Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

How right was this!

So, it has been a few days since I have arrived in Brisbane and I can’t imagine myself anywhere else in the world. :)

I arrived to Brisbane on Saturday night after an 8 hour flight. I sat beside a young and very friendly Australian, who was coming back from an 8-week holiday to Canada and Europe. We were the types of passengers that other people hate – the ones that are laughing, enjoying the meals (and the great Australian wine, rum & coke, and bailey's with coffee) and watching the funniest/scariest movies that were offered.

Australian immigration was quite an ordeal…ohmigod. My flight arrived in Brisbane at 7pm, along with two other flights – one from London and the other from Jakarta. Needless to say, Australian Immigration would be processing many people. There were three people processing “All Other Passports” and three people processing “Australian Passport Holders and their families”. The queue was long and the waiting time wasn’t so good either. I got my passport stamped and right away, this immigration official, with a very thick Eastern European accent, started questioning me for several minutes. She asked everything from where I was born, how my parents met, why Canada, what I was doing in the United Arab Emirates, why do I have a work visa for Kenya, and what I was doing in Australia. After trying to answer her questions without sounding the least bit sarcastic (or else, she might have had me kicked out the country at my expense), I was escorted by this gentlemen to a room on the side. I had ticked off on my immigration card that I had goods to declare (medicines, food items and articles made of wood). The declaration of medicines is in the same category as prohibited goods such as weapons, ammunitions, and illicit drugs. Now, do I look like a drug smuggler? (don't answer that) A few officials were looking at my passport and some other documents that I had to show. They poked and prodded the biggest suitcase I had (which was 39 kilos…good god). I opened it and showed them all the declared items. While I was packing, I made sure to have all my declared items in one suitcase (this is a great tip for those people that are, one day, coming to Australia). After approving my goods, I went out and met my friend Claire who had waiting, very patiently, for almost an hour. It was great to see her again! Oh, before I forget, the point of this little immigration story is that Australian immigration officials don’t mess around – they mean business…hardcore.

Claire is brilliant…right now. HAHAHAHA (She is sitting in front of me as I am typing this). I am staying with my friend Claire. She came to Calgary for one semester in the beginning of 2003 (She really is a brilliant, sexy, fun, did I mention brilliant, always smiling – except when she is at work). We have been in touch ever since and now I am staying with her for the next few days until I get adjusted to my surroundings. When I arrived, I went back to Claire’s place – freshened up and then we went to one of her co-worker’s party (Barbara – she has quite a funky personality, not a bad looker but was utterly trashed at the party). On the way to Barbara’s place, Claire and I stopped at a…get this…a drive thru liquor store! This concept would make millions in Canada. So, we get to this party and people have been drinking for a number of hours (we arrived around 11pm and the party started around 8ish). I realized that Australians, both men and women, are quite image conscience even when they are pissed drunk! Perhaps this feeling of being conscience about one’s appearance is not necessarily a bad thing since I reckon that that will get me into shape faster. We only stayed an hour because we were just too good for that place – seriously. We came back to the flat and ordered…get this…a barbeque sauce based vegetarian pizza from Domino’s! What a novel concept – if we can put this sauce on meat for the barbeque, then why not for pizza. It was schmecktyo (good). We talked for a few hours and then went to bed…in separate places of course. The next morning, we got up, had some breakfast and then went out to get my SIM card for my mobile phone. The one thing that Brisbane has that Calgary doesn’t…is the heat and the humidity! Oh mother of Mary! I don’t remember a time when I ever got pit stains from being in the heat. My hair has never been so frizzy – it looks like a steel wool scouring pad.

Apart from that, I have been actively looking for a decent place to live. I saw a couple of places to rent. Claire was so disgusted by one of them, that she had to disinfect herself in the shower! It was like being environmentally raped…it was brutal. NASTY. Some of the other places haven't been too bad. I am being really picky about what I want and rightfully so. I don't want to settle for a place due to time constraints. I want to make sure that I can find the best place for the budget that I have set out for myself.

Okay, on that note, I am actually heading out to see another place. I will definitely let you know how it turns out!

Cheers :)