1 Week Down

We have been here a whole week already! And what an interesting week it has been. Here are a few things we've learned about Australia so far:

+They like to put food in mini pies. Meat pies, cheese pies, egg and bacon pies. Eat it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pies, pies, pies.
+It really does get cold here--and most houses are not insulated at all.
+The cost of living evens out in the end. Yes, some things are more expensive than in the States (like processed foods, and name brand things like Kellogg's that we see in the States) but some things are cheaper. Like meat.
+They have poisonous spiders (White Tails) that 1/50 people are allergic to. If you get bitten and you don't go to the doctor, it can spread and leave a hole in your skin. Ewwww
+In general, people are friendlier, more outgoing, and love to help you.
+Heads of lettuce are ginormous.
+People say "No worries" like we say "You're welcome" or "No problem".

I'm sure there are many things that I'm missing, but those are the things that stand out so far.

We got the car we wanted! A 2003 Mitsubishi Magna. Ben will be picking it up on Monday. The dealership is right around the corner from his work so he can walk there. It's very exciting. We also saw 4 houses on Friday, and really liked 3 of them. We applied and put our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice down. We should know this coming week if we got one of them! We'll post pictures of the car and house once we get them.

Last night we went out for Chinese food (as if we didn't get enough of it on the plane). A lot of the restaurants here let you bring in your own drinks, which I think is really strange. Wouldn't they want to profit off of your drinks? I don't get it. Anyway, the food was great. We are having a lot of fun hanging out with Mark, Nat, and Tyler. I feel like I never stop laughing with them. They all have spare mattresses that they've offered to us for when we get a house. That will be a huge help because we were planning on buying an air mattress and just using that until we could afford a bed. We're excited to start yard saling and getting things for our place!

I think that's it for now. Ben is really enjoying his job, and is already hearing about some projects that he might get put on! For now he is doing a lot of slave work---running errands for the boss and the rest of the office. He'll move up soon though, from what we're hearing. Nancy is a great boss, and we've had a lot of help. Things are good, but we do miss everyone back home. We'll update again with pictures this week!