Alright y'all, sorry that I haven't posted anything in a week but I realized it was time to go to school! Anyway, last Friday Avi and I went to check out another apartment in Bondi and we LOVED it! Not only is it a 5 minute walk to the beach but there's a bus stop right outside the apartment that goes into the city and Glick's bakery (with the delicious challah) is about a 2 minute walk. Also it has a brand new full size fridge, plenty of storage space, a sun room, and an extra twin bed. We got our application in that afternoon and found out around 5 that we got it! It was really exciting.
Then we had a nice Shabbat dinner and on Saturday we walked to the Sydney Opera House and the Circular Quay area, which is beautiful! (Here's a Wikipedia description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_Quay) The whole time I kept saying that I wish I had my camera, especially since we saw the boardwalk and the area where Dance Academy is filmed (if you don't know what this show is, look for it on netflix, it's amazing!)!!! On the way home we walked through the Sydney Botanical Gardens, which is also quite pretty. After Shabbat, we had our first Australian date night, dinner and a movie! Warning: movies in Sydney are even more expensive than in New York! However, they do have student tickets. Avi's ticket was $18 and my student ticket was $16!!! Probably the first and last dinner and a movie date night (although I think we can get $10 tickets through our cell phone provider, I gotta check that out). On Sunday, we went to Darling Harbor and checked out all of the boats and then walked 3.2 km around the Sydney Harbor back to the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay so that we could take pictures (see facebook for pictures). It was about 70 degrees, in the heart of winter, and they said it was the warmest day in Sydney since mid-May. So after being locked in doors studying all summer, it was greatly appreciated!
Monday morning Avi started work and I started my first full week of school (where I attended every class, thank you very much!). I have continued to learn that the Australian legal system is very...different in comparison to the U.S. system since it stems from the UK and the Queen is a part of their executive. I met another student from Ireland who is doing something similar to me so we quickly became friends and are equally lost, both in class and around campus! I think we need to find a few Aussie friends to show us the ropes! I've been finding it hard to get back into school mode after being out of school for over a year and studying so intensely for the Georgia Bar. Although it seems like I was already in some sort of school mode from bar studying, it is much different than school. For one, when studying for the Bar, they give you everything you need to know without all the extra crap. Also, no one asks questions during the lectures (so I didn't have to listen to the extremely annoying kids who ask ridiculously stupid and unrelated hypotheticals). However, unlike in the U.S., in Australia all online access to cases and statutes is FREE! There is no need to pay for anything like westlaw or lexis because they can access any legal materials they want online. It's pretty crazy!
Last night (Wednesday night) we were invited out to this nice Jewish family's for dinner out in Rose Bay. It was really fun and delicious! Then tomorrow (Friday) morning Avi and I are signing our lease and then after he goes to work I am going to set the apartment up a bit and then go back to stay in the corporate apartments for our last free weekend there and get ready for Avi's birthday celebration on Sunday!
Other than that, nothing else is really going on. The posts will probably be more sporadic until I am done with school in November but please stay in touch and become a follower to the blog!
Miss and love y'all and feel free to share the blog :)
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Days 2 & 3: Kosher day & Apartment Hopping!
Sorry that I wasn't able to post yesterday, Avi and I were exhausted and fell asleep really early! That means that today's post will be much longer :)
Anyway, yesterday we had a lot more luck finding Kosher food...eventually.
We realized that if we want to travel, we need to try to save money on food, etc., so Wednesday morning we went grocery shopping. Since we had a really hard time finding Kosher food in the grocery store in the city, we bought fruits and vegetables and some snacks that had kosher ingredients to hold us over. After that we walked to my school again so that Avi could try to use the internet and I went to class. He failed in that department and I partly failed in the class department, but then again so did everyone else. The class was Administrative Law, which is how one can sue the government (basically a part of our Constitutional Law class). Anyway, since it is opening week (they call it "O week" here, which made me giggle), they had some crazy opening fair in the lecture building. There were speeches and really loud (not so good) singing and it was almost impossible to concentrate. My professor said she felt like she was watching the failed singers for Australian Idol. However, I did meet a really nice Jewish boy who is going to help me with my Real Property class, which will be clutch!
After class, we went to visit Bondi Junction. We took a train out there and it only took 10 minutes, which was great. When we got off the train we saw a guy wearing a kippah so I told Avi he should go ask him where we could find Kosher food. He was actually walking to the grocery store and showed us how to get there and explained to us the whole system. So in the suburbs where there are more Jews, not only do they have a Kosher section but also instead of the Kosher symbol on the items, they are placed on the pricing labels on the shelves. It's actually pretty convenient! So we bought some food for shabbos and tomorrow we are going to kasher the oven and buy some cheap utensils and stuff so we can have a nice first Shabbat in Sydney!
