Mt. Dew (and other sodas), uncovered!

Remember a while back when I posted that Mt. Dew (one of my worst guilty pleasures) was rare here but that we found something called "Mt. Dew Energized?" The drink seemed a bit odd because it said "with caffeine" on the bottle/can and I wasn't sure why. I think I figured it out! I've done some reading and it turns out that many (maybe most or all) non-energy drinks (including Mt. Dew) were not allowed to have caffeine. Somehow soda drinks (like coca cola) but not soft drinks (like Pepsi and Mt. Dew; don't really understand the difference) are allowed to have minimal caffeine. This explains a nasty and useless Pepsi I had the other day as well. Thus, it appears that these new Mt. Dew Energized are the first Mt. Dew's to have caffeine here in Australia. People are really posting about it. A little hunting on forums showed me that apparently this is common in other countries as well. In fact, it appears that the US is one of the only (or the only) country to have such liberal caffeine regulations. The fact that I don't really enjoy tea, and can't stand coffee, have made early mornings and long days a struggle and now I know I can't turn to sodas either - although it's probably better. My next plan is to make a chai tea powder concoction similar to that sold by a local coffee shop from back home. Hopefully that will help...

A few Aussis-isms

Today was my first full day of work and I must say it was a full day. I got in around 8:15 and left around 6:30 (for those of you with real jobs, spare the gasping please). I have a lot of meetings planned these first few weeks to get to know everyone in the 'office' and to hear about clinical experiences in the hospital. I also got to talk about some data today and it sounds like I'll be the lead quantitative analyst on the data set while I'm here. Both my supervisor and I got very excited about this and I thought of a million papers to write. Down boy, down.

Today's lunch with 3 other colleagues was quite fun as well. Interestingly, it was myself, two native Aussies, and one woman Canadian (been in Melbourne about 4 years) so we had a good time talking about words/phrases used in the three countries. A few I was unfamiliar with are below...guess what they mean (no googling!):

au fait (actually common in Australia, Canadian had never heard of it)
face washer
pushchair (or pram)
tomato sauce
slides
moccasin
trolley
thongs (not what you think, but probably used some in the states as well)

In other news, I've been invited to be a fill-in for a women's netball team on some Tuesdays. When I asked Candice (my co-worker/temporary boss) if she could show me how to play first, she said 'nah, you'll just get it." I've been told its most similar to our basketball, which I gotta tell you is just not a short girl's sport. We'll see how it goes!

3 states and 2 countries

I just had to throw this in there. The other day two of my friends, Sabrina and Mandy, and myself set up a Google hangout (it's like Skype but for more than two people). Sabrina lives in Wilmington, NC, Mandy lives in Portsmouth, VA and I of course am on a different continent so together we had 3 states and 2 countries talking all together. I haven't talked to either of them in a really long time and it was so nice to see their shining faces! 

Sabrina getting up close and personal. 

Google hangout also lets you put fun things on the screen. Pirate Sabrina trying out a few things. Sabrina talked a lot more than Mandy so I don't have any of Mandy. Great to see you guys!

First day at work and moving day

Today was both my first day at work and moving day to my new place - I love cramming everything into one day! Work was great. I was supposed to be there at 8:30 so I was my usual punctual self and showed up at 8:15, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Feeling confident in where I was going I walked up the stairs one floor to the second floor. I waited for 1/2 hour, my boss did not show up to meet me. So then I made several trips down to the first floor, up to the fifth floor, etc. After an hour we found each other and she told me that one floor up is the 1st floor because I started on the ground floor - jeesh! Today was more of an orientation day, I printed several articles, began using my computer, and watched a video. After a few more weeks of paperwork/ID badges (you have to swipe to get out of some places; fire hazard if I ever heard of one), I should be settled. There are a few more critical pictures I want to take, but these will do for now.

I actually work at the Melbourne Children's Research Institute but it is housed with and affiliated with The Royal Children's Hospital. There is also a partnership with the University of Melbourne. 

They just re-built the hospital. It's less than a year old and they put in a lot of 'extras' to make the hospital as fun as possible for children. They also have several indoor/outdoor playgrounds within the hospital, an aquarium, and a meerkat habitat. I bet (and hope) that all these features were inspired by research that says "children's development [and recover] is supported by outdoor play, creative exploration, and animals." I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

 

My desk! It's sort of like a cubicle but bigger. I have this really big nice Mac computer that I don't know how to use, my own phone, file cabinet, and my own 'spice rack' which is actually a me-size drawer to hold stuff. Perhaps I shall put 1,000 spices in it.

And I get a view! This is actually of the demolition of the old hospital. It's kind of cool to look at, really. At the very least I am SO lucky to have a wall full of windows and natural light. Four years of graduate school and my office was surrounded by 4 concrete walls.

My new place! I will get pictures of the outside soon but here is my room. It's on the second story and has a big beautiful window for more natural light. My friend Alyssa and her soon to be father-in-law helped me move in this bed I just bought and all of my things from the last place I was staying. All I had to do was assemble everything by myself..

Look at that wall of closets!

All I had to do was put an IKEA bed together with no tools. Except...

I did have tools! Thanks to Brendan (Walsh) and Natale, I had my very own screwdriver and knife. 

 

All put together! I'm slightly concerned that it will collapse beneath me as I sleep tonight but I think we can say that for most IKEA products. I guess I'll just wake up to another adventure.

Still a little messy but this is it. I have a bed, a desk, a comfy lounge chair, and more bookshelf space than I will ever need. Oh, and a space heater, VERY necessary. Did I mention it's very cold here?

If Forrest Gump can run for 3 years, I can run for 30 minutes

Ok I stole that line, but it's true. I was running regularly in Athens and have let it fall to the end of the to-do list with all the moving/transitioning. I will say, however, that I walk almost everywhere here so I am getting some exercise everyday. My goal is to get back to running, maybe even sign up for a 5k or two while here. Heck, maybe I'll even push myself and go for my first 10k. A good friend, Ali Watts (a person so amazing to deserve both names when mentioned), is visiting soon; bet I could convince her to run a bit. I had set out to run today but by the time I ended my usual chats, it started to rain again - and its cold! No excuses though, I will run this week!

Australia, welcome to Mexico!

So my biggest complaint about the wealth of food possibilities available here is the absolute lack of Mexican food. I have yet to pass a Mexican restaurant and a girl needs good nachos now and then. So tonight, I made my own nachos. The grocery store didn't make it easy, there is a severe deficit of cheddar cheeses (mostly only parmesean or other white cheeses), corn chips are only sold in the Mexican section (not in the general chip population), and guacamole doesn't exist (but you can buy $5 avocados). It wasn't quite the same as La Fiesta, but it will do.

Sweet new phone

Thanks in large part to Brendan, I've been able to accomplish a lot while here. I found a place (post on that soon), got a new phone, got my public transit card (Myki), and did a tour of my work (post on that too; REALLY nice facility). Today I'm going to try and set up an Australian bank account and get some things in order for starting work on Monday. As a teaser, I thought I'd throw in a picture of my super awesome new phone. It is brand new, cost me about $40 and has the original snake game that all nokias came with. If you want to call me internationally (don't do that, its expensive), I'll give you the #.