I must admit that before I arrived in Sydney, I was prepared to be a bit jaded about this city. I mean, I live in the san francisco bay area, the most beautiful city by the bay in the world, so how could anyplace else ever compare? Well, Sydney comes pretty damn close. The harbour is simply beautiful, and the beaches are fantastic, plus you can actually swim in the ocean here! But before I get too ahead of myself, I do want to write this in chronological order, so back to the beginning. Note: the "T" key on this keyboard isn't working too well, so if you see the word "he" alot, it should probably be "the."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I lost an entire day flying to Australia. I left SF on the 10th, and arrived here on the 12th. I don't think that I've ever been quite this far away from home before, and I have a hard time believing that the ocean that pounds the shores of Sydney is the same one that reaches the SF bay. I was pretty much in shock through my entire flight (which would explain why I watched tomb raider...even angelina can't quite make up for that movie) and was amazed that I was actually heading for Australia. I think there was a part of my mind that was convinced I would back out of the rip at the last minute! Luckily, I didn't, and even though it's been a rocky adjustment, I think things are beginning to smooth out.

This is my third day here, and my body is finally accustomed to the time difference. My first morning, I awoke at 4:30 am, and lay in my bed for 3 hours as I did not want to awaken my roommates with the shower. I've also left the hostel that my work-visa program booked me into, and I am sure the cockroaches were sorry to see me go! today at my orientation, I heard several others bitching about that particular hostel. I've been doing all the touristy stuff, taking a ferry ride on the harbour, going to the top of sydney tower (think empire state building), riding the monorail, and checking out the beaches. It's very warm here, but since it's on the water, you don't really feel it. Also, apparently Australia has no ozone layer, which accounts for the high sunburn rate.

No terribly exciting stories yet, so I'll share a piece of aussie lingo that I learned today but haven't yet had a chance to try out: your shout. When out drinking, if someone says to you "your shout" that means it's your turn to buy the next round.

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