A New Year in Australia

Happy New Year friends and family. I’m just checking in to say that I’m not on fire, but much of Australia is. The beginnings of 2020 have been hectic and emotional around these parts, but I’m thankful to be alive and well.

There are a number of organizations accepting donations, including: Australian Red Cross Disaster Recovery & Relief.

Sydney has been hazy and smoke-filled for a lot of November and December, but life has been going on. There were beach days and New Year’s Eve celebrations, for better or for worse. This is the only picture I took of the fireworks:

The studio where I practice yoga held a four-day Urban Retreat. I spent mornings practicing and learning a lot with one of the best.

I’m attempting a vegan month in January (Veganuary, if you will) like I did last year. I find it helpful to constantly examine our habits and decide if there are any we’d like to adjust, whether it means eating less meat or whatever else feels right to you. I might not do it perfectly, mainly because my parents are coming this month and we may go out for sushi, but I’m going to try my best. And that’s really all we can ever do, isn’t it?

Happy Holidays from Down Under!

Merry (belated) Christmas everyone! I love this time between Christmas and New Year’s when everything seems to slow down and we have more time for what’s most important to us. I had to take a little break from blogging for most of December because I was working almost all day every day. Bauble painting life is serious, but loads of fun! I’m sad that it has come to an end.

For the past week, we worked some crazy hours and busy shifts. On the last night, Christmas Eve, we stayed after to pack up the whole store and have it ready for the stock team to pick up overnight. It felt like moving out of a college dormitory in about two hours, but knowing that it was the last shift made things a little easier.

I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made as an ornament personalizer, maybe it’ll be a good life skill for the future. Here’s week one versus my last week:

Looking back on week one is a little embarrassing and causes disbelief that they hired me, but I guess they trusted that we’d pick it up eventually. After the last shift, I came home and did a little decoration for Christmas. I’m on my own in the apartment, so it felt appropriate to make myself a little table of special things from “Santa”. My coworker even gave me a present and I thought that was so nice!

On Christmas Day, we headed to the beach. It was a very Australian Christmas, which didn’t actually feel like Christmas at all. But it was exciting to see all the Santa hats and outfits out on the beach.

My new friends prepared a bbq and we hung out until it got dark. It was definitely a celebration that I won’t soon forget!

The Big Smoke

Well, I did’t do many outdoor activities on this day off, because it’s been a bit smokey here in Sydney, if you haven’t heard. It’s actually been pretty scary and has left me and I’m sure many others not feeling so good! Today was worse than any of the smoke and fire days I experienced in LA. I’m thankful for having an inside job and feeling bad for anyone who has to be outside. Instead, I made it a day of acai bowl eating, resting, and getting my nails done— all indoors and all very rewarding.

However, yesterday when I got out a little early, I was able to make a small local getaway to Watson’s Bay on the ferry. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea since the ferries aren’t running today due to all of the smoke and low visibility, but yesterday the skies weren’t as bad and there were many more people out and about.

After riding the ferry, I found the hiking path that would lead me to this sweet sandy cove:

Past some wild rock formations:

And eventually to this striped lighthouse:

It’s the Horny Lighthouse in Sydney Harbour National Park, and I’m glad I included it as an after work adventure. Tomorrow I’m back to the “office” (kiosk) and I’ll be staying inside until the winds change direction!

New Towns

Wahoo! I just found out that tomorrow will be a day off after working twelve days in a row. The twelve days of Christmas for an ornament decorator are just a repetitive loop of me trying to maintain my sanity amidst never-ending queues and wild customer requests. Nope, your custom painted ornament won’t be ready and dry in under five minutes and I surely cannot write ten words on it. Try a greeting card, maybe? As you can tell, we’re very much in the Christmas spirit around here.

After a few fifty hour work weeks, I’m not sure what to do with myself tomorrow. Usually when I’m off work, I like to check out new parts of the city. One of my favorites is Newtown. Mike and I have gone a couple times, and I’ve ventured there on my own. There are so many tasty restaurants and cafes to try, I have to keep going back. It could be on the list again for tomorrow, if I don’t feel like going somewhere completely new.

