I'm in Sydney

Sorry I haven’t updated this any sooner. I’ve been having a terrible time finding a place and time where I can access the internet to post this update.

Written August 25, 2006

We’re nearing the end of winter in this cold place. Officially, spring starts on September 1st. When I walked out of the airport at about 7:30 AM, I was greeted by very humid air that felt like a bone chilling 15 degrees Celsius and I thought to myself, “This is the best air I’ve breathed in years.” (Anyone with sinus problems who’s been to Victoria BC, knows the feeling of suddenly being able to breath better; and this place is similar but possibly to a greater extent.) The second thought in my head was “I can handle this kind of winter.” By lunch time I was glad I was in shorts instead of pants – actually, this was true the whole time. The weather today is very similar to what I left in Manitoba two days ago. OK so I should not be talking about winter while my Canadian family and friends are trying not to think about what’s coming in a few months. Right now (3:00AM local time) it’s too cold outside for shorts only.

My traveling went well. I left Blumenort at 9:30 Wednesday morning and after 20+ hours on airplanes and 9 hours at airports, plus waiting for luggage (which thankfully did all make it on the same plane as me), clearing customs, looking unsuccessfully for my ride to school, calling the school, having the bus driver (who left without me) turn around to pick me up, getting a 45 minute introduction to a twisted and confusing road system with people driving on the “wrong” side of the road, meeting some people at school, being invited out to the young adults ministry for ages 25-35, and a “Connect” group (Hillsong’s name for the small groups within the church), and buying some bedding, I made it back to my apartment at 4PM Friday local time (1AM Friday in Manitoba), I thoroughly enjoyed my first shower in two days before crashing into bed for a long nap.

Jet lag is interesting. I guess two hours of sleep during two days of traveling doesn’t help the cause too much; but it should help me sleep better at times when I should be sleeping – as long as I don’t let it help me sleep too much during times I shouldn’t be sleeping.

It sounds like my room-mates will be arriving early next week. As a result of this, I need to wait with getting phone and internet set up so we can make some decisions on this together. There are a lot of options for these and each has different costs and benefits. The housing market out here is crazy. There’s almost nothing available and as a result, there will be four of us in a two bedroom apartment at a total cost of $400 per week – that’s right, per week. The landlord is even so cheap, there’s no furnace in here – hang on, we don’t need furnaces. Oops, another “Winter” comment. It’s actually a nice apartment and is brand new. Other costs are also higher than in Canada but sales taxes are 10% instead of 14-16% that non-Albertan Canadians have been used to for many years; and I’ve found a country that got it right with sales taxes as they are all included in the price shown in stores so you actually know what you’re paying for something before you get to the till. I’m really looking forward to getting settled in and getting into regular life.

I’m finding that the people out here are truly as friendly as I’ve been told; except for a shuttle bus driver at the airport who attacked another one for taking his customers or something – not to worry, the only person to get hurt was the attacker, and it stopped with some more threats and a warning that if it happened again, the defender would not be as gentle the next time. It was interesting though to see airport security people walk past the scene and do nothing.

There are a ton of things to do and see. A vacation out here could easily take a week or more just for Sydney; and a lot longer for someone wanting to relax or get to other great places in the country.

Things are very different out here. Not only do people drive on the other side of road, but as I found out by running into people in a mall – literally, they walk on the other side of a staircase. I guess it could make a difference that I was not walking straight due to lack of sleep. The phone options are very different here than in Canada and I will likely only have a mobile phone (That’s a cell phone in North America). It’s not even standard policy to install a phone line in a new apartment. The light switches are wired differently than at home so when I think a switch is in the on position, it’s actually turned off. I have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this oddity, but the apartment comes furnished with a gas oven, dishwasher, and laundry dryer; but without a fridge or a washing machine. The roads are well maintained – or for all you Manitobans I should simply say they are maintained; and every second intersection has a traffic circle. The shopping carts out here have four turning wheels and are called trolleys. And that’s just the beginning.

I have not yet developed much of an accent (What? a day is too quick to pick it up?) but I’ve been hearing it in my head so I’m sure I’ll be able to pick it up quickly. I just need to practice getting the sound from my head to my mouth. As many people know, the language out here is different than in North America. Someone was showing me around a bit and as we walked past a shoe store she turned to me and said, “In Australia, a thong is a sandal.” Apparently a short while ago, the church was putting on some sort of casual function and pastor Brian Houston had announced it from the pulpit saying that people should wear their sunscreen and come in their shorts, hats, T-shirts, and thongs. A fairly new American student had been very offended at this. I’ve already encountered some other words that were new to me and I’m sure there are a lot more to come.

A quick lesson on some of the more important language differences; (note, some of these are slang and not regularly used.) a mate is a friend and everyone is your friend; a Barbie is something you put meat on to cook; Bastard is a term of endearment and something you might call a friend when you’re getting along well; Bloody means very and is not considered swearing; a Bushman’s hanky is your finger – actually it’s blowing your nose by closing one nostril with your finger on the outside of your nose like farmers are known to do in Canada; a cockie could be a farmer, a chockatoo (similar to a lama I think), or a cockroach; a Hottie is a hot water bottle; a jug is actually an electric water kettle; lippie is lipstick; a mob could be a group of people, not necessarily dangerous, or may be a herd of kangaroos; to mug someone is to tease them with a friendly insult (if such is possible); and Sheila is any woman.


So far I’ve been too busy to take pictures; and have not yet figured out a good place for internet access so I cannot yet put all I want on this site, but I will keep working on it.