Week 6 - Jaci

Another crazy week. Pete is in New York at the moment meeting up with his PhD supervisor - so you get an unedited blog from me this time! Actually Pete can edit this from New York so he may take out the good bits.

Big news that I forgot to tell you! Pete got permission to work in the US! We're still waiting on one document to arrive, but otherwise it is all go. Naturally he was devastated as he loved having an excuse not to work for a few months. I really like him not working too. He was often stressed in his last job and now he has much more time to spend with me! He is thinking that he will do some relief work part time till the school year starts in September.

OK, this is what we've been up to. Friday night began at a south east Asian night (which had free Thai food) with Tracy and Steve. We then went on to find a bar. I had an arguement with a bouncer who wouldn't let em in cos I didn't have ID - you have to look 28 otherwise they card you, which was actually quite flattering since I turned 28 the weekend before.

We ended up at a groovy bar/cafe called Cafe Bottega. It had an excellent jazz band (though they didn't know any Australian songs and were insulted that we asked). There was a gorgeous black woman there who took a bit of a shine to Pete and got him up dancing (something I've never been able to do). She then tried to teach Tracy and I to dance. Apparently 'Yo gotta dance like yo makin love to yor man.' I don't think Tracy and I were very good at it and I'm really going to have to rethink 'how I make love to ma man' cos I've never done it quite like that before!

Saturday we had lunch at George Veronis' house with another of the scientists here, Steve Sherwood and his family. George has delivered beer to our house a couple of times because we don't have a car. He has certainly won Pete! It seems the Australian beer drinking culture has preceeded us.

Saturday night I went out to a martini bar with the girls from the lab. It really is a novelty to have 'girls from the lab'. I suppose being joined with meteorology and geology helps that, instead of maths and computing.

So as you can see it was very much an alcohol weekend. Then on Sunday morning we went to the gym to try and burn some of it off.

Monday night - another night out I've just got back from dinner at Morys with some work people. This restaurant has to be seen to be believed! You have to be a member to get in. The walls are lined with photos of yale sporting heros and other groups that seem a bit random but they all look important. The bookshelves that line the walls are filled with year books. Then to top it off there is a special Yale boys choir that comes around to sing for you - songs about how good Yale is, and how Harvard isn't. Surprise surprise - they have a serious little sister complex here.

I've been discussing with a few people how the work culture is so different here and not what I expected. I'd been warned that US scientists work long hours under lots of pressure. This is totally NOT the case. They are so cruisy. Sure they work, but they're not stressed about it. CSIRO people were always running to management meetings and writing proposals. Here they come to tea and cookies every day and there are seminars on all the time that people attend even though they are often not in their field. You always feel like people have time to talk to you. Why is this? Are we so strapped for funding in Australia? Hmmm, there are aspects of the US I'm really starting to like...scary.

My job is good fun. At the moment I just get to read and talk and think...no programming or writing. Heaven!

Week 5

Is this really only the fifth week we've been here? So much has happened. We are still on a bit of a rollercoaster of enjoying it and wishing we were home. I (Jaci) set up her new laptop to cycle through photos from home (farewell BBQ, wedding, Simon's party, Cairns etc.) but it is making me too homesick so it will soon get turned off.

Last Friday we went to the movies with our Australian friends Tracy and Steve. The medical school (just down the road) puts on movies and it only costs $10 for the whole semester, so that may become a habit for Friday nights.

Saturday morning we went to Boston to spend the weekend with my old flatmate from Sydney, Mel and her partner Brian. It was both Mel and Jaci's birthday on Sunday so we celebrated together. Saturday we went out to dinner at an Afgan restaurant followed by cocktails. Sunday we mostly stayed in as there was a huge snowfall overnight and during the day. (see photos - Jaci is almost knee deep in snow!) We hope to catch up with my other ex-flatmate Elisabeth in New York sometime soon.
Grandma - the scarf you knitted me is coming in very handy.
Mum - the bag you made may have to be put away till it gets warmer - it would get covered in snow then the snow would melt so it would get quite wet.

We now have cable, our own internet access and a landline phone. After one night we decided that we should probably get the cable service switched off - it is all crap. We will give it a few months till we move to the next place though. We have found an old movie channel and are watching James Bond movies at the moment which are OK. Otherwise it is just repeats of sitcoms like Seinfeld. Watching ads is fun at the moment - will we ever think the ads are normal?

