Peace Out, Oz

Well, this will be my last post from Australia. Since I've been here, I've naturally liked some things, and been underwhelmed by others. I've actually started keeping lists of "Where Australia gets it right" as well as "Where Australia gets it wrong." I thought I'd share them with you. A couple caveats, of course. Most of these are comparisons to life in the US, or at least my life in the US, so just because something is good/bad for me here, doesn't mean it would be for everyone. Also, these are of course generalizations and seeing as I have only been to a limited number of places for a short period of time, they probably don't apply to all of Australia or all Australians.

Where Australia Gets it Right

(This list seems like it's kind of short, especially compared to the other list, but I'm sure it will grow once I leave the country. It's always easier to see how good something was once you no longer have it.)

• Hostels. I am amazed at how many hostels there are, how nice so many of them are, and how easy it is to find them. With a lot of the places I stayed, I'd defintiely choose there over a hotel because it had stuff like cooking facilities. Of course some were dirty, but so are a lot of hotels. It's a pretty great way to travel cheaply, and I would expect that overseas 20-somethings would be more than interested in backpacking around the US if they had the kind of options that I do coming to Australia. Are you listening tourism industry?
• Green bags at grocery stores. Every single grocery store sells these $1 canvas bags that you can use for your groceries. They encourage you to reuse them, and people actually do! I definitely bought one and have been using it most of the time. And now I'm much more conscious of using plastic bags and plan to keep using my canvas one at home. I can't imagine how many plastic bags this saves and how much better this is for the environment.
• "Monopoly money." I love that the bills are different colored--it makes it so much easier to go through my wallet.
• People who travel internationally. Most Australians I've met have not only been out of the country, but have done some serious traveling out of the country. So much better than most Americans I know who have only been to Canada, and then only to drink at age 19.
• EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale). This is catching on in America--where you can pay with your debit card at the store and get cash out at the same time. But it is everywhere here, even in the middle of the outback. Plus, you can get a card to use even if you just have a savings account. Very convenient.
• Tim Tams. These are maybe the most delicious cookies ever. It's chocolate mousse sandwiched between two chocolate cookies, and then covered in a chocolate coating. The best way to eat them is a "Tim Tam shooter" where you bite off opposite corners and use it like a straw to drink your coffee. Awesome.
• Potato wedged with sweet chili sauce and sour cream. A delicious combination that I would never have thought of.
• Friendly people. People are always up for a chat, and are happy to share all kinds of information and hospitality. Much friendlier than in the US, I think.

Where Australia Gets It Wrong

• A lack of clocks. I can't seem to find a clock anywhere! In offices, hostels, on the streets, or anywhere. I guess maybe it means that Aussies are more relaxed, but that's just not working for an uptight American like myself.
• A lack of trash cans. I can never seem to find one when I need it. This especially seems to be true on public transportation. They tell you not to leave trash on the train, but then there are no trash cans in the stations. And very few on the streets. I don't understand how the cities stay as clean as they are.
• Skim milk only comes in small containers. I haven't been able to find more than one litre at a time, even though other milk comes in big jugs. At home I usually drink about a gallon a week, so I have been spending a lot of time in grocery stores here.
• Terrible music on the radio and in clubs/bars. Now, I have to of course note that America's pop scene is pretty horrible as well, and a lot of the stuff on the radio is American. But I am consistently amazed to be in a bar and hear one hit wonders from 10-15 years ago--and everyone gets excited! It's like the closing hour at Rick's or Scorekeeper's all the time. Also, there is this weird thing with playing TV theme songs as pop music. Popular right now are the Baywatch theme (seriously) and the theme from the Biggest Loser.
• Crossword puzzles. In the US, each square of a crossword puzzle covers two clues. Not so here, and I think they're like that in the UK too. But it means that I have no hope of finishing a crossword puzzle if I don't know just one of the clues.
• A lot of people, especially in more rural areas, walk around barefoot all the time. Like on the street and into stores and things. I just don't like it.
• In small towns, I've found that there don't seem to be a lot of street signs. There are lots of signs pointing to tourist attractions and things, but no names of actual streets! Even though the towns are only a few streets big, a few times I've just had an address and street name and can't find where I'm going.
• Food. Okay, I saved this for last because there is a lot of say about how much I've disliked the food here, and I'm not just talking Vegemite (but I didn't like that either). My number one complaint is a lack of flavor. Perhaps this is a leftover from the British legacy, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot of flavor in anything. Except for salt. Food here is super-salty. Often you can actually see the salt on your food, and that means there's too much. I can feel my arteries hardening even as we speak. There also seems to be a big under-use of sauces. When you get ketchup ("tomato sauce"--which is usually very vinegary, even the Heinz) at a place like McDonald's they will give you one packet for your fries ("chips") and expect that to be enough. Most sandwiches come with the option of butter on your bread or nothing. The pizza I've eaten just had a couple of spoonfuls of sauce on top. And I won't even get into the chicken parmigiana debacle. That's not to say that every meal has been terrible. Things I've enjoyed have included a few restaurants in the Blue Mountains, the kangaroo steak I tried in Alice Springs, and a delicious meal in Adelaide (where I was luckily treated by locals who knew where to go and could point me to the good choices on the menu). On the updside of things, I've learned a lot more about cooking for myself.

So those are my immediate reflections on some of the good and the bad in Australia. Like I said, I'm sure there will be more later on as I am further removed from the situation. I have had a good time in Australia and seen and done a lot of once-in-a-lifetime things. I'd say my favorite part was the sailing trip in the Whitsunday Islands and my least favorite part was, no surprise, tomato planting. There are some other things I wish I could have seen, like Tasmania and parts of Western Australia, but I am ready to move on to New Zealand.

Final verdict on Australia (for now, so not actually final): A great place to visit, but I'm pretty happy living in the USA. I guess that's probably the way it's supposed to be, right?

New Scenery, Still the Middle of Nowhere

I am currently in Coober Pedy, quite probably the wierdest "city" I've ever been to in my entire life ("city"=4000 people and one main street; no street lights that I can see). Coober Pedy is the "Opal Capital of the World," and the industry here consists of opal mining, and tourism surrounding the opal mining industry.

Driving into town, the barren landscape is interrupted by huge white piles of dust, all the excess from the mines. They filmed the movie "Pitch Black" here (one of the worst movies ever) because it looks like another planet.

