Internet Connections

Coming from the United States I expected to find some fiber-optic cable connections in Australia but it was not so, at least in Perth.  What they have here is ADSL2.  I don't think it is as fast as our 6Meg/sec fiber optic back home but they claim it is 10Meg/sec over their phone lines.

We weren't sure what to get, so we started searching around.

We looked into Telstra, Iinet, Dodo, and TPG.  There are a few more companies available, but these are the four that were suggested the most, either by word of mouth or by media advertising saturation on billboards and buses and TV.

Telstra is the largest company and is effectively AT&T.  They own everything and they aren't afraid to prove it.  Their services are very expensive.  They may be the most reliable, but again, they are very expensive.  Their services are also the closest to our fiber at home, but again, they are very expensive.  Telstra has a home broadband and a "super-fast" broadband, each with  its own subset of combos.  You can sign a 2 year contract and get 50Gig of downloading per month for $50.00AU a month or you can get the same on the "super-fast" for $60.00AU per month.  50 isn't that much.  Our service at home, the cable fiber always on connection, actually had a limit of around 150Gig.  Most do. The one saving grace we had from Telstra the first month we were here was their mobile broadband.  You can get a mobile dongle that will connect to the Telstra network (can you hear me now?) anywhere at any time.  The cost?  Over $50.00AU for 3Gig.  3! This is why I had to stop posting.

My wife suggested TPG, and I looked into it, and found very bad reviews.  They claim an unlimited ADSL2 with landline phone carrying unlimited local and australia calls and 100 minutes of international calls AND a wifi modem for 70.00AU.  Sounds like a steal, right?  According to the reviews I read, TPG was the worst company around, despite having one or two gleaming positive reviews.  If you're interested in TPG, please read the reviews first.

Dodo was pretty much the same. They had a much lower price for a "naked" service (internet connection only).  They offered ADSL2 with no limits, quotas, peak times, or combos required.  The problem with this service was the two year contract you had to sign.  One would think if one wanted to change services badly enough one could just pay the early termination fee, but according to the reviews of Dodo I read, it is very difficult to get dodo to actually cancel your service.  And with the rumors out here that free broadband is on its way to everyone, it didn't make sense to sign a two year contract.  It seems that Dodo might actually be worse than TPG according to the reviews, but this may or may not be tied to the fact that there are simply more reviews available for Dodo.

We've signed up with Iinet.  We got a combo through them that gives us 200Gig in downloads with no peak times, a "landline" VOIP phone and a FetchTV pack of TV channels (like basic cable) for $99.00AU per month.  This isn't a bad deal.  The phone has free calls to any australian landline and charges only five cents per minute for international calls.  1300 and 13 numbers are 30 cents flat.

Iinet gave us this wireless router that does it all, phone and internet in one, called the BoB2.  We haven't had much issue with the BoB2 other than we can't get the wireless to operate.  No computers can join the network even with the proper security keys, and going into the router to change settings is useless, as nothing is saved upon exit.  We can connect direct over Cat5 though, and that has been ok, but Iinet still needs to be called and this needs working out.

The FetchTV is a little confusing.  The over the air channels come in fine (which they wouldn't on our American TV had we not gotten the FetchTV and its "cable box") but something is up with the package.  I thought we had the starter (which only offers box functions like on demand movies and TV) but the box itself says we have the entertainment pack (which offers additional channels you'd find on basic or extended basic cable). These extra channels, however, won't come in.  This, too, needs working out.

To make a long story short, when it comes to investing in an internet connection in Perth, be sure to fully, and i mean FULLY, research your options before you decide.  Don't be afraid to ask around of the people you meet.  If they have an opinion, they'll tell you.  Most of them will be nice about it, too.

To the Bank and Farmers' Market in Perth, and some Birds

On Friday we went and set up our bank accounts at Unicredit, a credit union on the campus of the university.  Interestingly, it seems the people of Australia rarely use checkbooks anymore, but Rebecca requested access to a "cheque book" just the same.  I think the bank teller thought us quite strange for that.

The setup of the account was weird, too.  We have one joint account, but inside this joint account we have individual sub-accounts that to my knowledge work as individual accounts.  /boggle.

Vinny was a bit in a crazy mood the past evening and morning.  As I had said the heat in the apartment was not working and the landlady had brought us some space heaters.  They work really well, and are of those "fake log fake fire" hot air blower types.

