Happy Leap Day!

It's sort of too bad that my last two weeks here will be filled with flatmate interviews. For some unknown reason, I need to be involved in the interviewing process, although as I pointed out to Alex, I would probably choose very different people than he would. His rationale is that ultimately the choice is Mia's, since we are looking for a girl to keep the male/female balance (otherwise she'd be fending for herself among four boys!), and if he can't make it to the interview for some reason, Mia needs someone's help in conducting the actual interview as she doesn't feel comfortable enough to do it on her own. I'm irked about the whole process on a number of levels, but it's not that big a deal, really, so I will sigh and get over it.

For some reason, the travel agent has sent me all my info separately - flight info in one email, hostel info in another, tour info in another, etc. And they're all PDFs. So I had a grand time the other night trying to consolidate all of it into one document for easy reference, because otherwise I will get to a city and realize I have no idea what hostel I'm going to or how to get there! It's great fun, really. This is, incidentally, how I realized that I don't have a hostel booked for Melbourne yet!

Yesterday was my supervisor's last day, so tonight we had an extra special happy hour (supposedly we were all going to a bar after but they were still in the office at 6:45, when I started getting hungry and made a beeline for home). One week left!

Visaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Trivia answer: (d) Australia is home to 17 of the 851 World Heritage Sites (see the list here). I will leave Australia having seen four of them (I think).

New trivia: To what does "Manchester" refer, to an Australian?

a) a department store section

b) an ice cream flavor

c) a town in Queensland

d) an ABC (PBS) television show

Visaaaaaaaaahh!

After too much stress, I finally determined that today would be the day I would head down to Immigration and try to sort out my application for a tourist visa. My program recommends that you give the government 2-3 weeks to sort themselves out and approve your visa change. I, of course, dared to be different and marched my manila envelope of papers into their office myself. There were so many variables to take into account and I just hoped that this being the wonderfully laid-back Australia I've come to know and admire, that there would be no snags and all would fall into place my way.

First up was the question of the timing - if I went too early, they could revoke my work visa entirely and leave me up a creek for a couple weeks with no work. If I went too late, they could not grant it in time, leaving me here illegally. They could also ignore my request to work until the end of my visa and give me the travel visa as of today, putting the kabosh on any more work. They could not accept the ATM printout as proof of funds and demand a full-out statement (for which I'd have to stand in line and pay at the bank - argh). They could tell me I needed to present myself at an office or be able to receive something in the mail after March 9, the day I fly out of Brisbane. They could be picky about the fact that I hadn't gotten their name exactly right on the money order and send me away, having wasted $10 on a worthless piece of paper. I could have bungled the application. The line could be a million people long and take all day. The office could have moved. It could not be the right office for my particular question... the list goes on and on.

Miraculously, none of these things happened! It was all smooth sailing. I did get a little anxious waiting in line to get a number, and then waiting for my number to be called, but once I found Cubicle 26 in Cubicleland, the girl was friendly as could be. She told me I could work through next Friday, and that on that day they would email me my new visa information, which I could then print out and keep with me as proof, and that's it! The entire process took about 45 minutes and I sauntered in a whole 15 minutes late to work (I'd called to remind them today was the showdown), which I easily made up at lunch, and was so giddy and relieved the rest of the day! It's amazing how you don't realize how stressed something is making you until it's suddenly resolved and you feel TONS better and happier.

Phew! Now on to the next tasks: finding a new housemate to replace me (Alex and I already collaborated on the ad tonight, and they're ready to be put up on the way to work tomorrow), and make sure all the details are in place for traveling!

Lawn Bowling

A perfect Sunday afternoon activity. Haidee texted me to see if I wanted to go lawn bowling. I said sure, and dragged along Alex, who then called Matt and Karen (who also ended up giving us a ride), and bang - we had a game on our hands! The club was deserted so we had the place to ourselves. After an initial beer and an informative session provided by the club's lawnsman Randall, we got down to business! Lawn bowling is basically like a cross between Bocce ball and curling, in that you throw (underhanded) a ball towards the jack, which is a smaller, lighter white ball. Since the jack isn't secured onto the field, if you bump it, it moves. The balls you throw are not perfectly spherical - on purpose - so you can't just aim at your target, you have to take the curve into account, which adds the element of surprise to it :)

Once each team has thrown an equal number of balls, whichever team has the closest ball wins. If that team has two balls closest, and the other team's closest ball is third closest, the winning team scores two points. If they have three balls closest before the other team's closest ball, they score three points, and so on. We didn't keep score, and we didn't really have teams, but we did have a lot of fun and we celebrated whoever got closest (that person then got to go first on the next round). There are a few more rules, but let's just leave it at that :) Randall and pal in the peanut gallery offered some commentary and congratulations where appropriate.

