Tonight I went out with the German girls from my hostel, a girl I met from Albany (Western Australia, not New York), and a bunch of the volunteers from the dolphin centre. I was sleepy and didn’t want to go but decided that since I might end up hermitting for the rest of the month I should at least make an appearance and try to make some friends. Plus, I was interested to see what Bunbury Nightlife would be like. Oh boy.
We went to a place called Fitzgerald’s (the German girls called it “Fitzie’s”) that advertised itself as a “late night Irish pub” or something like that. It started out fairly normal. There was a small, sparsely populated dance floor. They played older but still good dancing music, there were some trampy-looking overdressed girls (I felt super underdressed because I’d packed all my skirts and my one dress in the bag I already brought over to my new house!), but generally it was all good. Then it turned out there was also a live band. I think they were called “Perfect Strangers” (which made me laugh, obviously they never got that 80s show here) and were pretty decent. They mostly just covered American rock music from the 80s. The lead singer looked like a Jon Bon Jovi wannabe (complete with feathered hair), but that’s okay. They were decent and although none of it is great dancing music, I do get a kick out of belting out “Livin’ on a Prayer” with a huge crowd of people (judging from the volunteers it turns out that people all over Europe know every American song). We mostly tolerated them and then every three or four songs they would take a break and the DJ would bring back the good dancing music.
The dance floor was small but it was decked out, unreasonably so. It had a many-pointed star-shaped disco ball, colored lights that were programmed to move and change and all sorts of things, and even fog machines. It was a little ridiculous. But fun, nonetheless.
My favorite thing was the people. The volunteers were fun. I felt awkward because I’m not really part of their group but it was nice to have people to (sort of) dance with. I was asked by a Canadian if the college bar scene in Wisconsin is "just like the movies". I had no idea what to say so I said yes. What movies are there about Wisconsin college bars? I got hugged by a very drunk girl wearing a mauve taffeta dress. Twice. I saw a guy who looked like his name was probably Slippery Simon the Used Car Salesman, or possibly Vinny “The Rat” Macchiato. Complete with bowling shirt and awkwardly younger than him fake blonde bimbo. But the piece de resistance was the greatest hairdo that has ever existed in the history of the world. I wish I had had my camera. It was a mullet, but the back was all in dreadlocks, and to top it all off he had tied two of the dreadlocks around all the others so that it looked at first glance like a rattail. I am not kidding. I didn’t know it was possible to be so many kinds of ugly all at the same time! Even if everything else had been terrible that would have made my night, and probably my week.
I need to go out in Bunbury more often.
Today I moved into the house. I sat around here feeling vaguely awkward most of the day while the owners frantically packed (I was frantic trying to pack for this trip, I can’t imagine packing for two months away with an infant!). I positively wallowed in the internet. I will go ahead and admit this: I am an addict. It’s true. I love the internet. A lot of it is that I’m homesick and so I am facebook stalking people from home quite a bit more than usual, but I just love the internet in general. I didn’t realize how much until I couldn’t be on it whenever I wanted and had to pay up to $6 per hour. It’s not a problem when I don’t have it, it turns out. On the Aboriginal camping trip where there was just no chance I could even see a computer I was totally fine, but sitting in the hostel using my laptop but not being able to check on my friends or my favorite websites is sort of like torture. It’s pathetic, I know, but it’s true. Of course, it’s been worse since I got to Bunbury because there’s been no wireless and internet is more expensive here than it was in Cairns, and I don’t have other things (like real live friends) to distract me as much. So I’ve been on the internet basically nonstop since I got here around 11 this morning.
But that’s not all I did! I also played with a baby. Shannon and Jeremy, the people I’m renting from, have an absolutely adorable 9 month old named Kaylin (I don’t actually know how to spell it). I got to hold her and play with her and watch her while they were packing and she loved me. I am mostly afraid of babies, because I haven’t been around them very much and I’m always afraid I’m going to damage them or they’re going to damage themselves while I’m supposed to be looking after them, but actually getting to play with one (especially one that grinned every time she looked at me and followed me around as best she could, not walking yet) was really fun. I was a little sad they were leaving, so I wouldn’t get to play with her anymore.
I’ve decided to give myself the day off. Today is a relaxation day. Technically this is bad, because yesterday and the day before that were days off from work, but I was doing school work. I still have a paper to finish for school, and I’ve been meaning to go out and explore and do things around Bunbury so I don’t become an insane shut-in, but I’m not going to do that today, either. It’s Easter Sunday and everything in the entire country is closed, anyway (that is one thing I’ve noticed here, they don’t at all have the “I must be able to buy stuff every minute of every day” mentality that there is in America. Almost all businesses – even malls! – close at 5:30, except on Sundays when it’s earlier and Thursdays when it’s “late night” shopping night and things stay open till 9. If grocery stores stay open “late” on other days it’s until 8. That took some getting used to and some mad runs to buy things at 4:45. My question is: how do people ever shop if they work until 5? But I digress). I am lonely and homesick but exhausted from constantly being around strangers, so just for today I will do what I want to do. I will lounge. I will enjoy having a brightly sunlit house (hostel rooms NEVER have enough light) and I will read my book(s) and I will cook stirfry for dinner and I will watch one, if not both of the Shrek movies they left for me to take back to the video store (in return for letting me use their account, which is sweet). I will continue to look at everything on the internet, and I will probably eat several more Tim Tams dipped in Nutella (because I am a fatty and it is delicious). My hope is that if I relax and abuse my internet privileges today, then I will be able to focus on work more tomorrow and will have gotten it at least somewhat out of my system. I think my plan is a good one. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been able to just relax for a day, and I think it will make me feel a lot better. That’s the hope, anyway.
As always, I love and miss you.
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