75% of the people here live underground because of the heat (it gets up to 50 Celsius in the summer, which is "really freakin' hot" in Farenheit). I took a tour of an underground house (pictured right), and was surprised to learn that not only do they live in these caves, they actually can carve them out themselves. You buy a plot of land and start drilling or pick axe-ing. They explained that rooms are often misshapen because someone will find opals and just keep digging, so their bedroom or something ends up being huge. Also, there are no major mining companies, so everyone just sort of mines on their own. This means that local shops sell the ingredients for homemade explosives and the local notice boards are all advertising stuff like drills and whatnot. It's all very surreal, to the say the least.

Tomorrow is a 10-hour drive down to Adelaide, after the 7 hours we already did today. The driving is surreal as well. We are travelling on the Stuart Highway, the "highway" that cuts north-south down the center of Australia. I thought I had driven through the middle of nowhere last year when I drove through places like Texas and North Dakota, but that was nothing. Those were at least 4-lane highways with places to stop more than once every 2-3 hours. And you could see buildings from the road at least some of the time. The Stuart Highway is basically just one long two-lane road. Signs point north to Alice Springs or south to Adelaide--and that's about it. At least it's hard to get lost.

The Red Centre Rocks! (sort of)

I'm writing two posts about the last couple days: one about the tourist-y aspects and one ranting about some stuff. This is the post explaining all the tourist-y stuff I've seen/done.

My main objective for coming to Alice Springs was to travel another 5 hours from here and visit that all important symbol of Australia: Uluru (AKA Ayers Rock, but I am going to use the correct, non-colonized name). Since my lack of car prevents me from traveling anywhere myself, I was left with the option of taking a tour. Not a bad option because it meant I also got a tour guide, some traveling companions, some food, and to see a few other things besides the rock itself.

Since everything is such a long drive from everything else, the tour bus picked me up at 5:10am. Yes, it was still dark, and remained dark for about the first hour of the bus ride. After another three or so hours of driving in daylight, we arrived at our first stop: Kings Canyon (pictured left). There's really not much to say about Kings Canyon, except that it is a really big canyon and there were a lot of rocks. Pictures would explain more--it did look really cool--but there's not much I can write that would be of interest, except maybe to mention that we got to see the spot where they filmed a key scene from "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".

Next was another good hour and a half of driving before arriving at our accommodation for the night. The brochure said we'd be camping, so I was expecting to rough it a little, but really I was was not too disappointed by the fact that our "campsite" included a full kitchen, a screened-in eating area and permanent canvas tents. I also would not really call if camping due to the fact that there was not even one mention of s'mores, but maybe that's just an American thing. Anyway, you can't get Hershey's chocolate here, so really s'mores would be pointless.

Although there were the canvas tents, we were highly encouraged to sleep out under the stars in swags. A swag an Aussie sleeping bag of sorts (as in "Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong..."), and is sort of a canvas cocoon on top of what feels like a deflated air mattress. The air mattress aspect is actually quite comfortable--definitely more comfortable than some of the hostel beds I've been sleeping in. It was freezing cold--about 5 degrees centigrade (which converts into "too cold to be outside" in Fahrenheit"), but our guide assured us that the swags would keep us warm, especially with a regular sleeping bag inside. I believed him, even choosing to sleep in just shorts and a t-shirt (he said that the less you wear, the warmer it is). Maybe I set mine up wrong or something, because I woke up shivering in the middle of the night, put on about three more layers, and still ended up sleeping in the fetal position.

In the end, it was worth it just for the view when we were woken up in the "morning." I put "morning" in quotes because it was actually 5am and still dark out. But the full moon had set, nobody had lights or a fire on, and you could see the stars brilliantly. It's not too bad waking up to see the Milky Way overhead.

We were up so early so that we'd have time to make it over to Uluru for sunrise. People are right that seeing pictures of it does not compare to seeing the actual thing. Its size just can't be captured in a photograph (although I tried, with the requisite photograph to the right. I know, it looks like I'm standing in front of a postcard or something, but I swear I was there). The sunrise was pretty, and the rock definitely did change colors as the sun came up, but I was mildly distracted by the cold and by the fact that my camera chose that moment to stop taking pictures in focus.

After sunrise, we took a walk around the base. It's a 9km walk in total, but we skipped a part and cut it down to just 7km. That's one big rock! There were some interesting cave paintings along the way and lots of interesting formations, but in the end it really was just a gigantic rock. Next we went over to Kata Tjuta, a group of rock domes that's right by Uluru. Our hike through the part called the Valley of the Winds (pictured left, and you can see some of the rock domes in the background) was very pretty, and--you guessed it--filled with a lot of rocks. Again, pictures would help make this blog entry more interesting. I'm not sure I'm convinced that it is worth traveling all the way to the middle of nowhere just to see a whole lot of rocks, but I would have regretted it if I'd skipped it.

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In other news, my travel plans have changed more than just a little bit. My original plan was to work here in Alice Springs until my visa expires in the middle of June. But by the time I got here, I didn't really like that plan much, so I've decided to throw in the towel and just cut the Australia portion of my trip short. I'm leaving tomorrow on a two-day drive down to Adelaide, stopping along the way in the underground mining town of Coober Pedy. Then on Monday I'll catch an early flight back to Sydney, and on Tuesday I'll leave for Auckland. While I've done and seen a lot here in Australia, that's sort of turning out to be the problem. Traveling is exhausting and I'm ready to settle down somewhere for awhile. Hopefully in New Zealand I can find a job for six months or so, and I can stop being a tourist and find out what it's really like to live--not just travel--in another country.

This is Why I Went to Bed Angry Last Night

This is one of two entries I'm writing about my experiences over the past few days. I felt like I needed to write two: one about the tourist-y aspects and one ranting about some things I've been thinking about lately. This is the rant :)

One of the bigger regrets I have about this trip so far is that I have not spent much time learning about the indigenous cultures here, either the modern or ancient aspects. I was hoping that in coming to Alice Springs I would be able to work on this, both because of the high Aboriginal population here and the cultural significance of the Red Centre's main attractions. I was hoping that in touring Uluru (AKA Ayers Rock) and the surrounding attractions that I would be able to book a tour that had an Aboriginal guide, both to support the economics of the indigenous people and also so my tour would not have the colonial history of the area as the main focus (I just don't care who "Ayers Rock" was named after). Unfortunately the tours run by Aboriginal guides all operate out of Yulara (the resort town by Uluru), and I needed to find something that would leave out of Alice Springs. So instead I got to see how a white Australian guide explained the cultural aspects of the sights. Let's just say that I was not impressed.