The phone is also proving to be a burden. Apart from Pete's Mum Pam, the only people that have rung us are telemarketers - and they ring constantly - so we think we should get that disconnected too and just use our mobiles which financially is a better idea anyway.

Pete had an interesting run in with one telemarketer trying to get donations for the police force. Pete was quite confused about this as the police are paid by the state. With your donation you get a car wallet holder advertising your donation- which we infer is for when the police pull you over - they know that you have donated money to the police force to fund their retirements. Pete suggestted this was corruption and tried to engage the telemarketer in a long debate. The telemarketer asked Pete how long he'd been in the country and then promised not to ring for a few months till he'd got the hang of American culture. If only it was that easy to get rid of all of them. We have signed up to some website to stop them ringing but we figure there is a delay before that kicks in.

Can anyone explain shoes to us in this country? Jaci has been shoe shopping but can't find any shoes that fit. They are too long but not wide enough. The last pair she bought here she had to resort to buying mens' shoes. She has wide feet but it was never a problem in Australia! This place is full of Cinderellas.

The other dilemma is codeine. Jaci stocked up on migraine tablets before we left but didn't think about buying extra panadeine. Turns out codeine is a low level addictive drug here and you have to have a script for it. They also monitor how much is prescribed. Americans with migraines are just told to take Nurofen and go home to bed! No way would Jaci cope with that. The doctor here has agreed to prescribe Jaci some though. Not sure why you would take codeine if you weren't in pain - it gives you terrible constipation.

One of the Australian guys at work has just been back home and returned with a can of baked beans which we are saving for a special occasion.

Today we got our first internet delivery of groceries. While it was wonderful to not have to leave home to get groceries, the number of plastic bags they arrived in is a serious problem for our greenie conscienciouses. They typically had two items in each bag but double bagged - so effectively one bag per item. Without this though we have to go to the supermarket every few days as we can't carry much home at a time. It will be easier when we get a car. Don't even start me on how big the cars are...

Miss you all and thank you for the birthday wishes.
Jaci and Pete xx

Jaci's reflection on language barriers

Here is a joke we were sent that illustrates a bit about the language problems we are having:

> SAN FRANCISCO MAN BECOMES FIRST AMERICAN TO GRASP
> SIGNIFICANCE OF SARCASM
Chuck Fullmer, 38, yesterday became the first American to get to grips with the concept of sarcasm. "It was weird" Fullmer said. "I was in London and like, talking to this guy and it was raining and he pulled a face and said, "Great weather eh?" and I thought - "Wait a minute, no way is it great weather". Fullmer then realised that the other man's 'mistake' was in fact deliberate. Fullmer, who is 39 next month and married with two children, aged 8 and 3, plans to use sarcasm himself in future. "I'm, like, using it all the time" he said. "Last weekend I was grilling steaks and I burned them and I said "Hey, great weather."

It means we have to be careful cos people take us literally. They also don't understand when we insult them to be nice. Here are a few examples:

Jaci was listening to a woman tell her about something terrible that happened. Jaci's response was "No!" Which in Australian means 'That's terrible, I feel sorry for you.' In American it means 'I don't believe you, I think you are lying.' Such a simple word can get you in a bit of trouble.

We saw a woman twice in two days and she said "Wow, this is fantastic. Its like you are part of my family." Pete's response, "oh well, you'll soon be sick of us." Her shocked reply "No, I could never get sick of seeing you." (Vomit)

The science common room has VERY unattractive pictures of past great scientists. Jaci said "Hmm, I suppose they are there to inspire us." American's comment (without any trace of sarcasm, but some trace of confusion) "Yeah they're great aren't they?"

Pete has great fun stirring up the locals for his own amusement.

People seem to be a lot more aware of position and seniority which is often lost on us. When they talk they will speak in awe of someone just because they are in a more senior position and feel somewhat honoured to be in their presence. We don't respond appropriately and don't actually realise until later. I suppose this is the Australian lack of respect for authority. I think in Australia someone has to really earn your respect rather than just be in a more senior position. In fact in general if someone is more senior we are inclined to chop them down. (Imagine if we were actually respectful to Trevor!)

I wonder how many faux pas we've made and we don't even realise it?

