loving doing nothing down under'

Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing here, I admit it. While I have come to Australia in order to experience life and pleasure, during the first weeks I was here, I felt a bit of panic as to how one should do that. Generally speaking, though, I think that Western people have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Statistics back this observation up, showing that many people feel happier and fulfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, and then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pyjamas, eating cereals straight out of the box and staring at the TV in a mild coma. This is because, in contrast to Australians, we don’t really know how to do nothing. This is cause of the great sad stereotype – the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax.
For me, though, a major obstacle in my pursuit of traveling an indulging pleasure was my ingrained sense of guilt. Do I really deserve this pleasure? This is so typical, the insecurity about whether we have earned our happiness. During my planning of traveling to see the world, all my synapses were exciting in distress, looking for a task, looking for something to do that matters and which justifies my absence; a medical internship. I am glad that I succeeded in that in order to seize my feelings of guilt. And now that I am here and planning my months of traveling after my internship I am still looking for this confirmation. When I told my Australian friends that I was planning on doing some months of traveling in order to experience pure pleasure by seeing the world while doing nothing, they didn’t have any hang-ups about it. Nobody once said, How completely irresponsible of you, or What a self-indulgent luxury. Moreover, it is not like all of this, my ticket to Sydney just came flying into my student's apartment window on my lap, passively willing to accept. I have worked real hard for years at Uni in order to get here. You don’t get five scholarships for doing nothing. Well you know what, I am here, alive and kicking, and I am going to live! These days of spontaneous travel are such a glorious twirl of time, some of the loosest days of my life, running to the train station and buying tickets left and right, finally beginning to flex my freedom for real because it has finally sunk in that I can go wherever I want. What the fuck, why not go to New Zealand for a few weeks in April!? In the reasoning of while we're here down under’ might as well make a leap to the place real down under. I am curious to see a country most far away from my sweet home Holland on planet Earth.

But before I do, I am happy to announce that I am going to spend the coming days of nothingness with Lianne who is expected to arrive here tomorrow! Baby, Sydney’s firework ain’t worth nothing compared with the lights you’re shining through!

See you down under'

Long distance cooking

Today my brother and sister came to me, slightly panicked, because they were expected to prepare the desert for family Christmas dinner in Holland. They wanted to make my famous Tiramisu recipe and they asked me if I could guide them through the process in the kitchen via Skype Video Conversation. Hilariously I was giving them cooking orders, in their time 13:30, from my bed in Sydney at my 23:30. In between the cooking steps I could even give my dad some clothing advice. I enjoyed being needed! I said to my brother and sister that the only thing they could mess up was the separation of egg white from the -yellow step. My brother tried his first attempt which led to a complete failure resulting in a splashed egg all over the kitchen table. It was then when I realized that giving cooking instructions abroad was going to be harder than I had expected. However, with a constant intensive virtual support they had finally managed to create this delicious Italian desert. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the result. I guess I am just going to have to wait for the family christmas dinner review.

Merry Christmas!!

Absolutely fabulous

I just had the best weekend here in Sydney so far. Friday afternoon I had a X-MAS bbq with my lab colleagues. It was so nice to see them in an informal setting, instead of in between chemical bottles. There was a blown up castle present in order to release your inner child. You would really be surprised how popular that castle was among my fellow researchers! After the bbq we made our way to King’s Cross Hotel where the after party took place. Upon entering this classy hotel I received a VIP band which allowed me to get free food and beverages. How fabulous is that! There was a DJ playing his music and I danced, drank and laughed the entire night with the other students. I think we upgraded our social status from casual-conversation-in-the-hall-way to one of beginning friendship. After a while I got kicked out the hotel by the bouncer due to drunkenness. I can tell you that this was really unfair! Because I wasn’t indulging that much alcohol, as I was still in the presence of my colleagues and, therefore, tried to maintain some dignity and not having to look for it inside the toilet. Even my attempts of standing on one leg while counting backwards from 100 did not impress this bouncer. Ah well, Sydney is too vibrant to be staying too long in one place anyway. So I went bar hopping with my newly made friends for the rest of the night.