On the other hand, I guess I was not that surprised either. It reminded me of the way that white American tour guides (and other people) often talk about Native Americans. To begin with, the tour guide took to describing indigenous beliefs as "myths" and "legends," as though the culture is something so ridiculous that it can only be thought of as a fictional story. The guide would say things like, "The Aboriginals believe that the hill over there was the mother dingo and the other hills were her pups. But to me it looks like a bunch of hills." Oh, those crazy Aborigines, believing that rocks are dingoes! It would never happen that a tour guide in a church would explain communion by saying, "Christians believe that they're actually drinking the blood of a dead guy who they thought was the son of God, but to me it just seems like cheap red wine." Completely disrespectful, no?

Along those lines, I also noticed the tour guide saying things like, "Aborigines believe ABC, but Australians think XYZ." Since when are Aborigines not Australian? This subtle "othering" of indigenous Australians seems to be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the segregation I've noticed between white Australians and the natives.

Finally, it drove me crazy that the tour guide kept referring to "the Aborigines" as if all indigenous people of Australia are the same. I feel like I always see this when people talk about Native Americans at home. When you're talking about things like how "the Aborigines" traditionally lived, there is no way that you can group those who lived in the desert regions like this and, for example, those who lived up in the tropics. Why was it so hard for the tour guide to talk about "the Anangu," the name of the people in this area? You wouldn't talk about all Europeans as having the same culture, so again, what's the difference?

Unfortunately, the tour guide was not the first Australian I've met who spoke of the indigenous people with a sort of disrespect. And unfortunately, I have met a number of tourists who have adopted these same negative views. Most of my conversations about Aborigines have consisted of someone else talking about how they're "all drunks." Great. This leads me to a question I've been thinking about for awhile. My first instinct is to argue that (1) not all Aborigines are alcoholics and (2) alcoholism is not a problem confined to Aborigines. But this seems somewhat unproductive as well because it ignores seems implies that the causes and effects of alcoholism are exactly the same for Aboriginal communities as they are for white communities. It's a fact that alcoholism rates are high in the Aboriginal communities, so how can we talk about that in a productive way? I feel like most of the people I've discussed this with would say "Alcoholism is a big problem for Aboriginal communities," with the implication that this is the result of some inherent failure among Aborigines themselves. This completely ignores the role that, say, colonization has played in creating this problem. And more importantly, to attribute it to some inherent flaw implies that either there is no solution to the problem, or at the very least, the sole responsibility for fixing this problem lies within individuals and/or the Aborigines themselves. (This same kind of rhetoric comes into play when people discuss problems like high crime rates among African Americans or low test scores among Latinos.) So how do I, especially as someone who is not part of the Aboriginal community and who knows very little about the issues, talk about the problems in a way that accounts for the complex and multi-faceted factors that led to them? And how do I create a conversation about these problems, especially with foreign travelers and white Australians I meet, that looks for a solution instead of a place to lay blame? How do I strike the balance between having a casual conversation with fellow travelers and flying into a rage where I end up calling them racist?

I'm disappointed that so many people I've met so far have been so ignorant, but I guess I wouldn't expect much better traveling in the United States.

Dead Centre

After a nice overnight flight from Osaka (it was so empty that I had an entire center row to myself!), I arrived yesterday in Cairns and then killed another 6 hours waiting for my flight to Alice Springs.

Alice Spring is in the very center of Australia. It originally was not so much a town as just a telegraph outpost. From the view as we were flying in, honestly I couldn't tell that it had turned into too much more. The view from the plane was pretty cool--the land really is red and dry and flat. There is nothing for miles and miles and miles. As we flew into Alice Springs, I really couldn't figure out where the actual town was. I saw some houses, and not much more. As we descended, I couldn't even figure out where the airport was. We just landed on this big long road and it wasn't until we got off the plane that I actually saw the airport. This is a tiny little town.

No More Farmwork

Ugh. Enough is enough. While I now have nothing buy the highest level of respect for anyone who works in the agricultural business, it is clearly not for me. My muscles aches, I'm tired, and I'm bored out of my mind.

I'm leaving the country.

Australian Mud Bath

There are some experiences that remind you who you really are inside. No matter how much you may try to change, there are some characteristics that are fundamental to your personality. Today, my identity as a spoiled brat was wholly confirmed. I, a girl who has never done a hard day's work in my entire life, decided it would be a good idea to try my hand at farm work. It seemed like a good idea when I made the decision--it's a new experience, I can do it for only a few weeks, it's a good way to save money (because it's always in small towns where there's nothing to spend it on), and I'd heard it wasn't so bad.

After four days of sitting around bored to tears at the hostel, there was finally work this morning and I was ready to go. It's been raining a bit here in Bowen, North Queensland, and when the ground is wet the machines that usually plant tomatoes can't drive properly so it all has to be done by hand. The fields were pure mud. They had us take off our shoes because it wasn't worth it to keep them on. Tomato planting consists of one person dropping the plants on to a plastic cover and another person poking holes in the cover and planting the plants. Basically, it's a lot of bending over.

The rows we planted seemed endless. There were 100 plants in a crate, and we just went through crate after crate. My back was sore after about 10 minutes. Just when you got to the end of the row, there'd be another row to start. All in ankle-deep mud. The sun came out for awhile, which made me think I was going to faint. As much as I adore the sun, it is hotter here than anywhere I've ever been, including the Caribbean, southern India, and equatorial Kenya. It's just brutal. Luckily the rain started up again. Never have I been so glad to be in soaking wet jeans.

Finally they told us we were finished. My shoulders and back ached, and I have the feeling my arms and legs will be sore tomorrow. I checked the time--we had only been out there for three hours! What am I going to do when we have to work a full day?

There is no question in my mind that I am not cut out for farm work. I will stay the week and a half that I have left, probably praying every night that there will be no work the next day. Yes, I am a spoiled and prissy and can't handle manual labor. But right now, I'm just fine with that.

I Understand Why Rich People Buy Yachts

Soon after arriving in Australia, I realized that four months here is just not very much time, especially when I wanted to do some working in addition to sightseeing. But I narrowed my list down to include just a few "can't miss" things, one of those being sailing on the Whitsunday Islands. And now I can check that off my list.

