Gone Whaling

I have been a very bad blogger this month. I’m sorry. Prepping new lectures for the courses that I’m co-teaching has taken more time than I thought, primarily because I’m covering the material more deeply than before. Getting home each night, I have been trying to be a good dad and husband until my loved ones fall asleep, and I have slowly put together several shelving units that we bought from Ikea a few weeks ago. We still don’t have any of our things yet…the container ship should have arrived last Thursday, so we’re just waiting for ours to clear customs, which can take 5-15 days.

Our weekends have been very full. The pictures here are from our whale watching trip on Aug 5 with the Clarks. We went on a great cruise put on by the Australia Zoo, which was Steve Irwin’s home. It was a bit surreal on the way out of Mooloolaba to watch videos of Steve from the last series he was working on--called something like “The Ocean’s Deadliest Creatures.” Unfortunately, the sea was choppy that day, and a lot of people were filling up the vomit bags that were readily available. Although we never saw a whale breach the water, we did see several pods of humpbacks during our four hour cruise. Will had a mostly good time, although he was more excited by the water spray than anything else. His mother fared more poorly, but was still happy we went.

This past weekend we went to the Ekka, a sort of state fair for Queensland. It goes on for 9 days, and has a huge mix of livestock competitions, exhibits, scary rides, and “Aussie” food. We tried a Dagwood dog, which I think is just a corndog, downed some “old style” ginger beer, munched fresh strawberries, and licked an ice cream cone together. We took a brief walk through the showbag pavilion. This must be uniquely Australian. Many companies (e.g., Cadbury’s, magazine publishers) throw together bags of goodies from their company and sell them in all sorts of combinations that cost between $2 and $20 at gigantic booths, with hundred of people moving like cattle from booth to booth. V. also watched a sheep shearing demonstration while I was soothing Will after he got some sunblock lotion in his eyes. I really would have liked to watch the butcher show--in which several cuts of meat were to be lectured about--but we had to cut our trip short due to our son’s next fastly approaching crash.

Thanks for being patient with my blogging. And I do plan to reward you with some new pictures very soon. Late last week I received a copy of the new iLife, which has some great features for posting photos on the web. I hope to have it mastered soon, complete with a new way to view our photos…

Some Peace

I haven’t written for nearly a week, mainly because our lives have become much quieter as we continue to settle in. On Sunday we said goodbye to our "old" friends, Patrick, Grass, and Isabella, who had come up from Sydney to visit us for a week. Unfortunately, our home is so inhospitable at the moment that they had to stay in a nearby motel. They moved from London to Sydney back in January. On the last day of their visit we drove up to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast (our second trip since arriving), where the surf, the beach, and the temperatures were simply perfect. Will (who turned 18 months old this week) discovered the wonders of playing with beach sand, but there was the worry that he would throw it in his face, so we had to watch him closely. By the way, this photo of Mooloolaba comes from Trig's flickr page, as I still don't have all our photos properly edited. We head back to Mooloolaba this Sunday, when we go on a whale watch. I promise more of our own pictures then.

I have been spending a lot of my time at work on my first lectures. I am also getting to know my new colleagues, who (surprisingly) represent a wide range of nationalities. My undergrads were just as charming during the second week of lecture, with many coming up to me during the break and after lecture to ask more questions about the material. Another pleasant surprise about Australian university life is the mixture of informality and respect between students and academics. The students are used to addressing their instructors by their first names, and I noticed that my colleagues always introduce themselves to students that way. However, the students are also very polite and appreciative of their instructors, so the informality in no way undermines a sense of faculty “authority.”

We have received word that the big shipment of our belongings arrives in Brisbane a week from today. It could then take between 5 and 14 days in customs before it’s delivered. That's nearly 3 months since it all left our home in May. We are starting to worry about what we are going to do with everything. Our townhouse is about 1100 sq ft., but we’re moving from a house that had about 4800 sq ft! We do have two large verandas, so we may be putting some of our inside furniture on the outside. Yes, I can hear Jeff Foxworthy saying, “You might be a redneck if…” I guess ten years in Atlanta had an effect on me after all.

