Day 2 of insanity commences and I have to warm up a bit longer because my muscles are exceptionally sore. I am still in terrible shape though as I have to hit pause on a couple of occasions to catch my breath. Still, I am proud that I am doing this for myself. In six months I will be in the best shape of my life. As I am working out I spot two Rainbow Lorikeets flying together, chirping at each other joyfully while they soar through the air. Most birds are usually all about themselves, but it seems like this specific bird is quite gregarious. My breakfast has become very generic lately but I really enjoy it: Oatmeal with banana slices. It is a great meal to recover after working out, especially as hard as I did the last couple of days. During breakfast I decide to call my new manager Noelyne, of City Sightseeing Sydney, to set up a meeting. She claims that she was getting worried that I wasn’t going to call and I need to start developing my Australian accent. Tomorrow she will be in at 8:30 AM and I agree to meet with her at 8:45 AM.
In the TV area on the third floor of my hostel there is are half-Asian girl and a boy passed out on the beanbag chairs. When I get back to my room there is an older Asian lady there and she smiles at me and introduces herself in an American accent, “Hi there I am Jeanie!” I introduce myself and she tells me she is here with her two kids from Palo Alto California. I jokingly point out that they must be the two kids that I saw upstairs passed out. She agrees and tells me about her life story. The three of them are glassblowers touring around the world together. They just arrived from Bali and have also done their craft thus far in China, Thailand, Japan and a few other countries. So cool! She says they are in Australia for 3 months and will visit New Zealand very shortly. I tell her my story and she is equally fascinated about my Chautauqua. I also mention that I have seen glassblowing at the Harbourfront centre in Toronto many times and find it quite interesting. She is having trouble finding a place to stay here though since it is very expensive and most landlords don’t want young children in their places. Just as we are talking the little girl enters and goes to sleep in her bed. Jeanie introduces her as Amy and she apparently isn’t feeling well today. Amy is 10 years old. Next, the teenager enters and he shakes my hand and tells me his name is Chris. Chris asks me if I brought my bike with me since he noticed my helmet. I nod yes and he tells me that he works at a bike shop in San Francisco.
For the next hour we talk only about bikes, a shared passion we both have apparently. We talk about brands, parts, routes, and shops, and how much more expensive new bikes are in Sydney than in North America. I mention that I found a place online called the Nunnery, on Philip Street, where they have second hand bikes. Excitedly he asks if it is open today, but I regretfully tell him that they only run it on Mondays and Wednesdays. Chris informs me that biking in San Francisco is nearly insane and that riding his fixie up the hills there is probably the most taxing form of cardio you can do…next to Sean T’s insanity. He indicates as well that biking in California can be quite dangerous too, since there is an area in Palo Alto that was the murder capital of the United States a few years back. I tell him how biking is safer in Toronto and how there are a lot more bike lanes than here in Sydney, as well as trails carved everywhere, like in the Don valley or along the waterfront. Chris is also quite intrigued by the Bixi bikes that our city is about to test out in 2011. This is basically a public bike rental system where you can pay a certain amount a month to get a bike from one place to another. There will be many stations around the city where you are able to lock your bike. I saw them this past summer as one day they were promoting the service right next to me one day at York and Front. The bikes are very heavy and I don’t know how well they are maintained, and if you are riding every day, it is cheaper to just buy a bike. This Scottish dude, who is now in our room unpacking, mentions in Edinburgh there isn’t any interest in cycling and that we seem to both myself and Chris know a lot about the subject.
Amy seems to be a little shy and when she tries to speak, Chris seems to interrupt her like he is angry she is there. He is 18 years old though, probably feeling like he isn’t a kid anymore and is at the stage in his life where he probably feels she might embarrass him. My brother was the same way growing up, although now we are very close and I trust him more than anyone in the entire world. One cool thing Amy and Chris are happy to show how me is this trick wallet they bought in China and if you strike the flint properly while opening it, it catches fire as…very neat! Chris is also quite the juggler as well and seems to be quite the acrobat, as he can do the splits as he juggles. I mention to him that I love Cirque du Soleil and my mom does as well being French Canadian. I also tell Jeanie that if they ever wanted to do glassblowing in Toronto, that they could most likely crash at my mom’s house for a few. Hopefully I will remember to mention that to my mom though before they just show up. Also I tell Jeanie that she should check out Gumtree.com.au for apartments.
After the family of Californian glass blowers leaves, I am checking out apartments again and still very frustrated as most are not in this area or are too expensive or are rooms with 8 other dudes in them. I need a place either in Surry Hills, Glebe, Redfern or Eveleigh as they are halfway between where I work and the city. At wits end, I hold my head, upset that I can’t find a place to live and for a moment I actually contemplate GOING HOME. Other people in the hostel have told me as well that in December it is nearly impossible to find a room in hostel. Imagine if I had taken that guy Wesley’s advice and just winged it? FUCK SHOP N’ DINE!!! Besides I was a Scout and the motto in Scouts is: BE PREPARED. As I picture myself walking into Lawrence subway station, shivering with my red earlobes pulsating from the cold weather and getting in an over packed train, I snap out of it and come to my senses. “When I reload this page there will be a one room apartment close by, within my price range!” I tell myself. I hit the reload button on the web browser. An ad appears and it has been posted one minute ago. It Reads:
Single room available in house in Redfern for min. 3 month
- 200 per/week + 400 bond
- Close to city, train station, library and market
- Quiet with balcony, across from park
- All bills included
- Shared kitchen and bathrooms (all you pay is rent and for your own internet)
- Very clean
- No pets or small children
- Share available
Address 123 Fake Street
Call Tania and Fred at 555-555-5555
Without hesitation I reach for my phone. Frantically I dial the number as quickly as possible. A female voice answers and tells me I am the first caller. It’s almost like those radio talk shows, where they ask some easy ass question and the 7th caller wins tickets to some random event. She describes the place exactly as it is listed. When I ask if I can see the place right now, she laughs and tells me I can meet her husband Fred at 4:05 PM today. After hanging up, my heart is racing and I have to go get lunch to calm myself down. All I can think about is how awesome this place sounds.
I arrive at the listed address at 3:55PM and it appears to be a decent spot. The park across the street is massive and the area seems fairly safe and it is only about 5 blocks away from my hostel. It’s too hot to stand out in front though so I decide to sit on a bench across the street. As the time on my cell phone hits 4:03, I notice that a girl is standing in front of the apartment checking it out. Fuck me, I must have competition. At 4:08 a forty-something year old balding Lebanese guy wearing work clothes appears and shakes her hand. I leap off the bench and run across the street and introduce myself and he lets her know that I called first. He opens the gate to the house and says that the guy who was living here just up and left with no warning and didn’t even collect his bond…very strange. The front door requires two keys to unlock it and I like this for safety reasons. The house smells like my old cottage and I get a nostalgic feeling when I first walk. The room itself is quite small with a bed, 2 closets, a fireplace, a desk, TV and a cabinet. The balcony is indoors, but I don’t really care. Fred shows me the kitchen and bathrooms which are all clean, although he mentions that one of them has no lock. There are 2 fridges and many cabinets in the kitchen to store food in as well.
Now the three of us, Me, Fred and this girl are standing there in the kitchen. Fred asks if we like it and we both nod while looking at each other. We have a situation now don’t we? Luckily Fred tells this girl, who I now realise is German, that I called first. Also I mention that I am here in Australia for at least 4 months and she is only here for 3. He lets her know too that all the other people living in the house and men, which she seems upset by. I tell that I can pay him the $200 in rent, plus the $400 today. I can see she has now capitulated and when I mention that all I need to do is go back to my hostel and grab my stuff, she smarmily states in, “At least you HAVE a hostel!” Poof, she steams off and leaves the place. Fred asks me if I can give him a deposit and I tell him that I have $150 on me right now. He gives a receipt and tells me that I can move in on Thursday, but he needs the other $450 tomorrow at 1PM.
When I get back to my room at the Bounce, I tell Chris the great news and he is excited. He tells me there was a place he found on Gumtree that was free to stay in for 2 weeks as long as you fed the guys pets, which were 2 dogs, 3 cats, a snake, 5 budgies and a cockatoo. My mom sent me an email too letting me know that Oprah is coming to Sydney in December and that there will be a show with her and Bon Jovi. Immediately, I go to Oprah’s homepage and send her a letter telling her how much I love what she does and begging her to bring my mom here to see Bon Jovi as she missed the show in Toronto in July and that I would love to see my mom before Christmas as I will be lonely. Hopefully, Oprah will get this letter and my mom will finally get to escape the harsh Canadian winter for once. By 10 PM I am in bed since I have to be up at early to meet with Noelyne. Hopefully all will go well and the job is pretty much the same as in Toronto.
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