I apologize for the quality of the picture, but this is about the only way you can see the "flames."  But i won't make too much fun of it as the two we have have made our apartment life much warmer.


And it puts an end to this:

Vinny loved telling us about the front loader washer, despite his outfit.

Which honestly wasn't that bad.

But now it's warmer and we can dress in less striking outfits.

On Saturday morning Rebecca's (and Bronson's) friend (who has been a godsend i might add, with all her help in getting us set up and knowledgeable of how things go) took us to one of the many farmers' markets in Perth.  The one she took us too, whether it was the biggest in Perth or not, was absolutely huge.  It was located on the Clontarf Aboriginal College campus off Manning Road.  The campus is very beautiful. 

The college was built in 1901 and was an orphanage, then later used by the RAF in World War 2.  Then it became an orphanage again and then a general boarding school.  In the 1960s it lost enrollment numbers needed to maintain itself and closed as a school.  Afterward it became a sanitarium of sorts for children with behavioral problems.

I thought the school resembled an old Spanish mission or something out of a good Alfred Hitchcock tale.

I thought that this was just going to be yet another farmers' market.  I'd seen them before.  We had a good one in Urbana, Illinois - one of the biggest I'd seen - that took up a good portion off a parking lot. Our farmers' market in Oak Ridge was downright pathetic.  I wasn't looking forward to much.  I thought we'd get a few vegetables, see a few trinket sales, and at least somewhat support local agriculture.

This place was huge!  There were long continuous rows of vendors selling all sorts of fruits, vegetables, breads, meats - real butchers! - and even a milkman with fresh bottled milk ffrom his own dairy!

Rows and rows of food sellers and flower sellers

 and honey sellers and milk sellers and home made food sellers and sustainability sellers. 

 There were ethnic food sellers,

 breakfast food sellers, 

bratwurst with attitude sellers, 

cheese sellers,

and even a man selling ginormous mushrooms!

Yeah!  they were GINORMOUS!

See?

There was even one place selling sweet potatoes as big as your head!

Those are big sweet potatoes :)



We came away with potatoes, fruits, bread, two two liter bottles of fresh milk, a whole chicken and some beef brisket (cheapest I've ever seen beef since Dakota).

 Vinny wanted a breakfast crepe and he ordered one.  I like him to try to do things on his own, within reason, and his montessori background has given him the confidence to do so (sometimes with prodding).



He was given a ticket, which I held, and had to return to the crepe maker when his number was up on the kiosk sign.  When the number came, he was up and hurrying over to his crepe.

It was quite tasty.  He enjoyed it.

They had this large area in the middle where everyone could sit and enjoy conversation and good food if they wanted. We sat there with our newfound Australian friend and let Vinny enjoy his crepe and some of his freshly squeezed (from a cow I guess) strawberry milk.

The next day we just took it easy and hung around.  Later in the evening Rebecca took Vinny to the park across the street.  I went out to take a few pictures of some birds for my mom.  There have been two birds we have seen predominantly.  One looks like a big black crow but it's call sounds more like a dying cat in heat than the gargling caw of our midwestern crows.  I think what they call a crow is actually a raven, only bigger.  I don't have a picture of it yet. 

The other is a small black and white bird that has a very distinctive call.  It almost drives me insane, actually.  I'll have to find a way to get a .wav of it up or something.  Some people have told me that bird is a Magpie.  

The woman in the downstairs apartment throws balls of raw meat out them and they eat it right up.

Here is another one with a different black/white pattern.

There are some interesting trees in the park across the street.  They have wonderful red/ink blooms and the birds seem to love them.  

The trunk and branches are covered in sharp thorns.  Any idea what these are called?

Rebecca noticed some beautiful green parrot-like birds who loved to eat fruit from these blossoms.  Just like with any of the other birds,

 I don't know what these birds are called, and our camera isn't the best when zooming, but I've tried to include what good shots of these birds we could get.

There was also a smaller, white-breasted bird with a black head and black beak in the tree with these green birds.  I don't know what it is either, but I wonder if it is a baby magpie?

Vinny had a great day at the park playing with his mama.  Rebecca posted an excellent picture of him in a tree.  When I caught up with them they were both quite tired.

