Kick It to the Kerb

I recently found out, while watching a flashing road sign, that the British spelling for curb is "kerb," which just makes me laugh. Reminds me of Kermit the Frog.
 
This weekend was non-stop action-packed, filled with activities and events designed to get the students (and me) out into Sydney exploring. Thursday night is Julian's weekly "Tucker Thursday," tucker being the name for food around here, where he takes a group of students to discover a new restaurant in a new neighborhood. Once again, being the selfless person I am, I decided to join the group and eat at the world's fanciest food court at the Westfield Tower. It's attached to a high-fashion mall, a bit like the Natick Collection, where you catch your reflection everywhere because the floors, ceilings and banisters are all so shiny and new. It's like being in a fancy hall of mirrors, but with more clothes. I settle on Malaysian food, which is delicious and unique. I like that Malaysian and Indonesian food are offered here far more than in the States, obviously because of the proximity. It's a nice and fresh change from your typical Thai, Vietnamese or even Indian dishes, with its own variations.


After dinner, we walk to The Rocks, one of the oldest parts of Sydney. It juts out into the water and at the end of the neighborhood is where the iconic Harbor Bridge crosses to north Sydney. There are heaps of cozy restaurants, and some of Sydney's oldest pubs (two to be exact, who fight with each other on a daily basis as to which one is really older). We head up the hill to the Glenmore Hotel for its rooftop beer garden and a spectacular view of the city. Since we're up fairly high, you can see most of the CBD and look right over the Sydney Opera House. A few more students clamber in and join us, and I'm reminded that while it's been great to go out with some of the students on the program, it's time for me to make friends my own age. After the Glenmore, we hit up The Ivy, one of the most famous nightclubs in Sydney, known for its outdoor dance floor, cool, sleek style...and its exorbitant prices. Luckily it was a Thursday night so the boys didn't have to pay a cover.




Friday afternoon I take my new bike (!) for a spin to Centennial Park, my new love affair. Julian meets me there and we play frisbee in the park and talk about doing a student barbecue with the program. Friday evening after work I go to the Marly Bar in Newtown to meet my new friend Aaron -- his dad, John, shadowed my group LGM during session 4 of GYLC this summer, and introduced me to his son via email.
I met up with him again on Sat afternoon when his dad John was in town. It was really nice to see John (he was born 2 weeks after my dad, weird!), he was incredibly supportive during the insanity that was Session 4 and offered a lot of advice on how to deal with my bad-egg students. I'll be going to Melbourne on the class trip in a couple weeks, where he lives with his wife Jennie. So Friday night Julian (who is an AWESOME wingman cuz he's great at making conversation with new people, esp Aussies. plus he has a gf, so we're totally set for the platonic-but-still-joke-around friendship!) and I met Aaron's Aussie rugby buddies. Lot of beers and lots of jokes.

Saturday morning we all went TO THE ZOO! The Taronga zoo is absolutely stunning-- it's in northern Sydney so it overlooks the harbor, the opera house, the bridge. and plus, it has animals! I was with the three aforementioned boys, so we just cracked jokes the whole time. I acted (as usual) like a puppy. Or a 6-year old at the zoo. Things I learned: monkeys like to pick their butts, tigers are not meant for a cage, and the platypus is officially the most badass animal ever (the males have venomous spurs, which makes them some of the only venomous mammals on earth, plus they can live in water or land AND lay eggs, even though they're mammals...so bad-ass..) At the end of the day, I can't decide which was more entertaining: the animals or watching Pascal at the zoo.

Saturday night I planned my first (or maybe second, but this one was actually a success) floor event at my buddy Neil's restaurant, the Fork in Hand. I organized a deal to have the program pay for each student: $10 steak plus a FREE beer for everyone, and I bought dinner. So everyone came! All 24 students! We were 28 total, mainly because I told goofballs Joe and Sam that if they dressed up in suits and ties for the pub, I'd buy them dinner. Sure enough, they arrive lookin' fresh in their ties, so I added them on to the tab. I've never done event planning before,  but I'm finding it's really not that hard and it's quite fun!

Sunday morning Brunch with Cal and Julian in Paddington (Paddo) where Cal lives. Paddo is the South End of Boston meets Soho. I love it. We went to a posh place called Tiger Mottle where there are often celebrity sightings...but alas, none. After an incredible meals of eggs benedict and fantastic coffee, we walk through some of Sydney's best suburbs: Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, where Cal points out all these must-go places. Drinks at the Bene-something hotel. Must try this sandwich shop, get brunch here and be sure to get the chorizo sandwich. Great live music at this bar. It was fun! Of course I didn't write any of this down, so I remember none of it... We went in these quirky boutiques on William St where they sold old items from 1950s, from old medecine bulbs to wooden stamps to a soda maker (Julian bought one, ahem). We even went vintage clothes shopping and I found a leather purse with quite a personality for only $25. Julian decides he needs a vintage letter jacket, you know the sports jacket kind that footballers wear in high school? He buys it impulsively, and I make fun of him the rest of the day cuz it actually has a chick's name on it, Rachel.

Sunday afternoon I meet up with my lovely coworker Caroline in Centennial Park for a long bike ride through this 500 acre park. I have yet to see the periphery of the park, it's that big, and we ride around noticing how many PEOPLE are out. Half of Sydney was there! Children were coming out of the woodwork, literally the trees, and there are picnics and dogs and bikes and music-- it's Father's Day in Australia we realized. And the perfect day for an afternoon at the park. It was nice to get to know Caroline a bit more, especially outside of work. We decided to try and make our bike ride a regular weekend thing and discover new parts of the city.
Later that evening, I went with the program to a RUGBY GAME! The last one of the season in NRL (National Rugby League) with the Sydney Roosters vs. the Melbourne Storm. The Roosters killed it, with a 40-9 point win. It was great fun to be at a game, cheering on one of the biggest sports in Sydney, if not Australia. More to come on rubgy, it gets quite complicated considering there are three types of rugby that are followed fanatically in Australia.