Hello again from Australia! I thought I would blog about the political system in Australia and what is currently happening.
Essentially, Australia is a monarchy with allegiance to the Queen of England, but in reality the Queen does not have any power. Technically, Australia is part of the commonwealth of England, but they were federated in 1901. They use a parliamentary political system that, according to Wikipedia, is a bicameral system (I’m flashing back to my college World Politics course). The Parliament is broken up into the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 150 members of the House of Representatives that represent the 150 electorates (or seats). The electorates are just like our congressional districts. When you vote, you are only voting for your representative seat. Once the election is complete, the party with the most seats is in control and they name a Prime Minister, although before the election, everyone knows who will be the PM if their party wins. The senate has 76 seats: 12 for each state and 2 for the two territories. These are voted on at state level.
There are three major parties in Australia: Liberal Party (centrist republicans); Labor party (centrist Democrats); and National Party (rural conservative republicans). In general though, the center of Australian politics is a bit to the left of the center of US politics, especially regarding social issues. For example, you would be hard pressed to find any Liberals that would support the type of gun laws we have in the US. The Liberal and Labor party are the two that have a chance to win the majority, but the National party has a coalition with the Liberals so they often vote together. There is also the Green party which is very left of the center especially regarding the environment, but they are too small to come close to a majority, but they do have some representation in the senate. Some other interesting parties that are no longer registered as official: Communist party, Fishing Party, Nuclear Disarmament Party, Four Wheel Drive Party and the Outdoor recreation party.
The Liberal party has been in the majority since 1996 with John Howard as its leader and Prime Minister. There is an election coming up and the latest polls show the Labor Party with a significant lead in the polls 58% to 42%. The Liberals – and John Howard in particular – have lost a lot of popularity with their support of the war in Iraq, lack of action regarding the drought, and moving slowly with countering climate change. If the Labor party wins, Kevin Rudd would become the Prime Minister.
In Australia, everyone has to vote or you face a fine. I have to admit, even though I am disgusted with the voter turnout in the US, I don’t like the idea of compulsory voting. I’ve talked to a lot of people to see if compulsory voting encourages them to learn more about the issues, and it does not appear to. Australians that don’t care about politics tend to just vote the way their parents have always voted. You end up with generations of voters voting with no understanding of who they are voting for or what they stand for. There does not seem to be any “independent” voters in Australia.
I intend to learn much more about the political structure and as I do, I will share with you.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
Pictures
I finally figured how to post pictures (and get pictures from my camera to my computer). I'll post more pics in the future.
This is our house. The tree on the left is the tree I was talking about in my first blog. I have found out that it is a Manna Gum.
This is the Manna Gum Tree in our back yard. It is very majestic!
Playing Cricket with Harry and Laura, my niece and nephew in our backyard. Yes, Harry (as any good nephew) is wearing a Red Sox shirt. The cricket set is plastic so it's kind of like wiffle cricket.
This is our house. The tree on the left is the tree I was talking about in my first blog. I have found out that it is a Manna Gum.
This is the Manna Gum Tree in our back yard. It is very majestic!
Playing Cricket with Harry and Laura, my niece and nephew in our backyard. Yes, Harry (as any good nephew) is wearing a Red Sox shirt. The cricket set is plastic so it's kind of like wiffle cricket.Cooling off down under!
My apologies for such a run of blogastination. No excuse
So, things are going well for Amanda and I. I am still looking for work which has been quite frustrating, but after talking with others that have moved here or know others that have moved here from overseas, what I am going through is normal. Things work a little differently here and every week I find out just how different. I realized a few weeks ago that resumes (called CV's here) are very different than the American style resume. In the US, you are meant to keep it to 1 page and 2 if you have to, but no more. Here, a resume is expected to be at least 3 pages and should not go over 6 pages. There is a much larger focus on achievements within each role you have had as opposed to the responsibilities for that role. So, a few weeks ago, I completely redid my resume. It feels way too long, but "when in Rome...". I've also decided to broaden my horizons and not wait for the perfect job. I'll keep you all posted about jobs.
The weather is cooling off here. It has been perfect! The days are low 70's and it gets down to low/mid 50's at night. The rain is picking up, but we have not had any truly soaking periods of rain. It might rain for a few hours at the most, but any rain is good. Apparently, there is a 65% chance of above normal rain this winter. It would take 2-3 years of well above average rain to replenish the water supply in Australia. At this point, the water capacity it 30.2% for Melbourne, but it has plateued with the rain we have had for the last month. When we got here, it was at 36%. When it gets to 29.3%, we go to Phase 4 water restrictions. Looks like we may be able to avert Phase 4.
