Okay, so Australia is beautiful. So beautiful. Especially in the Northern Rivers region where I’m at. I was hoping to go up to Coolangatta this weekend… but plans didn’t end up working out. I have three friends who are from there, so it will have to work out eventually. One of my roommates is from there and I think her mom has a house there… and then another friend is from there but I don’t know if there is anywhere I could stay through him– and then there is a friend in my printmaking class who has a beach house within walking distance of Kirra Beach, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. I will take her up on her offer to stay in the spare bedroom of her beach house very soon… it’s so tempting. I would have tried to do that this weekend, but she said she will be gone until September. Otherwise, it would have been a done deal. But yeah, traveling is proving a bit difficult. I miss having a car and being able to zip through the canyon at the drop of a hat at midnight if I wanted to. Here, everything takes planning in advance and more money than it would cost in petrol. Taxis, buses, trains, everything has to be planned.

I am enjoying the energy and the life force of being here in Australia– everything is so charged with hype. People are casual and friendly from what I’ve experienced. But there are definitely things that keep me from feeling settled down. I’ve got friends in Perth that I might visit before I head back to the states if I can afford the flight.

I guess a few things that make it feel foreign are: how the burgers are pre-seasoned… it’s a strange flavor. I kind of like the freedom of seasoning the meat myself or not at all. Also, the grocery store here isn’t very baker-friendly. Their biggest bag of flour is maybe 5 lbs… or 2 kilos. Not much in the way of flour when you love making bread. I know that baking is probably more predominantly a Utah thing or bored midwestern housewife thing according to different world regions, but I love baking. I guess I get easily bored, but I am passionate about baking. Good food is an important part of being healthy. Being healthy shouldn’t be thought of as an iceberg lettuce salad with non-fat dressing and a protein bar. I think that good homemade bread and sauces and brownies for dessert are a healthy thing every once in a while. Yeah, it’s all carbs, but carbs are important too. And brownies and bread make people happy 🙂