Observations

The sounds: My first couple of days here, I couldn’t ignore these wailing, whiny, death calls that sounded like slowly dying puppies… not to be too gruesome or anything. I later found out that they’re birds – crows as I was told, but then was corrected and told ravens. I, uh, know we have those in America, but I’ve 100% never heard these sounds before. And they gurgle out these horrifying throat noises all morning long. They may as well be next to my bed.

The neighborhood: I’m living in Clarkson, Western Australia. It’s a suburb just north of Perth. There’s a train that runs right down the middle of the freeway from Perth up to Clarkson, the last stop. And fortunately, I’m only a couple blocks from the train station, and about a 20 minute walk from a shopping center. However, the other day I found a better and more convenient shopping center. It’s so massive that it has names for the various directional wings. It’s in Joondalup, two train stops from me… and thereby I avoid a 20 minute suburban walk. My neighborhood reminds me of a computer game, possibly Sim City. It’s pristine, obviously new, and flat (I haven’t seen a building in the area more than two stories high). On one hand, it’s extremely nice because there’s no trash lying about in the streets (like in Southeast Asia). On the other hand, it’s so clean and repetitive that it’s creepy, like I’m stuck in a simulated suburban neighborhood.

Public Transportation: is really nice and just as clean as the neighborhood. There’s a 40 minute train that runs from Clarkson to central Perth. I’ve recently purchased a $10 (Australian dollars ~ .87 cents to the Aussie $) Smartrip card, which makes it easier to pass in and out of the train station without having to find small change to purchase a ticket. However, before I discovered this card, I was buying single tickets. I didn’t have anything smaller than a $50 bill, and the machine wasn’t taking my US debit card, so I asked a man for change. He didn’t have proper change for $50, so instead he gave me the almost $4 fare. How nice! I tried to think if I would ever do that in NYC. Instead, I might be more likely to point someone to the nearest deli for change. Hmmmm… food for thought. Then I searched around for a slot to put the ticket through to enter the train station, but instead it’s based on a security camera trust system. You just walk through the open gate. So, once on the train, I was headed about 4 stops down to meet a friend, Bruce. We pulled up to the Greenwood stop, and I stood by the train doors waiting for them to open. Nothing happened, and then the train started to move again. Huh?! So, apparently, there are buttons on the side of the doors, and whether trying to get out or on, you must press the “Open Door” button to do just that. Right, well – now you know.

The accent: Australian’s don’t pronounce the ‘r’. So Clarkson becomes “Clockson”. I was in the shopping center the other day after speaking to an employee, she said, “I love your accent. It’s just like in the movies!”

The prices: Australia is expensive!! I mean how do these people survive? Ok, so the wages are inflated, such as restaurant serves are making about $20/hour (no tipping in Australia). However, let me list a few horror examples. My manicure cost $25. Nothing special, no spa atmosphere, just your typical Vietnamese manicurists rushing through my manicure! At least I didn’t have to tip. A small sized cup of coffee (not ‘to go’, because that would be extra) with no refills cost me about $3.50-$4.00. A pack of cigarettes is costing me almost $15-$17/ pack! Yeah, yeah, time to quit.

An Australian Breakfast: commonly consists of half of a tomato and mushrooms on the side, in addition to the typical eggs, toast, sausage and bacon.