The Texans are Invading

Friday Night Drinks were followed by a couple bar hops, one to Bear Brass, just down the promenade from the office and another to Gertrudes in Fitzroy. We were sending off an American who has finished her stint in Australia and is now headed to Honduras to live and work for a while. Another Texan is infiltrating the Melbourne office, and she was out for drinks as well. Sarah, from the URS office in Houston, arrived last week and made it to drinks before actually making it to work. Now she knows how to do it. As I am now living on the “right” side of the river, I scored a ride home since I was on the way.

45 Barkly St

Entrance to the house: 45 Barkly St, Brunswick East. That's my window with the green accent strips.

View from the second floor terrace (and my room below as well) - the tall building on the right is adjacent to the URS office building. Geez, I just can't get away!!!

The kitchen - note the size of the refrigerator - a little different than a U.S. fridge? That's for four people!

The dining room off of the kitchen. There's a bathroom just off to the left of the table. Weird spot? We think so.

Our courtyard in the back. There are beautiful magnolias and juniper now.

Who wouldn't want a glass door on the shower? It's the obvious way to go...

Here's my bedroom with my stellar eBay steal furniture. The IKEA rug is covering a grody stained carpet, but it does it so well. Note the lovely brown showcase in the corner? It's a flame-lit heater. Think it's an old house?

Just in case you had any doubts about the house being old, this is the light fixture in my bedroom.

And who doesn't want folding doors into the living room?? What easy access! Above the doors, is a huge archway with glass braced with wood slats every 30 degrees... which means that any light from the living room, hallway, or kitchen floods my room. Good thing I'm not a light sleeper. It's really no problem for me. Also note the metal shelving which functions as my wardrobe (no closets!).

Here's the living room with our massive ancient kingsmen chairs, and there's my bedroom light in the background. Don't you just love it?

At long last, here are a few pictures of my new digs. I’m settling in well, having spruced the place up a bit since my arrival (yes, believe it!). I’m (mostly) loving my new (wild!!) housemates - things have been very exciting around here, never a dull moment. I’ll save those stories for in person. On a somewhat normal note, we had Thaila Thai take-away and watched several episodes of “Kath & Kym” – we’re halfway through the second season. I am getting so “cultured”. We proceeded to dance to Dan’s new favorite song (Rihanna’s “Umbrella”) on repeat (probably about 20 or more times – no exaggeration – I was going to say 15 times but that seems far too insufficient). Okay, there was wine...

Yarra River

I started walking during lunch with a coworker Mel. Our walks have been a little sporadic as I often get distracted with other lunch outings or shopping ventures. However, with our office situated right on the Yarra River, the views are spectacular, and on a sunny day, the walk is beautiful and invigorating. We're up to about 22 degrees C (72 F) -- spring is on its way!! I'm very much looking forward to the warmth of summer. Can you tell? We do about a 5K loop up and back along the river. The URS office is located adjacent to the tallest building on the left in the top photo, and the second photo is just a funky sculpture along the way. There are tons of sculptures along the river and throughout the city. Come and see them for yourself!!

To Ski or To Board

Clint, Michael, Hanya, and me at dinner on the way to Mt Hotham

Dena, Hanya, Hughie, Alex, Cassie



Friday afternoon around 3 PM I jumped in a Land Cruiser with Hanya (my coworker), her boyfriend Michael, and his cousin Clint. We headed off towards Mt Hotham, approximately a five hour drive from Melbourne and not far from the New South Wales (NSW) border (the state in which Sydney is located). The URS social club organizes a ski trip each year, and there were around 40 of us that made the trek this year. The car trip there was pretty exciting. To set the tone, we stopped five times on a five hour drive (you know I typically stop about once ever five hours on my journeys) - to get drinks, use the toilet (twice within an hour!), get directions, and eat dinner in Bright (the closest town to the mountain). Michael's determination to take the vehicle off-roading did not go unrewarded, we were twice tempted to exhibit road rage behind two different cars with the same license plate (CASPAK), we jammed to the iPod (read group sing-along), and we tore around the Great Alpine Road (a never ending curvy road wrapped around the mountain which takes around 45 minutes to ascend). Around every bend are red poles reminding drivers to "stay to the right of the poles". There are no guard rails to prevent your over the edge plummet to a gruesome death. And to top it off, we were lucky enough to have about 1 meter visibility in dense fog around 9 PM Friday night. We arrived at Kalyna Lodge, where we were booked in bunked rooms of six to eight. There were several lounge areas with a great round fireplace, a giant communal kitchen and eating area, spa, etc. Everyone arrived at various times, starting Friday morning with some not arriving until Saturday morning. It was a relatively tame first night, with everyone anxious to hit the slopes the next day.

