October has been a lovely month so far, with beautiful weather and plenty of opportunities for getting out and about in Sydney. Between Thanksgiving, the Red Kite evening, and some beach days, I'm a happy and relaxed girl. Yet again I was talking with Alaina and Ashton on Skype last night, and they've been dealing with all sorts of annoying French debacles; Alaina's trying to get her paperwork sorted out (between visas and citizenship and the French loving their procedures, she's not a happy girl), their power has been off for the last 12 days and it's 10 C and autumn there, and Ashton sounds like he's still learning the language and trying to find a job that he likes. They sound busy, stressed, and a bit defeated--but then again, they've got rail passes for all of Europe and holidays coming up, so they'll pull out of it soon, and it helps that they're newlyweds and living together for the first time. Anyway--in comparison, I'm wonderfully relaxed and at peace with the world. Have I ever mentioned that I <3 Sydney?
Another thing that makes Sydney special is that the people here are here because they want to be, and they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. (Exceptions for folks retiring to Brisbane or Gold Coast or something, but no one in Sydney really wishes that they were in Melbourne or Perth, because really... Melbourne? Perth? Yeah...) This might be a city of 4 million people, but it's all within reach--or not, if you don't want it to be. Most of downtown Sydney is within walking distance of itself, but the suburbs are spread out and separated by so many little national parks that finding a place of one's own isn't difficult at all.
It sounds like I'm convincing myself to live here. I might be--this is a wonderful country. But we'll leave these decisions for later... for now, some photos, some stories. :)
the first photo on my new camera!
Julian, Anne, and Sarah outside at the Ranch
Sarah and Andres had a bet based around a swimming race--Andres lost, Sarah got to shave his head... hehe
Luke and I went on an adventure to the northern beaches, and took a ferry out to the Central Coast--what a beautiful, beautiful area! there aren't any more pictures from the rest of the day simply because I was too entranced to remember to take them. aw.
the beginning of the Red Kite Fundraiser--Jessie (Jeremy's neighbour, coworker, and school friend) and I were Jeremy's entourage, as Phoebe was too pregnant to come...
the ladies!
Jem and I
inside at the fundraiser--this is at the Sydney Convention Centre (aka a 2 minute walk from Jeremy's), and was also where APEC was held. I had to look at the carpet and go, "OMG Stephen Harper was here!" and then remind myself that I have, in fact, been to the Canadian Parliament, and that plenty of interesting people have been there, too.
Jessie and I inside...
the trio! our table was right at the very front--we were the "High Flyers" for quiz night
Merrick and Craig, asking the first round of quiz questions--Merrick is a well-known radio personality, and Craig is on a popular ABC TV show, "The Chaser," which is the Aussie equivalent of the Royal Canadian Air Farce... only funnier. =D they were the ones that made that fake motorcade to get into APEC, actually.
I was overwhelmed by trying to imagine what kind of planning and fundraising it took just to get the gala to this scale. providing dinner for 700 of Sydney's top corporate representatives? whoo...
Jeremy, giving his speech! he told his story about having cancer, and how Red Kite helped him and his family through it--I was so impressed! he's developed some wonderful public speaking skills, that boy. :)
I had to sneak around and get some cool angles...
Jem with Merrick and Craig... who were really very friendly. we (he) made lots of connections!
I was really there, I swear...
us with Craig...
demonstrating Alan's "LA Red Carpet" smile--don't we look like we're having the time of our lives? LOL
dead tired after a good 5 hours of schmoozing... but we met some newscasters and producers from the top media stations in Sydney (hea-ven for a media student like me), invites for rides in traffic helicopters (note the dark haired guy in the photo above, he's the traffic reporter for Channel 10), promises for tickets to see the Chaser in studio and maybe get backstage, and an invitation to go backstage at Channel 10 when they're doing the news... repeat after me: HECK. YES. the fundraiser was a complete success, too: Red Kite raised $360,000 to support families and children going through cancer.
the next day, Tsehaye and Ola came downtown and we meandered about and took some random photos. fun fun. ;)
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