Marching On

Yesterday I moved for fourth time in Sydney, which is really only the fifth time I have moved house in my life. I  think I'm getting better at being unattached to stuff though. It bothers me actually though to think of how much stuff I have stored at home too. I already try to live minimally so why is it still that I have so much?

I'm going to make it a point to go through my stuff here and donate what I don't need. i.e. my Sydney stuff now includes a blanket AND a sleeping bag. I think I'll ditch the blanket. Er, after confirming with Laura that it's cool that I use the sleeping bag every day. If not, I'll still use it but I'll replace it for her later :)

In my ideal world, I only have two outfits, all made of Icebreaker merino wool. But unfortunately that's not realistic.. Yet? :P

Pics from the past few days:



 

A snap I took just before packing everything up. I really liked that place.



Uh.....I also treated myself to a whiteboard. It's good for brainstorming ideas....I'll get rid of more clothes before I give up this whiteboard :)

All I own in Sydney, in addition to the whiteboard and a few hangers, which I left with a friend since I don't really need them in my current place and they're awkward to move. That big moving box has a blanket, a pillow and sheets and the box on top is full of food.

 

Sunset on the Sydney Habour during a Twilight sail last week.



Heather's birthday party was on Saturday. They cooked up poutine from scratch, which was quite tasty, but apparently there are no cheese curds in Australia. I still think they must be available somewhere, but it's not high on my priority list at the moment to find out :P

Heather's awesome friends made this game for this non-Australians to play, in which we had to match a list of funny names to the Australian lollies that were laid out on these plates. I did the worst, at 4/20 haha, but I'm going to accept the complement that maybe it means I eat less lollies than the others. A very cool and creative yet simple game. I was very impressed.

Mid-October

October is half over and Sydney will be entering what will likely be a hot summer. On my end there are still many unknowns and many things up in the air. I'm still aiming for those few "dream jobs" here and I am lucky to have a few irons in the fire at the moment. Game of patience and preparation and luck.

Wollongong
I finally made the trip down to Wollongong, a city of just under 300,000 people approximately 82 km south of Sydney, or 1.5 hours by country train. It was actually a pretty train ride as you go by the ocean and pass by all the far south suburbs so it didn't feel too long at all.

Cheryl picked me up at the train station and after a brief tour of the uni, we did a hike up Mt. Keira, a 464 "mountain" hehe. It was a nice hike and fitting for us that day since it was super hot and neither of us seemed to much energy that day.

View from the summit

Another view from the summit

 After the hike we walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens, which had some really pretty garden exhibits as some neat art displays:

 

 

Wollongong is 684 sq. km in area (Calgary is 726 and Sydney is 12,145) and has 17 beaches (Sydney has 70 beaches). We met Cheryl's friends Harp & (Christine?) at a cute restaurant called Diggies at Northbeach and then hung out on the sand for a bit. After, we went to City Beach, which is less busy but equally as windy. I made an effort to go into the surf :)

After hiking/touring Wollongong via foot and visiting the beaches, we bought groceries and bbq's some tasty steak and roast veggies at Cheryl's place and watched a couple episodes of Friends with her roomie. Was a good way to spend a Friday :)

Thanksgiving
Cheryl, Heather, Curtis & I decided that we needed to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving together. It was decided we'd have a nice dinner at my place cuz it's bigger than Heather & Curtis' studio and with the three of us having plans in Sydney Saturday morning and not having cars, my place made the most sense. Cheryl then brought it up that she had a few Canadian classmates so we decided to include them as well and then upon my housemate's go ahead to have a bigger party, I decided to invite some of my ACCA team as well, as they're the people I have been not only training with but doing random things with. Like family :) I would've invited more people if I could i.e. my Australian families, my old colleagues, the rest of ACCA, etc. but the invite list was already at 20, not including me, so decided to leave it at 20, as my place is not big, but big enough for "cocktail party style" :)

Before Picture: The bird: 5.1 kg from a butcher in broadway mall. Free range, $75

After picture: The bird after being seasoned, basted and roasted for about four hours. Yum!!! Everyone loved it and my chef friend said it was cooked to perfection. He might have just been being nice but I thought it was delicious so it must be true!

