Love the Australian Accent!

It has been a couple of weeks since the last post, and thus well past time for another update. As of late I have realized that you are what ultimately matters in all of this. No matter how many places we go, or how many new people we meet, you are the ones who are at home supporting us, and patiently awaiting our arrival. And let me assure you, that in that time there will be much joy and celebration!
To be honest, I have gotten a bit backlogged with the Hawaii post, simply because the experience in total was so rich and chock-full, and I don’t want you to miss out on any of it! Thus now I want to give you a brief overview on what is happening in Australia, and the Hawaii post will come when it is ready.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Andy and Lindsey were gracious enough to rise at the crack of dawn in order to take us to the Honolulu Airport. It was not without some measure of trepidation that we completed the standard flying procedures and made our last phone calls to the mainland. We did not know what exactly we were getting ourselves into, but we had a plan.

The plane took off without incident, and then a 16 hour flight filled with watching movies with no headphones, bothered reading, and intermittent sleeping. It was a bit long. However when we landed at Sydney and whizzed through customs, I knew that we were going to be alright! I had even ripped my customs form, but they still took it! Aussies were amazing from the first customs official I met in country. From there several people initiated conversation both on the transfer bus and in the terminal, assuring us that we would find work and would enjoy our time in Melbourne. Four hours laid over, we sat down to write and journal, and then realized that without a watch or cell phone, we had no idea what time it was. Needless to say that we had crossed several time zones and had only a vague idea of what day it was. Eventually we decided to wander down to our terminal, and it was there that the flight attendant practically yelled at us – “Final call for boarding!” – we had barely made it!

A short jump flight later we made it to Melbourne, collected our $80.00 checked bag without incident, and proceeded to find an ATM and something to drink. Now this next story needs a preface. When I first arrived to Lima, Peru, I took what I considered a courageous step and ventured out to buy a newspaper one fine morning. It was not until I returned, bearing my 8 sol (Peruvian currency) newspaper, that I realized that the edition was one week old, and the exchange rate – 3 sol = $1USD. Thus I had spent roughly $2.60 for a week-old paper. Thus it was with some measure of skepticism that I realized that the man at the store had charged us $5AU for a bottle of Coke. It was really good – real sugar instead of corn syrup – but not good enough to cost that much. So I went back and demanded a refund of the overpaid money, which I received. Only later did I realize how much the prices are inflated in Oz, and given the fact that I had purchased the drinks in the airport, the prices were probably correct. The shopman did mention that he was giving me the “employee discount” when he refunded me some money. Oh well!

The bus ride from the airport to Kings Cross Station went without incident, and then we found ourselves in a bind. We did not know north from south, today from yesterday, had no watch, no map, but luckily the Aussies are inordinately helpful, and one pointed us in the right direction. What seemed like an hour walk later, we arrived to Melbourne International Backpackers’ Hostel, only to find that the checkin was closed. Luckily it was to open an hour later and so we went to a restaurant next door and sat down to some wonderful kebab Arabic food. The owner showed us some real hospitality, and afterwards pointed us in the right direction toward Corkman Irish Pub, the hostel we hoped to stay in for the rest of the week. His directions were perfect, but that did not stop us from getting completely lost the following day. Nonetheless, we finished our food, checked into the first hostel (Corkman would not check us in past 8pm, and it was already 11pm). We found our room and settled in to the six bed place, used the internet to inform everyone we were safe, and only then did we realize that we had completely lost Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010. According to my PC it was already 1am the morning of Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010, and so it was that we lost a day of our lives that we will never get back. Within a couple hours of learning this however, two Englishmen returned to remind us that we were still very much alive. One repeatedly said “Good night Americans,” and would chant, “U-S-A, U-S-A” until he finally passed out. Oh what a night!

Thursday, November 4, 2010
We awoke fairly early as we had to be out of the hostel by 11am. With everything on our backs and still suffering from jetlag, we began our voyage. It carried us all over Northern Melbourne, but never to the hostel that was literally a 5 min walk from where we started. Eventually we found out, found the Corkman to be pleasant, and signed on and paid for a week. It is a hostel with three bedrooms of 10 or so beds each, with a kitchen, small common/TV room, laundry room, and three communal bathrooms. The pub below offers specials to those who stay in the hostel, including free dinner to those that pay a week up front. We haven’t claimed this yet, and I am very much looking forward to it!

We initially purchased an electric converter for the Australian/New Zealand outlets, a watch, some spray deodorant, and some gum at a place called “The Big W” a subsidiary of “Woolworth’s.” You may have heard of it. In fact a good number of the places from the states seem to have a corollary here. Burger King has become “Hungry Jack’s” although McDonald’s is the same name as always.
So anyway, we spent the rest of the day seeking out the State Library and the Global Gossip Center where we used up the rest of our internet from the night before. Internet over here is definitely not as readily accessible as in the States due to the fact that every place charges per minute rates. I find that I kind of like it though, because my access is then limited, and I feel obligated to finish what I am doing, get off, and do something else.

