Sharks, Sushi, Surfing & Sights

Had orientation this morning. Learned a few important things:

1. I have a greater chance of getting hit in the head by a coconut than getting attacked by a shark. (That's a relief. Plus a guy in Perth got attacked recently, so that should be the 1 for the yr).
2. The deadly snakes are in hibernation until spring/summer and they only live in the bush. So if I head to the Outback before October I should be able to avoid dying at the fangs of a snake. Sweet. 
3. The boxer jellyfish (also deadly) only exist up north and only come out in the summer because it loves warm water. 
4. The most recent crocodile attack happened because a drunk guy hoped over a fence enclosing them and landed on its back. Not going to follow in that genius's footsteps so again, should be ok!

After orientation I went and grabbed some lunch. I was for some odd reason craving sushi, and there just happened to be a place nearby, so I grabbed a variety pack. Revelation: sushi in the states is NOT the same as sushi elsewhere in the world, like Australia. First, as shown in the photo below, the soy sauce comes in a fish-shaped plastic tube. Hilarious. Second, the actual sushi rolls are, well, different. One of them had pickles in it. But most bizarre was the sushi roll stuffed with actual canned tuna fish!! Yes, like the kind you mix with mayonnaise and make sandwiches with. I was shocked. It was disgusting. Tuna in sushi should be raw, end of discussion. Then I ate a Caramello Koala, a caramel-filled chocolate shaped like a Koala bear. I couldn't resist, and it was yummy.

Soy Sauce in Sydney

After lunch I met up with Stephanie, a girl I met through a girl who worked with a girl who I worked with at Yale, got it? Anyway, we had been corresponding prior to my arrival to Sydney, and today was the first day we met up. We took a trip to the famous Bondi Beach (pronounced Bond-EYE Beach, I had been saying it wrong). This was the Australia I had envisioned- the surfer-dude, laid-back, beautiful beach scene. It was awesome!  This picture only captures one teeny-tiny corner of the beach. In fact, you don't even see the beach, you see rocks. But the sun was so bright that you can't actually see the beach in the pics, so this will suffice for now.

Bondi Beach, Sydney 

While walking along the beach, Stephanie ran into an Australia woman whose apartment she had looked at to rent. So we stopped and chatted with her and her boyfriend. They were super nice, and most importantly, her boyfriend was a surfer and surf instructor. He use to participate in world surfing competitions and stuff- pretty darn cool. Anyways, he said that he could give us surfing lessons and that he would take us to better beaches that were more private and therefore better for learning how to surf. He said the other day he went surfing and there were a ton of dolphins out in the ocean and he was just out in the ocean paddling with them. Seriously?! Amazing. And he said he would take us back there!! Stephanie said she would be in contact with the woman, so I really really REALLY hope that we can arrange some surf lessons with him (and that its reasonably priced).

Lastly, here are some pics from yesterday as promised.

View of Sydney Harbor Bridge from Circular Quay

Sydney Opera House (duh)

Quay Took My Breath Away

Day 1 in Sydney has come and gone!

After checking into my hostel I spent the morning exploring Sydney, walking the streets and checking things out. Initial impression- I like it. I like it a lot! Central City is basically like any other city; it is a metropolitan area with lots of people, shops, buildings, etc. Nothing too surprising. But then I headed towards the water- I literally stopped breathing as I approached Circular Quay.  The view of the Sydney Bridge and the Opera House, both sitting against the blue ocean water with sunlight glistening off of it and fluffy cotton-ball clouds floating in the sky, was just incredible. I fell in love. Seriously, standing there taking in the view was complete bliss. I will post pictures later. They won't do the moment justice, but they are still stunning.

I got very hot walking around, so I shed my jacket and proceeded in my tank. Funny thing was that everyone else were bundled up in sweaters, scarves and coats. I literally was the ONLY person walking around in summer attire. It was 60 degrees out, and anyone from Cuse knows that 60 degrees is summer! But these Aussie folk don't know that, so I imagine I looked pretty crazy to them.

Oh! And I had a job interview at the Summit Restaurant, an upscale bar and restaurant located on the 47th floor of a tower with a stunning 360 view of the city (look it up, its way cool). It's an awesome place to go to dine, nonetheless to work at! So Tuesday I have a trial night, where I will basically be trained and they will decide whether or not they want to officially hire me. Fingers crossed all goes well! I would be thrilled to work there- I mean who wouldn't be? And when I say 360 view I mean that the whole restaurant actually turns slow motion, so you just sit and enjoy yourself and take in the whole city.  It actually took me off guard because I only noticed occasionally that we were moving, and it was so slight that I wondered if it was in my mind or really happening. It almost felt like I had drunk head spins (not that I've ever been drunk...). So hopefully I won't get motion sickness at this place! Still, I am psyched that I got a job interview in less than 24 hr of being in Sydney. Yes, I am patting myself on the back.

My Bum is Numb

Yes, my bumb is numb after 15 hours on the plane from LA to Sydney. The good news is that I made it to Sydney, however, safe and sound! The flight actually wasn't all that bad, if you can believe it. I watched two movies, Iron Man 2 (I was in the mood after my friend Dennis told me about the ridiculously incredible time he had at Comic-Con) and Date Night (Mark Wahberg without a shirt on. Need I say more?), and slept a whole lot, without the help of drugs might I add. I got lucky because a) I had a window seat and b) there was no one sitting directly next to me. As a result there were double the pillows, blankets and space so I made myself a pretty comfy bed set-up and sprawled across 2 seats. That's pretty much as good as it gets in the economy section. Those lucky blokes up in first class had actual beds to sleep in, which just doesn't seem fair. It should be law that all persons have a right to a bed on flights over 10 hours long.  Get on that Obama.

There was a guy at the end of my row in the third seat, but he was cool. He was from Texas. At least he was cool for a texan. He was on his was to some lil town outside Sydney to work on pipes of some sort (I didn't really follow, but it was work related). Mr. Texas snored occasionally, and there was another guy a few rows back with a horrible sounding "I'm-a-smoker" cough. Fortunately, I brought my earplugs to block em out. The only thing they didn't block out, for some odd reason, was the sound of food packaging crinkling. Seriously, all night you just heard people opening the complimentary packages of food goodies the airline gave us. It sounds stupid, but these things were like flies- small, but super annoying.

Going through customs was almost more annoying to deal with than the actual flight. It was hot, there were tons and tons of people, and it just took forever. But alas, I made it through, found my way to the youth hostel without any trouble, got my room and freshened up. The hostel has a pool on the top floor. And a movie room. Random, but cool I guess. There are 2 blond, German girls in my room. They are 18 and 19, really sweet but not gonna walk away besties I sense. I feel like I am in a college dorm right now. Certainly looking forward to when I have my own place!