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!