Muffins, Monkeys and Missed Flights

I tried to order muffins for my job site to help us celebrate International Women's Day, and when I entered my information into the online order form and clicked 'submit', it came back with an error message that read: "We're sorry, but 'Reid' is not a valid first name. Please enter another name, and try again." Mom, Dad...how dare you. This pretty much sums up my experience in Australia. I never know what is going to happen next. One minute, I'm calmly working on my cost control paperwork, and the next minute, I'm ordering dainty muffins for 20 burly construction workers, and I learn that Australia does not recognize 'Reid' as a first name. You gotta love this country.

While I apparently need to change my name, or maybe just make it official and go solely by "The Man", everything else about Australia is going great! I'm making more and more friends (you can only go up from zero!) and getting more involved in the community. Last week, I went to a jazz cafe Tuesday night, bible study Wednesday night, and then played basketball with guys from my church Thursday night! It was a pretty good week.

The week before that, I went to a concert by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Melbourne has a series of free concerts during the summer, and the last one was centered around Australian made, directed and produced music. When I was invited to the concert, I expected a few older people in lawn chairs, a few families on picnics, and some artistic-loving musicians. I was wrong.

This is about 1/8th of the people at the concert.

There were so many people there, it could have been registered as the second largest town in Wyoming. (Which isn't saying much. The local Wal-Mart is the fifth largest city in Wyoming.) It was a gorgeous day for a concert, which started around 7 o'clock, and went until around 10 o'clock.


7 o'clock.



10 o'clock.

The concert was surprisingly entertaining. The second half of the concert was a little slow and boring, but the first half was very exciting, up-tempo and erratic music. I felt very cultured, since I was taking in a cultural event in an entirely different culture. It was a double-shot of culture like none other.

That same week, I made a big move into settling down in my home, and I bought a bike!

It's the same model that Lance used to win his 4th Tour de France.

It may be a tad rough on the eyes, but the little devil is a lot of fun. Well, it was a lot of fun...it has a flat rear tire now. But hey, it still looks goo...well it doesn't look good either. So, basically, I own an ugly bike that doesn't work. I'm living the dream! But before my bike got the flat tire, I had a lot of fun riding around town, checking out the sights and pretending I was Tony Hawk or Shaun White.

During one of my rides around town, I rode down to the Queen Victoria Market and unexpectedly found the Wednesday Night Market. For those of you who don't remember, the Queen Vic Market is a big indoor-outdoor market/farmers market. The Wednesday Night Market is almost exclusively a foreign foods festival, with live music and hundreds of food booths set up around the marketplace. Oh, and it's absolutley packed.

Pictured: 4th largest city in Wyoming.

I had a nice Seafood Paella from the Spanish booth, and then fought my way through the masses so I could watch the Victorian Police Band. They captivate you with their sound, and then arrest you with their cuffs. (That was stupid, I'm sorry I said that.) I was having a pretty good time at the market, and then it got better, when around 50 bikers riding Harley Davidsons rolled in. I felt like pumping my fist and yelling "U-S-A! U-S-A!", because what's more American than a good ol' Harley. The Harleys were like 50 little bits of America rolling down the road.

Get ready for this sweet segway. Harley Davidsons are from Milwaukee, I have a friend from Milwaukee, and she and another friend came to visit me. Boom, segwayed. Justine (from Milwaukee) and Caitlin (from Provo) came up from Tasmania to visit Melbourne over the weekend a few weekends ago. I wanted to show them a good Melburnian time, and so we decided to go to the beach. We got our swim suits, sandwiches and towels and headed to the beautiful St. Kilda beach. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was in the low-70s and very cloudy. Not exactly perfect beach going weather.



Only real beach lovers go to the beach when everyone else is wearing jeans and hoodies.

The next day, we unthawed our toes, shook the frozen sand from our towels, and headed to the Melbourne Zoo. This may sound like deja vu, and you may be thinking, "Wait, wasn't your last post all about going to the zoo?" Yes, you are correct, but my friends are both zoo keepers, and they really wanted to go to the zoo, and I enjoyed it so much that I didn't mind going back!

Reason #1 why I didn't mind going back. Big kitty.

