7.27.2005

masters... what the hell.

School is in full swing and it's gonna be pretty damn hectic. I went into this with no worries kinda like it was going to be similar to Undergrad... yeah that's not how it is. Anyway I will try to not to let school cut into my partying and enjoying time.

Here are some pics....
The opera House at dusk.


The Opera house at dusk from a Harbo(u)r Ferrie (No Homo)


Sydney Skyline


Surfers at Manly (No Homo) beach


The Harbo(u)r Bridge


Skyline from Wharf 3.


These are from 2 weeks ago, typical Saturday night at the house. The is the pre-game 1 of 2. I was to wasted to operate a camera during pre-game 2 of 2 which would have made for better pics becasue there were about 8 more people there.


Brett and Caroline in the back. Jade and Silke in the front. Polishing of the "house mate" Vodka before the guests get there.



Jade in the back and Caroline in the front having some sing along fun to "yo mamma" -Pharcyde



Dancing and picture reviewing.



Blue Steels all the way around.

Thats all I have for now. I will take more this week(end) so sorry if these were lame.

7.20.2005

Settling in...

Alright guys, it's been a while but things have been crazy over here. But I am now offically settled in. I live in an awesome house in Surry Hills, which has a similar vibe to Adams Morgan. Lots of bars and restautrants, tons of cafes and Art galleries. It is about a 15 minute walk from campus.

A little about the house. I live in a 3 level terrace ( equivalent to a townhouse ). I share it with three other roommates. Here is a brief description of the roomates:
Jade : Is a indie rock/punky party in a box. She works for MTV Australia. She gets us into crazy parties and shows with her MTV hookups.
Caroline: Is a laid back 2nd year law student at Sydney Uni. She works as a desktop publisher and LOVES Vodka.
Silka: Is in Sydney to get work experience as an Interior Designer. She is from Germany and will be returning there in a few months.

The party and bar scene here is getting a lot better thanks to my roommates. They take me to crazy places and I meet a lot of interesting people. Needless to say I have been boozing my ass off. The only problem with being a borderline alcoholic in Sydney is that the beer at a liquor store costs almost as much as a pint at the pub. So pregaming here is not that popular but I have still been doing it because I am a creature of alcoholic habits.

So in month 1 have made friends, got a place with great roommates, enrolled in classes, and have figured this city out pretty well. Now I have to buckle down and focus on classes which start on the 25th. Well, buckle down when I am in class. Which is 3 days a week - Tues to Thurs. And no class starts before 2pm.

Oh yeah, another task I have to look into is figuring out the God awful metric system. WTF ! Meters, Kilometers, Cemtimeters... who gives a shit. I still talk in lbs and miles and people get really annoyed because they have no idea what it means. But I am sure I will figure it out.

Alright all for now... time to go meet some friends at the bar for some good old Wednesday afternoon celebrating. You guys need to get over here and live it up for New Years. I have already warned my roommates that some of you will be staying over for NewYears and they are cool. Lots of floor in the house to pass out on.

7.05.2005

Examining the Natives.

I have been in Sydney for exactly 1 week. The natives are very friendly and accepting. But there are several things that I find humorous and interesting as an American in Australia.

1. The fashion here is very Euro-influenced. This means there is not much different in men’s and women’s clothes. The men wear very tight shirts and jeans. Guys wear uber-tight shirts and their collars are always popped. Sunglasses are just short of being skiing goggles.

2. Hairstyles. The dominant hair style for men is the Mull-Hawk (patent pending). This style is a Faux-Mohawk with a trendy little euro mullet patch on the neck. Its silly looking, but very popular.

3. Language. The Australian people as a whole are ver lazy. This laziness carries into their speech. They shorten, abbreviate and use acronyms as much as possible. For example:

breakfast = breaky
sunglasses = sunny’s
university = uni
biscuits/cookies = bicoo’s
poker = pokie
So on and so forth.

4. All men love Kylie Minogue (and similar music) and listen to it openly and proudly.

5. There is no underground/independent music scene in Australia. Mainstream pop rules all.

6. When you order a burger as an American you feel safe in ordering something you will enjoy. However, here all burgers come with beetroot and butter. You have to specify that you don’t want that and then get a funny look.

7. People love American sports apparel. Lot’s of baseball hats, jackets and tshirts (mostly Yankees). However, I did see a guy in a Nationals hat last night at the bus stop. I asked him where he got that hat, he told me from Footlocker because he liked the big “W” on it. Pretty cool.

8. They drive on the wrong side of the road. I still don’t know where to look when crossing the road. Oh yeah, and pedestrians NEVER have the right of way, they will run you over without thinking twice.

9. When a big brown guy comes up to them and speaks in a clear American accent, they get disoriented and take a few minutes to recover from the situation. Then they have to know everything about you and DC.

These things are making life fun and interesting; however I miss little things about home. I guess the thing I miss the most about home is a cold longneck of Miller Lite. See if you guys can ship me over a case.