A PLACE TO CALL HOME!! :-D

so...i've been in sydney since saturday, and i finally have somewhere to live. but before i get to that let me recap a little of what i've been up to.



saturday, july 19:


i arrived in sydney after a 6 hr layover in LAX (now the 2nd time i've had huge problems w/that airport! avoid it if you can). the flight over was fine and i only freaked out once. about 4hrs into the flight i started panicking about having to sit next to the same people in the same seat (middle seat...again) for so long, but after a few deep breaths and a quick walk to the bathroom i was fine for the rest of the trip. i watch 2 movies, "the other boleyn girl" (good...pretty dramatic, but worth watching) and "definitely, maybe" (still good...didn't cry this time, but if you haven't seen it you should). i also watched a few episodes of "House" and "CSI", while i colored an octopus in my newest coloring book :) when i arrived in sydney airport i collected my bags after going through customs, and really the only problem i had with them was trying to get around w/2 giant suitcases and mobs of people. i checked into the UNSW desk and bought a bus ticket, but then after i thought about it, the bus would be too crazy w/my bags to i returned the ticket and got a cab to king's cross where my hotel was. when i arrived there, i unpacked in my little double bed room with the view of the brick wall outside and walked to cole's, the locale grocery store. i wasn't too blown away by prices or really notice anything significantly different about it, i walked about to my hotel and passed about 4 strip clubs on the way. apparently i was in the "glue sniffer" part of town, as someone later told me, and i was NOT to go out at night. it was a nice day...about early fall weather i'd say, but everyone here was talking about "how cold!" it was. i tried to relax most of the rest of the day, unpacked a little, walked around the block, found an Internet cafe, and took a nap.



sunday, july 20:

after figuring out how to get to see an apartment i was going to look at i woke up early (7am) to shower and walk to the bus stop. unfortunately, the pope was in town so the bus i was waiting for never showed up. i thought i was in the wrong spot but as it turned out the street i needed to go down was closed due to the sunday mass at randwick racecourse (just to the north of campus). i again took a cab to the roundabout nearby and walked. the apartment was beautiful, and right near "uni". it had a double bed, mirrored wardrobe, built in shelves, desk, chair, and balcony looking over the park. it was perfect...however i did NOT know HOW amazing it was when i saw it because it was my 1st survey, and i think i could have brown-nosed a little bit more so that she'd pick me as her new "flattie". here in sydney the housing market is SO tough that you really have to suck-up to whom ever is showing the place so they don't just give it to someone else. she told me that she'd let me know what she had decided in the morning and that it would be a hard decision because there were so many good people applying. that was really my 1st clue that she prob wouldn't pick me. since i was so close to campus i decided to walk around and get the lay of the land before it was crazy with students all over. it was again another nice day and i could hear the pope's mass on the loud speakers in the distance. i walked up and down anzac parade (the main street by campus that was closed due to the pope) and again waited for 2hrs for the bus. this time the bus DID show up, but it didn't take me to where i needed to go. it dropped me off at hyde park which didn't look that far from my hotel on the map, but ended up being a 20 min walk up hill (and i'd also like to add that i did NOT wear good walking shoes and had HUGE blisters on my heels by this time). when i got home, i was so tired and overwhelmed by the day that i just hung out in my room for the rest of the evening. i did go out to make a phone call though. i called flo, who was living in sydney near campus and said she would rent me her room for 2 weeks while she was "on holiday" so i could apartment search, however when i called her, her boyfriend told me "they weren't going on holiday anymore, it was too expensive, i couldn't stay there...good luck". AWESOME. i was checking out of my hotel tuesday morning and i now had nowhere to go...