Morning yoga is always on the table, but afterwards, I think I’ll let the day pull me where it wants to. My glue and glitter covered fingernails are looking like they could use some self-care, or maybe another trip to the cinema is in order? No matter what happens, I’ll be reveling in the rare feeling of being able to do what I want when I want to. I hope you find little bits of joy in your day, too.

Thankful

I didn’t think I would be missing out on Thanksgiving this year, because my family doesn’t always do something together at home every year. Everyone is usually traveling or in different places, and last year when I was living in LA, the flights were quite expensive to go home so soon before Christmas, so I stayed in California. But this year my mom decided to do fun stuff with family and my dad decided to do fun stuff with family. What the heck! And of course, everyone in the world was busy posting photos of their traditional meals while I painted ornaments and ate a lonely burrito at the shopping center’s food court since it was already Black Friday here:

Never fear, though! I do love the job, and I usually pack my meals from home instead of braving the mall’s options. On the night before Thanksgiving, Mike and I went out to a multi-course meal at one of the best restaurants in his neighborhood. We’ve definitely spent many a Friendsgiving together in college, so it was nice to have a reminder of the good old days—and the good now days! No turkey or cranberry sauce this year, but there was pumpkin! I may have to negotiate a green bean casserole the next time I get back to the states…

This year, I’m thankful for friends in all places, for my family who seem to reluctantly support my impromptu announcements to go far away, for my yoga practice, and for all the twists and turns in these wild life adventures. Here’s to having absolutely no idea where I’ll be on Thanksgiving next year.

Brush Strokes

Whoa! Hi! Hello, December. I hope that if you’re reading this, it’s December where you are, too. I’ve been quite busy working at my new job in Santa’s workshop. Somehow it’s happened that I’ve become a seasonal ornament decorator, and I certainly do not hate it. I’ve always wanted to learn hand lettering, and now I have the (paid) opportunity to practice brush script almost all day, every day for a whole month! Isn’t it funny how sometimes life delivers exactly the right goods?

That was our training view. I must have passed the trial, because on the first day I found myself setting up the booth and nervously taking orders by myself. Luckily, one of the trainers came to help me out so I could keep practicing. I’m still learning and I get frustrated when it doesn’t look perfectly how I want it to. After a few days, I didn’t think I was getting any better. But this was my second shift:

And here is my… maybe eighth shift:

I’m trying to think of it like crochet, where I felt clumsy and awkward when my grandma was teaching me, thinking I would never figure it out, and now I can do it with my eyes closed, watching a movie, and in all sorts of patterns. Hopefully the improvement continues over the next 24 days!

If this weekend was any indication, things at work are going to be rather hectic from Black Friday until Christmas Eve, but the shifts fly by and I’m enjoying myself. What more can you ask for from a job?

In the free hours, I’ve been treated to some perfect park sunrises on the walk to yoga. I’ve found more exotic birds—these pink ones in particular, neighborhood restaurants, and the yummy gelato place that’s juuust long enough of a walk away to give you some exercise on the way there and back.

I love seeing all the cockatoos around here!

Beach Dreams

Over the weekend, I went to the movies by myself, which I really don’t mind doing, because I love the movies and I love myself. I may have had one too many drinks beforehand with my new housemate— one in the most gorgeous garden wine bar that unfortunately didn’t get photographed. The theatre was artsy and tiny, but not so artsy that they wouldn’t be playing Hustlers ft. J-lo, because that’s all I wanted to see. I am here to recommend it, and I’m more in agreement with its 88% Rotten Tomatoes rating than the 6.6/10 on IMDb.

Then, of course, there were the trailers that made me want to see other movies, so I may have to go back again next weekend for this one that seems like a good tricky love story.

The next day, my Aussie friend met me in Bondi Beach (where else?) for a coastal walk. We were close to calling it off due to a light rain in the morning, but I’m glad we didn’t because it ended up turning into a gorgeous day.

I drank two lattes because I’m made of money and milk. This place puts koala stencils on theirs and I die every time:

They’ve taken down the sculptures, but I promise there’s plenty to see anyway. I purchased an umbrella because I knew if I bought one it wouldn’t rain, but if I didn’t have one it most certainly would. Amanda and I planned out our desired adventures for the upcoming weeks and generally had a lovely girls day out. We’re visualizing when we both move to Bondi and live at the beach.