You can see more in the Picasa photo album "Lawn Bowling" (click on the "Photos on Picasa" link to the right). In the meantime, here's a photo of the intrepid lawn bowlers:

L-r: Matt, Alex, Haidee, Karen

Lost in Australia

Actual conversation overheard between Alex and his friend Martek:

M: "I finally saw the Lost episodes."

A: "Oh yeah? How'd you find it?"

(Since I only caught that bit, I didn't realize they were talking about the tv show Lost and thought Alex was just being sassy ;))

Alex had "The Lost Kids" over for dinner and the season premiere last night. He had warned me on Wednesday that he was "booking" the kitchen from 8:30-9:30, and the lounge room (living room) from 9:30-10:30. When I got home, he was cooking up a storm, with sous-chef Mia chopping madly to keep up. Upon approving my request to be admitted to the party for dinner, he promptly sent me out to the store in search of more vegetables to be added to the cold rolls (Korean - think Chinese vegetarian spring rolls, only not fried), kangaroo fried rice, and soup. I forget what the soup was called but it was some sort of Asian cuisine where you put a bunch of stuff in your bowl (rice, potato, lettuce, cabbage, carrot, etc) and then pour just enough soup over it to get everything soaked and mushy. Delicious.

Good company too - I got to meet the famous Kate, sister of Jen (you may recall I met Jen and Kate's parents who drove all over Australia (and Europe) in a van - see "Mealtime and Roadway Fun," Tues Dec 4, 2007 - on the righthand side under "blog archive"). At one point Kate and I were talking about her childhood, and she said that for about three years (she was 11-14, her sister was 13-16), they moved around from Adelaide up to Darwin. I must have looked completely unfazed by this, because she said, "Wow, you really did meet my parents! Most people don't believe me!" Also present were Matt, Alex, Mia, Dan, me, and Jordan and Jill. Instead of crowding the eight of us around the kitchen table, we took everything out back (next to the turkey pile) and had a little picnic on what Mr. Turkey had left us of the patio furniture that was out there!

I am currently reading Bill Bryson's Australia book, called "Down Under" (the US title is "In A Sunburned Country"). Anyone who hasn't read any of his stuff, I highly recommend it. Start with "A Walk in the Woods," his account of hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. Absolutely hilarious. Anyway, I started this book, lent to me by a coworker here, a while back and it was so upsettingly dry and unfunny that I actually abandoned it for a while. I must've either lowered my expectations or picked up again just as it got funny, but now it's back (almost) to the Bill Bryson I've come to appreciate. I think I pulled a muscle laughing the other night!

Today's high: 28 C (about 82 F). Tomorrow's high: 36 C (about 97 F)! (For more temperature conversion fun, see the link on the righthand side!)

To do this weekend:

1. Go to pool.

2. Go to beach.

3. Try not to die of over-sweating/sticking-to-couch-itis.

Looking forward to the heat for a change - it's been cool and rainy here!

Considerations

First, trivia. I have to apologize - it turned out this was a trick question as my internet research apparently came up short. Sooooo... they are all tourist attractions - including, yes Rachel, the Big Buffalo. Good guess though, and I love the reasoning out ;)

New Trivia: There are 851 World Heritage Sites. How many are in Australia? (Bonus points if you can name any!)
a) 4
b) 62
c) 109
d) 17

The other night, I was watching the Australian version of the US show So You Think You Can Dance. In addition to having much more diversity than most US reality shows, because this one included an Aboriginal man there was an interesting disclaimer at the beginning of his segment that piqued my curiosity. For those unfamiliar with this type of competitive reality show, they do a little biographical segment on the dancers before they do their routine. In this one, they showed footage of the dancer's mother, and so before the segment they showed the disclaimer "The following shows footage of an Aboriginal or Torrest Strait Islander who has passed away." A quick google search revealed that "[i]n many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the depiction or mention of a person who has passed away can cause great distress to people, as can showing their image through visual media. Even using the same name as the deceased person, or a similar sound, can cause distress for a period of time." Very interesting!