Saturday I was off to go to my second audition, the theater production based upon the classic the Icemen cometh. This show, which was also translated into a movie starring Al Pacino, is about cynical whiskey drinking men discussing essence of life. On my way to get there, I had to take the train for my first time here in Sydney. Exciting as that is on its own, it was even more thrilling when the train had to cross the water to reach North Sydney. Eagerly I was looking out for the Harbour Bridge, because I could not seem to find it instantly. How could you miss Sydney’s hallmark when you’re so close by!? But it was then when I realized that the train was actually crossing the water over Harbour Bridge. Awesome! I arrived at the theater and I immediately loved it. There’s just something beautiful about a stage shined upon with bright spotlights. It makes me feel like I belong there, as it had felt like when I did theater in high school, or even already at primary school really. I also liked the other persons who were auditioning with their extravert flamboyant behaviours. As if their lives are just one big show filled with drama. I love it! I met the very friendly director and she handed me a piece of paper with lines for the character Willie Oban I was auditioning for. On my application form they also asked questions whether I would be interested, if I did not get selected, to do some technical stuff backstage, ea. lights, music, and clothes, or learning lines for a character as a back-up. I wrote down nice and clear: I am here only for being on stage. No-one puts baby in the corner. I wasn’t feeling nervous at all, I was actually feeling rather comfortable. Much more comfortable compared with my short film audition last weekend. I could really connect with my lines and I knew I could work it. I was feeling very confident. And so I nailed my audition. I had them wrapped up on my little finger, playing with them, teasing, and they had no idea what came over to them. I wanted the part so badly. I had to do well. They said it was a great audition and they even wanted to see me doing another audition for a different character, the director’s favourite character, Hugo. So I also auditioned for that part and I think I did very well. They seemed to like it and she could not stop laughing after my audition. The good kind of chuckles though, not the oh-my-god-you-are-rubbish laugh. She is going to call me one of these days with the result. I can’t wait to hear it! Because there were a lot of people doing auditions. It would be such a great opportunity to meet the kind of people I love hanging out with.

After my audition I went over to the apartment of Jovana, the kiwi gal, to chill at her place near Manly’s beach. She was staying at her uncles and he owns such a pretty loft! I was sitting on a big balcony, cocktail in my hand, listening to Jazz music while enjoying the afternoon sun in the beautiful Manly. God, I was feeling like Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous! At some stage we decided to go out. Jovana putted me in a sexy outfit, as I only had my day clothes with me, which in Sydney is not-done to wear when you’re going out. It is not like the Netherlands where you can basically pull off clubbing in your pyjamas! No, not in the fabulous Sydney, here they like to dress up. We went bar hopping and I was having a great time.

On Sunday, while drinking my coffee and actively focussing on full body recovery - I am not used to going out two days in a row anymore – I received an e-mail from the director of the short film I auditioned for last week. I hadn’t heard from them in a while so I assumed that they hadn’t selected me. But it seemed that my fabulousness had expanded from the theater to the movie industry, as they mentioned that they had picked me for the leading role!!!!

Coming days are probably going to be very busy with work, short film production, and potentially the theater show. But I am happily willing to reserve an additional space in my trophy cabinet for an Oscar award, right next to the spot destined for my Nobel Prize.

Adding some Dutch flavour to the Australian film industry

Today I had my first acting debut in Sydney! I've been contacted by the production manager of the short film Good Love, which is going to be displayed coming February at Tropfest Sydney Film Festival 2012; the world's largest short film festival. They asked me to come in as an extra (=figurant) for a scene that takes place in a pub in so-called London, and they thought I was suitable for the job with my European look. I had to play a British dude watching the football match in the pub cheering for Leeds. I am sure I am going to have at least a few seconds of fame, as I was requested to skull a beer in front of the camera. This take had to be done over a few times. So at the end of the shooting, which lasted a few hours, I was feeling a little bit tipsy. But I enjoyed the entire atmosphere! The spotlights, the camera's, the professional filming jargon; Action! Take 23 re-pick! Do you know they actually do use that strange filming clicking device (What is it called?) prior to Action! Actually, as an actor, most of the time you spend waiting for the instructions. Then suddenly, without being briefed, the director wants to start shooting and you have no idea what to expect but just have to go with it. At some point I had to have an improvised casual conversation about the football match. I thought that was really hard! Because it is not something I would normally do in real life. Ah well, for the first time I think I did a good job! We will see in february if I pulled it off! At the moment, I am still waiting for a response from that experimental film I auditioned for last weekend. Now that I have had a little taste of the movie industry, I am hoping a little bit more that they'll pick me! For now, as they say: That is a wrap, people!!