The Whitsunday Islands are a group of 74 islands right on the Great Barrier Reef. They are about 2/3 of the way up the east coast (give or take). I have to say, my sailing trip did not disappoint.

At first I was slightly afraid that it would disappoint me. About five minutes before we got to the marina, it started pouring rain, and didn't stop that first night. Luckily, the first night was just sailing, so no swimming or sunbathing was ruined. The boat I was on held 24 passengers and 4 crewmembers, all in pretty close quarters. I don't know where I got the idea that there would be rooms on the boat (I swear the brochure said you could book private rooms), but the bunks were basically just holes in the wall. The boat was a racing maxi--I don't really know what that is, but they said that it won the Sydney to Hobart yacht race back in the day, so basically it's really fast.

On Tuesday morning, we left the area we were docked at and sailed over to Whitehaven Beach, which is supposed to be one of the top beaches in the world. The weather was still rainy, but it cleared up about the time we finished our hike over to the beach. The white sand there is silica, so when you look at it up close, it actually looks clear. It was absolutely beautiful. We spent the morning there, swimming and looking around. The water was extremely clear, and even though we weren't out on the reef, we still saw rays swimming around.

Check out the picture on the right--the little black dots are people frolicking in the water, but they're all wearing full body suits. It's "stinger" season still--stingers (aka box jellyfish) are deadly little guys who you can't see in the water, but their stings affect your nervous system and you become paralyzed within minutes. It's a little weird being on the beach decked out in a stinger suit, but I'd rather not take my chances.

That afternoon we headed over to some cove where we could snorkel. It was still raining some, but it didn't matter when you were in the water. Now, I have a bit of a confession to make. When I was in Australia in 1997, we took a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkeling, and although I told everyone it was awesome, I was actually pretty disappointed. On that trip, I only saw a couple fish, and they were so far away that it would have been better in an aquarium. I told everyone it was awesome because everyone else I was with seemed impressed, but I was rather let down. Now, after this sailing trip, I understand why everyone is in awe of the reef. Just 10 feet from the shore, there was a whole underwater world with zillions of fish, brightly colored coral, etc. It looked just like Finding Nemo. The coral was actually had places that were neon blue and purple--colors you don't expect to find in nature. The fish ranged from very tiny, to great huge parrotfish, and none were scared of humans. If you just swam slowly and quietly, they came up right next to you. Perhaps the coolest thing was that if you were quiet, you could actually hear the fish eating.

The sailing trip came with a free scuba dive. I thought this would mean nothing to me since I don't have a scuba license, but it turned out that the free dive could also be an intro dive. I figured I might as well try. They dropped us out in the middle of the water, and the first thing they did was hand us a belt with about 10-15 pounds of extra weight. Hmmm... Treading water in the middle of the ocean and strapping heavy metal objects to myself? Then the vest with the oxygen tank was another 20 pounds or so. Luckily, it also acted as a flotation device. After practicing breathing and all that, we dove for about 10 minutes. It was amazing. I thought I had seen a lot snorkeling, but to actually go farther down and see the sides of the coral berths was like nothing I'd ever seen.

The next morning we got a bright and early start--about 5:30am, so we could sail out to the outer reef. Although I wasn't thrilled to wake up so early, it was worth it to see the sunrise. It wasn't just the sunrise that was great, but the fact that the sun was actually out. Apparently the Great Barrier Reef has two parts to it: the inner reef, which is younger, and the older outer reef. Most sailing trips don't go out to the outer reef, so I was pretty excited that ours did. I decided to try scuba diving again, because the groups that went saw sharks and things. When it was my group's turn, the waves were pretty choppy, and it took us awhile to get out to where we wanted to start. Then when we started our descent, the pressure in my ears built up much worse than the day before, and I couldn't get them to clear. A scuba diving failure, the dinghy had to come back for me and I sulked on the boat.

Luckily, my ears were clear enough that I was able to go out with another group in the afternoon. I was still a little bitter because what was supposed to be my group had not only seen a shark, they had gotten to pet a sea turtle! Still, round two of diving did not disappoint. In the area we were in, the current had cut holes in the coral berths, so we got to swim through them, like swimming through caves. Not too bad for my second scuba dive. In the end, I'm not sure I liked diving too much, and I'm not sure I'd try it again, but what better place than the Great Barrier Reef to have my only diving experience?

Thursday morning was our last day, and we headed back toward the islands for one last snorkel. Again, tons of fish, coral, etc. I just can't get over how close the coral comes to the beach. Just sitting on the beach you'd never know that there was a reef so close to you.

I highly recommend a sailing trip to anyone who gets a chance. It definitely surpassed my expectations. Now the remaining thing on my list is seeing Uluru (Ayers Rock). I have the feeling that it may surpass my expectations as well.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and Boats)

Traveling is exhausting. I tend to forget that. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, trying to pack in a good sampling of Australia's sights, while still allowing for the relaxation that a vacation is supposed to include. Not that I need a vacation, considering I'd only been working for a month, but John definitely deserved one, having only a short break inbetween the end and beginning of the Japanese school year.

John flew in last Sunday and we started our sightseeing with Sydney's great highlights. Where else first, but the Harbour Bridge and Opera House? We also stopped off at Darling Harbour and made an unsuccessful attempt to utilize Sydney's ridiculous monorail system. The evening was topped off with some delicious Thai food. The next day was off to the Botanic Gardens, where we spent most of the afternoon watching the giant bats and checking out the native and non-native foliage.

Trying to catch the last of the warm weather, we spent Tuesday up at Manly Beach. While we were waiting for the ferry, we saw a street performer at Circular Quay who called John out from the audience to participate in his stunt. This guy was pretty impressive. He had a tall pole (maybe 15 feet high?) that was anchored by audience members and the perched a bike on top of it. Then, using John as a human step-ladder, he climbed to the top of the bike, where he juggled a chainsaw, a torch, and an apple. Highly dangerous, but also entertaining. Fortunately nothing was dropped on John, or anyone else's head.

Up at the beach, the waves were massive, and John got yelled at for swimming, being told that the beach was only open to expert surfers with fiberglass boards. Probably safer that way, but less fun. It was getting cold anyway, so we left for more Thai food and a lovely sunset over the harbour.

By Wednesday, it was time to leave Sydney and move on to the "trains" portion of this trip. During the two hour train ride up to the Blue Mountains, we were entertained by Harry, a bratty three year-old and his brooding older brother, Sean. Can't they ban screaming children from public transportation?

