She Passed the Bar!
The Bar is a funny word. To most people the word means a place where they serve alcoholic beverages, play music, and card you because you don't look a day over 18 when you're really 27+(not speaking from personal experience - of course not). To others it means something that can hurt i.e. a man walked into a bar - ouch! (okay fine I'm not that great at telling jokes). However, to a smaller group of people who are stereotyped to be sleazy black-hearted people who will do anything for a buck who run our legal system(you may know them as lawyers or barristers, esquires, JDs, you know Tom Cruise in the Firm), "bar" is the scariest word known to them. It's the test that will determine whether or not they are worthy of dropping the word "lawyer", or giving out business cards when they say "call me." What can be more impressive when that business card says Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe or any other law firm with three names? It's a test that they are already studying for after they've taken their finals at law school and the reason why no law student really celebrates his/her graduation.
For the 2.5 months after graduation, all law students disappear from the face of the earth to their computers and BarBri classes in preparation for the July multi-day exam. Most people figure that the new graduates are off traveling before work starts. No, their eyes are tired from the millions of pages they need to read, their skin pale white to the point they look sick because they have been hiding from the sun, and their hands crippled into a position where they're holding a pen or curled from typing on the computer. All this in preparation for a full 2-day exam - more if one is taking more than one state exam.
The exam, the bar, simultaneously meaning 2 days of hell. They say you can only bring pens and pencils, a computer if you're lucky. In a world where we don't really write using one hand, these students have had to train themselves to hold and write with writing implements. You can't bring anything - no cell phone, maybe your lunch, but otherwise just yourself and your pen/pencils. For a whole day you're scribbling and reading, sweating, and regretting the fact that you slept for 20 min the night before instead of reviewing your tort notes or trying to remember the criminal laws that you had crammed for 2 days because you didn't take the class at school - you start swearing under your breath, when you realize everyone else is too. During your breaks (even though it's a break, you realize that no one is talking), you go running to the bathroom where if you're a girl, the line will already be flowing out of the bathroom into the hall - you curse the engineers who thought they were being equitable by giving the boys 4 stalls and the girls 4 stalls - we all know that women need at least 4 times that equal the boys in turnover. You quickly learn that if you want to eat lunch, you need to be eating lunch while standing on line to the bathroom. Doesn't sound too sanitary. By time the test is over for the day, it's 6 pm. You've been at the test site since 7:30. Your hand is cramped, your brain fried, and your eyes pretty much closed. You want to go home and rest, but there's at least another day ahead of you of the same thing. Do you study? Do you rest? Do you eat? Questions for the test taker.
The bar is over. But is it? Many students take a 2-month vacation until they start work. They travel the world, they find an apartment and move to get ready for work. But the bar is still fresh in their mind. They start working at their firms who pretend that their new hires are "lawyers" when they really know that if the person doesn't pass the test, they're no longer worthy. Maybe if you have a nice firm, they'll help you prepare for this nightmare again in a couple of months in February, if you don't tough luck. New hires are constantly reminded that their careers with the firm depend on the bar, and it seems that the firm has more fun threatening the hires with "if you pass the bar" than actually working them to death - no, that will come after you are a real lawyer. There is this continual stress that won't go away until the results are released.
Some states like to ease this pressure by letting the people who took the test wait 2 months and release the results in late September, soon after one has started working, some are more ruthless and wait till October. To make things even worse, some states have a website public to anyone who googles "State Bar Results" where anyone can see all the names of those who passed.
Pass - the word instantaneously that brings relief and years back to their lives. A word that lets them into the club of "lawyers" and the butt of jokes. A word that says, yes, I am the stereotype and after going to school for 3 years, I am making craploads of money for someone who has never worked before.
Pass - the word that my sister heard when she was sitting in a meeting at her law firm when someone came running in and yelled, congratulations! My sister the lawyer, the money-making hour-billing, arrogant sleazebag esquire. I love her and wish her the most heartfelt congratulations.
Meet Me in San Francisco - Day 2
Day two of my SF trip was fantastic. I got to meet up with my three favourite big little brothers and got a full bay tour of Berkeley and Stanford where they are doing their PhDs - I am from a smart family. :) However, the jetlag was starting to hit me, really hard.
I first started the day at Berkeley with Frank, who's doing his Chemistry PhD there - although it really sounds like he's really doing Physics. It was a gorgeous day and Frank gave me the Berkeley tour which included a ride up to the clock tower where we were just in time for the playing of the Carillon (fancy word for lots of bells). It was LOUD and we spent a good 15 min with our fingers in our ears.
After the morning with Frank, I took BART down to Union City where Probal and Primoz was going to pick me up. During the 30 min ride, I just conked out. I was watching the hills go by when bam out like a light. Luckily, the next time I opened my eyes, I saw Union City and just jumped up before my brain could register that I was in the right place. Then Probal and Primoz picked me up and showed me Stanford. The campus is beautiful and riding in Primoz's car was even more of an adventure. We reminisced about our time at Princeton and couldn't believe that that was over 5 years ago. Crazy.
It's hard to believe that time goes by so fast, but fortunately for me, the wonderful people stay wonderful.
Meet Me in San Francisco - Day 1
After travelling from Sydney to Singapore to Hong Kong, I finally made it to San Francisco! My first time in Northern California and what a GREAT trip it was! It was wonderful catching up with friends and exploring the beautiful hilly city! Sabine was wonderful in letting me stay with her. The first day I caught up with Brian who showed me the Brian tour of SF.
We started with lunch at the Market. Then we ventured our way to Pier 39, where we got great views of Alcatraz, seal lions and tons of tourists! When I saw Alcatraz (left) I was surprised that Sean Connery had such a tough time getting off because it looked so close to the shore. Then we looked at map to see that it was further than we thought. Then we drove on Lombard Street, a.k.a. the curviest road in SF, and curvey it was! Brian had to concentrate on the turns. What resident would be happy about the many tourists who wanted to drive down the road?
Then we walked through the gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts (left). The architecture was beautiful. This is where Sean Connery met with his daughter before being taken away to Alcatraz (if you haven't figured out all these Sean Connery references are from the Rock). Then the Brian Lin tour ended with a beautiful panoramic of the famous Golden Gate Bridge.
Then the HSPH gals (Kathryn and her bump, Lindsey, Sabine, and I) went out to a great restaurant in the Mission. It was fabulous seeing everyone and catching up.
When Sabine and I went home we both fell dead asleep exhausted from our days...
Marathon Part 2
So the official results are in!
Jackson and I were the 343 and 344 people to cross the finish line in our Family Fun Run! We ran the race in 25:08 and I was the 134th female and Jackson was the 196 male in our class. This was out of 3379 people who ran - granted most were kids and babies in strollers, but a feat nonetheless. I It's really cool! There's this website that has pictures of you running near the finish line. Because Jackson and I were running together, here's a great picture of the two of us. It's quite obvious that Jackson was saying c'mon we're almost there, and I'm quite just looking forward to dying.
We walked away without any visible wounds, however, I'm having some problems with my foot. I've never had a foot injury before, but it feels like something's inflamed because it feels alright at the beginning of the day and the more pressure I put on it, the worse it gets. I'll let it go for a week or so and see how it goes.
So...it's September 22nd...I leave for the US in a couple of days and West Coast here I come! :) Then it's off to home sweet home...NY! I'm pretty excited with my bag mostly packed and ready to go. :)
I'll see you Americans soon!
Family Fun Run
I did it! I ran my first Sydney marathon - okay...it's called a family fun run and it's only 4kms, but I did it! I didn't walk any of it and I with thousands of other people ran across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and to the Opera House. It was incredible. So it was the Family Fun Run and as the name says, it was all about families. You would see parents running with strollers and little kids from 5-11 years olds just running in full sprint. You can see that the motivation for me NOT to walk was in seeing that little 7 year olds were passing me right, left, and center and I could NOT just stop and walk. Even dads with huge backpacks strapped to them were running at paces I could only call a sprint. But...that's okay, cause I did it and I think that we were in the middle front of the pack! We finished the run with a time of 25:47 - that's in minutes and not hours. I am very proud of myself.
Afterwards, we got our family fun run medals of completion, and our goody-bags full of goodies (freebees, sample cereals, coffee, go green bags, etc). It was incredible. It really looked like the entire city was out for their morning run and we were a part of it.
Good Bye Crocodile Hunter
I failed to mention a big thing that happened last week. The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, was killed as he was filming one of his animal documentaries last week up in the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of those surreal moments as the news shocked everyone - from the Americans to the Australians. A man who laughed in the face of danger and screamed "Crikey!" was gone. Being up on the Gold Coast, there were pictures everywhere. Makes sense as his family lives on the Sunshine Coast, not too far away, and his wildlife zoo is close also. I just wanted to let you guys know that the Aussies miss him, and I will too.
A word that applies to Steve:
Larrikin = someone mischievous
Gold Coast
So we're back in Sydney after a full fun-filled weekend!
Jackson and I went up to the Gold Coast to visit his parents and we had a great time! It was nice to be out of our usual schedule in Sydney.
Saturday morning started at 5:15! Jackson, Dad, and I went to play some 9-hole golf at a nearby club, and I must say, I didn't do too horribly! I hit some good shots, some bad shots, lost some balls, found some balls, and by the time we were finished it was 8:30. I felt super refreshed while at the same time tired, and proud that my golf was coming along. I'm not that good - despite all proud achievements. For ever one that Jackson hits, I hit about three, and he claims not to be that great either. Then we went home to have breakfast with Mum who had ventured out of bed by this time :) and while the boys napped, I helped out with de-fatting lots and lots of lamb that we were going to have for dinner. It was quite therapeutic. I'm not much a of cook, but just sitting there, stripping the fat off the meat was quite fun. The only part that hurt was my back from hunching over the meat.
Then in the afternoon, we went to see the Queensland Reds play the Western Force. It was my first Rugby Union game! That's right, the first professional Rugby game I had been to. The stadium was large and there were about 3000 in the crowds, but with team members travelling with the Wallabies (the National Team that went to South Africa) and just not being a strong team this season, these fighting koalas got run over by the Force (32-6). What can you expect for a team mascot who doesn't really move ever, and who eats Eucalyptus only? It was a great experience though and I look forward to more games in the future! We did get these cool little Reds hats. :) I'm not sure if I'll be able to wear them down here in Sydney as Sydney's team, the Waratahs (a flower), is pretty popular. :)
Then for our second dose of Rugby, we watched the Wallabies play in South Africa, and while I was falling asleep due to a super long game as this game started at 11pm, another bad luck game for our team as South Africa just ran away from the Wallabies. This ends the Tri-Nations tournament (the tri being South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia) and now the teams start playing other European teams.
Sunday, we had another full day with church in the morning followed by a big-screen watching of Kingdom of Heaven. An interesting movie and I was impressed. I wasn't expecting much though and if you don't like gore...well...let's just say, close your eyes and peek out when it's all done (that's what I did). It's a story about the crusades, and rather fascinating. Mum & Dad have put in a new theatre system as part of an extension of their house and they have an 11-seat theatre that looks and sounds incredible. :) We were ooh-ing and ahh-ing all weekend. It really did turn out very nicely.
So that's our weekend, I know more did happen, but I'm still pooped from the whole weekend! This week I know will be crazier as I need to continue the job thing...actually, I should be doing that right now.
Jobs Jobs Shirts
It's been a crazy week with trying to start the job application process. Jackson's really pushing me hard to get some resumes and applications out and to tell you the truth, I've really been kicking and screaming the whole way. I guess I don't want to feel rushed, I guess I really HATE the job application process as it's really a way for you to present yourself and then get rejected, or maybe I guess I'm still thinking that all if this is still temporary. Admittedly, I do think that I need one - things do get a bit boring on your own. So after calling recruiting agencies and submitting my resumes and coverletters online, I got one call and one e-mail. I got called for an interview with a recruiting company for Thursday, and then the shopping horror began. I don't have any "work" clothes here. I have a pair of grey pants, nice shoes, but with regards to tops...forget it. t-shirts are as fancy as I get. So...I went shopping for a nice dress shirt. I figured, how hard could it be to get a nice button down? I knew it was going to be hard. Even in the US I don't like getting button downs because, c'mon ladies, we all know about the gaping hole in the front, but here? when I don't know the stores, and who knows how the sizes work, with an interview the next morning, I was beside myself. I walked into a couple of stores to find that the average price for a button down shirt was around $129. That's right, in Australian dollars - that would be about 100 US? The shirts were really ordinary, but at least I could try for sizes. Then I walked into this really nice shirt store and found one that "worked" I wasn't crazy about it, but it worked and by this time I had been walking around for 3 hours. Then when I looked at the price tag, It was $189! The prices! Jackson wasn't that impressed with the price of the shirt, and I wasn't either.
