06.20.10

Every Sunday, they have a market in the park grounds in Port Douglas. It was just like being at a fair, except no fair food, and no rides. There were local produce, exotic gardeners, jewelry makers and clothing boutiques.
One of the first things we did was try some freshly squeezed sugar cane. The stalk itself looks like bamboo. The put it through a grinder and squeeze all of the juice on the inside. It comes out a modest green color. The vendor gave us a choice to flavor it with lime or ginger. I chose lime, but that has nothing to do with the actual flavor. How can I even begin to describe it? I dont want to say earthy, because it wasnt a dirty flavor. It was very plant like, but not bitter. It was as if I just ground up some grass, and eliminated the bitterness. It was sweet, but not like how you would think it would be. It didnt taste like sugar. It was the consistency of lemonade, but lemonade is sugary sweet. This was more succulent sweet. It was right on the border of being sweet, and then plant like. You couldnt tell what you were drinkingsomething sweet, or something made out of a plant! I think it would have been much better without the lime, though they use the lime and ginger as a way to better mask the plant taste. I enjoyed trying it, but I was so confused by the taste, and so was my stomach. Not so sure I would drink it in the same quantity ever again.
We walked around the rest of the grounds, but were most intrigued by the opal miners that were there.
Australia supplies 95% of opal to the world. It is known for its precious stone, and some of the best pieces can be found here. John and I had been looking at some opal jewelry in the stores in Cairns, hoping to find something reasonably priced, but just wasnt satisfied.
When you buy opal in the store, you are buying a solid piece that has been polished and rounded, cut and then set into jewelry. However, the pieces they had displayed here were opals in its raw form. I believe it is most beautiful in its raw form. Just seems more real that way.
The natural rock was still surrounding the opal piece. Complimenting the sparkling rainbow shades of the opal are these beautiful tans and browns. The more vibrant the colors, or more rare, the more expensive. As well as how thick the opal pieces were. We managed to find a small stone with a beautiful, white, opal piece.
John really wanted me to have something nice, so he gladly bought it for me! I absolutely love it!
John had wanted to buy these fisherman pants for some time now. They seem to be quite popular with the backpackers style, and we managed to find a vendor who had a collection of them. He found a pair that had a pocket and put them on when we got back to the tent.
He is slowly starting to look like he is one with the beach, and just needs to buy a pair of flip flops! He refuses though. He tells me he will buy flip flops when he gets dreadlocks. Yes, he is still dead set on getting dreadlocks.
We went to a store after the market so I could return the pants I bought for a black dress instead. It was just to hot here to wear pants and a long sleeved button up (which is the only black top I have). I was relieved to have found something that would work perfectly.
Both excited about our new purchases, we head back, and I start getting ready for my third day of work.
Today was much better, though, not busy at all. The hours I would normally be working are 6:30 to 10:00 or 11:00, but because of it being so slow, they have been letting me out at 8:30 or 9.
The day was fine, except for one thing that became apparent to me. Obviously, I am from a different country, which makes me a foreigner, but I speak English, just like Australians do. Yes, things are different, but not so much that it makes me foreign to the country. China, yes, Australia, no.
I was about to put away the silverware when I asked Olivia, where do I put the dessert spoons? She looked at me like I was speaking another language. Annoyed she responded What!??? The way she said it was as if I just told her head was the size of a watermelon (which it IS NOT!). The audacity of me to ask her such a question! I repeated myself and got the same, rude response. I held up the spoon to show her, and she says, You mean the long handled spoon? Unbeknown to me, they use different names for their cutlery. Small obstacle, but nothing that restraining.
We serve bugs at this restaurant. No not real bugs, its a type of craw fish. Theres a restaurant in Cleveland that serves up an array of craw fish. When they serve them, they cut the top half off, so it takes of the spiny back, and the googly eyeballs. Here, they cut their craw fish as well, but I wasnt sure if it was sideways or from the top. After having been asked by a customer if it was one, or two bugs, I asked David. He was the caller for the night and a very nice guy. Such a gentleman. Just so happens that we are both staying at Dougies (along with another waitress as well). He was standing by the kitchen pass, so one of the chefs over heard. He clearly thought it was a stupid question and proceeded to gossip, like a child, to the head chef. A few minutes later, I catch the chef eyeballing me, like he was making sure I wasnt blonde or something. I asked him what, and he started to make fun of me for having asked the question! I explained to him my logic and he just pretended like he didnt hear me. He muttered 'foreigners'.
Another odd thing is that they use entrée as an appetizer. In America, your entrée is your main meal. We use little palm pilots to take orders, and when a guest is done eating their entrée, (appetizer) you have to call it away so the kitchen knows they can start the main meal. The message we type in when calling the entrée away is mains away!!??? I just dont get it. Are you starting to understand how confusing this can all be?
Last but not least, at the end of the night, I was near Rads, filling out my time sheet. They use military time, for whatever reason, and I was slightly confused, having to think an extra second about my start and end time. I messed it up of course, and so did Sonja. Rads looked at it all confused and started laughing. She said I swear you two, I havent struggled this much with foreigners in a while! She laughed, and I explained that we only use military time, in the military. She then said We call it 24 hour time here. Sheesh!
On my walk back, I reflected on this whole foreigner thing. Though I am English speaking, and though I am very accustomed to life the same way Australians are, I am still a foreigner. They laugh at me, and giggle like I am just a naïve child that doesnt know better. Whats funny is that Australians have dubbed Americans as stupid. We come to Australia and ask what prawns are, we are confused because we dont use the metric system, and make stupid mistakes when we drive, because they drive on the other side of the road. I will agree, that like every other country, America has its problem, but we still seem to pave the way for every other country in the world, and in so many facets of life.
Everyone in Australia says that America is always ten years ahead of everyone else, including them. They also say that Australia follows trends that America develops, both in fashion, politics, entertainment, government. If we make changes politically, Australia will eventually use the same tactics and implement those same changes. If it is a stupid idea, Australia gets mad and says Those stupid Americans!so though we may make stupid decisions, doesnt that make Australia even more stupid for following?
I will tell you one thing I would much rather be apart of a country that has the balls to step up and make decisionsa country who isnt afraid to fall, then to be apart of a country who doesnt have the guts to make big decisions, and instead blames everyone else when something goes wrong. Even though we have made some bad choices, we have made some excellent ones as well, and at least we can own up to our mistakes. I love America and damn proud of her!
The next morning when John and I were walking to the beach, we actually saw an American bald eagle. Clear as day, without a doubt, Americas bird, was flying just a few feet above us. Talk about irony.