Aussie Trips

Becca and Erica come to visit me in Sydney!  Photos are up!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamgh654/sets/72157619224060676/

We had two short trips while they were here.  In their first week, we went to Gill and Andy's place in Winda Woppa.  I felt so lucky to be able to share such a wonderful place with my friends.  Winda Woppa is one of my favorite places in Australia.  Gill and Andy make their home feel so open and welcoming (even when they're not there!) and it's such an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning, pop on your swimmers, and head across the street for a dip in the ocean.  Becca and Erica went bike riding and swimming.  I mostly stayed in and worked.  Now I understand why writers head out on retreats to get stuff done.  It was a wonderful way to work.

Then we were back in Sydney for a few days before we headed out to the Blue Mountains.  1 1/2 hours away from Sydney and you're in a totally new world.  I can't believe I had never been out there before.  We went on two of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done.  After my trip to the US, I'm planning on figuring out how to join conservation volunteers and get some free "working" trips to the area.  It was just amazing.

Enjoy the photos, folks.  

Lots of love,

Tamara

For those of you not on facebook

I just finished knitting and blocking this scarf.  Thank you Nora Gaughan.  I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

More photos and a short update

Here are more photos from the rest of the weekend with the cousins.  It was such a wonderful time to all be together- lots and lots of laughs.  I wish we could do it more often.  The great goulston first cousin get together is in the works- Molly, Jeff, James, Tali, Gilad, Sam, Ben, Ben, Amelia, Joe, Lucie, May-- you better be there!  Tasmania, perhaps?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamgh654/sets/72157618298926505/

For once, everything seems to be going well.  As most (all?) of you know, I got accepted to graduate school at UNSW.  The program starts in the end of July and I'll be studying for a Masters in urban planning.  It feels great to have a plan for the next year and a half- to have a set time that I've committed to being in Sydney and (potentially) a set time for when I'll be coming home.  I feel more grounded than I have in ages and grateful that I had almost a year to figure out my next steps in life.   

My plan is to fit in a trip to the US before grad school starts-- end of June to the middle of July-- Mark your calendars!  (I should be buying tickets this week...)  Aside from seeing as many of you as possible individually, I think I'm going to try to arrange a night a a bar to all get together.  Any suggestions of a good place to meet in the city?  Say on a sunday afternoon, close to the Subway, easy to get to from any of the boroughs and Westchester.  Half my time will be spent in NY and I'll head up to Maine for the other half.

Sydney is transitioning into winter.  The days getting colder and shorter.  No more swimming outside.  I'm nursing a wicked cold and am missing my collection of sweaters (they're in the back of a closet in my parents house and will be collected on my trip home).  Life here is getting easier as I slowly make friends.  The constant stream of out of town visitors helps as well.  Becca and Erica come on Wednesday- fantastic!

Lots of love,

Tamara

photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamgh654/sets/72157618069275052/

more photos up on flickr.  Amelia came to visit from London and Joe and Luc came up from Melbourne.  We all got together at Anna and Matt's in Bondi for a cousins' afternoon.  Lots of laughs!

The day ended with Joe, Lucie, and I carrying a very very heavy couch around the corner from my house.  Three days later and my arm has finally (mostly recovered).

I have more photos to come but my internet is slow so will probably be another few weeks before they're uploaded.

love, tamara

socks for dina

Dina left today. After two weeks of friends coming and going, lots of laughter, loads of laundry, and a long day at the easter show, it's quiet again.
In the meantime, I'm going to finish Dina's socks. This is the one that's done (on Dina's foot, no less). It's pair is half finished and hopefully will be in the mail in a week or so. I've loved making these socks. The pattern is written well, and the yarn I'm using is soft and gorgeous. Knit socks have these fantastic lines to them- where the rows meet and combine by the heel is my favorite part. The sock photo below gives you a better idea of the color.











It's 7:15, I'm hungry, and I'm not wanting to cook dinner. Sound familiar to anyone? I'm off to figure that out, and then maybe catch up on missed episodes of Lost. Internet is now back up and running for anyone that was missing our daily/weekly/monthly skype.

Love you.

These Days

I figure it's about time for an update.

It's been a fairly low-key past month. Until yesterday the weather has been beautiful (high 70s, low 80s, sunny skies, cool nights) so I've been doing a decent amount of swimming, enjoying the sunshine, and continuing my life doing crosswords and visiting the occasional art exhibit.

This week, however, it's starting to change... As of Monday, I'm working for an NGO in the United Arab Emirates creating a toolkit for university students wanting to start volunteer clubs on their campuses. It's a 3 month contract, and I'm working with my supervisor from my POLF days who also happens to be living in Australia. It should be interesting work. No, I'm not moving. I'll work from home and head out there in the end of April/beginning of May for a week to train student leaders. I'm thrilled about it. The big downside is that I won't be working on a daily basis with other people. I still struggle on a weekly (if not daily) basis with being lonely and missing having my friends around me. Over the next few months, I'm going to have to really challenge myself to get out of the house and have fun when I'm not working. You wouldn't think this would be so difficult, but somehow it is...

On that note, though, I will be having a ton of visitors over the next few months. Next week Dina and 2 of her friends are visiting a few days. Then the four of us head up to the Whitsundays for 2 days of sailing. They'll be coming back through Sydney at the end of April. Amelia comes to visit in the end of April/beginning of May. And then Erica and Becca come visit in the end of May. Visitors make everything more fun.

And then.... I'm planning a month-long trip to NY and Maine for the middle of June/beginning of July. Write it in your diaries, folks.

And then, I'm playing around with the idea of grad school in Sydney, starting in July.

Suffice it to say, the next few months will fly by.

