A little peace...

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  Coogee, Australia
Friday, March 7, 2008

Yo, G'day!

Finally ready to spend some quality time in front of the computer...this is mainly due to the lovely patchwork of pink, brown, and freckled tones covering almost every inch of my body.  I think I need to stay out of the sun a bit today, but not all day.  While in Melbourne, I realized I was really moving too quickly, so I changed my plans. I won't leave for the surf trip for another week.  I returned to Sydney last Sunday, spent two stressful days in the city, doing more sight seeing and wandering around, and determined I needed to get away and relax.  Plus, (any Sun Devil reading this will appreciate this, especially if you are one of my RA friends...) the hostel I was staying at reminded me of Manzy from the moment I walked in the door.  I knew immediately that I needed to get the heck outta there as soon as possible!  There was a constant buzz, noise...I felt like I was going to see colored butcher paper and flyers around every corner advertising the next program to which no one was going to attend

A note for my niece, Sydney

!  The room I stayed in totally reminded me of one of the "cave" rooms in Manzy too, with it's own little hallway and everything.  For all the non-Sun Devils -- Manzy is this crazy 15 floor co-ed residence hall at Arizona State.  It was nuts over there, completely nuts.  So, anyways, the idea of coming back to Sydney was two fold really -- 1) go hang out on the beach and spend in a bikini, trying to relax, maybe see some stuff, if in the mood; 2) meet up with some of the contacts I have here. 

So, two days of wandering around Sydney in somewhat of a frantic daze...I did do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, which was totally anti-climatic, perhaps because it was just after my adventures in Tassie, which will be another entry later today.  I did the climb, which takes 3 and 1/2 hours with a family of 11.  Our guide, Corey, was a pretty cute Aussie who answered a bunch of my questions, but was a little anti-social.  The climb itself is easy, SO easy.  For what you pay, I don't know that it's really worth it to be honest.  The views are pretty good, but you're up there for SO LONG without your camera.  Corey took photos of everyone which you can purchase at the end for a ridiculous amount...that being said, no photo to share...didn't think it was really worth it.  Also, those two days in Sydney, wandering around, I talked to very few people and was inside my head entirely too much

Park in Darling Harbour

.  I love my "Anne Time," but this was way too much...Plus, I'm so done sight seeing, it's not even funny.

I settled on staying at Coogee Beach for a least a few days, possibly longer.  Tuesday morning, I packed up and checked out of Manzy Down Under and headed for Coogee.  I chose Coogee because it's a smaller beach, close enough to the city, but far enough away that I won't feel like I'm in the city.  I originally booked just 3 nights, and figured I'd see how things were going once I got here.  Once I arrived, I decided to stay for 7 nights and will probably extend it through the end of next week.  I just love it here.  The first day, I was back and forth from the beach to my room -- still feeling ancy and couldn't seem to calm down.  Made a trip to the grocery store, and back and forth from the beach.  I was really wondering if it was going to be possible for me to relax!  I was trying to plan plan plan again.  I couldn't sit still. 

Tuesday night, I met Yuka, one of my roommates.  Yuka is Japanese, and about my age (which is nice because I've met A LOT of travelers in their late teens and early twenties in a very different mindset than me).  Yuka spent a few years in DC, acutally, as an exchange student at GW, and then 5 years in Thailand working as an Japanese/English interpreter

Boats at Darling Harbour

.  She's here in Australia for 1 year on a work-holiday visa (as most of the travelers are).  We had a lot to talk about.  When I mentioned I'm from Chicago, she said another girl in the hostel, Emily, is also from Chicago.  Emily stopped by our room and the three of us went around the corner for a drink.  By the way, the hostel where I'm staying...literally around the corner and a block away is the beach.  There's too much traffic noise to actually hear the water at night (wouldn't that be nice though...),but the location is ideal.  So, Yuka, Emily, and I got a small pitcher of mojito's and talked for a couple of hours.  It was so great to connect well with people again.  I had SUCH a great time!  Emily is 25, from southern Indiana.  She quit her job as a mechanical engineer for Caterpillar in Peoria, IL and decided to work in Australia for 4 months.  She's also a runner! :)  

