Excuse me while I weep for joy.

So I’ve got a room in someone’s apartment all set up! I didn’t even have to call anyone or visit a bunch of places, one of the students helped set it up for me. It’s in a suburb called Brunswick, which is a half hour walk or 10 minute tram ride away from the University. Much better than where I am now, which is a lovely part of town, but a half hour tram ride from school. She said she doesn’t need rent, just utilities – which is fantastic. I can move in on Sunday, which times perfectly with the number of days I got the hostel for (already paid for). And my host has a cat. I really could not be happier. I feel like it’s going to fall through at the last minute somehow! The only downside is no internet, so I'll just have to blog from school.

My Friday started out early. Up at 6:30 to make it to a pastry place called Brunetti’s for breakfast at 8. From there, an hour drive to The Yards, where the little beasties are kept. Wallaby wrangling was a piece of cake. The tammar wallabies are pretty small, less than 20 lb. and like 18 in. tall at the largest. First we had to herd them into a corner and then we netted them and put them in burlap sacks. We put them on their backs with their tail facing away and then checked their eartags and sex and whether they had pouch young. Little buggers can kick, though, and their claws are nasty, so you have to be careful. I didn’t get any pictures of me doing it, but I’ll be going again, so maybe next time.

So that was my morning. Back at the University, I went out to lunch with a bunch of people and met my new host. I was asked if I wanted to go to an “Aussie Rules Game” and of course I said yes, even though at the time I had no idea what that was. My policy is just to say yes to everything. I was also asked to give a talk on July 16th. I won’t really have much done, but I can talk about what I’m trying to do and they are all really curious about what my University is like, so I’ll talk about that, too.

The afternoon was kind of wasted, unfortunately. I was hoping to get my Lab Induction and Department Induction out of the way, but I was put off until Monday. Then I tried to track down the tech guy to get a computer and internet login, but couldn’t find him. People seem to treat Friday afternoon like part of the weekend, and they don’t work weekends very often. I hung around until I ran into some of the students and they were on their way to the Victoria Market. The Market was fantastic! All kinds of fresh meat and produce in one part, and clothes and souvenirs and anything else you could want in the other part. Since I’ll be living closer, I’m going to start doing all my shopping there. I shall have my kangaroo steaks yet!!

After that we went rock climbing. It was an indoor place called Hardrock, so it was really wall climbing. If you look at the website, it kinda looke like the walls are about 3 stories tall. Felt like that, too. I had to borrow some sweats from one of the guys, so yeah, been here for 36 hours and already into someone’s pants! ^o^ Now, I have never been climbing before, so it was my fist time. After a brief orientation to the gear, we attacked the walls. My first one was hard. I was definitely not used to using my muscles like that! I made it all the way to the top by virtue of sheer stubbornness and pride, but it was not really very “fun.” I took a short break and then was dragged to another wall, which was much easier. That one was actually fun. Then I did another wall and it was even easier. It wasn’t that it was getting easier, more like I’d chosen a hard one first. D’oh. Not the hardest wall there by a LONG shot, but the hardest one I did. It was about $27, which isn’t too bad. I think I’ll go back in a few weeks.

When we were spent, we set out in search of a famed Hot Pot restaurant. We found it but there was no room for us and we were hungry, so we settled on an Italian place nearby. The TV was showing what I thought was a rugby game, but then I noticed they were passing to the front and doing other things that are not legal in rugby, so I asked about it and was told it was an Aussie Rules Football game. Aaahhhhh. That’s what that is! I don’t know why they call it “football” since there isn’t a lot of kicking, it’s more like a free-for-all. I will look into this further and get details. I was stuffed after dinner, but by the time we got to the gelato place, I had room for a scoop of chocolate. It just tasted like ice cream, but that’s not necessarily a BAD thing.

Saturday morning I slept in and then took a noontime jog through the Royal Botanical Gardens and past the Shrine of Remembrance. The botanical gardens were fabulous. I ran through Fern Gully twice because the ferns were so amazing. It made me think of Groenke, who probably would have tried to steal them. I am also enamored with camellias, which are gorgeous and plentiful around here. My run was good on the whole. I was tired and my hip flexors were sore from climbing. The first mile was quite unpleasant, but it got better and I did a full 44 minutes, which is about what I was doing at home. The students go running together, about 5k they say, so I’m going to join them on Monday. They go in the middle of the day, though, and I’m much more of a go-home-and-shower kind of person, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been relaxing this afternoon. Finally finished Reaper Man (by Terry Pratchett). I had sort of stopped reading it at the very end because I didn’t want it to be over. Heh. I met a Canadian girl who was complaining about how cold it is here. Uh… Right. I’m going out again tonight, and before that I really should reread my Cloaca papers so I am ready to start on Monday. Only been putting it off since June 3rd. I got my phone working, but my brother must have changed his phone number or something, because I got an error. Tried to call my sister next, but the answering service message got cut off and I’m not entirely sure WHO I left a message for. Oh well. Hopefully mom and dad are having such a good time in Greece that they are forgetting to worry that I’m dead. Gina who?

Tomorrow I want to take pictures around South Yarra before I move to Brunswick. I also have wallaby pictures for you next time!

G'day!

I have arrived safe and sound in Melbourne. The flight was mostly uneventful, which is as much as one can hope for. The $4.30 hot dogs at LAX made me think of Farke. Fanciest f*cking hotdogs west of the Mississippi, I’m sure. The flight from LA was late into Auckland, and this translated to an hour and a half late into Melbourne, finally off the plane by 9:30am. The first snag I encountered was that it turns out my old LG Verizon phone does not have a SIM card slot, so I had to buy a whole new phone. $59 including 130 free minutes. More than I wanted to pay, but it’ll work.

I was picked up by someone holding a sign with my name on it(!!) and we dropped my things off and got the university about noon. I got right to work assisting some dissections. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I had baby wallabies in my labcoat pockets within 45 minutes of being here, and I call that a success. Then I helped with some immuno staining, just to learn where everything is and check out their protocol.

I haven’t eaten anything interesting yet. Lunch was a panini at the student union and dinner is quickly-cooling pizza from a place nearby the hostel. The toughest thing so far is remembering that cars and people pass right-to-right here. I almost got into the driver’s side of my host’s car and I’ve been getting some odd looks passing people on the streets when I forget. I’m sure it’ll be like second nature in no time.

My computer’s clock tells me it is 5:38am in my former time zone, and it’s 7:38pm the following day here in Melbourne. Jet lag has not caught up to me yet, but I expect it to in the next couple of days. Good thing tomorrow is packed: meeting for breakfast at 8am, wrangling wallabies in the morning, more lab work, administrative stuff, rock climbing, and hot pot for dinner with the students. I’m psyched about the wrangling! I haven’t wrangled anything since I was in Montana in 2006. I am guessing wallabies will be more difficult than lambs but easier than calves.