Saturday and Sunday both brought PERFECT weather - sunny and warm, ideal for skiing. I grew up skiing in Norway, but my last ski trip was in college (9 years ago). I figured my skiing would be laughable, and I was anxious to try something new so I decided to test my luck with snowboarding. I was melting and stripping down the layers when I was working my tail off in my beginner's lesson! I had the cutest instructor - Ignasi from Barcelona, Spain. Happy, happy. I watched snowboarders injure themselves on the jump course and decided that though my skills were brilliant and up to the challenge, I'd save that for next year. Ya right. I'm glad I tried it but there is no question that I am terrible at it. There's also no question that my cheap $20 snowpants were in fact waterproof. I spent the majority of the time on my butt yet my jeans remained perfectly dry. Amazing! I constantly fell and struggled to get up. I'm feeling the pain. The slopes closed at 4:30 so the evening festivities began relatively early. Taboo, card games, a cozy fireplace, and a few bevvies kept us all toasty warm at the lodge, along with about 20 pizzas ordered from The General, a popular bar/pub just up the road from our lodge. The resort was about 3 km long with multiple buses that cycled the main road to transport skiiers to various slopes and to and from their lodging. The resort was set up so that the lodges and restaurants were mostly at the top of the mountain, so to start skiing, you just jumped on the slopes, rather than typically taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain first. The resort offered other various activities: spa/massages, a helicopter ride to a nearby ski resort (6 minute flight or 2 hour drive), snocce (bocce ball in the snow), cross country skiing, snowshoe walking, and more.

Our car was one of the last to leave Sunday afternoon. Conversation was continuous on the way home, from the most macho to the girliest of subjects. We laughed the whole way. I was also informed of the intricacies of gas vs. petrol (not the same!!) and the obligatory stop at Maccas (pronounced Mackers and an abbreviation for McDonalds). I arrived home around 9:30 PM, happily exhausted from a full weekend.

Making a Name for Americans

I discovered a new route to work, which is by bus. I generally prefer the tram to buses, but this bus takes half as long as the tram (20 minutes vs. 40 minutes) and the stop is much closer to my house. You can't understand what a thrill this discovery was for me. Also thrilling was the opening of a couple spots for the social club's annual ski trip. I swiped a spot and am headed to Mt Hotham on Friday for a weekend getaway. It should be laughable given the 8-9 years it's been since my last ski trip, where I ended up sliding down a steep section on the black trail on my butt, skis in tow.

URS hosted another event Tuesday, the "Glass Ceiling" event for female employees and clients. I was making the rounds before the event, introducing myself to people I hadn't met - both URS and clients. One "client" joined the group I was talking to and I introduced myself and asked her where she was from (what company). She politely said she was the speaker for the evening. Oops. I responded with "I'm American, I plead ignorance". Guess I should have read the invitation a little closer. I probably won't make that mistake again. She was an English teacher turned executive, which was surprising since I think it's far more common to see women leave engineering to go into teaching. She does a lot of world aid work, which I found fascinating. All of these events are made more fun by the canapes (fancy appetizers) and desserts and champagne, wine, and beer provided.

P.S. Still no internet at home. I stayed at work until 9 PM updating this... hopefully by the end of the week!!

Climate Change

Dan called mid-day to see if I would be a color model for his Aveda teaching seminar in the City that started in half an hour. One of their color models cancelled at the last minute. It wasn't the type of color I wanted, so naturally being vain and conceited, I refused to help. Nah, I couldn't make it there soon enough because of work commitments, but another time that would be fun!

