Top 5 reasons Christmas is different Down Under

As you can imagine - celebrating Christmas on the opposite side of the world is extremely different than your typical white Wisconsin Christmas.  Sometimes the differences are really awesome and sometimes things can seem simply bizarre and out of place (which is also awesome).  Here are the top 5 points why Christmas in Sydney is quite different than any other Christmas I've experienced so far.

1. It's Summer!  I probably don't need to explain to you that it's summer in Australia when its winter in the US (or anywhere ''up north'').  This is probably the most bizarre and awesome difference.  It's bizarre because during Christmas in the US there is typically about a foot of snow on the ground - which makes everything look like its decorated and ready for Old St. Nick to come dashing in with his reindeer sleigh.  You almost forget that it's Christmas time here until you head to the Mall and see the Santa display - it must be pretty hot in this summer weather for a man in a big red snow suit.

2. Real decorations seem odd and out of place.  As I just mentioned - snow seems to be the biggest holiday decorations around this festive time of year and since Sydney seems to be in short supply the snowflakes and frosted pine trees just seem a bit displaced.  It's sunny and warm, i'm wearing flip-flops and board shorts, I walk in the mall and suddenly I'm surrounded by snowflakes, christmas ornaments and wire-framed reindeer...awkward.



3. Work Christmas Parties!  I may have mentioned before that I work with a lot of young people, many of whom are from Europe and can understand the ridiculousness that is Christmas down under.  Well one of the great things about this is the [legendary] Christmas Party that my work hosts.  Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera to work that day but I was able to snap a few shots with my phone.  It took place on a boat circling the Sydney Harbour. This wasn't the first time I've done this - but it was the first time on a party boat with an open bar, full catering staff, massive buffet lunch and even a mechanical bull. Yup - that's right, a full-on cowboy buckin' country style bull for our personal use and entertainment.  How do I find myself in these places??  Of course I had a go on the bull and of course I did the red, white and blue proud by schooling the Europeans on how to get buck-wild! USA! USA!.. alright, i'm done.

4. Beach Barbies! No, not the plastic disproportionate plastic Mattel doll, I mean Barbecues of course! It's tradition to have a big BBQ with friends/family and head to the beach for some fun in the sun.  I have to tell you it's really nice to have Christmas break during a time of year when you can actually enjoy it.  I really feel like I'm on some exciting Spring Break vacation until I realize "oh yea...I live here" :)

5. It's Summer! Okay, I definitely already used this one but I couldn't think of a worthy fifth point so I thought i'd repeat this one.  I'd like to emphasize again how it doesn't really feel like Christmas, after the coldest start to summer sydney has had in 50 years, christmas day was legitimately perfect weather! Clear Skies and 28C (82F) with a light ocean breeze.  Also, please notice the plethora of Santa hats - everyone's showing that good ol' Christmas Spirit!


Well that was all five (ish) points.  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and took some time to relax and step away from the stress of schoo/work/life.  It will soon be 2012 and who knows how much longer humanity will survive! haha. See you next year!

The Blue Mountains

About two hours north of Sydney is an amazing place called the Blue Mountains National Park.  The name is well chosen and I'm sure you can already imagine what it looks like.  This place is just filled with views that constantly take your breath away.  



If you couldn't tell I like to spend my weekends (which are actually Tuesday and Wednesday) doing awesome things with Ryan and other friends.  This weekend was no different and we started the day at 7am with the BEST F*CKING COFFEE EVER paired with TBF Pastries Ever (this one cafe is worthy of its own blogpost) and caught our 7:30 train out of the city.

When you first arrive in the mountain village of Katoomba, you have to find your own way down to the popular tourist spot called The Three Sisters where there is a little info building with totally normal things like boomerangs, a giant stuffed koala and emu jerky.  Just outside are the famous rock formations whose name I've already mentioned; there's even a bridge where you can walk ONTO one of the giant monoliths.  From there you take "The Giant Stairway" (no joke) to the forest floor and walk any of the multi-hour hiking trails.  The one we decided on took us all day, starting the trail at about 11 and finishing around 6:30!

