Sydney Events
SydneyFriends new community site!
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 | Meeting people, Sydney Events, SydneyFriends StartUp | No Comments
Recently I have made a new Community site for SydneyFriends, using the ’Spruz’ Sydneyfriends Community. It’s a 100% free service, why not be one of the first to sign up :). I hope it may help others find happiness in their lives.
I welcome any comments to the quality of the new community site, and hope all users can make the most of it.
If you would like to contribute in SydneyFriends forum about the community page visit the forum page today:
SydneyFriends Forum
Besides working on that page, I’ve also been working on a Japan shopping service, as I am still in Osaka, so if anyone wants some Japanese goods check out: MechaJapan.
I think I will have to make a new site, focussing on Japan, instead of writing about it here 
so I’ll try to keep the focus on Sydney here. If anyone would like to contribute to this blog with articles relating to Sydney, please: Mail me.
Besides attending interviews and making websites, I’ve also been teaching English at a school and privately, which I usually enjoy doing. However I prefer working on web sites, so my time spent (working) online is usually more than the time I teach English.
I often think of the SydneyFriends and SJLG (Sydney Japanese Language Group) community in Sydney and hope everyone is enjoying late Spring weather! I am still organising the monthly SydneyFriends Party for Friday the 21st of November, which will be at Shark Hotel again.
All the best,
Lindsay
Here are a few other projects of mine:
http://www.sydney-friends.com
http://www.japanshoppingservice.com
http://www.wherecaniadvertise.com
http://www.ideason2012.com
Sydney Friends Party!!
Saturday, September 13th, 2008 | Meeting people, Sydney Events | 1 Comment
Last night - Friday the 12th of September, was SydneyFriends first get together !! For most people it was mainly drinks at Shark hotel, those that arrived early ate dinner there too. Later on in the night was some pool playing, more drinking, socialising and a bit of dancing.
At first I came with two friends - two Japanese girls, and we got the tables ready, then a short while later I noticed two others had arrived early (my English teacher friend and his Japanese friend), so they joined us, we ate some pizza and wedges and had a few drinks.
I didn’t have many real confirmation of numbers, maybe 10-15 I thought so it was a good surprise to see that around 30 people turned up in total.
I only put up a few ads at jams.tv and one ad at gumtree, the rest was word-of mouth at a language exchange group, or sms to old contacts on my phone. Most of the people who turned up were either Japanese or Australian, however two people who saw the ad from gumtree were welcome additions to the group - a man from India, and a lady from England, two very friendly people.
Basically it was a fun night… two conversations I remember… one about a person being a “yowajin” weak drinker/ weak man, so I asked what was the opposite in Japanese, so I was given a word about a hard-on, another funny one was I thought I heard someone say “uwaki kusai” -> smells like an affair. when they actually said “waki kusai” smells like armpits. anyway, you had to be there.
Overall most people seemed happy with the night with plenty of nice guys, and beautiful women a good start to what will hopefully be a monthly / every 2 month party, with regular outings in between such as next weeks (20th Sept. 08) walk in the Botanic Gardens. See Sydneyfriends events page for more details.
If you are from a non-Australian culture, and you know of a website where I can invite people from your country living in Sydney to come to one of our future events, please let me know.
-Lindsay
www.sydney-friends.com
Doulos
Monday, September 8th, 2008 | Sydney Events | No Comments
Tonight, the 8th of Sept. 08. I was lucky enough to have a tour of the Doulos, from a few of it’s passengers, that had visited a church I go to last weekend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Doulos
Yesterday, when I was at a bi-lingual Japanese-English church in Crows Nest, Sydney, I was very fortunate to hear various performances by Christians from the MV Doulos, a volunteer ship with Christians from all over the world. There was a Brazillian who did the preaching, a Japanese man (Youse)? who gave a very interesting talk about the Doulos, and two Japanese girls, one (Manami) who played the piano and sang a song she wrote.. great!!, and another Japnaese girl (Kanako) who did some miming, which was also excellent.
Please visit the sites about the Doulos, it’s an amazing story! The ship is the oldest passenger ship in the world. Go Christians! keep doing a great job spreading the word. It has been in Sydney since the 21st of August and will leave Sydney on the 9/9/08 with it’s next stop being Geelong.
