The sky at night

One of the less obvious differences (until you think about it) about my life here in the southern hemisphere, compared to my home in the northern hemisphere, is the night sky.

Now I'm not the worlds greatest astronomer, but back home I could recognise the basic constellations: The Plough., Orion, etc. But since leaving the UK last November I haven't seen a single one of them.

The sky here is completely different, but no less beautiful. The first constellation you learn down here is the Southern Cross, the emblem of the southern skies. Also commonly visible is the Milkyway, a beautiful cloud-like mass floating across the sky.

But what really brought these differences home was that last night there was a total lunar eclipse. Obviously we have these in the northern hemisphere too, but as I sat watching the shadow of the earth make the moon glow red I couldn't help thinking that back home it was the middle of a summers day. And that made home seem a very long way away.

New friends and old

I'm now well over half way through my travels, both geographically (I started in Darwin, travelled down the middle to Adelaide, accross to Melbourne, over to New Zealand, back to the east coast of Oz & now I am in Queensland making my way down the coast towards Sydney & the end of my journey) and timewise (I return to work at NFER in a little over eight weeks). I am well adapted to the backpacking lifestyle (sleeping anywhere and through anything, packing & repacking my bag, getting bottom bunk) and I am well adapted to being on my own.

Travelling alone has not been a problem, I have been able to do what I want when I want and that is great. It is easy enough to meet people... staying in backpackers (youth hostels) most people are in the same situation and just a quick drink in the local bar & you can have half a dozen new best friends!

But the conversations do start to get a little trying, a little repetative: 'where are you from' 'how long have you been here' 'where are you going next', and if you are lucky/unlucky 'what do you do'. It is nice meeting so many new people, but the routine of learning about who they are and where they are from is getting quite wearing! So now that the end of my year long adventure is appropaching, I am strating to look forward to returning home to my old friends, my old job & my old routines (for a little while at least!)

How ya' doin'?

Walk into any shop, bar or restaurant; board any train, plane or bus in Australia or New Zealand & you wont be greeted with 'hello' or 'how can I help you?', but 'how ya doin'?'.

Now maybe I'm a very restrained English person, but I struggle with this. In my opinion 'how ya doin'?' is a question that can be asked between people who know each other, or at a push between people who plan to know each other & is a genuine question requiring a genuine response. But in this situation the question is more of a greeting & seems not to actually require an informative answer.

When I first arrived in Australia I would, when asked, actually tell people how I was doing, e.g. 'cold', 'tired', 'cool'. But, despite these just being one word answers I soon realised from peoples surprised expressions that this was too much information. Local expressions didn't seem to go down too well either (awesome - oz; sweet - nz) but a traditional English 'fine' seems too reserved.

So suggestions please on how to answer this personal question in an appropriately enthusiastic yet uninformative way!

Skills for life

When I told NFER I wanted to work abroad for a year they thought that it would be great professional development - that I would develop new research skills. Personally, I thought that spending a year abroad would be great for my social skills - that I would develop new people skills.

These two aims have certainly been achieved, but no-one predicted the number of new sporting skills I would develop. First there was the scuba diving in Thailand, then surfing in Indonesia, and now I am in New Zealand learning to snowboard. Admittedly, my snowboarding skills have not developed quite as fast as the scuba skills, & they certainly have been a lot more painful to develop. But it's all good fun! So snowboarding can now be added to the list of skill that I've developed this year & will keep with me for the rest of my life.

Other skins

Kathryn left an interesting comment on my last post about the ability to be different people in different places. I have certainly experienced this phenomena over the last year... more so now than ever.

Ironically it was easiest in Ruteng - although I had to adopt a conservative modest persona which on some levels went against my more social flirty nature, it was essentially a professional persona. One which we all have to submit to in order to earn a living.

karen at work

In Bali I rebelled against this - bikini by day, short skirts by night - & a wilder, more extrovert personality to match.

karen at the beach

Since being in Oz my clothes have matched my activities - walking boots & thermals in the bush; jeans & heels in the city.

karen up a mountain

karen in the city

But my personality? I don't know... I can be anyone: timid; outspoken; life of the party; or quiet one in the corner. Travelling on my own there is no-one to register the difference. No one asking me if I'm ok on the quiet days or telling me to chill out on the manic ones. I kinda like this freedom... it has made me wonder who I really am, but it's liberating to be both Mr Jekyll & Mr Hyde without anyone complaining. Maybe we are always many people, but it's only an experience like this where you can really let all those people come out to play!

You can take the girl out the city...

My travels have now brought me to Melbourne, the first real city I've been to for a good 9 months. Admittedly I've been to Ruteng, Jogjakarta, Dempassar, Darwin & Adelaide, but for one reason or another none of them really felt like cities. But Melbourne does & I'm loving it!

It has the decadance, the style, the noise & the anonymity that is only ever possible in a real city. At last I have the privacy I've been craving (despite being in a city of x thousand people & sleeping in a dorm with 10 other travellers). I'm able to wear shoes & makeup that put a swing in my step & I've been able to get my hair fixed! So I'm sorry, but I am no longer a blond bombshell, just a regular girl with regular hair & a nice pair of heels!