September 26, 2013
I will not be blogging daily... even though I do have time on my hands, there isn't that much to report on a daily basis. But this weekend begins Octoberfest here, a month-long beer celebration and if the weather lets up, we plan to venture further into the city to do some bartering at a street fair, so I reckon its good to write about a few more things now before summarizing the weekend.
My love of sports has been well documented. Here, that is going to be a challenge due to differences in both culture and time. The big sports that are followed here are Basketball, boxing, billiards, and cockfighting. The sports that dominate tv-- the aforementioned as well as ufc, a lot of futbol and rugby. The Australian channel has Australian Rules Football. I can get with that, but unfortunately they changed the uniforms the cool umpires used to wear in the 80s. There is also indoor soccer-- which is literally 5 on 5 on a basketball court and an interesting sport I was advised of to look for-- Sepaktakraw. Sepaktakraw-- picture volleyball -- 3 on 3-- but no hands! all soccer skills. It is amazing to see all the bicycle kicks and how nimble these athletes are as essentially they play volleyball with their feet.
There is no Roller Derby. I am missing that and my roller derby family a ton. I try to follow the local bouts on twitter. There is no American Football on TV, and only occasional baseball games when fox Sports feels like pre-empting soccer. I did see where they are going to show the World Series so that is exciting. I listen to Iowa games and the two Packer games I have streamed, they lost, so who knows if I will do that any more. The hardest part is Iowa is on at 4:30 Sunday morning for me... Kind of a day disrupter. I wish there were more night games as at least it would be on at say 7 or 8 am.
My current hangout is TGI Fridays. I figured it would give a taste of the US and I can then get a handle on the culture. The staff is quite friendly and are great with the questions I ask. Plus this gives me a chance to try to understand the voice inflection of the locals. Years of loud music has my hearing far from perfect, so I am already at a deficit and I hate to continue to ask someone what they are saying-- they think it is them and aren't speaking clearly, when usually its really me, not hearing everything.
I went bowling once and I went to the pool hall once... there are helpers that rack the pool balls for you. weird. I am not used to that. The kid was not particularly a good racker, either. When bowling, there is a person designated to assist in getting a ball for you, signing you in, etc.
There aren't a ton of bars, specifically, but pretty much every dining spot that isn't mcDonalds or KFC serves beer at a minimum. Drinking age is 18. Most also serve wine and hard liquor. One bar is called the distillery. Its the high end spot in Eastwood. It has 40 or so scotches as well as a large selection of European beers. There is smoking in the bar, which is weird. I had forgotten about things like that. there is room for about 50 people at the tables so they seat you at tables with others. Most tables also order a bottle of say jack Daniels or Jose Cuervo and enjoy it as a group.
A couple of things Ive noticed at the bar-- individual groups or tables do not intermingle. Maybe thats because the city is so huge and people keep to themselves-- or maybe its more cultural and folks are just more shy. Also there haven't been any fights or even flare ups that I have seen. Granted, Im not hanging out at closing, but there isn't as much drunken testosterone as there is in the states-- that ive seen in a limited a mount of times. There are bouncers at the distillery and one, Hubert, Ive gotten to talk to a couple times. He always asks where Suzy is and I have to state that she is working. I think it is off custom to go out alone, but I have never had a problem doing that. I then explain whenever I am asked that Suzy is working and she knows I am out.
Bars close at 3 apparently. One thing we have noticed with Suzy getting home at 6 or so each morning and this may be because of all the call centers around here that cater to companies worldwide, is that the area is BUZZING at 7 am. outdoor cafes are packed, restaurants are busy, and generally there is a lot of hustle and bustle. There are probably a lot of people leaving from work or heading to work...
and then there is me, a guy still working on getting a visa so I CAN work.
Well everyone, until next time, which I reckon will be about octoberfest, shopping, and who knows what, take care.
Chuck
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