My first week

I have officially been in Australia for one week! Some of you might think I can’t count considering I left on a Tuesday, but I didn’t actually land in Sydney until early Thursday morning. In other words, I lost a day of my life. Fortunately, I will gain it back on my return flight. The 20 hours of traveling was almost painless—but not completely considering the only movie I got to watch was the box office bomb “Imagine That” starring Eddie Murphy as a father uses his six- year- old daughter’s imaginary friend’s advice to get ahead in the stock market… it further confirmed the fact that Mr. Murphy is only enjoyable when playing a donkey.

After landing the Work and Travel Company picked me up and brought me to the YHA Sydney Central, which happens to be the only five star hostel in the city. What can I say, I like to backpack in style. It was here where I met Rachel who lives in the Washington DC area and three English girls Katherine, Tamsin and Amelia. I'm so happy I met such nice girls right off the bat, I have a feeling we will be hanging out quite a lot in these next few months. This past Sunday the girls and I went to go see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and walked through the Botanical Gardens. I just can’t believe that I live in this gorgeous city surrounded by water, beaches, and stunning architecture.

The ONLY five star hostel in Sydney. Oh yeah.

There are interesting sculptures like this all around the city.

Clockwise from the top: Me, Kat, Rachel, Tamsin, and Amelia

Aboriginal people arrived in Sydney over 50,000 years ago. They were not granted full citizenship rights until 1973.

I plan on climbing to the top of that bridge sometime soon.

Hmm... this looks so familiar, where have I seen this picture before?

Tourist shot... the first of many I'm sure.

I feel like this is straight out of a Star Wars movie.

I went back to the Harbour a few days later for an interview with Captain Cook Cruises, they are heading into their busiest time of the year and were looking for more waitresses. Believe it or not, I got the job… but I turned it down. It would be a full time positions, working every weekend from now until New Year’s Eve and I wasn’t looking for that kind of a commitment. I feel good about my decision though and if WTC was able to get me an interview within my first week, I am sure there are many more opportunities to follow. Besides, finding a place to live takes precedence over finding work!

After staying in a hostel for five days in the heart of Sydney, Rachel and I moved to a glorified hostel in Glebe, which is about a twenty- five- minute walk outside of the city. I say, “glorified” because although it isn’t advertised as one it basically is with a few perks: our own bathroom, fridge, free internet and a kitchen on the top floor. We thought this would be a good place to meet other young backpackers... wrong! We are living with two middle- aged women. On the plus side, our room is the cleanest in the whole building and you all know I love that. Glebe is a charming area; it reminds me a bit of Oxford only with a more funky, bohemian feel. There’s one long main strip with plenty of restaurants, bookstores and fresh fruit markets. Although we are going on apartment “inspects” all day and searching online by night, Rachel and I have not been able to find a nice place to live. It’s an exhausting experience and the only thing I haven’t liked about being in Australia so far. Our friends Kat and Tamsin moved into a studio apartment this week and we’ve contacted their real estate agent to see if he can find us something similar. Wish us luck; we’re going to need it.

I apologize for not writing sooner, it has taken time for me to feel somewhat settled. I am excited to find a place to live so that I can look for a part time job, start to take scuba and surfing lessons and of course start traveling this enormous continent! Stay tuned for more updates…