Monday, January 30, 2006
Not only was I overwhelmed by books (20 lbs!) on my first day of classes, but I was also overwhelmed by the amount of material they are planning to squeeze into my aged brain! We did the respiratory (pronounced "resPEERatory" here) system today. The tuna salad sandwich did me in and I got extremely droopy during the afternoon class. Hopefully the teacher didn't notice coz I had a name tag stickered on me.
It was also my first night in my new home. I got to meet 3 of my 5 housemates. They are all very friendly and they are all moving out within a month. The house is not in the best of conditions nor am I paying the best of prices ($160/wk) but it is convenient and I like that I am on "Shepherd" St. It draws me closer to the Alchemist and fulfilling my dreams.
Sadly, my address belongs to the "Chippendale" suburb and not "Sydney" suburb. Let me explain before you suspect I am in Oz for another reason! I think "Sydney" (that's postal suburb Sydney) is only the business district area. So, it's kind of like calling the Wall St/Battery Park area "New York" on your postal address. Right outside of "Sydney" is "TownHall" then "Chinatown" then "Chippendale". So, it correlates with "Wall St", "City Hall", "Chinatown", "Village" in New York... kind of. Chippendale is not as hip and fun as the Village though.
It was also my first night in my new home. I got to meet 3 of my 5 housemates. They are all very friendly and they are all moving out within a month. The house is not in the best of conditions nor am I paying the best of prices ($160/wk) but it is convenient and I like that I am on "Shepherd" St. It draws me closer to the Alchemist and fulfilling my dreams.
Sadly, my address belongs to the "Chippendale" suburb and not "Sydney" suburb. Let me explain before you suspect I am in Oz for another reason! I think "Sydney" (that's postal suburb Sydney) is only the business district area. So, it's kind of like calling the Wall St/Battery Park area "New York" on your postal address. Right outside of "Sydney" is "TownHall" then "Chinatown" then "Chippendale". So, it correlates with "Wall St", "City Hall", "Chinatown", "Village" in New York... kind of. Chippendale is not as hip and fun as the Village though.
Friday, January 27, 2006
It was my first day of orientation, my first day at my new house and my last night at the Le Henrik Resort on Manly Beach.
I'm not glad that orientation was so disorganized, but I am glad many of the international students are my age going for a second degree. There's even an Indian doctor in the bunch looking to get into the states with a nursing degree (apparently a medical doctor degree does him no good there)!
Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594054944157/
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Friends I got to meet from one of Ed's NY Greeter tours took me around today. Thanks Qi Ling and Brendan!
I seem to be in one of those 'new boyfriend' phases where you spend alot of time comparing your new boyfriend to your previous boyfriends. Things were never that bad before but you just had to move on from Mr. Ex. Now this new Mr. Romance is pretty cool and comforting yet not the same. (I'm speaking figuratively, of course! My goal here is to get my degree!)
Funny, I have alot of guidebooks, but no Lonely Planet (my Bible!) for Sydney. I'm grasping to be as comfortable here as I was in New York. I know, I know, it just takes time. It's EXTREMELY comforting to know though despite all the healthy nut stuff that goes on in this city, the McDonalds here serves FRIED apple pies. My favorite!
Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594052107007/
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Wow. I am definitely experiencing first world culture shock! I've never been a beach person, but living (temporarily, of course) at Manly Beach has been totally awesome and very relaxing. There's no honking, no shoving, no tip-toeing around obstacles on the street (organic obstacles)! We did a bit of exploring in the morning, then ventured into the city for a movie on the Centennial Park lawn (kind of like the Bryant Park experience). Funny it was an American movie -- Life Aquatic. I was nicely surprised as I thought it was a documentary!
Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594051818023/
Pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72057594051818023/
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
If someone had told me yesterday God would seek to make sure my penultimate day in India would run smoothly, I would be a believer.
I woke up this morning at 6am (the 5:15am alarm did not go off)... for a 6am train. Luckily I thought ahead and moved myself to housing steps away from the Pushkar train station the day before. I ran like the wind and arrived at the train station at 6:10am. There was a train pulling away in front of me. Assuming it was my train, I chase after it and hop onto it almost slipping into a pool of urine. See, I couldn't miss this 6am train because it brought me to the Agra connection point in order to get to Gwalior (my final destination). By a twist of fate, this train I randomly hopped onto was the train I was looking for and better yet, was experimenting with a new route to my final destination... Gwalior!
Actually, I did meet someone yesterday who predicted that I would lead a lucky life. I hope it never runs out!
One more day in India...
I woke up this morning at 6am (the 5:15am alarm did not go off)... for a 6am train. Luckily I thought ahead and moved myself to housing steps away from the Pushkar train station the day before. I ran like the wind and arrived at the train station at 6:10am. There was a train pulling away in front of me. Assuming it was my train, I chase after it and hop onto it almost slipping into a pool of urine. See, I couldn't miss this 6am train because it brought me to the Agra connection point in order to get to Gwalior (my final destination). By a twist of fate, this train I randomly hopped onto was the train I was looking for and better yet, was experimenting with a new route to my final destination... Gwalior!
Actually, I did meet someone yesterday who predicted that I would lead a lucky life. I hope it never runs out!
One more day in India...
Sunday, January 08, 2006
For the first time (despite being in this country for a month), I ate an entire meal with my right hand. I usually end up schredding the nan/roti/chipati/puri in their thumb-ripping method with my left hand automatically coming to aid. For the first time, I also thought about doing my bathroom business with my left hand... of course, not the traditional Indian bathroom business! Well, I've only got 1.5 weeks left in this country and barely much of it. I definitely want to come back for Rajistan and Kerala next time.
