An Election About Nothing?

You know how people often refer to Seinfeld as being about nothing? Well, that is the unfortunate nickname the 2013 Australian 'Seinfeld' federal election, which will take place this Saturday, is earning for itself. Being the good political science graduate that I am, I've been trying to understand as much as I can about Australian politics and the upcoming election. This is what I've gathered so far...

The country has two main parties:

Labour
The left-ish party that is currently in power. It's led by Kevin Rudd, the current Prime Minister of Australia. Funnily enough this is his second time leading the party; he was ousted in 2010 by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, then he came back and did the same to her three years later. He's wildly unpopular for a host of reasons: he isn't all that personable, he's instated some unpopular taxes and one time he made a flight attendant cry. While the party's policies seem okay to me, I question whether Rudd is an effective leader and don't think he's a good choice for Prime Minister.

Liberal
The more right-wing of the two main parties. The Liberals currently form a Coalition with several other center-right Australian parties. The party is led by Tony Abbott, known in political cartoons for his comically large ears. Abbott's main promises seem to be taking an even harder line on asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat (where thousands of people, most of them refugees, arrive each year) as well as scrapping taxes on carbon emissions and mining profits. He's also against same-sex marriage. He reminds me a lot of George Bush: much of what he says makes him sound terribly stupid and many people really seem to hate him (see the photos I took below). That being said, polls predict he will be Australian's next Prime Minister. Bit scary if you ask me, but so was Bush becoming President. Twice.

So it's basically looking like one of these two parties, neither of which seem to have platforms that will make any major positive changes, is going to win. The Australians I've spoken to seem genuinely uncertain as to who they will vote for. We'll see what happens on Saturday!

Anti-Abbott sentiments being expressed in Melbourne

P.S. Obviously I can't vote but if I could, I'd vote Green, a party who prioritizes issues I think matter the most in Australia: environmental sustainability, indigenous reconciliation and welcoming more refugees. Plus, the leader is female!

Countdown to Awesome

When living in a flat as crap as ours, the cons (mold everywhere, an ant-infested bathroom and and a kitchen-roaming rodent, to name a few) far outweigh the pros. The place is in such bad shape that it's basically going to be torn down in a few weeks, which means that one pro of living there is that we can draw on the walls (something the kid in me has always wanted to do) without enraging our landlord. This, combined with the fact we don't own a calendar, has led Ben and I to draw a 'countdown to awesome' on the wall of our bedroom.

'Awesome' will entail:

- Quitting our jobs and leaving Melbourne

- Renting a camper and traveling around Victoria for a week, namely Wilson's Prom National Park and the Great Ocean Road

- Spending a little over a week in Fiji, which looks like it'll be absolute paradise

- Flying home to Canada to visit my family!

Needless to say we're both pretty excited. Although a large part of me is sad to be leaving a pretty sweet job in a city that I love and feel at home in, I'm also really looking forward to change things up a little and break away from a routine.

We also drew some suns, for good measure.

So to sum up... less than three weeks 'til awesome. I can't wait!!!

Fair Dinkum, Sheila!

A couple of weeks ago at work while mulling over lunch options, a customer asked me if we the cheese we use in our sandwiches is tasty. I confidently told her that yes, I thought our cheese was quite tasty and that I eat it myself all the time. Apparently dissatisfied with my response she asked again if it was tasty cheese, emphasizing the word tasty. Confused, I told her yet again that I thought our cheese was very tasty. Appearing just as confused as I was, she seemed to give up and just ordered a sandwich.

Bewildered, I told the story to my boss. "What a ridiculous question! What other kind of cheese is there other than tasty - disgusting?!" I said, and he started to laugh. When I asked him what was so funny, he told me that tasty cheese is a TYPE of cheese in Australia, not an adjective meaning cheese that tastes good. 

Oh. Now the customer's confusion made perfect sense to me.

