Weekend in Sydney and the Internship Begins

Well, my passport finally arrived, a mere 4 hours before my plane took off. I almost didn't make it to Australia for the weekend! The courier service finally tracked it down at the local post office, so I biked over to pick it up. Funnier still, they needed ID for me to pick up the package. Luckily, I had something else to use, but HELLO! MY ID IS IN THE PACKAGE! I then had class from 2p-4p and the cab picked me up at 4:15p. I arrived at the airport an hour before my international flight. I got barked at by some airport attendant for not leaving enough time...oh well. So I went ahead and cut the whole line, went through security, and walked on the plane. On the plane, our takeoff was delayed (as always) because one of the baggage doors wouldn't close electrically. They had to hand crank it shut which apparently takes a half hour to do. When we finally got off of the ground I started talking to my seat mates, two guys from Korea. One asked me where I was from, and I told him Boston. He asked where that was and I proceded to show him the east coast of the US versus the west. It was so odd to imagine someone not knowing where Boston was. I mean, we're a little bitty city, but Boston is fundamental to even the most basic notions of American History. Not like I can criticize, had he told me he were from Seoul, South Korea I couldn't have pointed it out on a map (I might barely locate the country). Goes to show how Ameri-centric a world I have lived in. The two guys were really friendly and off to Sydney for business and a bit of pleasure. One of them had tickets to the All Blacks vs. The Wallabies (New Zealand vs. Australia-- the HUGE rivalry, put this one on par with Red Sox vs. Yankees, except with two NATIONS behind the teams). I told them how awesome that was, and they then said that they probably weren't going to go. I must have looked baffled because he explained that they were going to the casino instead. Casino instead of a once in a lifetime rugby match...hmmm. Regardless, I couldn't weasle the tickets out of him. Damn.

I did a good amount of homework on the plane (I already wrote two papers before departing in order to make the weekend possible). Once I finally got through customs, quarnatine, etc, I took a group shuttle to the Marriot Harbour Hotel. On the shuttle I met two people (because the guy had on a Red Sox World Series Champions Hat) from California. His family was originally from Boston and he attended Tufts. We talked baseball and about LA (Lower Allston, baby!), and decided that Red Sox Nation doesn't quite cover it, it's truly Red Sox World. Any of the cool cats in Greece will agree that I met a large number of sox fans even in Greece. After they got off the shuttle, the INSANE cabby continued onto my hotel. I got there by around 10pm (there's a two hour time difference from Auckland, and a 3 hour flight). After unloading my belongings, Mom, Ann, and I went out and found me food. Then we sat and listened to a jazz band play in the lobby of this gorgeous hotel.

The next morning we got up bright and early and took the bus to Paddington Market. The market was lots of fun with crafts, jewelry, books, chocolates, etc, etc. After browsing around, we hopped back on the bus and continued on to Bondi Beach. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe called Lamrock. It was a positively gorgeous Saturday: sunny and about 70 degrees out. We then walked down to the beach and watched the surfers for hours. Just as we're leaving, I realize that I have no pictures of people from the day. I have Ann take my picture and as she does, a freak wave comes in almost 15 feet farther than the rest of the tide, and it positively soaks me! Needless to say, denim + salt water + sand = miserably uncomfortable. Note to self, never turn back on the ocean. We then headed back to the hotel to get spiffy before going to the Sydney Opera House to see La Boheme. All dolled up, we headed out to the opera house a bit early to check it out. It is positively striking! I couldn't believe what I was viewing and about to enter. Oddly enough, the inside is not particularly remarkable. There are also four or five different theaters within the opera house. The show itself was unbelievable; our seats were eight rows back. It was also very contemporary in the way it was staged: modern costumes and modern set. I cannot describe how beautiful the voices were.

After the opera, we stopped at a little cafe for desert and coffee. I had the tastiest rhubarb and apple crumble (Kel Han--you should've been there!) with strawberries on top and a hot chocolate. We then returned to the hotel to find that the rugby game had just ended. All Blacks won 30-13! The hotel had recorded the game and was replaying it on the big screen in the lobby with refreshments. We watched enough of the game to slowly begin to understand what was going on. I have a new favorite player: Dan Carter. We then went upstairs and I packed because I needed to leave the hotel at 4:45a--BLECK! I of course managed to leave some things in the hotel, but c'est la vie. My mom's coming back to Auckland tomorrow with all my goodies that I forgot.

Monday I had my first day at my internship. I'm working at the Auckland Museum, which is beautiful, but an absolute maze. So far I am doing very internship-like things, organizing, stapling, etc, etc. It's a little frustrating, but I will hopefully get more responsibility as I prove myself to be capable. My supervisor works in the Public Programs division of the museum. This section comes up with and arranges all of the live productions to go along with the exhibitions. Currently we're preparing for a Da Vinci exhibition of many of his machines. This is such a cool opportunity! Once my input is requested I will suggest that Dan Brown come as a lecturer and that they do an evening of gelato and Italian wines. See--I know how to pack the people in the house (bestselling author plus desert and wine)! The internship should be good, but I'm working there 25 hours per week which is ALL of my free time outside of my 3 classes.

Well, I will continue to keep you posted of my trials and tribulations! Check out my pictures at Ofoto!