Will Around the World

Went to Manly in the morning. It's a seaside resort, heavy on the commercialism, comparable to Santa Cruz except the beach is smaller and there's no boardwalk or rides. Tons of kids out, some on school trips, others out on their own (but in uniform). Manly has great beaches. The water—Sydney Harbour on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other—is clear as crystal and a beautiful shade of blue.

Jacaranda, a common sight in Sydney

After a couple of hours I took the ferry back to Sydney and then hopped on a train, and then a bus, for Bondi. (On the public transit I got the closest to making friends with a bona fide Aussie—not one associated with the tourist industry—that I would on the whole trip. This one was a university student on her way to the suburban campus for the week. Unfortunately, she would return to the city the day I would leave.) On this Thursday afternoon, the beach was covered by teens and twenty-somethings enjoying the warm cloudy day. The surrounding neighborhood is ritzy. This was the first day of the "Sculpture by the Sea" public art exhibit, a collection of large-scale sculptures that line the coastal trail for a few kilometers. Judging from today's crowds it looks like it will be a hit.

From the Manly ferry

Having walked a fair bit around the center and the beaches and ridden on the trains, buses and ferries, I hope I can credibly say that Sydney resembles Southern California. The weather, the palm trees, the glam couture, the slender bronzed blondes. Except for the notable absence of Hispanics and blacks. (There are some aborigines, and they too occupy the bottom of the social ladder.) But getting back to my point, Sydneysiders worship the sun. I wonder if any serious scholarship can be done here.

Bondi Beach

Met up with the Shoppping.com Australia gang again for a drink after work. We went back to the office for PayPal's Poker Night. I reluctantly agreed to join the tournament, only because Katy, the American, put in my entry fee. Despite having played only Texas Hold 'Em three times before and having a weak grasp of the rules, I won! (I must add that I was one of the more experienced players this night. Some were such novices that they needed to refer to a list of poker hands drawn on a board.) The folks in the office bemoaned an outsider taking the victory, but I think they were good sports about it. Besides it was for charity.

After that went to a club downtown called 333. Very glitzy. Tons of 18-22 year-old girls dressed to the nines. Another American in the group noted, "They gotta be hookers. I mean, look at 'em!" Otherwise, the place was unremarkable—a stream of old American pop songs and lame dancing. I was surprised that so many people from work, who otherwise don't have anything to do with each other outside the office, were still hanging out. Still, these coworkers displayed bonhomie among themselves and were cordial, if not friendly, to me.

Sculpture by the Sea

One thing I observed was the male-dominated quality of the workplace. During the workday, I noticed the gender ratio was 70-30 in favor of the men. (In a similar eBay office in the Bay Area, the ratio would be near 50-50.) At the poker tournament after work, the balance was even more lopsided; there were only three women, and one of them was the organizer. (This one joined us at the club, but after a while I lost sight of her. I asked one of the guys if he knew where she was. The reply: "You mean Beergirl?") I also noticed that, as I walked around the center during the workday, the businesspeople going out to lunch were mostly groups of men—few women accompanied them. All this leads me to believe there is a low and thick glass ceiling in corporate Australia.

But I digress. I left the club at 1 and, still tipsy, walked back to the hostel.

# posted by billklee @ 20:56