Here Comes the Sun

The sun here is hot. No question about that. I complained about that last time. It's almost unbearable at times. Thanks to our depletion of the Ozone layer, the sun here leaves you medium well, maybe even well done if you're out for long enough. Apparently this has been a cooler summer as well.

Tonight I went to shoot hoops at the court near SUV and ended up meeting this Greek named Demetrius who lived here. This experience had me wound up and feeling excited to be in Sydney. I know I've never lived in a big city, but how cool is it to go and shoot hoops and meet some random person from a European country you've never been to? Never happened in Harrisonburg, that's for sure. Although they had a big population of foreigners. It just adds to the cool factor of Sydney.

Anyways, 6 days and I'll be in New Zealand with Sarah. There will be more to come then. Maybe.

Buggin'

Hello again. The picture to the left pretty much sums up what I've done since I returned from the USA. It's the logo from the outside of my office in Pyrmont. Since Jan 2, I've worked everyday save for 2 days. In fact, the other day, my boss told me not to work. You see, the position that I hold lets me come and work whenever I want for pretty much however long I can. And I'm trying to use that to my advantage and make money to afford trips around this continent, and eventually when I take several trains from Hong Kong to London. More on that story as it develops.

So yeah, as you can assume I haven't done a whole lot that would make you jealous of me. I did go to the beach yesterday. Weather was gorgeous, but the sun is vicious here. If you're out in it for too long, it cooks you. No joke. You will be well done without sunscreen.

Friday night was also the first leg of Sydney FC's finals series against Queensland. It was a drab draw. 0-0. I called the score from the beginning, although Sydney managed to bungle two great opportunities. I still think they'll get the result and extend my run of being a Sydney supporter.

This past Saturday was also Australia Day. Think Fourth of July, but for the convict country here. They had a spectacular celebration in Darling Harbour. A floating stage was constructed in the middle of Cockle Bay that boasted a big screen as well. After work, I popped over there with Ilya, Dave, and Arturo. Ashley also met me there, but thanks to the massive crowds it was hard to spot her. All in all it was quiet fine. Sydneysiders love their fireworks. If you're ever in Sydney for some sort of firework related holiday, you must go. It is essential.

Lastly, time for some complaints. The bugs here are bothersome. I've been bitten around 300 times by mosquitoes in one month, there are maggots crawling around our apartment that seem to multiply faster than we can kill them, and I won't even mention the spiders. Or the flying cockroaches. They're terrifying. Well, not really, but it's fun to pretend to be afraid. I'm hoping that we can talk the good people at SUV to bomb our apartment while we spend a few days elsewhere.

Buckets of Rain

Another day, another dollar. The past Sunday I ended my streak of 13 consecutive days going into the office and working. Logging a 50 hour work week in Australia? Exactly what I want to be doing. However, there isn't a whole lot going on. And I need to make some cash, so win-win situation. Right.

So on my day off I caught up with some people from home and did laundry. Quite a big day. There was the last match of Sydney FC's regular season, so I headed over to a pub near the ground for some beers and some football (or soccer; whatever you want to call it). The game was a real cracker--Sydney almost pulled out a victory in the pouring rain. It also featured a record crowd of 33,000+. Picture in the corner. They'll host the first game of the finals this Friday which could potentially be my last game in Sydney. Here's to Sydney making it all the way to the finals. Next time I'll have something to say, promise.

Oh, and New Zealand in two weeks.

Majesty, Snowbird

The last three days of Sydney can be easily described: Go to work. Watch Sufjan. Repeat.

Many people looked at me with a puzzling expression when I told them I had booked each evening that Sufjan was playing downtown. Now who's laughing? Well, no one actually. I did enjoy three great concerts put on by, in my humble opinion, one of the most talented musicians of our time. His stuff is exquisite. I felt privileged to be there every night.