monday, july 21:
now with the panic of being homeless in sydney i headed over to campus as early as i could. they had housing accommodation assistance from 8am-5pm in the international student services (iss) lounge, and i needed their help! i called a few hostels in coogee (near the beach and campus) and booked a room. however they did not having any single rooms for tuesday night so i'd have to stay in a dorm style room (2 sets of bunk beds and a tv). at this point in time really didn't care so i booked the dorm for one night and then the single room til saturday morning. how that i had somewhere to "live" until saturday i was now able to focus on the larger picture of finding somewhere permanent to live! there were lots of listing at the campus and on the internet, and now that i was in sydney and had a free phone to use i was going to call EVERYONE! however, it turned out that most people in sydney don't like to answer the phone. i DID get a hold of 3 people with rooms and i made appointments with for that day. the 1st place was a 5min walk from campus in a very residential neighborhood and looked nice. i pretty much fell in love with the area as soon as i saw 5 wild rainbow lorrekeets feeding in a tree! however, when i walked inside the late 30 year old south american woman's apartment (i'd describe her as spicy, and she was always calling me darling...) was not what i was looking for. it was decorated in lots of dark red, purple, and leopard print (i'm sure nathan would have LOVED it). her son had just moved out to joining the army and her 2nd bedroom had a large built in wardrobe, a twin mattress on the floor, a small desk in a dark corner, and a dirty carpet. there WAS an amazing view of the city from the roof of the building and i kicked myself for letting my camera battery die. i told her i'd call her that evening about if i wanted the room or not, but i really hoped i'd find something better...MUCH better. the second place i went was the apartment of a late 40year old asian woman named dewie. she had a cute balcony with lots of plants, and a small yappy poodle. the living room was a nice size...but there was a bed there. turns out she lived with her 21 year old daughter in this 2 bedroom apartment and she was living in the living room and renting ME a bedroom! it was too weird. the rent was really cheap, but it was just too strange to have my landlord sleeping in the living room...so i excused myself. i had one last place to look before the long day was over (i'd been walking all over town...but in better shoes :) i learned!!). it was a house literally right behind the racecourse. a girl in her mid3o's named tara-leigh lived here with another mid30's guy named conner and a black and white car named wilson. as soon as i walked in i was in love! it was unbelievable. after the 2 horrible places i'd just been it was heaven! it was decorated just the way i would want MY house to be decorated and she was friendly, there was a back yard with pet birds, and free internet. i was sold...but like someone stupidly optimistic, i told her i had a one other place to look the next day and would call her back. i was holding out for people closer to my age and i was hoping that the place i was going to visit tomorrow would be just as nice and with students and it wouldn't be a mistake.





tuesday, july 22:

again, i woke up early. i had charged my camera and needed to take a few pics of king's cross to remember the nice parts of the area (i'll load them later). i made a few phone calls home before i checked out of my hotel (apparently you can't use regular calling cards from pay phones, so the hotel was nice enough to let me call the US from their phone)...but no one answered!! by my calculations it should have been 12am in VA, and i don't know where anyone was...but i didn't get to talk to anyone :( i packed up my bags, got a cab and headed to coogee. let me tell you...it's BEAUTIFUL! the street my hostel is on is at the top of a hill which leads right to the beach. it was like a breath of fresh air after being in "glue sniffer territory". i checked into my room and headed back to campus to do a few little things (ie. call a few other places about renting, and sign my loan checks!!) i had a meeting with franco at 2pm so i started walking towards centennial park (pretty much the same area that tara-leigh's place was...i actually passed it on the way). it was a nice enough place...but something just didn't feel right. he rushed me through the survey, and none of the roommates were there for me to meet, and i just didn't feel like home. he gave me a ride back to my hostle and i got ready to go back to campus after getting few things i'd need to open my bank account. however, there were no more buses back to campus so i just spent the evening getting acquainted with austrailan tv. so far, not too different but they are very aware of what's going on in the news in other areas (they had a whole hour of just US news...i felt kinda back that we never hear about aussie news in the US...), and their nighttime shows are like soap operas (cheaply made with a new episode every night). they do have a lot of US shows there too, which gave me a little break from the accent for a while. my roommate that night would be a guy...it was the only room they had, so i figured i could survived one night. i had not seen/met him by the time i decided to go to bed at 10pm, so i figured he wasn't coming home that night (who knows what kinda guy he is...). i had been asleep for about 30mins when the door opened and the lights came on. i sat up as quickly as i could from my deep sleep and introduced myself. he was a chinesse student named pan who appologized for turning on the lights. i really couldn't be too mad because he had no way of knowing i was there!





wednesday, july 23:

