Nov142009
I Ate Maccas 3 Times in One Day and Other Fun Facts
Filed under Uncategorized by Kerry at 7:42 pm on Nov 14 2009
Holy hell, apartment hunting in Sydney is a nightmare! The horror stories are true. I can’t get over just how different it is here than in the states when it comes to that.
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Here’s how it works. Each property has an inspection time. This is a 15 minute window when EVERYONE interested in that property comes to look at it. Sometimes you can set up private appointments to view places but generally you have to go push your way through an apartment at the same time as 30 other people. Then you have to fill out an application and hand in every piece of information imaginable about yourself. The two main things they want are rental ledgers, which is a history of all of your rent payments from anywhere you’ve lived. Considering I lived at home for the past 2 years and anywhere else I’ve lived was run by a bunch of college students where they most definitely don’t keep track of anything and/or said there was nothing they could help me out with when I tried calling them when I was still in the states, I’m fucked in that respect. Also, they want proof of employment. Since I don’t want to get a job until I know where I’m living, I’m fucked in that respect as well. Do you think anyone wants to rent a place out to an unemployed American who can’t even prove she’s ever paid rent anywhere? At this point we are at a loss for what to do other than sleep with a real estate agent. I’m kidding…but give me a few more weeks and I may not be kidding.
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So what’s your renting in Australia horror story? I’d love to hear how anyone else got around being homeless.
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In other news, I ate McDonald’s 3 times in one day. I think we’re turning to food to comfort us since this apartment hunting bullshit is so frustrating. Yesterday after going to a few apartment inspections we polished off an entire pizza between the two of us and then went and got ice cream. Make me stop!
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Figuring out how to order coffee took me a few tries. I’ve found ordering a skinny flat white usually results in coffee closest to what I’m used to from home.
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Also, it appears mullets are still in fashion here. I can’t get over the amount of mullets I’ve seen. I also saw a guy wearing what can best be described as a zoot suit on the train around 5 pm on Friday. Initially I would guess he was coming from a performance because it seriously looked like a costume but then I realized he must have worn it into an office. I couldn’t contain my laughter and just started laughing out loud when I saw him. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten beaten up yet.
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This week Mandi and I are staying at a hostel in Kings Cross. It’s a mix of bars, cafes, sex stores and strip clubs. I saw my first Aussie tranny here and it was the least convincing tranny I’ve ever seen. I’m hoping to see a good tranny before the week is up. So, yesterday we were walking past a sex store and see this guy wearing a bike helmet walk out with two huge bags full of god knows what and he set off the security alarm! Talk about the most embarrassing time to set off an alarm. He ran back inside. I kind of wanted to stick around and wait for him to come back out so I could see him try to ride a bike while trying to hold two large bags full of sex toys.
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Oh major gossip that I’m leaving out, but I will share as a means to teach the ladies how to pick up men in Australia. I met a boy within 24 hours of being here. How did I work so fast? Well, I was drinking a beer at 10 am in a pub. Works like a charm! So yeah, a bright spot in the depression of not having a place to live is I’ve been hanging out with a pretty cool guy since I’ve been here. As far as the general boy front goes, Mandi and I hadn’t seen many cute guys since getting here, then we went to the Opera Bar on Friday evening and it was full of nothing but hot guys in suits. So, if you’re in Sydney and looking for eye candy, make your way there at the end of the work day and I promise you won’t be disappointed. Of course, only the complete freaks approached us, though. I would expect nothing less.
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That’s all I’ve got for now, kids. If I ever have an apartment I’ll be able to update more frequently. Maybe the unconvincing tranny needs a roommate, I’ll ask if I see her again.
4 Responses to “I Ate Maccas 3 Times in One Day and Other Fun Facts”
1 mcon 14 Nov 2009 at 9:19 pm
Yes, the horror stories are so true. For us, it helped that my boyfriend had great employment and we were landlords at home. But geez… I saw 2 dozen units. I got me to visit the city though and realize which parts are better deserved by transport.
Gumtree might be your best friend here. Sublet…
2 Kerryon 14 Nov 2009 at 9:27 pm
Yeah, it’s definitely helped us get to know several areas pretty well and master the trains/buses. What area did you end up in? I think we’ll need to let go of our dream to live in the eastern suburbs as it seems the rest of Australia is trying to live there for the summer.
3 Samanthaon 14 Nov 2009 at 11:50 pm
Hey – I came across your blog while looking up American expat blogs online while I was feeling nostalgic for my time spent in Australia. I was in Sydney this past summer. I ended up renting a room in a flat. I actually found the place at Gumtree there are plenty of listings in the flatshare/houseshare section. Good luck!
4 mcon 17 Nov 2009 at 9:01 pm
We ended up in Neutral Bay. Very convenient neighbourhood for us cause the boyfriend could get to the CBD in 20 minutes by bus and I could walk to all stores and services. We wanted somewhere quiet and safe though… I may be a little two tranquil if you are looking to party and downtown public transit links at night are few and far between.
We lived in Kirribilli also. Great location but very little services.
We considered the Eastern suburbs (but public transit to city takes too long), around St. Peters (not a lot of services), but mostly we kept to the North Shore.