Babies!

All the birds around here are acting nuts since they are starting their families. I saw the first ducklings today when I walked to La Trobe. Very adorable and I guess worth all the hissing I have received from the local ducks.

I Miss You

Dear Car – I miss you. I really wish you were here. Walking everywhere, while keeping Rob and me trim and fit, is occasionally annoying. Yesterday when Rob was waiting for the bus, in the rain, the it zoomed right past him and didn’t stop. Thank goodness, he was able to catch the tram up to a large bus terminal and catch another bus to school and still get there on time. Today I waited 35 minutes for the tram, one finally came and passed me by. The driver made eye contact with me and waved behind him. There was another tram a few minutes behind, I guess they were trying to catch up. Rude.

 

 

Squawk-atoos

There are a ton of different parrots around here. They are colorful, pretty and extremely loud. Especially the cockatoos. Every morning it sounds like we’re on the Disney Jungle Cruise with the cockatoos screaming and the kookaburras making their monkey-laughing sound. I can’t believe anyone would ever keep them as pets unless they were locked in a sound proof room, and at that point, why even have one?

The Answer: About 22,000,000

Australia is considered to have one of the highest degrees of urban concentration in the world.  Despite the urban concentration, Australia has an average of three people per square kilometre, making it one of the lowest population densities in the world.

It has fewer people than California and Texas, but more than the other states (individually, not combined). It would be like taking the entire population of Texas and spreading it over the continental United States.

It’s called the Never Never for a reason

Tuesday Trivia: August 28

The USA has about 300,000,000 people. What about Australia?

Second First Day of School

Rob had his first day of round two of student teaching today. He said it went OK. For some reason he had a vision of the students at a Catholic school being little angels. Turns out that they are just as rowdy/obnixious/hormonal as any other 14-16 year olds. He is teaching freshman and sophomores again, the same age he had at the last student teaching. I think he was hoping for junior high, but after seeing how wild they were today… I think he’s happy for the older kids.

Turns how that he has to wear a tie every day at school. At the last school he could get away with wearing jeans. I’ve never seen Rob in a tie. He brought a couple to Australia. He’s going to see if he can still remember how to tie one tomorrow…

 

 

Finding Nemo

Before I met Rob I used to hope that someday I would meet someone who liked to travel. I think I hoped a little too hard. We just couldn’t leave Australia without going to the Great Barrier Reef, according to him. Rob was ready to sell his kidneys on the black market to finance it. Fortunately, our very very very generous parents have contributed to the cause and now we can afford it. We’re going as cheaply as possible. We’re flying on the discount airline, Tiger Air and we’re staying in a hostel. All I insisted on was a private bathroom, which we were able to find in a nice beach front hostel. Now we can cook for ourselves and save a bundle. We’re both very excited to see the reef. The only time we could squeeze this last trip in is 2 weeks before we return to the US. But if we return with any leftover money, then we obviously didn’t have enough fun, right?

The Long Commute

Rob and I set off today to find the best way for him to get to his student teaching. His school is in South Morang, and would only be 11 miles away… if he could drive. We first walked down to the train station, caught the train up 2 stops and got on a bus to another train station. Then we walked for 40 minutes before we came to the school. It took almost 2 hours. That is NOT the way to go. Fortunately during our exploration, we discovered that a bus goes, basically, straight there from La Trobe. Much better. We took that way home and it was easy. It will still take Rob an hour+ to get to school, but at least there isn’t a 40 minute walk on each end.

This will be Rob’s first real commute anywhere. Ah, the joys of rush hour traffic.

Australian Cuisine

I can’t say that the food here is that different than in the US. But there are somethings that stand out. Yesterday we ordered pizza. One of the pizzas was the “vegetarian delight.” I asked them to hold the pineapple, because, eww, pineapple with olives, bell pepper, etc? Gross. They forgot. I didn’t bother picking it off and it was actually fine.

A few things seem distinctly Australian.

Kangaroo meat: naturally. I have yet to try it, but they sell it at the grocery store. I just get some before we go. It cooks like beef.

Meat pies: sold all over the place, have dedicated fast food places that are just meat pies. I haven’t had one yet. An American told me that they are disgusting.

Lamb: I love lamb. But now you can get lamb burgers at McDonalds and lamb sausages at Subway. Ick. I’m not ready to try that.

The Wild Weather Continues

We just had a bunch of thunder and pea sized hail. The weather today is just getting stranger. Rob is on his way home from work… hopefully he’s still on the train and not walking in this.

Hey, I’m from Los Angeles, anything that isn’t sun is new and exciting!