FACT: Andy is terrified of heights

I'd like to take a moment to point out that this just happens to be Sydney's coldest summer in 50 years and so the trip was slightly wetter than expected.  Nonetheless we trooped on through the (rain)forest and enjoyed the exercise, the cool views and the way-more-common-than-you-would-think sightings of the tropical birds and parrots.  We didn't see any wild marsupials or crocodiles, but we were followed by a lyre bird during our trek back up the Giant Stairway.  I'm assuming I don't have to tell you that ascending over 800 stone steps wasn't exactly the most relaxing thing I've done during my time off, but the views and feeling of accomplishment was well worth it! 

Make way for the jet-set Asian lady!

Epic Dance Win

Stereo Sonic - so large it won't fit on this page

One of the greatest things about living in the biggest City of Australia is that all the big name performers stop by on their world tours.  Sydney is known for its epic summer music festivals which take place during the months the rest of the world is quietly hibernating through the dark "Northern Winter".  These festivals usually involve any and all types of electronic music which are typically considered non-mainstream in the States but are extremely common amongst our peers in other nations around the world.  And I must say its good to be in a country that appreciates the outrageousness that is Electro/House/Trance/InsertGenreHere.

In case you couldn't tell, Stereo Sonic is the LARGEST of these electronic music festivals, is located at Sydney's Olympic Park and runs from noon-midnight.  Knowing that this day was going to be huge, Ryan, Nate and I started the day off right with big American Pancakes and an egg and sausage scramble!  We then color coordinated our shirts to be a loud and proud Red, White and Blue*.  Afterwards we caught the train to the station and quickly noticed that we weren't the only ones making our way to this popular event.

As most of our favorite artists were performing on the main stage - we headed there straight away.  The place quickly filled up, however, and we had to make a decision to either stay at this stage and see all the artists who are performing here or leave the stadium and accept not being allowed back in.  We stayed :) and the following line-up made the next 8 hours of standing/dancing/fist bumping "totes" worth it.

Avicii - I was most excited to see him.  I'm a huge fan of his and he went from no-name to headliner in only a year.

Afrojack -  Of all the performances I really enjoyed Afrojack the most.  I had no idea what to expect from him and he really pulled it off with great music that had everyone singing along and rocking out

Benny Benassi - Legend. No comment necessary

LMFAO was definitely the biggest crowd-pleaser; apparently Aussies are all about California Party-rocking, and LOOK! Hok from So You Think You Can Dance is apparently on tour with them as one of their dancers.  Go him.

Armin van Buuren.  Not being a huge fan of Trance, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from him.  Whatever doubts I had though were quickly washed away by fluid sounds that take you for a ride.  Armin has a way of making everything around you seem... perfect.  The people, the place, the moment - everything was just perfect.

That was the list of the Line-up that evening and I only covered the best of the biggest.  I must admit however, that when it was time to head back home my feet were extremely thankful for getting the chance to relax.  I truly feel like I had a once in a lifetime opportunity here and it was definitely one worth writing home about :)

*We didn't actually coordinate but we did realize our comical coincidence while being loud Americans on the train.

The Taronga Zoo!

Well you’ll first have to excuse me for not updating my blog for an entire month (assuming anyone actually noticed :P) I moved into a new apartment a few weeks ago and there was no internet set up when I moved in.  I don't quite have wi-fi yet, but this lousy internet-stick thingy will suffice for the present.

Rest assured plenty of exciting (and tragic) events have happened over the past few weeks and I plan on sharing most of them with the few of you who keep up with The Southern Half!

But I want to start off the re-emergence of my blog with a post that is way overdue and has been on my list-of-things-to-blog-about for several weeks:

THE TARONGA ZOO!

Ryan and I decided to take a daytrip and head to the zoo!  It’s one of the top tourist attractions in Sydney and is located on the Northern Shore which means we got to take the ferry! w00t. 

Taronga is by far the most spectacular zoo I have ever been to.  It has an amazing array of animals, many of which I have never seen before or even knew existed (like this bird that looks like a first grade art project).  

But the location of the zoo makes it truly exceptional.  "Taronga" is the Aboriginal word for "beautiful view" and could not be a more appropriate name!  The zoo is located on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour, directly across from the CBD (Central Business District).  Because it is built into and on top of a hill, it offers some really fantastic views of both the cityscape and the animals. 

