Apologies for the delay, it’s been a little hectic in Sydney right now, so this will be my first post in a series of back to back posts that I’ve been slowly hammering out. So as you may/may not have figured out, most of the time I end up just typing out long articles on Microsoft Word, editing it a little bit and then posting it up. I guess this is like that episode of the Office where Ryan makes the blog for Creed. It’s pretty good because it catches most of my spelling/grammar mistakes, but as you know, some of it slips by my weary eyes. But hopefully you guys will all get a chance to read this sometime soon.
So during my flight I met a German medical student who was also flying with me from Hong Kong to Sydney. She went from Frankfurt to Hong Kong (11 hours) and then ran from one side of the airport to the gate that was later flying to Sydney. We ended up talking about healthcare in our respective countries and the differences between Public and Private Options (apparently Germany has a two-tier system! Fun fact) She ended up giving me her contact information so hopefully I’ll get a chance to meet up with her later, and she also suggested a German host family that may/may not hook me up with a place to stay, but we’ll see if I end up taking that offer.
I met my contacts at the airport and they kindly drove me back to their house to stay for the next couple of nights. On the way I passed by Chatswood, which is a suburb north of Sydney where I stayed the last time I was here with my aunt and uncle. It was kind of surreal to see the big Vodofone building that was near my aunt and uncle’s place five years later. I met my contact’s kids and they were really cool and awesome, and we talked about the differences in accents/culture/indigenous life forms.
I think something has to be said about the generosity of my hosts while I’m in Sydney. Not only did they offer to pick me up and host me for a couple of days (although they graciously offered to extend it as long as I needed), they also helped me find accommodation outside the city. While I’m searching for places within the limits of the campus, it seems more and more likely that commuting won’t be such a bad option, since I’ll still be close enough to the campus that I’ll be able to go quite frequently, and the cost of the tickets end up being discounted since I’ll travel at non-peak hours (My classes run from 11am till about 3pm – 4pm. But before that digression, my host family has also graciously prepared dinner for me as well; after a week of living out of a suitcase, worrying about accommodation and arranging other essentials and hoping that people at my new school will like me, something as mundane and simple as a meal prepared by someone’s (who could easily be my!) mom goes a long way.
So I’ve also managed to set up a phone in Sydney, and tomorrow I’m going to get my bank account setup so I won’t end up carrying wads of cash with me and run the risk of getting mugged by vagrants and other hooligans that are apparently swarming all over the campus. Oh and watch out for those landlords, they’ll try and steal your soul if you let them!
I took a bunch of pictures, but I’ll try and upload them when I’m not eating up my hosts bandwidth (more on the third-world country that poses as a respectable place that is Australia later!).
Although I suppose it’s good to note that while Sydney/Australia is a third-world country, I don’t knock on it at all because it’s very fun and exciting, even if they overcharge for everything ($3 for a pack of gum!?)
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