Fortunately, our beautiful hostel provided a decidedly scream-free environment and wonderful place to relax. This was definitely the nicest hostel I've stayed in, and probably the nicest hostel I'll ever stay in. It was much more B&B than hostel, with a cozy fire burning and a sweet owner who truly took care of the guests. If anyone is heading up to the Blue Mountains, I highly recommend staying at Number 14. The other guests were all very friendly as well, and amazingly, there was a couple that had been at Circular Quay the same time we were and recognized John from the street performer's show!

The Blue Mountains were gorgeous. The weather was perfect and we hiked around a cliff-top trail, checking out the trees and valleys and waterfalls. There is no other way to describe the Blue Mountains other than highly vast, as you can see from the picture. The cliffs are steep and the valleys are endless. Very beautiful. The picture on the left is of the "three sisters," a cool rock formation that has pretty much become the symbol of the Blue Mountains. The only downfall of the hiking was coming around a corner only to find Harry, the whining child from the train. I couldn't help but feel bad for the parents. Note to self: don't take a stroller on a hiking trip.

One day in the Blue Mountains was not enough, and on Thursday we ventured down into the valley, traveling on the steepest passenger rail car in the world (or something like that). The incline was 52 degrees, which was definitely steep. It took us down into a rainforest, where there were more interesting trees and plants to be seen. The picture on the right is not actually from the rainforest area, but I thought it was a more interesting picture. No exciting wildlife, unfortunately, but what can you do? It was much rainier that day, which actually created some different views. The Blue Mountains are named as such because the oils from all the eucalyptus trees creates a blue mist. You couldn't really tell this when it was sunny, but the rainy weather definitely highlighted the blue.

On Friday it was time to leave the Blue Mountains and return to Sydney for a short stopover and on Saturday we caught a flight to Melbourne. Unfortunately, Melbourne did not get off to the greatest start. John had acquired a nasty cold soon after arriving, and the plane ride only made it worse. Soon after getting on the plane, he mentioned that his lip was starting to go numb, and after not too much longer the whole side of his face was numb. The flight attendants gave him oxygen, and after arriving our first stop was the emergency room. The doctor said that the pressure from the airplane had probably made the congestion pinch a nerve to cause the numbness. No good.

Needless to say, we slept in on Sunday morning before making our way out into the city. That was the day we caught the Aussie Rules Football Game, and then spent the evening in St. Kilda, a chic suburb of Melbourne right on the ocean. The place was a little too pretentious for me, what with all the fancy bistros serving unimpressive food, but we found a relaxed bar where they didn't care that we were wearing sneakers and everyone was salsa dancing.

There was more sleeping in on Monday and after the saltiest brunch in the world, we set out to do the tourist thing. We took Lonely Planet's walking tour, which showed us all the important Melbourne landmarks (I was not that impressed), and then headed down to the Botanic Gardens. I have to say that Sydney's Botanic Gardens surpass Melbourne's, although Melbourne's did have a fern gully and some pretty little ponds. I think salty brunch and the cold weather put a negative tinge on my feelings about Melbourne; maybe one day I'll return in the summer and eat somewhere different.

The city was somewhat redeemed that night when we went out to the Rainbow Room, a back alley bar with live music that came highly recommended by the guidebooks (understandably). The music was great, even for myself who usually is not that into live concerts, and was tons of atmosphere. You could tell it was lots of locals, just there because they love the place.

Having had enough of Melbourne, the next morning we rented a car and set off west to drive the Great Ocean Road. "Great" does not even begin to describe how beautiful this road was. It wound right alongside the ocean, complete with giant cliffs and bright blue water crashing into the endless beach. There were tons of interesting places to stop along the way. First we stopped at Anglesea Beach, which was covered in crazy rock formations, all available for climbing. The tide was coming in just as we got there, and I definitely almost got stuck out on some rocks.



Our next stop was along the Kennett River, where the guidebooks said we could see wild koalas. They were not kidding. We started to walk up the road where we were supposed to see them, and in the very first tree was a little guy just dozing away (we could see him better than you can in the picture). There were many more to be found, including one who was probably only 10 feet from us. It must be nice to be a koala, since all they seem to do is sleep. We stopped there the next day on our way back, and even though it was raining, the koalas appeared to be in exactly the same place. Sounds like a life I could handle.

We made it to our hostel in Port Campbell around 5pm, just in time to drop off our stuff and head over to the 12 Apostles. The 12 Apostles are these 12 giant limestone rocks that stand out in the ocean. Pictures do not do them justice. They are huge. We watched a very lovely sunset there, marveling in nature's beauty. According to the guidebooks, soon after sunset there are supposed to be tons of little penguins swarming the beaches there. We stayed around to watch, but only saw a couple. It seemed to be quite a struggle to get out of the water, so we'd see a small black dot up on shore, and then a wave would come and sweep it away. I'd definitely rather be a koala than a penguin.

The next day we set out back in the return direction, and John suggested that I drive. Prior to coming to Australia, I figured that I would not do any driving and would rely completely on public transportation or, if I were to get in a car, I'd rely on the other driver. But John had driven the whole way to Port Campbell, so it was only fair that I do some. Driving on the wrong side of the road is wierd, but not as bad as I expected. Having the driver's seat on the other side of the car makes a huge difference, because instinctually, you want to drive so that the driver is in the middle of the road. It was funny to discover what was confusing and what wasn't. What we both had the most trouble with was the turn signal, which was on the right-hand side of the wheel. Pretty much every time we turned, we set off the windshield wipers off by accident. I also noticed that the few times we had to make U-turns, we both did it going counter-clockwise, the American way. The wierdest thing to me was that when we went to see a movie on Wednesday night (Transamerica), it seemed wrong that the steering wheel on screen was on the left side of the car. It's definitely going to be interesting when I get back to the US and try to drive there.
On Thursday it was back to Sydney so that John could catch his plane on Friday morning. We checked his itinerary and figured out that we had to be at the airport by about 10am so he could make his 11:35 plane. When we arrived at the airport, the Vietnam Airlines ticket counter was empty. The screens showed a flight leaving at 10:15, and sure enough, a check of John's tickets showed that his itinerary had been wrong and that he was supposed to be on the 10:15 plane. No good. After traipsing all over the airport, he was finally able to call the airline, only to find out that the next plane back would not be until Sunday. No good at all.

