Livin' in a Land Down Under

There is no better way to truly understand how far Australia is from the rest of the world than to try to get there from pretty much the exact opposite point on the globe. At about hour 13 of the minimum 20 hour journey, you've completely lost track of the day, time, country, and crying baby count. Every time you stand up you look like a giraffe taking their first steps, only then realizing only one of your feet is awake and you have a crease down the side of your head from the window. But hey, at least that's a sign that my top value skill of plane sleeping remains in tact! By this point I'd watched every romantic comedy available (mostly Hugh Grant classics, no complaints here) and eaten a tray of what I assume to be food but wouldn't be willing to claim that in front of a jury. Except the saltines, of course, which were exceptional. I had already made it past my first flight to Doha, Qatar, where they were quite uncertain about the whole "shots in the water bottles" situation. But, after showing them every paper I had, including my baggage claim receipt (which was in Greek), I was able to make it through the 2 separate security lines and into the plastic human pen to await boarding. It was here that I simultaneously called my mom to ensure her I was alive while also trying to figure out where I was supposed to go once I reached Australia. There was a bit of a communication lag, so when I took off on the last leg of my journey, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do on the other end. But, I figured as long as I didn't have to get behind the wheel of a car on the wrong side of the road right out of the gate, everything would be fine. And, it was! Turned out to be easy - after my 20 hours in the sky finally wrapped, I collected my bags (literally, the first bag and the last bag, how does that even happen?!), found a driver holding my name (I've always wanted to do that!) and was delivered to my new temporary home. There I met Kim, the HR manager for A.G. Coombs who organized my stay. After a quick hello and check-in, she left me in my new room with a 10 lb envelope filled with A.G. Coombs pamphlets, presentations, and schedules. I quickly decided that was a problem for another day as the saltines had worn off hours (days?) before. So, I set out to find the sole restaurant still open in the 8PM-closing-time town of Cheltenham, which was the rotisserie chicken place, The Hot Bird. Funny enough, they had a Greek salad, so I obviously went for that as a newly converted fan, but it turns out that those are much better in Greece. Who would've guessed? 

This is my home. It is nice, basically a long-term hotel room. Also shown is the lip between the bathroom and living room where I’ve destroyed at least 3 toes. It’s bidirectional as well which is a nice feature, ample opportunity for hating your life for a solid 45 seconds:     

My first few days were a combination of walking, eating, and falling asleep at inopportune times. Thank goodness I slid my start date for work back a few days, otherwise I would've been caught taking cat naps around 3PM every day. I couldn't get far without a car, so I mostly stayed on the main road in Cheltenham (there's 1 stoplight if that gives you a sense of size). Here are some of my favorite finds in those first few days:

                               

           Best chips in the world! Confirmed!                          Vanilla sorbet scented Kleenex...?

                           

          $5 shampoo from home faces import costs       Because who else makes it that yellow

I also ventured over to the gigantic mall that is relatively close-by called Southland. I ended up walking quite a few miles one afternoon looking for a sandwich for Kristina as she was getting in late that night, and of the 3 possible grocery stores, I picked the wrong 2 first. Eventually I found a sandwich that she said was good, but it probably helped massively that she ate it at midnight. Anyways, the mall (called a "shopping center", I've been informed several times I'm the only one who says "mall") also had some notable finds:

                           

           Kmart LIVES! And it's great here!                              Why climb when you can glide

                            

        Cinnabon smells the same everywhere                         Better than Crate & Barrel

         

 Kohls vs. Coles - One sells food, you know my vote    Burgers & concrete? Only if I'm cooking

     

    That is what Addy always calls it, but a bit on the nose           An International Icon.

           

                                So close yet so far                                 Clearly haven't been to Denver!

The highlight of those first few days was that A.G. Coombs was having a team outing to see Moulin Rouge in the theater and invited me to join! I had never seen the show before and this version had an amazing combination of old and new music plus fireworks! It was so fun and my first time going into the downtown area of Melbourne.

On our way to the theater this couple was getting married in the alley on bikes!

                 

                  

     

This theater was practically made for this show!

One of the ladies that went to the show, Melissa, was also kind enough to drive me around a bit the next day and show me some of her favorite parts of town. The weather was beautiful so we got to take a nice walk on the beach of a very different body of water than the one from just a few days before. This one was pretty too, but the Antarctic water isn't exactly as inviting as the Ionian Sea. That's okay though, still beats Denver's beaches!

I'm going to try to catch up quickly to today as I realize a month lag isn't very helpful in getting current news from me. Just know that I'm having a wonderful time and am so happy to share with you, so thanks for reading! I love and miss you all, be back soon!