Matchstick Madness–Sydney, Australia

 I recently spent almost an entire meal looking up at the ceiling. I wasn’t avoiding an awkward conversation; rather, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the light fixtures. With guests in town, we ventured to 360, a rotating restaurant in the Sydney Tower. Eating dinner 850 feet off of the ground could be a tourist trap; but in reality, it was actually a cool atmosphere with delicious food–they were even throwing Jamie Oliver’s name around. I felt a little off as we slowly rotated–but a glass of wine and the changing view helped distract me from my slight motion sickness. Sydney favorites appeared momentarily in the distance and then disappeared–the illuminated Opera House, imposing St. Mary’s Cathedral, bustling Darling Harbor, and the beloved Harbour Bridge. Yet I spent most of the evening looking up, rather than out of the window. I was that obnoxious person snapping iPhone shots of the massive light fixtures and only half participating in our conversation. The rotating restaurant suddenly became a bonus–I could dine under each and every light rather than just one.

I was in awe of these stunning pieces of art, created by Sydney artist Reni Kung, because each light is made out of–wait for it–matchsticks! So cool. The detail, planning, (glue?), and patience that must go into their creation is mind boggling. Each had a completely unique design that could filter the light in its own way. We passed under 12-14 (I lost count), before they started repeating again. I longed for my real camera, but the iPhone can step up in a pinch.

Here’s to finding inspiration and art all around–even above– us. And here’s to me winning the lotto and commissioning a light for my apartment!

Fine Art Friday–Sydney Opera House–Sydney, Australia

It’s always intimidating to photograph an iconic building–it feels like every angle and perspective has already been done. The Sydney Opera House is no exception, but its measured shapes and patterns beg to be photographed at different angles and vantage points…even the one million Swedish ceramic tiles take on different hues throughout the day and evening. I could literally spend a week or month just attempting to capture “it”. Throughout October, the prized building celebrated its 40th anniversary–it’s hard to imagine the city without it.

Here’s one minimalist take on a building that dominates the Sydney skyline and psyche. Happy Friday!

I Want to Go Home–Sydney, Australia

I want to go home

“You are home. This is our apartment. We live here now.”

No. I want to go home. Home to New York City!

This conversation happens at least twice a day in our house, and has been going on for 13 weeks now. It is usually followed by tears and then some bargaining, such as “we can stay here for just three more minutes, ok guys?” And the occasional “is it Christmas?”

Who knew a 2.5 year old could have any real idea of being “from” somewhere, and actually missing it? I find the whole thing wild–in Sydney we live across the street from a wonderful oceanside playground (while on the swings last week, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water), and up the hill from a world class beach. While it’s cold and dark in New York, it is 75 degrees here and stays light until 7:30 p.m. My daughter’s days are spent exploring this amazing city by bus or ferry, having fun with new friends at school, building sandcastles on the beach, riding her scooter along cliff side paths, and swimming in rock pools filled with the turquoise water of the Tasman Sea. She spends more time with us than ever before. We’ve slowed down a bit and aren’t rushed like we are in NY; we stop for ice cream on the way home from school, we watch the waves, we know the tide schedule, we go on Sunday drives, and so on. She has a much bigger bedroom here with plenty of toys, and we don’t have to climb a million stairs to get to our apartment. We even have a tiny outdoor space…a lovely patio with flowers and veggies, where she loves to sweep and water the plants. What’s not to like?

It’s true she has spent a lot of time in an airplane and on the road, but has proven herself to be a wonderful and adventurous traveler, as displayed last week when we dragged her through an Indonesian airport at 10pm in her pajamas. As we raced through several security check points to catch our redeye, she looked up at me, grinned, and said “this is fun!” But the minute that we slow down, we always return to the homesick pleas to return to New York. Her countdown to Christmas began long before anyone else even created a list for Santa; she’d probably put us on the naughty list for bringing her to Australia. I’m often reminded of one of my favorite books, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, when Alexander pines to move to Australia. Callie would advise him otherwise.

Her favorite toys here are imported from NYC–her yellow taxi cab and #1 subway train. Apparently she misses the urban gridlock and chaos, the neighbors who think we are too loud, the playground that is too crowded, the bagel shop around the corner, our babysitters, our brownstone’s stoop, and The Museum of Natural History. She misses places and familiar things; but most of all, she misses her cousins. She tells us every morning that she spent the night dreaming about them. The feeling is mutual; rumor has it that they want to create an Advent-like calendar to countdown the return of their missing 1/6th.

We had our doubts about uprooting and coming here for four months–it’s a huge effort for such a small amount of time. We were a little bit crazy to give up a coveted preschool spot in our neighborhood, leave our jobs, and schlep a toddler miles and miles away from what she knows. But the allure of adventure and my husband’s expedited MBA degree convinced us to move. Plus, we thought our daughter would love it, that she’d adjust eventually; after all, isn’t home where your family is? We never imagined she would be so attached to New York, and for the first month, we questioned our decision with each new set of tears. My husband even googled “toddler depression”! We have no doubt that it has been an amazing family experience, and soon the only one of us who can’t wait to get back to New York will get her wish. When we return to the frozen tundra in four weeks, will she ask for the playground with dolphins, her new Sydney friends, the ferry boat to the zoo, and sandcastle afternoons in warm spring sunshine? We’ll see! Until then, I’m soaking it up and she’s watching the calendar.

View from our Playground

The neighborhood beach

Nightstand Reading and To-Do Lists–Sydney, Australia

Here’s a look at what’s on my nightstand these days. Can you sense a theme? When I first imagined our four months here in Australia, I had some lofty goals. I was going to:

  • travel (anywhere and everywhere that our schedule and wallet allowed)
  • spend lots of quality time with my daughter and husband
  • redo my website
  • enter all of my business accounting into Quickbooks
  • read novels (on the beach. with a fruity drink.)
  • update my client contracts
  • go to bed earlier (yet it’s past midnight as I write this)
  • blog three times a week
  • spend time away from my phone and the television
  • work out every day in my gorgeous coastal surroundings
  • photograph for fun
  • cook delicious homemade meals
  • keep a daily journal/scrapbook of exactly what we did each and every day (a la my beloved Parisian study abroad journal of 2001).

If it sounds like a dream more than a reality, you’re right. If actually did all of that, this four month journey would be well documented, we’d see as many new and wonderful places as possible, I’d be extremely fit and toned, and my business would be in ship-shape form for our January return. So how is that all working out for me?

I have made website progress, but by no means as much as I’d hoped. I still stay up far too late. I do oceanside yoga once a week and try to run or walk on the coastal path at least twice a week, but I have not developed a lean six-pack. I am still reading the same book as when we arrived in August. I dream up all of these hilarious blog posts about Aussie life in my head, and then never sit down to write them, and certainly not three times a week. I still have images I’d like to post on this blog from August. I haven’t entered a thing into Quickbooks. I watch much less tv, but still don’t put my phone down as much as I should. I photograph for fun, but then pressure myself to upload, edit, and post much sooner than I’ve been doing. I cook more, but we also order pizza (the only thing that delivers). And the daily journal? I bought a beautiful journal, pasted an Australian flag sticker to the cover, and have been collecting ticket stubs, etc to add into it, yet still have not written a word in it about our daily adventures; this is most likely destined for my to-do pile in NY.

But there are two clear winners: travel and quality time with my hubby and daughter. Back in our real lives, we will never have this much time together–ever–and we certainly won’t be exploring so many gorgeous new places. So rather than reading novels, I only read travel books. I live and breathe on Trip Advisor. I mark up calendars with arrows, flight numbers, hotels, car rentals, and activities. I feel like a (happy) full time travel agent…hence all of the books that are currently on my nightstand. I am filled with a wild sense of urgency to see it all/do it all/document it all before we move back. We are still heading on adventures to Tasmania and New Zealand before we leave, and the details are finally all planned out.

In retrospect, I should have pictured our moments abroad as a time out from my life. Creating a lofty and unrealistic to-do (never to reach ta-da) list steers me toward feeling like a failure when I return home without much of it done. Before we left New York, I was doing two jobs, which got a bit too crazy last spring; thus, these four months have really been a gift. In reality, learning a new city (even English speaking), helping a homesick toddler adjust to new surroundings, making new friends, taking/editing photos, travel planning, and hosting family visitors has filled my days. And no matter where you are in the world, you still need to grocery shop, do laundry, and abide by a toddler’s schedule. My husband spends a lot of his time at school and my daughter is only in school two mornings a week, so it’s hard to accomplish even a website tweak in five hours a week. But c’est la vie. It’s been a fabulous experience thus far, one that can’t be judged by a list of accomplished–or unaccomplished–tasks.

Here’s to soaking it all up for the next five weeks before we return to the tundra (gulp) of NYC.

Do you ever set unrealistic goals for yourself? I’d love to hear what they are and how you handle accomplishing or altering them to jibe with reality. Let me know in the comments!

And I have managed a few fruity cocktails, just not on the beach!