Seasons, slang and patatra

Lovely spring evening in Perth. The days are getting longer and warmer. It makes me happy but nostalgic a bit. It reminds me the feeling I had back home in Quebec years ago already when the spring would finally arrive after the long and cold winter; when the snow was gone and the air was starting to smell good, the birds would sing and the patios would open for a few hours on nice days. I miss the seasons! I guess that no matter where you are and no matter how many times you have done that before there is indubitably a moment where you feel home sick. And to had to it, I found in my boxes all the episodes from 'Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin" a great Quebecois TV show filmed in Montreal... Cath, it makes me think of you especially!

I love my job here, much more than I did back in Canada. I'm more challenged and I see a lot of amazing options in front of me. For the first time in my life I made a decision to move somewhere for work. I moved here to get to learn the tools I need to learn to get where I want in life, job wise. Now that I'm here, loving my work, I am missing my friends and family on the other side of the world, and the ones I made in Malawi too. I know you make a life everywhere, that it eventually happens, but finding friends, real good and close friends takes a while. So value the ones you have around for me. I am starting to get there slowly. I found activities and great people to do them with.I got back into playing soccer, rugby and volleyball. But I miss my girls (you know who you are, where ever that is you are). I miss snowboarding a lot too and with your winter coming soon, I can't help but dream of snow. Maybe I'll go to Japan or New Zealand to hit the slopes at some point, but it won't be the West Coast.

Western Australia is a nice place to live. I miss my friends, the season and snowboarding but don't get me wrong, I love my life here!

To end this post on a fun note, here are a few fun facts and expressions I have learn and came to love:

Afternoon : Arvo
Gas station : Servo
Tank top : Singlet
Toilets : Donies
Accommodation : Donger (go figure how this is spelled)
Paved road : Seal road or tarmac
Side walk : Footpath
Ute : Pickup truck

The use of the words 'mate' and 'I reckon' is overly frequent and it makes me smile. I am definitely trying to incorporate all of the above in my day to day vocabulary.

The national sport here is Footy, a mix between many violent sport like american football and rugby. It's played without protective gear on a huge cricket oval. I'm not sure I get the rules yet, but Australians are crazy about it. Ahh, I still enjoy watching it as the players are wearing tight shorts and they are quite athletic! I went to a game with Anne-Marie and a few other friends from work, a laboratory we use gave us tickets.

A pint of beer in most pubs in Perth and its suburbs is 10 Australian Dollars. A burger with no fries is about 20. A cheap plastic water bottle is 10-20. A coffee, 4 or 5. Life is much more expensive here in general, but our salaries are too, although be aware if you plan a visit! Petrol is between 1.37 and 1.50 $/L. And a hair cut is ridiculously pricey... I learnt that after I had my hair cut obviously, so I will go back to having long hair. Normal grocery stuff have similar prices though, so if you want to save and not be too offended by the prices you have to cook, invite friends home or go drink on the beach and make yourself lunches. Wine, from Australia or New Zealand is not so bad, but don't plan on buying a nice Riesling D'Alsace cause you can expect to pay 50 dollars for it... I started drinking Chardonnays from Margaret River instead! And I must say they are growing on me.

Driving on the other side of the road is starting to feel normal. I quite enjoy it actually. I had an off road/4WD training in the bush the other day cause I'm heading to site shortly and the client is requiring this, but it was quite awesome. I'm surely getting better at driving manual.
Drivers here are terrible though. They are not really looking around them or if they see you as a pedestrian or a bike, they make sure to cut your way or get in side of you as close as they can form the footpath to prevent you from passing on the road. When you are driving with them it's actually not better. They can't merge properly and they are super aggressive in their driving. Many streets don't have stop signs, so they are optional, or so it seems! Although they are really quite organised in their round-abouts.
There are so many car-pickups (remember 'ute')here, it is ridiculous...very boggan (or BS in French).


The kangaroos are effectively everywhere as soon as you get out of the city, but a lot of the ones you get to see have been hit by cars and left on the side of the road ;0(. They are very cute and kind of weird: a mix between a dear and a rabbit.

All right, enough for now.

Cheers,
Ge

Better late than never: News from Perth

After almost seven months of absence on the blog scene, here I am, back with more tales from a new world I'm discovering a little more everyday and a much better internet connection. All thanks to Denis and Anne-Marie for the inspiration to continue writing this blog.

I have left Malawi six months ago with both a smile on my lips and some tears in my eyes! I was happy to leave and go back to the world I grew up in, but sad to leave behind the friends I made, my host families, my colleagues and an amazingly conflicting culture that was Malawi. I have learnt a heaps during that year in rural villages, and hopefully all this will never be forgotten.

Ahhhh Portland Easter Weekend with the Vancouver Crew

After leaving Malawi I went back home to visit my family and friends in Quebec and Vancouver. I spent three weeks in each city. I was quite busy with all the moving stuff, preparing my new adventure in Australia. It was great to catch up with you guys. I still cannot believe I left so many wonderful friends and family member behind again. I love you and miss you everyday. And I'm sorry if I was only back for a few weeks, but you all made me feel so welcome. It was actually weird to be back home, to be back where things didn't change much. It made me feel like I had dreamt the last year and a few months of my life. After catching up with a bunch of people, I said goodbye again. I took another plane and travelled all the way to Perth, Western Australia.


I am back with Golder, although my role has changed. I am no longer working in the contaminated sites, but got hired by the hydrogeology group to work on water supply, slope stability and dewatering projects for mining and construction companies. Right now I'm working on project in Perth area and  in the Pilbara. I am expecting to go to Guinea in a few months for a little while, which I'm very excited for. I am learning so much everyday, I am ultra busy and awesomely challenged. My work team is great and on a work basis, I do not regret my decision to move here...life wise, well even if I enjoy things here, I miss the mountains, but most of all, I miss my friends a lot I can't explain.

The Pinnacles Desert 

Sand Boarding in Lancelin

Sunday Walk with Andrew and Anne-Marie

We got a great little townhouse with a nice backyard area right in Mount Lawley, just off the main and all the pubs, resto, boutiques and nice groceries. It's a few kilometers from my work and town and about 15 kilometers from the beaches. Life here is quite expensive, but we also make more money, so overall, we're doing good. I got myself a mountain bike, a surf and a car to go explore all the nice things that Western Australia has to offer. I went camping and wine tasting, I saw koalas and pet kangaroos.


So far it's a great experience. The weather is quite variable during the winter; it goes from 25 degrees with a warm sun to cold rainy nights with crazy winds. The houses are not insulated and heated so the nights in the winter are cold in the house. It's getting better though as we are slowly reaching for spring. Soon enough it will be too hot and we'll complain again! haha.

Anyways, here are a few pictures. I'll try to write from time to time to keep you updated and let you know about the fun expressions I hear down under! And there are "HEAPS" of them.



It's good to be back, hope you enjoy.

Cheers,

Ge