Surprising Tastes

I really love to grocery shop. I'm not sure why, but I think it's really fun. Probably because I get to make a list. Grocery shopping is even more fun in Australia because the brands are all different. Things like mustard are hard to find and they are classified as "American Mustard". The other day I saw a box of pop tarts at a lolly shop for $9.95. At our last shopping trip I bought a can of peas and the other night Katie cooked up some Mac & Cheese and I heated up the peas. . . not the same as American food. I mean canned peas and Macaroni are not a delicacy to begin with but these peas were large and mushy and the Mac was tasteless.

My most unpleasant experience with Australian food happened on my second day. The DJ Village (the housing complex where I'm living) was hosting a breakfast for all the people who had just moved in. They had bagels and a bunch of different spreads out: Butter, cream cheese and a bowl of something dark that looked like Nutella. Thinking it was this really good (but terrible for you) hazelnut spread, I heaped it onto my bagel. I was expecting something sweet and chocolaty and instead was shocked with the bitter, salty taste of Vegemite. Vegemite is popular among most Australians and is something that will put hairs on your chest. It's made from yeast extract and is not something I will be trying again in the future. I guess you are supposed to spread it on sparingly. It is a taste you have to acquire.

Not all the food has been bad though. I've had some really good (but greasy) fish and chips as well as some extremely delicious ice cream. I found out that if you want a milkshake, you have to order a thick shake. Otherwise you are basically getting strawberry milk. I have yet to sample any kangaroo meat, but Jeff and Nate bought some and were going to make tacos out of it. I'm thinking about breaking my vegetarian diet to sample it.

Monday was the Adelaide Cup so a bunch of us went down to the beach for the day. Despite my application of sunscreen I managed to get pretty toasted. Australia has a hole in the ozone layer apparently. On our way back to the apartments, as we were crossing the bridge between the main campus and the housing village, we saw two guys rigging up some ropes onto the bridge. One of the guys was standing on the other side and was about to bungie off. We stopped to watch and take pictures and then the guys offered us a turn. I'm terrified of heights and knew even thinking about it too hard would give me a heart attack so I quickly declined. But to everyone's surprise Nate immediately accepted. At first they were just going to lower him down on the rope, but he decided to go ahead and swing off like the first guy did. It was pretty awesome and we got some great video.