The first pictures

Hi hi!

This time not a lot of text (in one week time nothing special has happened) but instead the first pictures to give you some impressions.

But some things I want to share with you:

RAIN is a big issue here. Did you know that there are screens along the highway mentioning how many milliliters of rain have fallen that day? The first days after I had arrived I really found these Australians bit weird asking each other how many "mills" it had rained. While we start the day with complaining about the rain they start it by cheering when they had lots of mills the last day. It let me realize how precious water actually is and that all of us should be cautiousl when using water.

KYLIE MINOGUES BUTTOCKS is really a normal phenomenon here. Girls are wearing shorts we would not even dare to wear on holiday, so short, on campus. Same for their dresses ánd they like make-up and big fancy sunglasses. After showering after sports class they take their huge beauty case and start their make-over which made me feel very ordinary next to them Their clothing style is let us say 'special' and I am happy that I let my own clothes send over because I did not saw a 'normal' clothing shop yet. It is or too chicky or very classical. Interesting that styles can be so different just because it is another part of the world.

EMPTY is what best describes Australia compared to Belgium at least. I went on my first discovery tour the previous weekend and although it was a Saturday afternoon I almost met nobody! You pass some other bikers, you see some cars but mainly you are alone. Only when you enter the city or you cross a big avenue, you can get a Brussels feeling. Today I drove to Hackett where I will stay from Thursday onwards (one day later as they told me before because of the Melbourne Cup Day, which is a big horse race seemingly because we get a public holiday for it on the third) so that I know my way already. Well, the bike trails are very good. It are separate tarmac roads, through the woods, along the creek and every time you cross a street there are signs to tell you which direction you should go on. There are only few of these bike trails thus options are restricted. I followed "Dickson Shops". That is such another strange thing, we can almost not imagine: there are not everywhere shops around! Only some districts have a shopping area and the others not (except from one or three little supermarkets which sell the most important stuff) which gives funny road signs saying "shops". If we did that in Belgium we would end up with an even bigger hole in the state finances . But what was most striking was the absence of lights along the bike trail. This means I will have to leave before dark otherwise I end up in the 'bush' in the dark which does not sound attractive to me.

LITTLE EUROPE is how they see us or that is the impression I get when reading the newspaper. Stunning how different newspapers can be. Here you find lot of news on the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and all problems with the immigrants from Sri Lanka and totally not a neighbour but of course the UK. Europe is not a big thing, I read about the Democratic Republic of Congo as being a former French colony and that we can not manage our immigrants in contrast to their excellent strategy (which is now questioned under the new prime-minister, if I understood well).

Really interesting to observe all these differences, to realize that all the things you find 'normal' are not so normal for others. Since my work has still not started here and I am getting nervous, I will try to relax and take this stay (also) as an experience, a personal enrichment.

Big hugs,

Nele

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