With autumn upon us, that means its football season. Aussie Rules Football that is. No one actually calls it Aussie Rules Football, just footy. I joined a fantasy footy league and surprisingly, I am ranked 6th out of 16 in our league. Being in a league has helped me to quickly learn the rules and who the major players are. It is a great sport. Essentially, you have 2 teams of 18 that play in a huge oval shaped field. The object is to move the ball to the opponent’s end of the field and quick the ball through the uprights for 6 points. You can move the ball by kicking it to one of your teammates and if it travels at least 15 meters and your teammate catches the ball cleanly, play stops and they get to kick from there (kind of like Ultimate frisbee). You can also run with the ball, but every 20 meters, the ball has to touch the ground. Lastly, you can handball to a teammate. You're not allowed to actually throw the ball, so you have to hit it out of your hand with a closed fist like an underhanded volleyball serve. When the ball hits the ground it is live and any one can get it. If the ball is on the ground covered by a heap of players, the play will stop and the umpire will bounce the ball on the ground and the "ruckmen" from each team jump to try to tap it to one of their teammates. Here is a link with much more info if you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aussie_Rules_Football
Footy is a national sport, but is most popular in Melbourne. Originally, it was only played in Melbourne and each major neighborhood had their own team. Today, half of the teams have moved to other cities in Australia. There are still 8 teams in Melbourne, so any given weekend, there are 3-4 games to go to. I haven't gone to a game yet, but next weekend should be my first: Sydney at St. Kilda. Sydney is one of those teams that started in Melbourne (it represented South Melbourne) but has moved once the sport became national. St. Kilda is the suburb (they call the neighborhoods suburbs here) right on the beach. I haven't picked my team yet, but I am taking my time. It is a very important decision and I have friends all pulling me to support there team, but it could take me all season to decide on a team.
Rugby and Cricket are the other popular sports here in Australia. With the exception of Melbourne, Rugby is the most popular sport in Australia. I've watched a couple games on TV and it looks interesting, but I have only figured out the basics. Cricket is popular throughout Australia, but mostly with the older generations. If you don't understand the game (like me) it can be very boring. They are struggling with getting younger people interested in the game and have made some modifications to the game to make it more exciting. In the original style of cricket, a match can last a few days. They introduced “Test Cricket” which only lasts 1 day. People that are into Cricket are very passionate about and have tried to tell me about all of little things happening that makes it interesting. I think it is a lot like baseball. These same people tell me that the few times they have watched baseball they find it boring. Of course, I try to tell them that there is so much going on with every pitch in terms of where the players are positioned, the pitch count etc. I guess it is just how much you know about the sport. Eventually, I want to learn everything I can about Cricket, so I can watch it with the same interest I watch a baseball game.
Oddly enough, because of the internet, I feel closer to what’s going on in US sports than when I was in Maine. I subscribed to MLB TV so I can watch any baseball game I want to and everyday I check the news and of course follow my fantasy baseball team. I can’t believe the Patriots traded for Randy Moss! What is that all about?
All of our stuff finally arrived in Melbourne yesterday, but it still need to go through customs. It’s amazing that going a few months without our “stuff” has made us realize how little we actually need. With that said, it will feel a lot more like home after unloading all of our boxes. I’ll be very happy to get my mountain bike. You can bike year round here and there are so many trails to explore.
That’s it for now and after such a long period without blogging, I hope there is still someone out there reading this. I will try to blog more often!
So, things are going well for Amanda and I. I am still looking for work which has been quite frustrating, but after talking with others that have moved here or know others that have moved here from overseas, what I am going through is normal. Things work a little differently here and every week I find out just how different. I realized a few weeks ago that resumes (called CV's here) are very different than the American style resume. In the US, you are meant to keep it to 1 page and 2 if you have to, but no more. Here, a resume is expected to be at least 3 pages and should not go over 6 pages. There is a much larger focus on achievements within each role you have had as opposed to the responsibilities for that role. So, a few weeks ago, I completely redid my resume. It feels way too long, but "when in Rome...". I've also decided to broaden my horizons and not wait for the perfect job. I'll keep you all posted about jobs.
