Speed Trials

22 June 2006 – 12:00pm

Well, after the weekend’s endless parties, it was a little disappointing to go back to solo wandering on Monday. I made a conscious move to talk to more people, realizing that I was pretty much keeping to myself. On Tuesday I called Geoff, and we spent three hours bumming around the city together. It was great. I had sort of kept away from the inner city, thinking that I would get a much better Melbournian experience by visiting the suburbs, but in the end, the downtown core is tons of fun.

After I left Geoff I went to this shoe store that was recommended to me, and the server was a guy I had met at a party three days earlier. Already the integration is starting to happen!!! I bought some wonderful boots (Campers) and instantly felt better.

So this morning we got up at 6am, dragged our sorry asses out of bed and catapolted ourselves towards the airport. We landed in Sydney not too long ago, and of course Andrew and Simon had to rush off to a meeting, leaving me with the luggage to check into our hostel. I sat up front with the shuttle driver, flirting shamelessly, and by the time we got to the place, he offered to take me into the city (to avoid having to get a cab or bus). Very nice. So that’s where I’m at now, in the heart of Sydney, with nary a map or direction, and fell on this internet cafe. Things are good, I’m looking forward to seeing the Opera House, Darling Harbour, the Bridge, and all the other touristy things Sydney has to offer.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking… I’m planning on storming the Australia Council for the Arts this afternoon. I’ll let you know how that goes…

Sigh. Oh, the weather is terrible, big fat rain has been continueously falling since my arrival in Sydney. It’s supposed to last for three days.

Another interesting note: the suburb we’re staying in is called Glebe. Just when you thought you were far from home…

Ah, the weekend. So good. We went out on Saturday night to see a band called The Dirty Three, and they were sooooo so good. Instrumental, ambient, full wall of sound that just glades over you and takes you up in its momentum. I would close my eyes and realize that I was dancing, subconsciously moving to the rhythm of it. Really, really good. That’s the bottom line, really, I feel completely at home at a good show. I felt the same way seeing Ukrania and Fiftymen two days before I left. Anyway, The Dirty Three played at this place called the Forum, which I guess is akin to Barrymore’s, with ornate mouldings and tiered layout. The ceiling was painted a dark blue, and it looked like an open-aired theatre. Nice effect. I had a really good time.

Then Sunday morning Andrew got up at some ungodly hour to run a half marathon (!). I met up with him at the finish line, and I was so proud. We spent the rest of the day sitting in cafes and clothes shopping. Ugh. What a disappointment. Nothing seems to fit right, and I ended up buying a $300 dress that I know I will never wear. Or maybe this is the new leaf I need to turn over… I will start to wear nothing but high end designer fashions… Somehow it doesn’t fit into the whole Aloha scene…

So as you can see, these days it’s all about grappling with a new scene and not willing to shed an old skin. Or maybe it’s just a fear of losing that old skin because it’s comfortable, but really the new one is just the natural progression of things…? Hm, is that sufficiently vague for everyone???

Thursday, June 15, 2006 – 1:00pm

1. Having to press a button to activate the crosswalk lights at every intersection.
2. Going to Experimenta and other Artist-Runs and simply saying, “My name is Marlene and I work at the Canada Council for the Arts” and immediately getting a tour of their facilities and ample reading material.
3. After hearing my accent, having anyone who speaks to me say, “You’re not from here, are you?”
4. Meeting Andrew’s friends and colleagues, and sitting in on a staff meeting at his office. Oh, and voicing my ‘well informed’ opinion on things!
5. Riding the Tram with no set destination, and just following unsuspecting commuters until I end up in some god-forsaken suburb.
6. Eating at the yummiest restaurants, whose entrances are – of course – located on shady lanes and alleys, never main streets.
7. South Melbourne Market.
8. Going for breakfast with Simon, and going out for drinks with Ollie and Luke.
9. Going to bed with Andrew’s arms around me, and waking up the same way.

Things I don’t love about Melbourne:

1. The fact that Andrew’s apartment building has no heat. As in, central heating was NEVER installed.

We caught up for a bit, and when he found out that I was staying at a backpackers he said we had to get in his car immediately to retrieve my things – of course I would stay with him. The girl at the counter must have thought I was crazy, returning one hour after I had checked in, with this random guy, both of us red-faced and giggling, telling her that I wouldn’t need the bed after all. I’m sure she assumed I was some crack-whore who had found herself a good dealer. That’s the only plausible explanation.

We then drove up to his mother’s house outside the city. It usually takes about 40 min to get there, but in his car – a 1969 Hunter (?) that only goes 50Km an hour, it took longer. We talked incessantly, stopping only to grab a bite in the nearby village. His mother’s house is a beautiful sprawling cottage with a few well-placed luxuries. It sits on a 20-acre lot of rolling hills. It is the perfect setting for three young brothers to grow up in. We took a long, ambling walk around the property, and he promised me kangaroos, but we didn’t see any.

Later we returned to the city and had dinner at a Spanish restaurant downtown. By that point I was so out of it that I couldn’t very well orient myself, and the city is still a great mystery to me.

He left me this morning to go to work, and so today is my first of solitary exploring. I might explore the options of buying an actual coat, as the Weather Network’s 13*C reading is a little misleading. In fact, this morning as Andrew and I had breakfast in his kitchen, we could see our breaths. I realize now that I was seriously in denial of the whole Winter-in-June thing.

13 January, 2006 – 1:45pm

After I last wrote, I started my short journey to him. I found his street with little effort – the only thing of note is that I had to cross a busy four-lane road with a median, and for both sections I looked the wrong way for traffic! It’s amazing how ingrained our sense of traffic really is. So that’s something to work on.

I walked up to his apartment building, which is a nice looking Art-Deco 3-story walk up, with gate and courtyard. A lot more charming than my boxy low-rise. The cement stairs are open-aired, which means no buzzers to ring, but there were no numbers on the doors. I deduced that his was one of the two apartments on the top floor, fairly arbitrarily, and as I approached I could hear Belle and Sebastian eminating from behind his door and I knew.

I knocked. He opened.

I thought I could say something clever or meaningful to complete the scenario, sure that I could control that moment since I had been bracing myself for it for so long. But the moment I saw him I became drenched in calm, as though in slow motion, finally seeing that face in the flesh, two feet away from my own. All I could do was smile. He smiled back, first in polite inquiry, then a little broader, then he gasped and said, “Oh my God!” and then smiled again. He pulled me into his apartment, ran his hands down my arms, and held me. He let me go, looked at me again, and then he kissed me. All anxieties fell away, all doubts or insecurities melted, and the only reason we were both shaking was from the physical shock of this encounter.