like a tool is you call them "flip flops"). The funniest moment of our day came when we were trying to find the Aquarium. So ya know how at bus stops and ferry stops are named according to the area you are in. For example: if you are getting off the bus near town hall the stop will be called "Town Hall". Well, we were for some reason convinced we had to take a ferry to get to the aquarium, so we sat down at the "Aquarium" ferry stop where we waited for a half hour only to have the captain of the ferry tell us that the aquarium was the building behind us. It was pretty embarrassing. But the aquarium was pretty sick and we saw a lot of sharks.
Again, we had every intention of making it out and again, we did not. We have not gone out at night yet. Today, we went for a long run and now we're going to lay out at the beach for a while and then definitely go out to the bars later. I need some liquid courage to talk to these hot Aussie men. jk. kind of.
Right now, I'm in an internet cafe, so I can't post any pictures...but I'll bring my computer back with me tomorrow to do so.
I do have some new slang though. First of all, everyone says "cheers". For everything. You say "thank you" for someone serving you a drink, they'll say "cheers". You say "excuse me" when you're in someone's way, they say "cheers". It's kind of awesome...I'm gonna try to bring that back with me. What else? "Fair dinkum" means you're a chill person. It's the best compliment you can give an Aussie (because they are actually the most carefree, happy people in the world). "Esky" is cooler. They put an extra vowel on abbreviated words. So a bottle shop (liquor store) is a "bottle-o". A relative is a "relio". vego is a vegitarian. I'll think of more later.
I'm sure I'll have better stories after tonight. I wish you were all here with me!
It is one block away from the beach. I repeat: one block away from the beach. And it's pretty cheap. But it's pretty gross....which is not exactly unusual after four years of college (especially our house sophomore year with 6 girls). Kelsey is convinced that the guy who owns the apartment building is a Saudi Prince who has too much money and is bored which is why we're getting it for so cheap. I feel like if that actually were the case we would be getting it for free.
We can't move into our place until Monday, so until then we are staying in a room of a different apartment in the same building. It's definitely going to be nice when we have our own place and we aren't trying to fit 8 suitcases into a very small space.
Yesterday we went all over Sydney. We hit up the Opera house then walked to Darling Harbor. Not shitting you....we walked like 10 miles. In flip flops (actually, they're called thongs. And apparently you sound like a tool is you call them "flip flops"). The funniest moment of our day came when we were trying to find the Aquarium. So ya know how at bus stops and ferry stops are named according to the area you are in. For example: if you are getting off the bus near town hall the stop will be called "Town Hall". Well, we were for some reason convinced we had to take a ferry to get to the aquarium, so we sat down at the "Aquarium" ferry stop where we waited for a half hour only to have the captain of the ferry tell us that the aquarium was the building behind us. It was pretty embarrassing. But the aquarium was pretty sick and we saw a lot of sharks.
Again, we had every intention of making it out and again, we did not. We have not gone out at night yet. Today, we went for a long run and now we're going to lay out at the beach for a while and then definitely go out to the bars later. I need some liquid courage to talk to these hot Aussie men. jk. kind of.
Right now, I'm in an internet cafe, so I can't post any pictures...but I'll bring my computer back with me tomorrow to do so.
I do have some new slang though. First of all, everyone says "cheers". For everything. You say "thank you" for someone serving you a drink, they'll say "cheers". You say "excuse me" when you're in someone's way, they say "cheers". It's kind of awesome...I'm gonna try to bring that back with me. What else? "Fair dinkum" means you're a chill person. It's the best compliment you can give an Aussie (because they are actually the most carefree, happy people in the world). "Esky" is cooler. They put an extra vowel on abbreviated words. So a bottle shop (liquor store) is a "bottle-o". A relative is a "relio". vego is a vegitarian. I'll think of more later.
