I’ve been here for nearly a week now and I’m already noticing a few differences. Not big differences like everyone walks backwards or speak another language (though sometimes the accent is difficult to manage) but little things like; a parking lot is called a “car park” and when you order a burger they slap a salad on top of it. Seriously I had a hamburger with lettuce, cheese, tomato, carrot, ketchup, pickles, pineapple and beet root (beet root seems very popular over here). I’ve been out exploring via (pronounced vai~a, not ve~ia) car, I’ve found a friend with a car very quickly, and completely on accident. Yay for striking up random conversations in the dinning hall!
Food wise things are recognizable with a few changes; you have spaghetti on toast in the morning, dessert is only at dinner (the apple crumble and custard is delicious), you sprinkle cinnamon directly on to your toast, there is no soda in the dinning halls (probably a good thing), and coffee is always: instant, 1/5 coffee and the rest is milk. Not unsettlingly different but its caused me to double take more than once. The other night we did go out to the Strand (a nearby beach) and I had the most delicious goat curry. It was spicy and savory and wonderful!
I also went to see Harry Potter; it’s been in Australia since the 13th (release dates over here are a bit wonky). It was awesome and a good way to get to know my new friends better. On a side note the concessions at the theater were like a candy store, you could get anything from normal snacks from home to chocolate dipped ice cream cones and pizza!
Normally on Sunday all the stores are closed. So streets are closed down and dozens of street markets open up. The one I went to was a fairly standard market; fresh produce, handcrafted toys, crocodile skin belts (ok, maybe not that one). Everything was bright and colorful…and expensive. I know that the American dollar isn’t very strong right now and the exchange rate adds to it, but I still couldn’t help but whistle under my breath at some of the prices. So I window shopped! I found the cutest hatters that specialized in those fancy hats you see ladies wear at the Kentucky Derby. Apparently at weddings here you usually wear a hat, they also have a lot of horse races locally. Some of my friends went to one last week and had a ball. Maybe I’ll go next time, maybe even wear a fascinator.
Today was more or less checking off things on my list:
-buy tickets to JCU sponsored events (They’re a secret, but I’ll write about them eventually)
I tried to find them, but nothing came up on my ‘books I need to buy list’, which is weird. I’ve never had a biology class that didn’t have a textbook big enough to k.o. a kangaroo. But I did come across this stunning flock of rainbow lorikeets munching on flowers outside one of the dorms!
p.s.: Since there isn’t going to be a turtle count anymore I’m going to have a word of the day that’s either a different from the American phrase or completely new!
Word of the day: zebra (pronounced zebra) crossing = cross walk
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