Oh, and I just have to mention something I posted on another blog. I bravely ordered a chicken quesadilla at a restaurant on campus the other day. When the server brought it to my table, she said something like, “chicken kwehs-a-dill-a, sir?”

Si, muchas gracias!

Scent of the Past

I had an unexpected pleasure this morning as I walked to catch a ferry to work. I was making my way down a rather unremarkable street, when, all of a sudden, I smelled some flower or bush. I don't really know what it was (perhaps it was a wattle), but right then an image from 32 years ago came to mind. I had not experienced that scent since I walked along the Wollundry lagoon in Wagga Wagga to school. The connections between memory and smell are absolutely wonderful.

Rats Laugh When You Tickle Them

I'm going to show this video at lecture in a couple of weeks. I find it mesmerizing.

UPDATE: I found a link to the original research article describing this study, and there's also an interesting NY Times article on laughter.

I did it (twice)

I am no longer a virgin Aussie lecturer. Today, in fact, I did it twice--once at 10 am in front of 250 students, and the second time at noon in front of another 90. And, surprise, surprise…it felt just like giving a lecture back in the States. The students laughed when I made stupid jokes, looked bored when I expected them to be, asked questions and responded to mine, and even started packing up their belongings at the same precise moment (just before the last three words of my lecture). Interestingly, the first student to introduce himself to me was an American undergrad from my old alma mater, USC (the one in Los Angeles), who is doing an honors thesis with a prof I knew well back in my grad school days. By the way, that class with 90+ students is titled Behavioural Neuroscience (like that spelling, my American readers?!). When I asked how many students were taking it because they were interested in neuroscience, nearly everyone raised their hands. Incredible!

At home we are now the proud owners of a Toyota Yaris. Thanks to a comment to this blog by Eric H., I thought we should give Toyota a try before I bought a Honda. And I liked what I saw! Our little car is a brilliant cherry red. Other “middle-aged” men buy a fancy sports car during their mid-life crises, but I decided to go with a nice starter car usually marketed to university students. A couple of cool things about buying a car in Australia--the financing included the option of buying comprehensive insurance from two different independent vendors. The insurance itself was about half the price of what I paid in the U.S. for the same thing, and includes a $400 deductible. In addition, the dealership took care of the registration with the state government (something that doesn’t happen in Georgia, for example). There was no pressure to buy an extended warranty or add options that I wasn’t interested in. And, I got a loan with no problem--me, with absolutely no credit history in Australia.

A few other observations about our new life here: (1) The major television networks spend most of their prime time hours broadcasting U.S. television shows, particularly those involving crime, such as “NCIS,” all three “CIS” shows, “SUV”, “Numbers,” etc. It’s no wonder that many Australians are scared of visiting the U.S., thinking they will be violently attacked as soon as they leave the airport. (2) Batteries are expensive. I bought two packs of two “D” batteries for Will’s music machine, and they were nearly $10 each. (3) The newspapers and television news are terribly sensationalist and biased, except for the ABC (the BBC of Australia), even compared with U.S. media. It doesn’t help that several major news outlets are part of Murdoch’s empire. (4) Some Australians really do say, “G’day, Mate!” It’s happened to me about every other day, and I nearly cracked up each time. (5) Most of the wines we have bought, including the mid-priced ones, have screw-tops instead of corks. And they’re good! (6) Both the private and public school kids wear uniforms, and some look like they’re from a 19th Century costume drama. One high school girl I saw the other day looked like an extra from “A Room With a View.” (7) Paper towels are about half the width of the ones in the U.S. (8) Three-wheeled “prams” (strollers) are all the rage here. We got one ourselves last weekend. (9) The weather forecast is usually focused on the next 24 hours, and maybe not even tomorrow. It’s rare to see anyone talk about the next 5-7 days. Thus, I was surprised to see that it was raining this morning because I hadn’t checked the weather yesterday. (10) And even though I lectured for about 3 hours today in front of a total of 340 students, not one mobile phone went off the entire time. How cool is that?