Christmas Spirit attempts in Sydney

I recently had heard the song Jingle Bells being played inside a shopping mall, with a temperature outside reaching towards thirty degrees. Shockingly, as I took a few steps forward I noticed a Santa Claus dressed in winter outfit. I just instantly felt like vomiting! It was such a weird feeling. As if I was experiencing a biological culture shock. I guess my body with its circadian rhythm was actually missing the winter. The cold. As if my body wants to prepare itself for the winter but instead has to cope with another summer. Confusing. Also, normally around this time of the year I usually start singing my favourite Christmas song: Let it Snow, day in day out. But here it just feels plain wrong singing it. Because the weather isn’t frightful, and the songs certainly aren’t delightful! I miss running around with my Christmas hat on harassing housemates, our any other person for that matter, whom just came home escaping the unbearable cold, while Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé X-mas edition songs are competing in the CD-player. But instead, I am having a X-mas BBQ with my lab colleagues in Centennial Park coming Friday. Luckily I brought my bright red shorts, cause I won’t be needing my woollen Christmas vest with reindeers (which I don’t really possess, but adds a nice dramatic effect for this blog purposes)

But then again… when I look in the mirror and I see my tanned body and lightened blonde hair, all my Christmas miseries just melts like snow for the really, really bright Aussie sun.

The sun that out-shined me

When I woke up this morning the weather was cloudy again. Nevertheless, the temperature was pleasant and I still felt like going to the beach. I thought I was going to have to shine for two again, since the sun wasn't shining through once again on a sunday. I quickly used some sunscreen on only the dangerous areas; the neck, and the nose. As I laid on the beach reading a book it was getting more and more cloudier. I was getting a bit suspicious when the locals were suddenly all abandoning the beach with pace. I really wanted to finish my chapter first. This was a mistake. The dark clouds raced above my head and I found myself in a tropical thunderstorm while laying on the beach in my swimming trunks. Great. To make matters worse, when I came home all soaking wet I felt this burning sting on my skin. Not only was I a drowned poodle, but I was a burned one too. The sun out-shined me on a rainy day. Unfair!

The result of putting sunscreen on only the neck on a rainy day in Sydney.

Audition 1. Experimental short film production

As the weather hasn't been cooperating very well with my surfing ambitions, the wettest December since 40 years, and as I have occasionally been woken up sweaty in the middle of the night, stunned by that characteristically daunting Jaws sound; I decided it was time for me to find a new hobby aside from surfing. I remembered that I used to love doing theater back in my high school days, and unfortunately I haven’t been doing it anymore since I went going to Uni. Therefore I thought, why not pick it up where I left it five year ago? I must say that I always love being dramatic, especially in English.

(some of my frequent phrases: Well, spank my butt and call me cowboy. Hieee Ha. Wrap him up and take him home, and Honey, you can ‘’verb’’ me …anytime! Do I need to say more? I know you miss my comments ‘’huize Alcatraz’’!)

Moreover, my nickname dramaqueen during the Donau rowing trip last European summer hasn’t been given to me for any reason, it was well earned!! As I mentioned I am having heaps (=Australian for ‘’a lot’’) of time to do some thinking here. And one of the subjects has been how does my future look like!? I am really fond of my study, and I love doing research in the lab. But I must honestly say, I also haven’t been considering anything else in the past 5 years. I always try to embrace life and to keep myself open-minded. Haven’t I been suffering from a tunnel vision when it comes down to my profession? It sounds silly, but when I was young I always wanted to be an actor. I used to secretly write letters and address it to ‘’Hollywood’’, with no stamps or whatsoever, because I couldn’t possibly tell my parents. I would do the explaining once I got the part! I know that it was just a silly child fantasy, but that doesn’t take away the fact that I used to love doing theater! I also think that it would be a nice boost to my social life here! So I did some research on the internet and I had found a website where auditions were being posted for theater and movie productions. I made a little profile and started applying for auditions. Two days after I send in the applications I already received invitations for three auditions! I am auditioning for the following three projects, sorted on time of audition:

1. Experimental short film productions about a boy having illusions about a girl.

2. Theater production called the Iceman Cometh, about whiskey drinking men.

3. An action featured film about soldiers getting slaughtered.

Today I had my first audition, the experimental short film, and it was so awesome! I was expected at the Academy of Information Technology at 10:00 A.M. I must say that, surprisingly, I wasn't feeling nervous at all. I started talking to the competition and I met some nice people. There were like 10 boys present for, obviously, the male role, and 8 girls for the female role. I received a piece of paper with audition instructions for 10 minutes preparation, which were as follows:

It is a quiet Tuesday night; you are enjoying a dinner with your mother in the restaurant. She orders a steak and asks the waiter that she would like it well done. The waiter brings the steak and it’s medium.

Your mum send the steak back.

You hear the waiter telling the manager that your mum is a picky bitch.

What is your reaction?

We need to see your ability to be angry and mad at a person. Feel free to use bad words.