The most amazing thing was that you could get so close to the animals.  Many of them I could have literally reached out and touched, like this Koala!

The kangaroos weren’t even in a special environment, they were just in a fenced off area with a little path for visitors to walk through; the kangaroos and wallabies were just laying around havin a lazy day.  There were so many great photos but I thought I would just end the post with a few of my favorite! For all of the photos just check out my Facebook or Google+! The next post will be about my recent adventures with the local Music Festivals, and let me tell you - it's gonna be epic!

Birds of Bondi

It's about time I write (or rather, talk) about the birds in our neighborhood.  The birds are only a fraction of the local critters that have been a daily part of life in Bondi, but more on them later.


For this very special edition, I have created and uploaded The Southern Half's very first video blog.  So sit back, relax and press play to learn all you need to know about our little feathery friends (and enemies)

The Job

So my first week of my new job was actually a lot like going back to school.  Since we have a week of training, followed by a week of mentoring, I haven't had too much hands on experience with talking to actual customers.  However, this week was just as difficult as coming back to Uni at the end of a summer break. 


The training was lecture style with about 5 others including myself, so for 7 hours a day (1hr lunch break) we sat and listened to ALL the ins and outs of the online gaming world.  The worst day was probably the one where we discussed "banking" and how the players can deposit money into their online casino accounts using credit cards/instant banking/ ewallets (things like paypal).  We needed to know which one was appropriate for which player based on whether he had a credit card or not, whether they had online banking, which country they were in, which bank they had, etc. We also needed to know things like how long each deposit would take to show up in their account (which, of course, varied depending on which method of depositing they used).  Brain. fried.


Despite this though, the job is actually really cool.  We get free breaky (Aussie for breakfast!) which is usually fresh fruit every morning, along with coffee/soda/water throughout the day.  And the best part is fresh pressed juice twice a week! :)  The people are awesome and come from all over the world.  And I mean all over!  We actually have two girls in our office from Mauritius, a small (1.5hr driving from coast to coast) tropical island near Madagascar. Crazy!  


Surprisingly I am the only American. Maybe its because only about 30% of the population actually have passports.  A number which is thankfully growing as the years go by but SERIOUSLY AMERICA!? Get up and get out!


Anywhos, thanks to the on-site gym at work I can get in a few workouts during the week so I can start getting fit for summer! (which will probably be the topic of my next post, unless of course I finish that video I made about the local birds. I mean, what?)

I'm makin' paperrrr

After several weeks of searching, I have finally landed a job!

Not the most glamorous position but I'm ecstatic to finally have some income!  I will be working with a company called ITS management in a customer service role.  Essentially, I am providing customer support to player's of online casinos and making sure they are doing alright and assist them with new bonuses and keeping the loyal customers loyal.


More important than the details of what I'll be doing is my actual work environment.  I will be communicating with customers in German and ITS offers support in several different languages.  This means that many of my co-workers will be from all around the world and the majority will be bi-lingual.  During one of the interviews they said there are plenty of activities they do together including playing soccer, volleyball, rugby, having bbq's, and a lot of other fun social events.


And ultimately I just need to start making that money!  I can now start hunting for apartments and need to save up for the dreaded security deposit (which is usually a month or two of rent).  And now I'll actually be able to go out and DO THINGS! (you know, cuz I'm in a foreign country and all...)

That not-so-exciting post about nothing

I figured it was due time I updated my blog.  Unfortunately, however, I haven't done anything too terribly exciting in the last few weeks.  My first weekend here was spectacular, yes, but that seems to be the only bit of excitement I've experienced lately.


I mostly spend my time on the pull out couch in Ryan's living room applying for jobs that will inevitably reject my American resume.  Employers here have this image that people from other countries aren't in it for the long haul and are just looking for crap jobs - not to mention Fulbright and UW-Madison carry no weight here which makes my resume simply "less than".  

I'm not sure if this was mentioned before but Sydney is expen$ive! around 9 dollars for a burger, 6 bux for a coffee and 40 for some drinkable vodka (you can clearly see where my money goes when I have it).  Thankfully though, I've been able to spend about $30 on groceries for the week.  Essentially I can't start doing anything fun until I find a job!

