Happy new year!

It's been awhile since I've posted, but wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. Below is a link to the photos taken at the party we threw. While it wasn't on the Upper West Side, we had an amazing view of the bridge, over which they do the annual fireworks.



Additional posts to (hopefully) follow soon.

Photos from the past 8 months

I know I've been bad about posting and sharing photos. So, rather than subject you to the nearly 1,000 photos I have from my time here, I've put together a brief highlights video.

I hope you enjoy.

When American and Aussie English don't match

I may have spurred an HR issue today over a misunderstanding.

The woman I share my office with, who I’ve become good friends with, casually leaned over to me and asked, “do you have a rubber?”

I turned beat red – I didn’t know she was asking for an eraser!

God save the Queen

When Australia declared independence from England in 1901, they decided to name the British crown as the monarch of Australia. Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, but they tend to do things differently here sometimes. As a result, we have Monday off in honor of the Queen's birthday (despite the fact that her birthday is actually in April...).

I was originally planning to go somewhere for the long weekend, such as Darwin or Uluru, but my plans fell through, and as they did I was scheduled to go on a business trip to Hong Kong the day after the long weekend, so I decided against it. Instead I'm spending the weekend mixing a bit of work with the free jazz festival in Darling Harbour and a brief trip down to Coogee beach to visit my favorite brunch spot (not much of a trip, it's actually a 20 minute ride on the bus).

After brunch at Globe yesterday, we went to the Coogee Bay hotel to enjoy a glass of wine overlooking the beach. One of my absolute favorite things about Sydney so far is the fact that it's 60 degrees here in winter, so you can still do things like this. I don't miss the cold winter of New York at all.

The half marathon

On May 18th, I ran my first half marathon.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about it, and during the week leading up to the race, I considered dropping out since I was still battling a sinus infection I picked up during my trip to China. In fact, my doctor, who advised rest as a big component to recovery in addition to the antibiotics, looked at me like I had three heads when I told him I wanted to run the race the following week. I asked him if it would kill me if I did, and so I took, "no, but I'd strongly advise against it" as a sign of approval.

Of course, here I am a few weeks later and I still have problems with my ears popping like I'm on a plane whenever I get on the elevator to and from my office. But I digress.

I was also somewhat nervous because I hadn't ever run more than 10 kilometers during my training, and even that was a few months before the race. To top it off, the Sunday before the run my coach Jacki and I did a 7km course that left me winded and pushing myself at the end, so I was worried about my ability to complete a 21.1 km half mararthon. Jacki assured me that come race day I'd be fine, and that the adrenaline and the crowd would push me the rest of the way.

The morning of the race I got up at 5 am, made breakfast and walked to the starting line. It was a bit on the cold side as the temperature had dropped down to about 55 degrees. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest as I went over my strategy in my head. They counted down the time and then the gun went off.

Of course, when there's 7,500 people running, and you aren't considered an "elite" runner, you don't start near the front, so it took a good 4 minutes to even cross the starting line, but then it happened. I got caught up in the crowd, and it was amazing. Everyone jet off, and it looked like a sea of people flowing down the street. I was so energized that I had to remind myself to take it slow and conserve my energy.

It wasn't easy, and as slow as I was going, I did the first 5km in my quickest time ever - about 22 minutes. I slowed myself a bit, but kept on chugging. At about the 10 km mark, halfway through the race, and having just finished the first lap, I hit the wall and thought it was over. I kept moving, saying I'd do just one more kilometer, and by the 11km mark, I pushed through it. At that point I felt I could have kept going all day. Sadly that feeling wore off a few kilometers away, and from there on out, it was a series of ups and downs.

My iPod, set to my running mix, but on random, must have known the end was near, and as I hit the 20 km mark, it switched to play "The Final Countdown." When I hit the 21 km mark, and began rounding the bend to the finish line, I sprinted it out to the end, giving it all I had left.

While my only real goal was to finish, I was thrilled with my time. I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes. I have to say, the crowd definitely helped. Hearing people cheer for you really pushes you forward. The people who came out that morning were a great help. I had a great sense of accomplishment afterwards. I will definitely be doing this again, with the goal of running the New York City Marathon in 2009.

I was so warm after the run, and on such a high, that I walked home and didn't need my sweatshirt. Some of my friends met me for brunch in my neighborhood that afternoon to celebrate the accomplishment (which turned into drinks and then dinner). It was a great day, and one I look forward to repeating again.