I'm sure I'll have better stories after tonight. I wish you were all here with me!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Finally in Sydney
After 20 hours travel time...we finally made it to Sydney. At the airport, Kelsey got her bag sniffed by drug dogs who found chicken sandwiches and she had to go through the Quarantine line and have both of her bags searched. When security realized she wasn't trying to smuggle in any drugs, or farm animal products, they let her through. Each of us, with our purses, carry-on back packs, and two 50 pounds suitcases had to hop on the train and head to down town Sydney where our hostel is located. We made a bit of a scene...especially considering it was 8 in the morning and everyone was heading to work.
We decided we should drop off our stuff and head straight to IEP's (the program we went through) office to figure out what to do now. We go there right before they started orientation, which was fantastic because now we don't have to do that on Wednesday. At orientation, we got our cell phones and sim cards and set up house showings for the next day (two in Bondi Beach and one in Coogee). We then stopped at the bank and got our accounts set up and debit cards. It's amazing: I have to go to the other side of the globe to be productive. Everything we did in our first day here would have taken a few weeks at home.
At 5 pm we got back to the hostel and showered for the first time in a couple days. We had every intention of going out for a drink and forcing ourselves to stay awake until at least 9, but decided to watch an episode of Gossip Girl and go to bed at 7. Now I'm up at 6:30 am writing this entry.
Today should be another big day, hopefully we like one of the three houses because he said we might be able to move on Thursday.
You know you love me,
XOXO Gossip Girl
Saturday, September 5, 2009
1st leg of the journey: California
Since we are flying out of San Francisco, and since every person I know is from Danville, I thought it would be fun to come a few days early and spend some time with the friends. On Wednesday night at 9 pm, Brooke Lensch came over to say goodbye and after realizing I had not put any items into a suitcase yet, she offered her assistance. She shoved everything that I had laying out into one of my suitcases and I told her I would pack the other bag in the morning before going to the airport (for my 8 o'clock flight...awesome logic). 5 am came pretty quickly....and the packing was done poorly. My mom takes me to the airport. My first bag is obviously overweight. The lady express checking us in asks us how many bags we have. Mom says two and pays the fee. Mom says "The one bag is probably overweight by a lot". I give Mom a dirty look. Mom realizes what she has done. The lady was not going to weigh our bags. She does because Mom told her to. The bag is 68 pounds. 18 pounds over. 125 dollar fee. Somehow Mom recovers by telling her I'm leaving the country and we don't have to pay. Mom cries when saying goodbye. I laugh at her. She whispers in my ear "be safe". I laugh harder. She cries more. I proceed through security. I arrived in Danville that afternoon and spend some time with my Aunt Bev who picked me up from the airport and also lives in D-ville. Cortney and Diana drove up from SoCal (southern California for all of those who don't know the west coast lingo). So we go out and hit the local bars (think Al & Gerry's...but a little classier). An old man started grinding on me.....and I let him. Time to go home. The next day, Bev and I went shopping while the girls went to Santa Cruz to the board walk. Diana got her face painted: one side was blue and sparkly and the other side had a single blue tear drop. She left it painted the entire day so I could see it that night when I saw her. I fell to the floor laughing....not just because she looked outrageous, but because she looked that way all day. Our cat from school, Remy, who lives with Brigid now weighs 15 pounds. He's not even a year old. Tonight we're having a bon voyage bbq. This is supposed to be a small shin-dig (like 10-15 people). Her dad came home this morning from grocery shopping with a full trunk of food. I'm probably going to gain a few lbs tonight. But this isn't unusual for Mr. Lambert. Once he took us out to dinner at PF Changs in Colorado and "snuck away to the bathroom".....he actually ordered one of everything from the desert menu. We're always well fed when he's around. Tomorrow night is the big flight.....14 hours to Aussie. Today was spent repacking my bag. Actually it was spent having Diana repack my bags. Now they are both underweight and I do not have to pay the 200 dollar fee for overweight bags on international flights. I'm good to go. Except the fact that we don't have a place to live or jobs yet. Oh well....that's future Mallory's problem. I'll let that chick deal with it.
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