Welcome to Australia

[Kristina Hoffmann]

hello you all everywhere,

 

yes, me again... already :)

 

i thought it's time again to let you know how it actually is here in australia. as i'm here for 3 months now already. wow. where does the time go?

 

and my first impressions... they are not really first impressions anymore given the time i spent already here. but i can say: i still like it. needed some time to adjust and still need it for the laid-back attitude here... i might be just too german. :)

 

where to start.. yes... on 20 december 2007 we finally arrived here in Perth, in Western Australia. it's summer here at the moment.. so it's been good we could get used to the temperatures already in Asia. and i should mention that we are so lucky to experience the hottest summer for the last 30 years (or january at least). so christmas was nice and warm with 38-45 degrees. which we survived, given that we had a swimmingpool in front of the house and air-conditioning inside the house. :) and to be honest: given this weather, it didnt feel like christmas at all which helped a lot not to be too homesick on these days.

 

strangely - and fortunately - it is a dry heat here. so it's bearable. when it gets humid (i.e. normally when it gets cloudy) it's not so nice anymore. i just dont understand the dry heat given that the ocean is just here... hm, maybe i should ask my friends who study geography... ;)

 

the city of perth left a nice first impression. nice is the right word. smaller than expected. the surrounding suburbs are quite wide spread around the city, but it's all still called perth. although you normally dont put perth, but the suburb  you live in in your address. and the "city" or centre actually consists of 2 shopping streets and about 6  big office buildings. really, i'm not kidding. :)

and these two shopping streets are on two levels and connected by several shopping arcades... which exist on 3 levels as well and are interconntected as well.. so escalators, corridors, shops... where am i? it got a bit confusing in the beginning.. but i find my way around now. yeah. :)

 

all looks like it does at home. but it's also provincial in a way, e.g. the shops close at 5-6pm. (ok, i'm used to that to a certain extent from brussels)

 

we also went once with this hop-on-hop-off-tourist-bus to get an impression of the whole city and what's here to see. and i have to admit that we didnt want to hop-off anywhere except the city park which is really nice with a nice view over the centre. and actually the bigggest inner-city park worldwide - even bigger than hyde park. but given that we drove 2 hours around, it's a bit strange that there is nothing really to see. i'm probably just a spoiled european ;) ...used to have cultural and historical buildings and sights everywhere which just cannot exist here given the young age of the "white country". that should not be forgotten.

 

the australians also left a very good impression. the helpful bus driver who wishes you a nice day, the train officers who check your tickets and dont mind if you dont have one "just bring one next time", the waiters, shop assistants and EVERYBODY who asks you "how are you today?"... and it's been nice to see all this friendliness. although nobody is actually interested. :) i learned to say "i'm fine, thanks" to everybody and to walk on, but i still find it strange. to say it to everybody, everywhere. 

a certain super-friendliness and being superficial came into our minds. and they dont seem to critizise. all is good, nothing is bad...  but different culture, different people. that's what it makes interesting.

 

but they seem to have taken over the drinking habits from the british ;)

 

we also realised that ambigious jokes or ironic comments/sarcasm are often not understood, but taken for serious. so it's sometimes good to pay attention what you say. one little example: first day at work and you joke around: "pooh, if it continues like this, i think i quit". ... the reply was: "what? you want to leave?" :)))

this is just one example, and in the end it's funny, but given the difference in the sense of humour it's better to pay attention what to say to not offend anyone.

 

many people have never left perth in their whole life. so it's not surprising that they are kind of living in their "little bubble". far from everything. not only the city itself which is quite isolated given the distances in this vast country, but also regarding the continent and it's isolated location. 

 

i got used to the fact that many people are not used to the fact that other people might not understand them and their accent. (although i understand most of the people here without a problem. except the scottish colleagues i had. hahaha)
asking twice a woman on the phone who was not understandable for me (her eating at the same time as speaking didnt help much) to repeat as i'm not a native-speaker ended with the fact that she just put down the phone. ("thanks a lot for the conversation", i thought) 

 

but one more thing which was a bit confusing and very funny at the beginning: people here go to "visit the U.K. and maybe they will also go to europe". what??? this is the same. ... for us. :)  U.K. is IN europe. for them - even if they know it belongs to one continent - it's two things. an island and europe. or their country of origin and europe. anyway, it's two things. ;)

 

what else? they all wear flip-flops that are too small (for my taste) as their toes already touch the ground. airconditioning is everywhere - so you walk into a wall of heat when leaving a building (they really must have cheap electricity here). new shoes always hurt - no matter how long you wore them already, public transport in the centre is for free, burger king is called hungry jacks, the car brand Opel is called Holden, perth is very expensive city (since a couple of years) due to the oil and gas boom, but salaries are ok (and taxes high)...

 

oh.. and if anyone wonders what i'm actually doing the whole day.. well, nothing. reading, shopping, walking around, checking emails,... and apart from that: i have been working for 3 weeks, but quit again. was as secretary in an oil and gas company. and nothing to do 8h a day. not even the nice colleagues could keep me there. and as i just stopped working 5 months ago - finding myself back in the same old "office"-routine didnt make me happy. so now i started to work as a food & beverage attendant at the concert hall, theater and government house here in perth. i like it. it's something different and being with people and culture and entertainment. and i learn lots of new things as i'm working at cocktail receptions, functions, in the restaurant, at the bar, at the coffee-bar... (and i said before that i really dont want to work in a restaurant or bar... ) but i learn to make all sorts of good coffee. ... what? .. i should know how to do that as i am a secretary? ... :)

 

anyway, i'll have a training in 2 hours.. at least it's paid which is good, given that i dont have enough shifts to really save some money. so i will leave you now.

 

i'm sorry for not really writing and replying to emails anymore... you see: daily life has me back. nothing exciting happening and i'm getting lazy again.

 

noooo, wait... there is something: 3 April i'll fly to queensland to meet my dear friend maruxa and franco who will come over from belgium to travel a bit in australia. so i'll join them for 2 weeks. i am SO excited!!!! not only seeing more from the country, but exploring it together with them and seeing them here at the other side of the globe. youpppie!

 

i hope you are all well and send you sunny greetings (yes, still neverending sunshine here)

kristina
________________________
Unit 34, 630 Stirling Highway
Mosman Park, 6012 WA
Australia
Mobile: +61 48 89 96 787

[beyhan saglam]

hey Kristina,

I am glad that you spend nice time over there and i must be honest to
say that it gives envy! Good weather, not much work, lovely people...
Have fun and take care,

Greeting from snowy Brussels:)

On Mar 25, 9:09 am, "Kristina Hoffmann" <hoffmann.krist...@gmail.com>
wrote: