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Published: April 29th 2008
How many times can one person try and leave a country?! I first tried in October when I left for the coast etc, but soon found myself back in Sydney. Then I was due to leave at the end of my visa in January, but I extended it on, then it was to be the end of March for Bali. I thought had finally changed that and decided on the end of April instead. This time I actually got as far the airport at least! Despite a surprise leaving party, several nights out and finally saying goodbye to me for the last time (they hoped) on Sunday night, I then spectacularily went and missed my flight on the Monday, so returned once again tail between my legs and to much amusement amongst the Irish. I amaze myself. I write this on the Tuesday, technically I have re-arranged the flight for Wednesday night but don't be surprised if I blog again in a day or 2 saying I am still here, its par for the course.
So anyways, how best to sum up the best 15 months of my life into one blog? Impossible. But as I stand on the verge
Can I be Irish now please?
OK I can see the intention, green t-shirt, green bracelet, pint of guiness, shamrock stickers, so why ruin it with a camp pout?! Must be a Mardi Gras after effectof beginning my long awaited and overdue travels I simply look back and smile. At times I have hated this second home of Sydney, cursed its seemingly gravitaional like pull to keep me here longer, rooted in one spot and stuck in the mundane reailty that is working like Dolly (9-5, nice pun?! first of the blog)and going out on weekends. A guy named Douglas Everett once said
"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality;and then there are those who turn one into the other" and that is what I intended to do. I left good old Cardiff with the dream of travelling the world and seeing as many places as possible, soak in as many experiences, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, societies and cultures as I could,hopefully meeting some amazing people along the way and returning back in one piece maybe even a better person. But like a woman trying to read a map I kind of got lost long along the way..The aim was always to come to Sydney and work, I figured it would be best to live and work here for 6 months than at home, what
I didn't envisage was it turning into a 15 month epic of staying in the same place!
But for all the moans and struggles, tantrums and foot stamping, hissy fits, sulky blogs,changing of plans and false dawns, looking back I still don't think I'd change a thing (excessive money spent on the coast aside, grumble grumble). I have kind of relived my uni days but taken it up a level. Back then (scary revelation to myself, 1996, good god I am old!!)I lived with the rents and went to uni in the same city,so I have never lived away from home before (previous travels with the boys aside)looked after myself, cooked, cleaned etc, or been a free man to do as I pleased, even the nights out were restricted to a few with the boys on the course. So this journey so far may not have got me very far physically, but mentally and metaphorically I think I have grown a lot, and whilst I don't want this to turn into an autobiography or epitaph(be a bloody big tombstone!) I will give myself a pat on the back and firm manly nod of approval:"It is good to have an end
to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end" Ursula K Le Guin. Quite true, you random quoted woman you.
Of course none of this would have been possible (is this an Oscar speech?!)without the Irish,I doubt the Chinese ever had a year entitled Year of the Irish, but I think they need one. My time here can be broadly split into 3 distinct phases, it started with Bondi and living with Andy, Gav and later on Julie-a great 5 months of tiny rooms,Pro Evo soccer, Sheikh living, the Biggest Loser, lots of drinking, laughing and good times. It then shifted to apartment 409 in the city and living with Sean, Claire, Chantel and Matt-also inclusive are Joanne and Crazy John(actualy they were both crazy but one was more ditzy than the other, I'll let yo decide which was which). Apartment 409 was a place I loved massively, and not just for the lazy convinience of it being 2 minutes to my work! I have known most of the people in there for the longest time of all-pretty much a year, and so therefore have had more stories and laughs than I can remember. I
shall miss them all a massive amount, Claire and Chantel for drinking more than any men I have ever met, Matt for being my fellow Welshie in a land of Irish, as well as a MasterChef, and then of course theres my drinking partner, woman chasing,abuse giving, apartment wrecking gay lover Sean, even if he is obsessed with Asians, supports scummy Man Utd and his ma hates him. Lastly its been Wentworth Towers with my girlies Natasha, Sinead and Karen, who it seems like I've lived with forever, and I mean that in a nice way trust me. Considering they had lived together for a year they welcomed me in and made me feel at home with good times, talking shi*e, watching DVD's and too much vodka. I hope they will cope OK without a big manly male around the house now, cough. There was then the Pyrmont apartment of Stringy, Fitzy and Locko, and also Super, Connor, Sheepy, Andy..the list goes on!
Living and knowing these people has made the whole time worthwhile for me, I arrived solo but apart from the first two days I have never felt on my own and was always welcomed as one
of the group, in fact I suspect they rather enjoyed having me as the token Welsh! At times at the start I felt a little like Signourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist, sitting there observing, trying not to arouse suspicions,attemping to interact, becoming fascinated with their lives, habitats, personalities and trying to figure out a way to understand and commuicate with them, but gradually I learned and adjusted! (come on, thats a great analogy!?)
In light of this I would just like to offer my own slang dictionary of Irish sayings and of course their actual meanings:
What' the craic/What you at?: What might you be doing at this moment in time?
