Victoria – The Place To Be

I had trouble with picking out a name for this blog… that’s why it has taken me so long to do one.

Anyway.. Victoria – The Place To Be.
At least that’s what the license plates say..

My flight from Sydney was really delayed. It was suppose to leave at 8, we didn’t board till 8, and then we waited another hour for the LAX passengers to land and make it onto the plane too. At this point, I think anyone would be anxious & frustrated… but me, I was happy I got more Percy Jackson book 5 reading time! I was supposed to get there at 9:40am yesterday, but I arrived around 11:00, not too bad. Got through customs really quick, probably only took about 10 minutes which is super sweet. Everyone here is friendly... even the dog who smelled my bag, he seemed to be suuper excited that I arrived.

I was really happy to get here, even though I still have 70 pages left to read in Percy. Kevin met me right outside customs with a sign that had my name on it! I felt pretty dang special:) Since Vivian (my host mum) wasn’t going to get home from work until about 4:00, we took a little tour of the City (“the City” – with a capital C, is pretty much how we would use the term “downtown” for the city of Cleveland). Something I really noticed about the City was how different the architecture was from building to building & how colorful the buildings are compared to ours! Especially the nab building.. I should get some photos to show you soon. Kevin was explaining to me how the National Australian Bank was beginning to become really old-fashioned and boring, therefore they revamped themselves; built this awesome building in the City & now they are known as “nab.” So now there are areas of glorious technicolor panels all over the building, it’s radtastic!

It started raining half way through the day & after sitting through a lot of slowed down traffic, I finally met my host mum around 4:30. She is soo nice & welcoming. We talked a lot, and that’s an understatement; I still don’t have anything unpacked, and it’s the next day! I learned that they are healthy, this makes me very happy! & Vivian doesn’t eat much meat either, she was a vegetarian for I think she said 40 years, & is just starting to eat it again… Scotty loves meat.. but they only eat free range!! Vivian said she’d teach me about what foods are good in protein to replace meat. & she said she’d teach me all about a vegetarian lifestyle. I met Scotty, Vivian’s husband when he got home from work, he is lovely as well. And after I decided to take a shower, Jamie (host brother) came home, so I met him a little after.

We ate dinner at 7 or so, I was told it is the most Greek meal I will probably ever get. We had chicken soup with rice & lemon; a lot of lemon, and vegetables with a lot of garlic; a lot of garlic. It was very strong tasting and good; I’m not sure if I’ve ever tasted something with that much lemon & garlic before in my life. We set up my computer & I found that I had 40 facebook notifications (I hope this never happens again). Well I meant to get to bed by around 9:00, but then got distracted with talking to Jamie awhile. We found out we have a lot of similar music taste, but a lot of the bands that I listen to are almost mainstream here whereas at home no one even knows they exist! Well I was up till about 10:30, I meant to be asleep by around 9!

I woke up this morning around 9:00, and talked to Ash a little bit before her computer froze. I’ve been TRYING to talk to my mum but Chelsea never told her to get on Skype! Siiiggghhh….. Other than the weekends this is my only free day, because everyone is at work!

I really need to get unpacking then I think I will go on a walk and get used to the neighborhood a bit.



Things I’ve learned on the way:
- Flight attendants are hilarious these days!
- Sydney airport sucks... At least the part I was in... But the workers are soo nice!
- They like to delay there flights for delayed flights… but that’d be pretty awesome if I were to have been on a late flight…

Things I’ve learned in Melbourne so far:
- Pronunciation: Melbourne [mel-bin] – I don’t get it! ...I just figure they must not like r’s.
- Lollies mean candy or sweets.
- I’ve really got to get used to the lingo… it’s a bit hard to communicate otherwise.
- Not all Australians are criminals! Who knew!?
- Everything is really close together.
- The Attorneys for the supreme and county courts still wear gowns & wigs! I saw some on the street, it was awesome.
- Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, & Phoenix are just about mainstream here. I’m glad they have good music taste…
- Coffee is served in glass cups.
- Tropical birds live here.
- Australia is trying to “go green” as Americans like to say it… & their doing really well!
- Toilets have 2 options for flushing – full or half flushes (to save on water).
- Sarcasm is NOT rude :)
- Oh yeah, and the right side of the couch is Scotty’s.

Things that haven’t hit me yet:
- I’ma be here for 3 months!?

<3 Miranda!~