Housemate News

Interesting weekend... I got home on Friday to hear from both Dan and a note left in my room, that the girl I'm subletting from, B, had been by to start getting her things in order as she has signed another lease and is not moving back in. She also wanted to let me know that she would be by at 9am Saturday morning and could I please be around to move my stuff out of the room so she could get her furniture out. How nice of her to give me, oh, 14 hours' notice. Luckily I don't have that much stuff and I didn't need to pack it carefully, but still. So I threw it all into my bags and put them out in the living room, since I already had plans for Saturday morning.

I was a little annoyed and therefore grateful that I already had an excuse not to be there when she was there. The book group met for breakfast at a little restaurant, so unobtrusive in the tiniest strip of stores I've ever seen that they all looked closed and I walked right by without seeing the sign for the restaurant. I eventually found it and we had a delightful meal. After we ate, we realized we hadn't really talked about the book at all, despite its physical presence on the table, so we adjourned to a nearby park to discuss it without having to shout at each other over the din of the restaurant. It was a good time, and here is a photo of my fellow bookworms (minus Lauren, who had to leave early): l-r Meg, Megan, Damien, Haidee - pronounced Heidi - and me.

Then a bunch of us wanted to go on to the farmer's market, so I walked over there with Haidee and her sister (who took the photo) who then had to leave, and then met up with the Megs. Later, Meg called to invite me out for a beer, and I pointed out to her that usually we get to catch up with each other on the bus or car ride to wherever we're meeting, but we met in our neighborhood this time, so I walked and we didn't get to catch up. It was nice to get out and about, especially since I live right off the main road here.

B came back today for her bed and my room was quite sad and lonely-looking for a while with no furniture and just my stuff piled in a corner, till Ray helped me drag in the spare (twin) mattress. Alex said he might soon have a superfluous dresser, which would be very helpful! Turns out the person Dan is subletting from also is not coming back, so he can stay in the house as long as he wants.

Today being Alex's birthday, I made chocolate chip cookies. (Please see entry from Sept. 17, 2007 called "Australian cooking measurements" for a detailed description of why this was kind of an ordeal...) I basically ended up guesstimating on a bunch of stuff, but it seems to have worked out, except that they're flatter than usual, but still good. I also had to guess on the oven temperature, since my conversion chart gave temperatures for electric in Celcius, and gas ovens in numbers 1-9, but we have a gas stove that has Celcius on its knobs. But they taste pretty good (well, Dan and I had to try one, to make sure they were okay...), so I'm just waiting for Alex to come home from his birthday celebration with his parents so we can eat them!

He also had big plans last night, going from dinner to karaoke to a club with a group of his friends, and in preparation he had Mia shave his head in a funny pattern, so I will leave you with that image:

Sorry?

Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd "said sorry" to the Aborigines. For those unfamiliar with the history, until shockingly recently (1969), Aboriginal children were torn from their homes (opponents use the term "abducted") and sent away to western-style schools, much like our own history of stealing Native American children to be sent away to boarding schools. These Aboriginal children are now called The Stolen Generations. (See the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence to get an idea.)

Anyway, for such a drop in the bucket, it sure was like pulling teeth. On TV, the newscasters interviewed people who said it meant a lot to them: those of the Stolen Generations, their families and friends. But what would real action mean to them? What would listening to what they want and learning to understand and treating them, if not with actual respect and reverence, at least as equals, mean? A four-page, formal, forced-sounding speech from a brand-new Prime Minister, while the jerk who held the office before him stubbornly stays absent from the scene - what does that accomplish? Rudd's predecessor, John Howard, made a big deal of refusing to apologize for the atrocities committed against the Aboriginal communities. For all my daydreams about how fantastic this magical world of Australia would be, their treatment of Aborigines has by far been the most crushing disillusionment. To me, native culture is to be celebrated and respected, not steamrolled and assimilated.