I can't believe the size of this aloe plant.  I just had to take a picture of it again.  Rebecca also found a rosemary "tree."  Wow.

  We then went home and had wonderful homemade soup made with the chicken from last night's great chicken dinner (both cooked by my lovely wife) and hit the sack.

Exchange Rate Change

I checked the exchange rate this morning and it seems to have changed.  $1 USD is now equivalent to $0.93 AUD. That may be good for us as we transfer some cash over, but it's starting to swing in a way as to make it less desireable to transfer money back.  I hope that it could stabilize closer to 1:1.  I hope the AUD doesn't fall much farther.

It is important to note that this information does not indicate any strengthening of the United States economy.  It is more than likely a result of the financial instability of the Euro.

Think Australia is Small?

People simply do not realize how large Australia is. I didn't either until we first thought of this move.  I swiped this photo off the internet (my apologies to its owners, but I'm using it for educational purposes) and it does a very good job comparing the sizes of the United States and Australia.

To top it off, the population of the United States is 311.8 million as of July 2011.  Comparatively, the population of Australia is 22.7 million as of September 2011.  The state of Western Australia, roughly the size of the United States from the Rockies and west, has a population of roughly 2.4 million as of 2011.

Perth itself has a population of approximately 1.74 million.  So let's think about that.  2.4 million - 1.74 million =  .66 million.  That means there are roughly a half million people living on a land mass the size of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and some of Washington, outside of Perth.  For the city of Perth itself, population is just a bit larger than what one would find in Philadelphia.  For comparison, the populations of Los Angeles are 3.8 million and New York 8.2 million respectively.  The entire population of the state of Western Australia - 2.4 million - would easily fit within the confines of Los Angeles alone with plenty to spare.

What does this mean?  For a land expanse the size of the United States from the Rockies west, you will find absolutely no one.  Western Australia's population density is currently 2.4 persons per square mile.  This statistic is skewed by Perth, as the true population density of the state of Western Australia is much less -figured at less than one person per square mile.

Does this mean anything else?  If you think about it, yes.  I'm looking forward to actually viewing the stars and Milky Way without haze and light pollution. I hear it's quite the sight to see.  I hear that you can see shooting stars quite often, and at least one per night that blazes across the sky leaving a fiery trail.

Once you get out of Perth and head north or east there aren't very many people at all, and as long as you are prepared, you can have a truly unmolested camping adventure.

This is another reason why the citizens of Perth, despite having criminals of their own sort, are more cooperatively minded.  I hear this is what makes Australians typically nicer, more respectful, tolerant, and engaged than most.  If they don't work together, they're alone.

Sounds like fun, eh?

Nothing to Declare? You'd Better Check Again...

My wife introduced me to this television show aired in Perth and the United Kingdom entitled "Border Security: Australia's Front Line."  You can find complete episodes of it on YouTube.  The stars of the show are the many customs screeners and immigration officials who work tirelessly to protect Australia's borders from exposure to invasive diseases, plant life, animals, the influx of drugs via couriers and mail, and to determine the legal status of everyone entering the country and if they have the means to survive the duration of their stay without violating the status of their visas and breaking the law.

She told me at once she was addicted to it, and after one episode, so was I.  Australia is very serious about customs declaration, so whatever you do, CHECK YES.  If you aren't sure, as they say on their form CHECK YES ANYWAY.  After watching the show you can see how even simple negligence or forgetfulness can doom you to hours of interviews and even fines and jail time.

There is one character on the show named Peter and both of us admit that if Peter ever sat us across his desk and interrogated us we'd end up telling him our most private sins (the man has a "just don't f$*k with me manner" and incredibly piercing eyes and intimidating mustache).  I joked with her that I was going to put the theme song on a voice recorder and play it behind her head upon our arrival in Sydney, immediately provoking a worried search for Peter from her.

Seriously, the show is very informative, and even if you aren't interested in visiting Australia, it is wonderful to see the extent these people go to protect their borders.  I think everyone stands to learn something, be you looking for ways to increase our security or find someone else to criticize other than the United States for treatment - justified or not - of illegal immigrants.

