Asian people with funny English accents

Well, 29 hours, 10,000 miles, and one huge figure-7 across the world later, here I am in Australia – the edge of the world practically. For most people reading this, Australia isn’t any place new. Beautiful weather, sun-kissed beaches, natural wonders, and laid-back friendly folks logically lure travelers from all over. Colombia has a saying that “the only risk is wanting to stay.” But from what I have seen, that has been put much more to practice in Australia where it’s common for travelers to turn 2 week vacations into 3 years residencies. Despite its attraction Australia is a place where I never gave much thought in the world to coming to until about 4 weeks ago when the idea for a project was first pitched to me. Precisely because of the country’s lure, in the back of my mind I always knew that I’d get around to coming here someday; it was more of a priority for me to wander through South America and Asia first. But nevertheless, here I am and quite enjoying it at for that matter!

The journey here began at 5:30pm local time in Paris when a feisty South Asian shuttle driver was barking at Jessica and me for not coming down on time and delaying the other passengers in the van. A 10 hour Korean Air flight to Seoul with a four hour layover followed by a 9 hour flight to Sydney got us in at 6am local time. I was actually more anxious about missing the second leg of the Barcelona-Arsenal match which began literally as I was leaving Europe than I was about the long travel ahead of me. Miraculously, during our layover in Seoul I was wandering the terminal and just happened to find a plasma TV at one of the gates that was replaying the entire match. Lionel Messi, what a special guy. It was my first time stepping foot in Asia since 2006. The Korean airport is such a microcosm for contemporary Asian culture – eating and shopping. A restaurant every 10 feet followed by a retail store every 15 feet.

Honestly, I didn’t think that I would be jetlagged despite the distance traveled. We left Paris at night and arrived in Korea early afternoon; so that leg was like a long red-eye. The four hour layover was like a very very short day (much like a short Saturday after a wild Friday night). And then we again left at night to arrive in the morning. So the itinerary reasonably corresponded with the cycle of the day making me think I could avoid jetlag. Wrong. They say it takes your body one day to adjust for every time zone you cross. I kind of believe it. My excessive mid-afternoon fatigue has now been replaced by sleepless nights waking up at 3am, and I have been here nearly one week. I think I need another day or two before I am sleeping and waking up normally.

We are in Australia for the next several months working on a report on the country’s oil and gas sectors for one of our company’s media partner publications: Oil and Gas Financial Journal. We are based in Sydney for the next few weeks meeting with industry associations and government folks in Canberra only four hours away before moving on to Perth, where the bulk of the industry is based.

It is sort of a bizarre, surreal experience living here being either 8 or 14 hours ahead of the world that I know. I have to wait til 3 or 4pm to get a reply from the bosses in Paris to an email I sent at 9am my time. My day is over and done with before majority of my friends on the east coast log on to their computers at work to find out what the world has in store for them that day. My friends in Oregon and California, fuhgettaboutit! There’s a small window when we’re even awake at the same time. Time difference is nothing new of course and I have experienced an almost equal difference on previous trips to Asia. But first, the mentality for me is different living in, rather than just visiting, such a drastic difference. Second, Australia is sort of in its own little world to begin with. It marches to the beat of its own drum. Let me explain.

In the US when do you ever hear about Australia in the news? China reprimands France because Sarkozy meets with the Dalai Lama; Germany criticizes Iran’s decision to proceed with its nuclear program. But Australia? Shark attacks and beached whales occasionally make headlines. Probably the two biggest pieces of Australia-related news in the US in recent years were the deaths of Steve Irwin and Heath Ledger. I am by no means discounting the relevance of the country. Quite the contrary, I am very aware of its significance. It is a prosperous, resource-rich, free-market, OECD democracy. It is one, if not the, largest coal exporter in the world. 1/3 of known uranium deposits on earth are in Australia. While Africa is a recently new supply haven for China for zinc and copper, Australia has long been in bed with the Chinese feeding them iron ore for steel production and billions and billions of dollars in long-term contracts for natural gas. Australia itself is booming. Projections are for 4-5% GDP growth and only 5% unemployment this year despite an interest rate rise last month and another one slotted for August-September-ish. All that while the US is battling 10% unemployment, is practically giving away money for free with near 0% interest rates, and is projected for minimal growth this year. So I say that in spite of all that it has going for it, Australia is relatively all quiet on the mainstream western news front. So the clandestine and “below the radar,” let’s call it, identity of Australia amplifies the drastic time difference to give it a weird feel to living here.

But man, the booming economy and far distance from anything it imports certainly has a noticeable impact on day-to-day life here: it is an expensive country mate! I can only speak for Sydney at the moment, but the prices here are insane. The Aussie dollar is pretty much equal to the US dollar so that doesn’t help much and on top of that things are priced at least 30% higher than the suburbs in the US and 25% higher than Manhattan, Boston, or DC. I’m talking $1 per minute for pre-paid cell phones calls, $3 RedBox DVD rentals, $16 restaurant hamburgers, $7 Corona bottles at normal blue-collared restaurants, and $6.99 per kilo for apples!!!! (do the kilo to pounds conversion and then compare the price next time you go to the grocery). Looks like someone is going to be shedding some pounds here!

On the upside, the weather so far has been gorgeous and the water is still swimmable. They say that in Sydney you can swim in the ocean no problem until June. For those familiar with Sydney I am staying in Bondi, only a ten minute walk from Bondi Junction and a 20 minute walk from the beach. I was at the beach this past Sunday and crushed my previous paranoia about stepping foot in Australian ocean waters because of sharks. There are definitely times when I think that this is what it must be like to live in LA – gorgeous people and fit bodies everywhere; a sushi restaurant at every corner; and tons and tons of Filipinos wherever I go. It is bit weird though to hear so many Asian people speaking with an Australian accent. Other than the Asians, the largest expat presences I have noticed are the French and Brazilians. My co-worker, Jessica, is French and is appalled by the number of hours around the world she traveled to still hear so much French. Just think how I feel with English girl! It is still a bit odd to be back in an English speaking country. I have to watch what I say out loud. And I have to be more mindful to NOT talk in repetitive circles which I sometimes had to do in Germany, Colombia, and Russia so non-English speakers could understand me. I tell myself that it’s like LA, but near Asia. Pretty cool.

Monday April 26 is a national holiday in Australia for their Veterans Day so I get a 3-day weekend. Sweet! I am trying to decide if I want to go to Singapore, Kuala Lampur, or Manila….or stay in the Sydney area and trail blaze cool stuff to do outside of the city. Ironically, a trip to Manila might be the first option ruled out. As much as I want to go to see friends and family a less than 3 day trip when factoring in travel time is just too short a time. I would go with a list of 10-12 things to do but the traffic and congestion alone limits you to 1-2 activities per day. My buddy Mike is in Singapore and another team from my company is in KL. But as I wrote in my previous entry, I believe in exploring the local scene first before jetsetting through the region. So I might end up staying around these parts and going to the countryside. It’s just that Asia is so tempting and fun!!! Thoughts anyone?

OK, long entry = see ya later and stay tuned for the next exciting episode!

Familiar image Cheers mate!