Week 12/13: Rain Hits Sydney

Thank God for moms who remind you that "You're behind on your blog..." Or even better, "I like you friends' blogs better." Sherri 2 - Lyndsay 0.

The past two weeks have been unfortunately rainy here, though my 21st birthday was last week! Not quite as exciting overseas when you can already drink, but still a milestone I suppose... I'm not a huge fan of people making a huge deal out of my own birthday, though I was thrilled with all of the suprises. My mom managed to have miniature cupcakes sent to my internship office, and my Big Chelsea and Little Mandy sent me flowers to my apartment in downtown Sydney. My birthday evening after work was spent atop the Sydney Habour Bridge overlooking the city and surrouding harbours with my roommates Chelsea and Julie. The rain fortunately subsided that evening, and we watched the sunset from the top of the bridge. It was truly beautiful, though we couldn't bring cameras up for liability purposes and you'll just have to take my word for it. I was nervous for my interview of Yahoo Australia's CFO the next morning, so it was a fairly uneventful night, but Chelsea brought the roommates together at Baxter's for more cupcakes (FACT: I love cupcakes) and some champagne before heading home.

Last weekend was pretty rainy, so there were a fair amount of hours spent at Starbucks getting work done (aka pretending to work and singing along to the Michael Buble Christmas songs playing). Actually though, it was spent loooking for Spring/Summer work and internships. While I might not be ready to leave yet, my wallet most definitely is!

Looking forward this weekend to a Saturday brunch and hopefully some beach time if the weather clears up :)

Week 11: Markets, Festivals, and the Melbourne Cup

Last Tuesday was the Melbourne Cup, "the race that stops the nation" here in Australia. For those that can't be in Melbourne to celebrate the horse race, it's an excuse for a short day at the office and drinking festivities. Many of my friends had office parties with their coworkers or the day off entirely. Since my office isn't really "Australian" though, our staff being from all over the world, we didn't have too much excitement in our building. At the end of the day however we drank wine and spontaneously bet amongst ourselves on one of the races, and I won $20! Woo!

Friday night, Nikita and I went down to the Rocks for what was supposed to be a Night Bazaar. It wasn't as big as we thought it would be, but we watched an entertaining colonial storyteller for a bit and split some vegetarian dumplings before exploring the Hole in the Sky bar. As part of the event, we received bird masks to put on when entering the venue. The bar was small, but three stories tall, and everything was white (floor, chairs, tables, etc.) Everyone sat on the floor. In one small corner was a black birds nest that a few people were sitting in too.... so strange. We stayed maybe 5 minutes before leaving for a bar we had been wanting to try near the Quay called Palmer & Co. We ended up meeting a guy getting married on Sunday and being entertained by his extremely drunk best man, who was trying to find somewhere to dance. Great bar, especially compared to the bird bar.... eek.

Saturday I took a personal day to explore the Glebe markets and check out Watsons Bay. The Glebe markets have an ecletic mix of stalls, many of the clothing tents being what looks like rich girls selling their closets to make money (rows of hangers with cute clothes for $10 from brands like Top Shop, Zara, etc.) I also had some AMAZING lemonade... there's something about fresh squeezed lemonade on a hot day that never fails to delight. Watsons Bay was a ferry ride away, and boasts fresh fish n' chips by the dock. The ferry ride was beautiful (still a Florida girl at heart I guess - I love being on the water), and I managed to find Camp Cove, which is a small beach area away from the touristy dock area. The water was perfectly clear, and felt great on such a hot day. Watson's Bay is great because it definitely has a small ocean villlage feel, but in the distance you an see the outline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Sunday was rainy and a bit dreary. The Newtown Festival was still on, and even though I missed out on the dog show in the morning on account of the rain, I went for a few hours in the afternoon with Chelsea for some good food, live music, and shopping. We even got a free smoothie from a lady making them on the back of her bike (when she peddaled, it blended the drink. So cool!!).  In the monring I killed a few hours at Starbucks to get some work done and get of the apartment. Even though it's out of my way, I've made my way over there a couple times this past week because they have Chrsitmas music playing and I just love it! Australian Starbucks coffee is pretty crap, but the atmosphere is still great and I usually get my favorite seat in a window seat over looking Darling Harbour and the boats.


