September 3, 2001-Happy Labor Day to you all!
(photos:
Walkway to Pacific Fair Shopping Center overlooking Great Dividing Range,
Pacific Fair Shopping Center on Little Tullebudjera River)
The good news is we found the instructions for the air conditioner and it’s also a heater. The other good news is that the weather has warmed up and we didn’t need it last night. We also discovered that our bed isn’t a queen but a double. We were so out of it the first night here we couldn’t tell the difference. We have a king at home, but a double is cozier.
It’s ridiculous that it’s fourteen hours earlier in Akron and fifteen hours earlier in Minneapolis. It’s even sillier that it’s yesterday where you all are. As far as I’m concerned, it’s now. One of these nights/mornings, you might get a call at an inconvenient time.
We had breakfast on the balcony this morning sans kookaburras. They did serenade us, but I think they were next door supervising the construction of building #3 of this complex.
Poor Baby
David had to go to work this morning. Everyone give him a “poor baby.” He looked dejected as he trudged off for his 10 A.M. meeting. They’re eager for his input as far as ritual and organization goes. Reality is setting in for him. Last night he said he needed two sermons for this weekend. He hasn’t even begun to write his High Holiday sermons. I know he’s been thinking about them. He usually organizes mentally then writes.
I’m playing hausfrau. I won’t go into details of my mundane duties, but this place is so small it’s almost fun. After sweeping the balcony, kitchen and hall, I decided that the broom and dustpan looked dingy. I washed them. I think I need to find something else to do. Maybe I’ll wash the inside of the dryer. The entire apartment including bath, kitchen, closets, hall, and balcony are about 648 square feet. I just paced it off. That’s the size of an apartment in Hong Kong with three generations living in it or the size of a 2 ½ car garage in the U.S. Get the picture? It’s adorable and very livable. Prices start at $A 198,000 furnished. That’s $U.S 108,900. It’s new construction in a resort area. Most owners buy a unit and rent it out. All the ads at the realty companies give the sale price and expected income for each house or unit they have for sale. They rent for $U.S. 350/month.
My assignment this morning was to explore the complex and ask questions about rules and regs. I got a copy of the rules that were miniscule considering what condos in Akron have. I can’t hang laundry from the balcony, but I may have my own BBQ grill. I guess they’re more concerned with aesthetics than fire hazards. I found out they have maid service at a reasonable hourly rate. They use their own supplies so I have to weigh the cost of cleaning chemicals against their fees. The apartment comes with a vacuum. Each floor has a garbage chute. It’s outside on a terrace. If you forget your key you’re locked out. The new building (#3) will open the end of September. It will have a gym, sauna, conference room, and indoor pool. This ain’t shabby!
Keeping Healthy
For those of you who are concerned about our safety in the ocean, we were cautioned to swim between the flags on the beach. They move them daily depending on the tides. Beaches are heavily guarded. Despite signs in their language, Japanese tourists regularly ignore the flags and get caught in riptides. There’s frequent inquiry in the course of conversation about whether one group or other of Japanese bodies has yet been found. They don’t have box jellyfish here. Those nasties and the infamous saltwater crocodiles are in the North. There’s no need to worry about sharks. They’ve erected nets to keep them out. Aussies are shocked at how many attacks there are in Florida.
David just walked in from his meeting. He had trouble parking at the temple because every Monday there’s a Weight Watcher’s meeting. He took it as an omen and may succumb. He found out how our health insurance works. We’re covered under visitor’s insurance. That includes major medical, regular medical, drugs, optical, and dental. We pay 15% of anything. They pay 85%. It’s better coverage than we have at home. A doctor visit costs $A32 here. That’s a cost of $A 4.80 for our share. In U.S.$ it’s $2.64. We may get our teeth cleaned and our physicals before we come home. Australian citizens pay nothing. It’s included in their social security deductions. For them, social security isn’t only a pension.
Checking Out the Mall
We went across to the mall to do grocery shopping, get film developed, drop off the one suit that David packed at a dry cleaner and pick up some essentials like beach towels. We ate lunch at the mall and finally had a tasty meal. David had a burrito and, God bless them, they had Tabasco sauce. I had a Greek salad with flavor. At many restaurants here you order at a counter, are given a number to put on your table, and your meal is delivered. While we were ordering we were standing next to the dessert case. I couldn’t believe my eyes. One of the featured dessert items was tri-colored Jello in a parfait dish. It’s another throwback to the ‘50’s.