We had a gorgeous day for the zoo, and it was a lot of fun. You know how when you see a movie for the second time, you notice things that you hadn't seen the first go around? That's exactly what it was like the second time I went to the zoo.

It was also nice going to a zoo with two zookeepers, because they got excited about almost every animal. Of course, it's hard not to get excited when you get to see these guys:



The animal version of your typical college male. Sup bro? Just chillin'.

Monkeys. Are. Awesome. One minute, they look like they haven't a care in the world, then the next minute they're playing the most intense game of tag you've ever seen. And it's all so easy for them, too. If I could have a prehensile tail, I would do it in a heart-beat. I also learned that a monkey's wrists are a ball-and-socket joint, so their hands can actually twist around with no problems. Cool, huh! You know else is cool? Staring contests.

Don't blink!

This guy could not get enough of looking at the visitors. He and his friend would swing around the enclosure, then come right back to the glass and give us a good looking at. It made for some very entertaining video and some really funny pictures.


Left: Caitlin. Middle: Justine. Right: What every young boy wants to be.



Can we keep him, Mom? Please?

The zoo was a lot of fun, but it was a long day, so we afterwards we went back to my house and watched 'Scrubs' on TV. And that's where it all went wrong. By coming to Australia, I have been able to check a lot of things off of my bucket list. I've touched a sea turtle, lived in another country and gone scuba diving. And now, I can also scratch off "make someone miss their flight."

Now, it wasn't entirely my fault. A lot of the blame can be placed on the fact that we watched 'Scrubs' for too long. Here's how it went down. Their flight was to leave at 7:20 p.m. We watched 'Scrubs' until about 6 (oops), walked to a tram spot, waited for the tram, took two trams to the bus station, waited for a bus, took a bus to the airport, and then walked to the terminal. Now that I type it all out, I realize that we had almost no shot at making it on time. Nevertheless, we did our best! Unfortunately, our best was five minutes too late. So, $60 later, the girls had changed their flights to the next morning. I tried to win them over by buying them coffee and ice cream, and I think it helped, but they're still not talking to me, so I'm not sure. (Just kidding, they actually handled it really well.) Apart from the initial phsical abuse (girls punch funny), they took it in stride and chalked it up to "a life experience". We managed to get them on their flight the next morning (at 7:50 a.m.) and they got home safely.

This last weekend, I went on a little bit of a trip myself. I went to Wilsons Promontory, which is a huge national park 2.5 hrs east of Melbourne. I'm going to dedicate my next blog entirely to this trip, but for now, I'll leave you with a picture, as sort of a sneak peek.

It was an awesome trip.

I hope everything is going great for you back home. I'd love to hear from you! Cheers!

The Melbourne (M-I-Z) Z-O-U

Australians don't say "bless you" after you sneeze, there is no left turn on red (our version of right on red) and you are required by law to wear a helmet when riding a bike, no matter what. Also, there is no right to bear arms (you must have an extremely exclusive permit to buy a gun), taxes are rolled up into the store prices (so if the sign says $9.90, you pay $9.90), and there's no tipping.

I couldn't think of a good way to start this post, so I'd figure I would lead with that.

Of the things mentioned above, I agree with exactly....one of them. Saying "bless you" is courteous and shows caring, what's wrong with that? Not being able to turn on a red light stalls traffic and makes driving a pain. A bike is a toy...what type of toy comes with safety equipment required by law? ("Here you gonna Johnny, here's your G.I. Joe action figure and Xbox. And here's accessory that will keep you from swallowing the Joe, and special darkened glasses to keep the xbox from burning your eyes out.") Outlawing firearms is boring; what would Southerns do on the weekends if we didn't have firearms? And no tipping is just lazy. Do the mental math and be a giver, it's not hard. The only thing I like from that list is the fact that taxes are rolled up into the prices. It's unimaginably convenient, one of the best things about Australia by far.

Another 'best thing about Australia by far' is the Melbourne Zoo! Last Saturday, I took a spontaneous trip to the Melbourne Zoo. (It wasn't too spontaneous or even that difficult. It's 5 minutes from my house.) I flashed my Student ID, paid the reduced fee and began my tour of Melbourne's finest zoo.

Let's begin with my overall impression of the zoo.

