Australian Sabbatical

On the 11th of September I collected my bags and said goodbye to New York City. It was no easy feat packing up my life after seven months in the city, but with some fond memories, I headed back to Sydney, Australia. My hometown baby!

I touched down in Sydney with my Mum and Dad waiting for me with coffee in hand. I was home. It was so strange coming back to a place so familiar yet so foreign. The sky was huge - and everything was really spaced out. I had to text Lizard (who was back in Melbourne) every five minutes so we could compare notes about the strangeness of our old home: "The little walking man is green!!"

My brother caught me up on the major changes to the city, "Pie Face is everywhere now." Pie Face? So, what. There were a few around before. "No, but they are everywhere. Do the Pie Face challenge." Ok. Wait - what's the Pie Face challenge? "Every time you pass a Pie Face you have to eat a pie." 

After re exploring the city a bit I realized I'm lucky I didn't except the Pie Face challenge. My brother was quite right - there is a Pie Face around every corner.

Of course, I had to take the time to go and see all of the sights in Sydney. At the Circular Quay I overheard a tourist talking to a local.

Tourist: Can you take a picture of me with the thing?
Local: The thing??? You mean the Opera House!!

I had fun spending time with Cityrail - "The train on platform one has been delayed by approximately fifteen minutes."

Annie, Pants and Bolt took me to Hip Hop classes. We broke it down while managing not to break anything. The biggest challenge was trying to remember all of the moves. During the classes the teacher would give examples of what not to do, which would get the class giggling. Why was I always the only person with a puzzled look - "That is what not to do?? But i's exactly what I was doing!"

My brother's girlfriend was spending more time with my family - which was a welcomed addition. It was very nice to have another girl in the house. Together we had power over the TV... even if she did laugh at me when I sang the Big Bang Theory theme song -  "You're like five seconds behind!"

My Dad and I tricked her and my brother into watching Insidious. That was a fun night - but we were all so scared of the ma with the red face we had to travel in pairs for a while afterwards. My brother terrified us all by Googling "Insidious red face" and then passing around his laptop.

My second week back at work I was given the opportunity to return to the U.S. and I took it in a New York minute (sorry, that's lame). Exciting as it was to return after seven weeks at home, it meant I had to say goodbye to my family - again. In my last few weeks I managed to spend a lot of time with my parents. They took me to all their favorite haunts and we had so much fun. One night they planned a family dinner at the Dolphin in Surry Hills. My brothers and I arrived half an hour before them and took a seat at a table next to a guy with very scruffy hair. The guy looked friendly, if a little self important.

We decided to upgrade to a larger table and Scruffy Hair was only too happy to swoop in and grab our old one. When my Mum and Dad joined us, Mum looked over at him and exclaimed "Hey! It's the lead singer from Thirsty Merc!"

The next day when I told Pants she laughed

Pants: How did your Mum recognize him?
Me: She chose a place where Thirsty Merc hangs out - she is clearly cooler than me
Pants: Clearly


The best part about being home was the time I got to spend with my family. Every night when I came home from work, late at night, I would sit at the foot of my Mum's bed and we would talk about life, politics and family. We talked about clothes and food (and salad) and we gossiped about TV and the Bachelorette (it's actually really addictive) and Survivor (I'm hooked on the strategic game..) and Beauty and the Geek (probably the greatest show of all time.) Sometimes my Dad would join and we would talk about cameras.


Going home and then coming back was worth it. Hanging out in Sydney was fun - and I didn't realize how much I had lost touch of my roots (I accidently wore US colors to a team Rugby Day...) But, as fun as it was to go home - it is an amazing opportunity to be back. So here, after a few months chilling in sunny Sydney, I am rugged up in New York City. Now, by popular demand, let the blogging recommence!