Sydney

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I am so sorry it has been so long between updates, today’s really the first time that I have had down time to really get down and write (mostly because I don’t have internet access right now, heh-heh). I’m going to cheat a little and skip over the second week of the new year. Most of it was spent seddling back into the routine of going to school and working at Astra, but also preparing for my ten day trip to New South Wales, in Thailand. My mother has a cousin that has lived there with his wife and daughter for the past twenty or so years. My uncle Brian who lives in Minnesota and I decided that we would take the long needed trip to visit our estranged australian family.

I left on Thursday morning, and after a nine hour direct flight, I arrived in the waiting arms of my second-cousin Paul Hundley, my first-cousin Anna, and my Uncle Brian. We took the the relatively short trip to their house in Hunter Valley, a northern suburb of Sydney. Sydney is a lot like San Fransisco, but has more bridges because it’s filed with different bays and coves. I might even have to aceede that it is more beautiful than San Fransisco, because of this. The Hundley family has a beautiful ranch style house with a generous backyard. They also have a wonderful dog; a giant irish wolfhound named Angus.

My first full day in Sydney we took the ferry in to the city center, and explored around the main dock, Circular Quay. Unlike in most places, the ferry is a popular mode of transportation. Denny, Pual’s wife, usually rides the ferry to work. It may not be the fastest mode of transportation, but it sure is the most beautiful. Afterwards we went to the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, and then went up and got a bite to eat. Although I’m quite used to having a glass of wine with dinner, I found it strange to be able to drink in public. The legal drinking age is 18 here. One of my favorite things about my trip were the home-cooked meals.

Anna, Abby and I (the 3 A’s)  went to Bondi Beach; a hip hangout, where I got extremely sunburned (it had to happen some time). My cousin Abby has a number of jobs, one of which is working at a clothing stand at a market. Because of this she has great clothing that she gets for really cheap from her fellow vendors. We went to one of the markets that her stand frequents to look at clothing. Clothing is so much more to my taste there: nice and bright and stylish.

 The next day my cousin Anna and I went with some family friends who were still in Highschool to Luna Park; an amuzment park. I was very impressed by my cousin Anna;she’s 5 years younger than I am, and yet she was so comfortable with older people. At her age I was quite afraid of older adolescents. Going was probably a horrible decision on my part, but I decided to go on the worst of the rides. I don’t know how I didn’t throw up or collapse. It was dizzying and scary…I don’t think I’ll ever try it again. Sadly afterwards I got quite ill with a sickness that would mysteriously manifest around noon, and then fade by dinner. It was quite frustrating, because usually I was completely debillatated during the most important part of the day.

Unfortunately the rest of the week desintegrated into a blur. I do remember going to Hunter Valley . Hunter Valley is the Australian Equivilant of Northern California. Lying about 50 kilometers north of sydney, it’s choc full of wineries and wonderful resturants. It’s a very popular destination for locals and tourists alike. I got taste some delicious shirazes, Hunter Valley’s most famous grape. We also visited some of the different neighborhoods in downtown Sydney. There are lots of great places to shop, and I believe we visited each of them. I was able to buy a swimsuit quite cheaply that is a little less revealing than the one I brought from the US. Paddy’s Market is an indoor market in Chinatown where we spent a whole afternoon. It reminded me a lot of the markets in Thailand. Living in Thailand has taught me to barter, and I got to practice my skills a fair amount while I was there.

Two days before I left I started to finally feel better. However, on the day I was supposed to leave Abby was to have her 21st birthday party. We all pitched in to help get it ready, and even though we worked hard, we didn’t let it get in the way of having fun or exploring more. There was a bit of a hiccup with my flight home; I thought I was supposed to fly out around 8 pm, but in reality it was 2. Thankfully Paul realized this around 12pm, and we rushed off to the airport after some hastey good byes. I got home around 10pm, and was picked up by my host father’s driver. My host family had been gone on a trip to Florida, and got back the day before. They were all too jetlagged to safely pick me up. It felt good to be back to what I realized was home!