The weather is cooling off here. It has been perfect! The days are low 70's and it gets down to low/mid 50's at night. The rain is picking up, but we have not had any truly soaking periods of rain. It might rain for a few hours at the most, but any rain is good. Apparently, there is a 65% chance of above normal rain this winter. It would take 2-3 years of well above average rain to replenish the water supply in Australia. At this point, the water capacity it 30.2% for Melbourne, but it has plateued with the rain we have had for the last month. When we got here, it was at 36%. When it gets to 29.3%, we go to Phase 4 water restrictions. Looks like we may be able to avert Phase 4.
With autumn upon us, that means its football season. Aussie Rules Football that is. No one actually calls it Aussie Rules Football, just footy. I joined a fantasy footy league and surprisingly, I am ranked 6th out of 16 in our league. Being in a league has helped me to quickly learn the rules and who the major players are. It is a great sport. Essentially, you have 2 teams of 18 that play in a huge oval shaped field. The object is to move the ball to the opponent’s end of the field and quick the ball through the uprights for 6 points. You can move the ball by kicking it to one of your teammates and if it travels at least 15 meters and your teammate catches the ball cleanly, play stops and they get to kick from there (kind of like Ultimate frisbee). You can also run with the ball, but every 20 meters, the ball has to touch the ground. Lastly, you can handball to a teammate. You're not allowed to actually throw the ball, so you have to hit it out of your hand with a closed fist like an underhanded volleyball serve. When the ball hits the ground it is live and any one can get it. If the ball is on the ground covered by a heap of players, the play will stop and the umpire will bounce the ball on the ground and the "ruckmen" from each team jump to try to tap it to one of their teammates. Here is a link with much more info if you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aussie_Rules_Football
Footy is a national sport, but is most popular in Melbourne. Originally, it was only played in Melbourne and each major neighborhood had their own team. Today, half of the teams have moved to other cities in Australia. There are still 8 teams in Melbourne, so any given weekend, there are 3-4 games to go to. I haven't gone to a game yet, but next weekend should be my first: Sydney at St. Kilda. Sydney is one of those teams that started in Melbourne (it represented South Melbourne) but has moved once the sport became national. St. Kilda is the suburb (they call the neighborhoods suburbs here) right on the beach. I haven't picked my team yet, but I am taking my time. It is a very important decision and I have friends all pulling me to support there team, but it could take me all season to decide on a team.
Rugby and Cricket are the other popular sports here in Australia. With the exception of Melbourne, Rugby is the most popular sport in Australia. I've watched a couple games on TV and it looks interesting, but I have only figured out the basics. Cricket is popular throughout Australia, but mostly with the older generations. If you don't understand the game (like me) it can be very boring. They are struggling with getting younger people interested in the game and have made some modifications to the game to make it more exciting. In the original style of cricket, a match can last a few days. They introduced “Test Cricket” which only lasts 1 day. People that are into Cricket are very passionate about and have tried to tell me about all of little things happening that makes it interesting. I think it is a lot like baseball. These same people tell me that the few times they have watched baseball they find it boring. Of course, I try to tell them that there is so much going on with every pitch in terms of where the players are positioned, the pitch count etc. I guess it is just how much you know about the sport. Eventually, I want to learn everything I can about Cricket, so I can watch it with the same interest I watch a baseball game.
Oddly enough, because of the internet, I feel closer to what’s going on in US sports than when I was in Maine. I subscribed to MLB TV so I can watch any baseball game I want to and everyday I check the news and of course follow my fantasy baseball team. I can’t believe the Patriots traded for Randy Moss! What is that all about?
All of our stuff finally arrived in Melbourne yesterday, but it still need to go through customs. It’s amazing that going a few months without our “stuff” has made us realize how little we actually need. With that said, it will feel a lot more like home after unloading all of our boxes. I’ll be very happy to get my mountain bike. You can bike year round here and there are so many trails to explore.
That’s it for now and after such a long period without blogging, I hope there is still someone out there reading this. I will try to blog more often!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Blogastination
So I just made up this word. The definition is allowing this much time to pass without posting to my blog.
Since my last blog, there has been a lot going on. First of all, Amanda and I went to Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostles. It is a truly beautiful area on the Southern Coast of Victoria. It was a 3 hour drive and a lot of it was on these winding roads that hugged the coast for miles and miles (or should I say kilometres and kilometres). I am still waiting for our stuff to arrive and when it does, I'll have the wires I need to move the pictures from my camera to the computer and then can share. Luckily, Amanda has everything she needs to upload photos, so here is a link to a photo gallery of our trip: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7dsiai7.10fwhzqf&x=0&y=h0ptlk
I've come a long way with driving. I think my mind has finally accepted driving on the left as it has become second nature. I have been borrowing my brother-in-law's car while he is out of the country and the more I drive, the better I understand where things are and how to ge there.
