Two weeks after Heather's parents left, we had another visitor to Sydney. Heather and Diana met while earning PhDs in South Carolina. She now lives in San Francisco, but decided to spend a week of her Christmas holidays Down Under. Unfortunately, when we took her to Wildlife World, it was raining. Koalas don't look particulary excited at the best of times, but these have to be the two most miserable things I have ever seen. We also spent an evening in the Domain, where the cockatoos hang out. It's been two years since Heather and I last did this, but Diana wasn't too keen to feed them. Heather and I had the bread, but Diana got hit up for food soon enough just because she was with us. Notice two things: she has no bread in her hand, and she doesn't look happy. When I went for my camera to take the picture, my cockatoo ran out of bread and bit my finger pretty good. We also did the Bridge Climb. This is something that Heather and I have wanted to do, but were waiting for a visitor so we would have a good excuse. There was no way Heather's Mom was going up there, but Diana wanted to go, so we booked a night climb, and it was great. It's a three and a half hour process, including safety training, gearing up and the actual climb. They put you in a Bridge Climb suit ("flattering for most body types"), and issue you a safely harness, fleece jacket-in-a-bag, fleece cap, head lamp, headphones and handkerchief, all of which is tied to you. Heather even got a geek strap for her glasses that were tied down. You aren't allowed to take anything else with you (read: no cameras), but they happily take your picture three or four times on the tour to sell you later. Yeah, it's a bit of a scam, but you never know who might throw something off the bridge into traffic, and they did take a nice picture. I was surprised that they got such good lighting on us and the Opera House in the background at night. Overall, I'd recommend the Climb. On Diana's last night in town, we went to listen to Christmas carols at the Opera House. Carols aren't usually my favourite, but it was a nice show, and you can't argue with the venue. It was a good ending to our second week of guiding tours in a month.
I'm behind on my posts again, and I need to squeeze in a few more here really quick. I don't have time to give them the full attention they deserve, so I'm counting on the pictures to tell a thousand words.
Heather's parents came back to Australia with us after our trip to Hawaii. They had a good time, and we had a good time playing tour guide for the week. We all arrived on a Sunday night and we immediately took them to Maya, our favourite Indian restaurant. Surprise: they liked it!
I had to go to work on Monday, but I got home quick so we could go to the beach. Here's a great picture of Paul at Coogee Beach. Note the red and yellow lifeguard flag in the background. We went back on Wednesday and walked from Coogee to Bondi. It's a fantastic walk that covers five beaches, one oceanfront cemetery and about seven kilometres.
Tuesday morning, they went for a walk around Hyde Park while I visited the travel doctor. When I got back, they insisted that I look at their pictures of the park immediately. I was thinking that I see Hyde Park every day, but I looked at them anyway. Here's what I saw:
That's my in-laws with the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. Marty had seen her on TV the night before and knew she was someone important.
We also spent some time at the Harbour, and they visited the aquarium and Wildlife World. Paul and I played a round of golf, where he hired the worst half set of clubs in the Southern Hemisphere. But we finished the week at the Friday night market at the Rocks, and pizza at Zia Pina, one of my favourites in Sydney.
Two weeks ago was election day, and George Bush's little buddy, John Howard, and his Liberal government were voted out. Note that 'Liberal' is not used in the normal American sense, but rather refers to the Liberal Party of Australian, who are politically similar to the Republicans. Kevin Rudd, leader of the Australian Labor Party, is the new Prime Minister.
Rudd kept a campaign promise and signed an international convention, leaving the US as the only industrialised nation in the world to not ratify the agreement. Your Lucky Sevens question: What is the international convention ratified by Rudd and the new Labor government this week?
In the middle of November, Heather and I took a trip to Hawaii for her sister's wedding and a little holiday. The weather was great, the beach was fantastic, the turtles were out and the beach front wedding was beautiful. In short, it was a welcome holiday. We didn't spend all our time on the beach, though. My father-in-law and I played a round of golf at Kapalua Bay, site of the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic. Paul and I each hired a set of clubs--Titleist, and yes, clubs make a difference. We each hit several shots too well, flying well over the green from 150 yards out with a seven iron, expecting to hit it 140. On the 18th (actually the 9th--we played the front nine twice due to some work being done on the back nine), I hit my tee shot 310 yards, with a3-wood, easily my longest drive ever. I shot a 94, and given more experience with the clubs, I could have easily shot in the eighties. I'm certainly willing to give it a go as soon as Heather gives the green light for a new set of Titleist irons. The only part of my game that let me down was my putting, while Paul was getting up and down from the fringe of the green the entire round.
