age

We meet people everyday, some younger, others older. When I meet people (individuals or group), I don't  discriminate the age; as long as I can have a decent conversation, I'm happy. But I have noticed that I have a much harder time to connect with younger people, especially when they are about a decade younger than me. I am still very young at heart and I can find common subjects to talk about, but sometimes their attitude turns me off. For example, today I have been hanging out with this group of british "kids" (I call them kids because they are 18). They are very fun and energetic group of people but I can't relate to drinking in public area and get hammered. I have done that 10 years ago, that behaviour is idiotic. Somewhere down the line, I lost the desire or will to get drunk just to get drunk.  Obviously to every rule, there is an exception. In the rare occasion, I get to meet "kids" that are wise and mature beyond their year, to the point that I forget their real age.

Since when does growing up makes me feel so damn old?

Australia, week one: Technology in Australia

It has already been a little more than a week since my departure from the land of beavers, slush and cold. So far, the transition has been somewhat smooth. I obviously had to adapt to the different culture and technological differences, mostly the world wide web. In Canada, we are spoiled to have "unlimited" internet and more importantly, FAST internet at a somewhat affordable price. It is true that our market is bottle necked by the monopoly of Videotron and Bell, but at least each common house has a DSL connection or a Cable one. In Australia, it is very hard to come around a decent internet connection. Even with the free wifi, I can't seem to get a decent connection (read: 5 to 10 k per second if i'm lucky). Thankfully, the Australia government has injected billions of dollars to upgrade their infrastructures. If all goes as planned, in 5 years, Australia will be as fast as Europe.

However, what impressed me the most are the cell phone carriers, especially the prepaid. First of all, they are not controlled another monopoly (ie the Big 3: Bell, Telus and Rogers), there are about 3 main carriers, and at least 5 or 6 saller ones.  So for only 30$ a month (yes it sounds a lot but wait until i explain how it works), I get a 300$ balance (each call costs about 1.20 per 30 seconds.. expensive but with 300$ it comes to cheaper than the fido prepaid) AND 500 megs DATA PLAN, plus, the most amazing part is ALL CALLS ARE UNLIMITED INCOMING. I might have have 10 pennies left, and I can still receive calls. That is only one option. Each carriers have their own "prepaid plans" so it takes a bit of searching to find the Goldilocks package.

As for me, I'm still adjusting to the Australia way of life, learning how to stay away from the sun and slop on heap of sun screen (the UV index in Sydney is constantly at 10 compared to Montreal where the average index during the summer is around 8). I've been looking for jobs (and start to look out for places to stay)  and explore the city.

Hopefully by the next post, I'll find a job and find a flat to live in and explain how expensive housing is in Australia.