I think one of the best things Australia has to offer is the food! Don't ge me wrong, I miss the Maine seafood (especially clams), buying Green Mountain Coffee at the local gas station, and pizza with plenty of sauce on it. Here, it is very difficult to find a regular cup of fresh brewed coffee; it's all latte's and cappuccinos. I have seen one Starbucks since I have been here and they have fresh brewed coffee. There is no half and half here either so I have gotten used to drinking coffee with milk. As for the pizza, the toppings are fresh and tasty, but they use very little sauce. Of course, Amanda grew up with this kind of pizza and though us Americans used too much sauce. We've been walking a lot which has helped keep the pounds off as I learn more about the Aussie food - good and bad! The fish and chips are a mainstay here. There is a fish and chip shop in almost every neighborhood. You get to choose from many different kinds of fish and the batter is amazing. Truly better than any I've had in Maine. Meat Pies are another hit here. Almost as common as Fish and Chips shops are the bakeries. Every bakery also has meat pies, sausage rolls and pasties (kind of a calzone type meat pie). It's basically ground beef with gravy and some will have mushrooms or onions. You can also get chicken pies as well. They have family size pies, but the individual pie is most common. The last piece of the Heart Attack Trifecta is the Souvlaki. There is a larger population of Greeks in Australia than any where else in the world. The Souvlaki is marinated lamb that has been slow cooked for a long time and then shaved off into a thick pita bread with onion, lettuce, tomato, and garlic sauce or tahziki. We really try to limit how much of these things we eat, otherwise we would balloon up quickly! Having a barbie is an Australian mainstay. The grills are called barbies here and they are a combination of what we are used to as a grill, but the other half is a hot plate. I think we will be investing in a grill (er.. barbie) sometime over the next couple of weeks. As summer is coming to a close, the barbies are going on sale. Most barbies consist of lamb steaks or chops, sometimes burgers, and always sausages. The basic sausage (aka snags) is kind of like a hot dog, but sooooo much better. They are served on a slice of bread with ketchup (aka tomato sauce) and some times caramelized onions. Melbourne is also a city of immigrants so the restaurants are very authentic. Unfortunately, it is difficult to wash any of this down with a good microbrew beer. Microbrews are few and far between and very expensive. The cheapest microbrew is $17 for a six pack. I was truly spoiled in Maine with so many options. Because of the cost, I think I am going to start home brewing again. I used to make my own beer in Maine, but found it was not worth all the time and effort, when I could go to Hannaford and buy a 6 pack of Geary’s for $7. Now if I want a cheap microbrew, I will have to make it myself. The wine on the other hand is very good here and very cheap. Austalia is one of the largest wine exporters in the world and there are so many Australian wineries that you can a get a very good bottle of wine for $10 (about US$7.50). Oddly though, it is hard to find wine that is not from Australia.
All this talk about food is making me hungry! I’ll fill you all in on the Sports scene here in my next blog and I promise not to blogastinate.
Matt
Since my last blog, there has been a lot going on. First of all, Amanda and I went to Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostles. It is a truly beautiful area on the Southern Coast of Victoria. It was a 3 hour drive and a lot of it was on these winding roads that hugged the coast for miles and miles (or should I say kilometres and kilometres). I am still waiting for our stuff to arrive and when it does, I'll have the wires I need to move the pictures from my camera to the computer and then can share. Luckily, Amanda has everything she needs to upload photos, so here is a link to a photo gallery of our trip: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7dsiai7.10fwhzqf&x=0&y=h0ptlk
I've come a long way with driving. I think my mind has finally accepted driving on the left as it has become second nature. I have been borrowing my brother-in-law's car while he is out of the country and the more I drive, the better I understand where things are and how to ge there.
