another quick one.

I tried this the other day for about 45 minutes and at the end of it, the computer I was working on crashed. So here's a brief synopsis:

Sydney is fun. I'm going a little ways north to either A) work at a hostel on the beach, B) wwoof for some organic hippie types, or C) (cross your fingers) work for a guy on a 38 foot sailboat near Byron Bay.

There's some crazy cars here, my favorite being a thing that looks like a new, sweet El Camino.

I was surprised to find out that the population is roughly 65% Asian to 35% Caucasian, with a few percent being Indian. And four black people.

These are some pictures of Darling Harbor which was really nice to walk around in. The bridge is really big, and that's over by the Opera House.

The last one is at a bar I went to yesterday next to where I'm staying. They have crab races every Monday night! Number 18 won, I did not. But this girl won a 3 day 2 night sailing trip at Whitsunday Island. Good job little crab!

word.

Sydney is fun. It's a lot like Chicago, but there's more independent shops and things in addition to the chains. I'll probably be leaving here in the next couple days, as the visa/phone/work-travel membership things are still getting worked out. Going to Wwoof north of here, which should be fun and save me some money until I can work.

Walked around a lot since I've got time to kill. Took the mandatory pictures of the Opera House, bridge and harbor. I'll post soon. The weather has been gorgeous, 65ish and sunny since I've been here, but it's weird. It's "winter" so the sun starts to go down around 4:30 or 5. Anyway, I'll keep y'all updated soon.

quickly

Getting all the visa stuff straightened out has been way more of a hassle than I thought it would. You can get a passport in a couple days, or even the same day, but it takes all kinds of jumping through hoops and clearing red tape for the visa.

School's done, and graduation was actually pretty cool. It took too long, but it was nice, and the party afterwards turned out to be a great time. Thanks to Caleb and Liz for various whiskeys, and Matuska for the Chinese surprise gift. Butterfly clips rock.

Spent another day-and-a-half visiting my parents, which always feels a little bit like the twilight zone. Time seems to pass differently than normal, and I feel like I'm always just waiting to get home.

Scanning books and sites about packing and what to bring/what should be left. I leave for the airport in 44 hours.

My 'morrows always seemed just fine.

Been a while.

School is almost done. Busy weekend ahead. I'm going to have an empty house to force me to get work done, and it seems pretty much everyone is out of town, so I'll have no distractions. Just a few more days.

It was one of those weeks where the nights turned into mornings, basic things like laundry and food took a backseat to getting shit done, and Johnny Walker became a nighttime companion.

One of my classes involves myself, and 5 others from from Engineering, Design, and an MBA student. Tuesday we had to give a final presentation to the vice president of product development for Motorola. I was running on 1 hour of sleep. Our MBA student was late. And consequently, we finished our presentation with her dictating the last 4 slides to another group member in the car on the way to Motorola. It was neat.

Worked out in the end, and our group actually "won" for the most innovative concept and product ecosystem. Anyway, we got some recognition, and supposedly they're going to give us each a new phone for winning. woo.

I have a busy couple weeks ahead as well. Graduation next Saturday, and I'm going to have to stick a party in somewhere. Leave for Australia a week from the following Monday. I have to get home to see my family a little before I leave, too.

I took this photo because it made me smile the other day. Granted I'd been awake for about 30 hours, but I still think it's funny.