Wednesday morning, I hit the beach by 10am.  Just me and my IPOD.  One thing I love about the IPOD, is I have a bunch of my favorites, but my sister gave me her entire ITunes library, so there are all these random songs I've never heard.  I have an old computer and have had all kinds of trouble with it over the years.  So many people have or have tried to help me with it, to almost no avail...Plus, right before I left, I picked up an external hard drive to free up some space on the computer's hard drive and VERY mistakenly lost all of my photos...yep, just about all of them

Anne, Emily, and Yuka

.  I'm pretty heart-broken about it, but learned a valuable lesson.  After several months of complete inactivity, the night before I left, my wireless card decided to kick on (a little gift from the heavens, I think), and I was able to update software, download songs, etc.  My sister stayed up with me until 3am making magic happen with the IPOD and I have all my contacts, photos of my nieces and a bunch from the NGA, and 690 songs.  It's fabulous...I find I listen to the same few songs over and over.  Some make you happy, some make you cry, some make you want to dance, some make you want to go get a beer while your still in you bikini, some remind you why it's fun to fall in love...I listened to Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" for the first two weeks, over and over.  A little Sarah McLachlan, who never gets old to my ears, a little JT, and Enrique Inglesias -- this song called "Escape" which was apparently making the wedding circuit in 2005.  I'd never heard this song until my sister and Joe's wedding --I picture Chreeta (my sister) cheesily dancing (she's seriously a fantastic dancer) to this song in her wedding dress and mimicking the running part with the goofiest look on her face.  It always makes me smile!  I've recently discovered Michael Buble, who I'd never heard of.  He has this smooth, buttery, jazzy voice, like Harry Connick, Jr., and does a cover of "You Were Always On My Mind" which makes me so entirely melancholy, especially as I'd sit there on the beach, which is still pretty deserted in the morning, watching the waves, the IPOD just loud enough that I can still hear the ocean

Illinois

.  The next Michael Buble song is called "Everything" and as cheesy as it is, like I said, makes you want to fall in love.   

So, Wednesday I finally found the peace I was looking for again.  It was nice.  The sun in Australia is really strong.  That hole in the ozone layer that we've been hearing about for years is apparently hovering right over Australia.  I've been wearing SPF 50, yes, you read that correctly, FIFTY -- 5-0.  That's not a typo, and I am still pink in places that normally don't see the sun.  I'm going to make my dermatologist a lot of money when I get back I'm sure.  My Irish-Ukrainian skin freckles and burns and then gets brown, but kind of a freckled brown. The other thing about Australia's beaches...the bikini top is optional.  In order to really, truly understand a culture, you must immerse yourself in it, right?!  So, I've been participating in the bikini top optional sun-bathing. Hey, what can I say, it's always been on the list...sorry, no photos!

Wednesday afternoon, I had lunch, watched the election results back home come in and headed back to the beach with Emily.  We talked for most of the afternoon, and took note of the number of Americans we could see and hear on the beach.  It's a little nuts.  I come all the way around the globe and am surrounded by American college students

Another one - notice the spelling! What gives?

.  It's funny, you can easily spot the Americans.  A lot of these kids drop the "f-bomb" way too much...drives me crazy.

That evening Emily and I ran the Coogee to Bondi path which is lots of hills and stairs.  I was a little worried if I was going to be able to keep up, as Emily is 1) 5 years younger, 2) recently ran a marathon, 3) has been running almost every day she's been here. I have to say, I held my own.  It's probably about 5 miles round trip, the most I've run in months.  We chatted throughout the run, but hit this nice rhythm on the way back that reminds me why I love to run.  Helped me find a little more peace again.  That night Yuka, Emily, and I watched "Reign On Me" (Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle) -- one of Yuka's pirated DVD's that you can get very cheaply in Thailand.  It was a perfect day. 