Monday night, URS hosted an employee/client event in honor of Engineer's Week, "Climate Change - An Engineer's Perspective". Two of my teammates were unable to make it to the event but knew of a Melbourne Water client who was planning to attend. I happened to be standing by the door and saw him walk in. I immediately extended my hand, said, "Hello, I'm Jen" and started chatting - this poor guy was taken aback a little. I explained that they had told me he was coming and he said yes, he was under the impression that he was being set up on some kind of date. It was a little humorous. The talk was relatively interesting but seemed to lack the engineer's perspective in my opinion - mostly just graphs of what effects are predicted, primarily in the energy and water sectors. The audience really engaged and debated the need to design bridges, buildings, drainage systems, etc. for extrapolated extremes with huge levels of uncertainty versus reasonably sound design. It was interesting to note that the majority of attendees were grey-haired men in suits and ties. Very few women attended the event.

The things I see on the tram!

I had a quiet and relaxing weekend, which was much needed. I was headed toward the city around noon on Saturday, when I saw a girl and guy from work pashing at a tram stop. The guy got on the tram, turned eight shades of purple, and proceeded to chat with me and the guy sitting next to me (who I had never met but happened to be the housemate of the pashing girl). The three of us chatted until we reached the city and went our separate ways. It's a very small world.

I picked up a rental car Saturday afternoon to pick up a TV (another eBay purchase!). I took full advantage of having a car and ran lots of errands, filling my car with loads of home decor and groceries. I assembled clothes racks for my room and cooked a ton, including my favorite chicken wild rice soup (remember that wild rice is not available here so I had to use rice mailed by my parents or purchased by Casey from the USA food store). It never tasted so good!

Sunday night all four of us housemates watched a new episode of "Kath & Kym" in Jade's bed, followed by Nicole Richie's interview on 60 minutes (Nicole and Drew Barrymore are Dan's unexplainable obsessions). Jade riled everyone up convincing us that giant chocolate sundaes were in order. We all piled into her car, drove to the market, and ate Sundays on the floor of the living room while watching "Some Kind of Wonderful" on the new TV. We still don't have a couch - only two huge hundred year old captain chairs and a single sized flattened mattress on the floor. Oh the luxury. We made ourselves pretty comfy with our doonas and ice cream!

YP Mid-Year Social Event

John, Greg, Cassie, Casey, Lukas


can't remember?, Betty, Joel


Duncan, Emily, Haacky

Stephan, Linton

John, Haacky, Linton

Steven

Zoe, Raffa, Steve, Richard, the one guy I didn't talk to?

me, Cassie

The team went to "World" for lunch. The funny thing about this lunch is that it was supposed to be in celebration of Rocco finally getting his massive model to successfully run after months of torment. However, it was anything but enjoyable for Rocco. He regards this restaurant with utter disdain, oozing his disgust for their pizzas made on turkish bread rather than traditional italian pizza dough (Rocco is Italian but raised in Australia). The waiter kept calling all the girls "darling" which was not well received either. An all around GREAT experience.

Friday Night Drinks were followed by the Young Professionals Mid-Year Social Event at Pugg Mahone's Irish bar (same place we had trivia a month or so ago). Drinks and food on URS. I'm really impressed with the perks of this office. I'm on the Young Professionals planning committee now so I'll get a say in the future happenings - woo hoo!! I knew or met most of the people out that night and even made plans to dogsit a 2.5 year old wiemereiner Tia in Port Melbourne (150 m from beach) while my coworker Zoe (who I met that night) goes to Fiji for 10 days in September.

Stakeholder Engagement

I went to the Water and Environmental Engineering Student Industry Night at Melbourne Town Hall. I was representing URS along with a coworker Betty (who ironically lived and worked in Minneapolis for 3 years!!) and Anne (who happens to work in recruiting but I was informed the following day she is married to the office manager - okay, someone could have told me, I had no idea). I saw a couple people there representing other companies who I'd met before - through training. Most importantly, the second speaker was kind of inspiring for me. She presented her path in engineering so far - what she'd done - what she did and didn't like along the way - and how she ended up doing what she does now. Our personalities are similar and I was pretty much in concurrence with everything she said. She now does stakeholder engagement. There are four people in her office that do it full time. It sounds right up my alley - dealing with people all the time!!! I talked to her afterwards for a little bit and got the inside scoop. Something to look into...

