An other-side-of-the-world perspective

Moving to Australia gave us a new perspective on our home country, the United States. Now Kristi and I are traveling for a bit in the Netherlands and Belgium following a work conference she had in Amsterdam and we’re getting a new perspective on Australia.

 * Most noticeable of all is the fact that Australia is, relatively speaking, less pricey than we thought. We asked our friend from Amsterdam if anything is cheaper there than in Australia, where she now lives, and here answer was unequivocal: no.

 Our experience verifies that with one exception: beer, very good beer of many varieties, costs less than a euro per bottle in stores and you surely can’t beat that in Brisbane.

 * One cannot live on beer alone.  But you can come pretty close if you add in cheese.  The Netherlands has incredible cheeses.

 * The Internet speeds I experience with my ADSL connection at home are put to shame by all the connections speeds we’ve experienced here. Gmail comes up fast! I watched a brief movie sent to me via email and there were no interruptions for more downloading. None. Amazing.

 * Really old things in Australia tend to be trees, like the occasional thousand-year-old red oaks saved from loggers. Here buildings under 200 years old are considered new.

 * Cute and quaint are qualities that have appeal for tourists like us, but only for a while. We’re missing Australia’s open spaces and lush greenery. We’ve seen some wonderful tulip fields and one vast open beach, but we’ve also seen way too much stone, in buildings, as sidewalk, and as paving, cobblestone.

 * Water, water everywhere. Amsterdam, of course, has canals all over, but so does Bruge in Belgium, and even out in the country, streams and canals seem frequent and full. It even rains a lot, although we’ve been blessed with an unusual amount of sunshine during our visit.

 Speaking of sunshine: it isn’t what you’d see either in Australia or Southwestern US. Much of the time it seems filtered and the atmosphere is hazy. No wonder we see so many pictures of Europeans in outdoor cafes; when they get a chance to be outdoors, they take it and they can turn their faces to the sun with little fear of quick sunburn.

 We’re fortunate to be here and we’re learning a lot.  The museums full of “low country” old masters are stunning, of course, almost overwhelming.   

More later.  – Bob