Very. Cool.

As zoos goes, the Melbourne Zoo was definitely enjoyable. I had never been to a zoo by myself before, so it was nice being able to go at my own pace and do my own thing. It was also nice because most of the zoo looked like this:

There could easily be a Puma that escaped from its cage and is waiting to ambush you, and you'd never know it.

The entire zoo was as tropical as it could be; it made for a nice escape from the concrete jungle of the CBD. It took me over three hours to get through the zoo, but it was a great way to spend three hours. It was a gorgeous day, highs in the mid-70s with a light breeze. Everybody at the zoo was enjoying the perfect weather, including this guy.

He sunbathes better than you, and if you think otherwise, I wouldn't tell him to his face.

The lion exhibit was one of my top five favorite exhibits in the zoo. The zoo has four male lions, all brothers. I went by the exhibit twice, once in the late morning and once in the early afternoon. In the morning, the lions were resting (they sleep 20 hours a day) and I took the above picture. In the afternoon, after my camera battery had run out (stupid stupid stupid), I went back to the exhibit to find that it was feeding time. Feeding time makes the lions excited. And excited lions roar. All four of them. Imagine the deepest bass you've heard on a song or in concert. You know, that full, deep, rich sound. Think of that, make it surround sound, crank it up to 100 and multiply by 3. That's the sound coming from one lion when it roars. It's the type of sound that makes your brain go "Well that just can't possibly be coming from that lion, there's just no way." The roar has so much depth and power to it, it makes you wonder how the gazelle don't keel over just from the fear of the roar itself. Lions = impressive.

A lot of the animals at the zoo were impressive, just in a different way than the lion. For example, the Great Tortoise was one of my favorite animals at the zoo. You were able to get pretty close to the Tortoise, and the keeper was there answering questions and keeping the Tortoises lively and active. The Great Tortoise can live to be over 250 years old, and an average sized male weighs about 550 lbs. For all of you thinking what I'm thinking, yes, that is larger than most Australian cars.

You think I'm joking. You have to get a special driver's license to keep one as a pet.

The keeper (seen above, as for a size comparison to the Tortoise) was very helpful with questions, and enticed the Tortoise into actually moving (!) with some carrots. Thanks to her, we were able to see the Tortoise gracefully, skillfully and harmoniously navigate its exhibit.

Just kidding. He may be a looker, but he was definitely not graceful.

There is absolutely no way that a Hare lost to a Tortoise. We need to launch an investigation into the outcome of this event. There had to be insider gambling or steroid usage or something. I'll contact the FBI and get back to you guys on this one.

Moving on, I went by the giraffe exhibit. Little did I know, it was actually a three-for-one special! They kept emus, zebras and giraffes all in the same enclosure. Now, I have known about giraffes since preschool, and I've seen giraffes on multiple occasions at other zoos, but no matter how many times I see them, they are still shockingly tall. And for the first time, I noticed that they are shockingly stout, too. Yes, they have legs that are most likely made out of balsa wood and all you would have to do to escape a giraffe is climb under a desk, but they are surprisingly think through the chest and neck. Oh, and they're tall, too.

It's a "which neck is longer" contest.

Being tall can be very advantageous at times. It helps them reach the tops of trees to feed, and they don't have to worry about not being able to see the screen at the movies. Also, it helps them really connect with their neighbors.

Sup man?

Giraffes are kind of goofy animals, but that's what makes them fun. I also couldn't help but think of Melman from Madagascar, so that made them a lot more interesting, too.

How many animals are in this picture?

I left the giraffes and went to the bird section of the zoo. The zoo had all shapes and sizes of birds, most of which I couldn't care less about, but some were pretty interesting. And before you ask the question, yes I did see a Kookaburra, just not in a gumtree. The zoo had what they called the aviary cage, which at first seemed only halfway cool, but then I realized that I had been walking for about 10 minutes and still was not at the end of the cage.

The aviary cage single-handedly made birds cool.

I finally made it out of the aviary cage, ditched the blue-headed finches that were trying to build a nest in my hair, and went on to the jungle section of the zoo. I tried to take pictures of the walkways, but the walkway was so dark from the extensive tree cover, the pictures kept coming out blurry from lack of light. The jungle walkways really made it feel like you had stepped into the Brazilian rain forest. I kept walking along the dark, cool paths, and then I turned the corner and saw the best animal ever.

