First Date, Second Day - 12/13 Recap

It's only been a day since I last updated this but already so much has happened!

Yesterday I worked until 3ish then started drinking in the office and talked to a few people. Finally met Kristian who is really cool and nice - unfortunately she's engaged lol. She’s my age and cute. Oh well. After here I went to the hostel and left immediately to go pick up some vitamins. Gotta get my Bs! The stores are so crazy small and compact, alot like NYC or SF. This is a big, crazy city like most in the world so it has all the trappings of one. Small stores, expensive food, crazy amount of foot traffic everywhere. Luckily the HA office is in Woolloomooloo which is alot quieter and more relaxed compared to the main CBD (central business district) where I just was where the Expedia offices are. I like it out here, even though I say “out here” and it's only a 15 min easy walk from the CBD. Out hers it's less crazy and more hipster so it feels more like Austin which I am enjoying.

But back to my day. I bought the vitamins and then a sign for vegan food caught my eye on my way home so I went in, naturally, and didn't even realize it was a chipotle knock off until after I ordered my food. But the burrito was good. It was $14 AUD which is about $10 so a bit more expensive than the US, but mine came with guac so not too different. Then I rushed home bc it was getting a little late and I had a date scheduled for 6:30. I ate in quickly and then freshened up before leaving.

When I got to the room, I met a gentleman who was just moving in who must have been in his late 50s which was surprising because the rules of the hostel siad 18-35. But he was nice, we chatted and I found out that he is a Kiwi and his son actually lives in Austin right now and is in property development. Of course he is lol, thats ATX for ya. Crazy small world we live in though - for him to have a son there and all.

Then the date. We went to Bitter Phew which is a cool little hipster bar. The girl I was meeting works for Deloitte and is American so I was expecting someone a bit more preppy but she shows up in chucks and a terrible ugly dress. But long story short she has a cool apt with a massive Cali king. She pays like $3600 for the apartment which is as nice and big as mine (which is $2600 US a month) and she is in an amazing spot right on the WW1 Memorial park. Really nice building which has a gym and pool and everything.

I'm really glad I got see her place and get a feel for the cost bc it's making it seem more and more like I could live here happily. I was thinking about it on my walk from the CBD. There are a lots of fit people, and everyone seems chill. Tons of people from all over the world and a really cool vibe. I'll have to think on it more when I go to the beach and do fun stuff and get more acclimated.

Happiest Hour to Start it Off - 12/12 recap

Good Morning! It's 11am here and I had a great start to my day! Woke up at 6 bc I'm still not 100% on Aus time and hung out a bit. Slept pretty well which was nice. I was a little hesitant with the bed and bedding but it's not bad! Going to be an all right week I think! So got up, got ready and then at 7am just walked around the WW! Memorial and downtown a bit. People watched since lots of them were on their way to work, grabbed a fresh loaf and sourdough and ate it while I walked and enjoyed the morning. It was pretty cool but humid, and the weather is actually a little chilly. I hope it warms up a bit - I was told it was summer here!

Last night was cool. We headed to a VERY American-styled bar with tons of taxidermied animals and wooden carved native american Indians. They even had banjo music on the speakers. Apparently alot of the bars here are American themed. Does that speak to the US drinking culture, or does it mean that Australia has so little original culture they just emulate ours? And is that even a thing, America’s cultured is mainly focused on drinking and bars? Doesn’t seem too far from the truth lol.

I wouldn't have preferred we go there but they had $3 beers so we had a couple there and then headed to a nicer bar with a great shaded back patio and the weather was perfect for it. Had a few more beers there and then went to a cool little Italian restaurant. It was so Italian our waitress could barely understand what we ordered because she only spoke Italian. It was a decent salad (since that’s all they had for me) and then we called it night. Got in around 11 and went to bed. Solid first day!

Blog Post #1!

12/10/2018

I'm in LAX, sat down for some pf changs which is free because of my priority pass. That’s pretty amazing so having a beer and some rice and veggies. Just talked to Mom and Dad they're doing great! It took a little while to figure out our time differences which is pretty funny but I think we figured it out super excited for this long flight. It’s going to be a long 15 hours in a chair but I got a lot of movies and it should be good! I'm going to try to stay up for the entire flight until the end and pass out so that I'm a line with Sydney time because I'll be arriving at 8 a.m. and need to be fresh for work since I'm going into the office right away which might be very stupid but we'll see what happens.

On the plane, about to take off! I can't believe this is happening! And great fucking news: the middle seat is open! VIP bitches! Bon-Soir!

In the air and I can't control myself I'm dancing in my seat. Watching black k klansman and am losing my mind that I'm going to Australia! Ahhhhh

3:43 am cst and 10:43 Sydney time and I'm wired. Maybe shouldn't have had that coffee with dinner. And watching those two impactful movies on the bright blue screen in front of me didn't help. Black klansman was great. And Dunkirk was exceptional as well. Really moved by both of them. But now everyone is passed out around me and this melatonin and eye mask and ear plugs are not enough. Hopefully I'll get a few zzs before we make it to Sydney. I need to be fresh for work tomo. Oops.

Still can't believe it's happening!!

12/11/2018

Just had a great meal at a cool bar with Scott who is an Tax employee here that Brad hooked me up with. Really solid and nice guy. Grabbed a local beer and the bar had a vegan option for me that turned out great! So far so good! The view from this office is exquisite. You can see the bridge and the back of the opera house. It's really crazy how iconic that building is.

The ride from the airport to the hostel was hilarious. The driver of the van was insane and sped all around the city almost missing buses, cars, poles - you name it. And it really tripped me out since they drive on the left side of the road so every time I looked out the window I thought that we were going to hit something because we were going the wrong way.

At work now and got most of my stuff done, so going to check into the hostel, freshen up from the plane ride and then head out to the bars for drinks! Scott set a hh up which I'm excited for. Finally get to see the life of this city!

Something that really surprised me though is that the coffee here is the same as in Europe. All they have is espresso. It's so weird bc they think the US has shitty coffee, but we have everything they have - which is just different espresso drinks -but so much more! Everyone I spoke to so far has no idea about the importance of the roast of the coffee. It totally blows my mind. They have no idea what a breakfast blend, light, medium, dark, french roast is! They think they are all cultured well I say ptewy to that! If you aren't focused on the roast then you don't know coffee. Period. COME AT ME AUSTRALIA!