Spring is here

That's 94 fahrenheit. And it's only spring.

I had a really good weekend! I went in the water for the first time since I got here, and if this weather keeps up it's going to have to become a daily thing. Sunday I met up with Hayden during the day and just laid out on the beach in between swims. Most places in Sydney are air conditioned, but the apartment is not, and it gets insanely warm, so it was good to spend as much time out of there as possible. That night was the rugby final, and New Zealand just barely pulled out a win over France, go the All Blacks!

Unfortunately the week is off to not as great a start. My roommate Dan's grandma passed away last week, and her funeral was today so I went with a few other friends to that. Work was really nice about letting me take the day off luckily, and Dan seemed pretty glad to see a few people who weren't 80 year old friends of the family trying to fix him up with their granddaughters. As for me, I'm out of the dressy clothes and back into the uniform of tank top and shorts that I'll be sporting for the next 4 months.

Updates and stuff

It's Friday finally! It's been a long week, and I left my iPod at a friend's house a few days ago so the train ride to the city and back has been pretty excruciating. Yesterday I got to listen to some guy with a disgusting head cold cough directly into the back of my head the whole way into town. Luckily work has been pretty good. I actually got to write a page of program notes for the Western Australia Symphony about the history of the trumpet! Maybe the most enjoyable/easy thing I've been paid to do so far in my career.

The weekend should be pretty good, I'll probably be watching more of the rugby world cup. New Zealand is playing Australia tomorrow and then Wales vs. France is Sunday. I'm going over to my friend Cat's house to watch the game Sunday with a few other people I've met over here. I've noticed that a lot of people from the UK live in Australia; it's crazy because out of the 6 or so of us who have been getting together for the games, there are 3 from England, 1 from Ireland, 1 American (me) and one actual Australian person. I still get teased a bit about Americanish things I say, things like:

No fair!
Oh helllllll no!
Want a can of pop?
For real?

I also get asked to talk with a Southern accent a lot, they think it's pretty hilarious. Although I did watch some NASCAR yesterday morning so I suppose it's not too much of a stretch:)

Australian Wildlife

So Australia is known for its unique and diverse wildlife. Cute ones like kangaroos and koalas. Less cute ones like crocodiles and stingrays. But you may not know that there are cockroaches EVERYWHERE. And tonight as I was trying to tuck myself into bed early I found a cockroach. ON. MY. TOOTHBRUSH!!!!!!! Dan is not home to kill it for me so I'm pretty much going to bed terrified with unbrushed teeth until tomorrow when I can buy a new one. I've added a picture to show you what I'm dealing with here...

Yucky Day

So nobody in Sydney seems to have a dryer, because the weather is warm and dry most of the time and they just hang their clothes up outside. Unfortunately today was an exception and I woke up to a torrential downpour. My clothes are looking pretty sad and forlorn hanging on the line right now, but hopefully this will clear up and I can enjoy the three day weekend (labour day is Monday). I took a photo from the balcony; you can just barely see the ocean in the distance, and today it's looking pretty grey.