Aussiehalley - Halley Down Under

ahhhhh! I'm here... and I almost even have an address

I am happy to report the results of my highly scientifica study - the water in the toilets do, in fact, flush the opposite way down here in Australia. (Counter-clockwise in the US, clockwise down under. Thanks to Charlie for checking that out for me.)

Everything here is "no worries," which is great, except when there actually is some urgency needed in a situation, but so far, so good. I get out of customs at the airport, Christine was there to pick me up, we make obnoxious squeelie noises, and the surrounding crowd luckily smiles at us, rather than throwing things to stop to squeelie noises. I found a nice woman who promised "it'll all be laughs" and no worries, that we could hop a ride with a car service that was going into the city anyway, so we were able to get my two suitcases (one was 65 lbs, one was 69 lbs - the United Airlines max is 70 lbs each) into a big trunk, and not have to carry them at all, for cheap. After I paid and tipped him, the guy loved us. Apparently, tipping is not necessary all the time, since they get regular wages and don't rely on tips (in a restaurant you can tip if the service is outstanding). So anyway, I became his new favorite person.

We're living the hotel life until Friday, when we move into our new apt. Downtown and near all sortsa fun stuff (the new apartment, as well as the hotel). I must say, the first shower after flying for a day was just lovely. There's a lot to be said for being clean and under the covers in fresh pajamas.

I am in love with fake winter. They say they've been having a cold spell, even for their usual winter temps. I'm in a light jacket, with a long-sleeved tshirt, and I'm perfectly comfortable. And though the Aussie's are famous for their drinking, I don't think that has anything to do with my warmth right now. :) (Side note: Strongbow Cider Sweet is delicious.)

The city is great, the little I've seen so far. The trams and subway and buses are all really easy. The buildings are mostly from the early 1800s through the early-to-mid-1900s, so the architecture is neat, with oddly modern frontpieces. It looks almost like a colony of Victorian and art-deco buildings and homes. Funny how that works out with the British colonial period... :) But it's still neat that they've preserved a lot of the old architecture, even if some are painted bright yellow to advertise motorbike sales...

I've seen some amazing green and pink and brownish birds - I identified a crow. Other than that, the rest are new. I suppose I could find out the names but for now, we'll just call them the pretty green and pink and brownish birds. Now we're off on official business to find the wildlife sanctuary on campus. No really. There is one. I didn't make that up.

The only thing throwing me off a bit here is that everything feels a bit anachronistic to me. Leaves are on the ground. Trees are bare. People are in coats and talking about the winter. And a few days ago I was sweating from the heat and enjoying the A/C. But again, it's just fake winter.

posted by Halley @ 2:41 AM