OK, it's no secret I love bus drivers (my father-in-law is one), but the guy on bus 109 to UQ made everyone's day today. As each person boarded the bus, he gave them a warm, "Good morning," "Hi ya," "Greetings," or "Great to see you," called out the stops with a bit of color: "Mater Hill Hospital. If you're pregnant, this might be a good place to get off" and bid each person farewell with a "Have a fantastic day" or "Smile at a stranger, it may be the only smile he gets."
There was a lot more smiling, chatting and laughing on that bus than normal, and I'm sure the driver's day went much faster for him as well.
It also reminded me of a story that I think occurred in the vacuum between Facebook and blogging in Norway. I got on a bus from work to get to the new ice rink at Idda, not sure how far it would take me. When we got close to the main bus station, I asked the driver if I could get any closer to Idda or if I needed to change buses. He said, "Why don't you just stay on the bus and I'll see if I can get you a little closer." So I moved up to the front of the bus and we had a great conversation which began with, "Ah, you must be an old figure skater from the States going to test out the new ice" and developed into "I remember when we got proper winters and everyone used to skate on Jegers" which led inevitably to, "Oh, yeah, of course I know your father-in-law. We grew up together." He was at the end of his shift, so he drove me straight to the rink even though he had really finished at the bus stop in the center of town.
We are nicely set up here for public transportation, and I am all for it and always have been, especially since I am a bad driver. I have to say I do appreciate one main difference between public transport here and in Norway: the weather. Here, you walk to and wait for buses in the sunshine surrounded by tropical plants. There, you walk to and wait for buses in the rain and snow, often standing in puddles or getting sprayed on by cars driving through puddles. Critical difference, so expect me to buy a car again when we return to Norway.
I have started work since the last blog. I have two temporary positions at the University of Queensland, one at the School of Education working with postgraduate research students and one establishing the newly approved Research Computing Centre (a user centre for researches using high performance computing). I feel very lucky to have gotten this job, definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. I am learning a lot, meeting a lot of interesting people and gaining a new perspective on Norway and UiA. (Wait a minute, it sounds like I am on student exchange.) Well, I feel like I am on student exchange, and this has really re-affirmed my faith in going abroad and learning different ways of doing things.
The most obvious thing I have learned so far is: Norway is not bureaucratic at all. Tells you a lot about Australia. Right now, our printer is out of toner and I can't order any more toner because I can't print the form I need to have signed in order to buy the toner. Since the guys I work with refuse to get onto the UQ net which uses Windows (they probably only hired me because I can work on Linux), I can't send it to print anywhere else on campus either. So, I am sending the form to myself to print at home. Alternately, I could order the toner through the electronic system, but I can't have access to that until I have completed a course, which isn't given until Oct. 6. I am not being quite fair here, though. Before I started, I filled out 5 forms and submitted all of my qualifications, passport, visa, etc. etc. and when I got to work on the first day I had a user name, password, email account and key within an hour. I got paid on the first regular pay day after I started. The IT guy came to me, instead of me having to go to him. I thought that was all pretty impressive.
We're going out to eat now, but be warned. We have finally bought a really nice camera. I will have to revisit everywhere I've been so far and post some decent photos.
8/28/2011
Got a job!
After weeks of writing cover letters and responses to selection criteria, I have finally got a short-term, part-time assignment at the School of Education of the University of Queensland. It will be a great opportunity to work at a prestigious institution. I'm starting on Tuesday and am really looking forward to it.
We ventured into Boondall yesterday to watch the Queensland State Cheerleading Championships. My daughter's team will be competing with Brisbane All Star Cheerleading at Australian Nationals in November, and we thought it would be fun to check out the level and also cheer for the Brisbane All Star Cheerleading teams at States. You'll be happy to know I refrained from putting on a little skirt and carrying pom poms. Also, the competition was being held close to Ice World, which I have been wanting to check out since we arrived. It was a bit of a foray without a car, and I hadn't checked the schedule until after my morning coffee. In order to actually get there in time to see the Brisbane teams, we had to run to the train in the rain (30 minutes), and then sit, sweaty and rained on, for another half hour. The first thing that hit us was the music in the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which was way too loud, but the cheerleading was a lot of fun to watch. Some of the stunts were spectacular, and I don't care what you say, it is entertaining watch enthusiastic 7-year-olds doing splits and throwing pom poms up in the air. Still, there were a couple of nasty falls, so I am glad that her coach is a big guy who always spots the teams in stunts.
