May I Speak With John Bishop...

...This is John.

...Hi John, this is Nigel with Australian Immigration. You basically have two choices. You can leave the country so we can finalize your student visa or you can pay the 5 or 600 more dollars and lodge a new one from within Australia. Good luck with flights by the way. As you know, its spring break, so your tickets will cost you two legs and an arm.

I tell you this much. I am not going to give them the satisfaction of buying ANOTHER student visa. I had planned for research this week on my dissertation, but it looks like I will be spending a bit of time in Auckland instead. Although it would have been nice to get to Indonesia or one of the islands in the pacific, there are worse ways to spend a forced vacation than being in Auckland. So I head out tomorrow (Monday morning) and return on Thursday. Since I was in a hurry that last two times I was there, I am looking forward to not having a single thing on my agenda other than fulfilling the requirement of being in another country while my visa gets approved.

It will be fun. Through some people that I have met in Sydney, I will have at least a couch to sleep on and wheatbix to eat for the next couple of days. I will bring my camera and upload some pictures.

Moving In...Moving Out

So I moved into my new place last weekend. It is quite a place. 130 years old and pre-federation with tons of character. Although is may be the worst house on the block you can just imagine its potential. It is on a great street with lost of foot traffic which allows for great conversation with passersby.

The landlord however, it is a bit of a nut job. Several years ago, he cut down the back wall of the house and put in a whole another living quarter to allow for rental income. Apart from completely destroying the integrity of the house, he does not even keep the second half of the house occupied. In fact, he called my room mate recently and asked if she had seen the renters to the place. She had to tell him that they moved out almost two months ago. And this a place where rent is paid on a weekly basis!!!

So its cute and it needs work but none of that matters. We were informed a couple of days ago that one of the other landlords died (there were 2 of them-brothers) and that they were selling the place. So...just as I start to settle in at a decent place, next to school....I am back in the market. No big deal though, I at least have a few weeks.




Does anyone know how I can rotate pictures. On my computer its correct. Weird.

Simple Pleasures

I was able to enjoy two of my favorite things this week.

1.) Care Packages

The infamous Australian post office delivered to me a care package full of goodies.




Take note that the sender took the time and initiative to include the essentials of a quality care package. M&Ms, books, fine pens, movies, and of course office supplies. Most of you know how I am about those little metal clips and can imagine my astonishment when a postal worker rang the doorbell first thing Monday morning. Freakin Awesome!

2.) Meeting New People

The boys and I were minding our own business Friday night when were propositioned by two ladies of the night and their chaperon. Though we didn't fancy their services, we did have a good time chatting with them. Before heading back to work, they were nice enough to pose for the camera.

Rugby and LIttle Italy

Went to the rugby game at Olympic Park on Saturday night. What an experience! The Sydney Bulldogs were play the Canberra Crap (not sure of Canberra's real name) and it was lopsided for most of the game. Apart from not knowing the rules, terminology and not being able to figure out why people think rugby players are so "tough", it was pretty neat. As it turns out there is some strategy involved and yet, learning the rules takes all of about two minutes.




After what seemed like thousands of internet searches, emails, text messages and phone calls, I finally caught a break in finding a place to live. While living with KK's family and having Brazilian food all the time is great and everything, I need to be bit closer to the school. Leichhardt, or Little Italy, is famous in Sydney for its cafes, bookstores, restaurants, hotels (what we call bars), and shopping. It may have the largest Italian population living outside of New York. I haven't moved in yet, but probably will within the next couple of weeks.

Oh Yeah...I am in Australia

I FINALLY got my computer in this past week from the post office. They have had it for about 4 weeks and could not deliver it to the address on the box until they received confirmation from the sender (me), permission from the receiver (Gustavo), AND permission from the sender (me) for the receiver (Gustavo) to receive the package. Well by the time all of these permissions and confirmations had been approved, Gustavo had moved, and I had arrived in Sydney- with a different address. As a result, I had to start the process all over and had to have it sent to another address, with Gustavo being the sender and me being the receiver of the package....

If you want a glimpse into Australian business, the post office is about as a perfect model as you can find. Processes for immigration, financial aid, enrolling at uni, getting a phone, opening a bank account and just about anything else uses the post office as the benchmark. And you thought the DMV was bad.

The first few weeks have been hectic, but things are starting to settle down. I am currently living with KK (a friend and teammate from Mobile) and his family, as well as Dingo, another guy from Mobile. Yes, it is a bit weird for 4 guys who all went to the same small college in Alabama together to be living in the same city in Australia. But hey, either things happen for a reason or it truly is a small world.

Today will be the first time that I have done anything that even remotely resembles being in Australia. There is a big rugby match tonight at Olympic Stadium. The plan is to go see Olympic park, have a dip at the aquatic center, eat some dinner, hit up the mach and perhaps a beer or two afterwords. I am really looking forward to it because it seems that I have been living on campus and sleeping on the subway since I have been here.

Take 14

Okay funlovers and sportsfans, I am giving that whole blogging thing another go. Since I am going to the other side of the planet for graduate school, I figured it is the most practical way to stay in touch with the most people.

For those of you who don't know, I am heading to Australia for a masters in human rights at the University of Sydney. If they are fooled easily down under, I will try to convince them to let me in the PhD program as well.

I am first though, going to spend a few weeks in New Zealand. I am currently at LAX and will post some pictures or videos as soon as they become available. I look forward to hearing from you guys so feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line.