What I find most interesting is how many of their questions of arrivals would never be asked in our country as they would be declared invasive, personal, irrelevant, and rude, yet these are the questions that are the most helpful to them when identifying drug smugglers.  Also of note is how patient they are, as if many of the visitors becoming hostile and angry with them are simply talked down calmly or quietly escorted away, in the United States argumentative, hostile travelers would be told they could be arrested as a terrorist and threatened with detainment.

Check out the show.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Might learn something too.  Here is the first episode.

RPGs in Perth

As we are avid gamers we have been wondering what game stores / groups we might be able to find in Perth and how to get into contact with them.  I've been searching around; as a university town Perth would surely have some sort of gamers' union or game shops where you can find bulletin boards.

I came across http://www.meetup.com/PerthRPG/ off http://tabletopmanifesto.blogspot.com/ and signed up.  Hopefully it will work out for us.  I'd like it if we could find some relaxed gamers who've been around a while.  I'm always willing to take in new players or play with players with little experience but need to do so on a controlled, hopefully one-at-a-time so we can mentor pace.

If anyone heading to Perth wants info about Perth RPG groups, sign up on the forum.  When you get there, look us up.

I hear there is a good Quality Comics store at 872 Hay Street.  You can see their site here.  It will redirect you to their Facebook here.

I also read of a store Tactics where you can get good RPG materials.  I can't find any real info about it yet but will look it up when I get there and give an update.

Links To Helpful Sites

Here are a few links to some helpful sites.  On many of the news sites you can read comment sections and get an idea of the diversity of opinions of the area.  It is probably a lot like it is in the US though.  For example, as anyone who frequents CNN.com knows, most of the comment posters are trolls, lunatics, and lifetime subscribers to the aluminum hat club.  I'm sure it's probably similar there.

http://www.perthnow.com
http://abc.net.au
http://news.com.au
http://www.watoday.com.au
http://www.theaustralian.com.au  (subscription)
http://www.perthtalk.com.au   (chat room, almost impossible without a local IP)

streaming radio
http://www.mix.com.au

some video, like msn video or youtube
http://video.au.msn.com


As I find more I like I'll be adding them as time goes on.

Exchange Rate Update

The exchange rate has changed.  The dollar has either rallied a little, the Australian dollar has weakened, or both.  The current rate is:

1 AUD = 1.03 USD
1 USD = .97 AUD

That makes it a little easier on us and a little worse on the Aussies, for now.  We still will only transfer what we need, as there is a large fee for transferring.

Importation of Firearms and Weapons

My arsenal:

I emailed the West Australia police and asked what special steps I needed to take to legally import a few items of mine that are "controlled," as defined by the Weapons Regulation Act of 1999.  They instructed me to fill out a B709 Permit application so that the items will be released to me by customs.  Seems that swords and knives over a certain length are lumped in with the firearms permit.  The response letter I got to my inquiry was as follows:

Swords are controlled weapons under the Weapons Regulations 1999 in WA and as long as you possess them for a lawful use (ie collection etc) you can retain possession.  To import you will require a B709 Permit if the blade exceeds 300mm (Approx 12 inches) To import an axe you will be required to submit the B709 Permit application.  Axes are also controlled weapons and the same applies with their possession.


In relation to all items it would not be acceptable to be walking around in the streets or driving around in your car with controlled weapon with the likelihood of causing fear to the public.

Regards


You can find the Weapons Regulations Act of 1999 here, and the B709 Permit here.

Whatever You Do, Don't Be a Hoon!

APRIL 16 2012 EDIT:     A Video of a HOON:   
http://video.perthnow.com.au/2223272714/A-blight-on-Perth-streets


Hoon.

What's a hoon?  We first saw the word in reference to driving, usually done by the "L-platers" which, to the American readers, means learner drivers or new drivers.  But a hoon?  What's a hoon?  This is important if you're moving to Australia, because it seems that hoon is a very common descriptor used to label distinct behaviors.

Hoon:     Anyone who engages in antisocial behavior, "in particular, used to refer to one who drives a car or boat in a manner which is anti-social by the standards of contemporary society, that is, fast, noisily and/or dangerously" ( Wikipedia. "Hoon."  http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoon ).

Hoon driving is driving recklessly.  Doing donuts in the street.  Peeling out.  Gunning engines at stoplights.  Driving like, well, a hoon.  Believe it or not, Australia actually has anti-hoon legislation which they call, you guessed it, "anti-hoon" laws.

