Cold cucumber
In addition to the various academically-oriented things I’ve been working on since jumping back into a university setting cold turkey (what a gross expression – I'm going to make it more animal-friendly by replacing it from now on with "cold cucumber" #vegetarian), I have been hard at work doing some of the more important things in life, like making friends, learning about the local wildlife, overcoming culture shock, and such.
Making friends
On some Friday or other I went to an international women’s dinner on campus, where I sat around eating delicious food with beautiful women, many of whom were dressed in their finest clothing from their home country. I exemplified some manner of typical American dress (flannel and jeans!), but wasn’t aware of the dinner until an hour or so before it began and thus did not dress up fancy.
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| Isobel, Yanyan (Yoyo), Song, Lydia, Katherine, and Yongxia photo by Ruth |
There were several friendly competitions, and I volunteered to compete with another woman in a game involving kicking a beach ball around an obstacle course in high heels as quickly as possible.
I lost.
I was given the beach ball (once it was recovered from underneath one of the many tables I had lost it under) as a consolation prize, or possibly just in gratitude for the entertainment.
I had never tried tai chi before, but thanks to the suggestion of another international student (Frank) and my own completely naive (but genuine) enthusiasm, we’ve now started up a tai chi class on campus. We had eight students for the first day. I have to say, Eduardo and I may not have known what we were doing, but thanks to Frank’s generosity and foresight in bringing spare attire, we at least looked pretty good while doing it.
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| Frank (teacher), Lydia, Eduardo in tai chi attire |
Wildlife sightings
After class, I was walking to the bus stop and saw a MASSIVE SQUIRREL.
It had its back to me, so I quietly put down my bag and pulled out my camera. At that point it turned, looked at me like it was slightly annoyed that I was there, and hopped up into a tree.
I managed to get a photo of its hiney (cropped and brightened a bit here for your viewing pleasure) and was informed at a dinner party later that night that it was not a squirrel, but a possum. Yes, my friends, the possums here are actually adorable with big bushy tails, not beady-eyed and naked-tailed like in North America.
Moral of that story: don't assume that everything you're familiar with at home will be the same in a new place like Australia.
When you talk about spiders the locals insist, “I’ve never known anybody who’s been bit,” but the spiders here are quite big and googley-eyed. I encountered a massive one (“probably just a Huntsman – harmless!”) guarding the compost bin in the backyard. I calmly left it be, but not until after I shrieked and threw orange rinds and corn husks everywhere. Apparently they eat cockroaches, though, so they're beneficial, as many spiders are. What's your excuse, mosquitoes?
I've also seen flocks of corellas, a bajillion rabbits (adorable, but invasive), itty bitty lizards (possibly garden skinks) and flashy, crested pigeons (seriously, look at them).
Culture shock
One thing that’s taken a bit of getting used to for me is the use of kilograms in the grocery stores, but the complete absence of scales. When I first went to buy produce, I knew that bananas cost $9.98/kg (it's now gone up to over $12/kg), but had no idea how many bananas were in a kilo or how many kilos were in a banana. With no scales anywhere to tell me, I decided I’d just have to find out the hard way, and find out I did! Turns out a banana weighs about 0.14 kg and the four bananas I bought cost me $5.67. Apparently the banana supply has been ill-affected by weather and the prices have subsequently increased and I will not be buying anymore bananas in Australia (as an unfair comparison, they only cost a few cents in Ghana).
I have completely fallen for vegemite sandwiches, though. I wasn't sure how good white bread with butter and vegemite could possibly be, but I was assured it was delicious enough to be a daily meal (some Americans might say the same for PB&J), so I finally gave in and made myself one for lunch. I cheated and used wholemeal bread and margarine instead of white bread and butter, but, amazingly, it was delicious! Vegemite has become a regular part of my diet now.
Transportation
I have a bike and will possibly be getting a motorbike license in the near future. I'm working up the mental fitness to attempt to ride the bike anywhere further than to the grocery store, after having only successfully ridden it home thanks to the kindness of one of the lecturers, who showed me the way and biked it with me.
My next priority is getting a raincoat, though. It's been raining off and on a lot. I suspect it will be a good investment for London and Ghana as well, which may be in my near future...