I once again saw Heath on the tram on my way home - different tram route and different time of day! So bizarre!!

Dan introduced me to an Australian sit-com "Kath & Kym" that evening. It's a middle class, typical suburban Australian, mother/daughter comedy with perpetual drama and hilarity. Heath and Dan both told me that the reason this show is so funny is because they actually know people "like this". As I watched the program, I felt like it was taking place in our house. Jade, Dan, and Heath ARE "Kath & Kym" - they talk and act just like them!

Posers

Dan, Jade and I met up with their friends Joe and Garth in the city. We started at Pellegrinis Bar for italian food (which may not have been such a great idea because Jade came down with some kind of sickness/food poisoning the next day). We then went onto "The Elephant & Wheelbarrow", a British pub for a few drinks. We continued the festivities at the house, where Joe's brother Tom and friend Pete joined us every so briefly. By the way, Dan and Joe model, sometimes together, and here's one of their recent photos. Maybe that's why they are always posing for the camera - never a candid shot.

Children Collide

I ran into my housemate Heath on the tram on my way home from work. He is on the verge of really making it with his band. He plays bass in a band called Children Collide (http://www.childrencollide.com/) - he's on the left in the photos. They actually played on the radio the next day for "JJJ", a major station throughout Australia. Heath showed me his trickster ways of working the tram. We got off a stop past the closest one so that we could walk through a bustling area with cafes and shops (an ice cream shop in particular) on our way home, rather than the funeral parlor which I had failed to notice.

That night, Dan and Jade introduced me to the Australian show "We Can Be Heroes". I can't tell exactly what it is - some mix between a documentary, reality TV, and a sit com. There a women with one leg shorter than the other who presumes this must make her a stellar "roller" (as in rolling along the grass continuously) and her husband is her formal trainer for competitive rolling events. There's also a guy who is planning to donate one of his ear drums to his deaf twin brother who thinks that it will draw some of the attention away from his disabled brother and increase his own popularity. There's another guy who's a boy schout leader hero who always seems to hurt someone in his training demonstrations, and then there's a guy pretending to be a girl who constantly asks her sorority sisters to tell her who pretty she is and why they think she should be inducted. Australian humour (their spelling)!

Extreme Home Makeover

Narelle left her car in Fitzroy Saturday evening, so I picked it up on my way to South Yarra (where she lives) on Sunday. I am becoming a regular on the whole driving on the wrong side of the street deal. It doesn't even feel weird anymore. I'm a little nervous I won't be able to drive on the "right" side, when I get back to the U.S. We met for brunch at Babble with Michael (her brother).

We then headed out on a mission to spruce up my new (old!!) house. We went to furniture stores, rug stores, organization stores, and beloved IKEA. I take more and more delight each time I visit that monstrosity (can you sense the sarcasm?). The mission was successful, and I picked up rugs, runners, shelves for over the toilet, a great laundry basket, and garbage and recycling bins. Oooh, love that detail, don't you? It was just a few simple things, but it made such a remarkable difference in the house! It's transformed!! Narelle and I laughed all day long, had the best time, and got plenty of glances and funny looks. Of course we also had lots of great conversations with fellow shoppers. You just never know who you're going to meet.

When y'all come to visit, we're going for hoo-hitos at Hoo Haa's. Linton introduced Narelle and I to this gem of a restaurant & bar. Oh wow, are they delicious! A citrus take-off of a mojito, Narelle convinced the bartender to help make hoo-hitos for the upcoming spring leisure party we're planning at her house. Narelle decided that my leisure costume should be an Abba inspired dancing queen, without any knowledge of the Biloxi dancing queen. It must be meant to be!

Still no internet at the new house... if you're writing to my gmail account, I cannot access it right now. It may be a couple weeks before I'm all set up. Good country Australia likes to take their sweet time in these matters. Pictures to come - just have to wait for home internet.