On Wednesday Heather rented a car, a Mustang convertible, one of approximately 257,000 on the island. Verdict: looks good, but it's not that great. The wedding, however, was very nice. The Pacific Ocean makes quite a dramatic backdrop for a wedding ceremony. The daughter was given, vows were spoken and the husband and wife were pronounced without a hitch. No wind-blown sheet music, tripping brides or awestruck flower girls here. It was a small family affair, followed by pictures, cake and more pictures, to allow for the changing lighting conditions. And even the Mustang seemed better on the way back to the hotel, once we could put the top down on it.
We still had a couple more days to relax in Maui after the wedding, and Heather and I spent one of them driving up Haleakala, a 10,023 foot volcano. I enjoy driving on cliff edges, but that's not Heather's favourite experience, especially when you leave the clouds behind at 6,000 ft. She is pictured here above the crater, and you can see the clouds just beginning to roll in the mouth of the crater. Visitors are informed at the site that if the wind is blowing right, the entire crater can be filled with clouds within five minutes. Next time you are in Maui, I'd recommend a visit, but here's some free advice: wear warm clothing. You might be catching rays on the beach later, but at the top of Haleakala, it's a bit nippy.
A holiday is always welcome, but this was a particularly special one, as we spent it with family, both old and new. I congratulate Craig and Michelle on their wedding and thank them for sharing it with us.
Things have been awfully busy around here lately. When I last posted, I was sitting in the airport in Honolulu. We spent a week on Maui for my sister-in-law's wedding and played tourists in Sydney again when Heather's parents visited. Right before all that, I finished my first semester of my Masters program. Needless to say, I have a lot to catch up on and am still gathering my thoughts, not to mention all the pictures.
So as I figure out the best way to catch you up on everything, I wanted to share an article with you from the Dallas Morning News. Please see New A&M coach Sherman has heart of a champion. I'm no fan of the Aggies, but my cousin, Steven Ramirez, was, and the article details the very special relationship between him and Mike Sherman.
About this time every year, the jacarandas bloom, and as you can see, they are quite stunning. And they are everywhere, even in the city. They only bloom for about two weeks, and the rest of the year they have regular green leaves, but at this time of year, there is purple everywhere you look. These pictures were taken by our German friend Klaus at the Quad on the University of Sydney campus. Enjoy.
Tuesday was the Melbourne Cup, also known as 'the race that stops a nation'. And yes, it does stop the nation. Tuesday afternoons at school are for staff and faculty meetings, but on the Tuesday of the Cup, our meeting consists of watching the race. Incidentally, my first day at the school two years ago was Melbourne Cup day. That was an interesting introduction to Australian schools. The Melbourne Cup is considered the premiere two mile race in the world. That's right: not just in the Southern Hemisphere. This year's winner, pictured here, was Efficient.
However, there was a situation this year that nearly canceled, or at least postponed, the Melbourne Cup. Your Lucky Sevens question for November is: What happened that almost stopped the race that stops a nation?
We live on the ninth floor, so for the few months since we moved into this apartment, we figured it was OK to leave it unlocked.
We were wrong.
According to this article from the Sydney Morning Herald, there is a thief out there who likes climbing the outside of high rise buildings and entering apartments through the balcony. He has been linked to 16 different robberies.
Here's hoping that our locked door keeps us from being number 17.
The Rugby World Cup is being held in France right now. Unfortunately, Australia was knocked out by the English Saturday night. The USA didn't make it out of their pool, surprise, surprise. Word is they have a talented pool of young players ready to develop in the next ten years. I'll believe it when I see it. Later Saturday, New Zealand was also dismissed from the comp in their loss to host nation France. These two huge upsets leaves the door wide open for South Africa, looking for their second title. Your Lucky Sevens question for the month: How many Rugby World Cup titles has Australia won?