We took a break to find the ice arena. The rain was still coming down hard. The entertainment centre is huge, my Google map print-out was bad, and to make a very long trip into a very short story: It should have taken 33 minutes to walk, it took 1 hour plus 11 bucks with a taxi, and I have discovered that my daughter has become a very patient little trooper. When we arrived at Ice World, we were wet again. Luckily, they sold socks, and we had been so intent on skating that, against my better judgement, we skated anyway. When I am in an ice rink, I get that feeling of coming home. The blades under my feet. It feels so comfortable, whether it is in Copenhagen, Slovakia, Norway, Delaware or now Australia. It all fits, and I feel good. Ice World has disco lights, a DJ, races, and a plaque of that Australian speed skater that unexpectedly ran away with the Olympic gold in speed skating.
When we left the rink, we saw there was a train just 300 meters away, one stop further along the train line from the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. So now we know for next time. And that is what traveling with me is often about.
Today we all played mini-golf at the golf course next door. It's the nicest course I've ever been on. My son started off with two holes in one. I got one. A good time was had by all.
On the way to the course we saw this critter:
I think he is a skink, more specifically a blue-tongued skink, but we did not see his tongue, and thank God for that. There are lots of varieties of skinks in Brisbane, according to my wildlife book. I nearly jumped a meter into the air. I thought it was a huge snake that had lost half its tail. Completely harmless, according to the book.
We ventured into Boondall yesterday to watch the Queensland State Cheerleading Championships. My daughter's team will be competing with Brisbane All Star Cheerleading at Australian Nationals in November, and we thought it would be fun to check out the level and also cheer for the Brisbane All Star Cheerleading teams at States. You'll be happy to know I refrained from putting on a little skirt and carrying pom poms. Also, the competition was being held close to Ice World, which I have been wanting to check out since we arrived. It was a bit of a foray without a car, and I hadn't checked the schedule until after my morning coffee. In order to actually get there in time to see the Brisbane teams, we had to run to the train in the rain (30 minutes), and then sit, sweaty and rained on, for another half hour. The first thing that hit us was the music in the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which was way too loud, but the cheerleading was a lot of fun to watch. Some of the stunts were spectacular, and I don't care what you say, it is entertaining watch enthusiastic 7-year-olds doing splits and throwing pom poms up in the air. Still, there were a couple of nasty falls, so I am glad that her coach is a big guy who always spots the teams in stunts.
We took a break to find the ice arena. The rain was still coming down hard. The entertainment centre is huge, my Google map print-out was bad, and to make a very long trip into a very short story: It should have taken 33 minutes to walk, it took 1 hour plus 11 bucks with a taxi, and I have discovered that my daughter has become a very patient little trooper. When we arrived at Ice World, we were wet again. Luckily, they sold socks, and we had been so intent on skating that, against my better judgement, we skated anyway. When I am in an ice rink, I get that feeling of coming home. The blades under my feet. It feels so comfortable, whether it is in Copenhagen, Slovakia, Norway, Delaware or now Australia. It all fits, and I feel good. Ice World has disco lights, a DJ, races, and a plaque of that Australian speed skater that unexpectedly ran away with the Olympic gold in speed skating.
When we left the rink, we saw there was a train just 300 meters away, one stop further along the train line from the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. So now we know for next time. And that is what traveling with me is often about.
Today we all played mini-golf at the golf course next door. It's the nicest course I've ever been on. My son started off with two holes in one. I got one. A good time was had by all.
On the way to the course we saw this critter:
I think he is a skink, more specifically a blue-tongued skink, but we did not see his tongue, and thank God for that. There are lots of varieties of skinks in Brisbane, according to my wildlife book. I nearly jumped a meter into the air. I thought it was a huge snake that had lost half its tail. Completely harmless, according to the book.
8/24/2011
International Women's Group
I've just come back from my first meeting of the International Women's Group at QUT, a support system for spouses and partners of international students. I am both inspired and, unexpectedly, saddened.
The meeting itself was very pleasant - a bit of yoga, a nice lunch and a chance to chat with other new arrivals. The director of the program rightly welcomed us by saying that she understood many of us had left careers in our home country while our husbands studied, and that this can be quite an adjustment. The yoga teacher rightly pointed out that things that were subconscious before required conscious thought now (like trying to find sugar in a new grocery store or crossing the street with traffic on the opposite side), and that this can be exhausting and stressful.
