Watching Amazing Eyes

I’m sure I’m late to the party, but I found this little video quite remarkable.

It turns out you must have amazing eyes if you want to be a sucessful actress!

Australian

I had a reasonably productive day today – finished lots of things that needed to be done before I returned to the US. Perhaps most importantly, my US Visa arrived this morning, so I can go back – and I’ll even be there in time for Thanksgiving! It’s amazing that you can wait so long for a visa interview, but then receive the actual visa the very next day – it’s the waiting that consumes all the time.

I renewed my Australian driving license this morning. This was something of a relief, as I accidentally threw my Australian license in the trash in Baltimore a year and a half ago. I haven’t been driving illegally – it’s perfectly OK to drive in Australia on an international license (I also have a Californian license) – but it is nice to have an Australian one, too, especially if I ever decide to move back.

I also cast an early vote for Australia’s up-coming federal election this afternoon. I had applied for a postal vote, but I just don’t trust that it’s going to make it from Boston to Washington between Wednesday and Saturday (especially with Thanksgiving in between). In any case, it turns out there’s no problem casting an early vote, even if you’ve already applied for a postal vote. It isn’t even necessary to prove that you need to cast an early vote, or to demonstrate your inclusion on the electoral role (although I did have to give them my name and address – presumably they’ll check I’m on the role, and have only voted once). In any case, I really like voting, so was glad I could make sure my vote will be included in the counting (which is, of course, different from my vote counting – which it certainly won’t, at least in the House of Representatives. The Senate is a different story.)

Because I’m in Australia longer than I anticipated, some of my prescriptions have run out, and today I went to get them filled. I began with a series of calls to the Medicare Office. My Medicare card has been lost and has expired, and the first step was to find out what I needed to do to have it renewed. Then, I headed to the Medicare Office, where I stood in an incredibly long line (don’t believe Michael Moore when he tells you there are no queues in federally administered health plans). As I stood in line I was surrounded by posters that proclaimed “Medicare: Caring for all Australians”. When I got to the front of the line, I learned that Medicare only cares for some Australians: if you’ve been out of the country for more than 5 years, you need to demonstrate that you really have returned (lease, offer of work, etc.) before you are eligible for Medicare benefits. Of course, I haven’t really returned. Then the doctor ($AUD50, $USD0) didn’t realize I was Australian. It’s true I’ve picked up an American accent in the past five years, but Americans never mistake me for one of their own. Again, picking up my prescription, I had to explain that Medicare doesn’t look after all Australians, and that I didn’t qualify for prescriptioni drug benefits, and I payed the full amount ($AUD30, $USD7). In the end I payed $AUD80 for something that would have cost me $USD7 in the US (admittedly with insurance, but insurance that I don’t pay for – the university provides it). I’m hoping my US insurance will cover some of it.

This evening, I had dinner with Rinske, my father, and my grandmother. We ended up spending a lot of time discussing Elizabeth Durack: a large collection of her art will be auctioned in Perth next week, and it turns out that my grandmother owns a number of Duracks. She bought hers some time ago – direct from Elizabeth Durack when she was alive, and not-so-famous. There’s a viewing of the collection being sold this weekend – I may go along to see how my grandmother’s “collection” measures up.

Finally Progress

I had an early start today – my much anticipated visa interview was scheduled for 8:40 this morning, and with peak hour traffic I had to break out of my holiday routine to make sure I got there on time! The good news is that the visa interview went well – I had everything I needed, and it all went smoothly. I’m optimistic that I’ll have my passport (complete with new visa stamp) by Monday, just in time for my flights that are scheduled for Tuesday morning! With any luck, I’ll be back in Boston on Tuesday evening.

I’ve had lunch with friends the past few days. I’ve kept evenings and weekends free for family, but have made an effort to catch up with a few friends while I’m here. I had lunch today with Susannah. We bought lunch and sat on the south bank of the Swan River, gazing over towards Perth City.