On the bright side the weather outside hasn't been TOO inviting with its strong winds and overcast gray skies - perfect weather for applying to unattainable jobs, watching the birds outside attack each other, and listening to Disney songs.  Oh, the glorious life I live.

I have friends!

One thing that is almost certain when someone packs up all their belongings and moves across the world is the immediate lack of social life.  Apart from finding a job and a place to live, one also has the (sometimes laborious) task of making friends and creating a network of people to go out and have fun with.  Such a support group is extremely important when feeling like an outsider and without it things can quickly go south.  Thankfully though, as the title mentions, I have friends!

Already? Didn't you just arrive? Indeed, inquisitive author voice, I have! 

Luckily though, it seems that Sydney came with a built-in social life for Andy!  This past weekend was incredible and involved a Friday Saturday 1-2 punch of good friends and good times.

On Friday it was my friend Amanda's 23rd birthday.  Her and I have a really random history of hanging out and this time seems to be no different.  We first met in 2006 when I was visiting my best friend Erika in Montreal for week or two after graduating high school.  Fast forward FOUR years when I'm living in Germany as an English Teaching Assistant and she is living in the Netherlands studying abroad.  She came to Germany last year for Oktoberfest and crashed at my place for a night or two.  A month later we travelled to London together to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.  Since parting ways at the Hostel in London we've both done a fair bit of traveling and magically ended up living A STREET away from each other here in Sydney. Cray.zee.

So as I mentioned it was her birthday on Friday and we started the day off around noon at Tamarama Beach.  We spent a few good hours here grilling out with her roommates and other friends and taking the occasional dive in the ocean every now and then.  The weather was about 82F/28C and the water was really cold but served as a refreshing cool down when the heat became too much. After the clock ticked away a few hours and the weather dropped about 15 degrees, she had a few friends over for drinks and cake before heading out to a really sweet club called World Bar.

Saturday night was also quite a spectacular evening.  One of Ryan's Co-worker's was also having a birthday party...ON A BOAT!  But before I go further, I suppose you should first be introduced to Ryan.  He and I met while I was living in Madison for University and we've known each other for about 3 years now. Ryan moved here in June and found an apartment with his cousin Nathaniel and this is where I've been staying for the past week.

Well Ryan's boss thought it would be cool to throw a cruise party for all the September babies in the company and I was invited as a guest.  The boat was two stories and had a dance floor and bar on each level.  The DJ was skilled and definitely knew how to keep the energy high and the fists pumpin' but the most amazing part of the cruise were the insane views of the Opera house and CBD (Central Business District).  

Saturday night was one of those nights where I took a moment and looked at my life from an outside perspective:  Here I was sailing around Sydney Harbour on a freakin' cruise boat full of liqoured up party people - wtf! My life is super random, totally unpredictable and just the way I like it.

Sunrise in Middle-Earth

Alright, so I haven't had time to take many pictures but let me tell you, that sunrise I mentioned earlier was wayyyy worth the 13hr flight from LA to Auckland.  (My plane had a 2hour lay-over in Auckland, New Zealand - yes Monroe, that's near Australia).  If you know anything about me, you know that I am a HUGE nerd fan of the Lord of the Rings so having my first sunrise here be in the land of hobbits and wizards was pretty damn exciting.


Apart from the mind-blowing rising ball of fire in NZ, the flight wasn't that eventful, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Love and Other Drugs and Super 8.  All were pretty good but I remember being more impressed with Pirates than I was expecting.  After landing at Sydney International, my good friend Ryan picked me up and we made our way back to his place.  Unfortunately he couldn't get today off work and had to go in around noon.  This means we had just enough time to go back and drop off my stuff before heading out again; he really wanted to show me where he works just for future reference and I needed to go shopping, etc.


And now it's time for


FIRST IMPRESSIONS!
(Normally I would make a video blog for this type of thing, but as I am still gathering footage for my intro, I don't want to start any of those yet until it looks über-spiffy)


1. I wasn't quite sure whether to expect a more USA or European feel when I got here but after the few hours of walking around the city I can tell you that it is very much like Canada in that it is exactly like the US, but different.  There's no way really to explain it, it reminds me a lot of where I was just residing in California; it's got palm trees, its a bit dry, we have the beach....but its just different.  Maybe its all the public transportation?