Campus Tour

Inspired by Lori's request, here are a few pictures that I snapped this morning while I made my way to the office. It turned out to be a graduation day for some parts of the university, so there were many people walking around in caps and gowns. You should be able to click any picture to enlarge it.

This first just shows some of the interesting trees that grow here. Someday soon I hope to be able to identify them.

The building below is the Social Sciences Library, which houses the psychology collection and is just across the street from my building. It's also a good example of the sandstone exterior that is found on several UQ buildings.

This is the Student Union. It includes a pharmacy, a hair salon, a (meat) pie shop, a refectory, a pre-school/nursery, a convenience store (called a lolly shop here), a school supply shop, a noodle stand, a sushi restaurant, and so much more:

There's a series of ponds or lakes behind the Student Union. It's a great place to eat lunch:

This is one of many cafés on campus. That's the co-op bookstore next to it.
Here's a little news shop, selling all sorts of salacious mags to the students (and staff).

Here's a shot of the Great Court. It's home to a Great coffee shop.
Keep in mind that this is winter and SE Queensland is experiencing its worst drought on record. Imagine how much nicer it would look if a little rain were to fall...

Middle-Aged Man

Yay! We have internet at home! It took several phone calls and a lot of patience, but Telstra finally got our ADSL working this afternoon. I promptly connected our Airport wireless network and Vonage, and both are working fine. That means our U.S. friends can start expecting phone calls very soon, and you can even call us at our old Atlanta number.

Since my last post, we moved into our new home and then headed off to a four-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Coolum at the Sunshine Coast, where I attended a research conference on emotions. This Hyatt is a world-class resort, and it will even be the meeting place for the APEC conference next month (Bush is attending, I think). The beach was fantastic. Kangaroos were jumping around as we walked to breakfast. I saw my first possum. V. had a wonderful one-hour massage. Will spent three hours at Camp Hyatt, and appeared to have lots of fun. Since then, however, our darling boy has not been so happy. He typically wakes up screaming 2-3 times in the middle of the night, and his parents are tired of it. It got so bad at the Hyatt that I had to drive V. and Will home for the final night. It's probably teething problems exacerbated by a cold. We gave him drugs when he went to sleep tonight, so maybe we'll see some improvement.

There's so much more to write about, but finally having home access to the internet means I can resume regular blogging (and read my favorite blogs too), so expect more details very soon. Tonight let me just mention my problems with our rental car. We have had this Mazda sedan for nearly three weeks and it is a great car. I have had no real problems driving on the left side of the road. The problem is with parking. For some reason, Australian parking spaces are narrower than in the U.S., and the rows separating the cars are much, much shorter. This means that parking has become a major headache. I now have several scrapes and a tiny dent in the front and rear bumpers, the result of navigating into spaces next to walls and poles. The rental agency is going to have a major fit when they see it. I need a smaller car! Alas, we plan to buy one later this week. When I went to the Honda dealership today to look at the Jazz (called the Fit in the U.S.), I inquired about whether I would be eligible for any financing (I have no credit history in this country, of course). The salesman used his mobile to call a woman in the business office. He began the call by saying, "I have this middle-aged man who recently moved from the States here..."

I guess I am getting old. But on the inside, I'm still about 24. Really.

Toowong: Home Sweet Home

Yes, we have a new home! Yesterday we received word that our application for a townhouse in Toowong was approved by the owner. We move in next Tuesday. Although the Queenslander in Paddington would have been nice, the location of this townhouse couldn’t be beat. We’ll be just two blocks from Toowong Village Shopping Center, which has a train stop and a CityCat landing nearby (the picture above was taken roughly a block from our new place). What’s more, my drive to work will be 5-10 minutes long. Our plan is to have Will go to a daycare facility two buildings away from where I work, and V. will take either the train or CityCat to work in the City a couple of days a week.

