Monday 06 July 2009

Coldest Day of the Year (no, seriously, they say it only gets better from here.)

Today’s low was 8 degrees, and you can multiply that number by 9 and divide by 5 and add 32 if you want to know what it was in Fahrenheit. I’m getting quite good at doing it in my head. Anyway, all I brought are shorts and optimistically thin socks. I am currently huddled in a blanket typing on the computer and enduring a cold headache with a little heater going full blast next to me. Apparently, apartments in Sydney do NOT come equipped with “air conditioning.” That means no a/c, but listen to this, you Americans; it ALSO means no heating. Yeeeeah…

Today I will try to get a cell phone (a "mobile", pronounced with an i like “ice") and get some things straightened out with the university. Haven't seen any snakes or sharks yet thank god(or wallabies, or kangaroos, flying foxes, dingos, echidnas, koalas, or Mel Gibson, who is in disgrace anyway (aren’t you glad I didn’t say Hugh?)). HAVE seen the Australian zoo’s new baby elephant, who is all over the telly, they are very proud of him; also have seen large signs advertising "don't run over the bandicoots."

WARNING FASHION SNIPING AHEAD all the women here seem to wear short skirts, lots of makeup, and shiny leather boots (we have a word for this in America, “trampy.” I mean that in the kindest possible sense because it’s true). All the young men are either very European or very 80's, or maybe both, wearing high top sneakers and skinny jeans and little puffy jackets. Perhaps it is the jet lag, but I find it hard to respect anyone who wears skinny jeans and a purple shirt with the collar popped.

You know what, if every single person wore a uniform, I think we would all look much better.

The birds here don’t “sing.” They make noises like chainsaws. Flocks of huge white cockatiels divebomb innocent tourists, snatching toast from their very fingers, rapping on windows with their beaks to demand food. Mynah birds, lorikeets, and another of those dying-man-crows compete to see who can wake up the humans the earliest. I, of course, am already awake thanks to the miracles of crossing the International Date Line. Cheers for now!