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I am so sorry it has been so long between updates, today’s really the first time that I have had down time to really get down and write (mostly because I don’t have internet access right now, heh-heh). I’m going to cheat a little and skip over the second week of the new year. Most of it was spent seddling back into the routine of going to school and working at Astra, but also preparing for my ten day trip to New South Wales, in Thailand. My mother has a cousin that has lived there with his wife and daughter for the past twenty or so years. My uncle Brian who lives in Minnesota and I decided that we would take the long needed trip to visit our estranged australian family.

I left on Thursday morning, and after a nine hour direct flight, I arrived in the waiting arms of my second-cousin Paul Hundley, my first-cousin Anna, and my Uncle Brian. We took the the relatively short trip to their house in Hunter Valley, a northern suburb of Sydney. Sydney is a lot like San Fransisco, but has more bridges because it’s filed with different bays and coves. I might even have to aceede that it is more beautiful than San Fransisco, because of this. The Hundley family has a beautiful ranch style house with a generous backyard. They also have a wonderful dog; a giant irish wolfhound named Angus.

My first full day in Sydney we took the ferry in to the city center, and explored around the main dock, Circular Quay. Unlike in most places, the ferry is a popular mode of transportation. Denny, Pual’s wife, usually rides the ferry to work. It may not be the fastest mode of transportation, but it sure is the most beautiful. Afterwards we went to the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, and then went up and got a bite to eat. Although I’m quite used to having a glass of wine with dinner, I found it strange to be able to drink in public. The legal drinking age is 18 here. One of my favorite things about my trip were the home-cooked meals.

Anna, Abby and I (the 3 A’s)  went to Bondi Beach; a hip hangout, where I got extremely sunburned (it had to happen some time). My cousin Abby has a number of jobs, one of which is working at a clothing stand at a market. Because of this she has great clothing that she gets for really cheap from her fellow vendors. We went to one of the markets that her stand frequents to look at clothing. Clothing is so much more to my taste there: nice and bright and stylish.

 The next day my cousin Anna and I went with some family friends who were still in Highschool to Luna Park; an amuzment park. I was very impressed by my cousin Anna;she’s 5 years younger than I am, and yet she was so comfortable with older people. At her age I was quite afraid of older adolescents. Going was probably a horrible decision on my part, but I decided to go on the worst of the rides. I don’t know how I didn’t throw up or collapse. It was dizzying and scary…I don’t think I’ll ever try it again. Sadly afterwards I got quite ill with a sickness that would mysteriously manifest around noon, and then fade by dinner. It was quite frustrating, because usually I was completely debillatated during the most important part of the day.

Unfortunately the rest of the week desintegrated into a blur. I do remember going to Hunter Valley . Hunter Valley is the Australian Equivilant of Northern California. Lying about 50 kilometers north of sydney, it’s choc full of wineries and wonderful resturants. It’s a very popular destination for locals and tourists alike. I got taste some delicious shirazes, Hunter Valley’s most famous grape. We also visited some of the different neighborhoods in downtown Sydney. There are lots of great places to shop, and I believe we visited each of them. I was able to buy a swimsuit quite cheaply that is a little less revealing than the one I brought from the US. Paddy’s Market is an indoor market in Chinatown where we spent a whole afternoon. It reminded me a lot of the markets in Thailand. Living in Thailand has taught me to barter, and I got to practice my skills a fair amount while I was there.

Two days before I left I started to finally feel better. However, on the day I was supposed to leave Abby was to have her 21st birthday party. We all pitched in to help get it ready, and even though we worked hard, we didn’t let it get in the way of having fun or exploring more. There was a bit of a hiccup with my flight home; I thought I was supposed to fly out around 8 pm, but in reality it was 2. Thankfully Paul realized this around 12pm, and we rushed off to the airport after some hastey good byes. I got home around 10pm, and was picked up by my host father’s driver. My host family had been gone on a trip to Florida, and got back the day before. They were all too jetlagged to safely pick me up. It felt good to be back to what I realized was home!