So it turned out that I was actually the first one to leave Sydney. I got on a plane yesterday afternoon up to the Whitsunday Coast, which is about 2/3 of the way up the east coast. I am currently in Airlie Beach, and tomorrow I will set out on a sail boat for a three day sailing adventure around the Whitsunday Islands. Perhaps a way to unwind after an exhausting two weeks of traveling? Then I will had about an hour north to Bowen where I'll work on some sort of produce farm.

Of course, I had an awesome time having John here. To be honest, it made me a little homesick to see someone from home and it is now somewhat lonely to be back to traveling without a companion. But there are more exciting things to come. I can't believe that I have been in Australia for almost two months now, and even more so I can't believe that I only have two months left before I leave and head to New Zealand. It's all quite a whirlwind and I am definitely looking forward to settling down for a few months somewhere in New Zealand. But for now I am trying to take in as much of Australia as possible. Man, this is a big country.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Fall is here, practically overnight it seems. John and I are now in Melbourne, where the leaves have started to fall and the temperature is in the high teens (in farenheit terms, that's approximately the temperature when engineers are still wearing shorts and the rest of the world has put on jackets). It feels a lot like September/October at home, and I can't help but feel like I've gone back in time.

At home, the turn to autumn is inevitably coupled with football season. You know it's fall when Saturdays are spent tailgating and then trying to avoid the traffic. Fortunately, fall in Australia has brought the football with it, making me feel right at home. This, of course, is not American football (which they call "gridiron" here), nor is it the world's football (aka soccer). Here in Melbourne, the fall football season means a very strange sport known as Aussie Rules Football.

I don't really know how to describe it, so I'll just put the link to the official website and you can read the rules yourself. Also, it's hard to describe because I don't really understand it. It's basically organized chaos. Imagine 36 players running around a cricket ground (a giant circle, maybe the size of a soccer field?), kicking a rugby ball for two straight hours with breaks only every 30 minutes. They can tackle just as hard as in American football, but there are no pads. And what really amazes me is that there is no stopping. Someone gets hit and the ball just keeps going. The ball goes out of bounds and the ref just throws it back in. The other team gets posession and they just start running in the other direction. These are hardcore athletes.

Last night we went to the season opener between the Melbourne Demons and the Carlton Blues. Despite the fact that I not much of a sports person, and I had little idea what was actually going on, I fully enjoyed myself. Melbourne got smashed (even I, with no understanding of the game, figured out that their strategy was weak), but the crowd was very into it. The crisp fall air brought out blankets and mugs of hot chocolate, just like football season at home. And to complete the autumn atmosphere, the standard uniform for a good AFL fan is a striped scarf with your team's name and colors. Adorable.

Like I said, I am very much not a sports person, but this is defintiely a game I can understand getting into. Nonstop action coupled with highly athletic players (their stamina and accuracy are pretty impressive) makes for good entertainment. I'll always love Michigan football (because there is no other option), but if Michigan had an Aussie Rules team, I would actually go to those games.

Sideways

I should preface this post by saying that I know basically nothing about wine. I main things I know about it are:

1. It is red or white (but some are pink/"rosee" too?)
2. There is a lot more to it than that
3. Usually I don't like it very much

So as you can tell, one of my main goals in life is to become a wine snob. And in pursuit of that goal, I spent Saturday in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's wine regions. It was the first time I had really left Sydney since I arrived, and it was great to get out into the countryside. The drive was beautiful, and the actual Hunter Valley was beautiful as well. I have never been to the Napa Valley in California, but this was pretty much how I imagine it to look. Lots of rolling hills and grape vines and things. Supposedly there are often kangaroos hopping around, but we didn't get to see any.

We visited five different wineries throughout the day. Or maybe it was six. Not being a wine snob (yet), I did not spit out the wine after each tasting, so it's possible that I do not remember everything with 100% accuracy. I feel like I actually learned a lot about the different kinds of wine we tasted. By the end I felt like I wasn't completely faking it when I swirled my glass around, and sniffed the wine. It's not as hard as I thought it would be to sound like I knew what I was talking about, and I got to throw around a lot of words like "oaky" and "bouquet." I can't say that I'll be able to engage in any kind of meaningful conversation with a sommelier, but I did find out a little bit more about which wines taste good to me (verdelho) and which I still dislike (shiraz).

Of course, the real highlights of the day were the stops at the cheese and chocolate shops. As much as I like wine (okay, still not really that much), I think I'd have to go for fresh brie or chocolate covered espresso beans.

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And with that, I bid a fond farewell to Sydney. John arrived on Sunday from Japan for a short vacation, and after a few days of seeing the Sydney sights, we are headed out to the Blue Mountains tomorrow. Then we will head down the New South Wales coast to Melbourne before returning to Sydney so John can catch his flight back. Then I'll probably head up the coast to Queensland. It's all very exciting. As much as I have enjoyed living and working in Sydney, it's time to see what the rest of Australia has to offer.

Pictures coming soon.

Larry

Cyclone Larry hit the Australia east coast yesterday morning--scary stuff. Fortunately for me, I am in Sydney, which is very, very far away from where it hit. It hit up in the north, closer to Cairns and Townsville. Below is a map to give you help you out:


Another way to think about it is that the drive from Sydney to Townsville is about 24 hours. That's like driving from Ann Arbor to Orlando, Florida. Australia is a big country, no?

The bad news for me is that the area that was hit hardest was the area where I was planning to go in April. I was hoping to spend some time sailing on the Whitsunday Islands and then work on a banana farm for a few weeks before heading to Cairns. But really the possibility that I might have to change my travel plans is not really something I am too concerned about when compared to the fact that the cyclone has done some pretty major destruction to people's homes and businesses.

The Little Differences

Last night one of my roommates (she's from the UK) was talking about how surprised she was not to be tired, considering that she had been up since 5am. "I feel like the Duracell Bunny!" she exclaimed.

What? Did she say "Duracell" bunny?

I explained my surprise, and she admitted she might have gotten the two battery companies mixed up, but we asked two of our other roommates (both from the UK) what battery company advertises with the pink bunny and they both said Duracell. Then an hour or so later, just in case I hadn't gotten it through my head yet, I saw a TV commerical with an Energizer battery running a track race against--what else?--the Duracell Bunny.

Needless to say, this was one of the most serious moments of culture shock I have experienced since my arrival. I can adapt to new customs and phrases and all the usual cultural differences, but don't mess with one of America's greatest icons!

