Our First Week

In one week; Julie and I managed to get new mobile phones, open a bank account, rent AND furnish an apartment, attend a footy, and find our way around a new city. Absolutely none of this would be possible without the time, effort, and patience of Mick and Paula Saddler. Words cannot express my gratitude for all of their help so far.

A few hours removed from the plane ride, I was in the Telstra store trying to acquire a new iPhone. We were caught in a Catch-22 where they didn’t want to give us a phone until we had an Australian bank account, but we couldn’t get an Australian bank account without a phone. After a few minutes, Mick graciously stepped up and put me on his business account. I started laughing and saying that he vouched for me which led to Mick and I watching “Rounders” on Saturday night. It was my twentieth or so time watching the movie, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how Mick has pretty much been vouching for me since I got here. I promise to be more responsible than Worm (Ed Norton’s character) in the movie, but it means a lot to have someone willing to help us out like that.

There are so many crazy thoughts and impressions from the first week, I don’t know where to start. Julie and I have settled into Port Melbourne. We can walk easily to the beach, there are shops all around us, and we have easy access to the city. The area reminds both of us of Hermosa Beach. As we were checking out the area and trying to find a place, I realized that there was government housing right next to homes going for a king’s ransom. I was absolutely shocked that such prime real estate would be used and given free of charge to citizens who would otherwise be homeless.

I pointed out all of this to Julie and she responded with, “It’s not that I disagree with you, but take a look at how we treat our homeless. That’s not working either.” Fair point, Julie, fair point. I will go back to observing and not judging. Maybe the Australians are onto something and ensuring that there is a bare minimum that will be provided establishes a better society. I still think I will wind up resenting paying rent knowing that people are living a block away from me for free.

Next random thought... Now I’m the one with the accent. I’ve been picking on Mick for years, but now I’m hearing my accent through their ears. Paula recounted how, two years ago, I met a then three year old Lexie for the first time. For no particular reason, I began to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to her.

Paula was horrified when, after I left, Lexie was singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and pronouncing star with an American accent. To the Australians, every time we say a word that has a sound like “are” in it, we sound like pirates saying, “Arg!” Paula reprimanded her child reminding her that she is an Australian and it’s “Twinkle, Twinkle Little st-ah” NOT “star!”

Public transportation... I haven’t been in a city that has public transportation since leaving Chicago sixteen years ago. We have gone all over the city and the suburbs quickly and easily hopping on trams. They run continuously from early morning until late at night. It’s absolutely amazing and I have no issue with going down to one car and relying heavily on public transportation to get around.

My last thought of the evening as it’s getting late and Julie will be leaving tomorrow... Mick was kind enough to get us tickets to a “footy” or Australian Rules Football game. I tried to read about it before going to the event, but gave up thinking I would figure it out when I was able to see it in person. I was blown away by the size of Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It’s almost twice the size of Qwest Field capable of seating 110,000 people!

The game was easy enough to figure out. In the interest of brevity, my impression was it was a little bit like full contact soccer. I will definitely be going again in the future and enjoyed the heck out of the game and the atmosphere. The people in attendance were passionate about the sport, but not dicks like soccer fans in the UK or other spots in the world. I saw plenty of families with young children, all having a great time and I can’t wait to bring Carson and Zoe to a game.

The game turned into a blowout rather quickly with the Carlton Blues smoking the Melbourne Demons. The funniest part was that periodically, an ad was shown on the jumbotron with the current odds and a way to wager on the game via mobile phone. I expressed my shock and disbelief to Mick that I could place a bet right from my seat. His response?

“Don’t people bet on football in the States?”

Me, “Yeah, of course, but you could never advertise it in a stadium so brazenly like that!”

Mick, “Why not?”

Me, “I don’t know... Everyone gambles on the NFL. Fantasy football is all about gambling, but the NFL likes to deny that it ever takes place.”

Mick, “Why?”

I DON’T KNOW! Seriously, I don’t. Everyone gambles on the NFL and everyone pretends like it doesn’t happen. Why not advertise the current odds during the game? Allow betting and tax it. They do it here and it hasn’t led to anarchy. I plan to do some more blogging in the future as I settle in a bit...