We attempted to visit Sydney's South Head light house today but got lost in the bush, ended up on a Naval base (subsequently told we couldn't pass through there), ended up on some fancy beach, lost the trail, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun while waiting for the ferry.
I'm a little dehydrated after that.
At the very end, while waiting for the ferry, we found a map that showed quite clearly that the beach we gave up on is where the trail picked back up--bummer. We also discovered that the trail to the lighthouse goes past a nude beach (probably a good thing to miss).
So, we scooped up our melted selves and headed home. On the way, we walked around Circular Quay looking for the Sydney Harbour Tall Ships kiosk and found that they are indeed using my photos! On a big slideshow television no less!! After all that hard work hiking in the sun and getting lost, this made my day better.
It is truly wonderful to see your work displayed like that. I am so proud. :)
Have a happy Sunday everyone!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The American Dream
It seems to me that the "American dream" is to live beyond your means.
Jeremy and I were talking about debt the other day and trying to make some realistic plans about future business endeavours, education and one day owning a house. We discovered that combined, we have $30,000 of debt purely accumulated from student loans (50% of that comes from MY loans), applying for my stupid residency here and trying to set up an apartment in Sydney.
That's truthfully just basic living--in fact, we try to save money during each week's grocery shop by not buying meat (we're economically forced vegetarians!). And each day is a struggle even though we have all the basic things we need. Why is it a struggle? Because we really want new clothes for work, a second computer, a better bike, money to go camping once in a while, a new pair of shoes, or just a nice meaty meal.
But instead of aspiring to pay that off and be happy with what I have, I often find myself thinking more about what I don't have and what I would like to acquire. You know, I RARELY hear Americans (but I don't really want to single just them out--this is true of pretty much everyone) talk about debt recovery unless their business has failed or they have $20,000+ in credit card debt. How do we get so caught up in acquiring "things" that we don't notice how much we've spent and how much we owe?
Once upon a time, the American Dream was something more than a Gucci purse--it was an opportunity to BE something more (not BUY something more). It really wasn't a conscious decision though to trade in that dream for something else. I think we have relaxed marketing regulations, inflated house prices, oil dependency, high cost of living, and minuscule pay raises to blame! Minuscule pay raises!! After a year of hard work at Curves, I was offered a 10 CENTS "raise"! That was actually an insult--I quit shortly after. How do people survive on $7.15 an hour? How do you pay off student loans like that? How do you purchase a $100,000 house when you make $20,000 a year? Why do so many Americans plan to just sell their house and retire with that money? What happened to real savings??
For me and Jeremy, $30,000 debt is probably very little compared to what most couples start out with but it's difficult to even imagine how we're going to pay it off--living WITHIN our means is a lot harder than living outside of them! We don't have a "rainy day" savings or a "Gucci purse" savings. We just survive. We just pay our bills. Maybe--if we try really hard--once this visa goes through and I get a full time job within a normal tax bracket, we may be able to live off one salary and save the other one. But that means one more year without meat.
I can't believe that I'm 25 years old and I need $30,000 to break even! We don't even have enough money to buy rings and get married which we SO want to do! It kind of makes me want to cry that we can't. And it's not like we've been irresponsible or big spenders. We are both good with money but in our world today, being good with money isn't good enough.
So how do we get back to that American Dream? Can we recover what we unknowingly abandoned? It's possible, but it'll cost you.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Black Friday and Happy Thanksgiving.
Jeremy and I were talking about debt the other day and trying to make some realistic plans about future business endeavours, education and one day owning a house. We discovered that combined, we have $30,000 of debt purely accumulated from student loans (50% of that comes from MY loans), applying for my stupid residency here and trying to set up an apartment in Sydney.
That's truthfully just basic living--in fact, we try to save money during each week's grocery shop by not buying meat (we're economically forced vegetarians!). And each day is a struggle even though we have all the basic things we need. Why is it a struggle? Because we really want new clothes for work, a second computer, a better bike, money to go camping once in a while, a new pair of shoes, or just a nice meaty meal.