Can I get a M - I - Z!! Z - O - U!!

You see how the light shines down on the Tiger, the only light in the entire exhibit? That's because the tiger is God's chosen animal, his supreme animal for all his colleges, er creation.

You can't look at that face and say you wouldn't want to take him home. 

After taking these pictures, the tigers woke up, noticed me, came over and wished me good luck in my travels. They told me to wish the football team good luck as well, gave me a quick chest bump, and then went back to sleep.

Remember when I said that the lions were one of my top five favorite exhibits, and so were the tortoises? Well the tigers are on that list, also. Another animal on that list is the....

Human. Just kidding, it's the elephant.

The zoo had an extremely well done elephant exhibit. They have one male elephant and four female elephants, and even two baby elephants! I think the term 'baby elephant' is a bit of a misnomer, because that's kind of like saying 'a small aircraft carrier'. A baby elephant is still a huge animal! The male elephant, above, was in the barn getting his daily bath. The keeper uses those two orange poles to direct the elephant into standing in certain positions, and doing certain actions, such as lifting his trunk, raising a foot, or lying down. It may sound mediocre, but seeing an animal of this size is awe-inspiring, and then seeing an animal of this size lay down, stay on its hind legs, and do other maneuvers is a whole other matter. The elephant exhibit was my favorite exhibit at the zoo.

I dare you to play Sharks and Minnows with him.

The elephant was definitely my favorite exhibit, and I stayed there for the longest, but it wasn't the only cool animal in the zoo. There were a lot of cool animals, but not many can chill in style as well as...the monkey.

The zenith of chilling. It's an art form for him.

The zoo had a series of exhibits for all of the marsupials, and each exhibit was just as awesome as the next. There's something about monkeys that just make you happy. They just look like they're constantly having fun! I mean seriously, if you could be any animal, the majority of us would choose the monkey. I can almost personally guarantee 75% of males under the age of 12 would choose monkey, and I speak from experience.

Overall, the zoo was an awesome experience. So awesome in fact, that I'm going to do it again! I have friends coming in town this weekend who are working as zoo keepers in Tasmania and they want to go to the zoo, so I'm going back again.

As for the rest of Melbourne, my stay here is going great. Work is really starting to pick up, and the construction is starting to get under way. I'm really enjoying working with my manager and foreman, and I'm learning a lot about project management and how much paperwork depresses people.

Thanks for reading my blog, and I'd love to hear from you! Let me know if you have any questions or anything else. Cheers, mate!

I come from a land down under!

I'm currently in my third week of being in Australia, and second week of being in Melbourne. At this point, I'm starting to get the hang of things and I generally know what to expect from everything.

For instance, I know that when people ask where in America I'm from, and I tell them Missouri, nine out of ten people will give me a "...oh..uh yeah...alright", trying to pretend they've heard of The Show Me state. Normally, I'll then ask "Have you ever heard of Missouri?" and again, nine out of ten people will say "Nope. But I have heard of LA and New York and Chicago." I tell them that Missouri is in the very middle of the country, and Mizzou is in the very middle of Missouri and KU is the entrance to hell.

However, as you may guess, there is no way for me to be prepared for everything, or know what to expect from everything. My next story is a perfect description of the lifestyle here in Australia, and how it was completely unexpected.

My 21st birthday was on the Thursday of last week, February 10th. My manager and foreman wished me a happy birthday, asked me what I was going to do for it, and then we talked about the differences between birthdays in AU and in America. It was all pretty average stuff. The next morning, I was sitting at my desk when my manager got up and left the office. I thought nothing of it, since we're at a construction site and he has to go check on a lot of things. Fifteen minutes later, we walks back into the office and (see picture below) drops this on my desk.

No, your eyes aren't failing you. That's a 6-pack of beer.

My boss gave me a 6-pack of James Squire Golden Ale for my birthday. While we were at work. In the middle of the day. He acted like he was dropping off a box of pens or something, while I acted like he set down a cage of rabid monkeys. Cultural differences, anyone? I laughed and thanked him for it, and we when on with our day.

