Ohhh Sydney

So I've been frolicking around Sydney for about 4 days now, and must say that I really really like this city. It reminds me a lot of San Francisco, with a touch of Athens and Amsterdam in the mix. I suggest you check it out if you find the time. And now for stories...this may be a longer post, but bear with me here.

I tried to go out Thursday night and made it to the pre-funk in the hostel but didn't make it to the bars as I was falling asleep standing up. Oh well. There are alot of nice, fun, cool people here from all around the world and it's so nice to chat and hear about different perspectives and ideas and what not.Except that EVERYONE thinks im about 19. real sad. A smidgen of people I have met so far:

-an English boy who has a tattoo of jebus on the cross on his upper arm "because he likes it". Is he religious? No, but he's christian. WTF??

-Funny Irish girl who was drinking everyone under the table and claimed that some Irish person somewhere in time fell out of a boat and floated because they were so boozed up. So really, it's a precautionary measure for them to be drunk. Just in case they stumble onto and then off of a boat, right?

-The most obnoxious little kid from Canada. I can't think of who to compare him too, but he thinks he is much cooler, hotter, smarter, everything than he actually is. He bored me about his grey goose bottle breaking for about 10 minutes. And how great grey goose is. And bla bla bla about grey goose. i'm sticking to burnetts out of spite from now on.

On Friday I went through the Botanical Gardens and out to the Opera House and then up through the city with friends Chelsea and Fiona. The gardens were absolutely stunning with all of the colors and funny birds, and the Opera House was teeming with tourists. I really enjoyed walking around the city as well and felt a bit like I was in New York. Friday night I went to a BBQ hosted by two gentleman that I met on CouchSurfing, Rooban and Aaron. Two absolutely fantastic guys, they invited a bunch of friends and I brought Chelsea along and we played drinking games (won flip cup and by some absurdity I made the winning shot in beer pong!), ate, and talked. Everyone at the BBQ was really funny and outgoing and I had a great time!

On Saturday a bunch of us trekked to Tamarama Beach, which is just a few beaches down from Bondi. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed some goon (really crappy boxed wine-think Franzia) and waves and laughs. Saturday night is where it gets interesting. After some socializing at the hostel a group of us headed out in Kings Cross, which is notorious for the nightlife and definitely did not disappoint. There were people everywhere. It was awesome. The first bar we hit was pretty sketchy so we left and went to a place called The World Bar which was packed, had 3 levels and 4 dance floors....of sorts. After dancing about with Fiona for an hour we decided to explore the upper levels, found a mostly empty dance room and took advantage. I was midway through doing The Vanessa (all of you know it...shake your hand across your face 3 times, then chest pump as you slowly dip down) when a rather pudgy, desperately-in-need-of-braces kid approached me. The conversation went like this:

pudgy kid: Hi, I'm Curtis. What's your name?
me: Jen
Curtis: Are you American?
me: Yes
cue Curtis beelining to kiss me. Thank God I have lightning quick reflexes and dodged it. Apparently being American is synonymous for "yes lets make out" or being easy. Super. and the conversation continued...
Curtis: So, have you got a boyfriend then? Is that why you won't kiss me?
me: Yes. Yes I do have a boyfriend.
Curtis: Well, is he more attractive than me love?
me: Yes, my (imaginary) boyfriend is more attractive than you Curtis. Sorry.
Curtis: Is he really? I don't believe you.
me: He is. He's athletic and tall and would not like you trying to kiss me.
Curtis: Is he back in the States then? It doesn't count if he's back in the States.
me: He is, and it does.
Curtis: You know he's cheating on you back in the States.
me: No, he is not (yes I defended my imaginary boyfriend)
Curtis: Yes he is, C'mon, kiss me. You know he's cheating on you if you are here and he's there.
me: Curtis, let me ask you a question..would you cheat on me if you were my boyfriend?
Curtis: Never love. I'd never cheat on you.
me: Exactly. Goodbye.

That was my cue to leave so I headed outside to meet up with some of the boys from the BBQ and ended the night at McDonalds with Fiona. Solid first real night out I would say.

Sunday we went back to the Botanical Gardens to have a little picnic and laze around. There were 2 weddings and some absolutely amazing people watching. I cannot stress enough how big mullets are here. We also had the bright idea to try to catch some of the birds (fail) but were highly entertained in the process. I had dinner back at the hostel with everyone then we went to a funny Irish bar where I spent the better of 2 hours dividing my time between figuring out if a very androgynous-looking person was either male or female (finally someone went up to her and started talking-definitely a girl) and watching a midge who was standing under the bar. I could not make this up if I tried.

We spent today walking from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach-it's about an hour and a half trek along the coast but it was incredibly pretty. We spent the afternoon at Coogee Beach which was fantastic until a seagull pooped on my head and I had to run as fast as I could to get into the water to get it out. Awesome. I don't know how I am always the targets of birds but I'm going to start wearing hats more often. Now it's off to dinner and most likely drinks...still miss all of you! If anyone wants to come visit, feel free...

Miss all of you!
Jen