Settled into the city
Sitting in my UTS office after a day of reading and running a few errands. Today I spent a lot of time boning up on research methods in the social sciences; riveting, I know. But everything that I do in the next few months will serve as the base for my research in the coming years...
Meanwhile, exciting developments since I wrote last week. On Saturday, I "moved house" (as the Aussies would say, to a place in the city. As you may recall, I didn't fly down with that much, so the move itself wasn't all that difficult. Before I left the Shire, Paul drove me over to Big W—basically the Australian version of Walmart, owned by the grocery store Woolies—and I was able to buy linens and hangers for the new place.
Thankfully, Paul offered to drive me up from Bangor to my new neighbourhood, Chippendale, so I didn't have to manoeuvre on the train with all my bags.*
I got settled into my new place fairly quickly and then a few folks dropped by for a party in the evening. Worked out well, as I got to meet a lot of nice, new people.
Sunday morning I woke up and went to Woolies, which is just a few minute's walk from the house. Grabbed some essentials for the week, and came home and made some brekkie (breakfast, for those who haven't gone through Aussie English 101 back in 2012), which I enjoyed on the terrace looking toward the city. While the view isn't quite what I had in Atlanta, the location is amazing, and I am so thrilled I found the place!
The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, so I went on a walk and met a friend for afternoon tea. Grabbed dinner out in Randwick and had an early night getting some work done.
This morning, I woke up and went on a run around the neighbourhood, swinging by my old house in Darlington and running through the Sydney Uni campus. It was really nice to be back!
Then the day was spent reading books and articles at my UTS office. I ducked out for a bit in the early arvo (afternoon) to grab lunch at my favourite Mexican chain, Guzman Y Gomez (like a Moe's, but way better), at Central Park. I also headed up the road a few minutes to the large shopping plaza at Broadway, where I bought a few more things I needed for the house.
Now, after grabbing dinner with a friend and a book from the library, I think I am going to call it a night. Tomorrow will be spent at the Uni, while Wednesday is Anzac Day here in Australia (equivalent to Memorial Day in the States), so no work. Thursday and Friday will be spent at the office.
The end of last week (since I didn't write after Wednesday), was busy with work and reading for uni. On Friday, while I was working in my office at UTS, I got to meet another research student whose work focuses on design and robotics. I continue to look forward to getting to know more people that are doing research.
All-in-all, I would say moving around the world and completely changing your life is a pretty big undertaking, and it has been pretty hectic, but, ultimately, I am very excited about how things are coming together!
Off to head home now... Thank goodness for a five-minute commute!
---------------------------------
*I'll take a moment to make a side note, since I am sure you have noticed the spelling in the previous sentence isn't what you are used to (assuming you are reading this from the States). I am on my office computer, which is understandably set in Australian English, and I actually will need to switch my computer over to that as well. When in Rome (and when writing a dissertation in Rome), do like the Romans.
And a bit further on that note, at the office the other day I was drafting a letter, that got circulated to the directors for review. One of them, a British transplant, sent back a few notes to me; one in particular resulted in a discussion about how different the language we speak actually is.
In the letter, I referred to "architectural practice." Like medical practice, it does seem funny that something that someone is proficient in (and licensed in) is still referred to as "practice." Interestingly, in Australia (and Britain), they refer instead to the concept of professional practice as professional practise, with the "s" demarking the distinction. We then chatted for a while about how Australian English is some strange fusion of British and American English, meaning that both of us are often unsure of how things are actually written.
The biggest differences, of course, being (1) the additional "u" in words like flavour and colour, and (2) the disdain for the letter "z" (pronounced as "zed" here), with it being replaced by "s" in word (or in all words except "zebra" (pronounced "zeb-ruh," with a short e). Of course, there are countless other nuances, and they don't use the Oxford comma (which really gets my goat). But, I digress... back to your regularly scheduled (pronounced "she blog post)...
