Sydney Festival 2009

In my last week in Sydney, they started their annual festival.  It's basically consists of a series of concerts, shows, performances, etc. over about a month's time.  It doesn't seem to have much culture behind it but some parts of it were pretty good.

Here are some pics from the first night:

After the first night, they had a few nights in a row where they played a movie at Darling Harbour on an outside screen.  There was a live band playing different music to go with the movie.  I saw a German film called "Run Lola Run" and part of "Enter the Dragon."

Enter the Dragon

Christina (Germany) & Max (France)

Max (France), me, Nasrah (UK), Sabine (Germany), Jim (UK)

Here are some pics from Cockatoo Island, an extension of the festival I had a ticket for as a Christmas present from my family.

Afrirampo (best performance of the day)

In the crowd during an African tribute song

Psarandonis

James "Blood" Ulmer

I had mixed feelings about leaving Australia.  On the one hand, it's been an incredible experience that I don't want to end.  On the other hand, Sydney was getting old and it's time to move on.  There are other places in Australia I didn't get to see like the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, and Darwin, but I don't have the time or money right now for all that.  So, I'm ready to go and see what New Zealand has to offer.

Last Month in Sydney

As my time in Australia winds down, I'm feeling good because I'm ready to move on to something new.  At the same time, Sydney's still a good city and I've settled into the area.  It feels more like I'm about to take a second trip rather than moving on to the next part of the same trip.

Here are some pics:

This is an area called the Rocks and a weekly market I checked out one Saturday

Soccer in the Park

So Christmas doesn't seem to be a big thing over here.  I did see some trees in major malls but very little outside that.  It also seems to be a time to go out and get drunk rather than spend time with family.  Maybe that's because there's a lot of travelers here but that's the impression I got.  Anyway, I just ended up hanging out with a friend.

New Years was a big deal because Sydney's supposed to have the best fireworks.  I saw them from the Sydney Opera House and they were spectacular.  I'm not usually into fireworks but they did a great job with this one, especially at the Sydney Bridge.

New Years Eve Fireworks

Crazy Car Ride

So, while I was in Canterbury I had a car that I could use.  It is kind of awkward because I've never driven on the left side of the road before with the wheel on the right.  Anyway, that ended up being the easiest part of the experience.  The car had manual transmission and me being adventurous felt like giving it a try, even though I've never driven manual before.  I figured I could figure out since I'd seen people do it before.  Plus, I was only going to go around the block.  It was a wild ride.  There was a lot more to it than I thought.  I had trouble keeping the car on; I must have restarted it at least 10 times.  At one point, I got stuck at a light.  People were honking and yelling at me.  It took me a few minutes to get the car to move again.  So I stopped in a gas station, sat for a few minutes to regroup and then headed back for the apartment.

After that experience, I was shaking, filled with adrenaline.  I haven't driven the car since.  It was just too much for me.

More Pics

So, it's been a while since I've updated this blog.  I've been house-sitting in a suburban town called Canterbury, near Sydney.  It's kind of a relaxing town with not much going on.  The only times I see other people are at the supermarket or at the train station, which is right across the street.  It does kind of seem like a diverse neighborhood.  For the past month, I've been hanging out around the house more, watching TV, playing the Wii, but still going to the city for some events.  It's been more of an introspective month.

Here's some more pics:

Glebe Annual Street Fair

Red Carpet for the movie Australia

Some of my peeps

The Set Up

So I wrote a few weeks ago about an election party I attended at the University of Sydney for the US presidential election.  At that same event, I met a few people who work at the school, including a professor of Japanese studies from the US.  I got his business card and he invited me to have lunch at his house and stay over for a night.  I accepted and took his offer and went over to Glenfield (45 minutes west of Sydney).  It was a nice lunch and great to meet his wife and 2 children (4 and just under 2 years old).  The guest there was one of his students with his wife and daughter.  It was nice to have a different experience hanging out with families instead of mostly backpackers around my age.

It also turned out that the student and his family (Dallas, Helen, and daughter Isabel) were going away for most of December on vacation.  It would be easier for them if someone stayed in their house while they were gone.  They live 20 minutes west of Sydney and their house is right across the street from the train station.  So I just moved into their house yesterday and will stay there for a month.  I was very surprised that this just came together that way (seemed like I was pretty lucky).  I'll also get to drive their car, which opens up many opportunities for traveling.  It's a great set up.

Anyway, I stayed the night with the Stavros family (professor & family) and learned a little basic Japanese as well.  We also went to Royal National Park and fed some birds.  It was fun.

Life in Sydney & Glebe

So it's been a few weeks since I've posted anything.  The past few weeks have been different in that I've slowed down the traveling, settled down in one hostel on the outskirts of Sydney, and tried to find a job.  I've been staying in Glebe, which is a neighborhood outside of central Sydney.  I really like it because it's more laid back, more like a village.  At the same time, it's a half an hour walk from central Sydney.

I've been going to a few random things so I'll post some pictures to show some of what I've been up to:

Australian Soccer Game

Glebe Market

(the girl and guy in blue in the first picture below were raising awareness and money for Darfur)

As part of settling down, I'm working on learning how to prepare my own food and eat cheaply as opposed to getting takeout.  I'm also playing pool almost daily at the hostel with other backpackers.  Anyway, here are some more pictures.

Sydney (from the top of Sydney Tower)

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Aboriginal Street Performance

Darling Harbour

Sydney Bridge (from ferry ride)

2008 US Election

So I had just gotten to a new hostel yesterday in a different area of Sydney and I wanted to see the area a little bit. I headed to the University of Sydney and find out there's an event where people can watch the US election coverage. It was much bigger than I could imagine, something like 1,500 people there. To add to that, it was almost like an election party or rally for Obama. I haven't met a single person since I got to Australia who said they were for McCain by the way. That includes Australians, Europeans, etc.

Anyway, it was amazing because there was so much excitement there you'd think it was their country's election. I was absolutely shocked when Obama won. Deep inside, I knew he would win, but when it actually became official it was a crazy feeling. There something different about witnessing history. Not only that but the election party was broadcasted for a brief period on CNN is one of the international election parties. So I may have been on TV, which is crazy!

I'm still getting used to the feeling that we now have elected a black president. It's just unbelievable...I wasn't sure I would live to see this day. But I guess that goes to show you. When it comes to overcoming the odds and doing something significant...Yes We Can!