Today (Thursday) was much more exciting! We saw 10 different apartments in 3 different suburbs.
The first place we saw was in Surry Hills, which is the suburb right outside the city. It was pretty crappy. First of all it was on the 4th floor with no elevator, which would make it difficult for bringing up groceries and our luggage, etc. It was furnished but the kitchen was tiny and the bathroom was even smaller. The second place was in Darlinghurst in a hotel and it had a gym, pool, spa, etc. However, it was kind of like a bachelor pad. It was really small and had a dorm room fridge, but the balcony was HUGE!
The third place we went to was in Rosebay, which is literally Jew town! There were a bunch of kosher restaurants, and the apartment was huge and beautiful! But it was not furnished. So we would have to spend a good amount of money to fully furnish it (including a fridge). But it was our favorite through the first 3.
The next place was in Darlinghurst and it was also pretty crappy. It said that it was going to be furnished but apparently that only meant partially furnished. It also had a bed that came out of the wall like in a movie, which was pretty funny. The fifth place was in Woolloomooloo (try saying that 10 times fast!). It was actually beautifully furnished however it only had a half fridge as well. The sixth place was AWFUL! The bedroom and living room area were fine, but the kitchen was the size of my pinky finger. Also in the ad it said that there was a modern kitchen. Apparently a hot plate equals a modern kitchen. We told the guy showing us the apartment that his ad said it was a modern kitchen and he told us in comparison to the rest of the apartments in the building that was modern. OY VEY! We got out of their real quick.
Finally we saw 4 places in the Bondi area. The first place we saw was in Bondi Junction, which is where there is a lot of kosher food. The apartment there was really cheap but it was in the back of someone's house, it wasn't furnished, and it was tiny. The second place was also in Bondi Junction. It was unfurnished, huge, and beautiful, but it was way too expensive.
The next place we saw was in Bondi. We were getting pretty nervous because we had seen 8 places and none of them had really fit yet. On our way there we had extra time so we stopped at Glicks, a kosher bakery. We got some fresh Challah for Shabbat and it was warm when they handed it to us. Our real estate agent (Vanessa) was not planning on buying any but since it was so fresh, she bought one and let me have some. It was amazing! Whenever y'all come to visit, we are going to Glicks. Avi and I are now obsessed with it. Also, next door to Glicks there was a kosher marketplace which had every kind of cheese you could imagine and all the normal kosher food. Not as much meat, but we can get that at the grocery store so we were not that worried. Our drive to the next apartment was beautiful! I can hardly explain it, Avi posted a picture on facebook. We would wake up and see the beach every morning. Also we would be really close to a synagogue, where apparently all the rich and famous Jews attend! We were getting out hopes up before we saw the place. As soon as we walked in we were ready to sign. The place was HUGE! It was a two bedroom, one bathroom balcony, amazing kitchen, basically everything we wanted. Then the realtor told us that it was at least $600 out of our budget. Apparently there was a different one that we were supposed to see but someone else had leased it and they didn't change their ad for this apartment. We were so bummed and Vanessa felt awful.
However, he told us that he had another place that was in our budget but the tenant still lived there and he didn't have the keys so we could come back tomorrow. My smart husband, however, asked him if there was any way that he could get the keys and show it to us. He was able to and we got to see the apartment. It was realllllly messy (the girl that lives there now is a pig!). But it would be professionally cleaned and it had everything we needed (a full kitchen, a regular size fridge, fully furnished, etc.). So we put an application in and we were waiting to see. We love the area and even though it is a little bit further from the city and thus a longer commute to school and Avi's work, it is definitely worth it. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the beach! Also, there is another place that is a bit nicer that we are going to check out tomorrow so maybe that one will work too.
Sorry for the long post, but after a crazy day, we figured out what worked and we are pretty excited about it (assuming we get one of those 2 places). I hope y'all enjoyed my second post. Please let me know!
Miss and love y'all!
Anyway, yesterday we had a lot more luck finding Kosher food...eventually.
We realized that if we want to travel, we need to try to save money on food, etc., so Wednesday morning we went grocery shopping. Since we had a really hard time finding Kosher food in the grocery store in the city, we bought fruits and vegetables and some snacks that had kosher ingredients to hold us over. After that we walked to my school again so that Avi could try to use the internet and I went to class. He failed in that department and I partly failed in the class department, but then again so did everyone else. The class was Administrative Law, which is how one can sue the government (basically a part of our Constitutional Law class). Anyway, since it is opening week (they call it "O week" here, which made me giggle), they had some crazy opening fair in the lecture building. There were speeches and really loud (not so good) singing and it was almost impossible to concentrate. My professor said she felt like she was watching the failed singers for Australian Idol. However, I did meet a really nice Jewish boy who is going to help me with my Real Property class, which will be clutch!