Meanwhile, exciting developments since I wrote last week. On Saturday, I "moved house" (as the Aussies would say, to a place in the city. As you may recall, I didn't fly down with that much, so the move itself wasn't all that difficult. Before I left the Shire, Paul drove me over to Big W—basically the Australian version of Walmart, owned by the grocery store Woolies—and I was able to buy linens and hangers for the new place.
 |
| My cart at Big W, full of Manchester. |
Thankfully, Paul offered to drive me up from Bangor to my new neighbourhood, Chippendale, so I didn't have to manoeuvre on the train with all my bags.*
I got settled into my new place fairly quickly and then a few folks dropped by for a party in the evening. Worked out well, as I got to meet a lot of nice, new people.
Sunday morning I woke up and went to Woolies, which is just a few minute's walk from the house. Grabbed some essentials for the week, and came home and made some brekkie (breakfast, for those who haven't gone through Aussie English 101 back in 2012), which I enjoyed on the terrace looking toward the city. While the view isn't quite what I had in Atlanta, the location is amazing, and I am so thrilled I found the place!
 |
| Eggs and crumpets with honey, out on the terrace. The pointed building in the front is Mortuary Station, at Central Station. |
 |
| The view looking toward Central Park (and the large heliostat), with UTS in the background. |
The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, so I went on a walk and met a friend for afternoon tea. Grabbed dinner out in Randwick and had an early night getting some work done.
This morning, I woke up and went on a run around the neighbourhood, swinging by my old house in Darlington and running through the Sydney Uni campus. It was really nice to be back!
Then the day was spent reading books and articles at my UTS office. I ducked out for a bit in the early arvo (afternoon) to grab lunch at my favourite Mexican chain, Guzman Y Gomez (like a Moe's, but way better), at Central Park. I also headed up the road a few minutes to the large shopping plaza at Broadway, where I bought a few more things I needed for the house.
 |
| Getting things set up in my room. Still a bit to go! |
Now, after grabbing dinner with a friend and a book from the library, I think I am going to call it a night. Tomorrow will be spent at the Uni, while Wednesday is Anzac Day here in Australia (equivalent to Memorial Day in the States), so no work. Thursday and Friday will be spent at the office.
The end of last week (since I didn't write after Wednesday), was busy with work and reading for uni. On Friday, while I was working in my office at UTS, I got to meet another research student whose work focuses on design and robotics. I continue to look forward to getting to know more people that are doing research.
All-in-all, I would say moving around the world and completely changing your life is a pretty big undertaking, and it has been pretty hectic, but, ultimately, I am very excited about how things are coming together!
Off to head home now... Thank goodness for a five-minute commute!
---------------------------------
*I'll take a moment to make a side note, since I am sure you have noticed the spelling in the previous sentence isn't what you are used to (assuming you are reading this from the States). I am on my office computer, which is understandably set in Australian English, and I actually will need to switch my computer over to that as well. When in Rome (and when writing a dissertation in Rome), do like the Romans.
And a bit further on that note, at the office the other day I was drafting a letter, that got circulated to the directors for review. One of them, a British transplant, sent back a few notes to me; one in particular resulted in a discussion about how different the language we speak actually is.
In the letter, I referred to "architectural practice." Like medical practice, it does seem funny that something that someone is proficient in (and licensed in) is still referred to as "practice." Interestingly, in Australia (and Britain), they refer instead to the concept of professional practice as professional practise, with the "s" demarking the distinction. We then chatted for a while about how Australian English is some strange fusion of British and American English, meaning that both of us are often unsure of how things are actually written.
The biggest differences, of course, being (1) the additional "u" in words like flavour and colour, and (2) the disdain for the letter "z" (pronounced as "zed" here), with it being replaced by "s" in word (or in all words except "zebra" (pronounced "zeb-ruh," with a short e). Of course, there are countless other nuances, and they don't use the Oxford comma (which really gets my goat). But, I digress... back to your regularly scheduled (pronounced "she blog post)...
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