Fu*k alllll:Not much is going on currently but thanks for asking.
Your ma hates ye:Your mother is slightly dissapointed in you.
I'm your da's boyfriend:In actual fact, your father is a homosexual and I am his lover.
For fu*kkkkks sake:Oh darn it.
He is not wise:I do believe that fellow is short of a few brain cells.
I'm raging:Why, that has upset me somewhat.
Let's go on the rip:I fancy a beverage or two.
Rote off the map:I do believe I was slighty intoxicated.
Its only John Leslie!
From Abi Titmuss, money, fame, celebrity, to Scruffy Murphys with drunken Welsh men. Slippery slope. Let's wreck er: We should have more drinks than our body will like and possibly attempt to destroy this establishment in the process.
That would sicken ye:That would result in a a feeling of discontent.
Look at the cut of/shape of that: That makes for unusual viewing.
Deadly/lethal:used to describe anything good-Irish logic, you work it out.
Anyway, I'd just like to publicly thank each and everyone of them for their madness, badness, craziness and even sometimes warmth and friendship! I love each and everyone of them in lots more different ways than I can describe in a blog but rest assured I shall miss you all, look out for me in a street in Ireland some day soon...The same goes for the many an awesome person I have met both in Sydney and on the coast, too many to mention to be fair but some that jump to the front include the wife Francine, who I admit was English but I try to ignore that the best I can! We had a couple of months of great times and also with her I did lots of the touristy things so I'm glad not all my Sydney memories will
be remembered through a haze of alcohol!There's also the Dublin girls, Rhodri and Lori, Chris and Steph..etc etc, even working buddies, Cassie, Fearghal, Julie-Anne, Kelly-Anne, too many too name, but too many good times to forget, love you all too. On the working front I have hardly enhanced my career, but enjoyed my time doing data entry initially, and now in the call centre chatting up old grannies, and of course who can forget my fateful one day stint as a labourer, Bob the Builder I aint! Every good and bad time is a memory to look back upon though and all part of this great experience.
So just to fill you in on the activites since my last blog, I managed to obtain my second year visa-hence still being allowed in the country until now and not being thrown out. Technically I can stay until January 2009 but like Bucks Fizz (the band not the drink) I have made my mind up. Since then there has been many a night out, there was the Australia Day celebrations, also my stint as an honourary Irish for Paddy's weekend-3 days of it to be exact, and last but certainly not
least Mardi Gras. Across these 3 celebrations I have embraced my camp/feminine side and also my clearly raging desire to dress up as a fool and embarass myself. None more so than Mardi Gras, where like The Flintstones we had a gay old time. The day was great, and parents I apologise in advance for this, but it saw me and Sean dress up as a couple in matching outfits. This included a pink cowboy hat, bright pink tight fitting t-shirt which read 'Future Trophy Wife',short pink ruffled skirt, a feather boa, pink furry bracelets, silver sparkling sandals, a pink headband which read 'Girls Rule' and just to top it off some manly pink nail varnish and lip gloss. Matt wore a similarly gay outfit whilst the girls went mainly as police officers, maids or nurses and everyone was looking really well. The least surprising thing was the absolute ball we had drinking all day in the apartment dressed like that and the laughs we had, the most surprising thing was the lack of a beating once we left the confines of the apartment, in fact if anything we merely blended in and looked the least outrageous on show, and
that tells you the kind of event it was! I can't even begin to tell you the amount of comments we had, gay banter and drunken shennanigans but it will last in the memory forever.
The last couple of weekends then passed in a drunken yet stupendous blur. The penultimate one started with a drunken Friday night, and I had only just recovered from this when Sean talked me into another night out, starting at his apartment. Arm thoroughly twisted I duly obliged and went to his, where Matt answered (he was meant to be in work) and the lights were off, I tried to ask him what was going on but he ushered me down the corridor. Looking back now I don't know how I didn't see it coming as I'm usually quite savvy to that stuff, plus there was dark rooms, hushed voices and the smell of food. But I think I was too worried Matt had some kind of romantic meal lined up for just me and him-those Barry folk are weird after all and there's only so much sheep you can take before getting bored.. Instead, the Irish had arranged a surprise going away party
for little old me!! It was your streoptypical lights on, cheering voices, jump out from behind walls and chairs, party poppers in my face, scaring the living sh*t out of me surprise. The whole thing was there, the drink was plentiful, Matt pulled a blinder as usual and served up some food and a truly stunning cake (see pictures) and it was probably the best night I've had here, made all the better by the fact it was in my honour and I was geniunly touched (thankfully not by Matt in the end!). There was many a laugh, tables and beds broken, shopping trolleys used, men in drag (yep of course I was one of them), locksmiths required and general laughs, massive thanks to all those for the effort involved. The following day I intended to go and watch the Joe Calzaghe fight at midday with Sean for maybe a beer or two, but it ended up with the whole thing there again at Scruffys and me not rolling in to bed until midnight, but mighty Joe won so there was celebrating to be done, not least with some (very bad) Irish dancing and folk music, great times. To top
this off (if possible) my Wentworth girls then surprised me with a trip to the Sydney Tower, a lovely meal at the revolving restaurant at night. If you can imagine me, the girls and Sean at an all you can eat buffet then you have a fair idea how it went. Sadly my night thingy on my camera is pants so no pictures came out. Was ye another stunning suprise treat though and I felt thoroughly spolied and of coruse all warm and fuzzy inside, it hardly pushed me towards wanting to leave them all, sniffle.
