Hailing a bus from the wrong side of the road



Aussie cookies AKA biscuits

Me with a wallaby at the Wildlife Park

Despite the many similarities between Oz and the U.S. and despite the fact that I spend most of my time just feeling like I might be in a very far away part of the U.S., there are some wonderful moments when I know I truly am on the other side of the world.  Some of those times have been when I forget how the time change works and call home to wake my parents up at 5 a.m. or when I tried to buy contact solution and could only find it at the chemist (pharmacist).  But then there are instances such as when I walked into a meeting with a researcher to find a baby wallaby nestled in a sling hanging off the back of a chair.  The joey had been orphaned with a broken leg and the researcher, along with his partner, were nursing her back to health before she could be released back into the wild, much as we do with birds and deer and rabbits and such in the States.  Of course there are also many times when I am reminded how much of a tourist I still am, despite being a student and trying to blend in.  These times have come when I try to pay with two 50 cent pieces, thinking they are 25 cents like our quarters, or when I try to hail a bus from the wrong side of the road and wonder why they don't stop.  And then there are those moments when I just have no idea what someone is saying to me because of the different slang they use here.  These things are all combining to make this experience so much more than it would be otherwise, I would not trade one misunderstanding or unexpected incident for the world and I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for me.