Safe and cozy in my parallel universe: This is Melbourne

Hello All! or should I say G'Day Mates!

Obviously I am having a bit of trouble keeping up with this whole blog situation. I apologize. I actually have not been online since the last Thursday when I landed. Recovering from jet lag (cough partying cough cough) has been brutal. I will give a quick summary of what has transpired so far:

Thursday: arrived in Melbourne, delirious and confused. The traffic, being completely opposite of the States, left me dizzy. My flight was fine apart from a two hour span on the tail end of the 16 hour long trans-pacific one. Word of advice: do not eat plane eggs and coffee in turbulence. Not fun. I met many interesting travelers along the way and found it comforting that all of them, like me, were traveling along. The first friend I made was about a 50 year old OBGYN of LA, I hung out with a Sydney native coming from the states, a 20 something Canadian backpacking around oz and looking for good weed, and then there was a young uni student of who spoke German, Norwegian and English. Cheers to interesting people.
Seeing C. in the airport was shocking. I nearly tackled her and T.. I settled into our little apartment here about 6 miles from the city. I keep calling it downtown and get into trouble. It's like new york. You call it The City. Anyways, it's a two bedroom apartment with grandma charm. Seriously I swear there is a grandmother store where all grandmothers go to collect trinkets to decorate their houses. I am reminded of my grandma Dodeeo's home except that the angels she collects are replaced by Jesus statues. Adorable.

Friday: After sleeping in five hour spurts and eating whenever I could not sleep (steak, pbj, other man foods), I decided I was feeling up to an adventure into The City. We took the tram, which was pretty exciting. I realized that going barefoot is pretty acceptable in the city and that many people homeless or not just seem to be casual about shoes. I started to worry because I was feeling sick and dizzy again, much like I did on that damned delta flight. I figured I was just hungry. We stopped at the square (I can't recall the name) where the Australian Open is being played. It was pretty cool to see the big screens showing the matches. I had a fabulous gourmet pizza and felt 10000x better. Back to my go-getter self again! YES! We wandered around the shopping centers and I felt really amazed by how little experience I have actually had in a real urban city.
I call this post my parallel universe for several reasons. Firstly, if I didn't know better and the accents were not so prevalent, I could easily believe I was in a dryer, browner, more euro-influenced city in the US. This first morning I had coffee, however it was made entirely differently ( hot water heater, instant coffee, whole milk, brown sugar). The final product tasted exactly the same but it contained completely different elements than my usual cup of joe. Strange yet pretty comforting. Another aspect of this universe is the people. My friendships with my camp friends seem as if we never left each other. Everything is so normal and happy. I am the only one that occasionally feels like I stick out for being the American. I guess I am used to being the Token after our trip to Miami. No worries.
Friday night we ventured to C.'s for a get together somewhat in my honor. We had a Barbi and beers, sat on the porch. and this kid names Amazing Tom showed my really superb magic tricks. Even as he drank, his tricks were flawless. I met all of C.'s closest friends and roommates and felt pretty at home. Seriously, could have been anywhere in the U.S. I find it pretty cool that most of them are either immigrants of more recent immigrants to OZ than people are here. It's like a younger America where many people are still linked by language or heritage to their roots, but yet fully Australian. We spent the night there for lack of transportation home and had to be up early for the CCUSA recruitment at the Hyatt.