Speaking of V., she met with her new boss at the Mater Children’s Hospital yesterday. She loved the place! She already has her own office, although it will be several weeks before she will be able to work due to licensure issues. V. got a very good feeling about how psychiatry is practised here, and she is really quite happy about the arrangements for her job in particular. She’ll be working about 20 hours/week, and she’ll even be able to see private practice patients sometime in the future. She is really happy about the job.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the company of the Clarks. Ellen, the eldest girl, played in a tennis tournament this week at UQ, so I was able to watch a few of her matches. This afternoon V. is watching Ellen play doubles while I stay at home with a napping Will. This morning we had a long walk along the river from Southbank, across the Goodwill bridge (see picture above), through the Botanic Gardens, and finishing up at Queen Street Mall. We have probably walked more just in the past week than we did in the entire previous six months. And that’s a good thing.

Happy 4th of July!

It's Independence Day back home. We're celebrating in Brisbane tonight with some Apple streudel for dessert (we couldn't find apple pie).

Still no permanent home yet. Landlords here like to have several applications to chose from, so we're waiting a few more days to hear the outcomes of two. We're hoping for a new townhouse in Toowong, or a classic Queenslander in Paddington, the latter being just a two blocks from our friends who are hosting us. We bought Will a new high chair today. The choices at the Baby Galore! store were a bit disappointing, and we had to shell out nearly $200 for one that was far inferior to our old one in the U.S. that we got for $60. We still have so much to buy, including a car, a TV, a DVD player, and some furniture.

For those of you in the States, I hope you enjoy the fireworks and the day off! And, just so it's clear, that's NOT the Australian flag pictured here...just a little political humor (or is it humour?).

First Impressions

As you know, I have been to Australia several times, but here are a few impressions from the perspective of a new resident…

• People are incredibly polite here. Whether it’s a clerk at the shop selling me a cheap pair of sunglasses or the guy taking tickets for the Citycat, people are generally friendlier than I am accustomed to, even compared with those doling out the Southern hospitality in Atlanta.
• The birds provide a completely different soundtrack to your life here, as none seems to have a call that sounds like one back in the U.S.
• Roundabouts really are great for traffic flow, but the double-lane ones that include the ending of a freeway are just downright scary!
• Good ideas about how to do things differently and better are plentiful here. I can’t see why more of them haven’t made their way to the U.S.
• My new workplace is wonderful. My office is huge, my furniture is attractive and ergonomic, and the staff have been amazingly effective in getting me set up. I have never experienced anything like it before.
• Meatpies are a yummy, quick lunch and come in many varieties--including vegetarian!
• Paris Hilton appears on as many magazines here as she does in the U.S. What is it about her that I seem to be overlooking?
• This country is obsessed with sports...and not just as spectators.
• Coffee shops are at every turn. I can’t believe that Starbucks thinks it has a chance in this country (I saw one down at Surfer’s the other day). Of course, it is difficult trying to find a simple cup of coffee that doesn’t come from an espresso roast bean. But on the positive side, the baristas here are great artists. The patterns that they can make with the foam are stunning.
• The time difference between here and the U.S. makes everyone back there seem especially far away. Well, I guess they are.

Breakfast in Paradise

For the last three mornings, Will has woken up between 2 and 4 am. Somehow, our hosts, the Clarks, haven't been too bothered by this, but yesterday we decided to leave the house at 5:30 and drive an hour south to Surfer's Paradise to give them some peace and quiet. We arrived just after sunrise. At first it seemed like we had the place to ourselves, but it turned out that the Gold Coast marathon had just begun. Hundreds of racers ran by while we had breakfast. Will had his second baby "chino," which is an espresso cup filled with a milky froth. We also had omelettes and pancakes. A nice treat here is that pancakes are always served with real maple syrup and ice cream! Then we had a short stroll on the beach before driving back to Brisbane.

Thanks for all the comments and emails. I am hoping that I'll finally get a chance to catch up with my correspondence later today (after I go to work for the first time).

