Musings

As expected, my blog posts have become less and less frequent.  The longer I live here, I often forget how my home culture differs from my adopted one.  Therefore, I continually overlook things and don't really stop to notice the difference.  Everyday life is pretty routine, so I guess there's no need to document it.

To give just a silly example of me not paying attention to culturally differences:  Yesterday, an American friend on Facebook posted a picture of her Starbucks Venti Iced Latte.  I took a minute to really stare at it.  The cup was HUGE! I don't even think that you can get a 24 ounce coffee drink anywhere in Melbourne.  I haven't yet visited a Starbucks here (there are only about four in the metropolitan area of over four million people), but I know from my other extensive international travelling that typically, an American Grande size (16 ounces hot) is everyone else's Venti size (whereas American Ventis are 20 ounces hot).  In the majority of cafes here, you never need to specify the size of coffee you want because there is only one size.

I really look forward to our first American visitors (which should take place sometime this year).  I can't wait to see their reactions to everyday Australian life.  I love those moments when visitors point out what is different, then I need to think, "Oh yeah! I guess that is different! I had totally forgotten!" 

We've been here for over seven months now. [Side note: if I cumulatively add up my time here from 2001 and now, I've spent an entire year of my life in Australia!]  I still love it and don't really ever get homesick.  I certainly have no reservations regarding staying indefinitely.  Again, I always miss my family, friends and certain constant components of American culture (stores remaining open until 10:00pm, proper Mexican food, competitive pricing on goods, affordable health club memberships...), but I never feel like I want to board a plane and hightail it to the U.S.  

I've got a little more than a week to go until I return to school. I'm really looking forward to my next semester.  It's been a great summer, but you can definitely feel that fall (or autumn, as it is called here and in the rest of the world) is in the air.  I'm ready.  I'll try to post more too, okay? 

Later. xo

 

Lucky

Australia Day was January 26th.  This particular date marks the arrival of the First Fleet from Britain in Sydney.  The national holiday is filled with festivities.
Our first Australia Day holiday was filled with friends (both Australian and Brazilian), food (both French and Chinese), street art, meditation, a skateboarding exhibit and beer (in no particular order).  While all these activities stand out, the most memorable thing from that day for me occurred in the span of five seconds or so.
For those that know me well, you already understand that I am an avid people watcher.  Put me in a group, I'm the slowest walker.  The last one there.  I'm busy observing everything.  It's constant.  I enjoy being around people and have found that everyone has got a story to tell.  The best part of travelling, or even living in general, is experiencing the people.  No question there.
While my friends and I waited at the corner of Flinders and Russell Streets for the crosswalk to light up, two beautiful, young men caught the corner of my eye.  The men that had grabbed my attention were clearly Sudanese refugees.  If I had to guess, I'd say that they were both in their early twenties.  Their clothing was functional and modest, smiles radiant.  One of the men wore a baseball cap with the colors of Australia.  The other had a bandanna with the Southern Cross on it.  Both men held Australian flags and seemed to be headed to Federation Square for the celebrations honoring Australia.  Walking past these men, I nearly began to cry crossing the road.
Can you imagine?
Honestly, think about it for a moment.  Really pause and reflect on the following idea:
Can you imagine the feeling of seeing your country torn apart by an extremely violent, seemingly never-ending war, right before your very own eyes?  Can you imagine having to flee to a refugee camp, unaware of if and when you'll be able to escape, continually wondering and worrying about your family and friends?  Can you imagine starting a new life somewhere far away, perhaps with or without your loved ones, watching your home country from afar, while awaiting peace?
The men I passed by were clearly proud to celebrate their residency in Australia, one of the world's most welcoming, safest and most-developed nations.  I still can picture their wide grins in my mind. I began to think about how they got there.  I wondered what life was like for them before Australia.
Can you imagine?
I believe that as humans, we continually relate to others' experiences through the lens of our own, whatever that may be.  I began to think about all the petty, completely irrelevant things in life that I complain about: the tram being five minutes late, my new shoes giving me blisters, running out of coffee while getting ready for work, etc.  I know we all do it, but I really want to make an effort not to.  Understanding how good I've got it constantly proves to be a work in progress.  I continually resolve to work on this more and more each day.
To everyone living in a developed nation, absent of extreme poverty, famine and war; take a minute to think about how lucky you are.  Most of the world's population can only dream of these conditions.  We've got it pretty good, I reckon.