In other news, the mighty Wales crushed all before them in the 6 Nations with their free flowing rugby and I felt it only right to allow the beer to flow as freely and celebrate each game, the time differences meant things like 5am kick offs but that just made it all the more entertaining. Again, none more so than when we met John Leslie whilst watching the Scotland game, if only I had a clear recollection of the abuse and chants we sang at him, he took it all well though (just like Abi Titmuss apparently..) and was great banter, how
I shall miss Scruffy Murphys. Thrown in along the way was me going to watch Jack Johnson in concert with Francine, seeing him and Snow Patrol whilst over here have been great highlights. I also went to the Opera House to watch a comedian which ticked that tourist box and we also went up the Harbour Bridge pylon on a perfect day which offered gerat views and was a lvoely way to see the city one last time. I took a video of it which you can see below. There was also an appearence by DJ Sconer (AKA Sean) who played a set in the The Gaffe, we were his number one fans/groupies/ bodyguards/stalkers at the front before it all went a bit Pete Tong (that works on so many levels!). Finally just to top it off we abused the last of the good weather with some BBQ's on the balcony, good eating, big drinking, apartment wrecking, chair smashing fun, good times. Am sure there is loads of news back home I was meant to mention but it escapes me now, I definitely know I have to say congratulations to Caz and Ben who got engaged and who's wedding in
My lovely girls
Kazakhstan, me, Nora Batty, Mothballs 2009 I will try and be back for! Also, congratulations to my sister who completed the London Marathon for a second time (thats just showing off really) in a time of 4 hours 38mins, so well done big sis. Am sure there are some birthdays in there too but I forget now, apologies and happy birthday if you are one of them!
And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain (hey snappy lyrics there, I just made that up...). Its a bittersweet moment for me what with not wanting to leave my mates behind but also massively excited to begin my travels, I guess I want my cake and to eat it (cue Billy Connolly :When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". F*cking right! What good is a cake if you can't eat it?) The future plans are kinda formed and also kinda loose and random. Chris has finally seen the light, he of much earlier blogs and abuse for choosing a woman over travels, and has finally become single, given in his notice and decided to hit the road, ah who needs a woman,security, money
Jack Johnson concert
Lazy day in the sun, drinks, a great show and a good view. and a good teaching job anyways?!Once he has fufilled his best man duties for his brothers wedding (tut, priorities!) he is meeting me sometime at the start of August in Canada, where as a crimefighting type duo we will tackle Canada, America, South America and as many random countries in between/after as money will allow. I leave Sydney on April 28th, so I therefore have about 14 weeks to do as I please, and what pleases is me is seeing as much of Asia as possible.
These plans will revolve around who I meet, what I hear, what I fancy etc, but at the moment the general intention is Bali, Borneo, Java, Jakarta, Sumatra, Thailand, Mynamar(Burma to me and you), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Phillipines, even writing down that list of countries has me feeling like Gary Glitter used to upon boarding the plane to Asia, although I suspect/hope for different reasons..I therefore only have to survive 3 and a half months of actual solo travelling before meeting up with Chris, and whilst I'd obviously love to go with someone I know like the glorious travels I had in olden times with Yank (we survived a magical month
Lets wreck er!
The chair deserved it, it got a bit cheeky.. in Sinapore, Malaysia and Thailand,ohh mate!) I really don't mind going alone and am looking forward to it hugely. Expect some fast and furious blogs in the future, I aim to do one for most countries so perhaps one every couple of weeks but its dependant on internet available, time etc. I am taking my mobile with me, I have purchased a world wide SIM card which claims to work in every country no matter how remote, we shall see, the number for that is 0037253156679 or similarily +37253156679, its something like 24 Pence a txt but feel free to use it, of course I will be on facebook etc too when possible. As always there is the option of leaving me a comment in the bottom left hand corner, I look forward to hearing from you all and especially during these solo times. There are a lot of people back home-none more so than my folks-who are worried about me going there alone and think that it may be a touch dodgy, but never fear it shall be fine, much like this time around I don't actually intend on being on my own for long and besides, sitting around
thinking about me or any danger I may be in is not healthy:
Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. Charles Schulz.
How apt, loving and missing you all.
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Sarah-Jane
non-member comment
A long time coming...
Well love, it's been worth the wait! Firstly a long time waiting for the blog but also for the big adventure. So many happy memories already tucked into your belt and so many more to come! xxx