Traedogg Down Under

The “Live and Learn” entries (because i’m sure there will soon be more than one) are going to include important lessons for the foreign traveler in Australia. My first noteworthy “Live and Learn” episode involves Marinara Sauce.

So, after a long day of wine tasting in the Hunter Valley (fun, but I’d be ok with not seeing wine again for a very long time), my roomate Alex and I decided it would be best to get some real food in our system. At arond 700 we wander into a very small, authentic italian resturaunt about 1/2 mile from our house. We order a small order of garlic bread as an appatizer and a small cheese pizza for dinner. After munching on the garlic bread and wishing i had a dipping sauce the whole time, I get this great idea to ask for a side of marinara sauce for the pizza b/c it was thin crust and didn’t have much sauce.

The server kind of looked at me wierd, and so i showed her physically with my hands what “a little dipping sauce” for my pizza would look like. She then nods, goes back to the kitchen, comes back and says…”yes we can do that for you, it will be just one minute while the cook prepares it.” When I heard that, I was like…shit.. the cook is preparing something!!? NO! And low and behold, the server came out with a BOWL (like the size that would have held an entree of spaghetti) full of sauce. And I said to Alex… great… now watch them charge me like $5 bucks for this sauce! I’m definately going to take the leftovers home! So we get a carry out container for the sauce (which was barely touched ofcourse) and ask for the bill. It finally comes… and nope…no $5 dollar charge for the sauce…THEY CHARGED US $7 dollars! I was way to tired to argue, and frankly found the situation just way to hilarious, so I just paid and left (no tip though, but they dont really tip in australia either). So needless to say, I will be using my 7 dollar pasta sauce on my 99 cent, store bought noodles this week! Oh well… YOU LIVE AND LEARN!

Since I’ve posted last, its been a mello few days. Me and the roomates have spent a lot of time with one another, and unfortunately time has been spent on SCHOOL. But, since we decided to forgo the Paddington Markets for the day because 1) we stayed out late last night in downtown Sydney and 2) the budgets are already getting tight after booking a massive spring break trip up the East Coast of Australia, I have time to reflect on a few things I’ve learned since being here. So here goes:

1) No one is EVER on time here. I’m sitting in class wednesday, and being who I am, I show up 10 minutes early for lecture and am not surprised to walk into a completely empty lecture hall. The class is supposed to start at 1:00 and run till 2:00, and after talking with my friend Rachel for 20 minutes, the teacher finally strolls in at 1:15. When she does arrive, she has forgot something that allows her to play a video she wanted to show us, so she leaves and comes back another five minutes later. When she does get back, she cant get the video projector working and it is now 1:35 when she decides to give up and start to lecture. She talked for about 10 minutes, gave the video another attempt, played it for about 5 minutes and let us go at 1:55. So apparently, 1 hour lectures here can be condensed quite nicely into 15 minutes:)

2) LOOK RIGHT! Upon arriving in australia, that is one of the first things you learn as an American. Look right when crossing the street. I realize it doesn’t seem challenging to cross an intersection without getting flattened by an oncoming car, but here, when the cars are driving on the left side, making left hand turns on red, and turning across traffic from the right lane, it gets pretty confusing. Not only that, but instantly people can tell I’m not from the area because on the sidewalk the first few days, I kept walking into people! Here I am minding my own business, walking on the right side of the sidewalk… trying to be polite, yet in a country where everyone walks on the left side of the sidewalk, I found myself running head on into quite a lot of disgruntled australians.

3) “A night out” in Sydney will always be interesting: Last night when the roomates and I decided to go into the city to the bars, we learned very quickly that “The bar scene” in australia is not limited to college students. More then half the bar patrons were men and women between the ages of 40 and 60, that were not just out to sit with friends and have a beer. They were SLOSHED, dancing and (when not in the company of a significant other) hitting on younger women and men! I couldn’t help but thinking of my own parents and grandparents out side by side at the bar with me and my friends. Kinda wierd;) Not only that, but the bus system is an EXTREMELY popular and safe way for the drunks to get back to where they live. .. so needless to say, each bus ride home will have a story of its own I’m sure;)

4) (my personal favorite) GUYS TAKE AEROBIC CLASSES!: I show up for my first class “Body Attack,” (apparently outlawed in the states b/c it is so intense… or so they say;) ) Thurdsay evening with my friend Alex (a girl), and was shocked to see nearly half of the class were men! In my American fitness classes, if a man was anywhere CLOSE to the Aerobics room, he was just scoping out the ladies in spandex. Even more impressive, was that the class required an incredible amount of rhythm and coordination, and these guys were just nailing the routine! I was floored! Although, in all fairness, I do have to add, these “men” were not jocks, BUT STILL!!!!!!!

So there you have it! There are SO many other things I have learned about the culture, but I have rambled on quite enough for one day. (get used to the word “quite” in my vocabularly) They use it quite often here and that is one thing I am really picking up on! Tomorrow my roomates and two of our friends Rachel and Gina are going on the Hunter Valley Wine tour before a long second week of school! Miss everyone at home…keep sending the updates!

Well, its Wednesday in Australia... and supposedly I'm on day three of school, but like most first weeks in college-this week has been a joke. No discussions (tutes) or labs meet this week, only lectures, so I have ... [Continue reading this entry]

The roomates and I decided to "get out there" and explore not only our suburb and surrounding suburbs, but finally the city of SYDNEY! We kept telling ourselves-this is our home for the next five months, but no matter ... [Continue reading this entry]

"Give Way" is what is written on a "Yield" sign in Australia instead of "Yield." It is just one of the many things I have gotten the biggest kick out of since arriving here. Rubbish is one of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Well, My arrival in Australia was quite a "shock", literally, as one of the first things I did after 15 hours of flying was electricute myself trying to plug in a blow dryer in my new place! (excuse my spelling, ... [Continue reading this entry]

... [Continue reading this entry]