Hello everyone, and sorry for the long gap between posts. This one will be brief, unfortunately, mainly just for me to post my big bit of news: after searching for almost a week I have found a place to live for the three months I will be in Vancouver! This is super exciting for me, not only because it means I get to move out of the hostel and start my 'real life' here (as opposed to constantly being a tourist) but also because it's the first time I've ever lived anywhere other than my parents' house in South Oakleigh.
I'm moving into the West End neighborhood which, if you know Vancouver at all, is not far from the city area, between Downtown and the gorgeous Stanley Park. It's a pretty competitive area to get housing - I was wandering through the streets the other day admiring all the nice houses and thinking "I'll never be able to afford this area!" But I got lucky and found a room in a shared apartment with a lovely woman called Donna. The place is small, but it's nice and light and reasonably modern, and nowhere near as cramped as some of the places I've looked at. It's hard to find places that are both nice inside and in nice areas; a lot of them are one or the other but not both! So I move in tonight - in fact, when my last 6 minutes of prepaid internet time run out I'll be heading down to my new home.
So that's my latest. The job comes next (but I have several leads to follow up from people so it shouldn't be too hard). I figured it was much harder to house-hunt once you start working, so the place to live was my first priority. Will keep you posted with any other news that comes up, and I'll try to get pictures of my trip to the Rocky Mountains up soon.
In the meantime, for anyone who is on Facebook, you can add me as a friend and then see the couple of albums I've uploaded there, of San Francisco pics and also Highway 1 along the California Coastline.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
A meander around San Francisco
It's hard to believe I've been away for 10 days already. Where does the time go? I'm in Vancouver now, where it's still warm but not quite so overbearing as in California. That will teach me to listen to Mum next time she tells me 2 t-shirts will be plenty!
Well, as promised, here are some photos of the first few days of my trip. I'm sorry there's not more - using a hostel computer means there's always someone waiting for you to finish, and the pics are slow to load. Plus, there's no kind of software on here that will even let me rotate photos, so these are the ones I could post without having to make you look at them sideways.
Chinatown, San Francisco, which seems much more integral to the city than Chinatown in Melbourne, which you probably wouldn't even know was there unless you went looking. I went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory a block or two from here and my fortune from the very first cookie I ate was: "You are about to be confronted with unlimited possibilities". Very apt for the first day of my trip, I thought.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown, where all the old men spend their afternoons playing Chinese Chess, the women sit around talking in groups, and the children play on a really cool playground.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown - even "The Goddess of Democracy" can be crapped on by a pigeon. The tall skinny pyramid is the TransAmerica building, the tallest skyscraper on San Francisco's skyline.
The view from Telegraph Hill in North Beach - it's quite a hike to get up here, but the views are worth it. At least, they would be if San Francisco wasn't being true to type and shrouded in summer fog. This looks over the bay to Oakland & Berkeley, and that's Alcatraz out in the middle.
If you walk down the other side of Telegraph Hill and towards the bay, you go right past all these lovely gardens of private homes, which line the steps toward Filbert St. It's a steep descent, and I'm glad I was walking down rather than up! But just as you think there couldn't possibly be any more 'down' left, you turn a corner and find yet another set of steps leading you back towards the city. It's a lovely quiet part of San Francisco, and makes a change from the bustle of downtown.
Union Square at dusk. On my way back from wandering Chinatown and North Beach I stopped in Union Square to listen to a band that was playing. A pretty big crowd had gathered and were enjoying a balmy summer evening. I only caught the last 3 songs or so though, and then went in search of dinner. I think I probably walked about 7km on that first day, and I was jetlagged too, but all up it was a great introduction to the city.
Anyway, that's all for now. More photos to come next time hopefully, but I head to the Rockies tomorrow so I may not find much spare time to post for a week or so.
Well, as promised, here are some photos of the first few days of my trip. I'm sorry there's not more - using a hostel computer means there's always someone waiting for you to finish, and the pics are slow to load. Plus, there's no kind of software on here that will even let me rotate photos, so these are the ones I could post without having to make you look at them sideways.
Chinatown, San Francisco, which seems much more integral to the city than Chinatown in Melbourne, which you probably wouldn't even know was there unless you went looking. I went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory a block or two from here and my fortune from the very first cookie I ate was: "You are about to be confronted with unlimited possibilities". Very apt for the first day of my trip, I thought.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown, where all the old men spend their afternoons playing Chinese Chess, the women sit around talking in groups, and the children play on a really cool playground.
Portsmouth Square, Chinatown - even "The Goddess of Democracy" can be crapped on by a pigeon. The tall skinny pyramid is the TransAmerica building, the tallest skyscraper on San Francisco's skyline.