I think one of the best things Australia has to offer is the food! Don't ge me wrong, I miss the Maine seafood (especially clams), buying Green Mountain Coffee at the local gas station, and pizza with plenty of sauce on it. Here, it is very difficult to find a regular cup of fresh brewed coffee; it's all latte's and cappuccinos. I have seen one Starbucks since I have been here and they have fresh brewed coffee. There is no half and half here either so I have gotten used to drinking coffee with milk. As for the pizza, the toppings are fresh and tasty, but they use very little sauce. Of course, Amanda grew up with this kind of pizza and though us Americans used too much sauce. We've been walking a lot which has helped keep the pounds off as I learn more about the Aussie food - good and bad! The fish and chips are a mainstay here. There is a fish and chip shop in almost every neighborhood. You get to choose from many different kinds of fish and the batter is amazing. Truly better than any I've had in Maine. Meat Pies are another hit here. Almost as common as Fish and Chips shops are the bakeries. Every bakery also has meat pies, sausage rolls and pasties (kind of a calzone type meat pie). It's basically ground beef with gravy and some will have mushrooms or onions. You can also get chicken pies as well. They have family size pies, but the individual pie is most common. The last piece of the Heart Attack Trifecta is the Souvlaki. There is a larger population of Greeks in Australia than any where else in the world. The Souvlaki is marinated lamb that has been slow cooked for a long time and then shaved off into a thick pita bread with onion, lettuce, tomato, and garlic sauce or tahziki. We really try to limit how much of these things we eat, otherwise we would balloon up quickly! Having a barbie is an Australian mainstay. The grills are called barbies here and they are a combination of what we are used to as a grill, but the other half is a hot plate. I think we will be investing in a grill (er.. barbie) sometime over the next couple of weeks. As summer is coming to a close, the barbies are going on sale. Most barbies consist of lamb steaks or chops, sometimes burgers, and always sausages. The basic sausage (aka snags) is kind of like a hot dog, but sooooo much better. They are served on a slice of bread with ketchup (aka tomato sauce) and some times caramelized onions. Melbourne is also a city of immigrants so the restaurants are very authentic. Unfortunately, it is difficult to wash any of this down with a good microbrew beer. Microbrews are few and far between and very expensive. The cheapest microbrew is $17 for a six pack. I was truly spoiled in Maine with so many options. Because of the cost, I think I am going to start home brewing again. I used to make my own beer in Maine, but found it was not worth all the time and effort, when I could go to Hannaford and buy a 6 pack of Geary’s for $7. Now if I want a cheap microbrew, I will have to make it myself. The wine on the other hand is very good here and very cheap. Austalia is one of the largest wine exporters in the world and there are so many Australian wineries that you can a get a very good bottle of wine for $10 (about US$7.50). Oddly though, it is hard to find wine that is not from Australia.
All this talk about food is making me hungry! I’ll fill you all in on the Sports scene here in my next blog and I promise not to blogastinate.
Matt
Monday, February 26, 2007
El Nino
Hello everyone! Not too much more to report. The weather finally broke a couple days ago and we have had oerfect summer days this weekend. About 80 F during the day and 60 at night. We also had our first rainfall since we got here. The drought is the worst Australia has ever seen and apparently, the last year of the drought has been due to El Nino. They have recently seen signs that the El Nino is breaking up and this winter, we should have substantial rain. The experts say it will take a few years of well above average rainfall to get out of the drought. It's amazing how many people have grey water tanks and rain water tanks. That is the only way you are allowed to water your lawn. Any time you see sprinklers going, they usually have a big sign in their yard saying they are using tank water so that their neighbors don't turn them in. Even with the El Nino breaking up, it also sounds like we will be heading to Stage 4 water restrictions. I don't know what they are except for only being allowed to shower every other day. For the sake of everyone coming into contact with me, I hope we get a lot of rain very soon and don't need to go to stage 4!
Amanda and I are off to Apollo Bay (http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/otways/apollobay/index.asp) to spend the night. It will be nice to get away. The connection for my camera is still on its way with the rest of our stuff, so even though I will take lot's of pictures, I won't be able to download for a little while longer.
Bye for now.
Matt
Amanda and I are off to Apollo Bay (http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/otways/apollobay/index.asp) to spend the night. It will be nice to get away. The connection for my camera is still on its way with the rest of our stuff, so even though I will take lot's of pictures, I won't be able to download for a little while longer.
Bye for now.
Matt
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Learning to Drive
Saturday, February 17th
I can’t believe we have been here for 2 weeks so far! Everyday we are getting more settled. I applied for a Tax File number which is similar to our Social Security Number and once I have it I will be able to do a lot more to settle in like file for public health care, get a drivers license, and open a bank account.
I’ve been driving a few times and am starting to get the hang of it. I was so nervous (and so was Amanda) on my first drive. Our car is a standard, so it made it even more stressful. It feels awkward sitting in the right of the car and using my left hand to shift gears. The blinker and windshield wipers are also opposite so there have been a few intersections I notified the cars around me that I am turning by flipping on the windshield wipers. A true sign of a yank learning to drive in Australia!