I got an assessment back in class Tuesday night—got a D on it. As I am sure you would understand, it kind of freaked me out. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head: Maybe I don't belong here, maybe a Master's degree isn't for me, is it too late to drop, etc.
Then I heard a person sitting near me asking another classmate about her D. The classmate replied that it was a D for Distinction, the second highest mark you can get.
Last spring (Northern Hemisphere for 'autumn'), I pitted Baseball against Cricket to decide once and for all which is the greatest ball and stick game. The coming of the Northern fall brings with it football, rugby and the definitive battle for supremacy among these contact sports.
But first, the ground rules. For the purposes of this comparison, I will be using the NFL, the pinnacle of American football, and Rugby Union, the more popular, and in my opinion, superior form of that game. Ten categories will be considered, worth ten points each, plus a five point bonus category. Let the best game win.
Best Team Football (7) - Cameragate notwithstanding, the New England Patriots have been the team to beat for the past six years. However, due to free agency and the salary cap, the Pats pale in comparison to the great teams of the past. Rugby (9) - According to the IRB World Rankings, New Zealand is the current world's best, and it isn't for a lack of opposition. They dominate on the world scene, despite the best efforts of Australia, South Africa, England and France.
Best Historical Team Football (9) - This is always good for a debate, but I'll go with the Cowboys. They are tied for the most Super Bowl wins, and I'd put the Boys of the early 90's up against anyone. Rugby (9)- This one is a little tougher, but I'll go with the All Blacks again. Their 1925 squad was referred to as 'The Invincibles', and that's good enough for me.
Best Rivalry Football (7)- The best rivalries are in college, but the Cowboys/Redskins rivalry isn't bad, followed closely by Chicago/Green Bay, Denver/Oakland, Denver/Kansas City, and Dallas/Philly. Rugby (9)- There are some good options here, but I've got to go with New Zealand/Australia. Seems to usually come down to these two teams and they are currently the top two teams in the world.
Outcomes Football (9)- Ties are possible but highly unlikely. Overtime rules cost it a point though--I don't like the fact that the losing team might never touch the ball. Rugby (6)- Again, ties are possible but unlikely in league competition, although they do happen more than in the NFL. In tournaments such as the World Cup, overtime rules include two ten minute periods. Better than a tie, but sudden death would be better.
Big Play Potential Football (10)- This is football's moment to shine. You never know when the QB is going to throw a deep pass, a RB is going to break through for a huge gain or even when a safely is going to drop a WR cutting across the middle. Good times. Rugby (8)- You get some big plays, but no forward pass removes lots of opportunity.
Specialization Football (3)- And this is football's weak point. You've got offensive and defensive units, linemen, skill position players, etc. All it takes is the ability to do one thing well. Rugby (8)- Some specialization, but for the most part, every player on the pitch needs to excel as an all-round player.
Sportsmanship Football (5)- Rules have to be written to enforce sportsmanlike behavior. Shameful. Rugby (9)- Tana Umaga, former All Blacks captain, once abandoned a favorable play to check on the Welsh captain who had been knocked unconscious. Pure class. It's a rough game, but the players respect their opponent.
Best Trophy Football (5)- Not really a fan of the Lombardi Trophy. Kinda boring. Rugby (6)- The Webb Ellis Cup. What is there to say? It's a nice enough cup.
Popularity Football (6)- A good deal of the world watches the Super Bowl, but no one else seriously plays football. The American Football World Cup could only attract ten participants, and until this year, when the US first entered the World Cup, Japan had been a two-time champion. Japan! Rugby (7)- It's not yet soccer's equal on the world scene, but rugby enjoys fairly widespread popularity, although it has been dominated by a handful of countries for most of its history.
Toughness Football (9)- I get questions about this all the time from rugby fans, but I still give footballers credit despite the pads. As we learned two weeks ago from Kevin Everett, injuries still happen, even with a helmet and big shoulder pads. Football's hits and collisions are too big to try this game without protection. Rugby (10)- Some players wear padded headgear, but otherwise players play without protection. And the hits are almost on par with the NFL. High speed collisions aren't as common and tackling rules help, but this is still a violent sport.
Bonus: Best Tradition Football (3) - I'll go with the Lambeau Leap. Nice to get the fans involved. Rugby (5) - New Zealand's haka is both a cultural celebration and fierce intimidation. That's Tana Umaga leading the haka in the video below.
Add it all up and rugby takes down American football and it isn't even close: 86-73. Football is a great game, but give rugby a try during the World Cup, shown on Versus.
September 8-9 was the annual APEC forum, and it was big news in Sydney. It was such a big deal that Sydney was basically shut down on Friday for a declared holiday.
Why was it such a big deal? Because APEC brought George W Bush to town, and people wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to protest the war, globalisation, climate change, human rights violations and just about everything else. Leading up to the big weekend, the Stop Bush Coalition planned a major protest and attempted to get their plans approved by the police. The two groups didn't exactly see eye to eye on the protest, though—during the last week, the protesters were forced to alter their protest route. The police promised a strong showing and even purchased a $700,000 water cannon. I had planned on attending the protest, but decided in the last week to stay away. However, as the protest began Saturday morning, the news coverage revealed no problems. I decided to join the protest rally at Hyde Park, their destination. Reports later in the day revealed 3500 police and either 10,000 (protester count), 5000 (police count), or 3000 (media count) protesters. There were only 17 arrests, 14 of which were quickly released, some within minutes of being cuffed, and two policemen were injured. All in all, it was a rather tame rally, especially compared to what the police were predicting.
Post-rally, both sides claimed victory and questioned the other side. The police claimed their strong showing prevented trouble, while the protesters said they planned a peaceful rally all along and wondered aloud why the police felt it necessary to bring such numbers.
Personally, I thought both sides came off as foolish. I understand the police's need for safety, but I felt they were heavy-handed. A water cannon? 3500 officers? Snipers on rooftops and in choppers? A little much. But I also thought the protesters came off as petulant attention seekers, a least the ones on the news. I suppose the media shares some guilt in this as well. Too many of the protesters I saw in the park appeared either misguided or disinterested in the cause.
All in all, I left the rally dejected. The police and the government seemed oppressive and the protesters' message was lost in their chase for attention. On a good note, I'm going to turn this into a paper. We have to write about a conflict for my Peace and Conflict Studies class. I'm not going to discuss the rally itself, but rather the planning, or lack thereof, between the protesters and the police. Without having done too much research yet, I think the truth lies somewhere in between.
Sydney is in lockdown because of APEC this weekend. Heather and I, along with everyone else who works in the city, got a holiday today in an attempt to clear some traffic out of the city. This month's Lucky Sevens question: What does APEC stand for?
City2Surf was a few weeks back. I didn't get to train like I should have given our recent move and starting my Development Studies program. Plus, after running the marathon in May, I didn't exactly take the 14K seriously. Halfway through the run, though, I realized that 14K is still a little more than your average morning stroll. Especially when you get to Heartbreak Hill. But I finished in about 85 minutes, which beat my goal and beats last year's time. If I run it next year, I'd like to cut that down to sub 75 to qualify for the front of the pack seedings.
More important is the other goal that I beat. As I posted before, City2Surf encouraged runners to raise money for a charity this year. I was running for UNICEF and hoped to raise $250. Thanks to your generous donations, $365 was raised. In total, City2Surf runners raised just over a million dollars. Kudos to City2Surf for making this possible and thanks to you for making a difference for kids around the world.
Here are two commercials getting airtime here right now. The first is from the Rapid Transit Authority, the same people who remind you to 'Look Right' when crossing the street.
This ad is taking some heat right now—Heather saw somewhere that they get one complaint per day from men claiming that it is sexist. Her response is that nearly everything else on TV is sexist to women. Either way, I'm pretty sure that the guys complaining are the ones driving like this.
This commercial is for Pura Milk. I thought the 'Got Milk?' campaign was good, but this one gives it a good run.
Sorry I'm a day late—I guess that makes this Lucky Eights. Been busy with school this week. If anyone can help me find some articles about Cuban language policy, let me know.
Which brings me to this week's question, which should require some research for you, too: Where does the University of Sydney's Faculty of Arts and Humanities rank in the world? Hint: dig around the University website.
The 2007 City2Surf 14K is next Sunday. As always, the run begins at Hyde Park, very near our apartment, and finishes at Bondi Beach. A new twist has been added this year: participants are allowed to designate a charity to raise money for. I have chosen UNICEF, which I thought was appropriate given that I have just begun my Masters in Development Studies. My fundraising page can be found here.