(P.S. I don't drink alcohol! It's like giving a prime steak to a vegetarian, or an F-350 truck to a tree hugger, or a good outfielder with a strong arm to the Kansas City Royals. They just don't belong together!)

Regardless of the irony of the gift, it was still a pretty good birthday. I walked around downtown, watched a local cricket match, and then went home. That night, I Skyped with my family to celebrate my birthday! It was early in the morning their time, and so they weren't exactly the most lively folk, but it was great seeing/hearing them on my birthday. They had sent me a package, but I wasn't able to pick it up until the next day. So, the next day, we skyped again, and I opened up my birthday package and guess what I found...Tabasco sauce, Purell hand sanitizer and Welch's grape jelly!

Be jealous.

While those may not seem like great birthday presents, let me explain why there are perfect birthday presents. Tabasco Sauce: I have an addiction to tabasco sauce. Unfortunately, there's no 7-step recovery plan, so I think I'm headed for rock bottom as fast as that tasty topping can take me. Purell: I'm going to be travelling a lot, and there are no guarantees that I'll be able to shower or maintain basic hygiene. Purell fixes that problem. Grape jelly: This is a two parter. First, Australia has jam, not jelly, so thanks to my family, I'm now the only person in Australia with jelly. (ha   ha  ha). Second, Australia doesn't have grape jam, either. So, not only is there no jelly, but there's no grape substitute for grape jelly. But now I have it. Beer:....I got nothing. I guess it looks kind of cool?

Speaking of things that look cool...(and no, there won't be another picture of me flexing, although I was tempted.)...I was out walking around downtown and I wandered into a music shop, turned the corner down an aisle and found myself staring straight an angel.

So what, it's not an angel. It's white, majestic and heavenly. Big deal.

That's a picture of a Gretsch White Falcon, which is one of the most iconic guitars ever. Trent Raines, a fraternity brother of mine, almost had a heart attack when he saw this picture. I can't confirm what he said when he saw this picture, but I'm pretty sure it was something like "ooooooohhhh mmmmyyyyy....no way! what?!".  In person, it is so much prettier than in the picture. It was almost glowing, it looked alive. Oh, and it costs $6,000. That's a pretty Australian penny. (Wait, they don't have pennies. So it's a pretty Australian $1 coin. That doesn't sound nearly as nice.) Speaking of money...

If you have read my previous blogs, you know that I have complained about the prices in Australia. Food, clothes, drinks, almost everything is more expensive than in the USA. However, there is one place where the prices are a little bit more friendly for a penny (or Australian $1 coin) pincher like myself. The Queen Victoria Market!



Think of an outdoor Wal-Mart Supercenter. Then double it.

The Queen Victoria Market has everything you could ever want, and then a bunch of stuff that no one would ever want. There are restaurants, botiques, stores, cafes, variety shops. And then, when you step out into the outdoor part of the Market, you can shop for groceries, fresh produce, clothes, accessories, shoes, towels, belts, jackets, luggage. And the best of it all is that it's all fairly reasonably priced. It's just a short tram ride from my house, open weekdays and Saturdays and Sundays. Definitely the place to be if you're looking for deals.

Last saturday was a great day for me. I spend the morning at the Queen Victoria Market, and wandered the aisles until I felt like I had walked all the way to Sydney, then I hopped on a tram and travelled to the National Sports Museum.

This picture is pretty self-explanatory. National Sports Musuem.

The National Sports Museum is housed inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or MCG, or just G (if you're a hip Australian). The MCG is a gigantic stadium with a capacity of 100,00 people. It was the center piece for the Olympics when Melbourne hosted the Olympics in 1956. It was built in 1854, although not on this grand of scale. It also holds the record for tallest light towers in the world, which is oddly random, but still kind of neat.

Look at the size of those towers!

The mini version. They occassionally have ants play full length cricket matches here. 

