A month down under

I've been here almost a month now and I gotta say that I LOVE it here! I've found that Sydney is pretty similar to Los Angeles in some ways...but there are a lot of little differences.  Like LA, Sydney is a huge melting pot, maybe more so in LA. My coworkers consist of Scottish, French, German, Kiwi (New Zealander), Hungarian, me the American and only two actual ozzies. Weather wise, it's pretty similar, except it's opposite seasons, so I doubled up on winter :(

Then you got the metric system which is a whole new beast I need to conquer.  I honestly don't know how far 100 meters is or how many kilos I weigh.  Another thing is getting used to looking left instead of right - can get a bit dangerous while crossing the street.  There are also a lot of little word differences.  Some words/phrases I am incorporating into my vocabulary are - keen (like), que (line up), toilet (haha sounds so vulgar), pardon and g-day.  Although I feel weird saying it, "I reckon" is used pretty often. It's kinda like in Dublin, saying "that's grand." Sounds a bit weird coming from an American.

I have to say though that Sydney/Australia is SUPER expensive! All the cheap American products here are like marked up 3 times. A Maybelline mascara cost like $20 and the cheapest shoes at "Payless" are $50.  It's kinda crazy.

But overall, my first month is Sydney has been awesome. I've been staying with my cousin Jenny who lives super close to my work, so I've been walking to work every day 25 mins each way.  I not only get to see the city, but I also get my exercise in.  After a month of searching and meeting some strange and interesting people and seeing some dingy and expensive places, I finally found a suitable "flat." I will be moving into a place in Pyrmont, which is a 30 minute walk to the city (CBD) where I work.  My flatmates are originally from Queensland and seem really cool.  I am really excited to move in and get settled. I've been living out of a suitcase so it'll be nice to have my stuff in a closet and have my own bed and all that good stuff. I will try to update again soon.