I went to Macro Whole Foods the other day and it was quite an experience. Macro is the closest equivalent to Whole Foods and Wild Oats. They have had a store in Sydney for years, but have expanded over the last two years to 8 stores in Sydney and Melbourne. They are about a third of the size of an average WF/WO, but have a lot of the same features: prepared foods, classes, naturopaths on hand. Of course I went directly to the Personal Care section. For Toothpaste, there are a only a few brands. There were some familiar brands such as Jason, Aubrey Organics, Alba, Dr Bronners, Giovanni, and most surprisingly, Badger! Jason is the only US brand with a presence in the TP subcategory. They have 2 SKU’s of TP. The rest of the TP were Australian and European brands. The biggest surprise was the planogram for the entire personal care section. They had a lot of space devoted to it, but they POGed by brand and not category (except Oral Care). I had to look in three different aisles to compare shampoos. Jason with the 2 TP SKU’s had an entire shelf, but was completely butt-ended. Must have been 10 facings of each SKU butt ended. Maybe Macro has a merchandising manager position open?
I’ve noticed that the cost of living is more expensive here. In some cases, you can get things cheaper here. Lamb for one!! But there are so many things that cost more here. It’s just a matter of getting used to, and I’m sure I’ll feel differently once I have a job and some income. We got our phone set up the other day and it is much different here than in the US. The monthly cost is minimal, but you get charged for every call you make. Cell phones are even more. Again, it is just a matter of getting used to it.
Amanda and I went to our nephew’s basketball game last weekend. He is almost 12 and plays for a representative club. Youth sports are big here, but instead of playing for your school, you play for a club. Each major suburb has a club that has teams for all age groups. Some of these clubs also have professional teams, so it is conceivable for a basketball player to start with a club at the age of 6 and play with them all the way to the pro’s! There is a baseball club in our area and I am thinking of volunteering as a youth coach. Baseball is just starting to take off. The Australian women’s baseball team won the Gold at the last Commonwealth games.
I also learned first hand how powerful the Australian sun is! Amanda and I went to Philip Island on Thursday. (http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&z=5&ll=-25.335448,135.745076&spn=31.154942,45.834961&om=1)
http://www.visitphillipisland.com/
The island is best known for the “Penguin March”. Each night at sunset all the penguins come out of the water and waddle up the beach to rest for the night. Unfortunately, we did not have time to wait until sunset. I had SPF 30 on all day and I still got sunburned. When I got home I had a 101 temp and felt awful. Took me a day to get over it and now I am fine, but still a bit red. I think I will keep a t-shirt on at the beach for now on.
I met with Colgate on Monday for a “getting to know each other” meeting. It went well, but nothing concrete came out of it. I’ll definitely keep you all posted.
I hope you all survived the Valentine’s day blizzard! I’m sure Whole Foods in Portland was not happy about the weather! I think they were meant to have their grand opening on Valentines Day. Bummed we left just before they opened!
That’s all for now!
Matt
I can’t believe we have been here for 2 weeks so far! Everyday we are getting more settled. I applied for a Tax File number which is similar to our Social Security Number and once I have it I will be able to do a lot more to settle in like file for public health care, get a drivers license, and open a bank account.
I’ve been driving a few times and am starting to get the hang of it. I was so nervous (and so was Amanda) on my first drive. Our car is a standard, so it made it even more stressful. It feels awkward sitting in the right of the car and using my left hand to shift gears. The blinker and windshield wipers are also opposite so there have been a few intersections I notified the cars around me that I am turning by flipping on the windshield wipers. A true sign of a yank learning to drive in Australia!
I went to Macro Whole Foods the other day and it was quite an experience. Macro is the closest equivalent to Whole Foods and Wild Oats. They have had a store in Sydney for years, but have expanded over the last two years to 8 stores in Sydney and Melbourne. They are about a third of the size of an average WF/WO, but have a lot of the same features: prepared foods, classes, naturopaths on hand. Of course I went directly to the Personal Care section. For Toothpaste, there are a only a few brands. There were some familiar brands such as Jason, Aubrey Organics, Alba, Dr Bronners, Giovanni, and most surprisingly, Badger! Jason is the only US brand with a presence in the TP subcategory. They have 2 SKU’s of TP. The rest of the TP were Australian and European brands. The biggest surprise was the planogram for the entire personal care section. They had a lot of space devoted to it, but they POGed by brand and not category (except Oral Care). I had to look in three different aisles to compare shampoos. Jason with the 2 TP SKU’s had an entire shelf, but was completely butt-ended. Must have been 10 facings of each SKU butt ended. Maybe Macro has a merchandising manager position open?
I’ve noticed that the cost of living is more expensive here. In some cases, you can get things cheaper here. Lamb for one!! But there are so many things that cost more here. It’s just a matter of getting used to, and I’m sure I’ll feel differently once I have a job and some income. We got our phone set up the other day and it is much different here than in the US. The monthly cost is minimal, but you get charged for every call you make. Cell phones are even more. Again, it is just a matter of getting used to it.
Amanda and I went to our nephew’s basketball game last weekend. He is almost 12 and plays for a representative club. Youth sports are big here, but instead of playing for your school, you play for a club. Each major suburb has a club that has teams for all age groups. Some of these clubs also have professional teams, so it is conceivable for a basketball player to start with a club at the age of 6 and play with them all the way to the pro’s! There is a baseball club in our area and I am thinking of volunteering as a youth coach. Baseball is just starting to take off. The Australian women’s baseball team won the Gold at the last Commonwealth games.
I also learned first hand how powerful the Australian sun is! Amanda and I went to Philip Island on Thursday. (http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&z=5&ll=-25.335448,135.745076&spn=31.154942,45.834961&om=1)
http://www.visitphillipisland.com/
The island is best known for the “Penguin March”. Each night at sunset all the penguins come out of the water and waddle up the beach to rest for the night. Unfortunately, we did not have time to wait until sunset. I had SPF 30 on all day and I still got sunburned. When I got home I had a 101 temp and felt awful. Took me a day to get over it and now I am fine, but still a bit red. I think I will keep a t-shirt on at the beach for now on.
I met with Colgate on Monday for a “getting to know each other” meeting. It went well, but nothing concrete came out of it. I’ll definitely keep you all posted.
I hope you all survived the Valentine’s day blizzard! I’m sure Whole Foods in Portland was not happy about the weather! I think they were meant to have their grand opening on Valentines Day. Bummed we left just before they opened!
That’s all for now!
Matt
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Finally On line!!
Today is Saturday, February 10th and we just got hooked up to the internet yesterday, but I put this post together on Thursday. I'll post again in a few days. Hope you are all well!
Thursday, February 8th:
At this point I am not connected to the internet yet, but I thought I would start my first post. I am so glad to have all of the packing behind me. It was much more work than Amanda and I anticipated – and more expensive too! We finally finished all of the last minute packing and made it too NH around 8:00 on January 31st for a last dinner with my Mom. We hopped on our first flight at 11:00 AM on Thursday, February 1st and did not land until 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 3rd (7:00 PM on the 2nd Maine time). All in all, it was 32 long hours. I only slept about 2 hours on the plane. Thanks to my iPod and a good book, the trip was bearable.
Once we arrived, Amanda’s family was waiting for us and they brought us to our new home. Had some lunch, unpacked a bit, and ran some errands. We had Fish and Chips for dinner and went to bed around 8:00 PM and slept until 4:30 AM.
It is the middle of summer and the weather has been beautiful! The first two days were very hot: about 38 Celsius which I think is about mid to high 90’s. Since it has been mid 20’s C which is about mid 70’s F.
In the last few days, we have been shopping for home goods and getting ourselves set up and catching up with Amanda’s family. We live about ¼ mile from a state park and have been walking there in the mornings. On Tuesday, just 10 minutes into our walk we saw 7 kangaroos just hanging out and a bunch of odd looking rabbits. They are brown, have shorter back legs and tufts of hair on top of their ears. With the exception of pigeons, all of the birds are different. Lots of Cockatoos that can out screech any crow! They are about the size of a crow but are all white with a hook beak and tufts of feathers on their heads. Rosellas are probably the most beautiful birds I have seen so far. They are red, green and blue. The most prevalent birds I have seen so far are magpies. They are just like crows, bur have white splotches all over them. I’m still looking for a bird guide so I can figure out what all of the other birds are.
The trees are also completely different. Eucalyptus trees (more commonly called Gum trees) are everywhere and they are beautiful, especially their silhouettes at sunset. We have a large Gum tree in our yard that I admire every day. Here’s a picture. I need to learn more about these trees, but the bark continuously peels away in large strips.
