theres no kind of atmosphere

Well I am sitting in my room drinking my first decent cup of tea in over a week. The last attempt ended up with milo cereal in it, and the ones made by other people were decidedly weak. So, I have tea, I have this room to myself, and the new waifs album. I also have a view out the window over some unidentified autmny trees and some stunning mountains.
As they say, this is the life.
I am actually relaxed for the first time.. well in a long time. Relaxed being a very different state to happy, having fun etc. So although I have had some awesome times in the last age, I haven’t been relaxed as such. Its quite nice, and rather addictive I have to say. Lol
The last times I can remember being relaxed (I am not counting the tiems doing nothing feeling guilty for not doing anything.. they are many) were ages ago. In y9 on great vic I remember lying under the trees at Cerbrus.. probably an unconventional place to feel relaxed (it’s a miliary base, and great vic involves riding great distances with 3,500 other people). The other time was at the prom, sitting on my surf board in Oberon bay.. considering that was at least 2 years ago (due to the fires last year) I think I am well due some nothing time. And I have to say I am appreciating it, you never know when the normal madness of life is going to take over, although I don’t think id really want to live all my life like this, maybe just a month a year. Lol
So.. I was thinking a little of things that I would like to have here. If they didn’t weigh anything, weren’t impossible etc. I haven’t included people.. duh.
So.. we have:
-ice cream.. it is very expensive to buy in small amounts, and impossible to transport thus illuminating the possibility of buying larger amounts. It is also cold to eat outdoors.
-Milo and milk.. ahh good old milo.. none of this tea/milo crap
-kettles.. very rare buggers leading into the next point
-consistent tea supplies… well actually there are at least 6 tea emporiums here (I didn’t think a town could sustain so much tea) but that’s not the same as milk, tea, a mug, and hot water all in the same place.
-Toast.. now why the Europeans don’t eat toast I will never understand.. it is one of their few failings.. cold bread for breakkie isn’t the same
-Consistent internet.. preferably that doesn’t involve sitting outside in the cold..
-Clean clothes.. yes.. that would be good.. I think other people would like that too.
-My car.. (yes.. right hand drive.. that would NOT be a good idea) car=freedom from public transport.. and strikes
-A good shower.. not one where you press the button and water runs for 10secs.. I don’t know who decided that saves water..
-cheap phone calls.. damn Telstra.. I say that very publicly..
-easy to use electric plugs.. English ones are the worst.. you need a crow bar to get the plug back.
-and the worst.. and girliest.. my hair straightener.. sigh.. how technologically dependant I have become. Well not me.. my hair.. anyway’s that’s not to worry.. moving right along.. actually moving along in a second. I find it interesting that although I may desire all that crap.. I am surviving quite well without.. we are very adaptable things.. I think mostly we choose not to adapt. Much as I know I can survive sans hair straightener, con hat, I don’t plan on it when I get home. Im sure that makes me a bad non greenie.. if I buy a hybrid does that make up for it? lol

I was not disappointed yesterday. I got my obligatory European show. I was wandering around, slightly locationally displaced, I think in the tourist area of town, which was the laziest tourist area I have ever seen, I think all the touters had the weekend off, that or they are in Grenoble. Anyway walking along as I was, looking at 300 euro bags, I found the event of the day. A bunch of people, I suspect they were actors but the sign was slightly incomprehensible, were dressed up in ski gear from the 80’s (shudder) sitting around in deck chairs taking photos of each other. One was trying to smoke a salami. I don’t know why. I doubt I ever will. Its one of those mysteries.

But, moving along from smoking salamis (from what I saw he was unsuccessful.. probably a good thing really) there's something I cant work out about Europeans. They look stylish ALL the time, I don’t know why, or how. They even look stylish when rollerblading in lycra. That takes skill.
As far as im concerned it stands out from miles away that I am Australian. We are not known for suave, and I defiantly am not, especially when washing clothes in a sink..
Like, there are backpackers wearing white pants, and yes they are white, not grey. My new blue jeans are a kind of browny grey and would possibly walk if struck by enough juice to give them a bit more life, currently they try to slunk off.
In my normal circles I would look scruffy, but here I feel like a big ball of scruff, in comparison to the locals.
I don’t know why they are so slick. It cannot be genetic, genetically I am after all European and British. And it cant be in the water cause I would have caught it by now. Perhaps its some vitamin supplement. I don’t know, man they can make a polar fleece look like an acceptable item to wear down the street, not rain coats though. I have got a ‘look’ for wearing a rain coat down the street (as such for the next few rainy days I didn’t take anything water proof, and was attacked by multiple umbrellas) the guy I was with was highly embarrassed to be seen with me. ;) It was all very amusing.
That said the trend of shorts and boots and stockings has taken hold here, (and to anyone reading this please don’t take offence if you are in the habit of wearing this particular outfit) im not quite sure why.. im sure skirts exist for a reason.. but maybe its cool. Still they make that look slick.
Perhaps all this is emphasized by the fact that I have been wearing the same clothes (with some washing.. its ok.. don’t panic) fairly consistently for the last 2 weeks because I cant be bothered to totally unpack to find other clothes. As such everything is slightly crumpled, some is shrunk due to bad experiences with washing and drying machines and some colours are a bit patchy due to bad experiments with washing powders. And my hair seems to have decided that the world is going to end, and as such has gone into a frizzed panic trying to warn other people by jumping out at them. My hair has a little too much spirit, as mentioned earlier.
About the only bit of me that fully fits in is the jewellery, I think Pandora has become as, if not more so, universal than Fossil. Possibly more so, there was a girl in Northern Norway who had a bracelet.
I am wondering how there can be such a differenece between Europeans and Australians in the suave stakes. Fashion is nigh universal, so it has to be in the wearer not the clothes. Although perhaps they have more access to the clothes.
I am in a town with three different ESPRIT shops (womens, mens, and something called EDC) a united colours of Bentton and Lacloste. (you know what I mean, spell checker doesn’t) and I am defintlay not in the city, I am in a town built around a lake and skiing, its like Omeo or Baw Baw village having those shops.
In one shopping centre in Portugal there were 3 united colours of benneton stores. I was proud of knowing the name, I even own a shirt from them (go DJ’s sales). So perhaps it is the clothes, or the vitamin supplements. Who knows, I shall ask someone when I get the chance. Or maybe something else.
I come from a land down under. Of rugged mountain ranges and dusty red soil planes. Now I have the suspicion that I just mixed and mutilated two very well known famous poems.. BUT I also come from a land where a bonds chesty (other wise known as a beater –pronounced Bee-da) is considered fashionable. That could be the problem, not that I can blame Bonds.. but it is tempting. I only just realised what a hold they have on our market. Sigh. And what a hold beaters have on our market. Maybe this is something to do with it all.

I was wondering how much globalised communications such as this have affected our views on travel. If I wasn’t writing this blog, well its possible I would have lost touch with more people than I have and they would have even less of an idea of where I am. And possibly I wouldn’t remember as much. When I got home all people would have heard was maybe one or two tales, and none of the bad stuff would have been communicated. I am wondering if things like this ruin some of the blind romantic ideas we have of travel. When we talk about the travels in past tense only the good bits get discussed, and they get amplified, thus people end up with a more positive impression. Whereas with this warts and all get aired (hopefully in a balanced fashion). I haven’t yet decided if this is a good or bad thing, perhaps its just different.

And with that the world goes on.. I gradually turn into a little amelia shaped icicle and get rambled at by mad men because im sitting on a park bench with a lap top.. yay for the world.