Do not be disheartened by the title of this post! I am still having a wonderful time in Sydney, but of course... the time has come when my luck starts to run out and my inner klutz starts to make regular appearances. So here are some stories from my latest messy moments...
Liars
As I may or may not have mentioned before, one of the greatest benefits of the Boston University program is the opportunity to participate in an internship here in Australia during the second half of the semester. My internship advisor has been an absolute gem- he's a very experienced, well connected man who takes great interest in the goals and visions of the students the places into internships. So one day shoots me an e-mail saying that I have an interview set up at 6 pm with a top advertising internship here in Sydney. Exciting! Unfortunately for me, this interview fell between class and the time I had set aside for finishing a major paper due the next day. But! Priorities are priorities, so I said I would go.
First of all- this agency is located on a street with a very strange name. To protect the agency- we'll just call the street Fanny. I have to find Fanny street. As I'm walking down the road, trying to adjust my high heels ( I had 30 minutes between class and when I had to leave) I begin to realize that Google Maps is crap, and I have absolutely no idea where I was going. I stopped and asked directions a few times, avoiding the word "Fanny" at all costs. After a few friendly chats with some street musicians (which cost me about a buck a pop) I was finally headed in the right direction. At this point, I was up four blisters and down 30 minutes. I had twenty minutes to get to my interview on Fanny St. After a few minutes doing the chicken dance on the side of the road during rush hour, I managed to snag a cab. I instructed him that I was a damsel in distress- I had twenty dollars, twenty minutes, and one very important interview. The driver assured me he could get me to my destination quickly and cheaply.
HE LIED.
About five minutes in to the car ride, my cab driver decided to inform me that he had to stop for gas. DURING RUSH HOUR! I didn't get a word in edgewise before we pulled up to the station, and he hopped out to fuel up. I dialed a friend from school furiously as I watched him leisurely pay for his gas and peruse the snack isle. After receiving the phone number for the agency from my friend, I watched in horror as the cab driver exited the store, and assist a woman with her gas pump. I literally jumped out of the van, and pulled the driver back into the cab. When we're finally driving again, he decides to inform me that he isn't entirely sure exactly where we're going, but he's going to drop me off in the area. Another agonizing 10 or so minutes later, I'm getting out of the cab.. asking everyone who walks by where Fanny St. is. Naturally, nobody has any clue what I'm talking about. Turns out Fanny St. is actually more like a narrow alley. Fanny Alley.
But this ends well! I made it to the interview more or less on time (they were informed that I was having taxi difficulty), and the interview went splendidly. The company is youthful, vibrant, and looks like it's going to be a real blast. Although I had to soak my feet four an hour afterward, it was totally worth it.
Bruises
As some of you may know- my background in coordination is a little lackluster. I can't really catch a ball, rub my stomach while patting my head, or walk and chew gum. Turns out I can't really walk and send a text message either.
I was leaving class the other day. I was very excited because it was a brand new class I was taking about Aboriginal culture taught by an Aboriginal woman. So I'm leaving class telling my friend about the class, with my professor right behind me. I whipped out my phone to check my text messages, and next thing I know, my phone is skidding across the floor and I'm on my hands and knees, about three concrete steps lower than I had been a second ago. I turn around and my friend, and RA and my professor all have their mouths open. It must have been one of those situations where they really wanted to laugh, but first I had to demonstrate that I wasn't seriously injured first. So I laughed, then they laughed... and now my professor must think I need a helmet.
Fast forward a few days and I'm out on the town, enjoying the nightlife of Sydney. I'm in a dimly lit bar with a friend looking for another group of friends we're supposed to be meeting. My phone starts to ring, and so I answer it, but start searching for a quieter place to talk. I spy an open chair on the patio, so I hurry to grab the chair before someone else does. Next thing I know, I'm falling backwards.. my phone is yet again skidding across the ground, and I land on my butt. Next to me my friend is doubled over laughing. I hear a faint rattling sound, and I look up to see my nose and forehead prints on the glass door that I seemed to miss on my way out to the patio. Needless to say... we met our group of friends at a different bar.
Tears
I think the combination of my recent mishaps, combined with the pressure of completing a 12 page paper started to make me a little crazy. I'm sitting in the library today, typing the rest of my paper furiously, and a friend comes over to distract me. He tells me about this video on Youtube of Christian the Lion. (Go watch it after this, and the story makes more sense). Basically, a while back, two men adopted a lion cub, raised him, and released him into the wild. Then after a few years, they went back to visit the lion, and a joyful reunion ensued. It doesn't sound so bad, but something about the happy lion footage paired with the Whitney Houston song struck a real cord with me. I realized too late that I had tears streaming down my face. I burst out laughing when I realized I was crying, and then crying when I realized I was laughing. My friend sat watching me with eyebrows raised as I tried to compose my very tearful, snotty laughing fit. I ended up having to go to the bathroom and pull myself together.
For those of you who might not believe the power of this video.. here's the link.
Christian the Lion
If you don't cry... you probably don't have a heart.
Till next time!
~Apples
