From: Dale Shaw (dale.shaw@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Feb 05 2009 - 21:51:47 ARST
I hope you packed light -- we're experiencing a heat wave at the
moment. On that note, make sure you stay well hydrated; it'll help
with your jet lag recovery too. Try to adjust to local time quickly by
forcing yourself to stay up. Just generally look after yourself 'cause
there's nothing worse than a climate-shock-induced cold/flu in 35C+
Don't underestimate our sun -- it will burn you. Thankfully it looks
like it'll be cooling down next week.
There's nothing much to do in Sydney; it's a small, uninteresting
country town that smells funny.
Just kidding. Once you're settled in, just ask at your hotel for some
advice. You might as well do all the touristy things, particularly
after you pass your lab. Check out the Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay,
The Rocks, the Opera House, go to Kings Cross/Darlinghurst if seedy
night life is your thing. Go and eat in Newtown or Surry Hills or
Leichardt. Wander through Hyde Park, check out Darling Harbour. Go
watch a movie at an outdoor cinema. Try to avoid eating in the
obviously touristy areas because you'll get not much for a lot. Go to
Bondi Beach, walk to Bronti. Loiter in the CBD (aka "Downtown") or
North Sydney at lunch time and check out the "bird life".
Dramatically lower your expectations of customer service -- we don't
do it here except in the poshest restaurants and hotels. There's not
the same tipping culture. Don't tip for bad service and/or bad food
and/or bad experience. I know it'll be hard since it's part of the
North American soul. We don't hate Americans, generally speaking. Just
tell people you're Canadian if you strike trouble, eh! :-)
Wear thongs, give someone a dink, have a schooner or ten.
cheers,
Dale
On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 5:39 AM, Michael Dorion <m.dorion@live.com> wrote:
> Hi GS,
> Decided to take an attempt in Sydney after a narrow miss a couple months
> ago. I leave tomorrow but the lab isn't till next week.
>
> Any advice for this location? Parking? Finding it? Things to do in the area?
> Do people hate Americans down there? I've never even been out of the
> country. Maybe I should practice having a different accent for asking the
> proctor questions. :)
>
> I'll be hanging around the area for a couple weeks and I have been too busy
> studying to worry about planning the trip. 23 hour flight, and 15 hour time
> difference from Boston. I gave myself 2 days to recover from traveling
> before the lab.
>
> -Mike
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sun Mar 01 2009 - 09:44:10 ARST