But instead of aspiring to pay that off and be happy with what I have, I often find myself thinking more about what I don't have and what I would like to acquire. You know, I RARELY hear Americans (but I don't really want to single just them out--this is true of pretty much everyone) talk about debt recovery unless their business has failed or they have $20,000+ in credit card debt. How do we get so caught up in acquiring "things" that we don't notice how much we've spent and how much we owe?
Once upon a time, the American Dream was something more than a Gucci purse--it was an opportunity to BE something more (not BUY something more). It really wasn't a conscious decision though to trade in that dream for something else. I think we have relaxed marketing regulations, inflated house prices, oil dependency, high cost of living, and minuscule pay raises to blame! Minuscule pay raises!! After a year of hard work at Curves, I was offered a 10 CENTS "raise"! That was actually an insult--I quit shortly after. How do people survive on $7.15 an hour? How do you pay off student loans like that? How do you purchase a $100,000 house when you make $20,000 a year? Why do so many Americans plan to just sell their house and retire with that money? What happened to real savings??
For me and Jeremy, $30,000 debt is probably very little compared to what most couples start out with but it's difficult to even imagine how we're going to pay it off--living WITHIN our means is a lot harder than living outside of them! We don't have a "rainy day" savings or a "Gucci purse" savings. We just survive. We just pay our bills. Maybe--if we try really hard--once this visa goes through and I get a full time job within a normal tax bracket, we may be able to live off one salary and save the other one. But that means one more year without meat.
I can't believe that I'm 25 years old and I need $30,000 to break even! We don't even have enough money to buy rings and get married which we SO want to do! It kind of makes me want to cry that we can't. And it's not like we've been irresponsible or big spenders. We are both good with money but in our world today, being good with money isn't good enough.
So how do we get back to that American Dream? Can we recover what we unknowingly abandoned? It's possible, but it'll cost you.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Black Friday and Happy Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Oh Christmas tree! Oh Christmas tree!!
Jeremy and I bought a Christmas tree the other day and it was such a good find! As you know, we've been trying to save money to go home and so we were seeking a second hand tree to grace our living room. And thanks to Gumtree, we got one with decorations for $50!
Christmas is on the way!!
Christmas is on the way!!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
And another thought...
How do you like the new Linkwithin widgets on my blog? I borrowed the idea from my friend Beth. I hope to put tags on the other posts sometime soon (maybe Monday?) which will make it so you can read other similar stories that I've written. Also, adding tags makes my blog easier to be found by search engines and other entrepreneuring individuals who might feature my blog or (gasp!) ask me to write something (gasp, gasp!) for money!
"So where the bloody hell are ya?!"
For some time, that was the slogan the government used to promote tourism in their "visit Australia" adds. Most Aussies don't see anything wrong with it because it's all part of the more relaxed and laid back culture here, however, it's not so laid back outside the island (yes, Australia is an island) and several big names from big countries (mainly Britian) complained about the slogan being offensive and in bad taste. So it was changed.
But I think it's a good example of how different things really can be here. This may be a Common Wealth country, but it's pretty much the last out-post of the English monarchy (it's the "wide open spaces" couped up monarchs dream of), and though it's often hard to differentiate what is uniquely Australian culture and what is not, a lot of things still surprise me.
So, I intend to write a few blogs in the next month or so about the little things that make Australia different. Let the fun begin!
You're on candid camera!
This one always makes me laugh: in New South Whales (NSW), traffic cameras have to be sign posted. Yeah, so if you're caught speeding by a camera, you really are the biggest dunce on the road. But I honestly think it does the opposite of deterring the speedsters. If I had a car, I'd certainly adjust my speed to accommodate the cameras... I'd slow down just before and speed up just after. (Don't judge--you'd probably do it too.) The cameras are also used to catch people in the bus lane (which I think is great as I ride the bus everywhere) but like speeding, they often just hop out before the camera and back in after. Sign posting cameras really seems so counter-intuitive to me and I just don't get it. Apparently, the idea behind this law is that roads will be safer because people won't brake at the last minute when they spot a camera and therefore an accident will be avoided. I think this argument is a little self defeating though--camera signs don't assure this outcome and mightn't people do the same thing when they see camera signs?
