Hey now, hey now... don't dream it's over...
 
It's been a long week for me, but it's a good week, so I can't complain. The girls hopefully had a good stay... they spent most of their time shopping as TO doesn't really host the most interesting tourist sites. I'm surprised how much they bought despite it being one of their first shops on their RTW ticket. Let me tell you, although it is exciting having visitors, it's exhausting thinking of all the things you can do with them or take them to.

Toronto is having The Beaches Jazz Festival though, where the main street near a very yuppy but funky area (The Beaches) is closed off and all these musicians set up along the street performing some great music. The atmosphere is meant to be really good, but unfortunately the night we went was raining, and some of the guys were more keen on clubbing than enjoying the festivities (god knows why).

On the weekend, I went back to The Beaches where they have heaps and heaps of courts for people to rock up and play volleyball as long as they have a net. I was a bit skeptical at first, even mocking the fact that they call this strip of dirt a beach... I guess it's the arrogant Sydney girl talking here. But surprisingly, in good weather, "the beach" actually looked like a beach to the untrained eye. Ofcourse, it's unparallel to the Aussie surf, but decent enough for a city that has no access to ocean. The guys were teaching me how to play for a little while, and the next day, I was barely able to get out of bed! Even nodding my head was painful!

Last night we went to another concert, good old Finn Brothers (think Neil Finn in Crowded House). It was a good concert, but I was a bit upset they didn't play my favourite song "Don't Dream it's Over". We also had some difficulties understanding their NZ accent.. what can I say, it's been a while. Oh, the opening act was an english woman in way bright clothing topped off with huge flowers on either side of her head (ie. bad dress sense)... anyways, one moment she's singing, and the next thing you know, she's tripped over a speaker, landed with a huge leg sprawl front on, with her heels flung in different directions! Classy!

Speaking of accent, I called Zurich the other day to check my insurance coverage, and the guy that I spoke to just blew me away with his accent. He sounded so Occa! I guess it's more noticeable when it's coming from someone you've never spoken to before. My arrival back to Australia will be very interesting.

And lastly, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this coming home business. I guess it's speaking to people back at home, answering questions of when, what, where etc etc... and having my friends here trying to convince me to stay. With visas, work etc to worry about, it's not as easy as they think. Some of my friends have even offered to put my resume forward, but having taken a year off from proper work, I'm not willing to take just any job in order to stay... although some of the options are very good if I wanted to change fields. Anyways, just got thinking because there has been a few reminders of home lately... good and bad.

One thing is for sure though, I am definately hitting Sydney in October... dear old friends are getting married (much to my confusion), but I'm only thinking as far as that. And yes... embrace yourselves for a big drinks night!