Also a S/O to my mom and family for the birthday package! I was mentioning to Chelsea last week how I haven't gotten any mail in Australia (understandably). My favorite part of the box were handmade cards from Eric and Michael though, that looked like two year olds drew them. I showed them to my roommates, and they were like "Oh cute! How old is you brother, like 4 or 5?" HA!

Week 11: Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Re:Savage Advice

This past weekend, I headed to the Sydney Opera house to hear a few dangerous ideas. FODI is relatively new annual event in Sydney that brings speakers from all over the world to discuss some pretty controversial and unconventtonal topics. I attended two talks: "Savage Advice" by Dan Savage and "End of Men" by Hanna Rosin.

While the talk is still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd write down my opinion of Dan Savage's speech:

First off, Dan Savage is an excellent entertainer. His honest vulgarity is entertaining and relateable. Here Savage discussed his belief in and concept of monogomish relationships. As a married gay man in an open relationship, Savage relayed his idea that fully monogomous relationships are unnatural and oftentimes dangerous to long term partnership. Based on the truth that we are innately sexual creatures and are physically attracted to other people (Savage: "We all want to f*** other people!"), Savage explains that monogomish relationships are oftentimes more practical, happy, and healthy (in some sense of the word). He does acknowledge however that these types of relationships are not for everyone, and he doesn't recommend everyone goes out now to cheat on their partners. This is a pretty simplified summary of course, and you'd have to read more of his work to get a better idea of his arguements.

Still not entirely sure how I feel about all of this monogomous vs. monogomish talk, but here are my immediate thoughts: 1) I can see why conservative religious people fundamentally disagree with and  hate Savage and his ideas. 2) Religion aside, there are definitely some ideas I agree with here. I don't think anyone can debate Savage's claim that we are all attracted to other people regardless of your current relationship status, age, beliefs, etc. I can also understnad and support the claim that many open relationships may in fact be stronger, healthier, and longer lasting then purely monogmous relationships. 3) The whole talk, however, I seemed to be caught up on this opinion - Even though this idea of monogomoish relationships satisfies some of our innate human desires and tendences and may make us happier, does that mean it's necessarily a good idea? Just because I desire chocoloate and it makes me happy, does indulging in it make it a good idea? I don't know... food for thought.

Week 10: Wildcats to Kiwis: Weekend in Auckland

My spontaneous trip to visit Xenia in Auckland last weekend was just what I needed. After going Friday night to a new place called Mojo Record Bar with Chelsea (really cool bar with fantastic beer - my new Aussie favorite is Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale), I was exhuasted by the time I made it into Auckland Saturday at 12pm NZ time. I was running on a few hours of sleep, but seeing one of my best friends on the other side of the world - "Is this real life?" - was beyond worth it. We started off the afternoon by walking through the main shopping street of the city and grabbing some coffee and cookies. We then met up with Xenia's friend Kelsie and walked along the harbour looking at the ships. Xenia and Kelsie that week had meet some of the crew members for one of the largest boats docked there, so we were on the hunt to find it (which we did!). We grabbed a couple happy hour drinks then before meeting up with Tommy (another fellow Villanovan) and heading towards Mount Eden for a beautiful view of the city. We rounded off the night with pizza and beers at a little Italian restaurant in the city in an outdoor seating area.

Sunday, Xenia, Tommy, and I spent most of the day a ferry ride away at Waiheke Island. We did a few hours of hiking along the coast of the island, and finished in a little beach town where we found fresh fish and chips. We stumbled upon this little nugget of insight too. Love it.

Seeing Xenia reminded me that even though I'll miss my life in Sydney, I'm excited to get back to the Villanova bubble to see all of my friends again. And make some money... I'm sure I'll be complaining about it a a few weeks in, but until then - SEE YOU SOON CATS<3