Saturday Seeing Serena Win

Saturday started off with a walk to the local park with my four year old boyfriend Ryan. It ended up with me and a thirty-something guy watching Serena and her ferocious faces and giant arms win the Australian Open live!

A guy called me back about an apartment share. We talked a bit about the apartment and when he asked when I wanted to come by and see it I said it might be convenient to see it on my way to the Australian Open, would he like to join me? He said yes. So, I went to see the apartment and then we went to the Australian open together. His name is David and he is a freelance photographer and teacher of photography. His work is really good. Check it out here. http://www.davidewingphotopgraphy.com/ The apartment was in a great location and David was quite the renaissance man--grows his own cooking herbs, renovated the house by himself, rides a motorcycle...

In my last blog post I mentioned that one of the girls at work gave me two ground pass tickets for the women's finals. That meant that we could get in to the main complex, but would not be admitted to the actual Rod Laver arena where they were actually playing.

It was fun anyway. If you watched the Open, you may have seen lots of trees and white tables with people sitting around watching the tennis on giant screens. I was one of those people. Gorgeous summer night. Very clean grounds, super nice people. So fun! Of course I had to walk up to one of the ushers in the actual Rod Laver arena and ask if I could just step in for a peek. It looked just like it did on TV, but it was hot in there. Also, you could hear people chanting something, but you couldn't make it out unless you understood Dutch. Justine had about 50 Dutch people cheering very loudly for her.

The weirdest part (for me) was that *nobody* was cheering for Serena. Of course I have no clue about tennis, so it wasn't until I got back to Heather's house and hopped on Google that I figured out that everyone wanted Justine to win because she was an underdog just coming back from retirement. Fair enough, but it may not be that simple...

I've learned that people here don't root for repeat winners. There is a cultural phenomenon here called "tall poppy syndrome" which basically means that there is resentment toward people who are successful and make it known. (some historical political reference about cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies). The tendency is to deflate people who try to distinguish themselves from others. If you are successful here, you do not talk about it. Apparently it resonates through every aspect of the culture. When I've talked people up in front of others, they've asked me very politely not to do it again and that it makes them feel uncomfortable. American faux pas. Oops! Sorry. Now I now.

Benjamin Franklin said "you cannot add to the stature of a dwarf by cutting off the legs of a giant". Hey, I'm just taking my life in a new culture one day at a time. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I'll be keeping all compliments to myself.

Apartment Hunting, The Tennis and RSVP

APARTMENT HUNTING
OK, so I was all excited about finally zeroing in on a neighborhood, Carlton North. Still am, but I've learnt (!) something about that hood... the majority of homes there are workers cottages from the old days and they are about 12 feet wide and 16 feet tall. Really. One entire wall of these skinny little 2 bedroom houses is floor to ceiling brick (read: no windows). It's like a railroad apartment in NYC.
I'll have to count on the spiritual Law of Attraction to hook me up with a great place to live. I'll envision a fab townhouse with the perfect roomate and it will happen. I did see one gorgeous pristine townhouse but it was in a different neighborhood and there was nothing immediately around it (no cafe culture, etc.). In fact, I've actually befriended the girl who lives there, Jenni, and we have plans to go for a swim or a bike ride some time.
THE TENNIS
The Australian Open is not called "tennis" here, it is "the tennis". One of the girls at work gave me two passes that she won to The Tennis tonight. Before you Serena fans get too excited (women's finals!), the passes are ground passes for admission only to a few of the entertainment courts, no admission to the Rod Laver Arena. I may go anyway just to feel the vibe and see the place.
RSVP and MEETUP
The biggest online dating service here is called RSVP and I'm going to prepare my profile this weekend. I figure it is a good way to meet people and learn about different parts of the city. Woah! Last night I joined the online Melbourne Expat American Meetup Group. I saw a notice that one member from San Francisco, Gary Mink, just opened a new Mexican restaurant, so I've put up a post to see if anyone wants to meet there for dinner. I also wrote to Gary Mink and asked if he wanted to meetup sometime.
SUNNY
Another sunny day in Melbourne! Just saw that it is -1F in Worcester, Mass. Yes, I'm grateful.
WORD WONDERS
She's really "switched on"= on the ball, gets it, knowledgeable
"chook"= chicken Do you wont chook foe deenah?
shoe-ah= sure
dunno woat the wrist of us will ate= don't know what the rest of us will eat
time to lave= time to leave

Australia Day

WHAT DAY IS IT?
August 26th is Australia Day-- in Australia. It also happens to be my friend Marysia's birthday. Well, kind of...If you are in the US, Australia Day is mostly on the 27th of January, my brother Michael's birthday. It's a time zone thing. I bring this up because it is a bit of a brain twist if I want to send someone in the US a birthday email that they will receive the morning of their birthday. When I get up in the morning here in Melbourne, it is the end of the *prior* work day in the US.

