Meeting People & Expos

So far so good with the new apartment! My roommate is really great and I have a good feeling it will all work out. I also got to use the complex’s small gym room yesterday. I got blisters from the row machine, and did it feel good!

Last night the water ladies and I went out to the West End to get some good food at a popular Greek restaurant. And ice cream at BaskinRobbins. We walked off all of the calories in an after-meal stroll through South Bank, talking about our lives and our loves.

I know what you might be thinking. You’re probably still stuck on “Baskin Robbins”, wondering how Kim has sunk so low in her life. After all, Baskin Robbins in the US is kind of an old, run-down shop for your kids, like Dairy Queen, right? Well, this ice cream shop did not maintain the same stereotype – it looked cool and hip, and fresh. Clean. And very tasty.

The same thing could be said for Kmart. In the US, Kmart is in its winter and wearily trudges on in whatever stores have survived. Here? It’s the place to go! It is something like a cross between a fancy pants Target (they have that here, too) and Bed, Bath & Beyond (here’s Bed, Bath & Table). There are many Kmarts in Brisbane, and they’re all clean and fashionable. I have pulled many good-quality things from their shelves for my apartment.

It’s almost as if whatever corporate setbacks and denouements companies face in the US market, Australia hasn't quite gotten the memo.

Moving on.  When we called it a night and I ventured home. Going back to my new place on a new bus route, I got a bit confused once I got dropped off on the main highway near my place. I needed to cross the street somehow, as the sidewalk I was on was blocked off in the direction I was headed. Also, the closest crosswalk was a good walk away. No big deal right? I could just jaywalk.

Wrong!

Jaywalking is a no-no here, and is definitely not work the $200+ fine you accrue with that blunder. In fact, it’s surprising just how many things are eligible for hefty fines in Brisbane. I’m sure I’ll elaborate on that in another future post.

I looked around helplessly, contemplating how I could get across the street with my blistered feet in the not-so-helpful Crocs (buying these now seem like a mistake). I saw two guys loitering a few meters away from me, so I went over to ask them for their advice about how to get to the other side.

They were both very helpful and chatted with me for quite a while. We joked and got to know each other. One is a PhD student at UQ in sustainability with photosynthesis (kids these days) and the other is doing something in graphic design. They were very interested in my being here, and other details about my life.

Out of the blue one of them asked me if I sang, and if I did, would I be interested in joining a chorus while I’m here. This startled me a bit, as I had just been contemplating how I would be able to join a chorus while studying. (I find that joining choruses while an international student helps me better integrate in the culture, and lets me keep up a hobby I enjoy  - and have been missing for years.) So we exchanged details and I’m going to look into that. After emails were shared, the same guy invited me to go ice skating with them and others the next day. Excuse me? I don’t know, ice skating is definitely not a pastime I envisaged to exist here. Ever. It’s just so tropical and warm!

Something else I can’t figure out quite yet is how to discern whether an Australian guy is being friendly or flirting with me. The border between flirty and friendly here is much different than my past experiences. There have been a few isolated incidents during these two weeks where guys have invited me to some events, much to my surprise and hesitation. My experience has indicated that when guys you have only just met invite you to join them on some gallivant, it implies a date. But here, the agenda seems mostly platonic and friendly. Like they’re just wanting to make a friend and help me get more comfortable in my new environment. Like it is just really easy to make friends and talk to Aussies.

But this guy? I have a hunch he was perhaps onto something else. I mentioned afterwards something about someone in New England, and I think I saw his face deflate a bit. Maybe it was just me, though.

I ended up breaking the law and jaywalking, if you must know.

This morning I woke up and met with the ladies again to explore a big travel expo at the conference center. It was overwhelming, with swarms of people and lots of people shoving flyers in my face for visiting Los Angeles and London (for only $1500!). We learned a lot about places we should definitely visit while in Australia…but honestly we didn't a lot. The expo was mostly for people who were able to afford big-time trip on the spot. People seemed to have had already planned their trips and were waiting (with their cash in pockets) for months for this expo so they could save a couple of bucks. Another observation was that most of the booths (and the most popular booths) were for cruises and tour group-led trips. I guess Aussies really like that kind of travel. Me – not so much.

Interestingly, there was a smaller, much quieter expo happening in a space right next to this massive one, called the Bucket ListExpo. It had more interesting travel booths to enjoy, such as Lonely Planet, (which wasn’t in the travel expo next door…why that was the case or made sense to anyone is beyond me). We ended up spending more time in the smaller expo and enjoying lunch in the Sultanate of Oman’s booth - they had built a Bedouin tent with cheap Omani lunch options in the corner. I had muqluba (while sitting on a bunch of colorful pillows), which was scrumptious.

Even though everything is going well here and I am making friends and enjoying the (mostly) gorgeous weather, I got homesick today while shopping for cooking oils in Toowong Village. I may have left behind a few tears on the clean carpeting. Nothing major has happened to really spark my sadness. The culture shock here is modest at most and everything so far has gone mostly without a hitch. That said, there are still things that I am missing. Especially people. Like this one person in New England. It can be hard to live your dreams, when you feel they’re in more than one part of the world.