Sprite for your right to paaaarrrtaaaay!

And we've arrived.  Well, technically we've arrived like 5 days ago, but I've been too lazy to blog.  That's right, second post and I'm too lazy to blog.  Way to be a superstar, Devon.

Anyhow, arrival, woot!  For those of you who are curious, the flight gods were kind.  Extra seat in between me and Shawn meant for luxurious stretch outs for naps on the the way to Oz.  And if you're going to come and visit (and you should, if not for the delicious smell alone...for real the place smells delightful, which I'm TOLD is the eucalyptus trees), take Virgin Australia.  I could have stayed on that flight forever.  You could play Pacman for godsakes.  <3.

So things are good right now.  Shawn started orientation, and one of his new mates suggested he work as a waiter at a strip club.  Y'know normal chit chat.  I on the other hand have been chillin at Kendra and Clint's place with their dog Orson.  Yes, note, their dog.  Apparently some confusion was caused on FB in regards to my pet preference loyalty.  Still a cat person, even if I'm allergic to them.  I prefer a squishy pet.  Though Orson is pretty fun and he does like to snuggle.  (P.S. I miss you, Cosgrove and Remington!!!!!)

Other than that, I've been spending my time learning about my new city.  For those of you who are asking me if I'm having fun, it's sort of a strange question to ask.  Yes, I like it here, but I'm not really having 'fun'.  Because we've moved here, and are not on vacation, we're not doing fun things like at every second.  We're doing things like figuring out how to get around, opening up bank accounts, setting up phones, looking at apartments.  Not like, skydiving and snorkeling.  Granted, we'll get there, but not quite yet. (er, not the skydiving bit, thanks) Think of it just like any normal move.  Fun to come.  Speaking of,

Among eating delicious apple pies at McDonalds (this will be a dedicated post all to itself, trust me), we've been exploring Brunswick (where we're currently staying) and finding things like a pub with trivia (okay Clint and Kendra found that one) and the grocery store!

Oh the grocery store.  Where to start.  First off, everything is TINY.  by tiny, i actually mean the size things probably should be if you're not a fatty American.  like they have the itsy bitsiest little jars of peanut butter.  so adorbs.  (this will be less adorable when I want to eat a jar of peanut butter, mind you.)  And also, everything is in the metric system.  So you don't get gallons of milk, you get litres.  (yeah it's spelled like that, fool.) 

And since I've decided Australia is a health conscious country (y'know tiny, portioned foods and all), I thought, well this place will be loaded with Diet Soda.  WRONG.  1) stores keep trying to offer me coke zero and pepsi max like that's some sort of substitute for diet coke (re: it's NOT) and 2) I can't find any Sprite Zero.  WHICH IS HEARTBREAKING.  (also they call it lemonade here and lemonade is lemon cordial.)  So, in case you are wondering, I will now be accepting visitors who only come bearing Sprite Zero. I am not kidding.  Minimum 2 litre or you sleep in the streets.  (Withdrawls much?)

Admittedly, it's for the best, because soda is...oh I don't know, $5 for a 2 litre!! ($3.50 for a 20 oz)  Thank you in advance Australia for making me kick my diet soda habit. 

But that's okay, because I've found a soda that will replace my love of sprite zero:
  

That's premium.

 Yup, you read it correctly.  It has DOUBLE SARS!

Other things of note:  Tasty cheese.

This picture refuses to turn the other way, even though i TOOK it the other way.  I hate you, Blogger.

Now you're probably thinking "Devon, all cheese is pretty darned tasty. So I do like the forethought that went into naming a type of cheese 'tasty'.  However who's taste buds is this based on?"

Well, apparently the universes taste buds because tasty cheese is cheddar.  Why they couldn't just call the damn cheese cheddar is beyond me, but I guess they are right when they're referring to it as tasty. 

Some things of note I've learned while living here.

1) possums are adorable here.  They look like little tree wallabies.

Note, they are not these:

They are these:

We have some that frequent the back of the house at night and perch on the fence.  I'd take pictures of them, but last time I went outside, I was attacked viciously by mosquitoes.  I was outside NO MORE THAN 3 MINUTES and I have 8 bites on my legs.  I am NOT exaggerating.  Shawn's count: zero.  (obviously).  I can no longer go outside in the dark.

side note:  why I thought America was the only country that had mosquitoes was beyond me.

2) There are flying foxes here!  I'm really excited to see them some night (re: when I get some bug spray)  This brings me to my next very important point (and the reason I very well may never leave here):

3) Melbourne was founded by BATMAN.

I'm not kidding.  Batman founded this place.  They were going to name it Batmania.   So, now I'm living in the land that John Batman The Dark Knight founded, which is completely awesome.  He is the best superhero after all, besides the fact that Shawn says he's not a superhero.  Because by Shawn's logic, if he's not a superhero, than neither is Iron Man, and since he thinks Iron Man is then by default so is my boy Batman.   

But the Batman thing is totally true.  If you don't believe me:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Batman

I want to go to there.

In the next episode:  Good Lord, I'm living in an H&M catalogue, and stop telling me all the things that are going to kill me, kthx.