I just realized that I have not yet posted about my actual living situation in Australia. So allow me to introduce....
....my host family. Dad, Malcom, is a hard-core athlete, half-Iron Man, soon to be full-Iron Man hopefully. Mum, Louise, is a fantastic cook and also athletic. Malcom and Louise run their own business, Kangas Sports, a sports day-camp for 3-5 year-olds. It's great because they have pretty flexible schedules and they can hire whomever they want to help out at the camps, i.e. ME. So I have somewhat of a cash flow coming in right now to keep me afloat in Sydney. Big plus.
Then there are India, 11, and Mia, 8. Both are very cute girls and share physical resemblances, but they have very different personalities: India is quiet and reserved most of the time. Mia, on the other hand, is a little whipper-snapper.
The five of us live in Willoughby. Willoughby is a suburb located 15 minutes outside North Sydney, 20 minutes outside of Sydney. The location is pretty much perfect: nice and quiet, centrally located, close to cafes, restaurants and shops, and above all, the bus stop. I need only to walk out my door, cross the road, and hop on one of the express buses that take me over the Harbour Bridge into Sydney within 20 minutes. It's ideal. (see link: Cool Stuff: map)
This allows me to roll out of bed at 8 a.m. to get to my internship at the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, located in the Sydney CBD, by 9 a.m. I am now in my fifth week of my internship at the Chamber and am getting more familiar with my work there. I can't say that I am absolutely loving my internship, as working in public advocacy has never been a dream of mine. At the same time, I am by no means the office coffee girl. On the contrary, my supervisor, the very nice Prudence Stone, has handed me research projects to work on autonomously. I am now finishing up tabulating the results of my research on the differences between the state strategic strategy and the federal strategic strategy for the future City of Sydney. Because I know everyone reading this will be super interested, let me just sum up my findings: by 2030, Sydney will have undergone significant urban renewal projects to provide more dwellings, better transport infrastructure, more jobs and above all, become a leader in sustainable development. Sweet.
Then there is school. I am in my sixth week of uni at Australian Catholic University, located in the suburb of Strathfield. This place is a little more difficult to get to, as it is on the exact opposite end of the city. But this isn't really a big deal for me, as I only attend uni two days a week to go to my two classes, Australian literature and philosophy. Both classes are pretty interesting, and overall the lessons are very similar to the U.S. The university itself it quite different though: it is a 100% commuter university. There are no dormitories for students and it is very atypical of Australians to go away to university. Instead they attend uni wherever they live. This being the case, it's been pretty difficult getting to know people from the university, as everyone only shows up for classes and then leaves right after. Also, taking only two classes myself, I do not spend much time at the uni.
However, we have made friends here. Most are other abroad students, studying in Sydney for the semester or year. Tons of Americans, tons of Germans. I think I now have more German friends here than I do at home. Weird.
Oh, Louise is calling: dinner is ready. Gotta go. Oh apropos...I have a strictly organic diet here. I can now say that I have had tofu sausages, tofu burgers, organic bananas,organic jam ($15 a jar),organic bread, organic chocolate etc. I would never have tried some of the things Louise has made for me at home, but I have loved everything I have tried. I also make some bangin' home-made pizzas...
Anyway, gotta go. It's Gringos (kind of burrito) tonight!