-Lindsay
www.sydney-friends.com
Burn Your Plastic Jesus - Mark Driscoll helps get rid of misconceptions of Christ Jesus
Thursday, August 28th, 2008 | Sydney Events | 2 Comments
This was a great event at 7:30pm Wednesday the 27th of August 08. Which attracted over 10,000 people to the Sydney Entertainment Centre, including myself.
The night promised to be a fascinating event with the Katoomba Christian Convention (KCC) welcoming the event by saying:
” For many people, although the gospel of God was once gratefully received, Jesus has since moved from being the person at the centre of our lives, to being simply something. that conveniently fits around us. This is a “plastic Jesus”: a Jesus who is accommodating and soft and not at all demanding - and not at all real. Instead, the Jesus we meet in the New Testament is challenging and tough and confronting, and He calls people - you and me - to take up our cross and follow Him.
Mark Driscoll, came across not only as a great speaker, but a very loving family man, who could speak both well versed, and practically, answering questions very thoroughly.
Some of the messages I got from the night were:
That Jesus is not to be taken too religiously.. i.e. don’t just go to Church out of fear, but because you know God loves us.
Our first birth was physical, our second birth is spiritual.
It’s not about what we do it’s about what he’s done. “It is finished”
- I got from that, being Christian is more about loving God than doing good deeds, out of fear.
God doesn’t say “If you do this I will love you” he says “Because I love you ….”
you can/should/will obey me.
Too much pride causes people/angels to fall.
Jesus isn’t there just to give us things… God’s greatest gift is Himself.
we should Love, serve, follow.. not be too concerned with the gifts we can get.
God isn’t just an example… don’t just send kids to a Christian school to get morals.. live a Christian life yourself, grow Christlike yourself.
He made a joke about Aussie’s being late bloomers , with the average age for men to get married being 32 and we leave our parents at age 25.
God isn’t just for country people, originally the word of God was preached to cities, such as Corinth, Rome etc.
Today’s society is a bit too into “spirituality” accepting more than one God… this can open ways to get involved with the wrong “spirits”.
He encouraged young Christians to get active… that night was the first night since 1979 when Billy Graham, preached at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, for that centre to be full of young Christians.
“There is no condemnation for those who are in CHRIST JESUS.
Basically us Aussies, had no problem with the American accent, there were a few big differences, such as in the pronunciation of deity, and his use of the word recant, however I think he was warmly accepted by all! and he often said how he loved Sydney, which probably made a lot of people smile.
Jesus said He is God
Jesus is Perfect
Jesus forgave sins.
He said “I am the way the truth and the life, nobody goes to the Father but through me.
Well that’s pretty much the main things that I got from the night.. also when I was prayed for a girl recommended I looked at Luke 9 18-27 which was great and it’s very much related to the first quote I put at the top of this post… and I don’t think she even realised… funny how things work out.
Once again I’ll say.. .it was a great night and very worthwhile attending.
You can find out more at www.shop.kcc.org.au
Lindsay
What’s on in Spring in Sydney
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 | Sydney Events | 1 Comment
Winter is almost over, and the flowers are starting to bloom - Spring is here !
Spring is a great time to spend time around Sydney, with the beaches being a great place to go on the weekends with good barbecue facilities, and surfing locations. All of Sydney’s beaches have their own unique atmosphere, from resort like Palm beach to tourist heaven Bondi. Take a look!
The parks are also a great place to go in Spring - great place for a date! with floral displays in full bloom and bees buzzing in the background. Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden is gorgeous, and is so close to icons such as the Opera House and the Sydney of Museum.
Besides the above, it would be a nice time to go on a tour, such as to the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, or a romantic Harbour Cruise.
There are a number of events on in Sydney, such as Biennale of Sydney 2008 and Taste of Pyrmont, also this one looks good if you are interested in history: History Week 2008 - The Water’s Edge Open Day at Customs House. For those who like shopping at markets, you could check these out.
For music fans the Acer Arena is looking good, with singers and bands such as Judas Priest, Stevie Wonder, Def Leppard, and John Mellencamp coming this Spring!! check out the Acer Arena Page for more details.
Stay tune to SydneyFriends, as the events page for Spring is about to bloom.
Lindsay Woolcott