Discovered the snowy mountain tops of Australia, wasn´t disappointed!

Skiing. The first things that pop into my head are pine trees, rough snowy mountain, apfelstrudel and hot chocolate. In Australia things are different. Think dead dry trees, well-rounded mountain in faded green and brown colour with white dots of snow.

But let´s not get ahead of things to much. Because this well-deserved long and intense weekend started off on Friday. Coincidentally I had a snowball, that is a ball organized by all the unis´ ski clubs. I got myself involved into this by my roomie, poor me. I won´t waste too many words on this ball, all I can share is that it was an open bar and there were 600 uni students; you fill out the rest. Oh, the hero of the night was this guy: 

After this full-on ball I spent Saturday chilling around the house and went into the city later to try out my newly acquired DSLR camera. I strolled around CBD trying out some of the cafés on my never-ending ´to visit list´ and passed through my favourite lane ways admiring the ever-changing street art. Upon reaching FedSquare I was faced with a large blue crowd; The Bulldogs. It is Footy Final time. I made most of the opportunity and put my camera to good use to capture this part of Aussie culture. 

Back to the skiing story. I woke up after just a few hours of sleep on Sunday morning and made my way Dandenong station to meet Emma who would drive us up to mountain. It was a very luckily morning since the uber drive waved to fee we agreed upon; win! After road tripping for three hours we arrived on Mt buller. 1805 meters above sea level makes it one of the highest tops in Australia. 

 I would have never Imagined I would go skiing in Australia but I can´t be grateful enough to my homie Kelly for inviting me. Going up this mountain give me the oh-so beloved feeling of travelling, a feeling of exploration and discovery. The feeling of travelling gets lost in the daily routine I am experiencing here; it makes me forget I am 16.000 kilometers from home. Skiing down with views of iconic Australian mountains made me realize again that I am on a different continent. 

Kelly, being the awesome person she is, invited me to stay in the staff accomodation where the liftees and ski instructors sleep as well. Me, being the lucky basterd I am, happened to have come on one of the last days of the season. Staff Party was on. But before heading off to the single bar in the village it was time for ´bonza´ or in normal language. Watching the sunset from a ski lift. Seeing the sun paint to sky in palate of red colours once again re-assured me how lucky I am to be in Australia. 

There are simply so many pieces that fall into place which have enabled me to experience that. It is my sister going to San Francisco and meeting Kelly, it is my study career coach and the placement team of uni giving ever-lasting support in finding the right placement for me, and it is my placement supervisor being super flexible so I can make the best of my Australia experience. And so much more. 

Next weekend I will be on the road again, literally. The Great Ocean Road awaits, 4 days, thousands of kilometers and endless beach. I am ready. 

Melting into Melbourne

Just like many travel blogs, I will start this one with stating that I haven't written in a while. It's been roughly a month. I haven't done so mainly because I live in a ubercool house now in West-Melbourne with three flatmates. In my first house I used to spent a lot of my time by my self in my room on my laptop, I now chill on the couch and watch family-guy - definitely an improvement. 

201 Stanley St.

Day's are still crammed up with working and I love it. I am challenged every day and it is a great exhaust for my energy and creativity. It has already been eight weeks meaning a third of my placement, and my overall stay in Australia is almost over. These two months have given me plenty of time to meet new people and make new friends. Moving to a share house with other students played a big role in that. For me making friends in a new place works like the snowball effect; throwing epic house parties also helps heaps. 

Sunset beaming on Docklands

On the days I am not working I try to meet these people and do snobby Melburnian things, like having ocean trout and an entire soft shell crab for brunch. This city provides me with endless opportunities to gaze away at stunning interior design, impressive menus and obviously the best coffee. Brunch is not some avocado mash spread on toast with a poached egg. It is having Brulée French toast with passionfruit labné, poached mandarin, macademia crumble and white chocolate ganache. . One obviously doesn't eat this at franchised high-street joint, no it is the indie cafe's hidden in Melbourne's laneways. Besides the jar-dropping food it is also the interior design that inspires me, it is very genuine. These places don't try to be hip, they define hip. Brunch really is at the core of each Melburnian, and I quickly starting to melt into one as well.

Hidden treasures in the laneways

 This was something I didn't expect to happen so easily. Close to the only expectation I had of Australians was ‘laid-back and easy-going’ with a funny accent. Upon arrival it soon became clear that this stereotype, as expected, was not accurate. Expecting the unexpected worked out well here, mainly because the term ‘Australians’ was undefined to me. The obvious thought was: ‘Australians are the people living in Australia’. In my head an expression like this relates to an ethnic group; in this case Caucasians. This thought is derived from my own ethnic back ground: Dutch. Although there is a significant migrant influx in The Netherlands, the majority of its population are indigenous. Only relatively recent migrants have started moving into The Netherlands and integrating into the culture and country.

Street art never seems to stop amazing me

In the case of Australia, it is the other way around. The Indigenous community is very small and the migrant community forms the majority of the population. Migration to Australia started when the land was discovered by European conquerors around 300 years ago. Ever since, people from different corners of the world have migrated to Australia in large numbers. This makes Australia an ethnically diverse country without any ethnic majority. The ethnical diversity creates a religious and cultural diversity as well. Therefore making statements about Australians in general is very hard. However, as far as my experience can tell: Yes, Australia is quite ‘laid-back and easy going’. But this is, once again, relative. Compared to The Netherlands it is more ‘relaxed’ here, but compared to, for example, Costa Rica, it is less ‘relaxed’. This is why describing cultural differences is difficult; it is relative to someone’s heritage culture; because that is the benchmark.

Impressive interior design at The Vertue of the Coffee Drink

Culture remains to be very interesting to me, once again I discover new things about my own culture whilst living in a different one. It is generally known that Dutch people can be very direct, I have always assumed that this trait is not thát present in my personality. This very same trait faced me a couple of days ago whilst having a conversation with a co-worker. I was curiously asking questions about a topic and she deemed this to be very European; I had never realised. Something as simple as the way of asking questions can differ from culture to culture and it is something you wouldn't easily notice unless it is put straight into your face.

The benefits of 'settling down'.

                                                                                                                   20/07/15 - 22:26

The four week mark has come as rapidly as I expected it to be. The 'Holiday Feeling' of moving to a new country has faded away, also as expected. I must admit I haven't been outside the city yet and I can imagine that seeing kangaroos and koala's will definitely bring this feeling back. Hopefully I get the see the jolly jumpers somewhere in the next 2-3 weeks. Other additional benefits of 'getting settled' are the regulation of expenses, routine and personal development. 

      Sunset at Albert Park

Regulation of expenses speaks for it self. I do groceries like normal people do, I make my morning Single Estate Nicaraguan Juan Santa María in my Cup2Go (Cheap version of KeepCup, you may judge) and I sneak in some cookies from time to time. Routine involves working casual days in the office and F&B shifts around that, on top of that come after work runs, Tuesday Taekwondo, and beers in the weekends. 

                                                           Street art at Hozier Lane

As a person who is driven by change and novelty routine always seemed like the end of days to me. But routine brings me to the last benefit of getting settled: personal development. In my routine I devote most of my time to soaking up information at my internship and that has shown me new skills and opened many new doors already. Furthermore I have adapted a fairly new life-style to support this devotion; I've become decently healthy. Routine allows me to focus on a few things only and that is showing results.

Deli Shop at the Queen Victoria Markers

Back in the Netherlands my life support existed of beer, pizza, kebab and occasionally a ready-made salad. Only once or twice a week me or my room mate would gather the energy to get of to couch to make a decent pasta or risotto, grabbing a beer from the 'beerfridge' on the way to the kitchen. Throw in a few nights of going out a week and you'll have the recipe for a pretty neat student life; I loved it. 

Carlton Gardens on a cold winter morning

As mentioned earlier I love change. Changing from the laid-back student life to the hard-working office life doesn't make a difference in that. Thus far I haven't thought a single moment of missing the 'lazy life', I might do in the future. I suppose that, for me personally, development is hugely boosted when I am challenged and thrown in the deep. On top of that change will keep me excited. Sounds a bit like a formula for a 'happy life' doesn't it? I'll see how I feel about that in a week or two. 

Iconic CBD at nightfall

The Foundation

Time has passed rapidly over the last 2 weeks, I have spent most of my time trying very hard to build the foundations of my Australian life. First and foremost I have physically discovered my new home; Melbourne. Especially the first three or four days; I must have walked over 50 kilometres. I have explored CBD, block after block, looking up to the high-rise, getting lost in a 7 story train station and wandering around endless shopping malls.

CBD Seen from the South Bank 

But the CBD has more to offer than the concrete jungle: there are the little alley ways & beautiful gardens, the street artists & the crowd, the Asian stores & the old churches, the abundant fast food franchises & the endless numbers of hipster espresso bars. CBD has it all. But CBD is only a tiny part of the city, the diversity of Melbourne is endless. The other neighbourhoods I explored and adored are Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood, St. Kilda, South Bank and more. The first three neighbourhoods streets are filled with contemporary art galleries, organic shops, hipster bars, and an accumulation of other ‘never seen before shops’. And, not to be forgotten, coffee roasters! The side streets connecting these neighbourhoods are artistically painted by both colourful colonial houses and funky street art. 

Old school houses in Fitzroy

St. Kilda is the hood next to the beach and I have been told it has a large concentration of hippies, I certainly loved it when I was there for Friday night drinks. South bank offers a completely different picture; just across the Yarra river from CBD lies another set of high-rise buildings, among others the Aurora Tower, rising over 300 meters into the clouded skies. Part of the South bank is the South Wharf Promenade, a stunning boulevard along the river lined up with fine-dining restaurants and classy pubs. The point of full extase of this little stroll is reached at ‘Crowne’, the Southern Hemisphere's largest entertainment centre, including huge fireballs; yes, I went there, yes I lost playing poker.

                                                                                    South Bank's High-rise

On top of these places there is so much more to be seen, every neighbourhood has its charm and little shops and markets. Side note: Best market ever: Queen Victoria Markets. Melbourne’s ‘burbs’ also stretch very, VERY far. I never Imagined driving over an hour on the freeway and still being told that we are in the ‘Inner Suburbs’.

What stood out most so far to me where not specifically to places in the city, it were, and still are, the people. I have always thought The Netherlands was a truly multi-cultural place, but compared to Melbourne that image simply diminished. It is true that The Netherlands hosts over 180 (?) cultures, but in day to day life this cultures are being generalized or given little attention to, in my perspective that is. In Melbourne cultures don’t have to fit in, they are being enabled to stand out. Everybody is a foreigner here. Except for aboriginals, but that is an topic I hope to be able to address later.

An demonstration against forced closure of Aboriginal communities

Another crucial part of founding my Australian life is surrounding myself with friends; everybody craves belonging. I have been very fortunate to have met a Melburnian back in Europa who has warmly welcomed me in her family and circle of friends; for which I'm very grateful. And going out with fellow Dutch students has been great as well, discussing culture from your own culture's perspective never loses its charm. But the shift from being constantly surrounded by friends back home to living by myself with a Chinese family in a 10 sqm room has been rougher than I expected.

Melbourne central train station

Heartbreak plays a role in that as well. For a big part novelty has been able to cover up for this but now that things are starting to settle I will have to fill some holes. The gaping hole of heartbreak won’t be easy to cover up, and I neither expect that to happen nor am I actively looking to do so. But friends can be found all over the world, something I have gladly experienced many times before. In Costa Rica the kick starter for my circle of friends were both high school and Taekwondo, the latter had great benefits in my Costa Rican life. I am hoping it will do so again.