Landing

Another brief entry, due to my being extremely tired and jet lagged…I am writing to you from our friends’ (the Clarks) home in Brisbane. We landed in Australia this morning at 6 am, after a fairly challenging trip. Will gave a long cry as the plane took off from LAX, and he pretty much had to sleep on my chest for most of the trip. We resorted to using Benadryl twice to keep him sleeping. Our real problem was that we had to manage eight checked bags, 4 carry-ons, a stroller, and a car seat (and Will, of course) as we negotiated the check-in procedures, customs arrival, and renting a car this morning. However, it took less than 45 minutes to get through the whole customs process in Brisbane, so we had a chance to drive to South Bank in Brisbane for a nice breakfast before arriving at the Clarks. Victoria and I opened up a checking account at Westpac this afternoon and deposited our traveller’s checks right away. Will is having an excellent time with Ellen (who turned 11 today) and Sally (who’s 8). Their mother, Fiona, is taking great care of us. Tomorrow we will look at some possible apartments/houses to rent. I am already scheduled to meet with my new Head of the school (equivalent to the department chair in the U.S.) on Monday morning at 9:30.

It’s amazing to think that we are now far away from everything (and nearly everyone) we have have know for so many years. But V. and I are both excited and happy. Although it was a bit chilly, Brisbane looked gorgeous in the morning sun when we arrived. We already feel that all the hassle and emotional upheaval we have experienced in the last four months was well worth it.

No Net

I forgot that our internet access would be turned off today, so I am at a Starbucks with this quick missive. I am so tired and stressed that I can't be sentimental about my last night in Atlanta. But I am sure that I will have a big smile when we board the plane tomorrow....

The Empty House

Just a quick post to let you know that we survived our 1000-mile, 8-day journey to middle America. For those of you planning to emigrate, may I suggest that you do not take such a trip just before you leave the country. Here we are at 12:30 early Monday morning, cleaning our basement. We still have a bunch of pesky tasks to do before we board the plane on Tuesday, but I am so stiff from all that driving and so tired that I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep. I am hoping to write more a regular post in 24 hours with some photos from our trip to Arkansas and Oklahoma...

Sleepless in Arkansas

(Don't you think the title of this post would be perfect for the sequel...Imagine, 15 years later, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are living in the same little town in Arkansas, but don't know it. One day, they each drive to the same Walmart in Benton, looking for a small alarm clock. As they reach for the last $3 special on the shelf, their hands touch...)

Yes, we are in Hot Springs Village, where my dad and his wife retired 12 years ago. We are also very tired this morning. Last night Will had a miserable night of tossing and crying, and V. & I paid the price. He hasn't slept nearly enough in the past three days, which is surely the culprit. The lack of normalcy is hardest on him. But what can we do? I drove him around the country roads for nearly two hours yesterday so that he would nap. At 2 am, V. was giving him a bath. We sang every song we could remember--including about ten rounds of "Yellow Submarine" (with all the verses). We haven't experienced anything like this with him in over six months.

For those of you have never visited this part of Arkansas, let me assure you that it is absolutely beautiful. It's full of rolling mountains, dense forests, lakes, and the occasional pasture that seems to pop out of nowhere. Of course, I'm trying to soak up all this American landscape, complete with chigger bites. But I'm also keeping an eye on the Brisbane rental market...

Belly Laugh (an Update)

Just an update to my June 2 post. As of last night (June 15):

1. Get rid of two cars (one is being donated, and one is being sold)
2. Sell three sofas, the kitchen table, two beds, a dresser, a large desk, a coffee table, and some book shelves.
3. Hold a garage sale for all the other smaller items.
4. Sell a deck table and chairs, a BBQ, and another glass table set.
5. Get the carpet cleaned and the hardwood floors polished.
6. Hire painters to paint the kitchen and master bath.
7. Close all accounts and services that we don't need once we leave (and figure out how to pay the ones we still need until the house is sold).
8. Move two aquariums to other homes.
9. Sell some electronics equipment on Craigslist (two TVs, a stereo, VCR, and some old Macs)
   
10. Arrange to ship some things that didn't get taken by the movers.
11. Rent a car (or minivan?).
12. Say goodbye to all our friends.
13. Give one more lecture, and grade 70 papers and 70 final exams (me).
14. Throw away everything left at work (me).
15. See the last patients (V. is doing this all the way until June 15).
16. Take care of our 16-month-old.

More from Arkansas and Oklahoma later...

Save (with) Vonage!