Please consider making a donation to UNICEF. I chose this charity because it benefits kids around the world who don't have any of the things that I took for granted when I was a kid. It is a United Nations run organisation and I have the utmost confidence that the money donated will be well spent. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.
Hi! My name is Chris and this is my blog about living in Sydney, Australia. I feel like I have to introduce myself again since it has been so long since my last post. Things have been busy around here. I have started my Development Studies program at the University of Sydney and all the homework and projects that goes with that. I have to make a fifteen minute presentation about Cuba in two weeks. Apparently, there really is no easing into a masters degree program.
Let’s see, what else is going on? Oh yeah, we moved. That was a shock to us. One day we got a call that our landlord put our apartment on the market, but didn’t really expect it to sell given his asking price. Next thing we know, it’s sold and we have to be out by August 20 when our lease expires. Apartment hunting in Sydney is a major pain, and quite a bit more expensive than it was two years ago when we moved here. There are lots of potential renters and not enough properties, so getting a lease signed is a competitive sport. We found a place we liked two and a half weeks ago, but were the second application in, even though we went straight from the apartment to the leasing office. The breaks went our way, though and we got the apartment. We signed the lease a week later and moved in this past weekend.
In case you didn’t know, moving is a pain, even if it is only one kilometre as this move was. All that saves you is a long drive. In fact, this move was harder than our move from the US to here in some ways. At least then, our stuff was picked up and dropped off at our front door. You still have to disassemble and package everything. Addresses still need to be updated. Utilities still need to be changed. That has been the worst part—I have gone round and round about our telephone and internet service. All is finally settled, although we still have to wait 7-21 days for our broadband to be activated, and the temporary dial-up connection is slow as.
I never got pictures of our old place up, but I hope to do that next week in the form of a ‘before and after’ post. While we were happy there, we have upgraded by moving into this new apartment. Details and pictures of those upgrades coming soon.
Heather and I had planned on going back to Dallas for Christmas this year then taking a trip through South America, visiting Mexico City, Machu Picchu and Rio de Janeiro. However, after talking with a travel agent last Friday, we have come to the realisation that that is economically prohibitive. We'll have to save that trip for when we are living in the US again. In the meantime, we have come up with a pretty nice Plan B. Four words: around the world tickets.
From Dallas, we will travel to London, which has been on my list for ten years. Then it is off to Delhi, India, Heather's hot spot of the moment. From there, we will see Bangkok, Thailand. Three stops, three very different experiences. Not too shabby for a back up plan, and it's all because it is cheaper to fly around the world than it is to fly around South America. In fact, it's cheaper to fly around the world than it is to fly to Dallas and back. Airlines are crazy like that.
We also spent an evening in the Domain, where the cockatoos hang out. It's been two years since Heather and I last did this, but Diana wasn't too keen to feed them. Heather and I had the bread, but Diana got hit up for food soon enough just because she was with us. Notice two things: she has no bread in her hand, and she doesn't look happy. When I went for my camera to take the picture, my cockatoo ran out of bread and bit my finger pretty good.
We also did the Bridge Climb. This is something that Heather and I have wanted to do, but were waiting for a visitor so we would have a good excuse. There was no way Heather's Mom was going up there, but Diana wanted to go, so we booked a night climb, and it was great. It's a three and a half hour process, including safety training, gearing up and the actual climb. They put you in a Bridge Climb suit ("flattering for most body types"), and issue you a safely harness, fleece jacket-in-a-bag, fleece cap, head lamp, headphones and handkerchief, all of which is tied to you. Heather even got a geek strap for her glasses that were tied down. You aren't allowed to take anything else with you (read: no cameras), but they happily take your picture three or four times on the tour to sell you later. Yeah, it's a bit of a scam, but you never know who might throw something off the bridge into traffic, and they did take a nice picture. I was surprised that they got such good lighting on us and the Opera House in the background at night. Overall, I'd recommend the Climb.
On Diana's last night in town, we went to listen to Christmas carols at the Opera House. Carols aren't usually my favourite, but it was a nice show, and you can't argue with the venue. It was a good ending to our second week of guiding tours in a month.