Here is what happens on Australia Day in Melbourne...

People have the day off of work, shops close early, go to barbys (yes, and eat shrimp on the barby), wear flag shirts and hats, go to parties, get drunk, sing their national anthem, watch fireworks. Sound familiar?

Apparently they also wear rub-on tatoos and jump on trampoline's in Heather's backyard. Yea!

FUN FACTS

LOOK People here use the word "look" as a pause word, and also in place of "so". Why in the world am I bothering to mention this? Think about what it means in the US. If a sentence starts with "Look", someone is either going to tell you a secret, wants to emphasize a point or is starting to get frustrated with you and about to tell you off. People here are randomly starting their sentences with "look" all the time and I'm constantly waiting for the ball to drop or something really important to come out of their mouths. Not here. It is simply a thing that people say.

NO WHITE GOODS, but you may get a BIR
When you rent an apartment here (also called a "flat"), it won't come with any "white goods"--a refrigerator or washing machine and may not have a stove. Look, people take their appliances with them when they move. Dryer's here are like dryers in the UK, not regularly used. Time for air-dried crunchy jeans and towels again. Oh boy. Ads for apartments will feature "robes" or "BIR" which means built in wardrobes. if it doesn't have robes, that means it doesn't have closets...it's a feature.

LANGUAGE LAUGHS
i=oi tight=toit might=moit
here= hee-ya
e=i
look hee-ya, hith-ah, you moite loike this. = look here, heather, you might like this.
wehya is eet? ohn the binch? = where is it? on the counter?

tech issues and a couple of firsts: a social outing and meeting my work colleagues

I want to include photos in this blog so you can see the neighborhood and house where I've been living, but I'm having camera issues. Will do as soon as I get it working. If you want the address so you can Google it and zoom in to street view, just let me know and I'll email it to you; I prefer not to post it here.

Speaking of technical issues... I bought a MagicJack before I left and although I can easily make unlimited free calls from it to the US, there is some technical problem where I can hear you when I call, but you can't hear me. Super frustrating. I've spent hours and hours online chatting with their tech support folks who seem quite nice, but none has been able to fix the problem. I'm going to give it one more try before I crack a wobbly and then switch over to Skype.

Anyway, on to happier things...

I found out that a cousin of mine is living in Melbourne! Haven't gotten together with him yet as he is out working on a farm for the month of January. It is summer time here in case you haven't yet figured that out. I walk around in flip flops and my toes are in heaven!!

Speaking of heaven, to connect with myself and other spiritual folks, I went to the Vipassana website and found out when the weekly group sits are here. On Wednesday I went to my first one in a neighborhood called Elwood, South of the City of Melbourne, next to the beach and adjacent to a neighborhood called "St. Kilda". I took the train there and then walked to the Marina and along the water until I was close to the location of the meditation sit, then cut over streets from there. Sounds great, right? Not! So freakin' windy I thought I would cry. I had papers in my bag and held them up against my ear to shield myself from the whipping wind. Meanwhile, 90 year olds, babies, dogs, Mom's, kids all seemed just fine with it-- smiling and laughing, skating and biking. I supposed they've gotten used to it. Wow.

Ellwood is a cute little neighborhood with nice shoppes and cafes. The meditation was held in the building where the Boy Scouts hold their meetings. Super nice people. The girl who was managing it has been doing so for ten years. In attendance were Ziggy, a guy from Germany who has been living here for 7 years; Regina, a friend of his visiting from Germany; Soon, a Malaysian guy with two teenage sons. After the sit, we all went out for ice cream and got to know each other a bit. Ziggy and Soon both offered to drive me home, interestingly enough they both lived in suburbs near to where I am staying!

