Sydney: October 5 – October 10, 2011
Ok. Blog entry number one from Australia. I debated whether I should keep a blog on this trip because it’s not like I’m travelling and doing exciting things. I’m moving for work…. and lets face it, my glamorous life as an auditor does not exactly make for interesting reading. But with that said, I do like to write and I think there will be enough non-work related events to warrant the odd post. I imagine there will a fair bit to write about at first, and as I get settled, there will be less to discuss.
I arrived in Sydney on Friday October 7, direct from Vancouver. I can’t say the 15-hour flight bothers me too much…. what does bother me is the Sydney airport. After 15 hours in the air, I do not feel like circling the airport for 45 minutes, nor do I feel like sitting on the plane for 15 minutes after we have landed for “quarantine”, waiting in an hour long customs line or having all my bags sniffed by a dog. Oh well… I made it. The 18-hour time change that comes with the flight, isn’t the best either. We left on October 5 and arrived on the 7th…. Which makes for pretty bad jet lag.
EY had a car organized to pick me up from the airport (which is nice after a long trip) and I was taken to my temporary accommodation. For my first month here, while I look for my own place, I have a furnished apartment right downtown (or in the CBD – Central Business District – as the Aussies call it). The apartment is fine; it’s a block from my office and quite convenient to all basic amenities.
The one pit fall with the place is the internet situation. Internet is not included with the room, so if I wanted it, I had to pay an absurd extra charge. I hummed and hawed about it, since I will have access at work, but ultimately its my Canucks that got me… if I want to watch the games, I have no choice. It’s also helpful though to have high-speed access at home, for apartment searching and skype-ing – and (because I don’t have any friends) for something to do. Once checked in, I got my priorities in order; I managed to stream the Canucks season opener live.
It’s really strange moving to a new place where you know close to no one. Unlike when I moved to Perth and had 6 instant friends (through being in the same program), this is different. I’m almost completely on my own. Coming to Sydney I knew only 4 people; the girl who used to live in the same house as Craig, her boyfriend, a guy from EY Vancouver and a guy from EY NY who I met last year in Perth through a mutual friend.
I thought I was fairly well prepared for this move, having lived in Australia before and knowing what to expect, but I’m still finding that some things throw me off. Like the pedestrian cross walks; instead of timing the crossings with the direction of traffic, they stop all the traffic and let everyone walk at once in every direction. I think that Ive almost been hit by a car at least 3 times. I’m also finding that there is a lot of unnecessary red tape around everything I do; the idiot at the bank told me it would be 3-4 months to get a credit card…. Pretty sure that isn’t right.
I spent most of my first day by myself running errands (bank/mobile phone/groceries/etc) and unpacking. The next day, after a much needed sleep, I went an explored some of the neighbourhoods to see where I might want to live. Right now I’m leaning towards Surry Hills or Newtown, which are both inner city suburbs with commutes less than 30 minutes door to door. I went to 2 open houses as well which was extremely discouraging; the first one had literally 200 people there to view it and it was only OK. The second one was quieter but not nice at all. The real estate/rental market in Vancouver is bad, but nothing like it is here; its absurd. I’m a little stressed out about finding a place…. It doesn’t look like it will be easy.
I managed to find friends to hang out with the rest of the weekend!! I went out on Saturday night to watch the rugby world cup and afterwards met another for a few drinks at a pub (or a “hotel” as the pubs seem to be called for some reason). On Sunday I met up with 2 (of my 4) friends again and went for a nice brunch and stroll around Bronte. Bronte is just south of famed Bondi Beach; its just as pretty, only quieter and less touristy. I liked it quite a lot. The weather got quite nice and we walked up the coast a bit. I would like to live out that ways, but it’s a long commute, so I think I will have to settle with just going to the beach on the weekends.
Here is a picture of Bronte Beach on Sunday
Monday (today) was my first day at work. There were about 15 of us who started together in assurance, and about 15 more in the other service lines (tax, advisory, etc). The group is a real mix, but the majority are from the UK. Otherwise, there are a couple French, 2 Americans, a Slovak, a German and myself. It was only day one, but people seem friendly. I’m hoping we have a social event of some sort this week so that I can get to know the people a bit. We are in training (or ‘induction’) all week, so by the end of it, hopefully I have some friends.
Otherwise, its pretty crazy being in such a large office…. There are 2300 people. It’s the 5th largest EY in the world, so a bit of a change from Vancouver. I also met people in my industry group (mining). Everyone was really friendly and it seems like a pretty good crowd. Looks like I will be going up to Queensland on a job in November, so that might be interesting.
This wasn’t a very exciting post… but that’s likely because I haven’t done anything too exciting.
I arrived in Sydney on Friday October 7, direct from Vancouver. I can’t say the 15-hour flight bothers me too much…. what does bother me is the Sydney airport. After 15 hours in the air, I do not feel like circling the airport for 45 minutes, nor do I feel like sitting on the plane for 15 minutes after we have landed for “quarantine”, waiting in an hour long customs line or having all my bags sniffed by a dog. Oh well… I made it. The 18-hour time change that comes with the flight, isn’t the best either. We left on October 5 and arrived on the 7th…. Which makes for pretty bad jet lag.
EY had a car organized to pick me up from the airport (which is nice after a long trip) and I was taken to my temporary accommodation. For my first month here, while I look for my own place, I have a furnished apartment right downtown (or in the CBD – Central Business District – as the Aussies call it). The apartment is fine; it’s a block from my office and quite convenient to all basic amenities.
The one pit fall with the place is the internet situation. Internet is not included with the room, so if I wanted it, I had to pay an absurd extra charge. I hummed and hawed about it, since I will have access at work, but ultimately its my Canucks that got me… if I want to watch the games, I have no choice. It’s also helpful though to have high-speed access at home, for apartment searching and skype-ing – and (because I don’t have any friends) for something to do. Once checked in, I got my priorities in order; I managed to stream the Canucks season opener live.
It’s really strange moving to a new place where you know close to no one. Unlike when I moved to Perth and had 6 instant friends (through being in the same program), this is different. I’m almost completely on my own. Coming to Sydney I knew only 4 people; the girl who used to live in the same house as Craig, her boyfriend, a guy from EY Vancouver and a guy from EY NY who I met last year in Perth through a mutual friend.
I thought I was fairly well prepared for this move, having lived in Australia before and knowing what to expect, but I’m still finding that some things throw me off. Like the pedestrian cross walks; instead of timing the crossings with the direction of traffic, they stop all the traffic and let everyone walk at once in every direction. I think that Ive almost been hit by a car at least 3 times. I’m also finding that there is a lot of unnecessary red tape around everything I do; the idiot at the bank told me it would be 3-4 months to get a credit card…. Pretty sure that isn’t right.
I spent most of my first day by myself running errands (bank/mobile phone/groceries/etc) and unpacking. The next day, after a much needed sleep, I went an explored some of the neighbourhoods to see where I might want to live. Right now I’m leaning towards Surry Hills or Newtown, which are both inner city suburbs with commutes less than 30 minutes door to door. I went to 2 open houses as well which was extremely discouraging; the first one had literally 200 people there to view it and it was only OK. The second one was quieter but not nice at all. The real estate/rental market in Vancouver is bad, but nothing like it is here; its absurd. I’m a little stressed out about finding a place…. It doesn’t look like it will be easy.
I managed to find friends to hang out with the rest of the weekend!! I went out on Saturday night to watch the rugby world cup and afterwards met another for a few drinks at a pub (or a “hotel” as the pubs seem to be called for some reason). On Sunday I met up with 2 (of my 4) friends again and went for a nice brunch and stroll around Bronte. Bronte is just south of famed Bondi Beach; its just as pretty, only quieter and less touristy. I liked it quite a lot. The weather got quite nice and we walked up the coast a bit. I would like to live out that ways, but it’s a long commute, so I think I will have to settle with just going to the beach on the weekends.
Here is a picture of Bronte Beach on Sunday
Monday (today) was my first day at work. There were about 15 of us who started together in assurance, and about 15 more in the other service lines (tax, advisory, etc). The group is a real mix, but the majority are from the UK. Otherwise, there are a couple French, 2 Americans, a Slovak, a German and myself. It was only day one, but people seem friendly. I’m hoping we have a social event of some sort this week so that I can get to know the people a bit. We are in training (or ‘induction’) all week, so by the end of it, hopefully I have some friends.
Otherwise, its pretty crazy being in such a large office…. There are 2300 people. It’s the 5th largest EY in the world, so a bit of a change from Vancouver. I also met people in my industry group (mining). Everyone was really friendly and it seems like a pretty good crowd. Looks like I will be going up to Queensland on a job in November, so that might be interesting.
This wasn’t a very exciting post… but that’s likely because I haven’t done anything too exciting.
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