I loved the audition piece! I can be angry! From my teenage theater experiences, I know that the best way to act a certain emotion is to think about something in your personal life that can evoke that particular emotion. Without hesitating I immediately thought about the Rabobank. It was a quite similar situation: you want a service. They fuck it up and make you feel like you’re the bad person. I could feel the growing rage inside of me and I was feeling blessed for this opportunity on a Saturday morning to be able to air out all my frustrations, justified in a screaming, angry audition piece. As my name was announced I walked into the intimidating audition room. I was feeling so excited and at the same time healthy nerves were starting to pop up. There were five people sitting in a row, a HUGE camera in the midst of them, all facing this one empty chair in the middle of the room. I assumed they wanted me to sit there. So I did. I haven’t done any acting auditions in my life for film purposes, but I knew there were some key things to remember: 1. Ignore the camera. 2. Don’t overexpress emotions in a theatrical way. After my introduction they asked me to play the audition piece. I asked for ten seconds to find my angry emotions, but when I thought of the Rabobank I only needed three seconds, really. So I started off nice and slow, wanting to build up my frustrations to a climax, I said: Are you fucking kidding me!?... Slowly but intense I continued... I came down here to this restaurant with my mother to enjoy a quiet evening with my well done steak. All you have to do is: write down the order, well done steak. Get your ass back to the kitchen and process the order. Upon which you should bring me back the right dish! - I was really getting angry now as I thought about the wrong creditcards and the exhausting pincard Rabobank style procedures – The right dish was a well done steak!! Not this medium piece of shit! ARE YOU A FUCKING RETARD!?

I was shaking by anger at this point of time. And I felt wonderfully relieved. Still the five people, professionally, had the same blank expression in their eyes. Not really sure if that was a good thing… Anyway, next they asked me if I could pretend to smoke a cigarette. I guess they wanted to see if I could pull off the smoking look. They offered me a pen to suck on. It felt so stupid to be pretending to smoke a cigarette with a pen. But if that’s what they want, then that’s what they’ll get.

That was all they needed to see from me. They told me that they’ll be shooting in the weekends of January (perfect!) and that they’ll be in touch. Though, from my experience, we’ll be in touch is never a good thing. But it doesn't matter. I really wanted to do this audition just to have the audition experience. Sure it would be great if they’d select me, but I am keeping my expectations low. After all, there were nine other contesters for the role who were apparently all well educated in acting schools. Nevertheless, when I left the building I felt amazing! Like all my frustrations had left my system and I just gained another crazy experience here in Sydney life.

One audition down, two to go!

(Web) Surfing

Things have been crazy in the lab! I have been so busy with my experiments that I had often come home late at night, feeling absolute exhausted. I am greeting the weekend with open arms after I have had delivered hard-work for merely being slapped in the face by science upon receiving disappointing results. Though, sometimes even the weekends can become a little intimidating here. The high amounts of free time to spend with myself, in the absence of social obligations, can become pretty overwhelming to me. My thoughts are exhausting me! No wonder I have the annoying tendency to talk to everyone around me. I can't stand having to be the listener to my thoughts all day. In the mornings I run in the park, while thinking; noontime I go sightseeing, while thinking; at night I read books and drink wine, while thinking. The reason I went out clubbing here is to flee the presence of me. Dealing with too much time with myself, the subsequent introversion of my extrovert existence, have made me drown in self-reflection and consequently in CH3-CH2-OH containing beverages, to stay in scientific terms. I need a break, a distraction from me! Therefore, the last couple of days I have done some intensive thinking to come up with a potential hobby to keep me busy in weekend times. Surely there must be something to do here in the vibrant Sydney life! I have had googled loads of terms; guitar lessons, singing lessons, dance classes, yoga sessions - It seems like everyone in Australia practices yoga, especially the variant Bikram Yoga in which you perform poses in a heated room appears to be very famous in Sydney. But it all just did not felt compatible with me. I even desperately threw in the search engine the sentence: What to do in Sydney when it's raining, leading to several interesting forums in which the best rain-proof activities were heavily debated, sadly enough, but slighly more saddening for the corresponding websurfers. And it was right there when it had hit me. Websurfers. Why surfing the web if I could be surfing the waves!? I had crooked a childhood like smile when I thought of me, overcoming my shark-phobia, taming the biggest waves of Australia. That should ought to silence my thoughts for a while! Honestly, it could not be just merely coincidence that I have been aspiring a surfer's haircut for the last few years now. This could be my calling! So, eagerly I had found a surf school on the web who's instructors will pick you up at Bondi Beach, take you in their van and drop you off at a very quiet beach (sounds peculiar so far), in order to teach you surfing in a suitable environment, unable to inflict damage to yourself and your surroundings (Ah; No murderer's intention after all). That had sounded perfect!