There were three engineers, two university professors, a doctor and a beautiful woman from Iran who had just completed her master's degree and was desperate to improve her English in order to get a job. She, especially, impressed me - a radiant woman, enthusiastic about the move, and convinced that it would be good to stay permanently in Australia after only being here two weeks. Her husband walked in toward the end of the meeting, and I immediately pictured a traditional Iranian wedding and the two of them surrounded by family, and I wondered if she had realized what she had left behind yet.
Once again, I found myself the least qualified of everyone in the room (with the possible exception of the Australian leader of the group), surrounded by women with engineering degrees and their own PhDs. It brought me right back to my first day at Global Future in Norway, the only big difference being that there I was the least qualified in a group of both women and men. It was quite humbling, especially as I am looking for work at the moment. The only employed woman in the group was a production engineer who was working as a nanny. Of course, it has to be said that the meeting was from 10 to 1, so any spouses who had found jobs would most likely not have been at the meeting.
We chatted and there was an energy in the room that I have become very used to any time people of different cultures gather. Then, when I left, I was suddenly struck by sadness. In fact, I almost found myself crying in the middle of town. Yes, these women have all willingly moved with their husbands, they are all relatively happy, but they are young and their careers are mostly on pause for three years. It is a shame for their host country that their talents are not being put to use. I thought back to Global Future again, approval of foreign qualifications, and language expectations. I was surprised to find so many of the same issues in Australia as in Norway. There seem to be many places in the world where an average couple can have an engineer raise their children if they are just willing to hire a foreigner. It just seems like a bit of a waste of talent to me. I am still not sure why the sudden sadness really hit me like that.
Well, those are my thoughts for today. I think they sounded more coherent in my head.
The meeting itself was very pleasant - a bit of yoga, a nice lunch and a chance to chat with other new arrivals. The director of the program rightly welcomed us by saying that she understood many of us had left careers in our home country while our husbands studied, and that this can be quite an adjustment. The yoga teacher rightly pointed out that things that were subconscious before required conscious thought now (like trying to find sugar in a new grocery store or crossing the street with traffic on the opposite side), and that this can be exhausting and stressful.
There were three engineers, two university professors, a doctor and a beautiful woman from Iran who had just completed her master's degree and was desperate to improve her English in order to get a job. She, especially, impressed me - a radiant woman, enthusiastic about the move, and convinced that it would be good to stay permanently in Australia after only being here two weeks. Her husband walked in toward the end of the meeting, and I immediately pictured a traditional Iranian wedding and the two of them surrounded by family, and I wondered if she had realized what she had left behind yet.
Once again, I found myself the least qualified of everyone in the room (with the possible exception of the Australian leader of the group), surrounded by women with engineering degrees and their own PhDs. It brought me right back to my first day at Global Future in Norway, the only big difference being that there I was the least qualified in a group of both women and men. It was quite humbling, especially as I am looking for work at the moment. The only employed woman in the group was a production engineer who was working as a nanny. Of course, it has to be said that the meeting was from 10 to 1, so any spouses who had found jobs would most likely not have been at the meeting.
We chatted and there was an energy in the room that I have become very used to any time people of different cultures gather. Then, when I left, I was suddenly struck by sadness. In fact, I almost found myself crying in the middle of town. Yes, these women have all willingly moved with their husbands, they are all relatively happy, but they are young and their careers are mostly on pause for three years. It is a shame for their host country that their talents are not being put to use. I thought back to Global Future again, approval of foreign qualifications, and language expectations. I was surprised to find so many of the same issues in Australia as in Norway. There seem to be many places in the world where an average couple can have an engineer raise their children if they are just willing to hire a foreigner. It just seems like a bit of a waste of talent to me. I am still not sure why the sudden sadness really hit me like that.
Well, those are my thoughts for today. I think they sounded more coherent in my head.
8/14/2011
Ekka
There hasn't been much time for blogging as I have been knee-deep in Drupal trying to get Noket AS's website up and running. Drupal makes EZ Publish actually look easy, and I never thought I would say that about EZ Publish. Anyway, it's just about there now, and I hope to have a link ready this week. Noket is our little company, and the website needs to be ready in the event that I do not get a job soon. I have applied for several jobs at the universities in Brisbane and one job in a mining company. It's been a while since I've been in job-hunter mode, and I can safely say that the fun has worn off.