On Monday, I woke up to more smoky skies and my room smelling like a BBQ. This week should bring cooler temperatures and some rain to hopefully settle all the nearby fires down. I’m practicing being grateful for every moment and every blue-skied day.

Sunrises & Swans

Having another week off from working (for better or for worse) meant extra time to explore this city. It comes complete with sunrise views at the park across the street:

Annnd I realized the other day that there are black swans in the park! I’ve never seen them before. Side note, I’ve never seen the movie before, either, and I think that someday I probably should. These swans didn’t seem to mind me creeping semi-close to take a photo.

I did a waitressing trial here last weekend. That seems to be a thing they do here when you want to work in hospitality— after the interview, they’ll offer an unpaid trial for a few hours to see how you do. I’ve enjoyed one and not enjoyed one, but at the moment I’m thinking I don’t really want to waitress while I’m in Sydney, because the main reason I’m here is to practice yoga at 6am, and the two lifestyles don’t blend very well.

The view from the restaurant was nice, anyway.

Mike came back from his work trip to Taipei/Korea/Japan so we went to the farmer’s market near his place:

I arrived a little early and was hungry, so I got this crumpet. And may I say what a treat it is to be able to order a crumpet!

Then Mike got there and we had breakfast, second breakfast, or maybe brunch?

Yum! As you can see, there’s no shortage of things to eat here. This week I’m back to work so that I can fund all the cafe and farmer’s market visits that my heart desires!

Koala Hunt

I took a little break from tourism for that one whole week that I was working full-time, but don’t worry, I haven’t made a complete character change, and I’m back to my usual romps. I visited the Royal Botanic Gardens on my first trip to Sydney, but I recently found out that, for a limited time, there is an exhibit/scavenger hunt of a bunch of painted koala statues. Obviously that is something I would be into!

Koalas, koalas everywhere:

I found about a dozen adorably painted statues. There were probably more, but I was also on a mission to trek all the way through the gardens to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, so I couldn’t get too sidetracked.

I did stumble upon an unexpected emu, though:

The chair is where Governor Macquarie’s (the fifth and last autocratic governor of New South Wales, thanks Wikipedia) wife used to sit because she thought it presented some of best views of Sydney Harbour.

I can’t disagree:

This city definitely has some amazing places for walking and running. It’s helping me get all my steps in and then some.

I found more koalas on the walk back:

I can’t say I’m missing the snowy weather back home. I’m feeling grateful for the greens and warm temperatures.

On the other hand, this week has been pretty smoky and hazy in Sydney due to the wildfires nearby. I’m having flashbacks to LA at this time last year (and this time every year). Hoping for safety and rain in this new country and the original!

A Room with a View

Sorry for the brief bout of silence. I moved! I’m about 2 km from Mike’s place now and close to a few big parks which are very good for running:

I’m getting some much needed nature time in:

And the neighborhood has yummy coffee shops and cafes where I get to eat things like this:

I have a comfy bed with a lot of nice, natural light. One of the housemates drove me around on Sunday to transport my bags and purchase bedding and other necessary room items. That helped a ton because, even when you only have four bags, moving can be tricky business!

The blinds are a bit broken, but it’s feeling like an otherwise good fit! And picking out bedding on the fly can be a bit stressful, but I’m pretty pleased with my decision.

Bits & Pieces

Oh no, guys! I got a job and left it all in the span of one week. It was a “sales”/charity fundraising job and, while it was for a good cause, it felt a little scammy, like I was trying to lock people into a two (maybe more) year contract without fully telling them all the details. The more shady and avoidant I could be, the easier it would be to sign people up. At least most people were nice and willing to stop for a chat. In New York I might get a few big F*** You’s and maybe run over by a car.

Unfortunately, it seems like these types of jobs are the most popular around here for those on a working holiday visa, so I’m digging a bit deeper and exploring other options. Meanwhile, I’m busy not saving my money and trying all the cute cafes.