I don't report to an office. Heather works from home, so since I'm staying with her, her home is my home and my office too. We've been spending a lot of time reviewing her sales process and re-working her Act! CRM solution to support it efficiently. There are four other staff people and each works for a home office. On Friday we had an all day staff meeting and I got to meet everyone. All very nice! One girl is in to meditation, visualization and the law of attraction (yea!) and she lives in Torquay, a gorgeous beach resort about 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne. Married with kids. Another girl lives quite near Heather and she is also a mother of two. She used to be a client of Heather's so she really understands the implementation process and has been a great resource for Heather's customers. She and I will learn lots from eachother I hope. Annie, Heather's sister has three kids and also lives nearby (I stayed in her house whilst she was on holiday my first week here). Annie pre-qualifies leads, acts as data librarian and schedules client meetings and events. Lastly, Kobi, 21, does some tech support, marketing and executive assistant work. Kobi gave me a driving tour of various neigborhoods and set me up on the company server, email, etc.
The meeting started off with Heather giving praise and acknowleding people's individual work efforts and deliverables. She also scheduled time in the meeting for stretches (which she asked me to prepare and lead), so she is intereseted in holistic well being and understands the connection to staff performance. She described our roles and how we will be working together. Later, Heather read to us Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go", a fun, inspirational book. She and I presented the work we had done on the sales process and CRM. Heather took us out to a gorgeous lunch at an impeccable restuarant where we could all talk and get to know one another better. I enjoyed an appetizer of zucchini flowers and chevre and for a main course, pan seared salmon with roasted rosemary potatoes and rocket (peppery arugula). In the afternoon we reviewed the learning services process and how it is integreated with opportunity management in the crm system.

So far, so good.

Fun Facts:
- when you go apartment hunting here, the ads boast "northern exposure" which really confused me at first. we're on opposite sides of the equator, duh!
- people don't generally tip here. as in europe and the uk, servers are paid a decent wage
- stores don't keep eggs in the refrigerator. that freaks me out. i asked about it and was told that the turnover is quite high and not to worry about it. oy!
- they've done away with pennies here, so everything is rounded up or down.
- a fifty cent coin weighs about 3 pounds (just kidding. but it is really heavy!)
- grocery shopping prices:
/whole wheat pasta: $2.25/bag
/ olive oil based butter substitute: $3.99/tub
/ six free range eggs: $2.88
/large loaf of whole grain sour dough bread: $4.59 (so yummy!!)
/ small bottle of honey: $3.99
/ small can of boneless salmon: $4.29 (about four times as expensive as in the US)

Word Wonder:

"bench"= countertop (I'll have to ask how one refers to what Americans call a "bench")
"chockers"= an abbreviation of a "chock a block" meaning "full". For example, the parking lot was "chockers"
"duna"=duvet
"thongs"= flip flops
"haven't you?", "don't you?", "isn't it?"= just like in the UK, sentences are often ended with rhetorical questions that seem to insinuate that you agree with what the person has said. I do not like this.
"capsicum"= red bell pepper
"singlet"= man's tank top style undershirt
"meant to"= supposed to For example, was I meant to call you first?

new digs, first day of work, crazy weather (again)

Now that Heather's sister's family is back from holiday, I've moved in to the studio apartment on Heather's property. Simple, clean-lined space with a queen size bed and full bathroom great commute to work--across the yard. Woke up to giant cracking thunder and torrential downpours which stopped and started every five minutes. Fleece pullover weather again, interspersed with sunny sandal moments. i put on rubber thongs for my bolt across the yard to Heather's office.
first day of work was today. felt good that i was able to contribute my knowledge of CRM systems in a useful way.
the apartment issue is looming, but a part of me knows (or hopes?) that something will happen organically to make it all work out. for example, someone will know someone who is looking for a roommate, etc. To help speed up the organicness of it all (ha!), I've made calls to the local Vipassana meditators and will physically go to the Iyengar yoga studios to see if there are signs up for anyone looking for a roommate. my initial thought was to have my own two bedroom apartment and furnish it myself, using one bedroom as a home office. Recently I've thought that a furnished one bedroom may be better and then find a serviced office space outside of the apartment from which to work. Most recently I've thought that a roommate situation could be good in terms of company and local connections. I'm interested in the upscale neighborhood of South Yarra, but at the same time would like to be near the areas with the best Iyengar yoga studios and my Vipassana group sits; those areas tend to be more crunchy and less upscale. Same issues I have with placing myself in society-- crunchy AND upscale. Why should that be such a difficult combination?
I'm zonked, so will meditate now and go to bed.