We all Live in a Yellow Customs Ship (think Beatles)
In the US, we are practically assailed with immigrants from all sides. Seriously, they are tunneling into our country like moles!! It's really difficult to keep them under control with such long and empty land borders. So you would think it's a lot easier to control illegal immigration when your country is an island... But a lot of Australians (or maybe it's just Mr. Rudd) think otherwise.
Currently, ol' Kevin Rudd (prime-minister) is facing a lot of very negative press over his handling of "the boat people" (an affectionate Australian term similar to "beaners" and "wet backs"). So far this year, something like 35 boats of illegal immigrants from Indonesia have been intercepted in the waters just north of Darwin and are being held in detention centers on Christmas Island, awaiting refugee status. (Does anyone else see the irony of a prison island/state creating it's own prison island/state?) However, the detention center at Christmas Island has become over crowded from the ever-continuing boats and the petrifyingly slow immigration department, and since the government refuses to process immigrants on the mainland, as John Howard did before him, K-Rudd has resumed demands that Indonesia take back the immigrants (remember, most of the time these people are just traveling through Indonesia on their way to Australia, so Indonesia would then be taking illegal immigrants instead of Australia). And for the last week, a poor group of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have been stuck on a customs ship just off the shore of Indonesia, threatening Kevin Rudd to bring them to Australia or else they won't get off. Ie: Tamil rebels have hijack an Australian customs ship!!
Of course, Indonesia isn't complaining--they're not too eager about taking the immigrants either. Indonesia, by comparison, has 11 times the population of Australia and roughly 1/4 of the Australia's total area. There are faaaaarrr too many mouths to feed in that country and very little infrastructure.
I like to think of the situation like this: it's Christmas at JFK and immigration tapes off the custom counters and puts out a sign that reads, "America has reached maximum capacity. Please go to Canada." To speed things along, they stick everyone on a plane and instead of flying them to the clean, orderly and modernized streets of Toronto, the visitors are flown to Tiajuana (enough said). Total bummer, dude.
Who knows how this saga will conclude. Of course, Australia will look pretty silly if they take the refugees now after all this hard-to-get stuff and will certainly have created an immigration nightmare (I can already hear the "but you let him immigrate!" complaints now); they'll look pretty much like cruel people if they force the immigrants off the customs ship; they will come off as "un-humanitarian" if they force the Tamil refugees back to their war-torn country (btw, the Tamils are a notoriously oppressed people by the ethnically Indian government of Sri Lanka); and if the boat people do decide to get off, the Australian government will look even more bully-like because they forced Indonesia to deal with truthfully an Australian problem and because those poor people were placed into another situation not too un-like the one they were fleeing from. As you can see, I have no sympathy for the Australian government. This is a right royal mess of their own making.
Recently, the refugees announced that they would get off in Indonesia as long as they were placed in community housing and not in an Indonesian detention center. Can you blame them?? Who wants to spend the next 5 years in an Indonesian prison camp?! So far, I haven't heard anything about an agreement or meeting of the refugees terms, but until the Australian government starts acting like a compassionate and caring country concerned with the quality of life of even illegal immigrants, "boat people" they will remain.
More to come...
Okay, that last snippet on immigration was longer than I expected. I'll write more on other things Australian tomorrow.
But I think it's a good example of how different things really can be here. This may be a Common Wealth country, but it's pretty much the last out-post of the English monarchy (it's the "wide open spaces" couped up monarchs dream of), and though it's often hard to differentiate what is uniquely Australian culture and what is not, a lot of things still surprise me.
So, I intend to write a few blogs in the next month or so about the little things that make Australia different. Let the fun begin!
You're on candid camera!
This one always makes me laugh: in New South Whales (NSW), traffic cameras have to be sign posted. Yeah, so if you're caught speeding by a camera, you really are the biggest dunce on the road. But I honestly think it does the opposite of deterring the speedsters. If I had a car, I'd certainly adjust my speed to accommodate the cameras... I'd slow down just before and speed up just after. (Don't judge--you'd probably do it too.) The cameras are also used to catch people in the bus lane (which I think is great as I ride the bus everywhere) but like speeding, they often just hop out before the camera and back in after. Sign posting cameras really seems so counter-intuitive to me and I just don't get it. Apparently, the idea behind this law is that roads will be safer because people won't brake at the last minute when they spot a camera and therefore an accident will be avoided. I think this argument is a little self defeating though--camera signs don't assure this outcome and mightn't people do the same thing when they see camera signs?
