anyone up for some kayaking?

this was my favorite quote at an exhibit that i went to last weekend at the new south wales library.  the exhibit was called wisdom.  google it.  it's really interesting and i thoroughly enjoyed it.  anyway, what you read to your left is very true.

i feel distant from home today.  very distant.  and i just got directions from google maps from here to home, and it's a 16,214 mile distance (longer than necessary since it's not a direct straight line...) and it includes kayaking.  should take about 56 days and 5 hours by car and kayak through australia, japan, hawaii, and then the big chunk of the u.s.  it looks like a really interesting trip.  it is pretty far, huh?

keeping my brain sharp

right before i travelled to sydney, i started to read a few books for fun (something completely unheard of while i was in college).  and ever since i've been here, i've continued this new habit of mine thinking that i need to keep the brain juices flowing and not loose the intelligence that i paid (and will continue to pay.... grrr student loans) a fine penny for.  right now, i'm nearing the very end of a book that might be my absolute favorite book of all times!  (my lil' sister recommended it... props to her)  and i've joined this online thing called shelfari.com (check it out if you're into reading) where you can post what you've read, are reading, and want to read as well as rate them and stuff (a friend of mine invited me to join this).  and i love the site too because it helps to find other books that you might be interested in.  but anyway, if you know of any good books that you might think i'd be interested in... let me know because i'm almost through with my current read.

i know... boring post for this week considering i'm a traveller... but i haven't done much this week.  just wake, work, walk, read, sleep, repeat.

oh actually, the only other thing i did that was quite touristy was going to the market.  paddy's market.  it's really close to chinatown and it's just a giant market that you can buy almost anything imaginable from.  most things are pretty cheap, but you definitely need patience to go to the market and come out a winner.  it's the famous market in sydney though (but there are many many other markets too... one right by the fountain where i live, there's one in the rocks on saturdays... etc.  they just love their markets in sydney!!)  

oh and while leaving the market there was a street performer (also very popular in sydney... and i'm not too fond of this fad) beatboxing.  he was pretty good and we listened for maybe 30 seconds... then of course he asked us for money as we started walking away... and when we didn't throw money into his hat or bag or whatever, he may or may not have flipped us the bird.  lame.  so so lame.  and that's why i don't like street performers.  granted, some do have pretty amazing acts... like this one body contortionist that fits her entire body into a relatively small glass box on a pedestal.  amazing talent, but i still don't like street performers crowding up an area and asking for money...

yup that sums up my weekend/week.

ps. i heard the giants beat the eagles last weekend (it was monday daytime when the game was on here so i was working) and so...  go big blue!!

ohhh culture

this week surely was an interesting one being abroad.  what with the election AND halloween.  it was all so much to handle!  

like i said for halloween, i went on a ghost tour.  dressed up a little, looked like a freak and most aussies really didn't know why.  they just don't celebrate one of the best holidays!  the tour was pretty corny, but still fun!  the tour guide made everyone wear a cape and it was about 2 hours and then there was a halloween party afterwards!  i had high hopes for candy corn... but no luck.  overall a fun night!

thennnn... there was the sydney open event where they opened up a bunch of buildings and things and gave guided tours.  the really fancy looking chairs are from the parliament building!  how awesome would it be if that big velvety red one was your desk chair at work!  ah... very cool.  there were a lot of other awesome chairs to view throughout the day... haha.  but really, a lot of the buildings had a lot of history behind them and others were modern and eco-friendly.

tuesday was the big melbourne cup!  (a big deal of a horse raise in australia).  it took place during the day and my new job took a 2 hour break to eat a catered lunch and drink wine and watch the 3 minute horse raise in the board room.  someone set up an office wide sweep also.  they were pretty pumped for the event.  an underdog won by a hair... it was shocking.

while at work on wednesday, i paid attention to the constant updates on the election.  also, the election made the front page of the free paper for a couple days and the aussies seemed genuinely interested.  i got a lot of questions at work about politics... most of which i tried to avoid.  i don't really talk politics.  i'm excited for change in the states when i get back!

i think that's it for the play by play.  i've really grown accustomed to life here.