One week since we left the US east coast to begin our ten months living in Sydney, Australia-- though the length of the flight (24 hours total travel time) and the time discrepancy between here and there (currently 16 hours, sometimes 14 hours, including a forward cross of the international date line) makes counting the days of this past week a little tricky. So, we'll just go with the Gregorian calendar as the locals observe it: one week since our plane departed there, then, until now, here.
And what, all you Australiophile voyeurs are eagerly wondering, have we done with all this time in the fair city of Sydney, Australia? Have we gone to the Opera House? Climbed the Harbour Bridge? Petted a wallaby? Have we learned to surf? Scuba-dive? Dined in the finest restaurants Sydney has to offer?
Hmmm. Um, no. But we did get a bank account, and a mobile phone, and met with D's sponsors at the University of Sydney. We also found a place to live, and completely misunderstood the ticketing system on the busses, and slept on a friend's futon for probably one night too many (thanks Pat!). We ate at the same pizza place in Bronte twice, just because there was nothing else nearby that we were dressed for. D got a sunburn just from walking around househunting.1 The only remotely touristy thing we've managed to do is see the Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum on Darling Harbour.
Monday night we moved out of Pat's study into our new digs at 20 Maryann St. in Ultimo. It's a slightly-glorified boarding house, but at least it's limited to long-term boarders, and it's only five bedrooms. There are six people living here presently, two Australians, two Irish, plus us-- expecting one or two more in the next few months. Cable television ("Foxtel," as they call it), and wireless internet are supposedly included with the room, though we have yet to get the wireless working. Sigh.
House keys in hand, we spent $200 today (current exchange = US$160) at K-Mart (yes, the K-Mart all you Americans know and love) on those little props one needs to play house in a foreign country.2 And make no mistake, kids-- this English-speaking, K-Mart harboring, surfboard-toting, sports-crazed country is definitely NOT the U.S.A. For one thing, it's like August here, drenched in heat, humidity, and sunshine,3 and all the kids are getting ready to go back to school. The locals try to tell you that the temperature only gets up into the mid-30s, but don't be misled-- when they say "30 degrees," what they mean is "86 degrees." And please note the prominent lack of air conditioning in private buildings. . . like, say, our house.4
For another thing, Chad was reduced to watching only a quarter5 of this week's Super Bowl in live broadcast because, well, it was Monday morning at 10:30am, and he had places to be. If you are not moved by this (as I'm sure many of you are not), then you should also be aware that the live broadcast he did get to watch was "conveniently" commercial-free. Don't they understand that's why the rest of us watch the thing in the first place?
Lest you still believe that Australia is not really that foreign a country, then let me tell you about our first trip to the grocery store this evening:
Yeah. Now, quick-- is AUS$8.99/kg a good price on boneless, skinless chicken breasts or not?
Giving ID for various purposes (our US drivers' licenses are pretty much worth zilch around here, only our passport seems to count for anything), we've also had trouble reversing our birthdates on command. Mine being the 18th of March at least registers alarms for Aussies who know that "three, eighteen" isn't a date; Chad's on March 11th is always in danger of being recorded as November 3rd if he isn't careful.
For all this topsy-turviness6 our bodies seem to have made the adjustments reasonably well. We sleep through the night, we wake up hungry for "brekkie," and the locals here chalk up our midday dragginess simply to our failure to stop for afternoon tea.
Anyway, with a decent set of sheets on the bed tonight we should get some good rest. Onward with the Great Australian Adventure.7
;)
- D
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NOTES
1Really, guys, even in Florida, who thinks to use sunblock in February?
2Scotch tape, a laundry basket, curtains and a curtain rod, Kleenex, a drying rack, and a "decent" set of sheets, according to D's standards
3Not that I'm rubbing it in to you northerners. . . did I mention they can't even imagine what a meter of snow looks like?
4Curiously, we have also noted that many private homes seem to lack built-in heating systems
5The second one, if you care