Pool

There are a lot of people from different countries visiting or immigrating to Australia. Like everything else in life this has its upsides and its downsides. One aspect of it, is that it enriches the spectrum of non-understandable English in the country. Since there is no other English in Australia than non-understandable English, you can't say it worsens anything.

Then it manifests itself in lots of Japanese restaurants, Korean restaurants, Chinese restaurants, Indian restaurants, Thai restaurants and so on. And I like all of them. There is even a Japanese ice cream shop that uses honey instead of sugar. Great!

The Dark Side of the Force is represented by people who think that they can behave however they want (badly) because they will be leaving soon anyway.

The first room we rented is part of an appartment which is part of an appartment complex which has some communal rooms on the first floor. There is a gym that is used by some, a recreation room with some couches and a kitchen and a billiard room used by noone, something I find inexplicable because I would be there with my friends the whole day.

Then there is a pool.

The Pool.

It's shallow which I assume is good for kids but you can still use it to swim properly. There were signs with the rules. You are supposed to keep it clean, not bring any glass along and not use it after dark.

One day after dark there was a lot of noise coming from the pool. There was much whooing and wheeing. It sounded like a party where people were just pretending to having fun by copying the hollering they have seen on TV. They were not really having fun. It was not subtle. Even a software guy with limited social skills could tell. The biggest tell was that noone was laughing.

I went to the balcony, looked down for a couple of seconds, went back in and closed the door.

Then there was a sound of broken glass.

Some more 'whoo's.

Then came the half-hearted chanting: U-S-A U-S-A!

Perth City Center

Like all cities even in ancient times, Perth has a city center. I think the train station seperates the CBD (Central Business District) from the entertainment district. Closest to the sea/river/whatever are the financial institutions because of course the middlemen want the best space for themselves. At least it is architecturally well done.

The bank hood.

Next there is Hay Street and Murray Street which are the shopping and restaurant streets. The closest thing we had in Stuttgart is the Königstraße, only in Perth it is better. In the middle of it, it is more of a web of hidden paths and arcades that even go underground and after weeks I still think I haven't seen the half of it.

If I ever went shopping, the greatest thing about shopping in Perth compared to Germany would be that the music is not shit. In Germany most of the time you have to listen to some house-beat-autotuned-voice-combination. Here the house beat is almost non-existant and the autotuning is at least toned down. I don't even know what music they are playing but it's better.

Then there are the restaurants.

There are loads of asian restaurants.

Even more asian restaurants than you could think of.

I don't know if Perth is different in that matter than other Australian cities but here it is more difficult to find a restaurant that doesn't sell sushi than one that does. Even the Woolworths supermarket has fresh sushi made every day. You can see them preparing it in a booth like if you were in the zoo.

Where the streets have no name. Except this one has one and it is called Hay St. The other streets also have names. So it is nothing at all like I said in the beginning of this description.

It's the first time I saw self check-out machines which almost eliminate queues at all times. I am still not sure about the idea. They are good, I think?

Then there is the friendliness I mentioned in the last post. We were looking for some wonder-honey that cures every ailment and becaused I had problems with their coins, the woman there asked how long we are in Australia and where do we come from and she was really interested. Then we asked about the directions to a supermarket and another customer pops up and adds her own wisdom because she thought she can help.

Another time I went to the upper floor of a big store because that was where the electronic department was and I was doing my rounds past the suitcase department and the girl there asks me how I am. The thought that she is flirting with me crossed my mind. Then later they asked me at McDonalds how I am instead of asking what I want so I think that's kind of a standard greeting here. Still don't know if I am to genuinely respond. I will go back to the suitcase girl just in case she was flirting with me.

The top floor had an arcade cabinet on sale for 3000$. I played Asteroids.

After the train station is Northbridge. That is where alls the happenings are happening. We've seen two brawls up until now. Lots of bars, clubs, restaurants and a coin-op arcade as well. And still a nice looking neighborhood.

Northbridge has no bridges at all as far as I know.

Not too far is the police station and I had to go there once because I lost a bag. "No worries" as they would say here, it was nothing expensive, but I still wanted to have it because I transported it all the way from Greece. The most impressive thing I saw there while waiting was a poster that started with "Don't be an idiot" and then it went on about how you shouldn't pick up fights or steal things. I found the straightforwardness of the whole thing impressive. You would never see that kind of poster in Germany because of its lack of political correctness.

A day later I saw a "Don't be a creep" sticker on a bus.

All right! I'll try.

Arrival

Diana: I want to stay here forever.

Pasco: In Australia or in Perth specifically?

Diana: Here in Perth.

That was on my first day in Australia. Diana came four days earlier. A couple of days later, she asked twice in a period of less than half an hour which direction our appartment may be. Then

Diana: I want to go back to Backnang.

Pasco: Why?

Diana: Because I don't get lost there.

One might think that her very first statement was not said in earnest and in this case one would be wrong. She loves it here and I see why. Besides the warm weather, people seem more friendly and eager to help than I have seen in the past.

The city center of the Perth

The first thing I did when I landed was get some money out of the ATM and the smallest denomination was $50. I tried to give it to the bus driver, he sighed a little and waved me in without getting any money from me. Some days later, I got a hot chocolate with soy milk from McDonalds (I am lactose intolerant). The price was $4.25, I paid $4.30 and didn't get anything back. I looked at the receipt and found out that soy milk costs an additional 40 cents. The girl at the counter just ignored it.

Before I go on to the next memorable event, let me explain that in Germany it can very well happen that you go home in your car at 1:00 am and then some one wants to cross the street which is absolutely empty apart from your car and he or she will push the button to change the lights anyway which forces you to stop your car because of unknown reasons.

So, some days later I arrived at the crossroads and pedetrians had a red light. A woman with her young son approached. I wondered what would happen next. The stopped at the end of the crosswalk, the woman looked  left and right and then they crossed it, even though they had a red light.

I want to stay here forever.