Just a quick post to praise Vonage, a VoIP service available here in the U.S. I have been using their services for the past year, cutting our phone bills by 70% (at least), and not missing the old BellSouth service at all. However, when I called to cancel the service yesterday, I learned a real cool thing--we can keep using Vonage in Australia. That's right...for the same $24.99/month that we have been paying here, we will still have our old Atlanta-based phone number that people can call from the States, and from which we can make free calls to the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and a few other places. All that's required is that we take our Vonage modem with us and connect to it our new high-speed internet service in Oz. We will still need to add local service in Australia, of course, but this should greatly reduce the burden of long distance calling for our friends and family, as well as us. The only problem is that we will need to remember to turn off the phone when we go to bed to avoid having solicitors and others calling our Atlanta number in the middle of a Brisbane night.

Now, let's just hope Vonage stays in business.

A Sale in Our Garage and then Goodbye

As I write this, I am watching Keira Knightley's version of "Pride and Prejudice" on cable for the fourth time in the past three months. Yes, I am strangely obsessed by this beautiful film, perhaps because of the rich details in the set design, the story (I have never read the novel), the gorgeous cast, the dialogue, and most definitely the music. Anyway, that's not really the subject of this post, but having it play in the background provides me some comfort as I reflect on the momentous 96 hours that have just passed.

First, in a span of about five hours on Thursday, we got rid of our two cars and rented a minivan.

Then, on Friday and Saturday, we held the mother of all garage sales. It was my very first as the seller. I had absolutely no idea how much people really haggle over prices, and therefore became the hapless victim of that segment of the population that never pays "full price" for anything. As V. and I ran around in 90 degree temps, attending to Will whenever he wasn't napping, we had to deal with stubborn customers who had the nerve to ask to have a dollar taken off an item already marked down to $2. I was exhausted from continually moving things from the basement to the garage to display during the sale. One woman bought all of our plants in one fell swoop. A family that relocated to Atlanta after their house was destroyed by Katrina in New Orleans bought our patio furniture. A cute young couple bought our bedroom set. One guy was only interested in whether I had some old 35mm camera equipment in the basement (and I did!). I heard at least seven languages spoken over the course of two days (the cultural diversity in Atlanta always surprises me). In the end, we made a tidy profit, but we will need to make a couple of trips to the local Goodwill to rid ourselves of those things that just wouldn't sell.

On Saturday night we had a much more enjoyable time attending a party in our honor. Thirty-two of our closest friends (including one who flew in from NYC) threw us a wonderful goodbye party at Donna's house. A few of these friends were people I met when I first came to Atlanta in '96, whereas a few others we had gotten to know just in the past year. Several of V's friends came as well, which caused the room to nearly burst with psychologists and psychiatrists. There were some teary farewell speeches and some very nice gifts (including a Visa card to buy furniture once we get to Brisbane!). I am pleased with my new mousepad, made up of several of my work colleagues who got together and posed for a group portrait after a faculty meeting a few weeks ago.

The group picture on the left was taken mid-party (before Tracie's margaritas had their full effect!). Let me be clear. These people really are true-blue, honest-to-goodness friends, and we are going to miss them terribly.

Driving home last night at 1 am, I wasn't in much of mood to talk about it all with V. The six hours at the party flew by so quickly...just like our wedding. The idea that our life here is nearly over still hasn't sunk in. I'll see a few of these people later this week for some more goodbyes, but it it is time to accept reality...we ARE moving to AUSTRALIA! (Damn, what was I thinking?!)

Hola, Hello, and "Hey"

In the past few days I have been getting several hits to this blog from Chile, Argentina, and England. So, I thought I would offer a special welcome to you ships that pass in the night, before you going clicking away to some other more fantastic blog.

For the more "regular" readers, the garage sale netted us over $1000...pretty good, huh? And we nearly have everything finished on our checklist (take that, Audra!). I promise a more regular post (with pictures) tomorrow, the day I finish my 44th trip around the sun.

Check, Check

I think we have successfully completed two of the items on the checklist I posted two days ago. Three more should be taken care of by Wednesday.

We fly away from Atlanta three weeks from tomorrow.

All three of us are very tired right now.