You can even get a hoon tan:  one white arm and one tanned arm, because you have one arm hanging out the car window all the time.

You can go out and hoon around, meaning messing or screwing around.

I supposed that hoon was somehow related to hoodlum, but have uncovered no evidence as of yet to support the claim.

After this we were interested in other jargon that might come in handy pertaining to deviant behavior.   My wife had heard Bogan a lot which seemed to mean redneck in context, but we really needed to find out for sure.

Bogan:    a pejorative, "or self-deprecating, for an individual who is recognised to be from a lower class background or someone whose limited education, speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour exemplifies such background... used by fans of heavy metal and hard rock music to describe themselves, and was used almost interchangeably with 'head banger.' Bogans typically wore 'acid wash' jeans, ugg boots, and band t-shirts; had mullet style haircuts; and lived in suburbs" ( Wikipedia. "Bogan." http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan ).

That's a metalhead, not a redneck.....   but still.....

I also remember from dungeons and dragons a bogan being a minor elfling or gnome-like entity that reveled in mischief, and by the definitions both interpretations seem linked to the mythological scottish/gaelic bocans.

My wife had a sure bet that bogan meant redneck, and I'd have to say, after reading examples of it on the internet that yes, Virginia, a bogan is a redneck, but not in the way Americans know rednecks.  Wearing band shirts and acid washed jeans is clearly not what comes to mind when Americans think of rednecks. However, taking into context that the Australian punk/metalhead seems to be the cultural patsy everyone likes to joke about, it is a parallel to our stereotypical "southern-born redneck" and would classify as a redneck (deviant patsy) for their area.  They just don't have the rebel flags and rusted out iron duke camaros so they have to point fingers at metalheads.  And jeez.  Living in suburbs.  Such horror.  Better than trailers, I guess, as is the stereotype in the U.S.

If you don't want to feel judgmental, however, you can equate it with hillbilly which, in essence, really isn't a bad thing.  It all depends on context. Personally, I don't feel left out.  I apply to both.  I may not have rebel flags to throw around, but if they're wanting either to point fingers at a mountain music loving white boy hillbilly - sans mullet and camaro which by definition makes me a hillbilly and not a redneck - or a metalhead, just look my way.

I'll be sure to keep my camera out when I go hoon-hunting.

The lesson I take away from this is:  Don't be a hoon, but you can be a bogan, but only if you're a hillbilly.  Rednecks need not apply.

Moving Costs and Exchange Rates

We've had a few estimates on how much it'd take to move our stuff from here in the US to Perth and the results are astounding.  We aren't even taking cars.  Here's a brief list of what we're taking:

Living Room:   Tv stand, LED tv (which we know might not work other than to play our video games, blu rays, and serve as a monitor), loveseat, two beanbags, a shelf with board games, and two small side tables, one with a marble top.  PS3, PS2, Wii, a combo VCR/DVD, the games (about 140), and about 250 DVDs. Three laptops and two 10.1 inch android tablets.

Dining Room:  Standard rectangular dining table and ten chairs (have extras on hand).  Dining buffet and hutch.

Kitchen:  Pots and Pans and dishes.  We aren't keeping many of our countertop appliances at all, and the large appliances stay.

Son's bedroom:  His bunk bed, dresser, cubbie shelves, toys, and clothes.

Spare bedroom:  Queen sized bed, dresser.

Bedroom:  King sized bed, matching dresser, all our clothes.

Bathrooms:  not much.

Den:  Maybe our PC, our two drawer file cabinet, a small coffee table, six standard bookshelves, around 3 of which are filled with books.

Storage:  Three bicycles, plastic bins (about 24qt each and roughly about 50 of them) and the contents.  Kid's wagon.  Two hiking backpacks.

Utility:  Toolbox and hand tools (hammer, screwdriver, etc.)  All powered items will not be taken.

Shed:  Nothing.  All yard tools will stay.  Customs issues.

For these items the best estimate we could get was from Allied Van Lines, and they said we needed a 40' crate and it would cost us ~$17,000 US to move it all.  Can you imagine?

The current exchange rate is $1.00 US = $1.10 AUS.  That means we'll be leaving most of our money in the US until (if) the exchange rate gets better.  A 10% loss during transfer is not pretty.

