As always, apologizes for being such a terrible blogger. The past two months have flown by, and internet has been quite sketchy along the way.
There is now less than a week left until I will be moving out of the house in which I have been living and au pairing. It has been a joy to live here. The family is lovely, so easy to get along with and so nice. I get along well with the other kids, and I think that Pippi, who is the two-year-old I have been caring for, finally has grown a bit attached to me. In the beginning she would say 'Lips' for my name instead of 'Liz.' Next it was 'Lits.' Finally after about a month she started called me 'Liz,' and now Lips is just a running joke.
Additionally I am still working at the Glenmore Hotel. I really enjoy working there and have quite a laugh with my workmates, we often go out for drinks after finishing work. I feel very lucky to have landed a job that I enjoy so much, as well as one that pays double what I was making in the US (although it must be kept in mind that everything is much more expensive here).
I must admit that the past two months have not been particularly out of the ordinary, and that most of my time and energy has been spent working (about 25 hours a week at each job). Although I am extremely lucky to have two awesome jobs that I really enjoy, working so many hours a week has felt like it is cutting into my enjoyment of my time in Australia. So, although I am sad to stop au pairing, it will be refreshing to only have one job again, and to have more time for friends and enjoying summer!
Despite working so much for the past two months, I have gotten a few opportunities to do some special things that deserve noting.
A few weekends ago I went to Tasmania for four nights to visit my friend George, who has been studying abroad there for the past semester. This was an awesome opportunity to see a different part of Australia. I took the opportunity to get a Tasmanian driver license (because it is much easier to get than a New South Wales one- all I had to do was use George’s address), so now I can look like a real (fake) Aussie! I am excited to flash the ID back home. The Tasmanian Beer Festival was happening that weekend so we went to that and it was an enjoyable time. We also saw the New Pornographers play, which was fun.
In the beginning of October an opportunity arose to visit a developing sustainable community outside of Sydney. I thought it would be a nice way to do something different, and I found it refreshing to get into a different mindset, even if it was for a short amount of time. The community’s name is White Gums and it was their opening ceremony, to celebrate the birth of the community whose vision has been in the making for five years and running. There was a spiritual ceremony which used techniques learned from Australian Aboriginal tribes. It was also a nice opportunity to talk to people about spirituality, and general questions that are difficult to bring up during typical city living.
There are many plans going through my head as to when I will leave Sydney and where I will go next. Being here, I am in the mindset that anything truly is possible. Anywhere in the world could be the next destination, and possibilities for the future are endless, not just in terms of travels in the near future, but life in general.
