Five observations after a month in Oz

Well, it’s hard to believe that I’ve only been in the “land down under” for one month.  Things have been pretty hectic at the Interactive Television Research Institute…the place where I’ll be working for the next 9 months.  I was plopped down into the middle of a big report deadline for the ITRI group.  The sense of the entire lab was very similar to the feeling we have around the ICR days prior to a conference deadline:  everyone working hard as the clock ticks.  Of course, the stakes are much different when what you are shooting for is an ICA deadline compared to a presentation of your work to industry partners who have paid (likely lots of) good money for the results.

That deadline has passed now and the pressure is off somewhat (we made it…and got everything done!!!). 

So, with some time to breathe and look back over a month here, I thought I’d try and congeal some of my first impressions on the place into a tangible list.  Five seems like a good number–not too much for you to read or for me to write.  And while these are in no particular order of salience for me, here you go:

1.  Much like the US, Australia seems like a country with two distinct halves.

Those of you from the US will have likely have seen the satirical posters showing a “map of the US as seen by…” a citizen of one of the coastal cities…say New York or LA.  Here’s an example.   Well, I’m getting the same type of vibe here in Australia.  In the middle of all the ITRI-deadline-chaos came news of the massive Sydney Duststorms illustrated above.   (I got the picture from The Daily World Mail…you should check it out for even more breathtaking images.) 

Of course, when this made the news back in the States, lots of people hit me up through Facebook and email to find out if we were affected by it.  Truth is, I first heard about it FROM THEM!  Now granted, some of my lack of awareness about what’s going on in Sydney was due to the self-imposed embargo I instituted on any extraneous information in order to focus on the work deadline.  But, another major reason is that Sydney is a full continent away from where we are in Perth.  And the rest of Australia seems to forget that Perth–or all of Western Australia (WA), really–is even out here. 

I first noticed this while reading In a Sundburned Country,an enjoyable book about Bill Bryson’s visit to Australia that barely mentions WA at all.  Just last week I picked up the picture book Akubra is Australian for Hat at the local Fremantle library.  Great book where the author, Grenville Turner, travels all over EASTERN and CENTRAL Australia asking people what type of Akubra hat they wear and why.  Never comes West.  If you don’t believe me, click on the book title above and use the Read Me feature on Amazon.  Third page in, you’ll see the map of the author’s journey.  It’s like we don’t exist out here. 

But, Perth is certainly a large city.  It does exist.  It’s just that the rest of the country kinda acts as if it doesn’t, which gives the place a spirit of isolation…and a strange sense of humor…both of which are exhibited in this bit of viral video that has become all the rage down here (and actually was written and acted by my daughter’s substitute teacher!)

 

2.  But it’s really NOT like the US in many, many ways.

The two most immediately shocking ways that I noticed were in retail issues.  The This is Perth video pokes fun at one of them…stores close here at rediculously early hours.  Like grocery stores ALL close at 5pm.  That’s not a typo…5pm.  And most of the major chains (IGA, Woolworths…yup, they’re down here…and a grocery) are closed completely on Sunday.  It’s really strange.  And, apparently it’s the law.  They have had two elections in recent memory where the referendum before the voters was to allow stores to stay open late…and the local family-owned businesses conduct massive campaigns saying “We’re the Potter Family Grocery we’ve been serving you for 3 generations.  Don’t vote to allow longer shopping hours, because we can’t afford to pay people to work the swing-shift.  You’ll put my family out of business!”  And, people continue to vote to keep it this way. 

Makes it hard when you are out of milk or need some over-the-counter medicine at 8pm.  But, the really good result is that the entire area is filled with all these really individual, unique, local family-owned stores.  For example, we no longer get lunch meat at Sam’s Club…we get it here at Hela Master Butcher…as long as Pam get’s there by 5pm.

The second retail observation is a related one…and that is that even “big” stores aren’t US big.  The Australian big-box store for home improvement is Bunnings.  Dropped in there on Father’s Day…yes, Father’s Day in Australia is in September…and YES, that means I got two this year.  Score.  Anyway, Father’s Day is also a Sunday…so Bunnings was about the only thing open.  And man, it was a warehouse store but the aisles were pretty narrow compared to the ones at Lowes in Bloomington…which you can drive a Winnebago down.

3.  Birds, Beaches, and Blooms!

Now granted, in the States you don’t see Black Bears or Bald Eagles in every suburb.  So, I was probably just not thinking when I suspected I’d see a kangaroo or koala by now.  But what I what I’ve been struck by from day one are the fantastic array of different birds.  They are beautiful and they sound so much different than anything I’ve ever heard in the States.  Here are a few pictures I’ve taken of them:

Every day I take the bus to ITRI.  It has been no trouble at all…the public transit (a combo of bus and train) is amazing here.  And, as an added plus I get to see a peak of the Indian Ocean every morning on my way to work.

And the flowers are different colors and shapes than any I’ve seen in my life.  They are gorgeous…and I can’t wait to take a bus tour up north to see the fields and fields of them.

4.  Australian Football League is awesome fun to watch!

There are four separate and totally new sports I’ve been told about by their respective fans in the 4 weeks since I’ve arrived.  And the fans are passionate about their different leagues…seemingly with the goal of convincing this foreigner that their’s is the best of the lot.  There’s cricket–and honestly I have heard the least about that.  My daughter watched it with the father of one of my ITRI colleagues and now knows more about it than anyone in our family.  She’s tried to teach me….

Then, there’s the Autralian Rugby Leage and Rugby Union.  Yup, two different sports.  The main difference that I know about…are different sections in the Sunday paper…each featuring pictures of huge men dressed in uniforms that are about identical doing things that look about the same.  I hope to learn more about these three (cricket, “League” and Rugby Union) as time goes on.

But what I know the most about is “Footy” or Australian Rules Football which my family and I watched on television a few weeks ago.  It was, without a doubt, one of the most athletic and intense sport I’ve ever watched.  Fascinating television that would have trouble getting traction on television because, like soccer, the action never stops –and as a result there would never be any advertising breaks.  [No ad breaks, no TV contract, I assure you.] 

But let me tell you, it sure was fun to watch.  We watched the first week of their playoffs as the Brisbane Lions played Carlton.  These guys play their butts off and as a viewer you get tired out.  As the time period ticked away and Brisbane was just running themselves ragged as they came from behind to barely edge ahead of Carlton…I just couldn’t understand why the announcers and the crowd was not going nuts.  I mean, they had really laid it all out on the line to pull back and take the lead.  And when the clock ticked to zero I let out a “Wow, what a game…” as moments later the announcer said “We’ll be back to talk to Jim Commentator and ask him what adjustments the Lions need to make at halftime to regain the lead…”  HALFTIME….it was only half of what they would put out!?

I’m telling you, fun to watch.  And people love to watch it.  Which is why when it came time to choose a time to take my family to the equivalent of the WA State Fair…the day of the Footy Finals would be a good choice since the crowds would certainly be diminished by those staying home to watch it.  So, we went yesterday (Saturday)…which brings me to my final observation:

5.  This Country Knows How to Do a State Fair.

They call it the Smoke Free Perth Royal Show.   It was awesome, an event I won’t forget for a long time.  I’ll tell you more about it next time.  For now, two pictures from the day:  a sheep named Casper and people watching the footy finals on the big screen. 

BTW:  in the Geelong won the finals for the 2nd time in three years…showing another similarity between the two countries…

Sports Dynasties!

Tagged as: Australia, Change