(3) The Inevitable Break Down

It is a great success that I have a phone now and although I can count the people I know here on one hand, last night there was only one that mattered.

A friend from NY had put me in touch with one of his Aussie friends through Facebook and after spending the whole weekend recovering from jet lag, I wanted to go out. It takes several minutes of poring over the little keyboard and some pekking on my part in order to send out a two sentence text message to - oh lets call him Al.

Al manages a restaurant in South Melbourne and after a few texts back and forth, I was to meet him there and he would show me around Melbourne (aka get me very drunk). I left the house about six o'clock and successfully conversed with the tram driver in order to find out what stop I need to get off at. Don't think that since we both speak English it was easy. On the contrary, everything is pronounced differently here so "Clarendon St" actually would sound like "Claritin Straight".

It was one tram ride and a short walk later that I find myself sitting (you would not have guessed this) at a bar! Surprise, I am right back where I usually find myself most at home (that was a little tongue-in-cheek).

Al is a tall man with a rolling Aussie accent and a black wool cardigan (the man is 28). His pink shirt is untucked and he is rushing around the restaurant while I sip a glass of wine. I am just about finishing admiring my new black (cheaper version of) Uggs when he finished and we get in a cab to Destination B. We chit chat about this and that, he seems like a nice guy, very relaxed just like the rest of the Aussie's.

Now, I don't know if I have told all of you about my experience with Grandpa, but one time I had a date with a much, much older bartender. He was nearing 40 and he worked in the food industry which apparently means that when you take someone out there is an unwritten rule that you have to go to a place where you know the staff. Not only do you have to know the staff but Clause 235 states that when taking someone out you must also SHOW the person you are with that you know the staff. Furthermore, you must SPEAK to the staff and ask them how they are, do you remember me, I work here and there, blah blah blah. This was a very similar situation to Grandpa.

Destination B turned out to be a grungy pub in Fitzroy (an un-trendy Village so to speak) with burgers and fries and a loud live blues band. I had another glass of wine and he started telling me about the two year relationship that broke his heart, had him playing poker and snorting drugs for a year. I guess I learned well from a very good friend that being the inquisitor is always the best route. Ask more about them, tell less about you. The evening was not over after I downed a salad and snuck some fries in too. There was a Destination C on the agenda.

It was nearing ten o'clock and I was getting tired (I don't stay up late here) but I was game for another place. Wrong choice. Destination C was a little hip bar, closer to home where he did know the staff and introduced himself as quite the wine connisseur.

As the conversation got more and more pretentious (involving a flamboyantly gay man at the bar that he knew as well) I was getting more and more ready to leave. Why is it that when I am around gay people I need to make more of an effort to comfort and validate them. Perhaps it's a lack of security in their sexuality. But no matter, Al was extremely polite and put me in a cab after a friendly hug and that was it. With him.

The moment I burst into my new sharehouse (stumbled) I spotted Nick and fell into his arms, so grateful to see the quirky IT guy who was so simple and kind. He gave me an awkward hug and I spilled out the story of the evenings pretensiousness and snobbery to him and Dovi (the 18 yr old waks boy) and they totally empathized with me. They also offered me some weed in consolation which I indulged in and laughed my ass off for a half hour.

Unfortunately, the wine and weed were a dangerous mix. I got upstairs and stared at myself in the mirror for what seemed to be a long time and asked myself just what the fuck I was doing here. I do not want to meet people like Al, I do not want to go to snobby bars or dirty pubs.

I started crying and felt really, really alone.

This is real. You are on the other side of the world where you have the option to make a huge change in your life because nobody knows you. I am homesick and this feeling of attachment to all my friends is a new one. I have built such beautiful relationships in the past few years that are hard to be away from.

You know what they say though, a good nights sleep cures anything.

This morning I began an internet search for a good yoga studio. All the ones in my area are not really what I am looking for but I found that if I ventured a little further, I could find a good class.

This afternoon is my orientation and my first day of work. That will be another interesting adventure, I would imagine.

Missing you and loving you....