Food! There was pasta salad, two quinoa salads, wild rice, roast vegetables, potatoes, ratatouille stuffing, gravy, bread rolls, olives & cheese, perogies, yam salad, fresh veggies and of course, turkey and cranberry sauce! Desserts were fresh homemade pies of the pumpkin variety, the apple variety and the pecan variety, as well as a cheesecake, gingerbread cookies and a refreshing Vietnamese grass jelly that my Vietnamese friends made.  

I created an "activity centre" and had people write out what they were thankful for.

Chef Indy making a gravy out of the turkey drippings. Yum!

Heather, Curtis, me and Cheryl

Oz and Paddy, one of my ACCA running buddies.

Starting from the green hat and moving to the right: Maya, Genghis, Butch and Skyn: ACCA Dragonboating and 10 Km True Grit friends :)

I was quite pleased that the gathering turned out well and that everyone seemed to have had a good time. I was thinking that a small gathering would be better but part of me worries that I might not be I Australia much longer and this might've been the only Canadian Thanksgiving that my Australian friends would get to attend, so then it was decided. EPIC! :)

I really have so much to be thankful for: My friends and family in Canada, my friends and quasi-family in Australia, my teammates, my health, my abilities, my semi-capableness and all the potential and opportunity that each and every day brings :)

DBNSW Regatta #1: 200 m sprints
The first official race of the season was this past Sunday at the Penrith International Regatta Centre, which was originally built for the Summer 2000 Olympic Games. I do enjoy racing out there because it's so EPIC :) I did three races, two in the ACCA Black mixed crew and one in the women's crew. Our mixed crew made it to finals (whoooo!!) and the women's crew was TBD based on more results, but the afternoon, and the final races, ended up being cancelled due to dangerous conditions due to the high winds. Was too bad because we were all still raring to race, with plans to improve upon the last race (which was already an improvement upon the first race) but it happens Anyways, was nice to have a couple of drinks with the team at the pub afterwards and then chat with Sue, a new teammate, on the way home.

Some snaps:

ACCA Black mixed crew. I'm sitting in row ten on the left, you can just see my head and right arm :P

After the race, when everything hurts and burns and you suck in air like crazy. After less than one minute of work.

Whooooooo!

The girls getting ready for the women's race.

The guys cheering for us as we head to the pontoons.

1-2-3-4-5!!!!

That's me sitting in row two on the left.

The girls cheering on the men's boat.

 

Team Pic

Another Team Pic. Cuz they must always end with a dog pile.

Where are you going?

Well, the pressure of adult life is starting to become noticeable, as I have now officially been unemployed for two whole weeks. In two weeks I've applied to over thirty jobs, have had two interviews, have learned how to do case studies, have learned how to structure a problem, and have received multiple rejections.

In the midst of it all, I've learned a few things and have met a few more people, so by no means has it been a lazy past couple of weeks.

Had brunch at the harbour with my friend Genghis today and he reminded me that money doesn't mean wealth. With that I totally agree and I'm grateful that I have friends here who will confront and be real with me. And I'm not out to get the most money today per se, but for some reason I really feel like I need to set up the opportunity for the future. Or maybe not even for the money, but the power that comes with experience and rank. Because power can be helpful, as can be the money that typically comes with such experience and rank. I think of it like a resource. I don't need super nice stuff but I like to be resourceful.

So it would really help if I knew what I was doing :)

Something that keeps getting me down here are the rejection e-mails that I receive when my applications are unsuccessful. Often the recruiter will write that I have great experience but that my experience does not match that which the employer is looking for and then encourages me to apply again should a suitable position be posted. This bothers me mostly because it feels like I do not get to proceed to the interview because I have the wrong experience. Not lack of, but wrong. As if I chose a path which does not lead to that career which I want. And therefore should continue down the path I already started.

Okay. I'm 28 and I have over five years of analytical experience. Is it really possible that five years ago I chose to pursue the "wrong" type of experience and that if I am to retire at 65, I shall spend the next 37 years only building on the experience that I have built over the previous five?

No.

I'm sure I am taking what is a standard rejection message too seriously, but I can't help but wonder if I did. I know that I didn't, and my life today is pretty awesome and I have met so many great friends, and well, each decision I made I had an impact on how I got here, so one can hardly say I took the wrong path.

Now I just have to figure out what is my next step.