The view from Telegraph Hill in North Beach - it's quite a hike to get up here, but the views are worth it. At least, they would be if San Francisco wasn't being true to type and shrouded in summer fog. This looks over the bay to Oakland & Berkeley, and that's Alcatraz out in the middle.
If you walk down the other side of Telegraph Hill and towards the bay, you go right past all these lovely gardens of private homes, which line the steps toward Filbert St. It's a steep descent, and I'm glad I was walking down rather than up! But just as you think there couldn't possibly be any more 'down' left, you turn a corner and find yet another set of steps leading you back towards the city. It's a lovely quiet part of San Francisco, and makes a change from the bustle of downtown.
Union Square at dusk. On my way back from wandering Chinatown and North Beach I stopped in Union Square to listen to a band that was playing. A pretty big crowd had gathered and were enjoying a balmy summer evening. I only caught the last 3 songs or so though, and then went in search of dinner. I think I probably walked about 7km on that first day, and I was jetlagged too, but all up it was a great introduction to the city.
Anyway, that's all for now. More photos to come next time hopefully, but I head to the Rockies tomorrow so I may not find much spare time to post for a week or so.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I left my heart in San Francisco...
...and I know the way to San Jose!
Hello all, sorry for not posting a little sooner to let you all know I made it safely and am having a lovely time. I have been quite busy - busier than I expected, anyway - seeing sights, meeting people, trying new things. Since I will be back in the Bay Area for Christmas and New Year, I was planning to take things at a fairly slow pace for the first week so that it feels like a holiday and not a race around a big city. But there are so many places to go and things to see, so finding time to sit down and email/blog to people back home has kind of been pushed down the priority list.
When I arrived I spent two nights in San Francisco, and despite the jetlag did lots of walking around to acquaint myself with this amazing city. Yes, it is crowded. Yes, it is foggy during summer which kind of spoils the nice views across the bay. Yes, it is FULL of quite aggressive panhandlers. But it is also charming, beautiful and intoxicating. People who live in San Francisco are clearly people who are in love with their city, which you soon realise as soon as you talk to the locals. And everyone must have very strong calf muscles from all the hills!
So far I've explored Chinatown, a bit of North Beach (up to Telegraph Hill and back down the other side via the quaint steps which take you past some very elegant houses), the Haight-Ashbury ex-hippie district and Buena Vista Park, a bit of Golden Gate Park, the Museum of Modern Art, and part of the Mission District. And that was just in 48 hours.
On Friday I caught the train to San Jose where I met up with Amy, a good friend who lived in Melbourne for the first half of 2006. So she's been showing me a lot of her local area, and Mountain View where she used to live. I'm getting to meet her family, her friends, her friends' families... everyone seems kind of excited to meet "the Australian girl", which is a bit weird! But the people are lovely, and very friendly. The only people who don't seem especially friendly are those with whom you have only the briefest of interactions - the bus drivers, the people who serve you in supermarkets, etc. They are polite, but only to the point where they are fulfilling the requirement of their job - no one even seems to go out of their way to venture a smile when they serve you. Australians by comparison are a lot more easy going. But if you are able to have even a brief conversation with a local they suddenly become quite friendly and enthusiastic to hear about your travels or your country, or to offer advice on things you must see or do.
Today I hung out with Amy, her boyfriend Ian, and two of his friends, Evan and his fiancee Kirsty. Kirsty is from Glasgow and is in the process of being able to migrate here so they can get married. If it were me I think I'd be picking Scotland over the US! But each to their own, I guess. The five of us watched a movie and went to play mini-golf. I won! Which I think is a first for me!
I also got to meet Larry tonight, who I have corresponded with for almost a decade via email but never actually met, so it was lovely to finally meet face to face. I heard Living Water, his choir, sing at an evening church service at a Presbyterian Church in San Jose. It was... interesting. Enough to remind me why I am not currently comfortable attending a church. Then a group of us went to dinner afterwards at a fairly typical American kind of place - burgers, westernized Mexican food, and strange combinations of things that seem to serve little purpose except to try to be the most unhealthy food you could possibly eat. Tonight I am in the land that invented deep-fried mozzarella cheese, which Americans claim is "awesome" (although there is very little that isn't "awesome"). To be honest, it's not that nice.
Tomorrow Amy and Ian are being my own personal tour guides and chauffeurs and taking me to Santa Cruz, Pigeon Point and Half Moon Bay, so we'll have a nice day of driving along the coast and taking in the stunning scenery. I will try to post pictures the next time I write.
So that's been my week. Having lots of fun but missing home as I try to adjust to the idea of nine months living out of a backpack and meeting new people.