The National Sports Museum (NSM) is a museum to everything sport in Australia. There are sections for the Olympics, cricket, motorsport, Australian Rules Football, soccer, basketball and many other sports. The museum is dominated by the big three: the Olympics, cricket and Aussie Football. Since I'm an ignorant American, I'm still learning all of the details of both sports and the history behind both games. It was cool to be able to look at the significance of their sports, and begin to learn each sport's history and rules and effect on daily life. The museum was very well done, and gave me a lot of insight to the culture of Australian sport. For instance, I learned a lot about the Australia vs. England rivalry.

Talking smack is nothing new, although this smack is exceptionally grammatically correct.

One of the biggest rivalry matches between Australia and England is a cricket match called The Ashes. It's a series of 7 One Day Test Cricket  matches between Australia and England, and the winner takes home an urn of "ashes". As far as I could tell, the name of the match was taken from the above obituary, which was placed in an English newspaper. That may or may not be true, but it's a pretty sweet story. Australia and England really don't like each other (maybe it's the whole 'colony vs kingdom' thing?), and that is evidenced throughout Australian culture and society.

It's all pretty simple. We don't like you and you don't like us.

Overall, my third week of being an Aussie is going great. I finally found a church that I like, and I can really see myself calling it my church home. I have a friend coming to visit in two weeks and am eagerly looking forward to that. But as of now, I'm enjoying getting to know the city and everyone I meet. I'm enjoying walking around downtown, hanging with my Australian housemates, and taking long naps on the beach. (That last one may sound like I'm joking, but I'm not. Hour long naps on the beach are the best. thing. ever.) Australian is treating me well! I hope everything is good with you back home, and I'd love to hear from you Cheers!

This is your birthday song, it isn't very long. Hey!

Today is my birthday, February 10th, 2011, and I turn 21 years old.

One of my housemates asked me last night, "So have you got anything special planned for the big day?", and I told her, "I'm in Australia, how much more special can it be?" On the 'How cool is the birthday gift?' scale, being in Australia ranks just below going to the moon, but just above hitting a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 7 of the World Series for the Kansas City Royals and beating the New York Yankees.

This is my second week in Melbourne, and it's going just as well if not better than the first. I've had a definite attitude change, though, which has been relieving and very helpful. Last week, I was focused on the fact that I had no friends here, no community and nothing to do, and that was hard to face. But this week, I had the realization that I had nothing to do! That may seem like the same thing that I just said brought me down, but I looked at it in a different light. I had no commitments, no schedule and nowhere to be. I am a free man, with an unusual amount of free time. While that may be a bit lonely at times, and while all that free time may be a bit daunting, it's a pretty good problem to have.  

"So Reid, what do you do with all of that free time?" you ask?

I walk.

"Really? You just walk?"

Yep. I walk, and I sleep.

Source: The little squirrel that snuggled up next to me.

But in all seriousness, I do walk a lot. If you plan on travelling abroad, unless you're going to rent a car (and absolutely no student should have that sort of spare cash lying around), then you best get yourself in walking shape before you leave home. The other day, I walked for two straight hours and covered seven miles. All that walking makes you tired, which is why I sleep a lot. Just this week, I have taken a nap in two parks and one on the beach. The picture below was taken about an hour and a half into my two hour walk. You know the song "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers where they sing "And I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more...". Yeah, I'm calling your bluff on that one.


I proclaim that 7 miles is enough for me, thank you very much.

However, by walking around so much, you do get to see a lot of the city. In my previous blog, I mentioned that the Royal Botanical Garden is one of my favorite places to go. And how did I find the Botanical Garden? By walking there. Boom. 

This kind of view is worth the walk. Except for the guy in the middle there. Get out of my shot, mate!



The Botanical Garden is not only one of the most peaceful places I have ever been, but it is one of the coolest places, as well. Now, some of you might say "Bro, it's a garden. Just go to your backyard and you'll see the same thing."

Oh yeah? Really? You have this in your backyard?

What about this? You got this one, too?

Ladies and Gentleman, I present you with the coolest tree ever, and the coolest gate ever. Or maybe, technically, it's the coolest group of trees ever. Maybe it's a Transformer. I don't know, but it was worth the picture, and once again, worth the walk.

Also worth the walk, but for different reasons.



While seeing this plaque was a bit of a somber moment, it is always good to remember the events of September 11th, 2001 and give a prayer to those affected by it.

