[Apologies to begin with as this was written to be pre- 'Sydney: An Introspective' but was completed afterwards.]
New Years day began with a text from Tim ( my roommate from Mt Isa) received at 6:30am reading something along the lines of "Wake up!!! hahah just got in. Off to party today in crows nest, be there X"
Well that was easy, barely had I opened my eyes and I had plans for the day.
A train and a bus later, I met Tim and a friend of his he'd met in France in Crows Nest in North Sydney late that afternoon, where a friend of a friend was having a party (loose connections I know but when travelling you really just have to go out on a limb!) Turns out it was more of a small gathering than an actual party, but there was a bbq, alcohol and it was still pretty good fun. We ended up all getting rather drunk and playing some board games which sounds sad but actually was really funny and really showed up one of the girls when she was trying to explain some of the rules and declared that Alabama was a country.
I had decided that the 2nd was my 'doing day.' The definition of such a day is when you set aside a day when you do all the things are that you need to do and that such day was today. And the thing to be done? Find a job.
Although as Edwin and Charlotte were also leaving that day I had to delay the start of my 'doing' as I went and met Edwin one last time for a coffee in no other than Starbucks of course on Campbell Street which had become our hang out place. Charlotte was notably absent, apparently packing her things but hadn't neglected to give me her quality literature, a book entitled 'Santa Baby' which I was pretty certain I would not be reading but was grateful for the pile of British gossip mags she'd also passed on.
And over a Chai Latte and a Caramel Frappacino we said our farewells.
Then as I promised myself set about completely the days first and last task of the day- applying for jobs.
Hopelessly bored of job hunting, having applied for a million restaurants, cafes and offices and a few red-herrings ( a record label and a few production companies and an ad on Gumtree as well), I text Felix as we'd planned to meet up later that afternoon to see if he was free yet and thankfully he was.
As he was staying with the Australians guys, literally ten minutes down the road, we met up within half an hour and when and hung out in one of the many parks around Glebe. We must have spent hours there which passed like minutes, then decided to head somewhere to get something to eat. I had seen a restaurant named 'Bling Bling Dumpling' which had caught my eye a few times- firstly because of its damn right weird name and secondly because I had a particular soft spot for dumplings ever since I'd been introduced to them by my friend Yashita in Delhi.
Bling Bling Dumpling certainly lives up to its name. In fact I think there's far more bling in that place than theres ever been dumplings. Felix, never having tried dumplings before (as well as pies which I made him try in Noosa which I found ridiculious seens though i'm pretty sure I lived on them my whole first year at uni- well that and chicken and roast potatoes), apparently seemed to enjoy it- well at least was polite enough not to let on if he didn't.
While I was with Felix I received a few replies to my advert on Gumtree although all of which offering much less than favourable positons where I would be paid for my 'intimate company' and 'a full body massage with hand release.' As tempting as it sounded, I wasn't that desperate, even if they were proposing 150 dollars an hour. I found it funny, but Felix not so much.
I even got one response that didn't have any jobs offers for me but just wanted to send me a message to tell me that he thought I was gorgous and good luck in my job hunt. Thanks for the compliment, but that didn't really help me... at all.
We then went back to the guys house where we watched Fear and Loathing, before Felix walked me back to my hostel.
It was a really nice day. Being with him was just so easy. Being on the otherside of the world, you never expect that you might meet someone like that, but here he was.
Within a week I'd been offered a job working at Nourishing Quarter, a kind of Vietnamese fuison restaurant of sort. Serving traditional vietnamese dishes but some with a more nourishing twist using South American grains. I went for an interview for a waitress postition and came away with a job as a kitchen hand who they also wanted to help with the paperwork they were compiling to organising the running of the business.
To start with the hours I worked were long. Far too long in fact, leaving with barely enough time to eat and sleep outside of work and so the first opportunity I got me and a Scottish girl from my dorm headed to Coogee Beach. It was smaller than Bondi and supposed to be much less touristy and it really was beautiful.
After living in the hostel for almost three weeks in Glebe, I finally found the time to look into something more permanent for the the time I had left in Sydney. And what I found, was a gorgeous flat on Darling Habour- with access to a gym, swimming pool and sauna all for the same price as I'd been paying for the hostel.
So now I had found an amazing apartment, a job that I enjoyed (with evolved into me working as more as a chef now!), been offered to work at the record label I'd applied to as well as at a media production company and was dating a the most loveliest German guy. Life in Sydney was sweet.
My free time I spent between various beaches, art galleries and the continuous events and festivals that seemed to be happening in Sydney.
Time passed so quickly although I felt like I had been in Sydney months. I had been so busy the whole time I had been in Sydney. If I wasn't working, I was with Felix and if I wasn't with Felix, I was with friends at the beach or events, if i wasn't I doing that then I was at art galleries, the I-Max, coffee shops... I made every moment count; I felt like I was living three lives.
Eventually time came for Felix to leave Sydney. He hadn't found a job so decided to take his planned flight to New Zealand.
I'm not going to lie, I wished he wasn't going but when he told me he was going I had already guessed before the words came out. I guess that made it easier to hear. That's not to say that I wasn't happy for him though. I knew him going was enivitable and we'd always said that we were travelling separately and we had to do whatever each of us needed to do. I was happy for him, I knew he'd have an awesome time and I had enjoyed every moment with him and I was so happy just to have met him. Saying goodbye was hard but in some way the most easiest thing in the world.
There's a saying in German: In life you meet everyone twice. I was secretely hoping that the whole meeting in Australia was only the first time.
Even before Felix left I had begun having feelings about leaving Sydney, although of course it was a factor in thinking about moving on. After all I hate being left behind and almost everyone I'd met had moved on now.
As much as I had loved living in Sydney I wanted a change. I wanted something new, something different... and so now was a time to make a plan. I set myself a deadline and decided that I would stay in Sydney until the end of February, so I could earn some money and take advantage of working with Kym at the record label which I loved so much and then it was time to leave.
My first stop: a yoga ashram, then who knows.