My Little (Poisonous) Spider

I saw her in my garden for the first time a few weeks ago.  I went to grab the watering can to water my chili plants.  While I was filling up my watering can, I looked down to find a redback spider, fiercely guarding her web!
Like a baby, I shrieked at first and nearly dropped my watering can.  I ran inside to show Justin, but when we came back outside, she was gone.
Don't get me wrong... I'm used to spiders by now.  I probably see about four a day inside our house.  I've actually given up trying to eliminate them and will typically only kill them if they are really scary-big (Google Huntsman spider- there's nothing like having a tarantula-sized spider hang out on the edge of the wall by the ceiling) or if they are in my bed (I once awoke to a medium-sized spider crawling across my head.  Yeah, I was up for the day after that incident.)  If I see a spider outside, I figure that this is their territory, so what right do I have to kill it?  Plus, they are so useful for catching flies.
You must understand that my fear arose solely from the fact that it was a female redback, a notoriously poisonous spider who is a relative of the black widow.  Redback bites have the capacity to kill people, but this seems to be a somewhat rare situation.  Apparently, this hasn't happened for a very long time.  Based upon my research, I've surmised that if you get bit, you may need to go to the hospital and receive anti-venom treatment or you'll just need to put ice on the bite and you'll be just fine.
A few days passed by, when I was back in the garden and guess who was there?  I was ready to kill it, but then decided to watch and wait.  I soon became transfixed with my observation and realized that I just didn't have the heart to kill it.  To be in the presence of something so tiny, but potentially lethal, is pretty radical.
Things are cool between us.  I know where to find my little poisonous spider and she knows to expect me (okay, probably not, but I like to imagine this).  Why squash her when we've got a good thing going?  I will be the first to say though that if I see a male red back hanging around or an egg sac, all bets are off.

Point Nepean

We took a day trip to the Mornington Peninsula to visit the mineral/Turkish baths.  Oh my goodness... there are few greater things in life than retreating to water that's heated by magma!  Anyway, we arrived on a super busy day, so we were told that we could get in four hours after we arrived.  No worries, right?  So, we decided to kill time before the baths at Point Nepean National Park, located thirty minutes away.  I'm posting some pictures from our hike below:

Point Nepean used to serve as a military fort/army training ground.

The swim that needed no towel...

The moment before Justin's hat tried to fly off his head.

The tip of the point

One of the military lookouts

The Grampians

After visiting the marvelous Great Ocean Road, we headed inland right before Christmas to visit Grampians National Park.  The Grampians are a small sandstone mountain range.  The area provides amazing day hikes, complete with waterfalls and plenty of animals.

The view heading into Halls Gap, a small town in the heart of the Grampians

I love the (mostly) arid landscape of this continent.  I've noticed while living here that I drink/need more water than I did back in Minneapolis.  It's got little to do with elevation, since Melbourne is basically at sea-level.  I think it's got everything to do with the dryness of the land.  I love this climate because I find it fascinating that so much flora and fauna can exist and evolve in such harsh conditions.

Our first hike: Off to the Pinnacle.
You'll notice the burnt trees, which are remnants of a bushfire.  While in the Grampians, we noticed many signs warning visitors that it was bushfire season.  Additionally, when you turn on the television, you can't go fifteen minutes without seeing a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for creating an emergency exit plan in case of a bushfire.
[Random side note: Speaking of advertisements on Australian television, this is what I have gathered: 1/3 are PSAs, 1/3 are spokespeople hawking products, 1/6 are informercials (such as Genie Bra and its competitor, the Ah Bra) and 1/6 are actually cleverly done and interesting.  I guess when you live in a place with such a small population, there are less products to sell and therefore, less competition in the marketplace to sell them, so there is no need for fancy commercials.]

A view of Lake Bellfield

I love yoga... but I must say that on this 90 degree F day (compounded by the lack of an an ozone layer- 90 degrees F here feels like 105 degrees F in most places around the world) those rocks were HOT on my bare soles!

Labyrinth-like rock face

Some views from the top

He can't be bothered to act whimsical, but at least he tolerates my continuous playful nature.

I love parrots!  They are everywhere (even in the city) but I still never get sick of them flying around.

Hello, wallaby!

Wallabies grazing alongside cattle.

Some random male kangaroo we encountered during an arvo (afternoon) walk.

Day Two in the Grampians
The view from another lookout.

The mermaid

Laughing Kookaburra

MacKenzie Falls

Hello, echidna!

So Hemi (Southern Hemisphere) Christmas!

It's a mob!

I see somebody's foot sticking out of a pouch!