Unfortunately, after some quick research, I found that my American ethnocentricity has gotten the best of me once again. It is actually that great American icon that messed with the Duracell bunny, who was introduced (including in America) before the Energizer one. Still my American arrogance has ensured that I still prefer the Energizer one. I mean, really, which one do you like better?

I Love a Sunburned Country

... but I don't love that it sunburned me!

I was hoping to make it through Australia without getting sunburned. I figured that if I could spend 10 weeks in Kenya, literally living on the equator, that I could do okay here. I have been even more vigilant than usual here with my sunscreen, reapplying every two hours and everything, which I usually forget to do at home. But on Sunday I came home from the swimming pool (there were shark warnings at the beach this weekend...) with some nice red patchs on my arm. It's pretty clear that it's just a few spots that I happened to miss with the sunscreen, but it still hurts. I just hope that it doesn't peel. Or give me skin cancer.

Fat Saturday

I didn't even realize it was Fat Tuesday last week because Sydneysiders (that's what they call themselves) have decided to wait until the weekend after to celebrate Mardi Gras. Maybe it's a little unorthodox to celebrate after Lent has already started, but their celebration is a little unorthodox in itself--it's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

It was pretty incredible how many people turned out for the parade on Saturday evening. While gay pride parades in the US seem to attract very few straight people, Mardi Gras in Sydney is an event for everyone. There were families, tourists, and people of every background that I could imagine. It was hard to ignore the irony that the city so openly welcomes the parade but still won't grant basic civil rights to gays and lesbians, but I'd like to think that the acceptance of the parade is a start.

We got to Oxford Street a little later than we wanted to, meaning we couldn't see very well, but it was well worth the neck strain. The parade itself of course did not rival the fun and excess of Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans, but everything was highly political which made for some great floats. I think my favourite (see, I am starting to write like an Australian) was the "Friends of Dick Cheney," mostly because of the conversation I overheard as it passed by:

Australian 1: Who's Dick Cheney?
Australian 2: He's that guy who shot someone when he was quail hunting.
Australian 1: Oh yeah. Stupid Americans.

Awesome.

College Part 2

Since I have gotten to Australia, I have been struck by how similar this experience is to being back in college. It started with orientation, where they told us a lot of information and then tried to sell us stuff. The hostel was a lot like living in the dorms: a whole floor sharing one bathroom, roommates you didn't know, and everyone trying to be nice to each other because nobody had any friends. And just like in college, the first question you ask someone when you meet them is "Where are you from?"

Now I seem to have moved on to sophomore year by getting out of the dorms and into a house. And man is this house just like one you'd find on U of M's campus, starting with the sketchy (here they'd say "dodgy") landlord and overpriced rent. I am sharing a room with two other girls, and am back to sleeping in a twin bed. The house is pretty unclean, no matter how much you mop or scrub, and worst of all there is only one bathroom for all 11 people. Like any good college house, the main attraction is the great location. I am really close to downtown, within walking distance of pretty much everything (looking at this map, you can find my house in the Ultimo neighborhood at the corner of Harris and MacArthur, right by the Powerhouse Museum).

Also like in college, no matter how gross it is, you make the most of it. I am still showering in flip flops, but at least I have a place to unpack my things. And most importantly, my roommates are all very nice. They are all working travellers themselves, and none of them knew each other before moving into the house. Most are from England, and there are also two kids from Ireland, a German girl, a French Canadian, and a Prince Edward Island Canadian (she said she hated Anne of Green Gables. What?!). All except one British girl have lived there for a couple of months, and they have all become great friends. Fortunately they have welcomed me into the house and I now have a de facto set of friends. The only problem is that I am having a lot of trouble understanding their British accents. Didn't see that one coming. The girl from Prince Edward Island seems to have picked up a bit of an accent herself, so get ready for me to come home speaking a wierd form of Australian/British/American English. Don't worry, I'm trying to hold on to my roots by saying "awesome" a lot and pronouncing it "to-may-to" instead of "to-mah-to."

Real Australians

Similar to in the US, Australians celebrate the end of their work week with Friday drinks after work, and thanks to my new job, I was invited to partake in this Australian experience. After spending all my time so far with other backpackers, it was an interesting change to hang out with a group of locals. From when I first got there, they made fun of me for everything, starting with the kind of beer I was drinking (Tooheys), saying that no Australians actually drink that. Also along the lines of beer, they all think Foster's is disgusting and none could think of a bar that actually serves it. They also teased me for my accent and how I say words like "Melbourne" or "mate". I was pretty impressed with their imitations of American accents.

I'm not so sure I like and/or understand their perception of Americans--they wanted to know if I had ever been on spring break, and were very disappointed when I told them how much I disliked Cancun. They also wanted to know if I'd been to band camp. Sigh.

On the other hand, I would guess that Americans' perceptions of Australians are not much more accurate. They had all been to the US a number of times, and all said that their conversations with Americans consisted of the Americans yelling "G'day mate!" and "Put another shrimp on the barbie!" Sadly, I'm not too surprised. I just hope that I didn't come off as being quite as ignorant. They did invite me to come out with them again, so either they are really enjoying making fun of me, or I am actually a decent representative of my country.


Your Australian Fun Fact for the Day: Burger King in Australia is called "Hungry Jacks" because there was already a Burger King restaurant in Australia when Burger King began franchising here.

Down in the Garden

A lot going on, as usual, but I'll start with my new favorite place in Sydney, the Royal Botanic Gardens (obviously, having been in Sydney for a whole week I have seen/done everything and am therefore in a good place to judge the best place in the city).

I went to the Gardens for the first time on Friday, and walked from the Opera House all around the perimeter along the harbour. It turned out to be a way longer walk than I expected, but it was beautiful. If you check out this map you'll see why. The gardens are just amazing. Plants from all over the world, lawns stretching in every direction and--my favorite part--signs everywhere encouraging you to walk on the grass and enjoy the park. There are people everywhere picnicking, running, and just lying around reading. Sorry Central Park, but the Botanic Gardens win.

Although I am trying to see something new everyday, I went back again today. I first tried to go over to the observatory, but couldn't find it, so I thought I'd go read for awhile in the Botanic Gardens. I took a new path this time and went to some of the interior gardens. First I visited an herb garden and then moved on the the mini-rainforest. As I was walking, I heard a rustle and saw something dart across the path. I assumed it was a kangaroo rat, because I saw one the other day. Okay, I actually have no idea if the animal I saw the other day was a kangaroo rat, but it was a rodent (hence "rat") and I am in Australia (hence "kangaroo"). Flawless logic, no?

