Tossed Out
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2008
1
14
40
Trip End
Mar 27, 2009
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday night has become a big night for us to go out, since we are all together at school that day, and then don't have anything to do on Thursdays. So, my roommate Ryan and I had our friends Lenny and Dale over for a while, then went out in King's Cross, which is sort of a semi-seedy, fully-fun area of Sydney where a lot of backpackers hang out, but also a lot of locals. Anyways, we tried to go to a bar called World Bar (there was also a World Bar in Queenstown) but they wouldn't let us in because we were all wearing flip flops. So we went to another place, and then returned later to World Bar, and this time they let us in with no problem. We were just hanging out there for a while, and I was talking with my roommate and some girls we had met, when a bouncer came over, grabbed my arms behind my back, and without a word, started dragging me out of the bar. I turned to yell to my roommate that I was being kicked out and he followed. When I turned to yell, the bouncer yelled at me to stop resisting, so I just went along for the ride. As soon as he tossed me out, I asked the doorman why I had been tossed out (I really had no clue- I wasn't drunk, wasn't fighting, wasn't arguing, or doing anything wrong). The guy just told me to get the hell out of there. I honestly think it was either a mistaken identity, or because I was wearing flip flops. If the latter was the case, I think a simple request for me to leave probably would have sufficed, rather than physically tossing me. Anyways, that's only the 2nd time I've ever been tossed from a bar, and the first time was even dumber than this one.
Yesterday I finally met my friend Leslie Gerdes's friend Kim Roberts in Sydney. Kim went to Stanford with Leslie and now works and lives here in Sydney, as well as another girl from Stanford that she lives with. Kim is probably going to Wharton next year (where she is already admitted), though she is on the Kellogg waitlist, and if she gets in there, may go there instead. She came over to the place yesterday and we literally just hung out and watched the Australian Open all day. She has a fairly large group of American/Irish/Aussie friends here, so I think there's probably a pretty good chance we'll hang out again in the future, though she seems to go out of town nearly every weekend.
We've also identified one problem with our apartment (and really, it affects just about every apartment in Sydney, apparently) and it is that mosquitos are a major issue here. Our place does not have air conditioning, so we need to leave our doors and windows open on hot days (it has been 90+ the past few days here) and the mosquitos have been flying into our place.. a lot. My right hand has approximately seven bites, my ankles and feet are littered with bites and I even have them on places like my back, ear and legs. Probably at least 30 on my body right now. I've taken to sleeping with insect repellent on and we are trying to keep the windows shut as much as possible. I don't think anyone in Sydney has ever heard of screened windows, because I've yet to see them anywhere. At least we haven't seen any live cockroaches around our place yet. Every other person in our program has seen them at their new apartments. They are simply huge and everywhere here.
Alright, that's about all I've got- I've been spending a lot of my free time just walking and/or running around Sydney and exploring the area. I'm heading to Melbourne on February 5th with four others from my program, which should be fun, but I don't have any other trips planned as of yet, other than when Courtney and Andy come to town.