Sunrise, Sunset

Perth, Australia. Before last autumn I'd never heard of it. Sure, Heath Ledger came from there but I'd never paid attention to that fact. When someone said "Australia" I would think of Sydney, Melbourne, or the Outback. I knew of Queensland and New South Wales through friendships made online with gamers. I knew New Zealand was down there too, but didn't realize just how far away it was. I'd seen a few movies about Australia; Mad Max introduced me to mind-numbing bush; Australia and Hugh Jackman introduced me to Darwin, not to mention Nicole Kidman, herself an Australian, and all of the movies she'd been in, despite the subject matter relating to Australia proper or not; the iconic Crocodile Dundee and the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin opened my eyes to the outback and Australia's diverse biology; Russel Crowe was just outright badass; Dot and the Kangaroo, a book written in 1899 and later made into a cartoon/live-action film mixture first introduced me to Australia; and finally the summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000. I'm sure there were others too, but did any of these inform me of Perth?

Nope.

Not until last autumn.

As it turned out my wife, who is the primary breadwinner of our family because her earning potential as a research scientist is five times mine, was becoming disillusioned with her employment in the United States. There was an internal position that had become available that she applied for, interestingly enough, that she was already performing, but the powers that be had the opinion that she could not be trusted enough to take on the new position formally. What was truly going on was that she was being overlooked because she was a woman. Neither was this an isolated incident nor did they propose any sensible reason based in reality for not hiring her. Other women, too, were obviously being discriminated against.

The whole place has issues with women. If they're not refusing women sanitary environments to breastfeed - they suggested women could pump inside the confines of a bathroom stall! - or provide child care for working families they were approaching her and other women as if they were servants - she, a PhD scientist, asked to set up lunch tables and provide coffee before panels! They loved slapping her face all over their brochures and magazines to show the world how supportive they were of diversity in the workplace, however.

What's the point of all this? She saw an ad in a magazine for a position at a university in Perth for which she was highly qualified. She was the perfect candidate actually, and she asked me if she should apply. Knowing how additional job offers would give her power in her negotiations with her employers I told her to go ahead, that I thought it would be great to apply. So yeah, my fault. Despite her applying for this position thirty days past the deadline she was offered the job at the conclusion of her first interview!

Thus began the several months of heart-wrenching and worry as we pondered the move.

Perth? Where was that? It's no wonder we'd never heard of it. It's situated on the coast on the southwestern corner of the continent where it proudly sits as capital of the neglected state of Western Australia. Evidently it was considered nothing more than a backwater town until they discovered natural resources and BAM after several decades Perth is the fourth largest city in the country in population. It seems to be quite the cosmopolitan place these days.

Wikipedia and Wikitravel had some information about it, but everywhere else I looked, from bookstore to online book sellers to DVDs and audio CDs I could find very little about the town itself. Pictures on Google Earth weren't helpful either as most of the satellite scans are dated 2008. A friend of my wife loaned us the book "In A Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson which she has read and shared what information she could.

It seems about all I could find about Perth was the equivalent to the AAA travel guide. If you ever want to know about Perth's history, check Wikipedia. If you want to know where to eat or a nice place to hike, check me.

Yet everywhere I looked I could find nothing on the society or the culture. I'm sure these books exist. I wonder if they are hiding from me.

I did come across a streaming video on Netflix about Perth, and it mentioned Perth a couple of times while being mixed in with Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney (is there not enough about Perth to fill a forty minute program?).

Because of this and the time constraints with this move we are moving to a town practically across the world from us and we have no idea what it looks like, what it feels like (other than hot), and how the city breathes. We don't even know the safest or best places to live. We do know, however, how expensive it is. That information is freely available. Everyone talks about that.

I've found a few dated blogs that discussed things like suburbs and crime statistics. I've gotten a few good ideas about the town from those. WWW.PERTHNOW.COM.AU has also been helpful.

So what's the plan? If I'm going there, I'm going to talk about Perth. If I'm going there, I'm going to make sure I do my part so that anyone else considering this move from the U.S. will have some more information to consider. If anything, it will keep me busy, and as I'll be a foreign national in a strange land with unfamiliar culture and no employment to keep me occupied, I'll need to keep busy.

X-day is sometime in July. I need to tell my parents. Here goes nothing.