Anyway, the animal I saw today was definitely not a kangaroo rat, or any kind of rat, but a lizard, and it was a good 3-5 inches long. It ran away, but about a foot away from me I saw another lizard, this one about 8 inches long. It was not bothered by me at all and just stood there. I wish I could upload my pictures because it was pretty cool. A nice gentleman noticed me taking a picture and pointed me around the pond, where there was a gigantic lizard. I'm sure it wasn't an iguana, but it was about the size of one--at least two feet from head to tail. Again, just chilling, not worried about anyone.

I kept walking through the mini-rainforest and came across a sign that said "Want to see a bat? Look up." I did and wow, the sign was not kidding. The trees were literally filled with giant bats hanging upsidedown. To give you an idea of how many, it is comparable to the winter/spring on the U of M campus when those giant crows line the trees. It's a little scary. These suckers are huge! PBS.org says their wingspan is up to 79 inches, and I don't doubt it. The picture doesn't really do them justice, but you'll have to deal with it. Or just Google them and see if you can find a better picture.

If the wildlife in a downtown city park is this awesome, I can't wait to get out into the national parks.

Other quick highlights:

• Today was my first (and not last) day at a job! I went to a temp agency yesterday and they found me a six-day assignment at the New South Wales Department of Corrections, starting today. It was pretty boring, but it will make me enough money to put a security deposit and some rent on an apartment. And hopefully this means that temp assignments are easy to come across.
• The other night I was at a club and some techno/Europop song came on that sounded strangely familiar, but I couldn't place it. Everyone got excited and knew all the words by heart. Then the chorus came on and I realized that it was, no joke, a techno/Europop remix of "Take Me Home, West Virginia." Everyone loved it and had clearly heard it before. I couldn't stop laughing. I wonder what kinds of foreign songs I am listening to that have strange roots.
• The beach was awesome on Sunday. I was tanning when it was 7 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, not Celsius) in Michigan. Can't go wrong with that.
• It is amazing who I am meeting. The other day in my hostel room we were all sitting around talking and I realized that I was the only native speaker of English, but that was also the only common language for everyone. Very interesting!
• Now that I've found a job (sort of), I'm working on finding an apartment. Got a few leads, we'll see what happens. I have been spoiled by having my own room since sophomore year of college, and I'm not ready to share with someone else, so this may be a challenge.

Your Australian fun fact for the day: 1 in 3 Australians has skin cancer. Time to reapply my sunscreen!

First and Last Day on the Job

On Saturday I set out to get this job search fully underway. I put on my nice clothes, grabbed 30 copies of my resume, and headed out to pound the pavement. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I figured I'd go into every shop and cafe I could find until I ran out of resumes.

Soon after leaving the second place I went into, the manager I had talked to came running after me. "I just had someone call in sick," he said. "Would you like to take that shift and I can see how I like you?" Sure! If he was willing to test me out for a shift, I figured I could probably get the job pretty easily. To find a job within the first 10 minutes of looking sounded pretty good to me.

The store was an Italian imports store selling lots of designer label clothes, accessories, and perfume. I was "trained" by a Finnish girl who basically showed me around the store and told me that all I needed to do was talk to customers enough to keep the manager happy. She was on working holiday also and had been at the store for three weeks. I asked her if she liked the job and she said no, it was the most boring job in the world, but she could come in hungover, so she didn't care that much. There was another girl working who was from Korea, and she barely spoke any English. She said it was her first day working at the store, and she seemed bored out of her mind as well. Hmmm... Not boding well for the employment situation.

My job was to greet customers and try to sell stuff to them. Selling stuff is not my forte. I am great with customer service when someone comes to me with a question (thanks, CIC!), but I'm just not good at trying to convince people to buy something that they don't need. I also got the feeling that a lot of the designer label clothes were actually fakes; makes it a little harder to sell something you don't trust. Everyone who came in of course said they were just browsing, and knowing how much I dislike hovering salespeople, I just left them alone. Then the manager would tell me to talk to them more. The Finnish girl who I was working with was really nice, but we got yelled at for talking to each other. So I did a lot of refolding clothes and standing around.

Man, this was the most boring job in the world. I don't think I have ever been more bored in my entire life. I have had pretty interesting jobs up to this point in my life, but having worked a lot of 6-hour summer shifts at the Pierpont Commons front desk, I figured I could handle boring. But at least at Pierpont I was sitting down. This was a lot of standing around pretending to be busy. The Finnish girl said she worked 7-hour shifts, 5 days a week. No thank you!

Finally the manager asked me what I thought and if I thought I could sell clothes. I said no. He said he wanted to hire me, but the thought of standing around in that store for even another 10 minutes made me want to kill myself. I said I'd "think about it," and left with the intention of never ever returning.

Although it would have been nice to already have a job all secured, I think the boredom of working there would have killed me. I also figure that if it's that easy to find a job, I can be a little more selective in what kind of work I take. I already have a couple of interviews set up over the next few days, so hopefully I will have something by the end of this week. And if all else fails, I can go crawling back to that horrible store.

On Sunday I went to the beach.

That's More Like It

Well, the new hostel is definitely an improvement. Much more what I was thinking when I thought "hostel." When I came back to the room at the end of day, all my roommates who were there introduced themselves and then we all discussed our plans for the night. They are all solo travelers like me, and we all went out with a group from the hostel. I felt so international--in the large group I was the only American. There was one Canadian, and her accent made me feel at home. Others were from Japan, Denmark, Finland, Argentina, England, and a large group from Sweden. There were even two Aussie brothers who were down from Cairns for a concert, but they had both been born in and lived in Fiji for the early part of their childhood. They promised that if I went to Fiji I could stay with their grandparents and get a real taste of local island life. Not a bad offer.

Here are a few things I learned from this social experience:

• Club music in Sydney is pretty much the same as club music in Michigan. The only difference is that here they play Europop instead of Reggaeton.
• It is very much true that Scandinavian people are ridiculously beautiful. How can they stand to travel abroad and be around all these non-beautiful people?
• Fosters may be Australian for beer in the USA (and also in Finland because my Finnish roommate knew that commercial too), but not so much in Australia. I still have yet to see Fosters being sold anywhere.

So many new things to take in!