As I said to someone who described the Aborigines she saw portrayed on the US news shows as "sketchy-looking," that image is due mostly to rampant poverty and alcohol abuse, direct results of the racism and lack of respect from the ruling government who supposedly was educating the children to be able to fit in and compete in their world. We don't have to agree with, like, or even want to adopt Aboriginal ways of life, but we do have to not only tolerate but appreciate, respect and learn from them. They have so much wisdom about surviving on this land (which, I'm learning, was not even as harsh an environment until westerners introduced certain key plants and animals) that is simply disregarded when it could be life-saving, so much soul and uniqueness that would enhance everyone's life to know of.

Another northern-hemisphere friend and I agreed recently that the northern constellations were more interesting because they have much more history and mythology behind them. It's true that the stars I could see from the beach in Byron Bay were primarily in one band across the sky, and even of those I recognized many from the northern hemisphere. But I suddenly realized we were wrong - who knows how much mythology Aboriginal culture holds? No really - who knows?

Boosh Tukkey

(In honor of Mia's return from her trip to Japan...)

I had lived in the house for maybe a day or two when suddenly Mia turned to me and said (imagine Japanese accent), "Have you seen boosh tukkey?" I gave her the look of blankness, and she got up and gestured for me to follow her. She led me down the back stairs and into the yard, and pointed at the big mound in the corner, and its king, the bush turkey who has taken up seemingly permanent residence. Apparently the male of the species makes a mound in preparation for the eggs, buries them inside, and watches over them until they hatch. So far we haven't seen any eggs, but the mound just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I'm pretty sure one of my t-shirts is in there, and more than one sock, either nicked from the clothesline or snatched up when the wind blew them off. In any case, I definitely do not want them back! I did see him crossing the street one day on my way home, so I think he goes out to steal things from other people's yards too. He's been gone for a few days, who knows what he's up to. Bush turkeys are actually everywhere, on the University of Queensland campus, at our campsite a few weeks ago, in the park. Sort of like squirrels... who steal your stuff! Anyway, here are some photos of him and his pile:

A Very Aussie Sunday

Trivia: Rachel wins the prize again, it is indeed the super cool emu and kangaroo. (Deduct one point for use of "totes" ;))

New Trivia: Which of the following is NOT an Australian tourist attraction?
a) The Big Pineapple
b) The Big Penguin
c) The Big Mango
d) The Big Prawn
e) The Big Banana
f) The Big Buffalo
g) The Big Egg

So yesterday Dan and I met up with two of the book group girls at a movie at the Moonlight Cinema called Hunting and Gathering (with Audrey Tautou, aka Amelie). We took blankets and wine and a little dinner - and of course the Aerogard (bug spray)! It was a lovely evening.

Before that, Alex, Dan and I watched The Castle. It's worth mentioning that every person I've told that to has immediately grinned in recognition and nostalgia. It's the hilariously mocking story of a bogan (white trash) family who lives right next to the airport outside Melbourne and go to court to save their house from being bought and torn down by the airport. Brilliant. As I said, everyone I've mentioned it to knows it, even though it was only made about 10 years ago, and I feel very Aussie for having seen it.

Like a Drowned Rat

The most incredible thing just happened as I was leaving work. Being on the 29th floor of the office building, we can see pretty far. At happy hour, we can see to the south and west, also known as the direction of home. It was a beautiful day until about 6pm, and then I suddenly noticed a huge black cloud out over the sunset. "I don't like the looks of that cloud," I said to my coworkers, and grabbed my bag and fleece. It was getting a bit chilly and as I left the bridge and stood on the street corner, the first fat drops hit my face. By the time the light changed, I was huddled gratefully under another girl's umbrella. By the time we made it to the other side and the shelter of an overpass, my pants were soaked and the street had turned into a river. Rain was coming down in sheets and at an angle so the fifteen of us who were stranded were huddled together in the middle. Eventually it let up just a little and I decided that I just wanted to get home so I just kept walking through it. It had stopped raining by the time I got to my house and I could even see stars. I peeled my clothes off and hopped straight into my pjs!