My new years resolution was to have fun. There are so many times here when it doesn't feel like home, when I think that it never will, and I just don't know how to make things better. So I'm trying my hardest to let that go and just enjoy Sydney and Australia for what it is, enjoying it while I'm here, and knowing that I can and probably will come "home" in the next few years.

On that note, I'm meeting a new friend and heading out to the International Horror Movie festival tonight.

Love you all.

Tamara

the sweater

YAY!

happy dance

I FINISHED MY SWEATER!!! Drew, remember the sweater I started knitting at your place back in August? Well, it's finally done (except for the buttons), I actually like it, and I think it will stretch out enough when I wash it that it will fit.

Photos to be posted soon.

5 little updates and how they grew

Steph keeping up with her new years resolution to blog is making me feel a little guilty about being so bad at keeping up with mine. It's the good kind of guilty; it's making me do something about it.

What's been going on in Sydney the past few months, you ask?
1) A lot of swimming. Well, a lot for me. My cousin, Doug, has gotten me into the ocean and swimming across Bondi Beach. I've now done it in no surf, high surf (you've got to roll and breathe with the waves... it's crazy), with millions of people at the beach, at the quiet end of the day, and most recently in an ocean covered in green guck (it was so disconcerting that we quit halfway; Bondi is usually clear as glass). I haven't gone since the shark attack last week (yes, 2 shark attacks in two days. One in the harbor and one at Bondi) but that's because the weather's been shit, not beacuse I'm scared of being eaten. I will get back in the water!

2) Some beach travelling. My cousins have a beautiful house about two hours north on the bay. Weekends there consist of late breakfasts with unlimited mangoes, dashing across the street for a swim, crying from laughing while playing board games, and long walks on the beach. It's quite a life. Thank you Gill and Andy for being so generous with your home!

3) A trip to Melbourne. In the middle of the biggest heatwave ever to hit Melbourne, I decided to visit. For two days, we did nothing but sit and drip. No one had air conditioning, the moisture was completely sucked out of the air (my hat which had stretched out and lost it's shape long before snapped back to it's orginal proportions), and the power kept going out. Let's just say, it was an experience. When the bushfires hit a week later, I truly understood how everything could go up in flames so quickly. Also on this vacation, Lucie, Joe, (cousins) and Sarah (friend) went down the coast for a music festival and then along the Great Ocean Road for some serious beach time. Both were fantastic. The cousins had so much fun hanging out that we're planning a 1st cousins Great Goulston Get Together for 2010. Details to follow. And, I got to catch up with my old POLF friend, Cyndy. It's really a treat to see familiar faces from the States over here. Luc and I drove back up to Sydney together, singing Amelia Robinson songs full pelt, stopping to swim in the Murray on the way, and getting so hot and sweaty (no air con) that we couldn't stop laughing.
A day later, the bush fires hit Victoria. The towns, trees, vineyards, bathroom where I stopped to pee of the first hour and a half of our journey is now gone. It's still hard to grasp the loss.

4) Music festivals!! In one week, Luc, Sarah, and I went to 2 music festivals- one in Victoria (chill island) and one in Sydney (st. jeromes). Fantastic. Spending a day, outside, listening and dancing to good music might be one of my favorite things. If I could make a career out of it, I would. St. Jeromes ended with Architecture in Helsinki and the Hold Steady. Too friggin awesome. If you ever get a chance to see either band live, GO GO GO.

5) Finding my new favorite bakery and cafe in Bondi. Gill heard from someone who heard from someone about this whole in the wall bakery around the corner from me. I checked it out on Sunday. They only sell one type of bread in an enormous loaf, but it's delicous. The same day, I overheard someone talking about a second hand bookstore/cafe in the area. I've been feeling like I kind of burnt my bridges with the coffee shop I'd been going to (bit of story... cross cultural miscommunication... americans do things a little differently... i wasn't trying to be a bitch... etc, etc, etc) so I was looking for someplace new anyway. Suffice it to say, new place is great. If you're ever in Bondi and love books, good coffee, and people, visit Gertrude and Alice.

So that's my overview. I've also been doing some job searching/applying (ugh!), been desperately missing my friends (it's been really tough to meet people here), and fighting to keep my spirits up as the weather has plunged (2 weeks of rain... is summer over??). Photos will go up on flickr soon. Here's one for now:
It's from a few months ago now... me, Lucie, and Grandpa up at the Hawksbury River.

Lots of love,
Tamara

Relaxation

Well, I've had an amazing past couple weeks. First off, it was off to Cleveland, QLD (outside Brisbane) to meet up with Becca. In a day and half we managed to see downtown Brisbane, attend an Aussie Christmas bbq, visit a bunch of towns on Moreton Bay, and kayak 20 kilometers. After that we went to North Stradbroke Island for 5 days. Total bliss. We met up with my cousins (Anna and Matt and their kids Benny, Joshy, and Miri) and spent every day relaxing on the beach. By the time we left, I had settled into full on summer relaxation mode.

Becca then came back down with me to Sydney where we walked a ton, saw the Sydney NYE fireworks (absolutely incredible, even though we had to wait 7! hours to see them and we didn't even get a primo location!), and went to the beach a bit more.

I've come back to Sydney with a new attitude: it's summer and I'm going to sit back and enjoy it! I'm also thinking of enrolling in a graduate certificate course to teach english as a second language... It's a significant commitment here both in money and in time, but it would be a good thing to have under my belt, and I could continue looking for jobs/volunteering/etc in the meantime. Anyway, we'll see how it pans out.

In the meantime, you can check out my latest pics on flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/tamgh654. Straddie is up there and the fireworks will be soon.

Lots of love everyone. Sending relaxing summer thoughts to those of you in snowy North America.

Tamara