Saturday: T.'s family friend A. picked us up at C.'s and brought us to the camp recruitment event. It was pretty amazing being in Melbourne yet surrounded by American accents again! We hung out with Doc, which for those of you from Pinewood know, is the head director of boy's hill. He is about 6'10 and really intimidating. I never thought he really liked me, however he was pretty cool outside of camp. Also I think he appreciated us coming to show our support and help him filter through people looking to work at camp next summer. Alix luckily got a job! She is really sweet and funny and will probably have the time of her life at camp. So after hours of strangely interviewing Aussies to do my summer job in the states, we escaped to an Asian bakery to refuel. Weird, yet delicious. We made our way home and barely had time to shower before we were expected at the family household. Talk about throwing me in head first. I litteraly met all of T. and C.'s local family and friends in one day. I survived though and actually felt really accepted and at home. T.'s house was really nice and an Arctic sanctuary to the full on Summer heat. I met his older brother, younger sister, mother and father, as well as some family friends who had an adorable 1 year old daughter. As promised, I think there was at least three types of meat served and I was offered beer about 4 times before I said ok. Lamb (which I refuse to eat), steak and chicken skewers. Amazing! They were very hospitable and hilarious. I swear they way the parents bicker with the two boys would make great reality tv but It's just how they communicate. As an outsider I just went with the flow, but they seem extremely sweet. The kissing on the cheek thing still throws me a bit. I am such an awkward anglo. The two dogs T. dyed when his parents were away are still partially green and pink. I tried not to laugh and encourage his bad behavior. His mum would not be pleased.
Next we headed to this place called the Belgian Beer Garden in the city. After a crazy ride in the family convertible (I of course braved it in the back), we came to this place that could definitely rival an outdoor frat party. People everywhere on a dirt covered field. It reminded me of an outdoor concert with no music. It was great and the people were all laid back. I was not IDed and people discreetly, yet openly, puffed away on joints. crazy.
I met all of T.'s guy friends from his old job and their wives and girlfriends. It was his friend M.'s going away because he is moving to Canberra for a new job. I only encountered one hater who supposedly had some jealously, among other mental, issues. Everyone else was welcoming and open to meeting this strange rando girl. We stayed for a few hours and then relocated the get together to M.'s house and sat of the porch. Luckily it cooled down a bit and he all had some exciting conversation. I felt like the odd one a bit and was worried about these girls, especially, being standoffish or reluctant to make friends. They were all really beautiful and had cool piercings and tattoos. They turned out to be really smart and interesting. We chatted about politics, American media, and they mercilessly gave T. shit for hanging out with me. I guess I am considered to be something of a novelty and a pretty cool girl. I did have to pass some tests though. One being that I was asked if i believed humans as they exist today were alive at the same time as the dinosaurs. I said no to my drunk inquisitor. She nearly hugged me and said "Yes, oh my gosh Americans aren't that stupid." Taking no offense I told her about the creation museum somewhere in the midwest that actually propagated that belief, but that most people are not that dense. We became friends. Once again I was surprised by how all of these people were very culturally diverse; Philippine, Macedonian, Greek, Chilean, Uruguayan, Croatian, and me the American. Obviously, I was enjoying the spectrum. I especially liked meeting Paula from Chile who had immigrated recently and learned an Aussie accent after she had had an American one for most of her schooling.
At around 5 am we finally got a cab. A stop at Mackers (McDonalds) was a great end to an eventful and long day. The prices there though, are seriously insane. At least the dining room is open 24 hours for drunk people. Fun fact: cops get free mackers to encourage them to stop by the joint and sorta offer some security. I guess it can get pretty wild.

Sunday: Waking up late was fabulous, but I began to get stressed. I had destroyed what little finger nails I had left. What the heck am I supposed to do here? I don't have a job and don't have any imminent homework to do! AH! I tend to freak out and go into depression in these conditions. I talked to T. for a while about this and we decided I needed to learn how to relax. I really don't know what he does when he's not working and seeing as how neither of us can currently drive ( him due to point collection on his license, me due to confusion and fear), i felt trapped. I made us breakfast (eggs and toast ) and we decided just to chill out and spent most of the day talking. It was really good. A bit later we walked down the road to the grocery store. His grandmother's house is an apartment in a government housing complex. Basically the ghetto, but also home to some yuppies who like to feel alternative. I totally dig the strange immigrant people and stray cats and dogs outside. Although, I was advised not to try to pet them, I still tried and failed. The store was a 5-10 min walk away and was surprisingly brand new and really nice. Probably nicer than publix at home. They sold netbook computers there and way better assortment of foreign and gourmet foods. It was fabulous. I really enjoyed shopping and T. found that funny because he does too. I think it's the fact that I feel like I am a little kid playing house. Maybe because I don't drive and don't yet have a job so I sorta feel like a lost little kid. But, then again I have a house and a roommate. Years of living at Dg have made me sorta useless and I like having to fend for myself a bit. I also liked stocking up some healthy foods. We spent the evening eating hummus and pumpkin soup ( I LOVE AUSTRALIA BECAUSE THEY EAT PUMPKIN ALL THE TIME :) ) and watching the movie UP. So good. T. went to work and I went to bed. good relaxing day.