Unfortunately, I am can't come up with a suitable segway from the topic of 9/11, so we're just going to blaze on through. Australia and the U.S.A. are fairly similar in many ways. For instance, the man-to-man head nod still applies here (sup dude?), everyone complains about their jobs, and sports are a vital part of society. However, unsurprisingly, there are many things that are different.

This either an Australian's car, or the hubcap of a Hummer. Not sure which.

Cars: Australians are very similar to the Europeans in their views on cars, and the type of cars that they drive. Consider the picture above. If one of my friends bought this car, I would tell him "Dude, you'd better take that back to the dealership right away. They only gave you half the car!", while an Australian would say to his mate, "Sweet as, you bought the full-size sedan!". Another point of difference is in their trucks. The majority of the time, you will see what they call a "Ute".

A Ute. Small name for a small thing.

A Ute is considered a mid-size truck. In America, a Ute could most likely park in the spots reserved for compact cars and coupes. I'm not hating on small trucks, since I myself drive one. I'm merely pointing out the differences in our cultures, and emphasising that America got it right. U S A! U S A!

While we're on the subject of cars, I thought I'd give you a picture of this little gem that is parked down the street from me.

Shipped straight from Woodstock. This look familiar, all of you 40+ readers? 

My neighborhood rocks. And rolls.

You know what else rocks? My job. I am pleased to say that I really do enjoy my job and the two blokes on my job. I am learning a lot about how to run a project, and about how much work it takes to keep the job organized and on time. I have also learned that the coffee shop upstairs makes the best hot chocolate ever. Yum! I am really getting involved with my project; I have been put in charge of creating, organizing and delivering all of the contracts for the subcontractors for my project, as well as track the changes in work, prices and personal that may occur during the project. I have a lot to learn, but my manager and the foreman have been very helpful and have no problem with explaining things to me. We are really starting to get along, which makes work all that much better!

I mean, who wouldn't want to get along with a guy like this?

Looking good, champ!

Overall, I am doing very well here in Melbourne. I'm beginning to make plans for my travels while I'm here in Melbourne, and for my travels for after I'm done working. Also, my family comes to visit in a month, so I'm super excited about that! There's a lot to see, but remember, I have absolutely nothing to do! I hope everything is going well with you back in the States. Feel free to comment on my blog or e-mail me at rmmr2f@mail.missouri.edu, I would love to hear from you. God bless, and safe travels!



P.S. On a side note, this is a sign that I saw in the Royal Botanical Garden. Just a little something to leave you with.

It's a gateway crime. Pretty soon, you'll be holding up the Garden Center at Lowe's trying to score a maple tree.

We both speak English, but they don't speak American.

The other day, I was asked what kind of accent I had, and it felt awesome! I thought about telling the gentleman "What accent?", but I knew that I had to make a good first impression, so I told him "The accent from the best and most powerful country in the world, ya bloke."

Just kidding, I told him I was American, and he kindly wished me luck in my endevours.

So far, my endevours have ranged from the totally wickedly awesome to the fairly typical. Although since I'm in Australia, even the fairly typical is decently wickedly awesome. To prove my point: on Friday the 28th, I went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and touched a sea turtle. Three days later, on Monday the 1st, I went grocery shopping. Boom.

Australian supermarket, inside a mall. Pretty much like an American supermarket, just double the price on everything.

Grocery shopping was pretty normal, aside from the fact that my checkout girl spoke Australian, and I had to carry my groceries half a mile to my house. For those of you that haven't been shopping with me, I a bit of a thrifty fellow (read, cheapskate.), so spending money on groceries was a little hard for me, considering absolutely everything in the store is more expensive than it is in the states. So, I bought the least amount of groceries possible for me to survive. Shockingly, the next day, I realized that I was dying and needed more food. So, I'm going to go out tonight and buy some more food for my tired, weak, starving stomach. (Just a tid bit of info, you know how KMarts don't exist anymore in the States? Yeah, that's cause they all are on holiday in Australia. KMart is the second biggest department store Down Under. Blew my mind.)

My house, at 81 Union Street, Brunswick, Victoria 3056, is about half a mile from the nearest major road, which is Sydney Road. Sydney Road is a decent sized road, lined with shops and restaurants and homes and my grocery store. Also on Sydney Road are trams!



