Catching Up

OK, Here is part two of my catch-up post

Once I got back from my trip, I moved into my apartment. I found a good group of 3 other people in Redfern, which is super close to the city and I am literally a 5-minute walk from the train station.

Redfern is an interesting area, that somewhat reminds me of something the Mission District in SF would have resembled 5 years ago or so. The area is home to the infamous Block, which was a housing project for Aboriginal people. In the 70's (I think... maybe the 60's), it began to develop some bad drug problems and was rather crime-ridden... something most cities have at some point in their growth. In 2004, a local boy was impaled on a fence and died. It was thought that the police had been chasing him. Locals claimed he was chased down by cop cars and thus killed. Police claimed that the boy was involved in drug activity and that is why they were chasing him. Either way, riots erupted and the area became incredibly volatile... especially between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. In the following years some drastic changes began to happen. In 2009, the crime rate began to sharply drop. The Aboriginal Housing Commission developed plans to raise the Block and build a mixed-use development. All residents in the Block were given eviction notices. Finally, the once feared areas of Redfern and Chippendale began to gentrify and fill with couples, students, and other young professionals.

I found out I moved in near the final stages of plans to demolish the Block. There are about 10-15 remaining residents who do not want their homes torn down, so demolition has yet to begin, but the area has drastically changed, and it is slowly shedding its reputation. Unfortunately, not everyone sees this yet, but it will get better.

Anyways, I am now living with 2 girls and 1 guy. One of the girls if from Sydney and is going to patisserie school, meaning there are always baked goods coming into our house each evening. The other girl is from the UK and is working as a nurse in a mental health facility. The guy is from Sydney and is studying at uni right now. It's a good mix of people, and the Aussie girl has 2 staffies that visit us on the weekend... Lillie and Zach... both incredibly friendly and fun.

Last weekend was the end of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. I still don't get why it was given the Mardi Gras title, as it originally was in June or July and has no affiliation to Mardi Gras, but who cares? It's a party. The events are about 2 weeks long and kicked off with Fair Day, which was a huge festival in a park right by my apartment. It gets around 60,000 people a year, and it was fun to walk around and people watch, but very hot and humid, so I was spent for the rest of the day. Other events went on for the two weeks, but the main event was the parade and after party. The parade brought roughly 250,000 to 300,000 spectators and performers this year, so it was a little crazy. It was fun, overall, and I would compare it in feel to Bay to Breakers in SF, although this was certainly bigger in numbers and happens at night, while B2B is around 50,000 to 70,000 I believe, and everyone tends to be involved (rather than just watching). It was a great experience to see, and I was really happy with how much the city has embraced the event.

OK... finally, since moving in at my new apartment, I spent about 2.5 weeks looking for jobs. I interviewed with a couple of places and sent out many resumes, but no luck. Seeing how I only have about 6-8 weeks left, I am going to begin volunteering around the city instead, and will take a few, smaller trips. Yesterday I worked on forest/parks cleanup and bush regeneration in Pyrmont, which was fun, but exhausting. I am in contact with ACON and hope to do some work for them as well. Aside from that, I am running with the group, Frontrunners, every Saturday morning, followed by brunch (this group is all over the world, and I run with them in SF as well). I also am a member at a gym fairly close, and have been cooking a lot as well. So yeah, things have become a bit more normal, which I like.

A couple things on the horizon: I just booked my ticket to see the youtube symphony perform at the opera house, which should sound and look amazing. I am also about to book my trip to the Blue Mountains, and am planning on setting up my trips to Uluru and Canberra... and possibly Darwin or Adelaide.

Alright, that's all for now

:)