However, just when I thought that I have had found myself the ultimate distraction for the coming weekend, my crooked smile vanished like snow for the sun when I had checked the weather forecast. Rain all weekend, with potential thunderstorms! I caught myself browsing the depressing rain forums again. Loaded with the knowledge that the only thing I'll be surfing this weekend is the internet, I'd better add a Single Malt to my shopping cart.

My first Animal attack

I have become victimized by my first animal attack, to a species I never would have guessed...

I was walking down the road, minding my own business, heading towards the supermarket Coles to buy some groceries. I passed some beautiful trees while humming to my favourite songs from my MP3 player. When suddenly, out of nowhere, a bird descended vertically and bashed right onto my head while whistling particular aggressively. At first I thought the bird accidentally flew against me, by making a judgemental error on the angle it was trying make or something like that. I mean, I wouldn’t know, but to me flying seems like a hard thing to do. Birds make mistakes; they fly against windows all the time. So I continued my journey and tried to make a comeback with my singing, as I missed the second verse of the song I was listening to. A few meters ahead from the incident my ad lip I was just about to burst changed into a scream for help as a second attack was provoked by the killer bird. Two attacks in such a short period of time could not be a coincidence. This bird did not fall accidentally on my head twice. It was after me! I increased my pace as I was feeling haunted by the bird. I looked helplessly around, scanning the trees, hoping that I could see a possible third clash coming. Unfortunately, this bird on a mission completed the attacking spree by a third assault. This is not normal! Birds don’t attack people in Europe! I tried to seize my panic and I did not wanted to walk around passively waiting for this sadistic bird to strike again. I choose to take control, bearing in mind what birds could be capable of after seeing the horror movie called Birds (1963). I grabbed one arm of my backpack with both of my hands willing to use it as a weapon. We will see who has the last whistle. The bird probably, and wisely, noticed my dedication and fled. Nevertheless, I must add that I deliberately took a different route back home in order to avoid a potential second rendez vous, which could have ended much uglier. Hysterically, but also heroically, I told my housemates about this strange experience I just encountered. They unexpectedly cried out laughing upon hearing this epic story. So it seems that this particular bird belongs to the species Magpies. They have the reputation of being extremely territorial and spring in Australia is magpie breeding season. They then can become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests. They now also have been spotted in Europe. Think about that when you’re walking in a park and unexpectedly hear a strange whistle of their complex vocalization….

Sitting on a big, red rock at Clovelly Beach

Thankfully, I had a great first weekday at the Garvan Institute! However it did drain a lot of my energy and I was looking forward to a relaxing, fun weekend. I went out Friday night with my two Kiwi (= citizens from New Sealand) female friends, whom I met last weekend, to a foam party in club Arq. The girls: Sofia; colourful sex kitten, and Jovana; sophisticated pretty gal. Both of them are loaded with style and personality, and wherever we’d go they’d never come unnoticed. Five minutes in the queue of the club and everyone already knew them, or had wanted to know them, badly. Inside club Arq, I was a bit suspicious when the girl from the cloth room asked me, upon receiving my jacket, whether that was the only clothe piece I was going to give in. Was I expected to take of my jeans and shirt!? As I entered the club room I was shocked.

A huge foam machine on the ceiling poured massive amounts of soap and bubbles over the almost naked party people. It was crazy. The blokes and gals were only wearing their tiny swimming outfits, and the entire atmosphere had a very sexy vibe. We were a bit overdressed with wearing clothes. Nevertheless, we owned the place and it was such a relief to be able to bust out some dance moves!

Saturday was such a lovely day.

The sun was shining and I felt like going for a walk along the coast line. So I grabbed my bike and let the wheels roll down the hill to the end of the road to get to Clovelly beach. I could not believe that it was still so peacefully on a sunny Saturday at 2 P.M, in contrast to Hoek van Holland in summer time.

The coastline was so beautifully, as I headed north by walking on big huge rocks on a cliff where the waves roughly collided against. As I sat on a comfortable big, red rock overviewing the sea and the giant cliffs bordering Australia, no-one else in vicinity, my mind just went empty. It was unbelievable realizing that this was really happening. That I was really physically present in Sydney, and that it wasn’t simply a fantasy. It started to kick in my conscience. I sat there at that spot for a couple of hours enjoying the peace, enjoying my inner peace. I just sat there thinking about lots of things. Things you usually don’t take time for to think about in the routine of life. It is like your life is placed on hold and that you’re enabled to observe it as an outsider. It puts things in another perspective. All the decisions you’ve made, experiences you’ve gained, family and friends you love. It was nice. Sorry for blogging this philosophical and softy. Maybe I am just suffering from a sun stroke.