Wild Flour Cafe

Maybe I can get a job in one of them and free coffee will be provided…

Ampersand Cafe & Bookstore

There’s still much to explore. The other day I was walking back from yoga, and I saw a woman feeding these birds in the park. Keep in mind, these are just regular ol’ everyday birds in Sydney, and there were dozens of them:

And the regular trees are either fragrant with flowers that perfume the air or huge with giant roots and plenty of nooks to settle into with a good book. Australian life is beautiful!

One day, I was leaving Mike’s apartment and, instead of taking my usual left, I decided to turn right. I discovered a nice, big park for running that I had no idea was there! I passed through and saw a long street of bookstores, health food shops, yummy-looking restaurants, and a sweet gelato place where I may or may not have immediately stopped to taste. I followed the road all the way down to find this gorgeous harbor view:

I will certainly miss romping around Mike’s neighborhood, but here’s a sneak preview of the area I’ll be moving into over the weekend:

Sculpture by the Sea

There’s one area of Sydney that I keep coming back to again and again:

Bondi Beach! I think we can all agree that it’s the best one. I wish I could live there, but it would make life difficult for getting into the city for work, not to mention for 6am yoga class. Oh well, they’re having an art event this month on the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk.

Sculpture by the Sea features heaps of sculptures lining the coastal path along the cliffs. Heaps. So many more than I was expecting!

There was this tea party on the rocks:

And this spaceship to beam us to other galaxies:

And these ones that, hey, maybe we remember from indoors at the White Rabbit Gallery:

I was already impressed by the sea views without any adornments, so the sculptures made them all the more interesting. We are appreciating art in all its forms!

I went to the exhibit two times already. It was much more crowded on a weekend day, but the second time I actually went with someone who was part of the building team for my favorite sculpture of them all. So impressive! What a small world!

*My favorite one was not the below horse statue, though it is pretty nice. I forgot to take a pic of the winner!

I walked all along the cliffs until the path opens up onto a big lawn, where there were about a million other sculptures, including ones with entrances to go inside.

There always seems to be something going on here. Keep it coming, Sydney!

House Hunting in Sydney

Big news today… my house search is over! After browsing flatmate finder, gumtree, and three different Facebook groups for 2.5 weeks, I found and got approved for a room yesterday in the Surry Hills neighborhood. It was definitely one of those “when you know, you know” situations.

I was tiring of looking at places, even though I’d only gone to see about six. Everything moves fast in Sydney, so when you see a place posted online, it’s usually available within the next few days to a week. I knew I still had time before Mike gets back from his work trip, so I was being kind of picky and waiting for one that felt right. I had seen a few that I was on the fence about—great locations or nice quality, but something was always just a bit off. I finally found two that I nudged and convinced myself into wanting—one was right near the gorgeous park pictured below, but they both ended up falling through.

Feeling a little disheartened, I took a couple days off from desperately clicking links and wrote down a list of what I really wanted/needed. I scheduled two viewings for the weekend and ended up falling for the second one. It’s a reasonable dream within my budget— lots of light, next to a big park, decent-sized furnished room with storage, and a couple of seemingly cool/fun/interesting-yet-responsible flatmates. There were even some added bonuses that I didn’t think to ask for: an indoor pool and a little gym downstairs!

I saw the little graphic below in someone’s Instagram story later on, and it resonated with me. When I found the one, there was no self-convincing or desperate reconciling. I had a feeling of certainty, and I was glad that the other places hadn’t worked out.

{via}

I’ll be moving next weekend, and I’m excited to do some settling in! I’ve been living out of one suitcase for the time so far, so I’ll be glad to remember what the heck I packed in my other bags. More photos to come soon!

Halloween Down Under

I guess everyone getting all dressed up for Halloween is mainly an American thing, because we did not see a ton of people being festive here at all. There were some, however—mostly kids outside of schools and some supportive parents. I saw one trick-or-treater with a very small pumpkin bucket, because I suppose stuffing two pillowcases full of candy and eating it til Christmas is an American thing as well.

My Aussie friend Amanda made sure I got my fill of celebrations, though. First, we went to a campfire dance party at a place (possibly in the side yard of a church?) called the House of Magic. The spooky decorations, campfire, and chai tea were quite enough to satisfy my autumn-starved soul.

We were the only ones dressed up, so we soon made moves toward a more costume-themed celebration. It was a house party as good as any Halloween gathering in the US! I got a lesson in cheap Australian booze options, and met some authentic Sydney friends.

