Photos from my first six weeks in Australia

By popular demand (and I use that term loosely), I've uploaded an assortment of photos from my first six weeks here in Sydney. Don't worry, I've greatly limited the number of pictures of the Opera House.

This link below should work for members as well as people who are not on Facebook, but please let me know if you have any trouble.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98457&l=b0978&id=563190400

Hobnobbing with Parliament

A large part of what Ogilvy PR does in Sydney is public affairs and lobbying work, so it wasn't a huge surprise yesterday when I was was told the company had bought a table at dinner for a former Premier of New South Wales (similar to our state governors... with a few exceptions). Several of our clients were coming and I was asked to attend the event, which I happily did.

What followed was an insight into Australian politics, which seemed as relaxed and informal as Australian culture. Several prominent members of the Federal Government were in attendance, such as Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull, and local opposition leader Barry O'Farrell. I was surprised at how accessible the members of Parliament were. These are people featured on TV every day. No secret service, no political handlers, they just moved through the crowd on their own. I even got the chance to speak with Dr. Nelson personally when we passed one another on the way to the restroom.

Even more surprising was how down to earth they were. I was approached by a members of the state opposition saying, "are you Kevin? We hear you just moved here from New York." It seemed so far from U.S. politics.

After meeting these people, I feel as though I can start speeding without any worry... Ok, maybe not.

Long awaited (but brief) update

Yes, I'm still alive, I've just fallen behind at providing updates, as the last few weeks have been a blur. I found and moved into a (small but cute) studio apartment in Sydney's Potts Point neighborhood, which has lots of outdoor restaurants and cafes, is a quick walk to the train and 20 minutes from work. I also started training for the Sydney half marathon, which will be my first really long race. I've also started meeting people and found that a place starts to feel like you live there when you can bump into people you know on the street on a random Saturday afternoon.

I don't have tons of time at the moment, but I'll leave you with a brief story. I live on the second floor with big windows that overlook a quiet street and Elizabeth Bay (which is beautiful) -- pictures will come when I get around to taking them. In New York, my windows overlooked a fenced in alleyway, so I got quite comfortable walking around the apartment while getting dressed without closing the blinds.

Well, in my first few days in my new place, not really thinking about it, I was walking around in my boxers with the window open when I heard what I thought was little girls giggling at me. Realizing I had left the window open, I went over to close the blinds. When I looked out, instead of seeing little girls like I thought, I saw two kookaburras watching me (they are wild and live around Sydney). Wild-- in the States you'd only see them in the zoo.

It's a different world here.