Nevertheless, I am so grateful for that I have been given the opportunity to be here. When I finally got fed up with thinking, I started to do something practical for Sydney society.

Because from the point I was sitting at, I had a great overview of the sea near the popular beaches of Sydney. Therefore, I started scanning the ocean for the presence of sharks. So then I could do my citizen’s duty to report it to Sydney’s life guards. Really, just because it’s the right thing to do, …and not because they happened to be very hot.

p.s. click here if you want to see pictures of my accommodation. (it's on the blog underneath this one)

Pictures accommodation

Garvan Institute of Medical Research

I just finished my first three days of internship at Garvan Institute and I already like it so much! I have my own desk, computer, lab bench and even my own mug. The people at the institute are all really friendly and I get along perfectly with my supervisor. She’s a funny, goofy woman who likes to laugh, is laid-back and she knows what she’s doing. I also met the Prof. Dr. Jonathan Sprent, head of the Immunology department at Garvan, with a huge reputation on that particular field with many high impact publications in prestigious journals such as Science and Nature. I felt like meeting a celebrity! I also got to read medical articles as background information for my project and I felt like I was in my comfort zone. Who would have thought that reading medical articles would make me feel comfortable and secure. I mean, everything here down under is different: scent of Sydney, cheese, bread, people, milk, thickness of rain drops, ducks (really, they’re weird with long beaks!), etc. But medical articles will always be medical articles. I am so happy that my internship started, because it puts so much more meaning to my stay here.

The project is really awesome and I feel like I am going to contribute something useful, which makes me feel useful. Consequently, all my uncertainties prior to my stay here are swept aside now that I enjoy being present at Garvan Institute. Medical research is all about solving puzzles. Once you throw yourself in the matter and start reading background information you become more and more intrigued by the research question that you’re trying to address. Everyone who says: ‘’I don’t want to do medical research because I don’t want to keep pipetting for the rest of my life’’ don’t really get what research is all about. Once you understand the research problem and you’d manage to set up experiments in order to approach it, your pipet becomes your best friend. Okay, for the sake of maintaining my high blog readers count I am gonna stop blogging nerdy.

( I’ll call Lianne later on for some more geeky talk, as our similar Australian mobile provider allows us to make free phone calls! ). I’ll treat the uninterested-in-medical-research audience (shame on you!) with some exciting hot stuff, as an attempt to maintain my loyal readers. ..

Just when I finished my working hours I grabbed my bike to head back home like any other day. I arrived at Centential Park, when suddenly out of nowhere huge, dark clouds speeded up above me with roaring thunder! It was insane! Rain drops in the size of Ping-Pong balls attacked my body and made my bicycle movements S-shaped. I reached a complete state of wetness saturation within 10 seconds. Upon the alarming sounds of thunder I squeaked a girly scream and kicked the bike pedals with maximal force. (Although all the other Australian citizens remained strangely enough calm) Everywhere I looked at lightning bolts were being evoked, and the ground was shaking like a maximal routs per minute centrifuge mode of a dryer machine gone wild.

Mother Nature went mental! I am used to some rain as I am from the Netherlands, where it tends to fall down from the sky in a more chronically fashion. But this was nothing like bad Dutch weather; it was an Australian tropical storm!

I shouldn’t be alive…

Weird duck with long beak

Bondi Beach Bitch

Today I hung out with one of my housemates called Georgina. We decided to chill out at Bondi Beach, the most famous beach of Sydney. From here it is like an hour walk to that particular beach, twenty minutes by bike, or ten minutes by bus. However, as that particular route is an entire descent it costs much more energy to get back, which can be very betraying after lying in the sun all day. Sydney has for that matter many hills and riding a bike here is a full body work-out. (Luckily I took some spinning lessons in the Netherlands, and the muscles required for taming hills were, however severely under recognized, still present in my body somewhere). I’ve been biking here for only a few days now and I already feel shaped up.

