A few remembrances from Aussie

6/2 5:47 p.m.

 It feels like such a waste to be writing events that have happened in he past but I feel that it will prove valuable in the future. This morning Abby and I woke up to the phone ringing. It was the phone I usually carry and I saw the number and thought it may be Brian so I answered. It wasn’t Brian. I said hello, and the voice on the other end said, Hello Abby, something something something Germany, something something. And I was like, what? Can you call back later. Hhaha, that was much too much of a confusing call for that early in the morning. We finally got up and read to go to Gloria Jeans for a bit. We walked around at first, Abby stopped by and ordered a Veggie Wrap from Things to Go and went by the ATM. We walked into a few shops and looked around before making our way to the worst Flat Whites ever! They were terrible and cold. I am drinking one now that is heaps better and deliciously warm. Abby stayed for about an hour and then left for work. I finished reading Achebe’s Things Fall Apart then video chatted with Molly for a good bit. It was wonderful and refreshing to see her face. Abby called and asked me to bring her lap top to her work. On the way I stopped by the apartment scuffed down the Chinese noodles with green curry over them and grabbed her optus. Her work is very nice and serene and tranquil. Very beachy, I liked it very much. I would like to make it my house, minus all the dentist equipment. Then I walked to the beach and took photos along the way. When I was crossing the road by Mundo’s a creepy looking man said “hello” and I said “Hello,” and he asked me where I was from and proceeded to follow me to my sunny spot on the beach. J  Of course back to Gloria Jeans, it is dark now. We are going into the city tomorrow and I need to be well rested for a big day. I enjoyed today by the beach, it was wonderful, minus creepy guy.

6/4/10 3:31p.m.

At Gloria Jeans again and it is raining again. Yesterday Abby and I went to the city and had an adventure at the Wildlife Center. It began with creepy crawlies then to the fun stuff like Koala’s and Kangaroos. Reading my notes I have discovered I completely left out the aquarium day and the trip to Abby’s University. It was last Thursday because Abby does not have work in the morning, just class in the afternoon. We got on the 9ish train to Sydney and bought a 3fer ticket from the aquarium. We also got the shark feed ticket, Wildlife Center, and Sydney Tower. We were rushed to the 10:45 Shark Feed. It was pretty cool. They only other people were a non-English speaking lady and her translator. The aquarium has a Where’s Waldo theme and that was neat. The shark feed tour guide took us to the kitchen where they prepare the food for both the aquarium and the wildlife center. It was very fancy with fresh chopped fruit and veggies such as grapes, carrots, and spinach.

Australian Culture

Several times I have been asked what I think of the culture in Australia and having been here only 2 weeks I hope to find it soon because I have not seen much of anything I could call a culture. It is expensive, when a male hears my American accent he wants to sleep with me, Abby said it is not common for boys to be circumcised, many people I meet from Australia have never left, some have gone as far as New Zealand, but again that is some, I see interesting hair and clothing fashion. Girls wear fun braids and cool cuts, interesting hair color, sort of a punk fashion, fun boots, leggings, layers are cool, vests, scarves, light jackets, hoodies, boys also wear scarves, many different kinds from the traditional to the handkerchief, cool sunglasses, rectangular shaped, some over weight people but they dress cool for the most part, skateboarders crossing buy, people running in their wet suits with their surf boards, the school children wear uniforms and take the trains homes, havnt seen a school bus, leggings, and skinny jeans, boys have great fashion, very sexy, a lot of people smoke, cant order a coffee and add cream, must order a flat white, cool hats, sexy walks, mullets and rat tails are common and considered cool, neat spikey hair, weird looking trucks called youts. Many people are from other countries and not like America who are proud to be an American cheer for their old country. Where I am in Cronulla are mainly people from Australia and they wear the flag around and they are proud but it in the city is is a bit better of a diverse culture but even Birmingham has more diversity. Again, I have only been here 2 weeks so my view is small in scale. I really like it here, it somewhat reminds me of San Diego meets New York. Super friendly, laid back with drive and style but in Sydney  Birds are everywhere, they fly into the coffee shop and where ever they want. Its kinda funny.