The biggest news here at the moment is drought conditions. Currently the dams are running at 36% of capacity. Essentially, if it get’s down to 0%, there will be no more water. We are under stage 3 water restrictions which means you can not use sprinklers for your lawn at any time and can only use a hose with a trigger nozzle twice a week. It depends what side of the street you live on, but for us, we can use our hose to water plants from 6:00 – 8:00 AM and 8:00-10:00 PM on Sundays and Wednesdays. You are also not allowed to wash your car with the exception of windows, mirrors and lights and it must be with a bucket. It is quite common to bring a bucket into the shower with you and use that water for your plants any time you want. My mother-in-law and her husband (my step father in law?) have just put in a 900 liter tank that captures water that runs off their roof. Before we got here there was a big rainstorm and they filled the tank. They can use that water any time they want and however they want.
On Monday, Amanda and I went into the city to the casino to watch the Super Bowl. Apparently this was the only bar in town that had a big Super Bowl party. It was great! The game started at 10:30 AM for us and the place was packed. There were a lot of expatriates, but I was very surprised to find so many Aussies that were so big into American Football. I ran into a guy with a Tom Brady shirt and I assumed he was from New England, but he grew up in Melbourne and has never been to the states. I met another guy wearing UCLA garb from head to toe and he also has never been to the states.
I have so much more to share, but I need to put down the keyboard.
Thursday, February 8th:
At this point I am not connected to the internet yet, but I thought I would start my first post. I am so glad to have all of the packing behind me. It was much more work than Amanda and I anticipated – and more expensive too! We finally finished all of the last minute packing and made it too NH around 8:00 on January 31st for a last dinner with my Mom. We hopped on our first flight at 11:00 AM on Thursday, February 1st and did not land until 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 3rd (7:00 PM on the 2nd Maine time). All in all, it was 32 long hours. I only slept about 2 hours on the plane. Thanks to my iPod and a good book, the trip was bearable.
Once we arrived, Amanda’s family was waiting for us and they brought us to our new home. Had some lunch, unpacked a bit, and ran some errands. We had Fish and Chips for dinner and went to bed around 8:00 PM and slept until 4:30 AM.
It is the middle of summer and the weather has been beautiful! The first two days were very hot: about 38 Celsius which I think is about mid to high 90’s. Since it has been mid 20’s C which is about mid 70’s F.
In the last few days, we have been shopping for home goods and getting ourselves set up and catching up with Amanda’s family. We live about ¼ mile from a state park and have been walking there in the mornings. On Tuesday, just 10 minutes into our walk we saw 7 kangaroos just hanging out and a bunch of odd looking rabbits. They are brown, have shorter back legs and tufts of hair on top of their ears. With the exception of pigeons, all of the birds are different. Lots of Cockatoos that can out screech any crow! They are about the size of a crow but are all white with a hook beak and tufts of feathers on their heads. Rosellas are probably the most beautiful birds I have seen so far. They are red, green and blue. The most prevalent birds I have seen so far are magpies. They are just like crows, bur have white splotches all over them. I’m still looking for a bird guide so I can figure out what all of the other birds are.
The trees are also completely different. Eucalyptus trees (more commonly called Gum trees) are everywhere and they are beautiful, especially their silhouettes at sunset. We have a large Gum tree in our yard that I admire every day. Here’s a picture. I need to learn more about these trees, but the bark continuously peels away in large strips.
The biggest news here at the moment is drought conditions. Currently the dams are running at 36% of capacity. Essentially, if it get’s down to 0%, there will be no more water. We are under stage 3 water restrictions which means you can not use sprinklers for your lawn at any time and can only use a hose with a trigger nozzle twice a week. It depends what side of the street you live on, but for us, we can use our hose to water plants from 6:00 – 8:00 AM and 8:00-10:00 PM on Sundays and Wednesdays. You are also not allowed to wash your car with the exception of windows, mirrors and lights and it must be with a bucket. It is quite common to bring a bucket into the shower with you and use that water for your plants any time you want. My mother-in-law and her husband (my step father in law?) have just put in a 900 liter tank that captures water that runs off their roof. Before we got here there was a big rainstorm and they filled the tank. They can use that water any time they want and however they want.
On Monday, Amanda and I went into the city to the casino to watch the Super Bowl. Apparently this was the only bar in town that had a big Super Bowl party. It was great! The game started at 10:30 AM for us and the place was packed. There were a lot of expatriates, but I was very surprised to find so many Aussies that were so big into American Football. I ran into a guy with a Tom Brady shirt and I assumed he was from New England, but he grew up in Melbourne and has never been to the states. I met another guy wearing UCLA garb from head to toe and he also has never been to the states.
I have so much more to share, but I need to put down the keyboard.
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