Nevertheless, Georgina is not the sporty type and we took a taxi on her costs to Bondi, which I didn’t mind at all. I believe we all need a little luxury in our lives from time to time. I felt like I really got to know her today and we really get along well. She is not the girly girl kind; consequently she mainly has male friends and likes to listen to metal music. I’d say she’s a strong, independent woman who is always in for a good laughter and used to be a huge party animal who straightened herself up. She used to live in Bondi, and we went for a beer at a terrace which overviewed the beach.
Bondi Beach is hot and happening. The blokes (= Australian for guys) are muscular and tanned. The gals (= Australian for girls) are all fabulously dressed. People do not merely go to Bondi Beach for relaxation, but they go there to see and to be seen.
As if they spend their entire free time in the gym and shops for their moments to shine at Bondi Beach. What else was shining was the sun. Temperatures here now reached the 30 degrees and the UV-index is insanely high! They only sell sunscreen starting from protection 30 to upwards, and it is advisable to stay out of the sun during noon time. Though, I had a very pleasant time with Georgina down at Bondi Beach in the heat.Tomorrow my free days are over and I will be starting with my internship at Garvan Institute of Medical Research. I am really looking forward to that! Also, at the moment I still do not have internet at my house. However, I expect to be online here within the coming two weeks.

Cheers.

SCAM: naive boy goes to the big city

Unfortunately, just when I thought I pulled myself together and started feeling comfortable in Sydney, I had reached the bottom. I became a victim of an accommodation fraud which cost me 1200 AUD (=1000 euro). A mixture of my naivety, need for cheap accommodation and time pressure with a professional set-up made me walk impulsively straight into a trap. Based on false documents which included the landlord’s ID, identification of property and signed lease contract, I decided to hand over one month rent and one month deposit cash through a money-transfer service called: Western Union, upon which I should have had received my keys. Though, the keys had never arrived. I know I have been very stupid and too trusting, and it was a very expensive lesson to learn. I went down to the police-station, but they had said that this was not a police matter, as I voluntarily gave her the money. They had recommended me to take a lawyer if I wanted to continue with the process. But I don’t have the money or time for a lawyer, and I have not much ground to stand on as the documents were highly likely to be false. Also the insurance company couldn’t do anything for me because it concerned a risk I took myself. Many tears had fallen, within a crowded internet café and inside the hostel, but I could not let this put me down for much longer.

Because I was thinking – philosophy alert – that we were all probably born naïve. And as time passes by and life happens to you, bits and bits of that naivety erodes away from our self. Sometimes upon experiencing something nasty, like that accommodation scam bitch, chunks of naivety can be taken away from us. So that leaves me wondering – What will be the end product of this process? What will distinguish happy old people from bitter old people?

Wisdom?

Attitude, perhaps?

I caught myself not smiling, nor singing or whistling the couple few days. I don´t want to end up bitter by society. So I left this scam behind me and came down back to earth with a new found positivity. After all, I came here to chase my dreams and in order to do so I had to take some risks. Sure I could sit on the sofa at my parent's place for the rest of my life: nice and safe. But I didn’t; I took my chances. Back to earth!

I still needed to find an accommodation, and valuable time was slipping by. Luckily, Sean, the landlord of my first found accommodation still had the room available for me. So my wandering days were over and I had left the hostel to move into my new room! (Pictures will follow). I felt such a relief by having my own space here in Sydney (and not sharing a dorm with 5 other loudly snoring men). Finally I could start buying things I need for my stay here. I bought a second-hand mountain bike and I really enjoy riding a bike here, which is a lot cheaper compared with the expensive bus rides. As you may recall from the maps picture of my first accommodation; there’s a huge park separating my house from the Garvan Institute. I tried out the route today and it was such a pleasant bike ride, although I do must bear in mind that I need to stay on the left side of the road. Apparently many foreign students tend to get run over here. I bought a second-hand guitar which I am really happy about since it has great therapeutic effect on me. And I purchased running shoes! I noticed that Sydney is a very athletic city. Everywhere you look at you see people working out, with the coinciding hot, sharpened, and muscular, tanned bodies. I can look right? Sport gear is also very cheap in Australia. I bought qualitative running shoes for only 30 AUD (= 25 euro)!

Therefore, today was a very sporty day: I ran in the park, cycled to the beach and for the first time swam in the ocean! I love the sea here! It is so clear, and blue, and wavy. I must say I kept looking out for sharks and I didn’t dare to go further than only a half meter deep. But maybe next time I can build it up with a few inches and see how it goes (read: not getting bitten by sharks) I am going to try to keep on doing this triathlon for every weekend!

Fortunately, Leiden University gave me reasons to smile again as I have received great news! The two courses I followed in September and October at LUMC, Clinical Research in Practice (statistics e.a.) and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation and immunomodulation were both graded with a nine! Moreover, my Leiden Universiteit Fonds application has been nominated for the Janneke Fruin-Helb beurs; excellent LUF application grant of 2,250 euro. The results will be announced at November the 15^th. Exciting!

p.s. thanks for all the supportive emails I received. I really appreciate it. Much love. Vincent

Change of Plans

Well, I found a better accommodation!! Haha. I realize I can be a bit impulsive in making big decisions sometimes. So don't be surprised when I say that I have found a NEW accommodation!

The reason why I changed cribs is because a better offer was presented to me, basically. The offer was especially a lot cheaper (600 AUD/month (= 520 EURO) compared with 880 AUD/month (= 765 EURO), which is really a catch in Sydney! Not only can I LIVE in Sydney, but now I can also EAT in Sydney. The location is very central, walkable to City Center and the Garvan Institute. Two girls will become my house mates. And I will be receiving the keys tomorrow. Yee! Accommodation, check. Next: Social Life.

Here are also some nice pictures of my first impressions in Sydney:

Reading a book while watching the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in between pages....

Accommodation!!

Second day in Sydney and I have found myself a room!! I love the location! It is 15 minutes by bus to Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and 20 minutes to city center. It is at a walk-able distance to Bondi Beach! (I am gonna be a Bondi Beach Bitch after all, Sofie ;) ) Also, there is a huge park at my front door (definitely gonna buy running shoes; no worries Onno, I won't get fat here)!

I also have an Australian phone number nowadays: +61 (0)435 648 790

And you can e-mail me if you want to receive my address (I do like post :D )

Now I can finally ease my mind and start being the tourist for my remaining 8 days till the start of my internship!!

P.s. Jet lag is quite a burden for me to be honest. I made the terrible mistake to sleep from 10:00 to 15:00 on my arrival day, because I could not sleep in my overnight flight from Hong Kong. I was wide-awake at 4 A.M and started writing my lab report of previous course till 7 A.M, that was when breakfast was being served.

Hong Kong: Lantau Island

Today was a really fun day. I must admit that on my first day of arrival here in Hong Kong I was rather skeptical about this stop-over. I was tired, jet-lagged, inexperienced in backpacking and feeling a bit alone. However, after a good night of sleep I became a changed person and felt like doing some fun! So I started my day by eating breakfast in a typically Chinese restaurant and ordered Dim Sum.

Luckily I practiced earlier with using chop sticks, because Western cutlery was absent. After this experience, I went to Kowloon Park where I was witnessing Chinese people searching for inner peace by making movements as if they were being possessed, very interesting. I think that if they were to perform those same moves in Vondelpark at Amsterdam they would be arrested for drugs abuse. Then I made my way to Mong Kok, the so-called Time Square of Hong Kong. I thought it was a bit over-rated and decided to take the metro back to the south to get on a ferry. God, at first I did not understand a thing about the metro in Hong Kong. But after a good body language session with the Chinese

locals I managed to work it. I’ve been told that I should take a

ferry to Lantau Island to observe the largest Buddha in the world: Giant Buddha. So I did. The ferry trip was very nice and it took around 45 minutes t get there. The Chinese sea had something

peculiar to me. It had a scent typically of what I expected China to smell like. Also the colour had something different to it: more light blue, whitish, with a green touch, and the waves were rather thick.

Is this my bus stop?

Finally, I arrived at Lantau Island and there I took the bus to Ngong Ping Village. The bus ride was rather wild and it took me high up in the mountains, as I could feel by the nausea in my stomach and by the pressure in my ears. Upon arrival, I could see where Giant Buddha got its name from. It was enormous! Besides this huge statue, Ngong Ping Village had more to offer. I followed a route called Wisdom Path which guided you through the mountains and took you to herbal tea plants. The entire route had a smell of Chinese tea and that was magical and relaxing. I wanted to get back to Hong Kong City Centre and therefore I had to take the cable car ride, as that was the only way of traveling to reach the metro. That was not a punishment at all! It gave me a gorgeous view of the Chinese mountains and nature.

The terminal of the cable car happened to be a large clothing outlet store! I had some pleasant window shopping, but suddenly I had a reality-check, as I realized the weight of my backpack. I did what no other self-respecting gay guy could do: I left the outlet shopping mall without a clothing bag.

It was starting to get dawn and I hustled to reach

Victoria Bay to see the Symphony of Lights.

No, it’s not a concert. Every night at 8 P.M, Hong Kong Island produces a show of lights projected from skyscrapers on the rhythm of music. That was awesome!

I am now at Hong Kong Airport waiting for my plane to Sydney! xxx