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Wow! Whoever said that Aussie's work at a slower pace is certainly misinformed! The past few weeks have been a little hectic as I have been trying to get things rolling in my program. I traveled to Canberra (capitol of AU) to attend a short course at ANU, met with the Victorian EPA, and am currently attending another short course given by the Bureau of Meteorology. Needless to say I am meeting a lot of new faces and absorbing more information than my brain can hold. Overall things are good and I am sure they will settle down soon enough -- I hope.
We have certainly moved to the 'big city' as I take two trains and a bus to get to campus every morning. Initially, I thought a 45 min commute was unreal but it seems to be the norm here (as well as other large cities as I hear 2hr commutes are common in Paris) and riding is much different than driving. I won't go into driving on this entry but it is certainly an adjustment.
So how are things in the good ol US of A? You would be amazed at how much media coverage the US actually gets here. You might be disappointed in the overall perception of Americans though...
To give our abode a more homey feeling, we went out and got a goldfish. Sharkbait's fishbowl overlooks some prime real estate...
The internet, that is! We are moved in and barring some odds and ends are all set up. There isn't much to see as the apartment is pretty small. You have to come to an open-house to check out the apartments before you apply for them and when John and I came to view this one we walked in and said, "no way...there's nowhere to even store our luggage". However, we felt a bit desperate, so when the realtor called and said we were the "applicants of choice"....
We are on the penthouse level of a 2-story, 10 unit building on a nice, quite street. The neighbors we've met seem pleasant enough, despite their widespread love of loud techno (which seems to be very popular here).
The first night we moved in we were both pretty exhausted and just wanted to sleep to a reasonable hour the next morning. Come dawn there was the most awful noise, like two cats in a sack noise, but not. I haven't heard it since and I still don't know what it was.
Anyway, my interest was piqued, so the next day I went to check out our back window and what should I see...
Yes, those are chickens.
We apologize for the delay, but I've been working day and night to get the internet at our apartment. Touch of irony... our internet company's slogan is "it just works". Yeah, they sent us a broken modem. We are currently posting from our local pub.
So, two weeks ago we went camping in Lake Eildon National Park. I thought is was with John's climatology group at Monash, but it turned out to be a sophomore class field trip. We did take part in all the academic lessons as a part of a group and it turned out to be pretty fun-- drinking was not only not prohibited, but encouraged!
Since John left behind all of his camping gear, we had to depend upon the kindness of the Aussies, whom could have not been more gracious hosts. We were initially provided with the prototype of the tent, but when the weather turned sour, we moved on up to the east side (see photos).
The highlight was multiple roo sightings! In the middle of the night, as a matter of fact, I was quite certain that we were under siege by rabid roos... we could hear them hopping around and brushing up against our tent. John was never so close to using his kung fu moves as he was that night.
Another highlight was a steep 200 meter hike, straight uphill, to the summit of Keg Spur. No joke, Keg Spur... adjacent to Blowhard Spur. No joke. This hike was a part of the class trip and our team produced the most accurate elevation readings.
I can tell by the number of comments posted that you have all been breathlessly awaiting our newest post. Fear no more. We should be getting internet in the apartment in the next day or two and have lots of exciting picutres and commentary to update you with! Stay tuned...
Hello Everyone,
Hope all is well in the USA! It is certainly good to read everyone's comments. Looks like we are slowly making AU our home as we now have a place to live! This was much harder than expected as there is currently less than 1% vacancy in the rental market around Melbourne. We were going to viewings where as many as 50 people would attend to bid on the apartment! We have been very fortunate to attain our 'starter' apartment and it could not be located in a better position. We can hop on a train or tram to go to the CBD (which we are doing this weekend) and I can hop on a bus and go straight to the UNI. They call them Unee's here and what an interesting one it is. I meet from a different country everyday and suspect this trend will continue for quite sometime! Everyone has been extremely nice thusfar and it is very interesting to hear how we all ended up at Monash. In fact, I met a woman from Boston, MA today who moved to Melbourne 30 years ago as her husband is an Aussie. Communication has certainly improved as during that time she was only able to call home twice a year with an average call costing 200-300 dollars!!! Thank you Skype! Anyway, it is time for afternoon tea so I must go for now. Cheers
Well, it's official. We signed our lease papers yesterday! Our new address is: 10/39 Byron Street, Elwood, VIC 3184. 10 identifies our unit number and 39 identifies the street number. We move in on Tuesday, so I'll post some photos when we finally get in. It's very small, but we think that it's an excellent location...close the the train, the tram and the beach!
Now, down to the real business-- how does the toilet really flush down under? My better judgment is keeping me from posting the video I took of the flushing (a let down, I know), but suffice it to say that far too much water gets pumped into the bowl to tell which way the water is going.