If I'm dead honest, I would say that he could have changed things up a little bit. He left a lot of Michigan unplayed. And for some reason I really wanted to hear For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti. But alas, I was left unsatisfied. Along with that, where was the Man of Metropolis Steals are Hearts? Those were my only two serious complaints.

Back to non-Sufjan related things. Hang on a second. That's hardly anything at the moment. Just logging hours at Thomson, dreaming and thinking about my train ride from Beijing to London, and wondering if I can afford to travel any other places in Australia. Stay tuned for that one folks. It's going to be epic.

Last but not least, I hope everyone who reads this is enjoying the nice cold weather while I melt in the 80 degree heat of the hot Australian sun...

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Or at least just me. My job at Thomson has picked up in the last week or so, requiring me to work last Saturday and perhaps this weekend. Hasn't been the most fun, but one of the reasons I came back here.

Not a whole lot going on here. I've booked my trip to New Zealand in February. And, as I watch The Two Towers, I salivate at the notion of seeing the gorgeous Kiwi landscape in less than a month.

Lately, I've been mulling over what to do on my return trip to home. Do I go west, stopping through Dubai/London/Europe? Or a trip to Asia, maybe Brunei (if you know where that is, pat yourself on the back), Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, or somewhere there? Oh the problems that I face.

The rest of Dave's friends left today, so it's going to be much quieter in the coming weeks. This will give me time to actually start writing a lot more than I have (none). I was thinking about setting a goal of 300,000 words by July. Sounds reasonable right? I have three book ideas that I'll be working on, plus the Israel right up that won't finish. Or that I won't finish. Because I'm stupidly lazy. Enough self-bashing. This weekend I'm seeing Sufjan Stevens perform. An extensive blog will cover all three nights that I see. Yes. Also hope you enjoyed the picture from New Year's Eve that I put up. Cheers.

One Tree Hill

Go to New Zealand. If there is one place everyone should travel to, it is there. I meant to post this a lot sooner, but I am a bit lazy.

To catch you up to date: the next day, Saturday, I woke up and wandered around. And when I say wander, I probably walked 10 miles that day. Pretty ridiculous. I read that Mt Eden was the highest point in Auckland, so I decided to walk there. Beyond that, a park that had a hill in it called One Tree Hill would be my next stop. This desire came from the fact that U2 wrote a song about this hill. Naturally, I had to see it. While all the walking was not my favorite thing in the world to do, it was worth it. Mt Eden had beautiful views of the city and the harbour despite it being a bit cloudy out.

After climbing to the top of Eden, I could see One Tree Hill. It was a good distance away, but I wanted to go. What else did I have to do? So I meandered through the suburbs of Auckland, eventually making it out there. I came across a few games of cricket. I stopped and watched them, giving myself a rest. After climbing to the top of One Tree Hill, I began my journey back into Centre City. All in all, a very tiring day, and I went to bed early again.

My sunday was pretty ho-hum. I walked around Auckland a bit more--however, as I was going to catch a bus at around 12 to go back to the airport. I checked out of my hostel and hauled my luggage up a huge hill. Big mistake. But I was in the right place and waited at the airport awhile for my flight.

The flight itself was uneventful. It was nice to have a fairly smooth flight except for the landing. But what is life without a little excitement? After arriving on Sunday, I met Dave's friends who are all in town. We went out to grab dinner and then went to bed shortly after that.

Monday was new year's eve. We made it out to a place called Milton's Point at about 2 in the afternoon. Fortunately, we were under the bridge. This would prove vital as the sun is quite harsh down under. The fireworks at 9 and midnight were the best that I'd ever seen. It was an amazing spectacle. The crowds were vicious, but seeing as though I will probably not make it back to Sydney on New Year's again, it was worth it.

The other days I've tagged along with Dave and his friends. Also moved into a new, rather dirty apartment. It's quite gross, and I'm hoping that there will be a good deal of cleaning done here soon. Along with that, today was my first day back at work. So it's back to business as usual out here in Sydney.