But for now I leave you with my Weird Discovery of the Week:
In the Mission District on Friday I was browsing in a rather eclectic CD store called Aquarius Records and found an album called 'Sounds of North American Frogs'. The first line of the description read "The amphibian song revival is here!" Hmmmm. I thought my musical knowledge and awareness was pretty comprehensive, but clearly this is one revolution which has escaped my notice. And I'm sure my life is the poorer for it.
Hello all, sorry for not posting a little sooner to let you all know I made it safely and am having a lovely time. I have been quite busy - busier than I expected, anyway - seeing sights, meeting people, trying new things. Since I will be back in the Bay Area for Christmas and New Year, I was planning to take things at a fairly slow pace for the first week so that it feels like a holiday and not a race around a big city. But there are so many places to go and things to see, so finding time to sit down and email/blog to people back home has kind of been pushed down the priority list.
When I arrived I spent two nights in San Francisco, and despite the jetlag did lots of walking around to acquaint myself with this amazing city. Yes, it is crowded. Yes, it is foggy during summer which kind of spoils the nice views across the bay. Yes, it is FULL of quite aggressive panhandlers. But it is also charming, beautiful and intoxicating. People who live in San Francisco are clearly people who are in love with their city, which you soon realise as soon as you talk to the locals. And everyone must have very strong calf muscles from all the hills!
So far I've explored Chinatown, a bit of North Beach (up to Telegraph Hill and back down the other side via the quaint steps which take you past some very elegant houses), the Haight-Ashbury ex-hippie district and Buena Vista Park, a bit of Golden Gate Park, the Museum of Modern Art, and part of the Mission District. And that was just in 48 hours.
On Friday I caught the train to San Jose where I met up with Amy, a good friend who lived in Melbourne for the first half of 2006. So she's been showing me a lot of her local area, and Mountain View where she used to live. I'm getting to meet her family, her friends, her friends' families... everyone seems kind of excited to meet "the Australian girl", which is a bit weird! But the people are lovely, and very friendly. The only people who don't seem especially friendly are those with whom you have only the briefest of interactions - the bus drivers, the people who serve you in supermarkets, etc. They are polite, but only to the point where they are fulfilling the requirement of their job - no one even seems to go out of their way to venture a smile when they serve you. Australians by comparison are a lot more easy going. But if you are able to have even a brief conversation with a local they suddenly become quite friendly and enthusiastic to hear about your travels or your country, or to offer advice on things you must see or do.
Today I hung out with Amy, her boyfriend Ian, and two of his friends, Evan and his fiancee Kirsty. Kirsty is from Glasgow and is in the process of being able to migrate here so they can get married. If it were me I think I'd be picking Scotland over the US! But each to their own, I guess. The five of us watched a movie and went to play mini-golf. I won! Which I think is a first for me!
I also got to meet Larry tonight, who I have corresponded with for almost a decade via email but never actually met, so it was lovely to finally meet face to face. I heard Living Water, his choir, sing at an evening church service at a Presbyterian Church in San Jose. It was... interesting. Enough to remind me why I am not currently comfortable attending a church. Then a group of us went to dinner afterwards at a fairly typical American kind of place - burgers, westernized Mexican food, and strange combinations of things that seem to serve little purpose except to try to be the most unhealthy food you could possibly eat. Tonight I am in the land that invented deep-fried mozzarella cheese, which Americans claim is "awesome" (although there is very little that isn't "awesome"). To be honest, it's not that nice.
Tomorrow Amy and Ian are being my own personal tour guides and chauffeurs and taking me to Santa Cruz, Pigeon Point and Half Moon Bay, so we'll have a nice day of driving along the coast and taking in the stunning scenery. I will try to post pictures the next time I write.
So that's been my week. Having lots of fun but missing home as I try to adjust to the idea of nine months living out of a backpack and meeting new people.
But for now I leave you with my Weird Discovery of the Week:
In the Mission District on Friday I was browsing in a rather eclectic CD store called Aquarius Records and found an album called 'Sounds of North American Frogs'. The first line of the description read "The amphibian song revival is here!" Hmmmm. I thought my musical knowledge and awareness was pretty comprehensive, but clearly this is one revolution which has escaped my notice. And I'm sure my life is the poorer for it.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Plan
So. You're probably here because I sent you an email about my big going away party before I head overseas in just under a month. Yes, after many, many years of talking about it, it's finally happening - the big rite-of-passage, "off to find myself", trip of a lifetime. It's exciting and scary, all at once. I know once I'm over there I will probably love it, and forget all about how hard it is to be away from friends and family for so long. But I expect the 16 hour trip across the Pacific will consist of me bawling my eyes out and going "Oh my God! What am I doing????"