Moving on... last night we were watching tv and happened across "Out of the Question," a tv show very similar to NPR's radio show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" - a panel of comedians answers questions about the day's or week's news. The tv show made me a little homesick for Wait Wait which my sister and I used to listen to while lazing around on Saturday mornings, so I logged on to npr.org to see what I could see, and was able to listen to about half of last week's broadcast online (before bedtime). It was absolutely hilarious, just as good as I remember. Alex, meanwhile, had moved on to Lost and I was sitting on the other end of the couch, just shaking with silent laughter as Paula Poundstone and Peter Sagal buzzed through my earphones. I'm going to have to make those kids listen to Wait Wait with me some day!

I was getting a ribbing in vocabulary from our receptionist the other day - she likes to tease me about American things such as sweaters, jelly, sloppy joes, and other nonsense (jumpers, jam, and, uh, nonexistent, respectively). It absolutely floors me that even though we speak the same language, we sometimes don't even have a word for a concept that the other culture has. I have come across this in Spanish, of course, but that is usually explained away by the language barrier - though it has nothing to do with the language at all, really, it's all cultural! Amazing.

Little Sister Syndrome

I have gotten so used to the Australian accent that I am startled when people do a double-take when I open my mouth, or when they ask me if I'm Canadian. Which brings me to another point: Little Sister Syndrome. Also known as "They're Onto Us". The relationship that Australia has with New Zealand is very much like our relationship with our lovable neighbors to the frozen north. They are our little sisters, and I say that with all the respect that comes with being a little sister oneself. They are self-righteously indignant at constantly being compared with their big sister and scoff at anyone who tries to do so, while the big sister looks on in amusement, pushing away the little one's head at arm's length while she flails her too-short arms in frustration.

Anyway, the point is that Aussies have learned how not to offend our little sisters, the Canadians: when one detects a North American accent, it is safest to guess they are Canadian. If you're right, the Canadian will be pleased as punch. If you're wrong, the American will be amused but certainly not offended. Take note if you ever come across an accent you're not sure is New Zealand or Australian: guess New Zealand!

New Stuff!

Trivia
Well, old trivia first: Congratulations to Rachel, the seventh (eight-pointed) star on the Australian flag stands for the number of states and territories. (And even though she didn't name them correctly, extra credit for creativity, and for making me laugh out loud at work!)

Ok, new trivia: Which two Australian animals appear on the country's national coat of arms?

Photos
Photos from last weekend's camping trip to Byron Bay are up! Check the Picasa link on the right.

The Unfamiliar

Travel plans are finalized! (Or should I say, finalised ;)) A week in Melbourne, then a tour up the "Red Centre" (where Ayers Rock is, among just a couple of other things - it is the outback, after all!), then a couple of days in Sydney before heading to a tour on the south island of New Zealand, then a few days in LA and then home! Phew - makes me tired just thinking about it!

I had borrowed a travel guide to New Zealand from a coworker at "Place B," because, well, he offered, and also because I thought I was going back there. He eventually needed it back and realized I wasn't coming back, which coincided with a meeting he had at our office today. So reluctantly, because my plans were just finalized and I had been waiting to see how much time I would have and where before I looked through it, I finally opened it and skimmed through as much as I could before I had to give it back to him today! It was nice to see him again though and we got a chance to catch up a little.

As the substitute receptionist / mail handler in an international patent law firm, I recently had the occasion to come across mail from the US. For those of you who have limited experience with other countries, it seems to me that almost every one has its own paper size. Australia's is called A4, and it's maybe half an inch longer and just slightly smaller width-wise. For the first time, 8.5x11 looked really bizarre - short and fat, where A4 paper is tall and skinny! It's just such a slight difference both directions, but it's amazing how quickly your eye gets used to it!

US phone numbers are also starting to look a tad short, though that's mostly to do with the fact that they're divided differently, they're the same amount of numbers (12-3456-7890 or 1234-567-890 vs the US's 123-456-7890). The fact that they have different formats for different kinds of numbers threw me at first, too. The first one above is for a regular landline, and the second one is for a mobile (cell phone), which all start with 04 (it's like an area code - it's actually a really good idea to have a way to tell if a number is a cell phone or not - one of many Australian things I wish we would adopt!). If your number fits a pattern another way, you can also read it that way, for example: 07-463-66-88-22. Then there are toll-free numbers, which are only 6 digits! Don't ask me how that works. They're all 13-xxxx (13-56-44 for example).