Pixar: 20 Years of Animation

Saturday I headed to Federation Square to see the Pixar Exhibit at ACMI (Australian Center for the Moving Image). Some of you might find this odd as I am not particularly fond of animation. Sacrilegious, I know! I think it may have something to do with me turning off the television and telling everyone to pay attention to me when I was younger. In any case, I went with an open mind, and actually really enjoyed it. I sprung for the audio tour (that came on an iPod!), which I reckon made heaps of difference (that was a very Australian phrase for you). The exhibit showed everything from storyboarding to character development to the use of color and 3D sculptures. They had a 3D film and zoetrope (a rotating base with figures posed in various phases of action which appears to be in constant movement when rotated under a strobe light).

Saturday evening, it was back to Fitzroy for Clea's birthday bash. Clea is a coworker, so there were a few of us from work, as well as many new faces. We started at The Builders Arms Hotel on Gertrude St, but it closed at 1 AM, so we moved onto First Floor on Brunswick St, where we danced until 4:30 AM (they close at 5 AM).

Chlorophyll, tasty!

Friday morning, Daniel persuaded me to drink chlorophyll, a professed energizer and blood cleanser. When he first offered the grass green drink to me the day before, I was beside myself in laughter, thinking only of plants and cleaning agents. It tasted like a subtle minty mouthwash. On my way out the door, he gave me a daisy to put on my desk to make me happy all day. It's a good thing he did because the day was long and trying. Having been assigned an overdue project on Wednesday, I had the pleasure of assuaging an upset client in the midst of my boss's absence and my own lack of drainage expertise. The things I'm learning!!

Friday Night Drinks were followed by Blvd and then a trip to Brunswick St in Fitzroy. I was with a slightly different crowd: Susan, Meegan, Louise, Dave, Steven, Brad, and some of their friends. It's nice because it seems I always fall into something on Friday nights, and not typically with the same people. It's a good way of getting to know people around the office. We hit up Perseverance and Bar One, both places I visited for the first time that night. I called it a fairly early night and headed home around 1 AM.

A Crude Awakening

The Asia Pacific region is launching URS week, an initiative to increase the profile of URS and link staff together in a single purpose. The theme this year is "One Small Step Can Make a World of Difference" - it's about climate change and environmental sustainability. Mike (American) and I were just discussing the energy and environmental consciousness of Australians. He described it really well when he said he used to use three paper towels to dry his hands, but now uses only one, leaves with hands still slightly wet, and feels compelled to save the wet soggy paper towel to blow his nose later. It's amazing how environmentally different the entire culture is. You would not think about not recycling, about leaving something plugged in, or letting the water run superfluously.

The launch to URS week was a movie night to see the film "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" at Nova Cinema in Carlton. Choc tops (infamous chocolate dipped ice cream cones) and popcorn were included. I took Phill as my guest and he summed it up well. It was interesting but a bit like watching the news for three hours. They sure did a great job of bashing the trucks and SUVs of Texas. I took the heat for our entire state. A bunch of us went for tea (supper) at Il Gamrero on Lygon St (Little Italy). I had a yummy pesto gnocchi and the house red. By the way, the house (cheap) shiraz is wonderful in Australia, but my favored pinot noir is not so good here - better in New Zealand I'm told. Tuffy, Robo, and I headed to The Rainbow Hotel (one of their favored pubs, not gay) off Brunswick St in Fitzroy. We met Tuffy's friend Sammy there as well. We heard some good live music - a couple of acoustic guitar blues style singer/songwriters.

Good country, Australia

The morning had a fun start with Jade, Daniel, and I all leaving the house at the same time. Jade drives to work daily and offered to haul Daniel and I to the edge of the city. As tempting as it was to play hookie, we a were good kids and each went off to work. Daniel and I jumped on the tram - he for one stop, and I for a few more. The rides continued throughout the day with a lunch invitation to go to the Tea House on Chapel St (a 10-15 minute drive from the office) for "the best dumplings ever". They were indeed tasty but at $6 per tray of 3 dumplings, we all left hungry! Tuffy returned to the URS office from a two month stint of being loaned out to Melbourne Water in response to a staffing shortage. In celebration, the WISER group headed next door to Blvd for a few welcome back shouts (rounds of drinks). These Australians - they just know how to live. The phrase is actually "Good country, Australia". This phrase was used this morning in response to the very late arrival of a couple coworkers, reflecting the ability to work when you please, etc.

