City to Surf....to Blue Mountains, to....

August was one of those busy months, both in and out of the office. The focus date early on was August 11: aka, City to Surf, a 14k race from the, um, city to the, er, yeah. Anyway, the race involves running through the streets of Sydney, great views and a little incline known as Heartbreak Hill. Definitely an exercise in exercise, but fun times, especially with the post-race beers at Beach Road.
Watching the Olympics afterwards made us feel like slackers in comparison, but at least we don't have to wear swimming goggles. As an aside, there's something about the Olympics for me that makes them seem like pancakes: when you first get em, you're all excited but after about five minutes, you're sick of em. OK, loosely stole that line from Mitch Hedberg, but it's true. After about 50 swimming heats without even seeing a gold medal race, not too interesting.
Somewhere along the way, work reared its ugly head and my friend Trynn (Trinh?) came to visit, which pretty made the Beijing Games null and void. Having a visitor in a city like this really makes you want to show them all Sydney has. We couldn't see the Harbour until it was sunny, but we did catch a good chunk of town and made our way to the Blue Mountains for a few days. A few massive hikes and 30 views of the same awesome canyon/mountain thingy, followed by a semi creepy hotel celebrating Christmas in August, we had a pretty damn good time.
The next week we finally did the Harbour thing, Manly, Darling Harbour. Just thinking about all the walking makes you tired, but when you're a host on a mission, it's got to be done.
The month ended with a trip up to Cairns and Port Douglas. Great preview for summertime, took in the sights of Great Barrier Reef, Daintree River, Cape Tribulation. First real vacation in awhile, felt real good. Skip Cairns, but make it up to Port D if you can, it's amazing how the scenic beach of Northeast Australia can combine with deep rainforest. Me likey.

I think this blog this is now up-to-date. It's been a long, strange trip catching up. Now I can talk about important current events, like Ohio State-USC and Sarah Palin. Can't wait.

Oh Say Can You See...

Red party cups, KFC, Krispy Kremes....sounds like 4th of July, Sydney style. We celebrated America's 232nd birthday with a jelly doughnut, greasy fried chicken, Budweiser bash. Things got a little loud at the new pad, but at least there weren't any fireworks.
The dead of winter was just fine: didn't see any snowflakes fall, hardly any visible breath and didn't break out any heavy sweaters. Even got a real bed...yes, bed, for the first time in way long. Also started my career as a musician, learning my G, D, C chords and most importantly, the calluses on my fingers.
Tough not to be on the summy Cali beaches this time of year, but discovering the views of Sydney from Vaucluse puts it all in perspective.

June Gloom

The month began by having to officially leave our pad in Bondi, leaving me temporarily homeless. Luckilly, my good friends Rory and Suzi offered the guest room at their place for me to crash while looking for a homestead. The month also started pretty rainy, leaving me to search for average apartments in cold, wet weather.
But that was all put in perspective on the morning of June 13, where I received a horrible text and voice message from my best friend Mike. The news was that our good buddy Mark Steiman had passed away from a car accident while travelling in Europe. It's still strange to write, very hard to believe even two months down the road. Mark was a great guy with such a unique view on life. Some called him an old soul, we jokingly referred to him as old guy, but he was such a well-centered person who understood where he has been and where he was going. He was such a smart, talented and focused individual, but never hesitated to make us all crack up with his wit and humor. It was the little things that I loved hanging out with Mark: when we would go over his place after Taco Tuesday and watch weird Spike Jonze videos or when we went to the Toots and the Maytals concert....so many great mini moments that you remember. Not suprisingly, Mark got into Yale Business School last year and I remember writing to him about how awesome I thought it was for him, such a great honor. Our last IM chat was so typical: we talked about his travels through Europe, where he was headed next, watching the Euro tourney, concerts, etc. A few days later, he was gone. I'm sure it will last for a long, long time, but it's hard for me to go for a long period without thinking of him in some way....usually it makes me smile, then laugh.
While in zombie state for a few days, I knew Mark wouldn't want his friends to remember him sadly and stay depressed. He would want us to remember the good times over a beer. It was tough not to be with mutual friends, but some great Sydney people were there to cheer me up.
While not much consolation from the shock of mid-June gloom, the month did end on a high note as I was able to land an apartment, back in Bondi. Hey, what's good is good, right?
Here's a hilarious pic of Stei, wearing one of his patented shirts that I'm sure we poked fun at. But this is vintage Mark, and makes me laugh every time.

Cinco de Mayo

Of course they don't know that wonderful holiday here....hell, even the Mexican restautants didn't know what it was! What is it, anyway. Well, that didn't stop us from celebrating....aye Dios mio, mi gato es frio!

What I wasn't celebrating in May was the continuous apartment search. When going through randoms, it really can be unreliable. No suprise there, but Murphy's Law took on a whole new meaning in May. Bone dry, not a square to spare. Dissapointing, but that story has a happy ending.

As our last month at 48 Fletcher Street, let me say that our pad was as sweet as you can imagine: big house, nice backyard patio with views of Bondi and steps away from pretty much everything in Bondi/Tamarama. My roomies Ryan and Andrew were great hosts and their dogs, Sasha and Jackson, properly welcomed me every night by slobbering all over. Just like a good wife. Not sure if I'll find myself in another house of that caliber here, but appreciated it during its time.