Tram. My personal mode of transportation. And by personal, I mean me and 2 million other people.



Trams are my livelihood. I take them to work, to all attractions, to downtown and everywhere in between. Melbourne sports the worlds largest tram network (source, Wikipedia.). Even though Wikipedia isn't a Noble Prize winning source, I believe it. The tram network stretches far into the nearby suburbs, and covers an extensive part of downtown (what they call the CBD, Central Business District.) It is fairly reliable and relaxing. Although, during my 25 minute commute to work this morning, a car ran into my tram! You see, trams have special traffic laws. They always have the right of way, and some stoplights don't apply to them, while others always do. It sounds complicated, but the Melburnians seem to have it down pretty well. That is, everyone except for this one lady. We went through an intersection, and all of the other 20 cars stopped for the tram, but she kept going and clipped the side of the tram! It made for quite an exciting start to my day.

Also, if you look at the above picture, you may notice the placement of the tram stops. That's right, you have to jaywalk just to get to the tram! Cars are very reasonable, and will generally let you cross to get to a stop, or you can wait for the traffic light to switch and walk with traffic, but still, it makes waiting for your tram fairly adrenaline filled. Cars rush by two feet behind you, and multi-ton trams blur by two feet in front of you.



Walking, bikes, motorcycles, small cars and trams = confusing rush hour traffic.



Above is a very typical picture of the CBD's traffic. Biking is very, very popular in Melbourne, not only as a tool to commute but as a sport, too. Motorcycles and scooters are popular, since they often have special parking spots. And just like in Europe, it's hard to find a car that's bigger than a twin-sized bed. In the States, we have trucks the size of the trams! Rock on, USA.

While I love the USA (I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!), I must admit that Australia may have us beat in the department of city parks. Melbourne has so many extravagant and lush parks, it makes for a cross country runner's dream. I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which were pretty cool. I don't know how many acres it is, but you could easily get very lost in the gardens. I took a video of a brief bit of my walk through the gardens.

The Gardens had plants from all around the world, and everything was in prestine condition. It was one of the most peaceful, calming places I've seen. There was an asphalt track for running or walking, but there were also many dirt paths that took you deeper into the gardens and into the thick of the plants. If you've been looking for a place to have a picnic, look no further. Go ahead and buy the $2,000 plane ticket, take the 3 flights, fly across the Pacific Ocean for 13 hours, and then tram it to the Royal Botanical Gardens, cause it'll be the best picnic of your life.



Totally worth it.



There were a lot of cool plants, with even cooler names. I found a tree called a "Queensland Jack-In-A-Box". I also found a real strange animal, and I was wondering if anyone who reads this could help me out with identifying it. It wasn't in the provided literature, and there were no signs talking about. I took a picture of it, so please look below.



Just kidding. It's me.

Now that's one handsome creature. Although not everything in Australia is handsome. See below, which is a picture of my office.



Luxury.



To be fair, I work at a construction site, so you can't expect much. And while this may look a bit junky, it as actually quite homy (Homey, homie? I don't mean homie like my gangsta brotha, I mean homie like it's comfortable. Whatever.) I work with two other guys, both in their late 20s. My desk is immediately in the foreground, and then next desk, with the laptop, is the desk of the foreman Paul Jacobs, and the last desk with the monitor on top is of the project engineer and my boss Gabriel Faris. Both guys are great and very helpful and totally committed to helping me learn about Australia and learn about engineering/construction. My project is the refurbishment of a 26 story office building. And while my office may not be too glamorous, it only takes me a short walk from my job site to have some pretty dang nice views.



Pretty nice, yea? And that's only half of the CBD!

I took that picture from the bank of the Yarra River, which runs right down the middle of Melbourne. The river walk is a lot fun, with restuarants and shops lining the river, and further down the river, there was about 12 rowing teams! this made me excited, since Joy was on a rowing team when she was in Oxford. I walked along the river for over an hour, and then decided to sit down and enjoy the sunshine for a bit.



Chilling.

I've been in Melbourne for five days now, and it's been going great. I love the sun, and the walks, and all of the sights. God has been good to me and I'm enjoying every minute of His goodness.