Local stuff…

I worked a lot last week but did find some time to have some fun! I didn’t get to play at the beach as much as would have liked but Lauren and I had a fun day lounging on the rocks at the lady’s bath. We went for a swim in the ocean pool and had some fun with our snorkel, goggles, and my waterproof camera. There are tons of fish in the pool and supposedly an octopus that day but we could never find it.

On Wednesday night, we went to “Flickerfest”, an International Short Film Festival showing at an outdoor theater at Bondi Beach. We saw “Bad Girls” a collection of very funny short films about women behaving badly. One of our favorites was “Hold Please”…When a woman on the brink of killing herself calls a crisis helpline, her thoughts turn from suicide to murder as she becomes trapped in their new-age automated phone menus.

Friday night I hung out with Danny and felt like I was really living in Sydney! Our night out was very similar to what I would have chosen to do on a Friday night back in San Francisco and had a great time! I feel more like a local hanging with Danny as he is originally from Sydney and always takes me to places where I am the only backpacker! I met Danny at his office downtown, he is an Account Manager for a Publishing company, and works in advertising just like me! We had a few beers at a nearby bar and then had dinner in China town. After dinner he took me to see three local Aussie bands at the Annandale Hotel. In Australia “hotel” means pub, and the Annadale Hotel reminded me of Café Du Nord in San Francisco.

We saw 123 Amazing, the Cassette Kids and Lost Valentinos.

www.myspace.com.cassettekids

www.myspace.com/lostvalentinos

The Cassette Kids reminded me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as the female lead singer had very powerful vocals. Spencer…you would have loved them!

I saw my first live cricket game this past weekend! There was a beach cricket competition going on at Maroubra beach and I watched some of the New Zealand vs. England game. Imagine a form of baseball in which a pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it out to center field; and then runs full tilt toward the pitcher’s mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves, and large pads strapped to each leg. The pitcher is called the bowler and the batter is the batsman. *There are 2 wickets in cricket, three wooden stumps one at each end of the pitch. The wicket is guarded by a batsman who, with his bat, attempts to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket. In defense of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler’s team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring runs, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman, may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the “non-striker”), who has been waiting near the bowler’s wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the playing area. The match is won by the team that scores more runs. *

*Wikipedia

I know it sounds a bit confusing, and I was definitely confused and bored after 15 minutes. But somehow cricket is the second most popular sport in the world???

Tonight we went to the Moonlight Cinema at Centenneal Park with our fiends in the Bunac program. We saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Just when I am starting to feel more like a local than a backpacker I am having to start preparing to leave Sydney and on to my next adventure starting February 18th…