Quick Update

Just a few observations / life lessons / thoughts from the past few days:

• There's no better way to get to know a city than by walking around it. Not having a car, I've been relying solely on my Chevro-legs to get me from place to place. I now know an ever-increasing portion of Sydney like the back of my hand.
• Apartment-hunting is tough - actually, many things are tough - in a different country. I found out that we are spoiled with our apartments in the U.S. Those in Sydney don't come with a refrigerator or a washing machine unless they are fully furnished.
• The picture of soup on the front of the box is not necessarily indicative of what you will get if you add hot water to the contents of said box.
• Skittles are slightly different in Australia. Instead of lime, they have green apple. Instead of grape, they have blackberry. I think I like these better.
• It is difficult to find Bounce dryer sheets here. I need to import them; I would make a fortune.
• I found out that I not only get to take business trips to Auckland and Melbourne, but that I also get to come home for the holidays for a combination business / personal trip. Sweet.
  
• I miss you.
• Clothes are nearly twice as expensive here as they are in the states.
• I might have found an apartment - it's in a sandstone building that has a very Tuscan feel to it. I'll post pics if I get it.
• It is surprisingly easy to eat a large bag of BBQ chips in a single sitting if one has a mind to do so.
• The weather here is incredibly unpredictable. On 2 separate occasions I have gone inside with the sun shining outside, and 5 minutes later, have found myself exiting into rain. Go figure.
• One apparently does not 'go to Blacktown to pet the wallabies.'
• There is so much good food here.
• The SYD office ski trip is coming up at the end of August. We're staying here and skiing here.
• Sydney has very weak / expensive drinks compared to the U.S. They measure everything out to a T, so there is no generous overpouring, etc. Wine is your best bet.
  
• People are unabashedly friendly here.
• There is not a deadly, poisonous creature lurking around every corner and in every dark crevasse waiting to pounce. Note: this is not confirmed. I have not fully explored every corner nor every dark crevasse.

More to come.