Lay of the Land

It's official, I've joined the blogosphere. This was something I wanted to do since I got here, but I got stuck on selecting a title. I'll admit, "Dispatches from Brizzy" isn't awesome but bear with me. I've been in Brisbane for about a week and a half and I am getting more and more settled with the Aussie way of life. You may wonder why I chose "Brizzy" instead of "Brisbane", it's all part in parcel of the Australian habit of diminutizing words. Chocolates and lollipops = choc and lollies, airconditioning = aircon, and so on.

So far, Brisbane has been wonderful. Only the downtown area is considered Brisbane proper and we live in a neighborhood called the West End. S described the West End as kind of Ballardy, and I would say he's not far off, but there are so many hippies here too which makes it seem less like Ballard.

A few observations about life in Australia since I got here:

• Sharp cheddar cheese is called "tasty and bitey". If you want mild cheddar it's just "tasty". I don't know why but I love this.
• People will often walk around barefoot - not my idea of a good time.
• The things flying around at dusk and the rest of the night are not hawks as S originally thought, they are large fruit bats. At first I was a little scared, but now I kind of like them. With the exception of walking under a tree at night where they are feasting. They are loud and will drop things on you.
• There are some very large spiders here. I now avoid walking on certain neighborhood streets that tend to have a lot of them.
  
• I have not figured out the appropriate usage of "cheers". People seem to say that all the time as a proxy for thanks or as a conversation ender.
• Everyone hangs out on Sundays and drinks beer. This is so my kind of place; it's all about the priorities. We need to import this to the States.
  

I have been using my time down here to try to focus on instilling some of the positive habits I can't seem be successful at at home. Everyday, except the weekend, I've been going to the gym for an hour. There is a gym and swimming pool in our apartment complex and being able to see it from our apartment has been really good motivation. So, go me! I have also been flossing, but somehow the exercise thing seems more important.

I am off to meet S and his coworkers for drinks. More to come...