Homeless Football, Meat Pies and Red Heads Down Under

Time is such a strange thing! I've been here a little over 2 weeks and it seems like so much more in some ways. A couple of nights ago I felt very homesick and wanted to fly home immediately but luckily it passed within 24 hours. I think the best medicine for getting through those times is making connections here, which I am doing slowly but surely. Of course nothing will compare to the connections I have at home with people who have known me forever but it's easy to feel alone in a big strange city on the other side of the world so even having people I genuinly enjoy spending time with is helpful.

On Friday night my friend Tom and I went over to this girl Yvette's house for drinks and Scrabble. Which was fun, except that Tom always wins by like over 100 points so I usually end up giving up hope that I will ever win about half way through. She had the fatest cat named Tuxedo. He's not nearly as cute as my cat Reggie (of course) but it was still nice to hang out with a cat for a bit. Do I sound like a crazy cat person when I say things like that?


I went to the Powerhouse Museum by myself the next day and saw some cool stuff. I made a movie with myself in it and took a pic of he screen while it was playing. Can you spot me? I'm in the air balloon. They have very high tech stuff in Australia!After I was hungry and spotted this place called Hannah's Pies. I ordered the "Tiger" Pie and this is what it looked like. So yummy! and under $5. I'm sarting to watch my spending and live more like a backpacker and less like a tourist lately since I haven't looked for a job yet and don't want to run out of money too fast.In Sydney, the subways mostly run above ground and have 3 floors! Not sure if you can make out the stairs behind Tom in this pic that lead to the downstairs level...

Some other random facts about Australia...coffee is called flat white and is essentially a latte. They don't have drip coffee here, only esspresso. and if you order a coffee and then ask for cold milk or cream to put in it after they look at you like you're crazy. Wages start at about $20/hour no matter what you do. Cell phones are much cheaper here and you don't have to sign a contract. There are these birds that look like Crows that make the craziest noises in the morning. Kind of like crying babies. It's really creepy. People say "how you going" instead of "how's it going" and they use "heaps" to describe a lot of things. Beer is not measured in pints but smaller glasses so that it doesn't get warm but still costs about the same as a pint:( and here comes the kicker...red heads are kind of considered a lower sub species here. Not in a serious way but they are teased at school and no one would consider dying their hair red like I do. Haven't decided what I am going to do about that one yet...http://www.sorryranga.org/.

And then there's this...http://www.homelessworldcup.org/, which I simply have no idea what to make of...

xo