We all Live in a Yellow Customs Ship (think Beatles)
In the US, we are practically assailed with immigrants from all sides. Seriously, they are tunneling into our country like moles!! It's really difficult to keep them under control with such long and empty land borders. So you would think it's a lot easier to control illegal immigration when your country is an island... But a lot of Australians (or maybe it's just Mr. Rudd) think otherwise.
Currently, ol' Kevin Rudd (prime-minister) is facing a lot of very negative press over his handling of "the boat people" (an affectionate Australian term similar to "beaners" and "wet backs"). So far this year, something like 35 boats of illegal immigrants from Indonesia have been intercepted in the waters just north of Darwin and are being held in detention centers on Christmas Island, awaiting refugee status. (Does anyone else see the irony of a prison island/state creating it's own prison island/state?) However, the detention center at Christmas Island has become over crowded from the ever-continuing boats and the petrifyingly slow immigration department, and since the government refuses to process immigrants on the mainland, as John Howard did before him, K-Rudd has resumed demands that Indonesia take back the immigrants (remember, most of the time these people are just traveling through Indonesia on their way to Australia, so Indonesia would then be taking illegal immigrants instead of Australia). And for the last week, a poor group of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have been stuck on a customs ship just off the shore of Indonesia, threatening Kevin Rudd to bring them to Australia or else they won't get off. Ie: Tamil rebels have hijack an Australian customs ship!!
Of course, Indonesia isn't complaining--they're not too eager about taking the immigrants either. Indonesia, by comparison, has 11 times the population of Australia and roughly 1/4 of the Australia's total area. There are faaaaarrr too many mouths to feed in that country and very little infrastructure.
I like to think of the situation like this: it's Christmas at JFK and immigration tapes off the custom counters and puts out a sign that reads, "America has reached maximum capacity. Please go to Canada." To speed things along, they stick everyone on a plane and instead of flying them to the clean, orderly and modernized streets of Toronto, the visitors are flown to Tiajuana (enough said). Total bummer, dude.
Who knows how this saga will conclude. Of course, Australia will look pretty silly if they take the refugees now after all this hard-to-get stuff and will certainly have created an immigration nightmare (I can already hear the "but you let him immigrate!" complaints now); they'll look pretty much like cruel people if they force the immigrants off the customs ship; they will come off as "un-humanitarian" if they force the Tamil refugees back to their war-torn country (btw, the Tamils are a notoriously oppressed people by the ethnically Indian government of Sri Lanka); and if the boat people do decide to get off, the Australian government will look even more bully-like because they forced Indonesia to deal with truthfully an Australian problem and because those poor people were placed into another situation not too un-like the one they were fleeing from. As you can see, I have no sympathy for the Australian government. This is a right royal mess of their own making.
Recently, the refugees announced that they would get off in Indonesia as long as they were placed in community housing and not in an Indonesian detention center. Can you blame them?? Who wants to spend the next 5 years in an Indonesian prison camp?! So far, I haven't heard anything about an agreement or meeting of the refugees terms, but until the Australian government starts acting like a compassionate and caring country concerned with the quality of life of even illegal immigrants, "boat people" they will remain.
More to come...
Okay, that last snippet on immigration was longer than I expected. I'll write more on other things Australian tomorrow.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Newtown Festival
I had such a good time at the festival yesterday and amazingly pulled out a few good photos. I say "amazingly" because the rain made everything harder. People were unhappy and running for cover and I was constantly trying to shield my camera and wipe water off the lens. But I did get some good photos and in the end, I had a good time. I also had a moment to run around and look at a few stalls (very good) while sampling to food (extra good). And being a volunteer had it's perks: a t-shirt, a backpack, a free meal at the festival, and a thank-you dinner later this week. All in all, it was a good day.
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