An A+ Halloween overall.

How to Make Friends in Your New City (or Country)

During our nightly dinner table chats, Mike and I have been talking about how it can be hard to make friends in your thirties and how it can be hard to make friends in a new city/country and how maybe it can be hard to make good friends at anytime in anyplace! We agreed that meetup groups that exist for the sole purpose of meeting people or networking don’t really work. But, if you throw a shared hobby, interest, or skill into the mix, there’s a much higher chance of making an actual friend.

I’d like to propose that another good way to get out there is by meeting up with friends of friends. Sure, it’s riskier—they could still be a weirdo or you might awkwardly have nothing to talk about, and you can’t really ease your way out five minutes after walking in, but it could also be great and open many new doors that previously appeared to be closed or non-existent.

I tried this last week, and it resulted in a.) getting coffee at one of my favorite places, b.) going to the beach for two days and playing soccer in the sand, c.) having people to go out with on a Wednesday night to a teen/student nightclub, and d.) discovering two or maybe three new friends from Italy!

*Yes, I have learned in my time on earth that going out on a weeknight before early morning yoga is not the best idea, but I am in a “yes” to everything mindset, so I tried to be home by midnight-ish and sucked it up til nap time the next day.

After nap time, it was back to the beach. Can you believe it? We played more “football” except this time there were tons of blue bottle jellyfish threatening to sting our feet. Oh well, they are very cool to look at, though. Long live my beach life!

Down for Dumplings

I always seem to find my way to Chinatown in one city or another. Last week was no different. After yoga and two morning interviews, I took a walk through town and wound up on Dixon St, the main street in Sydney’s Chinatown.

It was pretty quiet in the early afternoon on a Tuesday, but I’m eager to go back on a Friday for one of the night markets. I scoped out the restaurants, ice cream stands, and tea shops, but I had my goals set on a different part of town for lunch.

The path from Dixon St. leads down to Darling Harbor. I remembered it from my last visit—pretty crowded and touristic, but a good place for pretty views of the harbor and, I hear, fireworks every Saturday night. It’s also home to the Chinese Garden of Friendship, which costs only $6 to enter so I should just suck it up and go to, but during both visits I’ve gotten too tired/hangry to continue my tourism. I had some snacking to attend to.

The walk back to Mike’s place took me past a tiny street-between-streets called Spice Alley. It’s a strip of ten hawker food stalls offering cuisine from China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Um. How is a person supposed to decide between those options? I see no reason to ever eat anywhere else.

After much time spent debating, I chose a plate of chicken and veggie dumplings from Shanghai. Australia doesn’t have many of its own delicacies that are worth writing home about, besides fish and chips, kangaroo (no thanks!), and emu (also no!), but I’m happy to sample treats from nearby nations. It was the perfect lunch break after an interview-filled morning. Sending a million cover letters and resumes can get to you after while, so it was nice to forget my struggles with a plateful of dumplings.

White Rabbit

I’m writing this from the future where I’m trying to throw together a last minute Halloween costume, but my first weekend in Sydney was full of things I love. Of course, Friday was a hit, what with Noodle Night and all. On Saturday, I took two dance classes at Dance Central Sydney. I used to take dance as a kid and it still really makes me happy, so that’s what I want to spend my time doing, ya know?

Sunday started with yoga— as the best ones always do. The studio I’ve been going to has live music on Sundays, and it makes the practice really special. I never want to miss one! It takes a little less than an hour to walk back to Mike’s, so if I’m not in a rush, I’ll skip the bus and take the path through two nice parks and the center of the city. It’s been nice to get a little tour of all the neighborhoods; my biggest problem is that I like them all and can’t decide where I want to live!

As I walked back on Saturday, I needed to stop at the grocery store for a few items. I bought some new deodorant that I don’t really like the smell of, so I’m currently dealing with that. I also walked past the White Rabbit Gallery, a Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery that I didn’t have time to visit during my last trip down under. It’s open on Sundays, so I decided to pop in.

Wow! I didn’t know that I was into contemporary Chinese art before, but I guess now I am. There were so many interesting pieces; I took my time and didn’t want to leave. There was one very long scroll of cartoon illustrations that takes you through much of Chinese history, and I was glad one of the attendants handed me a guide so that I could understand some of the intricacies.

