David Down Under - Back to the States

Well I'm back in Oregon. I normally try and keep these things fairly upbeat but I'm going to be completely honest.  I really don't want to be here. 

The day before I left, Vlad and I went to a dessert cafe called Chocolate Tree.  It lived up to its name.  I drank probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had and devoured a chocolate and strawberry waffle.  The sugar coma was great.

The next day we headed into town for some last minute souvenir shopping and Vlad had to go to a class.  Later that night we went out with Charlotte to a few bars.  Adelaide sure is wild on Tuesdays (sarcasm is hard to come across in writing) but it was a good time.  The rest of the night we stayed up, officially making this a tradition (we stayed up all night before Vlad left the US).

From the first day I got to Australia, I felt at home.  Australia is kind of like a hybrid of the US and the UK.  More specifically, from the time I spent in Adelaide, parts of it almost felt like a bigger version of Fort Collins.  I love it. 

It's not only the big things like getting to see my best friend everyday or traveling around doing incredible things that I'm going to miss, it's also a lot of the small things.  For example, I'm eating Tim Tams and watching Kath and Kim while writing this.  Won't be able to do that much longer.  When I woke up this morning (or night because my sleep is so off) I was craving an ice coffee and a meat pie.  Also seeing completely different wildlife than I'm used to like birds and possums (and Ziggy).
 

As bummed as I am to be back, what a unique experience this was. Yes, I was in Australia and got to go to 4 states which was amazing enough as it is but I also got to live with an Australian family for roughly a month.  Not only that but I got glimpses of Serbian life as well since they are Serbian.  Not many people get the chance to live with a family from another country and see day to day life.  Because of this, the only people I met were Australian (I only talked to 1 American the whole time which was wonderful). 

So some things that have really confused me about the US now that I've been to Australia:

• Chip and pin cards.  Seriously, why is this not a thing here yet?  The card I used had a chip but no pin which made it a crap shoot if it would work in machines.  I'm pretty sure the US is one of the only places in the world to not have this.
• Metro cards in Portland.  How is it that a city which is supposed to be ultra green and environmentally friendly still uses paper tickets for public transit?  Spend a little money and put in card readers!
• Censorship on TV.  People swear on Australian TV all the time.  I think some of it has to do with the time the show is airing but TV in the US is so restricted with what is allowed to be said/shown.  Lighten up!
• Tim Tams.  Not much else to be said.  Why do we not have these?
• Rounding up change.  There's no equivalent to a penny in Australia.  Their smallest coin is five cent.  If something costs $5.99, you give $6. 
• Kind of on the same line, they include their "sales tax" in the price so you know what you'll pay when you get to the register.
• For fear of starting a debate, I'm just going to say the minimum wage in Australia is $17.29... 
• Airport security. 
• Radio stations are way better.

I don't want to sound like I'm completely hating on the US so there are a few things I do like in comparison:

• Customer service is much more a thing here.
• Everything is cheaper (but let's think about minimum wage again...).
• People in general are a little more aware of things they say
• You can use your card pretty much anywhere on anything without charges.
• Being able to buy heaps of different things in the same store.

No words will ever be enough to say this properly but a massive thanks to the whole Zecevic clan who are some of the nicest, genuine, funny, and friendly people I have ever met.  Giving me a bed to stay in, copious (and I mean copious) amounts of food, driving and picking me up from the airport and other places, the list of thank yous goes on and on.  I feel like I have a new home/family now and will 100% be back.

Also, this is kind of weird but it was on my mind.  Thanks to CSU.  Without that school, I would never have met Vlad which means I probably would never have done any of this.  That and they don't put expiration dates on their student IDs and I got away with saving a ton of money using mine on concession tickets because of it.

Start of the shrine

The jet lag hit pretty hard coming back which has made me stay up all night thinking about some scenarios.  If certain things go according to plan, I will be returning a whole lot sooner than I originally thought...

That's it for David Down Under (I cringe every time I read that)...for the moment.

That's all for now.  Bye.


Oh wait one more thing!  I completely forgot to post this when it got put up but here's the little video Vlad and I filmed in Sydney.



Ok now that's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Melbourne

On Thursday last week we made the quick 50ish minute flight over to Melbourne.  Vlad's friend, Emily, has a place there and offered to let us stay with her and pick us up from the airport.  That was amazing!

Emily, along with her roommate Alma, Vlad, and I headed into the city on Friday to wander around. Melbourne doesn't really have any big monuments to see but the city itself is just neat.  We grabbed "a feed" at this little cafe that had amazing chicken burgers.  Apparently one of the things to do in Melbourne is walk down a small alley and eat.  The alley was lined with restaurants and in the middle were tables.  Everything was fairly cramped but it was fun and delicious.

Restaurants on the side, eating in the middle

That night Vlad and I would be headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see another game of AFL football. Before heading to the game, we stopped at this really cool bar called Goldilocks recommended by my sister's friend's fiancé who is from Melbourne.  We had to go through a Chinese restaurant and up 4 floors in a lift to get into the bar.  The second floor of the bar was a rooftop and offered some amazing views of the close in city. Sadly the wind made it freezing cold but the outdoor heaters helped.

Goldilocks

We then made the walk to the footy.  The stadium was huge and packed. The atmosphere along with the game made for a good time.  Being fairly tired on the way back, we got on the wrong train and ended up pretty far from where we needed to be.  Unfortunately trains had stopped going in the other direction but Emily was amazing and came to pick us up.  Vlad and I have traveled together consecutively for about a month’s worth of time and this was our biggest mess up.  That's pretty good if I do say so myself.

Beer, pie, and footy.  Can't get much better than this

Back in town on Saturday, we headed to the art museum followed by the Eureka Sky Tower.  The tower is the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere and goes up 88 stories.  The view was pretty amazing.  

That night we had a big and great time out in Melbourne. 

Sunday was a little bit of a slow start due to the night before but we eventually got back to town and wandered around.  We ended up going to the Royal Crown Casino to check it out since it's the largest casino in the Southern Hemisphere.  Now if you've read any of my other travel blog things you'll know that everywhere I go, there's some sort of torrential downpour or snowstorm.  I thought I was going to get away without it happening in Australia but unfortunately on the walk to the casino, it poured.  Luckily it stopped for our way back but wow we got wet. 

Our flight back to Adelaide was early the next day and Emily was able to take us back to the airport.  Massive thanks to Emily and Alma for being awesome and letting us stay with them and showing us around Melbourne!

 That's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Eating Kangaroo

Oh wow I have been really bad about updating this.  My thing is I don't write these if I don't feel like doing it and I was having such a good time, that was the case.  The urge is back.  There will be three of these coming out close together.  Starting with what happened 2 weeks ago...

After watching a footy game two Saturday's ago, Vlad and I headed to his friend's 21st birthday dinner.  The place was called The Jungle and was similar to a Brazilian style grill.  The servers brought out meat on skewers and carved it onto our plate which was absolutely delicious.  After being stuffed, we headed into town for the night.

On Monday, we took a quick drive to Mount Lofty and went for a hike.  The view at the top was pretty amazing and allowed us to see all of Adelaide. 

Radelaide

Wednesday night we went on a mission to eat kangaroo.  We found a place that had a platter of kangaroo, beef, crocodile, prawns, and something else that I can't remember.  The restaurant is unique.  They bring out the meat raw and give you a really hot stone to cook it on yourself at the table.  Because all the meat was on the same surface, everything kind of tasted like beef but it was all delicious and a fun way to eat. 

After food we went in search of a drink Vlad's friend had told him about.  When we got to the bar and asked about it, the bartender basically said it was disgusting.  In lieu of, we got really fancy cocktails that rich business people usually get (so not us).  They were quite tasty but I don't think I've ever spent that much on a beverage before (thankfully the U.S. Dollar is strong).  From there, we went to a relaxed bar and had a few more wallet friendly beers.

Fancy fancy

Saturday night after more footy, we went out again with Vlad's awesome friend Charlotte.  Good times. 

That's all for now.  Bye.