The next day I spent some walking in the rain, acquiring a student ID, adding money to the ID account, and printing out resumes so I could have a competitive edge in the barista field. By the time we met up with Joanna, our moral support/activities adviser, I looked like I'd been swimming in my pea-coat.
Noticing the state of the students Joanna offered: "I know it seems depressing because there is no one here and its raining heaps, but it will get better." She talked up some of the activities we can chose from this semester, saying she hates worms and is claustrophobic, but will take students on a tour of caves with glowworms and reckons it will be awesome.
We have bonded in the past so she referenced me having good style and DJ skills, and how I'm her "Indie Kid" of the semester. She likes the Knife and comprehends how much I differ from the group. When I first met her she questioned: "Why are you in Australia? Mostly I get big university blokes who want to meet a crocodile dundee" I basically told her it was an arbitrary decision, then wondered if I had made the right choice.
Jeremy approached me after the meeting, asking about how I was going to Sydney just then, so I invited her along. I had figured out a route beforehand, but she thought the bus would be cheaper than the train, so we deliberated over a new route, eating up about a half an hour. Sydney presented us with fantastic architecture and lots of cool friendly people, none of which I took pictures of. We shared her umbrella, found a free shuttle, and got on it right away despite my second guessing the direction it was headed, which turned out to be more like a first guess because we were headed the wrong way.
We made it to the salon I was modeling for eventually with the addition of a new stylish and guileless umbrella. People with cool haircuts served us fine tea and biscuits, one of them stroking my hair to figure out what she would like to do with it.
Afterward we ate at a place called "Sugarcane" which had a modern interior with organic shaped light fixtures on pale gray walls, a tiled counter in different shades of green, and completely stainless steel kitchen (I'm mentioning this because I forgot my camera). I had a thai chili dish with perfectly fried eggplant for $12, which was a good deal considering that you're not supposed to tip in Australia.
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| (An incredibly classy photo of my new umbrella and I ) |
Sydney is unlike New York because if you look confused people go out of their way to help you rather than calling you an asshole. Our waiter pulled out his laptop to find the bar we were meeting Jeremy's friends at in spite of a busy restaurant.
Between compulsively asking for directions of every passerby, despite my direction following confidence, Jeremy complained about how she hates Macquaire and wants to transfer to U Sydney, where all the cooler kids who we made friends with went. I sympathized and added comments of: "Yeah."
She is trying to transfer, but Joanna is trying to convince her otherwise, using me as bait. That made me think: "Oh, well maybe I could transfer." The lack of applicable classes at U Syd pails in comparison to how nice it is there, grassy lawns and old-school architecture in the heart of a beautiful city, but then Jeremy mentioned that there's a $2,000 penalty from Butler for leaving the school you enrolled in, plus another couple thousand to enroll at another school late and secure housing. I didn't realize anyone else was disappointed with Macquarie's location or aesthetics, but by the 23rd or so time the point was reiterated I didn't feel that way myself anymore.
Luckily, after Jeremy's friends were found I ran into a few of my U Syd friends, and keeping with a tradition established during orientation, Shane Trujillo gave me 3/4 of the beer he didn't like. I had a nice time chatting with another friend Grant, who is ironically fulfilling his American Studies major requirements while abroad. He likes Fitzgerald's cake-like writing style, while I favor the minimalism of Hemingway.
Around 11:00 pm, when it was really getting fun and my friends were tearing up the dance floor we had to leave to catch the train. Or at least I thought that was the plan, Jeremy followed her friends to another bar. Once we got there and it was too loud I suggested we make sure we catch the train, which we didn't do - we had missed the last one.
Jeremy hailed a cab to take us to Central Station, where apparently there was still one more train. She was on the phone so I paid the $14. I was taking in my surroundings to figure out how to get to platform 16 when Jeremy started running, I figured she knew where we were going and followed her - she didn't know where she was going. We ran back the way we came and I couldn't keep up so we missed the last train at by 3 minutes, and got a cab back to the city. Through all of this I listened to her swearing and saying: "of course" to every obstacle encountered feeling calm and content.
I was happy to be in a new city figuring things out. It could have been a lot worse, someone could have lost a tooth! However, losing a tooth is far from the worst thing that could happen, just ask me! Being a prisoner of war for instance, would heartily suck, and there are things people go through that are much worse than that. Jeremy's desire for flawlessness made me reflect on my own perfectionist tendencies and realize that I have become more accepting. It's all just water under a bridge on a duck's back.
Back at the bar at just after 12:30, the friend I was staying with was having a nice time drinking so I hung around like a sleepy ghost, making friends with an International Relations major from Costa Rica. Everyone was daring me to do a shot, but its about $8 a shot in Aus. In the end I asked the bartender about vegan options and he gave me a shot of Tanqueray with peach and lychee while everyone else had something blue that fizzed. I was about to pay when I realized the bill was settled, and everyone was too drunk to realize I hadn't pitched. Making change is too complicated with big bills, so I accepted the gift unwittingly bestowed upon me.
Shortly after the shots we left, bought some pastries, warned a couple of drunkards that the cops were after them, and went back to the cold dorms. My nice friend gave me her bed even though I should have been the one sleeping on the floor. She took her comforter and pillow and I slept under a sheet and my wet jacket (I don't think I've mentioned this, but there are no heaters in Australian student housing).
I woke up bolt upright at 9:00, realizing I had forgotten about an internship interview at 11:00, thanked my friend, and hurried back to the train station, where trains were running late due to wet weather. I had my flatmate look up the number to call to inform them I would be running late, but it was the wrong number. Then I arrived ten minutes early.
Luckily I was wearing a smart interview outfit, because all I wear these days are button down shirts. It happened to be one of the best interviews I've ever had, and I left feeling high in self confidence. Riding that momentum I found a coffee shop that was hiring, and had a nice cappuccino with a fern pattern, so if I get a job there hopefully I'll learn that trick. The moral of this long winded fable is that its easy to ride momentum, you just have to do it in style.
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