Sydney is quickly becoming one of my favourite cities – besides San Francisco of course. It is so amazing here and I have really enjoyed exploring different parts and getting to know my way around the area. Our school/living situation is in a perfect location; we’re close to bars, restaurants, downtown, the harbour, the train station and much more. We’ve been walking a lot – well ever sine the weather cleared up; luckily the sun has finally started to come out and give us the warm weather we were counting on. As I said earlier, I do not like he cab drivers here, and besides the bus, walking is our best (and also most interesting) option. When the weather is nice, I definitely do not mind the scenic walk downtown or the pleasant trip though the park. The train station has also proven to be quite convenient; it’s only about a 7 or 8 minute walk. We’ve taken it to go to our favourite, Bondi Beach, and the shopping centre across the Sydney Bridge. (p.s. my computer has automatically converted to the spelling they use here in Australia which is why some words seem to be spelled wrong – I haven’t just forgot how to spell these words in the month I’ve been here). Back to my Sydney exploring; on Monday I made my second trip downtow
n to visit the Apple store. The only recently opened this store and I’m so thankful since my computer problems have seemed to follow me overseas. I was having trouble with my iTunes and was eager to get it fixed. It's about a thirty-minute walk, but since I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenic walk, I passed up the bus that hits every light along the way. After heading past a bunch of popular bars and then china town, you head into the business district (reminding me much of downtown SF). With all the tall buildings and the busy business workers rushing from one corner to the next, I feel right at home – especially with a Starbucks on every other corner. While not as frequently seen as in the states, Starbucks seems to be quite popular here….along with McDonalds and Subway. The apple store is huge, three stories of friendly workers and the newest Mac toys. The genius bar workers have been very friendly and helpful, and also quite interested in the fact that I am from California – they always seem to think I’m from Hollywood or Beverly hills. After my trip to the apple store, I met up with the rest of the group and we head out for some more exploring. The time we took a different route to china town for some good old Chinese food. We pass through some really quiet, peaceful parts of the town and then the UTS library. Soon we found ourselves in China town, but we also found ourselves arguing about where to eat. Sadly we ended up eating at the food court in the nearest mall – it was definitely a disappointment. The trip home however made things much more interesting. As we stood on a busy corner we noticed this man “fishing” and by fishing, I mean he had an imaginary pole and I’m assuming an imaginary lake in front of him. He was casting his pole in and reeling in fish after fish. It seemed as if he was putting on a show for passer-by’s, but when some other tourists went up to pose with him he freaked out. It soon became a three on one fight between the fisherman and these th
ree foreigners. It was very odd and actually quite awkward. The security guard didn’t even step in to break it up. After a loss of one shoe and a rainfall of someone’s notebook paper the fight fizzled out. While it’s hard to explain if you weren’t there, it was something I wanted to include in my blog. It was too funny to pass up. The next day we decided to go visit on of the most popular images associated with Sydney – the Opera House. I’ve seen pictures and heard about the infamous shell shaped building in Sydney Harbour many times before and was very eager to see it in real life. The walk there was an interesting adventure through downtown Sydney and then the Botanical Gardens eventually ending up with a gorgeous view of the harbour, the opera house and the Sydney Bridge. For the first time, I feel like I’m really here – thousands of miles away from h
ome in a place some people only wish to visit in their lifetime. Like I said, I’ve seen this before in pictures, shows, and movies, but it is a whole different experience to see it in person. The building is made up of a mixture of white and tan tiles, a very interesting look up close. While the weather turned on us when we arrived, it was still an awesome trip. The bathrooms in this place were also really cool. The whole design and architecture of the building was very inspiring. We then bought tickets to go see Shakespeare’s “a Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2 weeks which should be really fun. I’ve seen this play before, but I am sure this will have a different interpretation that will prove to be interesting. The city of Sydney has so much to offer and I’m definitely enjoying my time here and the experiences to learn more about this culture.
n to visit the Apple store. The only recently opened this store and I’m so thankful since my computer problems have seemed to follow me overseas. I was having trouble with my iTunes and was eager to get it fixed. It's about a thirty-minute walk, but since I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenic walk, I passed up the bus that hits every light along the way. After heading past a bunch of popular bars and then china town, you head into the business district (reminding me much of downtown SF). With all the tall buildings and the busy business workers rushing from one corner to the next, I feel right at home – especially with a Starbucks on every other corner. While not as frequently seen as in the states, Starbucks seems to be quite popular here….along with McDonalds and Subway. The apple store is huge, three stories of friendly workers and the newest Mac toys. The genius bar workers have been very friendly and helpful, and also quite interested in the fact that I am from California – they always seem to think I’m from Hollywood or Beverly hills. After my trip to the apple store, I met up with the rest of the group and we head out for some more exploring. The time we took a different route to china town for some good old Chinese food. We pass through some really quiet, peaceful parts of the town and then the UTS library. Soon we found ourselves in China town, but we also found ourselves arguing about where to eat. Sadly we ended up eating at the food court in the nearest mall – it was definitely a disappointment. The trip home however made things much more interesting. As we stood on a busy corner we noticed this man “fishing” and by fishing, I mean he had an imaginary pole and I’m assuming an imaginary lake in front of him. He was casting his pole in and reeling in fish after fish. It seemed as if he was putting on a show for passer-by’s, but when some other tourists went up to pose with him he freaked out. It soon became a three on one fight between the fisherman and these th
ree foreigners. It was very odd and actually quite awkward. The security guard didn’t even step in to break it up. After a loss of one shoe and a rainfall of someone’s notebook paper the fight fizzled out. While it’s hard to explain if you weren’t there, it was something I wanted to include in my blog. It was too funny to pass up. The next day we decided to go visit on of the most popular images associated with Sydney – the Opera House. I’ve seen pictures and heard about the infamous shell shaped building in Sydney Harbour many times before and was very eager to see it in real life. The walk there was an interesting adventure through downtown Sydney and then the Botanical Gardens eventually ending up with a gorgeous view of the harbour, the opera house and the Sydney Bridge. For the first time, I feel like I’m really here – thousands of miles away from h
ome in a place some people only wish to visit in their lifetime. Like I said, I’ve seen this before in pictures, shows, and movies, but it is a whole different experience to see it in person. The building is made up of a mixture of white and tan tiles, a very interesting look up close. While the weather turned on us when we arrived, it was still an awesome trip. The bathrooms in this place were also really cool. The whole design and architecture of the building was very inspiring. We then bought tickets to go see Shakespeare’s “a Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2 weeks which should be really fun. I’ve seen this play before, but I am sure this will have a different interpretation that will prove to be interesting. The city of Sydney has so much to offer and I’m definitely enjoying my time here and the experiences to learn more about this culture.
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