About to give up, I wandered into Espirit - a store that I haven't really walked into or even thought about since I was in middle school, and found a pink button down that was "okay". Finally it was a price I thought was "reasonable" around $80. But this was Espirit! Who knows about the quality of the shirt, and it was 3/4 sleeve, but it did the trick. Plus! the sales ladies steamed the shirt for me, so I was definitely sold.
Proud of my day's success and also exhausted, I just came back home and started fretting about the interview the next morning.
The next morning, I got myself all cleaned up, prepared for what I thought she might ask and found myself at the agency 30 min before the scheduled time. Then I just sat outside till 15 min before when I went up to fill in some paperwork. The interview was at 10:30, but at 10:45, she rolled around apologizing for the delay. We sat, talked and by 11 we were done. It doesn't look like they'll be able to find the kind of work I'm interested in (healthcare consulting), but I didn't think that it would be 15 min long. All the worrying, all the shopping...for 15 min.
15 min...
More to look for this week.
Done at last!
So it's all done! After putzing around with the internet and the modem and our wireless, we are finally online! It took me 6 hours to figure out...nothing, and it took Jackson 45 min - go figure. But we're all up! Exciting. :)
I guess, there's not much to report from here - another week has passed and now it's already September! My weeks are usually filled with crosswords, catching up with Gilmore Girls, and playing computer games. Right now I'm in the middle of a game, and I really have to finish soon because I think that my eyes are starting to get really sleepy. I guess the only thing I'm really looking forward to doing is getting a job, however, I'm not that excited about actually LOOKING for one and interviewing...ugh. So...to do that, I've started writing a coverletter! I have..um...3 paragraphs. I'm very proud of my accomplishments, but Jackson only rolls his eyes and asks me what else I've done but go down and get my weekly tabloid. Hopefully in the next week I'll start contacting organizations. I'm sure I'll stay in healthcare and perhaps pursue consulting again. Ideally it'll have a bit of operational experience, but what I learned from my fellowship was that I like fixing things and then to upkeep it is somewhat tedious. So...I think consulting will be a nice fit. I'll keep looking. If you find anything that might be interesting, send it my way. But can you believe it? It is September 2nd...Where has the month gone!?
I think the most exciting event this week was that I got to meet Jackson's office colleagues and their partners! I really enjoyed the evening. Everyone was really friendly and it looks like we're all a bundle of expats! There weren't that many Sydney-siders there, so we could all talk about our transition periods. The food was great and the company better! Maybe I was also getting a little lonely at home and some social interaction was exactly what I needed.
Today we had an absolutely gorgeous day with weather in the high 70s - Spring/Summer is obviously very much on its way! We went to play some golf at a pitch and putt and I must brag that I only scored 1 more than Jackson! My swing is coming along nicely. :)
I think that's all for now - tomorrow is Australia's Father's Day, so we'll give Jackson's Dad AND brother a call! His brother is a new dad! So two dads in the family. For all you dads out there...Happy Father's Day!
Words for the day:Keen = v. to be keen = interested
Ankle biter = n. small child
Learning the Lingo:
We were hanging out with Jackson's cousins and their friends for dinner the other night and I asked if schools root for their teams at games and the sorts - you know as in cheer, and everyone just turned to me and said, what? and I said, you know root for your team, to cheer, and they all just started laughing because apparently root doesn't mean cheer for, but rather to have sex...so...well...yeah. Don't use root here when you're talking about cheering...
