Tina's wanderings around the world

My life down under has been just a little stressful as of late. I'm in the middle of three important processes which are taking a bit longer than anticipated and my patience and optimism are on the decline. Process number one: apartment hunting. Process number two: job hunting. Process number three: the masters plan. Marcus and I started apartment hunting before I was even granted my temporary residency--about five weeks now. In that time we've seen some decent places, but nothing that really strikes home. The main things we're looking for are a good location (a place I feel safe walking home to at night), close proximity to public transportation (preferably a train line, but regular buses will do), a balcony or courtyard, and a good number of windows for light. You know, to be perfectly honest, we're not asking for much and we haven't been super picky about neighborhood. (Although I am shying away from the inner-inner-city apartments...too many people, too much cri...

I decided to do myself a service and take this body of mine for a jog the other day. It was a lovely spring day and after a stressful day at work, I decided that physical activity would be the best remedy. I walked over to the Erskineville footy oval and began my intense two and a half circle route. (I still hate running. I only run to warm up my muscles for a nice long stretch. Mmmm.) I had very nearly completed my first full circle when I felt something crash into my ponytail. I looked back to see a magpie flapping its wings menacingly and a fellow runner snickering. On my second round, my fellow runner (who had surpassed me at this point) picked up a stick and threw it at the magpie, giggling wildly. I wondered if maybe I hadn't been hit by this man's stick before. On I ran, wondering if it was the bird or the stick aimed at the bird. I sat and stretched, watching the birds wearily. Then on my walk across the field, I saw another girl pass into "the area" and sure...

I saw a bird dive and actually hit a lady walking down the street this other morning. Beware the attacking magpies! (I think it got part of her sandwich.) I got approached by another Hyde Park weirdo the other day. I was on my way to the train station, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn in my favor when someone moves into my bubble and says, "Uh, hello." I turned to find a tall, colorfully tattooed, semi-scary man with a nazi mullet standing next to me. Tattoo man: I think I saw you looking at me across the street. Me: Um, okay. TM: So what's your name? Me: (one eyebrow flaring) I don't particularly give my name out to random people I meet out on the street. TM: Well, a first name isn't private information in my book. Me: Okay. Well this is my book. TM: Do you want to get to know me better? Me: (embarassed for him smile creeping onto my face) That's okay, I have a boyfriend. Do I have a sign on my forehead that says "Come talk to me"?

I am a 26 year-0ld with roommates. I find this to strange because I formerly imagined that I would have roommates only during college, thereafter living by myself and then with my partner. And yet here I am, living in a house with three other people and dealing yet again with roommate issues. I'm about done. My first roommate was back at UW. Oh dorm living...I don't even begin to miss you! My roommate was lovely, actually, a second-gen Vietnamese girl named Thu. She shared her bar fridge, TV, and visitor blow-up mattress with me. She also shared the homemade food her parents sent back with her after weekend visits. So yum. She was this lovely girl that now, even more than then, I appreciate having lived with. She was always tidy, quiet in the mornings, and courteous. I had no idea how I lucked out. My second roommate was in Vienna, and I lived with a local Austrian university student named Julia. She was also lovely, spoke fluent English (and thus I didn't have to embarass ...

I started this particular blog months and months ago but never got around to finishing it. Australian English has a life of its own and although I'm attempting to make this list as inclusive as possible, I won't come near to encompassing all of the differences. Let's just jump right in, shall we? I think we'll start with the classics. Australians do in fact say: g'day mate barbie (as in, "Let's throw a shrimp on the barbie!" Ha! The accent has begun to creep into your brain...) love bloke blimey slag bloody hell mum shag They also use words that we have in our vocabulary, but don't use nearly as much: reckon heaps (substitute for lots or many) hey (they use this in the same context we use "huh" or Canadians use "eh") cow (this is used as a very bad name to call someone) I never foresaw this, but they even call two letters by different names: z = zed h = haych (like "h" but with an h at the beginning...kinda makes sense...

Perhaps I've been inspired by the book I'm currently reading ("A Fraction of the Whole" a newer Australian novel) whose author has injected all kinds of introspective blurbs that must have floated through his head at one point or another that he must have spent a lifetime collecting. I figure if I were ever to write a novel, I would want to write down some of my random thoughts so that at one point or another I could weave them into a character's thoughts. Hmm. Anyway, here are some of my own random snippets--thoughts and occurrences along with the ramblings that come thereafter. I was walking through Hyde Park the other day when a bird dive-bombed the man walking in front of me. Either the man was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't see it or he has nerves of steel, because he didn't even flinch. Lucky for him the bird skimmed two inches above his head. Then the bird swerved and dive bombed me. Must have been a magpie as they're renowned f...