On to the Ekka. Ekka is billed as the week the country comes to the city. It's a ten day event, and it turns out the kids have two days off for the occasion.So, it seems to be a really big deal in Brisbane and we thought we'd better check it out. The main purpose is to highlight all of the good produce offered by rural Queensland, and this we of course support. Unfortunately, most of the food on offer was standard carnival fair like cotton candy and corndogs. There were lots of demonstrations and free samples of local produce, but you had to battle the crowds to get a bite-sized taste.
Ekka itself, unfortunately, is a nightmare. Turns out my favorite thing about the country is the lack of crowds. Tough to pull off when the country comes to the city. Same with the country quiet and the country tempo. The most notable characteristic of the people in this crowd was the lack of belts. I don't think I've ever seen so many plumber's cracks in one place. This at an expo that actually offers genuine leather belts customized while you wait! (This seems to be a genuine problem in Australia at the moment, not just at the Ekka.)
A large part of Ekka centers around animal pageants. I'd never seen one of these up close, so I was curious. I was a little shocked to see a pavilion full of dogs in cages, but more than a little shocked to see their owners sitting with them, in only slightly larger cages. Seriously, the animal owners are caged in along with the animals, numbered and waiting for their turn. OK, the more I think about that, the more fair it seems from the dog's perspective, but it amazes me that people want the prize enough to do this.
I was also looking forward to the sheep shearing exhibit, but the razor broke about two minutes into the demonstration, so that was that.
The highlight was definitely the horses. I'm not really a horse fan, but the horses at the Ekka were stunning. There were breeds I had never seen before, and the animals were in amazing condition. They were beautiful.
But, OK, there are two days off school coming up and we definitely do not have to go back to the Ekka. I just hope everyone else does so that we can be all alone on some quiet beach, no plumber's cracks in sight.
On to the Ekka. Ekka is billed as the week the country comes to the city. It's a ten day event, and it turns out the kids have two days off for the occasion.So, it seems to be a really big deal in Brisbane and we thought we'd better check it out. The main purpose is to highlight all of the good produce offered by rural Queensland, and this we of course support. Unfortunately, most of the food on offer was standard carnival fair like cotton candy and corndogs. There were lots of demonstrations and free samples of local produce, but you had to battle the crowds to get a bite-sized taste.
Ekka itself, unfortunately, is a nightmare. Turns out my favorite thing about the country is the lack of crowds. Tough to pull off when the country comes to the city. Same with the country quiet and the country tempo. The most notable characteristic of the people in this crowd was the lack of belts. I don't think I've ever seen so many plumber's cracks in one place. This at an expo that actually offers genuine leather belts customized while you wait! (This seems to be a genuine problem in Australia at the moment, not just at the Ekka.)
A large part of Ekka centers around animal pageants. I'd never seen one of these up close, so I was curious. I was a little shocked to see a pavilion full of dogs in cages, but more than a little shocked to see their owners sitting with them, in only slightly larger cages. Seriously, the animal owners are caged in along with the animals, numbered and waiting for their turn. OK, the more I think about that, the more fair it seems from the dog's perspective, but it amazes me that people want the prize enough to do this.
I was also looking forward to the sheep shearing exhibit, but the razor broke about two minutes into the demonstration, so that was that.
The highlight was definitely the horses. I'm not really a horse fan, but the horses at the Ekka were stunning. There were breeds I had never seen before, and the animals were in amazing condition. They were beautiful.
But, OK, there are two days off school coming up and we definitely do not have to go back to the Ekka. I just hope everyone else does so that we can be all alone on some quiet beach, no plumber's cracks in sight.
7/30/2011
Food
We are loving the food. There is no shortage of local, organic produce or free range chickens and eggs. Fish can be bought fresh off the boat every week at the market. The shrimps are huge. I am spoiled because in addition to excellent Australian food, all of my favorite US and UK brands are here. WOOHOO. Yes, I can get a Cadbury Flake and a bag of Doritos at the same store which I can see from my apartment. It's quite dangerous.
You've got to watch out in restaurants. They will sneak beets and/or pumpkin onto or into a lot of things. I like beets and pumpkin, but I wouldn't want them on my burger.
We went to a regional flavors festival today at the South Bank and sampled lots of the local specialties. Bought some lime and ruby grapefruit cordial (squash or saft) made locally. There were live chickens and a pig there as well, and an experimental farmer who spoke about his garden where he grows enough food for one adult to feed himself all year on 100 square meters of land. Here's a glimpse of the festival:
There are farmer's and crafts markets at South Bank most weekends, and with the artificial lagoon at Streets Beach I think we'll be spending a lot of time here:
You've got to watch out in restaurants. They will sneak beets and/or pumpkin onto or into a lot of things. I like beets and pumpkin, but I wouldn't want them on my burger.
