Brisbane is a sweatbox. Brisbane also likes to do this thing we call "shrane," which means it's completely sunny, not a cloud in the sky, but it's raining. It does this at least once a day.
I smell lovely, let me tell you.
Also, I haven't straightened my hair in over a month... I think I've actually only done it 10 times here. I wear my hair down and curly 90% of the time. I used to hate my hair, but I embrace it now.
I have highly considered not washing my hair and getting dreads, however, as shampoo and conditioner are disgustingly expensive.
Actually, this whole country is disgustingly expensive!
The crazy thing about moving to a place 9,000 miles away from your home is that you know you have to leave it eventually. There was nothing permanent about this situation, thus I knew all the friends I met would have to leave me one day. Nothing good lasts forever, but our memories sure do.
Last night Annie, Will, Sarah and I had a last fling, consisting of karaoke! We sang "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams and had the whole bar singing! What's funny, is songs that I grew up on (and my parents grew up on) are sung all over the world. A bar filled with 50+ backpackers, and every face was singing their heart out. We come from all over the world, yet somehow we all know how to make a fool out of ourselves with a microphone and some classic hits.
Man we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' can last forever, no
Australia is a funny culture, in this way. It's geared toward backpackers... millions of people flock here just to find a little bit of solace from their own lives for one to two years. Sure, some stay, but most go home, back to the daily grind of what we had. But, as I was talking to a new Canadian friend (Nova Scotia), nothing ever changes back home... it's you who changes. So, I know once I go home, I will do something with those changes. I know I can never go back to Des Moines, Kansas City or Nashville to live. I'm too restless.
The damn travel bug has bitten me... it's highly infectious.
Possibly my new life plan consists of moving to California. Sounds good, eh?
Random Aussie trivia:
*Their Internet consists of how much bandwidth you use in a month... it's not unlimited.
*They don't say "Crikey," nor do the majority of them dress like Crocodile Dundee.
*Sunscreen is really expensive and you go through it like it's your job.
*If you see a meal below $10, consider it the best find of your life
*They love Subway. It's literally on every block... you may think I'm exaggerating, but I promise I'm not.
Random things I've learned/grown accustomed to:
*Gas grills... I LOVE them now... I used to be terrified
*I spell like I'm British sometimes... and secretly I like it, but don't tell my British friends.
*I eat ice cream out of the cone now. Why did I spend 22 years of my life hating them?
*I like raw oysters.
To me, Australia hasn't been about all I can see and do (because really, there isn't THAT much to see and do here... it's not Europe or Asia!), it's about all I can experience. And, all people I can meet and talk to.
But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door
All right, time to get going.
Love,
Michaela
*EDIT* Also, Australian money is waterproof AND tear proof. Genius!
Another entertaining post! I never knew you were afraid of gas grills? I am too!
ReplyDeleteRaw oysters? Who would have thought? You are your mother's daughter.
Also, the ice cream thing you probably got from me. I DO NOT like my ice cream in cones. I drove my parents crazy, as when I was a kid I would sneak in the cabinet and get a plain cone to eat, but absolutely refused to eat one with Ice cream in it. Ice cream had to be in a bowl for me. Why eat them separately if I liked the cone, you ask? Because everytime Mom gave us an ice cream cone she sent us out on the patio in the blistering 100 degree midwest heat! The ice cream would melt, soften the cone until it sprung a leak and ice cream ran own my arm! But if I ate it in a dish, I was able to enjoy the cool house and clean unsticky arms! Yeah I was a neat freak way back then! I never had thought about it until you mentioned it here, but I always served your ice cream in a bowl for that reason. You probably didn't get to ever to develop much of a taste for cones it as you usually just stuck to eating it in a bowl. Now I am kicking myself for depriving my child of the divine yet simple pleasure that all children enjoy. I am so sorry. Please remember that you did get enjoy the pleasure of clean unsticky little arms and that counts for something. Right? :)
Love, Mom