I’m kicking myself for not taking any photos Sunday night, because Mike brought me along to an experimental music gig at the Petersham Bowling Club, aka the PBC. The type of bowling here is lawn bowling, which I assume is kind of like bocce, but I have no idea. It’s had a bit of a resurgence with hip young people in the past few years, kind of like our shuffleboard trip to Brooklyn. They had good beer, fun-looking lawn bowling (although we didn’t have time to play), and two stages for musical activities. Hope we’ll be back there soon!

Noodle Night

Like I said last time, one of my favorite ways to find out about fun stuff to do in a new city is by word of mouth. That means sometimes I have to break out of my comfort zone, put my phone down, talk to strangers, and then remember what they say, take my phone back out, and write it down! When I was waiting for my Uber at the airport, I heard a girl saying that there were free walking tours offered twice a day, every day around the city. I asked her where they met up, and followed her advice to join one. I was hesitant to do such a touristy activity now that I’m trying to blend in as a real “Sydneysider”, but it was a good way to learn many things and enjoy a free afternoon activity whilst being around other people.

The tour went all around the central city area, lasting almost three hours. I knew it was a good one because I paid attention almost the whole time and barely got distracted like I have been known to become on long historic tours. I learned that you can rub this boar’s nose for good luck and donate some change to the hospital behind him:

And that the two animals on the coat of arms of Australia, the emu and the kangaroo, were chosen because they’re both unable to walk backwards. So the country keeps on moving forward, and I like that message.

We walked through Hyde Park, saw some food tents and fences set up, and our guide told us that Friday night would be the last Noodle Night Market of the season. And the last one to be held in Hyde Park, the original location, probably ever. There are few things I love more than noodles, so I knew I had to be there! Luckily, Mike’s office is right next to Hyde Park, so he agreed to meet me after work for some noodle noms.

{via}

However, there were not only noodles to choose from. There were just about all the asian delicacies you could imagine, and some that might’ve been made up just for the event: bao buns, satay, bubble waffles, fish balls, a wild spiral french fry creation on a stick, etc. etc. You want it? You could probably have it, if you were willing to wait in the lines of about a million people each. I wanted the flying noodles pictured above, but they were so popular that we got tired of walking to find the end of the line. No matter; we gathered a couple beers and stood in a much shorter line for likely very similar tasting, non-flying noodles.

All was right with the world.

Things I worried about when moving abroad

During my visit to LA last week (was that only a week ago??), Katherine and I were waiting to order breakfast at a favorite place and started talking to the guy behind us in line. What do you know, he had spent three years living in Australia and had lots to tell me about Sydney. He recommended a few coffee shops and, boom, here I am eating brekkie at one of them.

I didn’t really mean to order a whole breakfast situation, but I needed to kill some time while waiting for a store to open, and the other option was to order takeaway and stand at this curbside counter, which is also kind of cool and nice to have, but not for journaling.

Word-of-mouth is one of my favorite ways to find out cool places to visit in a new city. I also like reading posters and all the little signs on bulletin boards. Now Instagram is helpful too, if you know where to look. I like to read off-the-beaten-path lists and local’s guides, more than say a “Top 10 blah blah blah…” a.k.a. things you usually already know about or know will be crowded with tourists like you. I’ll peruse those, too, and do a little extra research of reading reviews and other websites to see if it’s worth my while.

Here’s a list of things I worried about when I decided to move to Australia, mainly because I might need to consult it later if I ever move anywhere else or if anyone ever asks! It’s more of what I was concerned about before leaving, not getting set up once I actually arrive—that’ll come later!

• My car: I went back and forth about whether to keep or sell my car. Since I am only planning to be abroad for a year or less, and I’ve only had this car for about a year, it seemed to make more sense to keep it. I’m also able to store it in my mom’s garage, so that’s a huge plus. I knew the registration would be up for renewal, so I found out that California has a “planned non-operation” option (CA DMV) for $22.

• Car insurance: I was planning to cancel my car insurance entirely while it would be in storage, but after talking to the insurance company (progressive.com), I decided to keep limited coverage for $20/month that would cover events like break-ins or weather damage and keep me from paying a fee to reinstate full coverage when I get back.

• Health insurance: I expected Australia to be a utopia with free health coverage for everyone, including international travelers, but sadly that is not the case. They do have a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with certain countries, but not the US. I purchased a travel health insurance plan with Allianz for $100/month. Not sure I’ll ever end up using it, and I’m sure some people would avoid the cost, but I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

• An international phone number: Mike helped a lot with this one! Of course, I would need an Australian phone number and plan for jobs, banking, and general life here in Sydney, but I wanted to use my phone from home. I also wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss any calls or texts if someone tried to contact my old number. Mike swooped in to the rescue with two guides to phone plans in Sydney (1 , 2) and I chose Vodafone, because that’s what he chose and I was too lazy to research further. He also sent me a link to Tossable Digits, a service to hold your old number and port any attempts to contact you from your old phone to your new phone. It’s been working well for me.

• Money transfers: I came over with about 300 USD in cash in my wallet, which I haven’t used. I’ve been using my credit card (Chase Sapphire) for almost everything and also took out some ATM money using my US debit card. I won’t want to do that for much longer, especially when getting paid or paying rent, so I set up a bank account here, again with Mike’s help. After doing some of my own actual research, I’m using Transferwise to send money from my US bank to the new one here. It seems to take 2-4 days and hopefully will arrive in time before I need to make any security deposits.

  • *Oh yeah, if you’re wondering, I saved about $12,000 in preparation for this trip (including helpful gifts from friends and family. Thank you!) I’m sure it could be done with less, but I like taking myself out for breakfast and having a bit of a just-in-case cushion. The working holiday visa requires that you have $5,000 in the bank or a departure flight booked, but they didn’t check either of those things upon my arrival. Actually, I just did the electronic check-in and didn’t have to talk to anyone in customs—what a luxury.

• Prescriptions: I don’t have much helpful advice on this one. I tried to see my doctor and dentist in LA before leaving. I stopped taking my birth control this summer, so that’s one I may have to figure out here. I ordered four boxes of new contacts, which was kind of hectic and last minute, so just a reminder to make sure to stock up on your valid ‘scripts and maybe bring an e-copy with you.

Apart from what to pack, I think those were my main concerns. Did I miss anything?

Daily Practice

Today I sat at the park in ideal weather, surrounded by some type (or many types) of dog and owner meetup. I’m happy to say I’ve been doing a bit what I came here to do already. The drastic time change has made it easy to wake up for six am yoga practice. From Mike’s couch, I walk about five or ten minutes to the bus or train, ride a few stops over to the west side of the city, and wind through a nature trail to the yoga studio. I unroll my mat and take a trip back inwards after a summer of what had probably been my most scattered sessions since I started practicing yoga.

Some nights I’ve woken up at 2 or 3, hitting my head on the hanging light above when I get up to use the bathroom. The light is well-placed for the couch when it is a couch, but not for when it’s acting as a bed. Oh well, I’m extremely grateful for a landing pad with a good friend. And thanks to a combination of good fortune and melatonin, I’ve been able to fall back asleep for a few more hours.

Mike has a great apartment in a quiet but happening part of Sydney. It’s close to the train, walking distance from a park with a pool, and seems like one of the best places to live. The bedroom is separate from the living room/kitchen (ie. my room for now!), so hopefully for him that makes it easier to have a guest. There’s a lovely patio and some good plants, too.

I’m a little homesick since I spent my last days having the best times with fun friends and family, and I feel like I was just getting used to having a job I loved and a social life at the beach when it was time to leave. But all the moving gives me hope that, with time, I can establish something good anywhere. However, it is a little disorienting that people walk, drive, ride escalators, and do everything on the left side here!

My first days have been spent walking, riding awesome modes of public transport to get to know the city, meditating and journaling in parks, drinking coffee at cafes, and writing cover letters. At night, Mike takes me out to eat and drink in different neighborhoods. We’ve had some delicious dinners— most notably at a vegan pay-what-you-can community hangout in one of the most hip locations—and some drinks at a quirky bar just down the road. Yoga and novelty are some of my favorite things, so life right now is looking pretty sweet from where I’m sitting.