This is just one example of several linguistic misunderstandings I've experienced since being in Australia. Here are some other new (and sometimes very confusing) words and phrases I've encountered:

how you going = how are you
ie. "Hey, how you going?

too easy = no problem
ie. "So just the two lattes for you guys? Too easy!"
(This one really got me at first. When I ordered something at a cafe and a waiter replied with 'too easy' I thought, well do you want me to order something more difficult?!)

doona = comforter
ie. "Australian winters are cold (ha!) so it's important to have a warm doona."

vego = vegetarian
ie. "I don't eat meat, I'm a vego."

reckon = think/suggest

ie. "It's such a nice day out, I reckon we should head to the beach."

globe = lightbulb

ie. "This room is really dim, we need to buy a new globe."
(This made trying to buy a lightbulb pretty difficult at first.)

avo = avodcado
ie. "Would you like some avo on your sandwich?"
(Australians are notorious for shortening words. This is a perfect example!)

arvo = afternoon

ie. "What are you doing this arvo?"
(The 'r' in arvo is silent, so I always think people are asking me what I'm doing this avocado instead of this afternoon.)

ta = thank you

ie. (after someone hands you your change) "Ta!"

mackers = McDonalds
ie. "Do you guys wanna get a burger at mackers later?"

bathers = swimsuit
ie. "Let's put on our bathers and go swimming!"

footie = Australian Rules football
ie. "Want to go watch the footie tomorrow?"

ripper/rip snorter = great, awesome
ie. "The footie game last night was a rip snorter!"
(This one still makes me laugh.)

heaps = a lot

ie. "Come on over for dinner, we have heaps of food."

A beautiful but confusing place.

Like I said, it can be confusing. Learning new words in a language that is supposedly my mother tongue is definitely a bit strange, but  I 'reckon' I've got a pretty good hang of it by now!

But We're So Happy

A few nights ago I went to see Of Monsters and Men perform here in Melbourne. It was an awesome gig and all of their songs were fantastic but one in particular, 'From Finner', has a line in it that just says it all for me:

"We are far from home, but we're so happy"

I've been far from home for a while now. I've dealt with a fair number of sticky situations on this trip and there are plenty of people from home I miss on a regular basis... but I'm still so happy.

This trip has allowed me to see parts of the world I'd long dreamed of seeing, to learn about things and try exotic foods I probably wouldn't have otherwise, while meeting countless friendly faces along the way. Even when the going has gotten a bit rough, I've never truly wanted to be anywhere else but on the road.

Like I said, I'm so happy.

A Royal Market

Ben and I spent our Tuesday off wandering around the Victoria Market, which has become one of our favourite spots in Melbourne.

Wide selection of delicious food

Fresh local produce

The American doughnut van, which always has a massive queue!

Sequin uggs... very questionable if you ask me

 

Located right downtown - skyscrapers in the background!

The result of today's market excursion? A scrumptious lunch of smoked salmon and cream cheese, basil and pesto dip, parmesan stuffed olives, triple cream brie, sourdough baguette and strawberries, all enjoyed on a beautiful sunny day on the bank of the Yarra River. Perfection.

Words from a Monk

Although I find blogging the best way to share my travel stories and photos, I'm still very much a pen and paper kind of girl. Since I began this trip nearly 10 months ago I have been using a planner, rather than my iPhone, to keep track of various things like flight dates, how much money I've been spending and useful phrases in foreign languages.

The other day while flipping through said planner, I came across a page with a short yet meaningful message written way back in December. It was from Sony, a monk I befriended in Siem Reap. Reading his words couldn't help but remind me just how random and wonderful traveling can be, something that hasn't been on my mind as much since I've started working rather than traveling.

Before leaving home there were many things I never thought I would do: dance in the street to celebrate the 80th birthday of a woman I just met, participate in a Taiko drumming class, take part in the world's biggest water fight or make friends with a monk (more than one in fact) but I did. Travel can be challenging, tiring and frustrating but if you keep an open mind, you will undoubtedly be rewarded with countless memorable experiences like the ones mentioned above.

Thanks for the reminder Sony.