Settling In (joel)

So I finally made it! After 2 flights, 5 movies and maybe 2 total hours of sleep spread out in 15 minute increments, I made it to Brisbane. Much to my dismay, though, my bike didn't make it at the same time as me... After waiting around for awhile I talked to baggage agents, to arrange a later delivery. Marlene told me that she arranged a shuttle service for me, so while I was waiting and waiting and waiting for my bike to not arrive, I was nervous that the shuttle would give up on me. Little did I know that the 'Shuttle Service' was Marlene meeting me and us catching a cab. I also didn't know that she was also getting very nervous when she saw that my flight landed and I never appeared.... Going through customs was a breeze, which was nice. The Aussies are super friendly (genuinely). The flight was long, the airplane was hot, and I hardly slept. At least I got caught up on movies...

My first day in Brisbane went pretty well. It's a weird feeling. Weird weird weird. You land, exhausted, awake for 30 hours (or whatever). Everyone around you is enjoying Sunday morning, but you are still trying to finish Friday night. An entire day is gone. When we got to the apartment Marlene said, "do you want a beer?" "Sure" I responded. It felt completely normal, then I looked at the clock and realized it was 9 am... After that we went for breakfast. You're whole body is in a weird time warp thanks to the International Date Line. I managed to stay awake until about 7pm. Marlene gave me a good tour of the city. It's a great place, very walkable, lots of trees, birds, water, etc.

Second day went well too. I did a lot of walking around town, checking out outdoor gear shops, bouldering a little bit at Kangaroo Point, and just generally trying to keep myself busy and awake. I made it to 8pm.

0530 on day 3 and I'm out of bed... I spent most of day 3 in the apartment. I watched the Men's Fianl of the US Open. Great match! Worked out in the little gym in our complex, then swam laps in our pool. I also did some cooking. It was nice to just sort of putt around the apartment and get settled in a bit. I made it to 7pm.

0530 on day 4 and I'm out of bed.... Today is farmer's market day! WOO HOO! I walked Marlene to work then went to the Farmers market. Bought all sorts of great stuff and left lots of great looking stuff to buy next time. It's so great. After updating the blog I'll go get in the pool. It's pretty great!

So far I really like Australia. Australians love sport (as they call it). Far more internationally than elsewhere. I get a daily update on the TV of the Vuelta Espana. Across the bottom of the screen they will scroll updates of cyclists who sign to other teams. They seem to keep up with all of the less popular (in N. America) sports (cricket, rugby, footy, tennis, cycling, motorcycle racing, etc, etc). The Australians also don't seem to try to keep the Americans at arms length as much as the Canadians (probably because they aren't constantly being confused as Americans). There are things where Australia seems more similar to the US (i.e. Target, lots of grilled meat, and ads about talking to your doctor about blood pressure medication) and other things were Australia seems more similar to Canada (i.e. colorful money with the Queen plastered all over it) Speaking of money, I have a big problem with the $2 coin being the smallest of all. Who dreamt that up?? It's the size of a dime! Get it together Australia!

Well... That's how I'm going. Cheers. No worries. G'day Mates, etc.