Thursday, I hit the beach again with Melanie, from Germany, also in our room.  The sun was really hot that day and I took a break and went in the water.  The waves coming in were HUGE and I watched them thinking, holy crap, I'm gonna actually try to SURF this stuff?!  I made my way out into the water and was toppled by the waves countless times, losing both my bottoms (which inevitably filled with sand after every big wave) and the top goes a little askew.  I kept cracking up very loudly at myself.  This nice Aussie kid of about 18 lent me his pink boogie board (his sister's, he insisted), to ride a few waves.  It was totally nuts and I loved it.  Once I got back to the beach, I kid you not, for the next 45 mintues, salt water came streaming out of my nose.  Not like it was a runny nose full of snot, it was water, coming out like a faucet.  Sorry to be gross, but it was so funny.

After lunch, I baked some more on the beach and then Emily and I decided to run the beach barefoot.  What a tough workout - but just perfect.  My own little "Chariots of Fire" moment.  We did about 4 laps.  I have no clue how long it was and don't really care.  I don't wear my watch anymore when I run.  I also don't typically take note of how far I am going.  Doesn't matter to me anymore.  It's all about how I feel. I also really enjoyed talking to Emily.  We have a lot in common and I'm happy to know she's planning on moving to Chicago when she returns.  

Last night we also hit a bar down the street for a little bit, just to get a drink.  There was a live band playing lots of Billy Joel and other American favorites -- "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Take Me Home Country Road" -- I was momentarily transported back to the Bottom Line!  We met this funny Aussie dude wearing a shirt (see the photos...) with Illinois, 92, and a winged shoe on the front.  It looked like a high school track shirt.  Emily and I were cracking up, especially because this dude had NO IDEA what Illinois is!  Paul, the Aussie track star, was from Maruba, about 2 km away from Coogee, but we thought he said ARUBA, so I asked if he was there during the Natalee Hollaway situation.  He had no idea what I was talking about and we kept trying to explain it.  Finally he said, no no, MARUBA, not ARUBA, like the song...He was a little nuts.  The dynamic is different in Aussie bars.  It's probably somewhat of an unfair observation because many of the bars (all four of them) I have been frequented largely by tourists, but the vibe is a little different.  It's probably also different because I'm older.  The women are all younger (college students) and the men are well, men like anywhere else.  I often forget that I look around 24 or 25, or so I'm told, not 30.  I certainly don't mind, but it's funny because I notice the distinct difference in how I feel.  I remember being 24 or 25 and know how much I've grown up, matured, experienced in the last 5 years, especially, and I FEEL the difference.  I guess it's reasons like this that I appreciate and enjoy getting older.  My choices and subsequent decisions are different, but I am still having fun (and finally finding a little peace...).
 
This week I've also been getting in touch with some of my contacts here in Australia.  Tonight I'm meeting Brody Vancers and his wife Alex out for a drink.  My good friend Candice Cook :) got me in touch with Brody, who I knew from RA days at ASU.  Brody and Alex live here in Coogee, so it'll be nice to spend some time with real locals. Brody is American but has been living abroad for the last 6 years.  He met Alex, an Aussie, while traveling.  I am also going to meet Josh, a friend of my fabulous friend Andrew Bevan, for a drink some time next week.  It's great to meet friends of friends.  The world gets much smaller and friendlier this way and reminds me how much I love meeting new people (and old friends), and learning about people and their stories.  You learn so much more about the world and yourself that way, I think. Next weekend, before I depart for surf school, I'm taking a short train ride north of Sydney to the Hawkesbury River area to spend time with Patrick "Sunshine" Janovsky's uncle and aunt. Stewart, Patrick's uncle spent lots of time in the 60's surfing, so I'm excited to hear his stories. 

I've maintained my decision to be cell phone free while I'm here, at least for now.  I'm checking in with my family once a week and checking email sporadically.  Both international calling, even with a mobile, and email can be pretty expensive. I know there are a lot of people, especially from the NGA who I may not have sent the blog to yet because I sent it out so quickly at 3am before I left for Chicago.  If anyone might be interested in reading this, please feel free to pass it along.   

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