The Taste of Vegemite

Aussie life saving tip for the day…

            Just imagine you are walking down the sidewalk on any normal day, the hot Aussie sun beating down on your back, and you come up on this person a little ways off that’s walking in the opposite direction as you.  Put your mind there for a second and let’s say you are both walking at about… 4 miles per hour, so rather brisk. You see they have their head down, on their phone or something, and your automatic reaction is to go to the right side of the sidewalk right? WRONG. I tried that a couple times here and you just continue walking on towards an 8mph head on collision wondering “When the heck are they going to move??” And then you get to that point in closeness when you realize, this person isn’t moving and so you decide to switch sides to avoid ending in an awkward, confused, and utterly surprised pile of Aussie-Americaness. Only, about this time, they look up as well and, noting your proximity to them, leap over to the opposite side right again into your path.  It’s even more awkward while this whole thing happens when you are staring each other right in the face….

            Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road here, they walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk as well! Sheesh :). So, just to save you any embarrassment that I may have unfortunately encountered first hand… more than once… from now on you walk on the left. 

            My week began off rather dull I might confess, the hours spent not doing homework during the weekend catching up to me and manifesting as hours sitting in my room researching and writing scientific papers.  But fortunately for me, things picked up rather quickly. 

            The other Julia and I were able to meet up during one of my wide open days for coffee and lunch where we decided to start up a weekly meeting and Bible study time looking at the book of Job.  Super excited for that! We also got to have a rather sped up walk about the local botanical gardens at Palmetum.  It was so beautiful!  We didn’t have much time to really do a good walk about but I think we will be heading back there sometime soon for a much more thorough tour.           

The beginning of the tropical walk at Palmetum

             On a side note, when I read the sign about “Flying Fox’s” at the gardens, for some odd reason the first thing that came to mind was this fuzzy little squirrel like thing that flies around lookin’ for… NOPE. It’s not. Maybe at first glance this thing looks like an ordinary, fuzzy little squirrel, but then it unfurls its massive wings and you learn that this thing is in fact a gigantic bat. A flying fox is VERY different from a flying squirrel. Just so you know.  And I of all people should know things like this being a Wildlife Biology major and all.  But hey, we can’t all be perfect right?

Them's be Flying Fox's.

            I also got to have a kangaroo consuming party with a friend here who hadn’t eaten kangaroo in a while. We just decided hey, let’s make a lunch out of it!  Still the best meat I have ever had.  Seriously.  You need to try some if you haven’t already. Oh, and probably the best place to get it  is that Woolworths shopping center on campus... right below that med building.  And then there was the time when Hannah walked into the lounge where a group of us are studying and just says “Who wants pancakes for dinner?” Count me in!

            Oh, and who can forget their first taste of Vegemite? THAT was interesting. It’s certainly unique to be sure with one powerful punch of salty fishlikeness to the mouth.  It’s anything but subtle I must say.