We then proceeded to buy groceries at Aldi, which is the same here as it is anywhere else, except that I could not find salsa and tortillas. Now there is rice and lo mein noodles everywhere, but the Hispanic population here is notably small. Nonetheless, we have the found the food overall to be very good. Did not take long after this to prepare a quick dinner back at the hostel and hit the sack.

Friday, November 5, 2010
So began our job search. The State Library of Melbourne is one of few places that offers free wireless internet, so we checked it out and were able to find some job possibilities on a site called gumtree.com. Yes, this is where everyone finds everything in Australia it seems, and so we did find quite a bit of good things right off the bat. We also updated our CVs and sent off some emails to various places. We have not looked into the postal service yet, so be patient with us if we have promised you a postcard. Everything in its proper time! ;)
We spent most of our day there, though in the afternoon our new friend Ian accompanied us to the phone store, where we purchased our first foreign cell phone. $30 for the phone, and $30 for a month’s worth of prepaid service. I really like the way that phones work over here, and that they are often times transferrable from one country to the next.

We then wandered the city, searching shop windows for job ads, and finding a few. Ian dropped a few resumes, but we did not, as we did not have any printed. Later we returned to the Library and printed some, then made a fruitless journey to turn them in, though we did find a café that was in need of some help and applied there.
Returning to the hostel, we ate, chatted with the folks there present, and then headed off to bed.

Saturday, November 6, 2010
The big day. Heading to the State Library once again, I saw an ad for “The Coffee Place” and called. Wayne picked up almost immediately and invited me to come in for an interview on Sunday morning at 11am. “No problem,” I said, shell-shocked at the prospect of landing a job in a foreign country.
So the rest of the day became a game. We returned to the hostel, got some late lunch, then proceeded to experiment with the 5-month-old bikeshare system now installed here in Melbourne. It worked splendidly! Essentially, you dip your credit card and receive codes for up to 2 bikes, that you then type in to the console securing each bike, and pull the bike out. You then have 30 min to make it to another station and check the bike in, or extend for another 15 min to reach another station. As long as you only spend 30 min between each station, you only have to pay the daily fee of $2.50. This fee allows you to check out a bike as many times as you want from any console throughout the city. So we would frequently bike from one station to another, more scenic station, drop the bike, then walk through a tourist area to find a third station elsewhere, pick up a bike and continue from there. Only when a police officer informed us that it would be a $140 fine if we were caught biking without a helmet did we decide to spring for the $5 helmets at 7-Eleven (the exchange rate at this point is roughly $1USD = $1.02 AU, so essentially the same, although the purchasing power of the Aussie dollar is generally a bit lower).

The low price of the helmets was a nice surprise, and we rapidly made our way all around Melbourne, from the Docklands – where a nice Aussie man offered his tripod so that I could take a halfway decent picture of the night skyline – to the Yarra River walkway, to the Australian Center for the Moving Image museum, the city is incredibly beautiful, and I believe that we could not have picked a better place to begin our international portion of the world trip. After arriving here I have no doubt that everything will turn out better than we could have ever hoped!

Sunday, November 7, 2010
11am was the set time for the interview. After a series of confusing twists and turns that I do not want to get into here, we arrived to the place at 12:30pm at last, but Wayne’s smile was just as big as ever, and we walked out with 30 working hours for me the following week, and the promise that something might turn up for Daniel in the following weeks. He was even cool with us working for only 2 months. Toto we are definitely not in Kansas anymore. Any US employer would require that you stay for at least a year. Oh and the wage for a cook in the kitchen - $20AU per hour! We wandered the mall where the place is located, just south of the Essendon Airport, stunned and excited all at once. This is really happening!!!! It is possible!!!

So we returned to Melbourne, ate lunch, and Daniel intensified his own search at the State Library. Nothing as of yet, but we now have apartments on the horizon and many prospects for work for Daniel. We are looking forward to spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas in a foreign country, especially when it appears that we will have work to cover our costs. Plus, we will eventually get out to see some kangaroos, wallabys, and will figure out what a billabong is. I saw one noted on a map in a park today, and look forward to learning that and so much more while here down under! Life is amazing, and the Lord continues to bless us with so much. I cannot thank you all enough for your support in encouraging this journey, for I am finding what I could never have hoped for, but somehow needed in the deepest part of me!
Mass ended the day, and then a good pasta dinner back at the hostel, and we settled in for bed. More to come on our experiences in Australia! Once we get a more steady internet connection the posts will be shorter, but more regular. Love you all!