The Reason for all *This*

This installment was supposed to be about the putative dangers of living in Australia about which one reads so much once one starts researching such a move, and I will address that issue in an upcoming installment. However, it has been pointed out that I have said nothing of the circumstances necessitating the move to Australia herein described and that reason probably should be elucidated. The reason is simple: my wife was offered a tenure track position at a university in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

She and I have talked about this decision extensively and decided that such an opportunity is too grand to decline. I have no doubt that we will continue to debate the pros and cons of this move even after the move is made. We will be moving a very long way from home, a very long way from everything and nearly everyone we know (we do know some people in Brisbane). I have no doubt but that we will miss our family and friends terribly. I know I will miss my cats: they simply cannot come with us. We will be immersed in a new culture where people speak what is ostensibly the same language, but that language may differ so greatly in its particulars from the one to which we are accustomed that we may not be able to understand anyone (I rather doubt this, but it is possible). All of the plants will be different, and most of the birds. We are moving to a place without squirrels, with different stars in the sky, with different laws and customs, different sports. I'll have to be bored by cricket instead of baseball, footie rather than football, net ball rather than basketball. (Actually, I'm looking quite forward to going to cricket and Australian rules fooball matches.)

Will we be able to get decent pizza? That question didn't even occur to me until my dad asked me that same question this evening. Will their concept of ice cream be the same as ours, or will it be closer to the English conception of that dessert? If we cannot get versions of these dishes recognizable to the American palate (and bear in mind that our palates are not typically American, but they are American nonetheless), will access to a broad variety of asian foods make up for this lack?

Despite flooding in northern Queensland, the southern part of the state is still in a drought; will we be able to adjust to water rationing? The government has set a goal for all residents of Southeast Queensland to limit water consumption to 170 liters per day, which is about 45 gallons per person per day. Now, this is great for what my spouse does and means that she is readily employable in Queensland and will have plenty of material to study. But how does one actually take a four minute shower? This is the length of shower recommended by the Queensland Water Commission. After a time, I suppose the adjustments we make will seem as natural as separating trash into different types of recyclables does now, but I do wonder how we will adjust.