Gettin' busy in Brissy

What a marvelous and full week!  I am trying to decide how to inform you of my thoughts and experiences.  Perhaps with bullet-points?  Rambling?  Perhaps dividing up the things I want to say in alphabetical order or giving them themes...like colors?  Hmmmmm.  Intriguing.  Let's try it.

Red

I opened up a bank account with Westpac--which is the oldest bank in Queensland and whose logo is red.  It was there that I learned about the vast differences between credit cards here and in the USA.  Here, they seem to want to make sure that I can actually pay off the balance.  Weird!  Since I have no credit history here, I am starting from scratch.  I tried to tell them about my impressive FICO score and gave a PowerPoint presentation about all of the financial institutions that had the pleasure of having me as a customer.  I even took out some photos...one of which is me and my dad outside of a Marlboro, New Jersey bank the day that I opened up my first bank account when I eight.  But, the Aussie wouldn't budge; I would have to start from scratch.  On a side note, their "cash back" option when using a debit card at a grocery store is called EFTPOS and they refer to it as "cash out".  So now every time I want to get some cash when checking out of a grocery store, I can request that I'd like "cash out" and feel like I'm in a casino each time!  That will be fun... Speaking of gambling, "poker" here is called "pokie".  I'm not kidding; it's difficult to take the game seriously when it's called that.  Hollis, you should see if "pokie" catches on with your crew of players.   
I bought some strawberries and they were completely red throughout, versus being white in the core.  This means that they were able to ripen on the vine, before being picked and brought to my friendly neighborhood grocer.  That being said, I have found fruit to be more flavorful here.  And the garlic!  I never have had such spicy garlic before.  For those of you who know that I adore garlic, you can imagine how happy I am with that.  It's delicious!

Blue

BOTH of my library cards are blue.  I didn't purposely get two, but it turns out that I went to the wrong place initially to get registered: the State Library of Queensland.  This is a fancy place for specific microfilms, journal articles, sheet music and the like.  On a very rainy day, I left to purchase an umbrella.  Of course, I got soaked on the walk to the bus, but was successful with my purchase.  I then journeyed around West End, stopping in a book store, thrift store and whatever else I bumped into.  Before two hours was up, there was a second umbrella (for my love), a Brita water filter jug, two drinking glasses, a Lee Child book (also for my love), a glass carafe, and a new coin purse all in my backpack.  I also had a straw hat dangling from my neck--which I had bought for an upcoming tree-planting gig-- and a jacket tied around my waist.  The bookstore I had gone into announced a book club that seemed interesting.  Because books here are expensive to buy new (the one I wanted was a paperback novel and was $33!) I decided to get it from the library instead.  So, I entered the State Library to learn that I had to check my bag.  I apologized for its vast size, weight and wetness and proceeded to the fourth floor to register.  Of course, I forgot my proof of address in the pack and had to go back down to ask the nice woman behind the counter to please grab my bag so I could quickly get something, return it, and have her lug it away once again.  I got registered and left.  It wasn't until I went home to place the book-club book on hold that I realized I hadn't registered with the correct library!  So, I left the next day (packing much lighter this time) and went into a bright and colorful building downtown with a cool coffee shop on the main floor.  The people there were wonderful and I checked out a few magazine and books and placed the book club-book on hold.  Hazah!  Success!  

Green

The vast array of shades and hues of green is incredible here.  It's wonderful to see the varieties of trees, plants and grasses.  While I haven't yet truly visited the botanical gardens here, Hugo and I did go through a part when I first arrived; it was lovely!  I will go back soon and read through the little plates that are nailed into the tree which gives more information about the species.  
Something else that is striking is the choice of fruit juice at the regular grocery stores.  Currently in our fridge, we have a green juice that is made of apples and kiwis.  Doesn't that sound great?  It's pure juice (not from concentrate, no additives, etc) and they aren't expensive.  While most groceries are quite a bit more than what I'm used to paying, there are certain items that are the same in price or even cheaper than I would imagine--like the juice.  Being the label/price reader that I am, it's taking a bit longer than usual to shop for groceries as I figure out which items are more affordable and/or nutritious.  

White 

I have yet to see the white, sparkly stars at night!  That is something I was really looking forward to when I reached Queensland.  But because of the rainy/cloudy weather, it hasn't happened yet.  Oh the suspense!  
Also, the diversity here is quite striking--as Hugo mentioned in his lovely blog.  There are loads of people from Asian/Pacific countries and most of whom have dark skin.  In most of the trains/buses I've ridden, white Australians/Europeans have been the minority.  
My last tidbit involving "white" is stretching a bit...but, my friendly, Bosnian bus driver wore a white shirt yesterday.  He helped show me where to get off of the bus in order to find a bike store called 99 Bikes.  The thing is, I had passed up that stop quite a bit earlier on the initial bus out of the city center.  When looking at a bus schedule here, the words printed by the route number aren't necessarily the end of the line (as they are in maybe every other place I've lived).  SOMETIMES they are, as in the train line that goes to the Gold Coast.  But, for this bus, it wasn't so.  Yesterday morning, I walked to the 360 bus stop to check out the time it would be coming.  I saw that the "end of the line" stop was exactly the stop I needed: Wyckam Street.  How splendid!  I could just stay on the bus until the end and I would be there.  (Cue timpani drums)  When the driver on that first bus reached the end of the line, he looked at me and simply said, " 'kay".  Confused by my surroundings, I asked if it was Wyckam Street.  His face looked a bit like he had a quick, sharp pain in the temple as he informed me that we had passed that stop a long time ago.  He instructed me to take bus 470 back through town.  I smiled and thanked him for his help.  After he pulled away, I remembered that I didn't scan my bus card, which would mean that I would be charged an additional $5AUD.  Here, if you don't scan your card when you get on and off the bus, it automatically deducts that amount to make sure that people aren't trying to get out of paying their fair fare share.  So, I boarded bus 470 and had a delightful conversation with the man in the white shirt.

I'm not sure if this organization of thoughts was a good idea...but there you go!  A couple of other things you should know is that a French Coffee Press is called a "plunger" here.  Also, people here say "ta" for thank you.  I'm not sure where this comes from.  Any ideas?

I've been looking for live music venues and getting a feel for the scene here.  In two weeks, I'll be helping at this huge Bike Week and bike ride.  And tomorrow, if it isn't too rainy, I'll be planting trees with a group called Men of the Trees.  I'm pretty sure it's not only for men, but if it is...my arrival should be quite memorable.  

The sun just came out for the first time since Saturday (five days!)  I'm going to head outside.  Take care...