"No Worries"

One of the best things about Australia is what I've taken to calling the Aussie state of mind. You know the one I'm talking about, where they call everyone "mate" and instead of saying "you're welcome," they say "no worries." Combined with the accent, listening to conversations down here is just so relaxing.

See, I like schedules. I like to know where I'm going, when I'm going, with whom I'm going, how I'm getting there, what I'll be doing once I get there, and when I'll be leaving. In the States, things are hectic like that. I could have my day planned down to the minute because if I wasn't at this class or that club, I had to go to this rehearsal or that meeting, or maybe even both at once.

But part of this whole experience is the beauty of a new start. I'm not in any clubs (yet), I have friends that I like to go out with, but not every night, and I'm basically free to be as social or antisocial as I like. I have a social life, but it's not quite as jam-packed as it was last semester, or even during the summer when I worked all day, every day, and then went out for a late coffee with friends before rinsing and repeating.

We don't make plans here. A "plan" here is a text from Mara saying "hey, we're making dinner, want to come over?" or a Tuesday afternoon e-mail from Mitch wondering if anyone wants to go see The Hangover in four hours. I mean, I occasionally did spontaneous things whilst I was at Denison, but here I would say that roughly 80% of social activities are arranged less than 12 hours in advance, and more or less on a whim. And when things go wrong, as they sometimes do, no-one freaks out. For instance, when a large contingent of us headed down to Melbourne Central, on Tuesday evening and discovered that not only were tickets $18, not $10, but that the movie was sold out and it was the last showing of the evening, we just sat down on an s-shaped bench and chatted. For an hour and a half. Then we strolled back to RMIT Village, stopping for popcorn along the way, and hung out talking in the courtyard for another half an hour or so.

It's a nice change of pace, most certainly. I feel as though firstly, the movie thing would never have happened in the States with my friends there; we would have checked the movie, and possibly pre-ordered tickets, and if it had still happened, we certainly wouldn't have found a bench and sat down to chat for an hour and a half before leisurely strolling home.

But I do like to stay occupied at least part of the time. So on Wednesday I auditioned for the University of Melbourne Early Voices Ensemble. They're putting on Dido and Aeneas this semester, and since they've offered me (and I've accepted) a spot in their Alto section, presumably this means that I will be in an opera this semester. Furthermore, I auditioned for the Vocal Ensemble on Thursday, and they've tentatively offered me a spot (the director apparently isn't sure my voice will blend well with the rest of the ensemble), so hopefully that will go forward as well.

It turns out I won't be able to take voice lessons through the University (not enough room in my course load), so I do have to look for a voice teacher now, as well as a job. But my cold is more or less gone, the homesickness has begun to abate, and I feel like I'm finally settling into this city and this new lifestyle.

So all I'll say is no worries -- I have faith that everything will work itself out.