The West Australian newspaper published an obituary today for my grandfather. I thought Patrick Cornish did a great job: he included all the important events of my grandfather’s life, but also managed to convey a sense of the man he was. I particularly like the closing paragraph:

From his home in Cottesloe, and from the greens at his club just to the north, Oscar could see the Indian Ocean which he had crossed so long ago in pursuit of new roads, new vision, and new life.

In other news, I’ve been reading School’s Out, by Christophe Dufosse. I’m really not sure what to make of it. I found the first couple of chapters a bit trite and stilted, but it has improved as it’s gone along, although it occasionally slips into the truly bizarre, and I’m finding the narrators digressions from the story a little long-winded (it’s a slim book, and perhaps they felt they needed to make it a longer?) and unnecessary. But perhaps it will all tie into the plot in the end?

Swimming & Longans

While I’ve been to the beach everyday since I’ve been in Australia, today was the first day I ventured into the water. The weather was genuinely hot today, so a swim was definitely in order. I also wanted to try out my new camera, which I bought with trips to Australia in mind. After a brisk walk along the beach, I wrapped my camera firmly around my wrist, grabbed my flippers and snorkel and headed into the water: the Olympus Stylus 790 SW is supposed to be waterproof, and I wanted to test the claim! I can report that the camera really is waterproof (incidentally, going into the ocean with a camera dangling from your wrist is a most disconcerting feeling). However, there really wasn’t much to photograph. The water was quite cloudy (lots of sand stirred up from the bottom) and the only fish I saw (whiting?) was sand-colored in any case. Still, I look forward to a morning with calmer waters and more interesting fish! I may have to branch out with my beach choices, though (Mettam’s Pool?).

Every Sunday morning, my mother goes to the markets in Subiaco to buy her fruit and vegetables for the week. This morning she came home with Longan fruit. I’m reasonably sure I’ve never eaten longans before – you have to peel them, and what you end up with looks suspiciously like an eye – but they’re delicious. I guess of all the fruit I’ve eaten, they’re closest in taste and texture to a lychee.

“Quick” Trip to Australia

My grandfather died last week (Nov 1) and I flew back to Perth for the funeral. My grandfather, Oscar, had a long, full life (he was 94 when he died), and his quality of life in the past 10 months or so had been pretty grim, so his death wasn’t unexpected, and his funeral was something of a celebration (albeit a sad one). However, it was important to my father and my grandmother that I be home for the funeral, and I’m glad I could make it. Notes on the trip:

• Amazingly, it’s possible to get tickets from Boston to Perth (three flights, minimum) at incredibly short notice for reasonable prices. I bought my tickets on Friday morning, flew out of Boston on Saturday evening, and arrived in Perth on Monday at noon.
• I arrived in Perth feeling the best I’ve ever felt after a flight half-way around the world. I’m giving the noise-canceling headphones full credit.
• I flew United from Boston to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Sydney (I flew Qantas for the Sydney to Perth leg). It was not nearly as bad as expected (But, please! It wouldn’t kill them to supply toothbrushes on a 14 hour flight!)
• As we landed in Sydney, we had a most spectacular view of the harbor, including the opera house and bridge.
• No-one in Sydney looks excited to be going to Perth.
• Krispy Kreme donuts have made it to Sydney, but not Perth? They seemed to be the gift of choice for people traveling from Sydney to Perth.

Since I’ve arrived in Perth I’ve discovered that renewing my visa (which expired in August) is going to take longer than expected. I had planned on being in Australia for a week, but it looks like I’ll be here for at least 2 weeks. This is less than ideal but it’s not terrible: I’ve got plenty of data with me that needs analysis, and I can do that anywhere, and there are worse places in the world to be stranded while waiting for a visa: the weather is perfect (I’ve been to the beach every day), it’s always good to see my family, and a cricket test match started on Thursday.

No photos until I return to Boston – I left my camera cable there (because I thought I’d be away for just a week).