Week 4

As we have received so many emails from people saying they don't think they'd like to visit America, we feel we should begin by saying some positive things about New Haven and the US in general:

• We have mobile phones now and they are great. The plans are much cheaper here. The same goes for internet connection.
• There is a Uni shuttle bus that runs even on the weekends. Whenever you are need it, you ring the shuttle, it comes and picks you up and takes you home.
• We are pretty privileged - Yale provides heaps of support and facilities that make our lives easier. Lots of things we are only finding out about like $10 season tickets to the medical school cinema
• Pete has found a great Uni course to sit in on that discusses one of the books he is studying for his PhD.
• Being a Uni town, it is fairly relaxed. There are very few women walking around in high heels and make up.
• In general the people are pretty cruisy too! It is quite easy to make friends.
• Internet shopping is fantastic. You don't have to leave home to buy groceries or any house type stuff.
• Pete was impressed that in the men's toilets at the ice hockey game there were two doors - one 'in' and one 'out'.
• The flats are always really warm, due to excellent heating and insulation. We have to have a window open in our flat to keep it cool.
• Good wine is cheap and so is beer.
• Health insurance is great, you don't pay a thing - if you work for a good company that pays for it.
• No one around here seems to have voted for George Bush. Not that have admitted to it anyway.
• You can sell your eggs for up to $50000 ($10000 on average)! Very tempting but I think a bit emotionally challenging!

Sometimes though I'd just like to put my red Dorothy shoes on and click my heels three times! I think the homesickness will wear off in time though.

Its been a busy week. As we've said before there is lots to do. Wednesday we went to a function for postdocs with free food and drinks. Being Australian we drank our share of the alcohol, but we rekon we were the only ones. Thursday night was a forum on race and ethnicity in the US. It was rather feeble though, didn't really touch on issues we needed to know about, and the free drinks were only orange juice - how terrible!!!

Saturday night we went to the play - the one CSIRO people got us the tickets for. We loved it! The theatre was lovely inside. We are curious as to how it was directed differently for a US audience. As it was written by an English guy we think there were more jokes, but they just weren't emphasized. We will try to get an English version out on video to see.

On Sunday we met up with our new Australian friends, Steve and Tracy, to watch an ice hockey game. We don't know the rules but it was good fun. It doesn't seem to involve a lot of skill, just a lot of body slamming. One player even broke his hockey stick. It is much like Australian footy and they have a water truck in the breaks just like at the speedway. Yale won 4-3 to to Uni of Connecticut. Apparently Yale isn't very good at sport. Someone told me it is because Yale takes students on academic ability not just sporting prowess. Then again maybe they are poor losers. We then spent the rest of the evening in the pub with Tracy and Steve. We know it is bad form to go to another country and then hang out with Australians, but it is a relief to be around normal people every so often. (See later post on language problems.)·


Tomorrow we get cable TV! Then we can watch Oprah and such. For the moment we are watching a lot of DVDs. We have also discovered that we can listen to Australian radio and watch the ABC News.

For those that asked about the fashion here - We don't think New Haven is the fashion capital of the US but we can tell you what seems to be different. Women are wearing 3/4 slacks. Not casual ones, but formal slacks with knee high boots underneath. It looks a bit odd. Hipsters aren't as low as they have been - which is a relief. And there seems to be a new trend for tops. You wear a long top and then a long sleeved bolero type top over it that does up just under the bustline. Pete says that it doesn't seem to matter what you wear as long as you are talking on your cell or looking preoccupied and rushing somewhere you're OK.

Pete has put in his application to work but it will take at least 2 months to process. Keep an eye on it if you like. Pete is under I765 - All other applications. The present applicant being processed sent theirs in on the 29th October. When you see the 25th January - that's Pete.

We have also made an appointment to take a driving test. The next available was the 23rd May, so we have plenty of time to practice.

We have joined the library (where you can borrow out new release DVDs) and the Yale library which has 3.5 million books (and a card catalogue to search if you can't deal with computers).

Jaci applied for a credit card today. They are giving us a 'pretend one' so that we can build up a credit rating. That is, we pay a deposit of say $500 and then we can have a card with a $500 limit. I don't see what part of this allows them to call it a CREDIT card. But anyway apparently the IRS doesn't know that it isn't a credit card and so we can get a credit history which makes life a lot easier and cheaper. Car insurance for example is about $1600 for 6 months on a $2000 car if you have no credit history.