Learning Australian

Today marks my 2 month anniversary as a Melbournite, and I have to say, I'm feeling right at home. People are always asking me how I'm settling in and adjusting and I feel like there are no seams in my transition from my life in Canada to my life here. Of course, I didn't feel this way at first. But on the whole it has been a very smooth transition. This is in no small part because I was very much ready to take on this challenge and prepared myself well for it. I came armed with technology that makes it quite easy to stay in touch with friends and family back home, and I came with a great deal of enthusiasm to get back into academia, and I had very few expectations about what life would be like down under.

It turns out, life down under isn't so different from life in Canada. There are a lot of odd similarities that make me feel much more at home here than I probably would in any other country. To be quite honest, I could see myself staying on here permanently (or as permanently as I could stay on anywhere). I feel very much at home.

I'm also completely in love with living in Melbourne. I realized the other week that this is actually the largest city that I have ever lived in, which threw me because I think of myself very much as an urban girl. Spatially, Melbourne is very much like Calgary. It sprawls and sprawls and sprawls. But there's a much larger population here than in Calgary, and it's a huge cultural centre (versus Calgary being a huge corporate centre, which, eww).

There is a tone of diversity in Melbourne, and never a dull moment (as my housemate Kirsty said, there's a new festival on every week). One of the things I love most about being here is things like that a sizable chunk of the dancers on So You Think You Can Dance Australia are from Melbourne, and I can vote for which one I want to win. I can see why Melbourne is considered one of the most livable cities in the world.

So I'm setting down roots here. It's a slow process, since I'm a PhD student and that is an isolating and intensive experience, and means that I am poor. It's harder to go out and meet people when you're head is being sucked into the academic vortex and the money being doled out to you isn't enough to support brain cell killing activities. I don't know what the bar scene is like in Melbourne because I can't afford to participate in it (well, I can it just means that I can only drink beer since a cheap cocktail goes for about $12). The cafe culture here, now that's something I can tell you about! Melbourne is a coffee city, actually, it's more of a coffee mecca. (If I ever get a chance to bring a Melbournite to Canada I am going to have to take them to Tim Hortons just to show them how lucky they are.)

Back to what I was saying, meeting new people isn't easy when you're a PhD student period, let alone a PhD student in a new and far away country. Fortunately, the people in my department are incredible. And I have an amazing house mate. We get along great, and she's a huge support for me. I get to practice my Australian on her!

I've learned to use "thongs" and "budgie smugglers" conversationally, and the other night at dinner I said tom-AH-to. I think it's going to take a lot longer to get "G'day mate" in there, but I'm starting to get the hang of "how ya going?" and "ta". I've learned that it's just "koala" and I'm down with "no worries," kinda. Then there's "brekkie," "trackie dacks," and "plats". My vocabulary is growing....but I still can't be asked to make a proper cup of tea.

Struggles, Acceptance, and Kangaroos

AHHHHH! I am settling back in at my desk after a trip to the Queen Victoria Market (conveniently located literally across the street from my campus) and am enjoying my lunch (freash, organic pizza, strawberries for dessert). It is a serious luxury to have the market so close. I now have a bag full of freash fruit and veggies, cheese, and a loaf of sour dough bread.

The market is huge and there's always something new to discover, and not just because the vendors aren't consistently the same. I am seriously looking forward to having some visitors to take on a gastronomical and shopping tour! *hint*hint*

I have been living in my place for a bit over a month now, and yes the bug problem continues. We've recently had another moth hatching and we can't figure out where they've hatched from. The battle continues. Another continuing battle: getting our landlord to fix the heat! We have no heat, and it's been this way for about a year. My housemate tolerated it last winter, but after having the rent increased and nothing repaired, we're preparing ourselves for war. Or, more accurately, renters court. Hopefully it won't come to that, or, if it does hopefully we'll get some serious action this time.

I am pleased to report that I have, finally, won over the affections of my housemate's dog, Bella. It was a bit of a slow process since Bella isn't a very affectionate dog, but seeing as she's replacing 4 dogs for me I wasn't about to let her off easy! It didn't take her long to realize that I'll play with her when she's hyper. Soon after she would count me (she goes around the house and counts how many people are in it, and I became worth counting). But what really won her over was when I sat beside her while she faked being tortured in her harness on a car ride. The next day she was all cuddles with me, letting me hold her and coming over to disrupt my studying. When I came home last night she even got excited to see me!

Over the weekend I went up to the country with Kirsty (my housemate) and we did some shopping. That was a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Afterwards we went to her partner's parent's place, which is a chicken farm. I got to see all sorts of chickens and ducks and geese running around, and some really cute and fuzzy baby ducks...

Then, as we were leaving to go home, I spotted a bunch of kangaroos munching away on the hillside. I got out of the car and took a picture, and discovered the remains of what may have been a marsupial. I decided not to take the still together spinal column home with me, tempting though it was.

As far as my actualy uni studying stuff goes...well...I'm actively avoiding it by writing in my blog. It's a challenging process and I don't really know which way is up at the moment, but I'm assured that this is how I am supposed to feel and that I will probably feel this way most of the time. So I guess I'm right on track!