Had to go through my old text messages to remember that Canon took me down to the nation's capital in May. Canberra doesn't have a whole lot going for itself, but it is interesting scenery and always good to see something new. Is that enough of a sales pitch, Canberra Tourism Board?! Kinda reminded me of New Mexico or Utah in landscape, and a slow college town in atmosphere. Go Kevin 07, our PM has the same name as me!

Oh, and of course there was no Memorial Day celebrations. But don't you worry, 4th of July is around the corner. Here's a pic of 48 Fletcher, btw.

Same But Different

Here are a few things in April that show that while Australia is very much like the U.S., there are subtle differences that make you pine for Vegamite.

Rugby: this is like American football if it were constantly running the option or a pitch play to the halfback. It might be interesting to watch because I'm here or the fact that they hit head-on with no pads, but it's not the worst thing to watch. Players are pretty bogan (Aussie white trash), but gotta be tough to play this sport. My first game was at Parramatta, which seemed like a high school stadium for Friday Night Lights. They had a nice little "Parra-matta!" cheer thing going not exactly the OH-IO, but hey, it's enthusiasm. I've yet to play rugby yet, but need to get myself a tight collared shirt. Well, good luck to the first-place Sea Eagles and local Roosters. Now can some people show up at these games, please?!

Music: little weak, I have to say. Now each country, city, neighborhood has its own music scene, but Sydney aint really the place to be. I only mention this because I went to a Smashing Pumpkins show and V Fest around this time. Pumpkins was fine, although the venue was far from full...fast, fun, flub. Alliteration. That crazy rock and roll must've scared people off. But V Fest was littered with too many nods to the 80s, complete with bad fluro and synth pop. I suppose this scene is prevalent worldwide now, but it's definitely alive and kicking in Syd. There are a handful of good artists I've heard here, so maybe it involves digging like in the states, but can we have a popular band that doesn't use a drum machine?

House hunting: I had the pleasure one day to come home and find 35 of my closest strangers in the house. Apparently, this is how they sell houses: by auction! I'm talking to rat-tat-tat spewing of the auctioneer, people holding their cards up, the whole deal. So bizarre to watch, then find out we lived in a $1.1 million house. No private dealings with real estate people, just straight-up bidding, like they did when Rocky lost his house.

Driving: Yes, got to do this around April time! It's pretty obvious, so not much to it: on the other side of the car, other side of the road. I felt a little sickly, didn not feel right. Then I almost took off a few mirrors driving too close to the parked cars. Probably a good thing my license is expired.

March Madness

Oh yes, I did have the Sydney H&Kers fill out their NCAA tourney brackets. No matter where you are in the world, it has to happen. They didn't really know the Tar Heels from the Jayhawks, but they played along. Of course I was horrible, even against the Aussies. Good tourney, too, capped by an exciting final game where KU beat out Memphis in OT.

I wasn't able to follow the tourney for the first few rounds because my buddy Huw and I took a journey up to Byron Bay over Easter weekend. Byron is kinda a mix of spring break-ville, Woodstock and a small surf town. Lots of travelers and hippes line the streets, but still remains a nice resort town. Based on a pre-owned bus ticket purchased back in November, we went the Greyhound route up to Byron, complete with screenings of City Slickers AND Turner and Hooch. Nothing to kill a 12-hour bus ride like a flick between a young Hanks and slobbering dog. In true Huw style, we met many-a random characters in Byron, including a gaggle of Swedes at the hostel that we partied with. He also was able to snag tickets to the Blues Festival, caught some cool bands, including OAR, where one dude was even doing the "OH-IO" cheer....niiice. We took a helicoptor ride over the area, which was pretty sweet. I felt like doing the "get some....!" scene from Full Metal Jacket.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the trip to Nimbin, which is a town littered with drugged-out hippies, tourists and more hippies. For those of you that know about Nimbin, it has a reputation for being "green" and not the environmental type. I took a trip up with some traveling Dutchies and we were driven by a guy that fit Nimbin to a t. We even got the Aboriginee lecture on the way back. Great drive, too, the landscape around the area is green in itself with rolling hills.

March also was the month that we learned the house at 48 Fletcher St woul be sold by June. Let the apt search bgin....talk about madness.

Black History Month

February, February....hmm, not remembering much. Ooh, the month started with only one of the best Super Bowls ever! And it all happened to the Giants...yes, yes, thank you very much. A bit strange with the general apathy in our office about what I think to be an American holiday, but it's great to answer the most basic of questions about the sport. It's like talking to a little kid: "why do they throw the ball forward?" "is the quarterback the star of the team?" "they play indoors??" But good to see general interest, at least from the guys.

At this point, was starting to easily find my way around the city. Biking in the park, favorite beaches, fave Thai places. Definitely getting used to living Down Under, not a bad homestead with beach views and eveything. I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say February was when a group of us went sailing on the Harbour. Awesome Saturday, pretty epic driving a boat towards the Opera House. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better downtown/Harbour area than in Sydney. Amazing as you can imagine in pics, both day and night.

Like February, short entry. Fight the power, brothas.