i was going to be moving to another room, to myself, in the hostel that morning so i tired not to unpack too much to get ready for my shower. the hostel has a large bathroom for everyone to share. there are 3 toilet stalls and 3 shower stalls and one sink. i did not think i would be staying in a hostel so i didn't bring any shower shoes, but when i went grocery shopping the day before i picked up a pair so i didn't pick up any athletes foot...but, i don't think that would have been a problem. taking a shower in that hostel is like showering with a power washer. usually people complain about not having enough water pressure...this was quite the opposite! i think every speck of dirt and soap was BLASTED from my body. since it was also very painful, i washed as quickly as i could. i was also running late to catch the bus to go to campus. i needed to attend my 1st orientation session "arriving and surviving". it was all pretty basic orientation stuff and it wasn't anything that wasn't covered in the arrival packet. i did meet a couple of canadians who were sitting behind me, shannon and chris, they'll come back into the story later. while louise was going over UNSW info she came to the topic of drugs. she said that all drugs are illegal here, but there are testing stations at most bars. she recommended that we get our drugs tested for laced whatever so that we stayed safe. this seemed quite odd to me considering she had just said these drugs were ILLEGAL. i asked her so clarify and she rudely responded "it's for safety". i felt like she was saying "duh, don't you test your drugs?!" shannon and chris didn't get it either (we talked about it later). louise also wanted to make it very clear that yes means yes, positive and no means no, negative (i'd like to know who speaks english and DOESN'T get this concept!?) AND that just because you are dating an austrailan, does NOT mean they will want to have sex with you...she must have heard some crazy stories to make this such a significant point in her UNSW intro. after the talk shannon, chris and i chuckled about how strange some to the topics were and said we'd meet up later at the vice-chancellor's talk so we could all get the bus back to coogee. (louise also made a good point of telling us that there had been THREE muggings in the last week...let me repeat THREE MUGGINS!! :-\ and that they were all guys and that one was done by a group of 14year old girls!) by this time i was getting tired of not being able to communicate with people sans a cell phone so i walked up the street to buy myself an optus prepayed phone. it's really tiny and has no inside keyboard :( (i miss my phone) but i pay $40 for $80 worth of talk time. also went to the national austrial bank (nab) to open my student account and despoited the $210 i had left into it. i hadn't eaten lunch yet so i went back to campus, grabbed a bite and met up with christine at 3. christine is another conservation biology student who planned a coffee get together. she's from canada and has long curly brown hair. joining us were jess b, from new zealand; kate, who used to live in the ballston area!; ashley, from fargo north dakoda; and jo, from new zealand. i had planned getting my "mobile" perfectly because now i had 5 new friends to add to my empty contact list :) we sat around talking while the sunset and the weather started getting REALLY cold. to warm up we took a campus tour which ended with a free barbque (oddly not called a barbie once). we sat under a heater and talked more before heading to the vice-chancellor's talk. i then parted with them to sit with chris and shannon. we again laughed about how boring the chancellor was and about how he told us the same stuff we'd heard earlier that day. after the talk they served wine (red and white) and beer! for free! no limit! it was great!! we stood around talking/waiting for the rain to stop and shannon and i enjoyed 2 glasses of wine while chris had 3 beers...3 free beers! :-D we then realized it was getting late and the buses would stop soon so we hopped on the 370 via coogee bay rd back to the beach. they hadn't eaten dinner yet so we decided to go out. there was a place they knew about which on wednesday nights, when you ordered a $4 beer, soda, or wine gave you a FREE STEAK...FREE STEAK! it was an amazing night for freebies! however, they waitress said they were out of steaks because earlier there had been 600+ people there for the free food. so we walked over to the famous coogee beach hotel (known for closing down around 6am!) but it was unusually dead and their kitchen was closed. so try number 3 took us to the FiveO's resturant. they had great deals for $5 (including a 300g rump steak, and a baby octopus salad) they also good deals for $9 and $11 (if you wanted to slurge!) we ordered and sat ourself away from the noisy bar and talked about the culture differences, weather, up coming classes, housing problems, and the army...? i don't know how we got on the topic but shannon and i talked for a good while about her sister's boyfriend, charlie, who is also in the army and deployed in afganistan. i won't bore you with all the little details, but i think i have more new friends :) we all walked home...in the freezing rain...and i went straight to bed.

TODAY! thursday, july 24:

::deep breath...writting all that is exhausting:: so...earlier this week i talked to a woman w/a room name trasie. she told me to "ring" her thrusday around 8:30am...so that's what i did when i got up. on my brand new phone :) she told me to come by as soon as i was ready for the day. it was still cold...and raining...so i really bundled up. however it one spat for the 1st 5 mins i was out. i walked up a HUGE hill (it had stairs it was so big) and down a few cute streets to 27 meymott st, randwick. she showed me around the house (3 bedrooms, 2 international students, bathroom with shower and tub, back patio, washer...people in sydney don't use dryers, living room w/cable tv, dvd player, and phone) my room which is really a make-shift room has a lofted bed from idea with a desk and chair under. i didn't really love the idea of having a lofted bed...but at this point i didn't care. i told her i wanted it and we started the paperwork!! she said she wanted the rent and bond (security deposit of $600) then so that i could move in later today. when i pulled out my check book, she said she only took cash...yuck. now i needed to find a way to get $795 in cash! she took my passport to copy (which worried me because she said she'd give it back later...i hope she doesn't steal it...) and we signed the contract and i left for the bank. i realized that i didn't have $795 in my savings accounts so i had to go an internet cafe to transfer the money. then i had to go back up the street to the atm and take out sets of $200 from 2 different accounts (atms having limits has never been such a problem!!) i then went back to my hostel to talk to them about checking out early...but they have a strict no refund policy...so that's either thursday, and friday night rent down the tube or thrusday, and friday night hostel pay down the tube...either way i'm out a few bucks :( BUT don't loose sight of the fact that i have somewhere to live!!!! i'll be taking tons of pictures as soon as i really move in (i'll prob stay tonight in the hostel and move in tomorrow) so that everyone can see my new digs. keep in mind this is the 2nd place room in all of sydney (well all that i saw. when i called tara-leigh back yesterday after the dissappointment with franco she said the room had gone just a few hours ago, c'est la vie) so any negative comments will not be tolerrated. now that i've got somewhere to stay, i've spend the rest of today writting all this, and it's now about 2:30pm and i haven't had any lunch, so i'll have to update on the rest of my day later...ie after it happens :)