First Few Days Abroad

Greetings all!

The idea that I am completely on the opposite side of the world is surreal to say the least. By coming early I have been able to bond with great coworkers and explore the city. Since I arrived my first two days have been filled with preparing for the rest of the students and getting acquainted to the neighborhood. Now that I have a better understanding of what my schedule will be like, I realized that after a long day of work and school I will not be able to write a detailed blog post. Therefore I have decided to share my journey with you using as few words as possible. Here goes!

Day 1

Flight was 14 hours from LA. In LA I had an 11 hour layover, so I went out and explored a bit. Apparently the food on the flight was great (according to my colleagues), but I wouldn’t know, because I slept through every single meal. On the bright side I did not suffer from any jet lag, due to my ample rest. Below is the flight menu and picture my colleagues and I boarding our flight.

Good thing I got all that rest! As soon as we arrived, we hit the ground running. We were given a neighborhood tour along with lunch. There are a TON of restaurants and cafes in the area, and they all looked amazing. Also, there are a lot of authentic Asian food places. Since Sydney is very health conscious place most of the cafes offer, fresh juices that are squeezed to order. I got to taste orange-apple juice and it was delicious!

Fresh apple-orange juice

Our apartments are located near two malls with supermarkets. A downside is how expensive everything is. I am finally the legal drinking age and now I can’t afford to drink (ie. we found a pack of Corona that was being sold for $57). Also, sunscreen is about $20 for a decent sized bottle. It doesn’t help that the sun is stronger here meaning, sunscreen is an essential part of daily life. Shopping for grocery was a struggle. I am pretty sure I am going to lose weight between the eating cheap meals and walking everywhere. Side note: Australian coffee is way better than Americas’.

One observation that is very clear is the difference between the people in Sydney versus Boston. Everyone is genuinely nice and down to earth. When we were at the airport and on the plane, my colleagues and I met various Australians who were more than eager to give us suggestions on places to visit. Now that I am here it is very noticeable through out my interactions.

Day 2

Today was an even busier day. Especially since my colleagues and I decided that we were going to fit sight seeing into our day no matter what. I have found that although we have only been together 2 days, we are bonding fast. I took a gazillion pictures (mostly selfies) of our sight seeing journey. I will try and narrow them down and share them below.

Darling Harbor