For those of you that are interested, I will try to post regular updates here while I'm gone, so you can see something of the places I get to see, and read about all the things I get up to. I figure this is a bit easier than posting long emails that will clog up your inbox and that you will feel obliged to read - but if you aren't interested in where I am and what I'm doing I won't be offended!
Because I don't yet know how often I'll be able to post, I thought I'd at least give you a rough outline of where I plan to be when, and what I hope to be doing. That way, when I don't post for several weeks at a time, you can at least hazard a guess that it's because I've been eaten by a moose in Canada, or met some crazy gun-toting redneck in Texas, or fallen madly in love with a handsome Spanish boy, or acquired a taste for guinness in Ireland and am spending all my time in the local pub, or fallen down a glacier crevass in Norway. Well, you just never know...
22 August 2007: THE BIG DAY!!
Depart Melbourne for San Francisco.
September: Head up to Canada before it gets too cold to be worth going. Spend a couple of weeks in the Rockies and then head back to Vancouver to hopefully find work of some sort.
October-November: Working in Vancouver. Hopefully get a chance to visit Tony Funk in Abbotsford at some point.
December: Back down the coast to San Francisco to spend Christmas and New Year with my friend Amy and her family. Hopefully fit in a trip south to San Diego with Amy.
January: Fly to Houston to visit Bethany, another dear friend, for a few days, then visit Washington and maybe Mum's cousin (Janette Turner Hospital - yes, the author!) in South Carolina before flying to London. Spend a few days in Bognor Regis with some friends of Mum's, and then head south to Spain (or wherever it is warm!).
February: Living it up in Spain, France & Italy!
March-April-May: To Ireland, hopefully to work again for a few months.
End of May/early June: A couple of weeks' holiday in Scandinavia, then flying from Helsinki to Frankfurt. Visit Linsey in Geissen (just north of Frankfurt).
Mid-June: Home to Melbourne, via Tokyo.
So, there you have it. Ambitious and maybe a little crazy given that I have less than a year to do it all in, but if you saw the list of things I cut out (most of east coast USA & Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Greece, Croatia, Morocco, Scotland and St Petersburg, to name a few...) then it starts to look doable after all.
I am at the point where I'm sick of working through the list of things I need to do before I leave and I just want to hop on the plane. But please, feel free to keep on eye on this blog while I'm away, and to post comments as well. I will miss everyone so much!
Till next time.
Bron
For those of you that are interested, I will try to post regular updates here while I'm gone, so you can see something of the places I get to see, and read about all the things I get up to. I figure this is a bit easier than posting long emails that will clog up your inbox and that you will feel obliged to read - but if you aren't interested in where I am and what I'm doing I won't be offended!
Because I don't yet know how often I'll be able to post, I thought I'd at least give you a rough outline of where I plan to be when, and what I hope to be doing. That way, when I don't post for several weeks at a time, you can at least hazard a guess that it's because I've been eaten by a moose in Canada, or met some crazy gun-toting redneck in Texas, or fallen madly in love with a handsome Spanish boy, or acquired a taste for guinness in Ireland and am spending all my time in the local pub, or fallen down a glacier crevass in Norway. Well, you just never know...
22 August 2007: THE BIG DAY!!
Depart Melbourne for San Francisco.
September: Head up to Canada before it gets too cold to be worth going. Spend a couple of weeks in the Rockies and then head back to Vancouver to hopefully find work of some sort.
October-November: Working in Vancouver. Hopefully get a chance to visit Tony Funk in Abbotsford at some point.
December: Back down the coast to San Francisco to spend Christmas and New Year with my friend Amy and her family. Hopefully fit in a trip south to San Diego with Amy.
January: Fly to Houston to visit Bethany, another dear friend, for a few days, then visit Washington and maybe Mum's cousin (Janette Turner Hospital - yes, the author!) in South Carolina before flying to London. Spend a few days in Bognor Regis with some friends of Mum's, and then head south to Spain (or wherever it is warm!).
February: Living it up in Spain, France & Italy!
March-April-May: To Ireland, hopefully to work again for a few months.
End of May/early June: A couple of weeks' holiday in Scandinavia, then flying from Helsinki to Frankfurt. Visit Linsey in Geissen (just north of Frankfurt).
Mid-June: Home to Melbourne, via Tokyo.
So, there you have it. Ambitious and maybe a little crazy given that I have less than a year to do it all in, but if you saw the list of things I cut out (most of east coast USA & Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Greece, Croatia, Morocco, Scotland and St Petersburg, to name a few...) then it starts to look doable after all.
I am at the point where I'm sick of working through the list of things I need to do before I leave and I just want to hop on the plane. But please, feel free to keep on eye on this blog while I'm away, and to post comments as well. I will miss everyone so much!
Till next time.
Bron
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