Moving Day

Friday was officially my last night in St Kilda. I left Friday Night Drinks early to pick up an SUV from a coworker Narelle. She lives in South Yarra, one of the richest neighborhoods in Melbourne, and she happens to live next to the co-founder of Two Peas in a Pod. How random is that? This girl knows everyone I am convinced (the Mini Cooper dealer, the Sony retailer, the furniture supplier, the photographer the list goes on and on). She's got connections, and now I have connections!! Anyway, I finally made it home and Phill was sitting on the couch watching Airport. Okay, I cannot even begin to describe the completely lame content of this show. I loathe this show, along with all kinds of other trash TV programs that Phill enjoys, and he knows it. Would I be one to hold back? Certainly not! He begged me to watch it with him on our last night together, so I caved to the pressure and withstood 30 minutes of torture. This program is basically a documentary of air travel gone wrong. It shows people missing their flights, airlines losing baggage, animals in cargo transport (made me happy Jack will avoid the long trip), and other disappointments and frustrations. I don't like to experience those things personally; what in the world would entice a person to watch someone else endure it? The shocker is there's another program just like it called Airline. Oh wow. The height of Australian TV!! After that riveting program, I packed up at least double what I arrived with - where did it all come from?!

Saturday morning I met Narelle for brunch down by the beach in St Kilda. One last hoorah. I keep saying that, as though I'll never return to this distant far away place, but it does really seem that way here. Although St Kilda is only 6 km south of the city, and my new house in Brunswick East is only 6 km north of the city, they are separated by the river and seem worlds apart. People don't cross the river without resistance, and with public transport, it takes about 45-50 minutes to traverse the distance. I packed up the car, cleaned the old flat, and hauled all my loot to the north side. I settled in a little, and made a quick run to Kmart. The luxury of having wheels! I practically bought out the store, feeling as though I would never again have the opportunity not to hand carry every item I purchased. I bought every heavy pot and pan and huge pack of toilet paper I could lay my hands on. Stores have tricky hours here. Something about enjoying life... these people never work! The stores close around 5-6 pm daily (during the week and weekend), so it's hard to fit it all in.

That night, I headed to The Retreat, a funky, grunge, trendy venue in Brunswick about 2 km from my house. My coworker Tuffy had a gig there with his brother. There was a good gaggle of supporters (many coworkers who live in the area), and long time friends and family of the Tough Brothers. The bar was packed, and Tuffy's gig was followed by Chris Wilson, who had a great blues and rock style (he's also played at SXSW). There was dancing galore!! This was followed by music blaring at my house at 5:30 AM. Did I tell you that the new housemates are a little crazy?! So let me recap this... there's Jade (behind the scenes girl for a TV show), Heath (rockstar in the band), and Daniel (Aveda hair stylist/educator). Those are the roommates, but what I've come to realize is that there are a few semi-permanent fixtures in the house, including but not limited to Nellie the nuzzler and Joe the shoe model. Randoms are likely. It's a really interesting little mix.

Sunday I made the trek to IKEA and managed to emerge without buying a single thing, but to know that I could (because I temporarily had a car) was exhilirating. I made one more trek to Kmart and the market (had to buy all the heavy cans!!), and headed out for dinner with Daniel. He recently (in the last week) decided to become a vegetarian, so we went to Veggie Bar on Brunswick St in Fitzroy (the place I love for all of its cute shops and cafes). It's all vegetarian fare, which I am generally not the biggest fan of, but I was uber impressed. Everything we ate was delicious! Then I had to trade in my freedom. Narelle needed the SUV back for work. Dang, that work thing just always gets in the way. I picked up Narelle at her house, where she attempted to give me everything in her house (she asked if we needed knives, then if we needed blankets, then a TV, "what can I get you?", "what do you need?" - she's definitely one of those people that would give you the shirt off her back). She had the grand tour of my new place last night and we're going shopping next weekend to fix it up a little. Should be fun!!

Sorry no pictures. I don't have internet at the new house yet, so I had to stay late at work to type this up. Pictures are all on my laptop at home. Something to look forward to... No internet and no TV right now. How archaic!!