They have dollar stores here. I cracked my sunglass and needed a cheap pair I could also eventually break. In their dollar stores everything is $2 but with the present exchange rate it’s a dollar to us. I failed to get a bargain there, but later found some for $5 (about $2.50 U.S.). We heard there are three branches of Goldstein’s Bakery at this mall. They have great rye bread and yummy looking Kaiser rolls. We ordered a challah (egg twist bread) for Friday and will inquire about round ones for the high holidays. Goldstein’s won the Great Australian Meat Pie Competition in 1997. They proudly proclaim they have “meat pies and mushy peas.” Mushy peas are just what they sound like and are used as toppings for what we call “meat pot pies.”
The Sport of Grocery Shopping
We finally made our way to Cole’s Supermarket. I’m embarrassed to say we spent two and a half hours there but didn’t buy two and a half hours worth of groceries. It just took that long to go down each aisle, try to recognize what the item was in our language, figure out quantity and prices in grams and kilograms, and make our selection. It really was a foreign experience. For example their capsicum is what we call green pepper. We had a ball. David was on a quest for beef hot dogs. Of course, they’re not called that here. They’re sausages or bangers. There was a huge array of beef, chicken, and veggie bangers. There’s an increasingly large Muslim community here, thus the demand. The selection of other items was sparse. They don’t have near the brand variety or size selection we do. The milk was in bags and not refrigerated although they had a small selection of fresh milk. I may glow in the dark by the time we come home. The produce was pretty unappealing. The fruit wasn’t sprayed and looked organically grown. What we call iceberg lettuce was sold by body parts. Heads included all the leaves as it came from the farm. Lettuce hearts were trimmed heads and what we’re used to. Regular lettuce, unshorn, was $A0.99/head and the hearts were $A1.39. That’s pretty cheap in U.S. dollars. Food cost here in Australian dollars is what we’d pay in U.S. dollars but I’m buying with U.S. dollars so it’s almost half price for me. We checked out with a bill that came to $U.S. 75. That included six boneless-skinless chicken breasts, eight lamb loin chops, four strip steaks, and skirt steak in meat alone. The sliced turkey breast at the deli counter was $A5.49 for ¼ kilo. There are 2½ kilos/pound. There was an independent butcher next door and we got beef ribs for $A5.99/kilo. There was a fruit and veggie store next to that with better looking produce for slightly more, but it still didn’t look like the stuff we’re used to.
We loaded our wobbly cart and headed for the car park. Grocery carts seem to pull left here. I guess it has to do with general traffic patterns.
Driven to Distraction
It was my turn to drive this afternoon. We try to rotate so we can get used to it. I don’t think we’ll ever get used to seeing moving cars with no one sitting on the left side. We also tend to go to the wrong side of the car whether we’re passenger or driver. Sitting in the left seat without a steering wheel in front of me is eerie. We both still tend to look over our right shoulders to back up and end up with our nose pressed to the window. Aussies look over their left. When we’re in the left lane, as we should be, and make a right turn, we both look over our right shoulders to be sure there’s no traffic coming from behind even thought it’s not going to happen. Oncoming traffic would be coming towards us from the front. We tend to “over” look with our heads swiveling from right to left until we’re sure there are no cars within a block of us and no people contemplating getting into their cars within the vicinity. We still have trouble judging the left fender. Why, I don’t know. I have no trouble judging the right at home. We’ve become back seat drivers and we’re grateful. We’re improving. Yesterday I got up to the speed limit once. On the other hand, traffic circles (roundabouts) are no problem. There’s only one way in and all traffic goes in the same direction: backwards. So far these circles have been one lane only. I dread the multi-lane ones like we had to navigate in England.
We decided to walk along the beach near our apartment before dinner. It was spectacular. I keep referring to the Pacific Ocean, which it is, but it’s also the Coral Sea. That’s a name from past history classes that evokes thoughts of WWII and Gen. MacArthur. We ended up back in Surfer’s for dinner again and had another good meal. This time we ate at a kebab stand that made great chicken and beef gyros. They advertised they were “hallal,” which is the Arab form of kosher. No worry about pork. We topped it off with Baskin-Robbins and an email to you all.
Toby
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