trees that shed their bark instead of their leaves...

well, i think i’m finally ready to talk about canberra. does that sound dramatic? it does, doesn't it? i don't care - it has been an INTENSE couple of months.

first, let me preface this by acknowledging that i don't adjust well. don't do change. never have. funny coming from someone who hasn't been able to sit still for longer than two years since she graduated college, i know, but it is what it is. and my adapting to life in canberra and at the university has been one long, painful lesson in accepting change. accepting that e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. is different. accepting that it's going to take me twice as long (at least) to do anything. i thought learning to drive was going to be the kicker. oh, jees, to be back at that stage...

the difference between adjusting to a place like vietnam, or even france, and adjusting to australia can be summed up in what kp calls "the uncanny valley." i don't have the time or the energy to try and explain it with any eloquence, so let's just say it describes the experience of *thinking* a place is familiar - and on the surface it actually being very familiar - but slowly realizing how foreign it is. and basically being totally weirded out by that realization. this experience is much more pronounced in western anglophone countries, which share lots of cultural values and practices, than it is in non-anglophone countries. which is perhaps why, despite some undeniably awesome moments of culture shock in nam, it wasn't so hard to adjust. i knew it would be different, and it was. end of story.

but here, and especially in the professional context of my new university gig... things that i never even considered could be different are different. you name it. the smallest details. and it's just been doing my head in. most of what i've been processing is silly academic-related stuff (eg, departmental culture, student behavior, university admin - the bureaucracy of taking leave, for example, which is a given perk of academic life back home), but there have also been some lifestyle bumps: we have to go to the gas station to buy big cans of gas for our stove at home (and we are LUCKY to even have a gas stove!!); the gas stations, speaking of, don't do pay-at-the-pump; and while we're on the subject of gas, it costs $75 to fill up our mazda 3!; there's no equivalent to trader joe's or whole foods; all this brown bush starts to get to you, rent is hiiiiigh and the accommodations are grim (except for our place, which is pretty sweet... so sweet that i had to take in a roommate to afford it while kp is in brisbane); canberra is not a happening town; the scarcity of black beans and the return to old el paso brand tortillas (sigh)...

add to this the pressures of the new job, which i will spare you, and the sudden feeling that we are so very far away, and well, let's just say i've been a bit fragile of late. but i think that just being able to say that here means i've turned a corner of sorts, which is a good thing.

happy anniversary to us

today, we are celebrating six years of us...

of bob the cat

of world travel

of office re-runs and family meetings

of french literature, history, and philosophy

of dance parties in the kitchen

of good coffee in the morning

of transcontinental road trips

of white wine with thai food

of standing under our umbrella

of picnics and long walks

of red stripe

of sam cooke and chet baker

of pun and wendy

of making each other laugh... a lot (kp, you're really funny)

of steaks on the bar-b

of love's work

of love's reward

kp, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. happy anniversary. 

tidbinbilla

kp and i have discovered that the beauty of living in australia's bush capital is that we're surrounded by nature reserve areas. it's pretty sweet. we bought a year-long pass to tidbinbilla, south of town, and have already spent a couple of afternoons wandering about - hiking, enjoying the arrival of spring, flirting with kangas, and provoking surly emus (see below). 

see the little buddy peeking out for some lunch?

 this is the emu that almost took kp out

observations, 4

PAPERWORK. PAPERWORK. and more PAPERWORK.

i thought communist vietnam was bad. then i thought they'd learned their penchant for inane bureaucracy from the french. oh my, was i wrong. the aussies have them beat.

i'd write more but there is paperwork to be shuffled.

on the road again, aka, "kanga watch"

kp and i had grand plans for an epic brisbane-to-canberra road trip... but we both had big projects that needed wrapping up, so in the end, we only had 2 days on the road. bye-bye surf lessons and spa sessions. bye-bye leisurely hikes amongst the eucalyptus trees. hello long hours on the road and late-nite schnitzel and beer at the local pubs (not a bad trade actually). we'll call it a recon trip since we've now made a list of all the places we'll hit next time we make this drive.

bonus, we set out on bastille day, and we picked up a couple of hitch hikers along the way. what with françois hollande at the helm now, i guess ol' sarko and marine le pen didn't have much else going on...

destination #1: byron bay

byron bay is a hippy haven along the northern coast of new south wales. it's pretty popular amongst the backpackers too, and it's not hard to see why. we arrived late in the afternoon on a lousy winter day... and we were immediately won over.

destination #2 waterfall way/armidale, nsw

from byron bay, we decided to cut inland, which was a crap shoot. i feared kp was excited about this plan because of his special fondness for really disastrously boring/bizarre/lame adventures. i don't quite know how to explain it... but i knew part of the charm for him in opting for inland armidale over another fabulous beach spot for day 2 was the potentially hilarious story he would later tell about how utterly terrible a place it was. 

we didn't see as many waterfalls as i thought we would, but it was really beautiful, and we had lunch (mussels and homemade broccoli soup!) in one of the loveliest little towns i've ever seen. AND our b&b in armidale had complimentary port waiting for us in our room! très classy.

and the early morning drive out of armidale alone was worth the detour away from the beach:

all in all, it was a lovely 2-day haul. and thanks to another random kp detour - even further inland! - we also got some pretty stellar road souvenirs. i'll post pictures soon.

the most striking part of taking to the aussie roads, however, is without a doubt the late afternoon "kanga watch." imagine spending 6 hours on the road, only to have another 3 to go. it's late afternoon, the light is fading fast, and there are kangaroo signs EVERYWHERE. i spent those three hours scanning the road immediately before us - back and forth and back and forth... till my eyes were completely shot. and kp thinks i'm exaggerating, but i SWEAR we almost got hit by one who suddenly sprang from the bush. i nearly peed my pants. this is going to sound comically obvious, but i am horrified by the idea of plowing down a kangaroo. horrified. and not simply for the basic trauma of it. but also because according to one of our colleagues in brisbane, you have to check the pouch for the joey you've just orphaned - you evil human -, which would never survive on its own, and which you need to take immediately to the authorities... this same colleague wasn't sure what the current thought was on carrying a knife in the car to finish off the dying kanga... WTF? it's a different breed over here, y'all.

and living in the "bush capital" means that the kanga watch is on all the time. apparently, i'm lucky i haven't crossed one on campus yet!

love from down under

we're still alive. busy and out of sorts (it turns out that EVERYTHING is a bit upside down here, and lb's still trying to get with it), but we promise to send a proper update soon.

xx,
l&k