A few thoughts : So this is a pretty detailed account of my time so far. All and all I feel like life here is pretty similar to home expect more expensive for an American who got paid 8 dollars an hour in her previous job. Lucky for me I have amazing friends who really take care of me. So far every cab fare and food outing is a fight because I hate having people pay for me, but so far I have lost most of the battles. I feel extremely blessed as well because I can not imagine just winging it at hostels. I met one girl at the Sydney airport from FL who was doing just that. She had more experience than me but I feel like it's different than Europe. More spread out. More like the States and backpacking there isn't easy I would assume.
Everything is more colorful and people are stylish and alternative. I really like that. The two young married couples I have met with babies both sported tattoos of their daughters names on their arms or wrists. Different and pretty adorable at the same time. House music is everywhere and my sister would be so happy. I can't wait to buy some bright crazy dresses and go out dancing. :) I have plenty of time to do what I want and that is extremely liberating.

T.'s parents asked me what I missed about home and I couldn't say for sure. I find myself talking about my family and telling stories about my friends pretty often. So I am keeping you all alive each day and thinking of everyone at home. I do not feel lonesome or homesick and despite a few awkward comments from Doc and some of the work buddies about me and T.'s status as friends, everything feels really comfortable and normal. I am so blessed to have someone so devoted to making sure I get what I want from this experience. I do believe in fate, but I don't know how I got so lucky as to stumble upon this Australian network at camp and end up here. Everything seems easy and doable. Pretty inspiring and exactly the kind of brake I have been seeking. Time to relax, meet people, read books, and see new things. It's definitely not like Europe and a bit off from what I had imagined, but having no expectations I find leaves the door open for impressive experiences. I plan on having a few.


Lastly, the best thing I have seen so far:

It's a tie for first place.

1. a strange man outside of a college-looking bar (think an indoor Swamp or a larger Balls) dancing with large hand motions to the song playing inside, "Pour some sugar on me," with a huge grin on his face. They said he was homeless. I say he is living life.

2. Intelligent looking barefoot drifters playing on a nearly life sized chess board in the middle of the street sidewalk. So bohemian, but common place here.


Until next time, enjoy,
Natalie

hope for the best, prepare for the worst, wind up somewhere in the middle

Happy Australia Day! So appropriate that today marks the start of a long, long journey. I expect to be highly delusional by the time I arrive, so please don't expect any thing brilliant being posted. Right now I am just hoping that my bags are not too heavy and that my soul remains light. I don't want to be weighed down with worry right now. No need for that. I sorta have this theory that if you keep going, walking, running or skipping... you can never feel too "settled." Not that this would be a bad thing in the traditional meaning of the word, but I am referring to the forced settling due to heavy baggage; the weights of the world, the woes and the worries. I would rather throw those out before I pass through customs.

My mindset is that I am feeling prepared for the unknown. A first for me. really. I have no nails left to bite and about 10 or so pounds of books to keep my mind occupied. yes! I think I will be just fine as long as I can convey to the airport employees that, while I may appear to be an adult, I am really one of those lost wandering children who gets stuck in the mall and needs an intercom announcement to find their way back to their guardian. Wish I had one of those. Oh well, I will have to wing it on my own. I will just live in the present and see where that takes me.

Thank you loving family and friends. You all are super and outstanding people.

Acceptance, Enthusiasm, Enjoyment,
Natalie

One week until departure

Hello All,

Exactly one week from now I will be taking off from Orlando airport for a four month adventure. I am anxious, excited, and a bit apathetic. Perhaps this is because thinking of this upcoming week for the past few months has been emotionally draining. But then again, maybe I just am starting to believe and have faith. Taking a leap is never easy, but at least it can be fun.

Here are two great travel quotes I want to share.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"
Marcel Proust (French novelist and author 1871-1922

"The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart"