Goodbye Melbourne, Part 1

I'm packing things up right now, and it's very difficult. There's a little night stand of drawers that has been accumulating personal possessions since I moved in, and cleaning it out is hard. It's the little reminders, how things got there, business cards from various people I barely remember meeting, but at the same time know exactly when and where it happened. All the things on the wall that were of any permanence for me are going to be removed. I haven't been this sad to leave somewhere since my apartment on campus where I lived 3 years. This place I've only been 6 months. It's only been less than a single year that I've spent here, but it feels like so much longer. A comic last night whom I'm not particularly close, but is held in well regard commented about it. I mentioned I hadn't been here for more than a year, which surprised him. It's nice to know when someone says you've made quite the impression on people. I know that I'm missed back home. I know that. But when I left there, I knew I was coming back. This place, I probably can't. And importantly, what I return to if I do will be different. Everything will be different. I have the thought that going home will be the same, but I'm scared that it won't be. And that fear isn't that it might not be, it's a fear of the unknown. EVERYTHING IS UNKNOWN AND I'M BLOODY SICK OF IT.

I went out with Stacey today for dumplings. I commented on how I don't even know where I would go to get dumplings in Minneapolis, though I just developed a taste for them locally so recently. When we finished eating we got McDonalds 30 cent ice cream cones and sat in the sun in the CBD. We chatted a bit, and a busker started setting up near our bench. He was drinking a Coke. While relatively inconsequential, it looked good and I thought about the balloon shop on La Trobe and Elizabeth where I frequented first because it was near the hostel, and later near Salmat. I got to know the proprietor over the various months. Eddy. He's a chatty guy, and so am I, so we eventually started talking. The first time was when he noticed my change purse. It's weird how in a situation full of unknown people who are always shifting in and out of your life, sometimes just a man who owns a balloon store can bring immense comfort. I also know that he's a good human being; one time I saw a homeless man who lives nearby come in with his change, and Eddy swapped him for actual notes. It's that kind of small inteaction that made me like him in the first place.
I suggested that we go to the store, so that I could say goodbye to Eddy, knowing full well that he may not be there. But sure enough, there he was. You don't neccesarily know how your life will be affected by change until it happens.

I wish I didn't have to leave.

Right now I'm off to join some mates at the pub. I sold my bicycle today, so it's going to take a while to get there, but I'm quite keen to go.

Living and Alcohol

3/10/13 2pm local time.

I've been in this country for over two weeks now, and I'm still jobless and homeless. That's not to say I don't have a place to stay, but a hostel is not a home. I'm actually back in Hotel Discovery tonight. It's the hostel I've been staying at for the past 2 weeks here, but they were complete full last night. In fact, every hostel in town was full. There was a big music festival in town. While I chose Melbourne because it's a worldly city with lost going on, it's getting pretty fucking annoying that there's something that brings in tons of people each weekend, and the hostels get overbooked. Next week is Formula 1 racing, and it's raising the prices of the hostels in town, so I may do some traveling instead of being here. Anyways, bringing it back to my predicament last night, I had to stay at a hotel in South Yarra, a nearby suburb just south of the Yarra River. It was actually a really nice hotel that if I were on a regular vacation I would stay at. I stayed with a friend I met at Discovery, and it was still $60 each, but seeing as how a hotel alone would have cost me $100 it was the right choice. I have to say it was nice to get away from the hostel life, if only for a night. The hotel had a mini fridge in the room, in room bathroom, and there was rooftop pool which had a great view of the city. I finally got to drink the bottle of beer I bought on my first day in Australia. The hostel doesn't allow outside alcohol, and I'd been itching to drink it. The beer was a pale ale, and god was it good. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually really miss IPAs since getting here. Drinking beer with a strong hop flavor is not a common occurrence here, and it reminds me of home. I want to point out that it's not that aren't available here, they are, but they're a lot less common in bars and not particularly common in stores. Craft beers are also significantly more expensive here. Well, not just craft beers, all alcohol. It's actually pretty ridiculous. Back home, you can get a 375mL of Bacardi for about $9, but here you're looking at $24 for that exact same bottle (well, not exactly the same. It's Cuban, not Puerto Rican. Embargo'd!) What most people do at the bar is buy pitchers (they call them jugs) of Carlton or VB (Victoria Bitters, I think). They're like your typical lager; think Bud or Miller. I can't tell if they're good or not. I'm quite fond of them, but there's a distinct possibility that it's because beer is served cold and this country has been very hot lately. You can get a pitcher for usually about $15, but I've seen them for as low as $10. A pint usually runs about $7 or $8, but they sell half pints for less, usually like $5. I got a shot of tequila (José Cuervo) at a nearby bar the other day for $8.50, and btw, shots are only 30mL here instead of about 50mL back home. The thing about alcohol here is though that bars aren't exceptionally more expensive than liquor stores. If you want to buy a 24 pack of beer, you're looking at about $50. Everywhere sells beer by the individual bottle, which cheap beers typically run about $3 for about 12oz (sizes range here a bit more with the metric system. Some are 375mL, some are 330mL). A common thing people do in the hostel is buy a box of Goon, which is, you guessed it, cheap boxed wine, and drink in the park. It runs about $10 for 4 liters, and supposed to be completely terrible. I personally have stuck to beer for my park drinking though.

Some friends are leaving today. It's a bit of strange life. They're going to other cities within Australia, so I may meet up with them later, but I'm not looking forward to having to make new friends. The hostel isn't great at fostering connections, which doesn't help. But even just meeting new people all the time gets to be a hassle. Here's how a conversation goes with every new person at the hostel: Where are you from? I'm from the US. Oh, where in the US? Minneapolis, do you know where that is? Ok, do you know where Chicago is? Ok, it's in the north middle part of the country. What did you do back home? What brings you here?
I realize that this won't end even after I leave the hostel, but hopefully less common and more one-sided.

One more side note before I post (I'm losing focus...), I'm starting to get sick of sushi. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but it's one of the cheapest foods here, and it's practically everywhere. They make it goofy too. I know I've talked about it a little bit, with the hand rolls and all (it's still weird, but it's growing me), but they also have weird kinds, like rolls with egg, and cooked chicken and beef. I know they have most of them at home, but I get the impression that they're less common. Here they're everywhere.
And having written all that, I think I'm gonna go get some sushi.