2. They drive on the WRONG left side of the road!  I'm really glad (and OZ should be too) that I don't have a car or have to drive around the city, this whole thing just freaks me out.  And its not just the driving, in my London vlog I explain that this reversal of direction is not just valid for the streets, but also for pedestrians.  When taking the realllllyyyy long escalators up to the streets from the underground (U-bahn/tube/subway/whatever) it is common courtesy and knowledge to stand to the right if you are not in a hurry so that people who need to make transfers can rush along.  Well, a lady in front of me was standing on the left side and a few people had to awkwardly bustle past her, and after shaking my head disapprovingly at her, I glanced behind us down the escalator and noticed that I was the only one standing on the right side!  All those people had to awkwardly bustle past ME not her.  :'( culture fail


3. I saw 3! -  not 1, not 2, but THREE - trash cans that were covered with a sign that said "out of order".....wtf....how does that?...what?


4.  Sydney is super international. and by international I mean I'm pretty much living in China.


5. There is some definite "German residue" in my brain.  I can't help but find it odd that the people on all the trains and subways are speaking English.  It's like two separate phenomenon that were divided by very distinct contexts are suddenly being mashed together: usually I'm either riding trains in Germany or hearing English in the US, rarely did this happen simultaneously.   Also, I almost spoke to the cashier at the grocery store today in German. oops.


6. The birds are freakin' weird! More on this later, I definitely wanna record some of these sounds I'm hearing outside of Ryan's apt windows.  And they all like to sit on his balcony and stare at me.  Whatever, they probably think I'm just as strange.


So those were my first impressions of this lovely city, pictures to be up soon, but will probably post most of them on my Google plus account cuz its way easier and faster and they somehow look better on Google+!


Bis bald!

California Sunset

Hello and Welcome!


This is the new official Thunder Blog of Awesome!


In case you have not been paying attention to the goings-on of Nomad Hansi, I am currently in Ventura, California, the small beach town where my mom grew up and current residence of her side of the family.  I'm here because I have recently packed my life away into two (surprisingly small) pieces of luggage and am making my way toward Sydney, Australia.  I have been talking about this life-altering trip all year and have been on and off the idea of actually doing it.  Well, with less than 24hrs left until my 20-something hour flight departs from LA, I think its safe to say I will be going.


Why are you going? Where are you staying? Do you have a job? Do you know anybody who lives there?  These are all perfectly valid questions but the answers, I'm afraid, were not the intention of this blog post.  It may or may not temporarily pacify your raging hunger for information to know that all will be explained in the following posts.  So...here goes:


Being so near to the start of a new chapter in my life, I thought it pertinent to do some end-of-chapter reflection.  Honestly though, I'm finding that a bit difficult as this closing chapter was one of the shortest I have ever experienced.  Having only returned from my previous adventure mid-june,  I spent only about 3.5 months in good ol' 'Murka (fives weeks of which was spent at work, away from home) before scratching my newest wanderlust itch.


The short time I spent here has shown me that there are some things I will always miss about the USofA which can not be found elsewhere.  Apart from all the great things like home-cooked burgers, bon-fires and just a lazy day on the lake, one thing that never fails to amaze me is that feeling of never having left home when reunited with good friends.  There is something truly special about friendships that don't require constant communication and "maintenance" to remain strong.


One major aspect of my American life that I don't appreciate as much is my lack of independence.  Don't get me wrong - I will never reject an opportunity to stay at mom and dad's and get taken care of for awhile, but after about one or two weeks, it can get very old, very fast.  I have discovered that I am someone who simply needs to be on my own, doing my thing, and truly owning my own life.  So as saddening as it may be to leave mom and pop once more, nothing compares to the rush of excitement and longing I get when I think of getting out there and standing on my own two feet again.

So as I watch my final stateside sunset over the pacific ocean, I know that the comforts of home will be left behind and unseen, possibly difficult times lie ahead.  When I finally see the sun rise again on the other side of the world, it will be shining light on not only a new day, but a new world brimming with unfamiliar faces and strange lands begging to be explored.  But for all my excitement and anticipation for my new world and new life to begin, I think, for right now I'm just going to sit and enjoy my California sunset.