We went to a regional flavors festival today at the South Bank and sampled lots of the local specialties. Bought some lime and ruby grapefruit cordial (squash or saft) made locally. There were live chickens and a pig there as well, and an experimental farmer who spoke about his garden where he grows enough food for one adult to feed himself all year on 100 square meters of land. Here's a glimpse of the festival:
Critters
Even though we are a quick walk from the city, it sounds like a tropical rain forest in the morning. I am useless at identifying bird calls, but they are loud and they are plentiful. I am also useless at taking photos of the critters. They move quite quickly. So, I'm linking to the most common animals we see around here:
Australian white ibis - they are not shy at all and I fear for my noodles when I picnic in the park.
Australian Brush-turkey - looks like a turkey because it is a turkey.
Cormorant
There are also lots of different kinds of herons, and our favorites: the lorikeets. A couple of days ago, two of these perched on the railing of our veranda! We are trying to figure out how we can attract them without attracting any of these:
Flying foxes (aka BATS) - we have seen a few at night, but I think bats are cool, so for now it's all OK. However, they are struggling with a virus that the bats spreading to horses and so far one dog in another suburb of Brisbane. Seems smart to avoid areas with too many of them!
Geckos - we had one visit us on our verandah, and yes I do understand that they are helpful critters but I still don't want one in my house, at least not for now. Also, ours was just light brown, not colorful like this one.
Possums - these guys are cute and playful, but they're fairly noisy and I suspect they can play havoc with a bag of garbage. We spotted one walking absolutely in sync with the kids, on a tin roof covering the walkway where they were walking completely unaware of his presence.
We have only seen one proper spider, but the people here talk about spiders and snakes incessantly. Not a single one of them has been bitten by either.
The Queensland Museum has an excellent overview of all the dangerous critters in the state. I was a bit worried to see these:
and much more disconcerted to read about a cockroach that weighs more than 2 mice!
Australian white ibis - they are not shy at all and I fear for my noodles when I picnic in the park.
Australian Brush-turkey - looks like a turkey because it is a turkey.
Cormorant
There are also lots of different kinds of herons, and our favorites: the lorikeets. A couple of days ago, two of these perched on the railing of our veranda! We are trying to figure out how we can attract them without attracting any of these:
_-Nelson_Bay_-NSW.jpg){kind=link}
Flying foxes (aka BATS) - we have seen a few at night, but I think bats are cool, so for now it's all OK. However, they are struggling with a virus that the bats spreading to horses and so far one dog in another suburb of Brisbane. Seems smart to avoid areas with too many of them!
Geckos - we had one visit us on our verandah, and yes I do understand that they are helpful critters but I still don't want one in my house, at least not for now. Also, ours was just light brown, not colorful like this one.
Possums - these guys are cute and playful, but they're fairly noisy and I suspect they can play havoc with a bag of garbage. We spotted one walking absolutely in sync with the kids, on a tin roof covering the walkway where they were walking completely unaware of his presence.
We have only seen one proper spider, but the people here talk about spiders and snakes incessantly. Not a single one of them has been bitten by either.
The Queensland Museum has an excellent overview of all the dangerous critters in the state. I was a bit worried to see these:
I also took a trip to the University of Queensland, which has a beautiful campus. There were quite a few critters there as well (mostly ducks), but I also found these trees:
Just to give you a nice close-up of those trunks (any caption suggestions?):
7/22/2011
Shooting in Oslo
We are sitting here in shock. I woke up today with three emails linking to the attacks in Oslo. It is completely unreal, and I feel for the parents of those poor children. They were most likely some of the best that Norway had to offer. An attack like this attempts to destroy everything good in society, but I believe that Norway has a solid enough foundation in freedom that it will not be undermined. I hope they have the right guy and I hope they change the law in order to punish him appropriately.
From here, I have found the New York Times to be the best source so far, although the Australian news agency is not doing a bad job either:
http://www.news.com.au/world/twin-attacks-gunman-opens-fire-on-youth-camp-car-bomb-explodes-at-pms-office/story-e6frfkz9-1226100157179
From here, I have found the New York Times to be the best source so far, although the Australian news agency is not doing a bad job either:
http://www.news.com.au/world/twin-attacks-gunman-opens-fire-on-youth-camp-car-bomb-explodes-at-pms-office/story-e6frfkz9-1226100157179
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