Australia: Welcome to Adelaide!

I went out for a couple drinks last night with my new co-workers. When I bellied up to the bar to order another drink, this older Australian posted up next to me and said, "How long ya been waitin'?" By that time it had been a couple minutes so I said as much. He then immediately yelled, "'EY, BARTENDER!!!" and he came running over. He then turned to me and said, "Don't be afraid to get their attention." I said, without being condescending, "I guess I was raised on politeness and patience." He said, "Ah, that American shit won't work here, mate." 

I've been back in Australia for two weeks already, but this was a perfect re-introduction.

I'm going to be in Australia working for the next few months before starting graduate school in August, and I'm sure I'll have a few stories to tell even during that short time.

Since I chose my base to be Adelaide and not Sydney or Melbourne, the question often comes up in conversation, "Why didn't you choose Sydney or Melbourne?"

I have spent about two weeks total in Sydney. For one, Sydney is just too expensive, and part of the reason I came back to Australia was to save money! Second, I get the impression that there is a lot of vanity and superficiality among the 20 and 30-something crowd in Sydney. A sort of constant race towards status. That aspect kind of casts a shadow over the possibility of meeting like-minded people.

Melbourne, on the other hand, is an amazing city. I would have loved to have lived there for a few months. It has a surfeit of music, art, and culture. It has wide open parks in the middle of the city, which often serve as grounds for their regular music festivals. However, while I was there I talked to several backpackers who said that it took them months to find jobs. Since I'm only going to be in Australia for a few months anyway, I decided that that was not a viable option.

So, here I am in Adelaide!

It's difficult to give a good impression of Adelaide, even though I've already been here for almost three weeks. Some of the reason I find it difficult is probably because most of the time that I have been here was spent in a relatively isolated area of Adelaide, Port Adelaide. Furthermore, almost all of my time outside of Port Adelaide was spent handing out resumes. But now I'm living in the the CBD (Central Business District) of Adelaide and have a job, so hopefully I will start making some money, so I can go exploring and having some fun on the weekends.

My impression is also a bit confused, because March in Adelaide is MAD March. That's because Adelaide hosts a load of festivals, including WOMADelaide (World Of Music, Art, and Dance), Future Music Festival, and Fringe. WOMADelaide features music, art, and dance acts from around the world, Future Music Festival is an electronic music festival, and Fringe is a performing arts/busker festival that specializes in "odd" acts.

So, all of that has given me an impression of Adelaide as a very cultured city.

Additionally, being that Adelaide is the biggest city in South Australia, and South Australia is world-renowned for its wine. There are around 30+ vineyards around Adelaide alone! I'm definitely excited to go on a wine tour or two. There is a company here that does a wine tour on bikes, so I might check that out next weekend.

Despite having a population of about 1.25 million, people seem to think that Adelaide is "quiet".  I think this has more to do with the obvious comparisons to Australia's other larger, more desirable cities, Melbourne and Sydney (we went over this, didn't we?). I haven't quite had the chance to go out, so we'll see what this city's nightlife has to offer when I get some moolah!!!