Fun Fact: nearly every TV program is an American program (i.e. the Colbert Report, Grey's Anatomy, etc.).
Language Laughs: detailed = day-taled. finger= feen-gah. open=opin. leave=lave. no=nawl.
Word Wonder: Ketchup is "tomahto sauce". Sun block is "block out" the car trunk is "the boot"
Cultural Quirk: all sandwich bread gets butter--even if you are going to add mustard, mayo, etc. same deal in the UK, but I had forgotten.

Apartment Hunting

Woke up to another chilly morning, immediately reaching for my fleece pullover and a scarf. What did Mark Twain say? The coldest winter he ever spent was the summer he spent in San Francisco? Anyway, a few hours later I was getting fried by the crazy UV rays and wishing I had my flip flops. I'll figure it all out. Definitely need to get some giant Jackie O glasses to protect my face and eyes. Oh, also a "rashi"-- long sleeve sun protective shirt you wear swimming.

One of the girls with whom I'll be working, Kobi, drove me through the city of Melbourne today so that I could get familiar with it. People actually do live downtown here, so that is another option to the suburbs where I have been looking. Melbourne is very clean with nice trees and a good vibe, although I was hoping that every man would look like Jamie Durie and that is just NOT the case. Sigh... Anyway, it has been a zillion years since I lived in an active, walking, international downtown, so that may be a good option for me to try again. One of the parts of Melbourne is a re-developed area called the Docklands which seemed too touristy to me--like Baltimore Harbor or South Street Seaport in NYC.

Rents here are quoted by the week and everything that I seem to like is around $450 per week. You can't just call the realtor and make an appointment to view an apartment. Instead, there are "inspections" (open houses) that are scheduled for literally 15 minutes and after that the place generally gets rented. Supply and demand--more renters than there are apartments to let. another area I saw today and liked is South Yarra which is just south of downtown, abutting a giant, beautiful botanic garden. Will give more of a description when I've spent a bit more time in the area and know more. Anyway, one has to make oneself available during the allotted inspection time or you pretty much wont' get to see or rent the apartment. to make it more fun, the inspection times often overlap and realtors don't work on Sunday's here.

Fun Fact: In Australia, the world map doesn't feature North America at its center; imagine that! The USA is relegated to the far right-hand side of the map. Never the less, one can't go too far in Melbourne without finding a Target store, Subway sandwich shop or a McDonald's. Oy!

wacky weather, cracking a wobbly and the hole in the ozone layer

well, the weather has changed considerably from when i first arrived. the hottest day of the year here felt like a good-ole summer day in Dallas. that sure changed quickly. in fact, the weather here changes *seasons* from early morning, to noon, to afternoon, to evening. at night i sleep with a down comforter and extra blankets. cold weather is good for sleeping and I've certainly been getting some quality zzz's. i put the shorts and sleeveless tops away after day one. now i wear pants, closed toe shoes, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a sweater every day and carry my sandals with me for when it gets hot. At the right moments I strip one item of clothing off or add another. Oy! Actually, it is a bit like San Francisco weather.

I'm amazed at how NOT foreign is feels here. Maybe it is because I've lived in London so have already experienced the initial culture shock regarding street signs, metrics (km), driving opposite side/roundabouts, food names (tomahto sauce = ketchup, chips= french fries, rocket= arugula, serviette=napkin, boot=trunk of your car), etc. Maybe it feels less foreign because the people here seem to have more of an American temperament--friendly, informal and direct. There are some things that I expected would be different here which aren't. For example, at the grocery store, they weigh your veggies for you and bag them just like in the States; not so in Europe and UK. Though there is always something new to learn. Like the expression I heard today, "crack a wobbly", which means lose it/get mad "I thought she was going to crack a wobbly" or "no need to crack a wobbly" or "if you do that again i'm going to crack a wobbly".
Also "good on you" which means "great" [that you did that]. And "how are you going?" which is a really popular way to say "how are you?" or "how is it going?"

Have made some progress getting situated here; I got a bank account. Very easy, just showed my passport. Bought a prepaid sim card in a random phone shop and stuck it in my phone. very easy. went schlepping neighborhoods to determine where i might like to live; not so easy. haven't seen anything yet that quite "clicks" for me, so I'll keep doing the schlep. my stay here at Heather's sisters house ends Saturday when the family returns from their beach holiday. at that point I'll move to Heather's husbands studio until I find my own place. It will all work out I'm sure. In the meantime, I'm re-sorting the piles of clothes in my suitcases so I have easy access to what I need. Work starts this coming Monday, so I'll try to have zeroed in on a neighborhood by then and seen at least a few properties.