After class, we went to visit Bondi Junction. We took a train out there and it only took 10 minutes, which was great. When we got off the train we saw a guy wearing a kippah so I told Avi he should go ask him where we could find Kosher food. He was actually walking to the grocery store and showed us how to get there and explained to us the whole system. So in the suburbs where there are more Jews, not only do they have a Kosher section but also instead of the Kosher symbol on the items, they are placed on the pricing labels on the shelves. It's actually pretty convenient! So we bought some food for shabbos and tomorrow we are going to kasher the oven and buy some cheap utensils and stuff so we can have a nice first Shabbat in Sydney!
Today (Thursday) was much more exciting! We saw 10 different apartments in 3 different suburbs.
The first place we saw was in Surry Hills, which is the suburb right outside the city. It was pretty crappy. First of all it was on the 4th floor with no elevator, which would make it difficult for bringing up groceries and our luggage, etc. It was furnished but the kitchen was tiny and the bathroom was even smaller. The second place was in Darlinghurst in a hotel and it had a gym, pool, spa, etc. However, it was kind of like a bachelor pad. It was really small and had a dorm room fridge, but the balcony was HUGE!
The third place we went to was in Rosebay, which is literally Jew town! There were a bunch of kosher restaurants, and the apartment was huge and beautiful! But it was not furnished. So we would have to spend a good amount of money to fully furnish it (including a fridge). But it was our favorite through the first 3.
The next place was in Darlinghurst and it was also pretty crappy. It said that it was going to be furnished but apparently that only meant partially furnished. It also had a bed that came out of the wall like in a movie, which was pretty funny. The fifth place was in Woolloomooloo (try saying that 10 times fast!). It was actually beautifully furnished however it only had a half fridge as well. The sixth place was AWFUL! The bedroom and living room area were fine, but the kitchen was the size of my pinky finger. Also in the ad it said that there was a modern kitchen. Apparently a hot plate equals a modern kitchen. We told the guy showing us the apartment that his ad said it was a modern kitchen and he told us in comparison to the rest of the apartments in the building that was modern. OY VEY! We got out of their real quick.
Finally we saw 4 places in the Bondi area. The first place we saw was in Bondi Junction, which is where there is a lot of kosher food. The apartment there was really cheap but it was in the back of someone's house, it wasn't furnished, and it was tiny. The second place was also in Bondi Junction. It was unfurnished, huge, and beautiful, but it was way too expensive.
The next place we saw was in Bondi. We were getting pretty nervous because we had seen 8 places and none of them had really fit yet. On our way there we had extra time so we stopped at Glicks, a kosher bakery. We got some fresh Challah for Shabbat and it was warm when they handed it to us. Our real estate agent (Vanessa) was not planning on buying any but since it was so fresh, she bought one and let me have some. It was amazing! Whenever y'all come to visit, we are going to Glicks. Avi and I are now obsessed with it. Also, next door to Glicks there was a kosher marketplace which had every kind of cheese you could imagine and all the normal kosher food. Not as much meat, but we can get that at the grocery store so we were not that worried. Our drive to the next apartment was beautiful! I can hardly explain it, Avi posted a picture on facebook. We would wake up and see the beach every morning. Also we would be really close to a synagogue, where apparently all the rich and famous Jews attend! We were getting out hopes up before we saw the place. As soon as we walked in we were ready to sign. The place was HUGE! It was a two bedroom, one bathroom balcony, amazing kitchen, basically everything we wanted. Then the realtor told us that it was at least $600 out of our budget. Apparently there was a different one that we were supposed to see but someone else had leased it and they didn't change their ad for this apartment. We were so bummed and Vanessa felt awful.
However, he told us that he had another place that was in our budget but the tenant still lived there and he didn't have the keys so we could come back tomorrow. My smart husband, however, asked him if there was any way that he could get the keys and show it to us. He was able to and we got to see the apartment. It was realllllly messy (the girl that lives there now is a pig!). But it would be professionally cleaned and it had everything we needed (a full kitchen, a regular size fridge, fully furnished, etc.). So we put an application in and we were waiting to see. We love the area and even though it is a little bit further from the city and thus a longer commute to school and Avi's work, it is definitely worth it. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the beach! Also, there is another place that is a bit nicer that we are going to check out tomorrow so maybe that one will work too.
Sorry for the long post, but after a crazy day, we figured out what worked and we are pretty excited about it (assuming we get one of those 2 places). I hope y'all enjoyed my second post. Please let me know!
Miss and love y'all!
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