Fun facts:
1. The ozone layer over the Antarctic is now the largest ever, reaching out to Australia, which means more sever levels of UV radiation getting through to ground level. Australians suffer the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. I became aware of this when I inquired about the hats the little kids all seems to wear-- flaps over the ears and down the back of the neck. These sun shield hats are required for school kids.

Drought is a natural part of Australian life. The main cause of drought in Australia is El Niño - extensive warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that leads to a major shift in weather patterns across the Pacific. So, no car washing, lawn sprinklers, etc.

The good news is that the dry heat and water type seem to work well for my hairstyle :o)

Enjo, Plih-jha and my first Australian boyfriend

From the airport, Heather took me to her sister's house where I am bunking for the week whilst they are at the beach on holiday.
Dug through my three ginormous suitcases and fished out a bathing suit, flip flops and my toothbrush. Then off to Heather's (a 5 minute drive) for lunch and some floating time in her fabulous pool which includes a 20 meter lap lane!!

Some similarities to the UK: left-hand side of the road driving. i continue to try and enter the driver's side when i am not the one driving. signs and expressions such as "way out" meaning "exit" and "give way" meaning yield, the toilet flush button is sometimes on the wall.

Some things that have tipped me off to the fact that i am not in Kansas any more: in response to "thank you" people say "plih-jha" (pleasure). When something is "cool" or "excellent" people say "bewdy" (as in "beautiful"). to wipe off counters and clean the dishes Heather uses brightly colored furry rags like smurf hair or those neon pink throw rugs from the 70's. when I inquired about the smurf wipes I learned that they are actually hi-tech environmental products from Austria that clean and kill bacteria without the use of chemicals (www.enjo.net). And yes, everyone actually does have marmite and vegemite in their cupboards and they do eat it. I will give it a try, but not just yet.

On my first night I went to bed at 10:30pm and slept until 11:30am the next day--13 blissful hours! Yea! Excellent shower with no scary issues (i.e. while showering outside of the US, I've historically managed to flood bathrooms or found myself naked, freezing and puzzled by all of the knobs, unable to get the water to come on).
Had the plih-jha of meeting Ryan, Heather's amazingly adorable four year old. When I left last night he told me "I'll miss you!". So, of course I'm in love and have my first Australian boyfriend :o) On our first date we jumped on the trampoline and then had dinner side by side.

Today will set up a bank account, get a mobile phone sim and check out neighborhoods.
Ta for now!

The Journey to Melbourne

I was dreading the 24 hours on the airplane, but no worries! the flights were great! Upgraded to First Class from Boston to Los Angeles on American. Who doesn't love a hot fudge sundae and leather seats big enough for a linebacker?! Sat next to a guy who was a coach for the New England Patriots. He let me try on his 3 ounce (heavy!!) 2001 superbowl ring. one must wear sunglasses when viewing those rings so as not to be blinded by diamonds. Watched and really enjoyed the movie Love Happens.
Layover in LA felt really international. 90% Asian. I was the giant white girl in the crowd.
On the LA to Melbourne leg of the journey I watched Julie and Julie and All About Steve. Sat next to an American IT guy who was also moving to Melbourne and had spent the last several weeks focused on preparing his house and tenants for the move, shoveling snow, etc. No love connection, but he was a great flight-mate: slept nearly the whole time, didn't snore or get up to go to the bathroom more than once.
My three 50 pound pieces of luggage all arrived safe and sound. The toughest part of the trip was lasso-ing and hoisting those puppies off of the revolving conveyor belt while 500 other passengers blocked my reach. Oy! Thanks to some kind gentlemen I got everything loaded on to a cart.
Customs was easy. No questions asked, but lots of dogs. Beasts were sniffing me and my luggage every step of the way. Big dogs, little dogs.
As I stepped out of customs in to the Arrivals area, Heather greeted me with a big smile, a wave and heartfelt hug. I felt welcome. My friend the sun was out in full force to great me as well. Gorgeous sun and 111F, the hottest day in Melbourne in 150 years and I was in heaven! Before we loaded my luggage in to the boot (trunk) I swapped out my black suede knee high boots for a pair of red sandals. My toes were in shock having not been exposed in public for ten years. Oh my, just the beginning of lots of wonderful firsts in Melbourne!