U`r in your bloody element, brother!

"Bahnhof" should actually be the name of the next entry. "bahnhof" because it's the only thing I understand, unfortunately that's not quite true, I understand most of it (well not all of it) but I'm still struggling with answering. Textually or in writing probably no problem, but verbally, damn! The problem is that I mostly still think in German, so thinking like a German, I'll probably never get that out of me completely, but thinking in German still creates barriers, because everything I hear has to be translated into German first, then I think in German, then I try to translate the whole thing, ergo it takes quite a long time. If I don't really think about it, it works quite well, but if I start thinking about it, it gets weird. Like with everything. I just shouldn't think. It's still like that at the moment, so when I keep my mouth shut everything actually works quite well, I smile in the right places, nod or roll my eyes and keep my mouth shut. It also works well, is very instructive for me and is good for me. I was asked what it's like to work in Australia. So far, as far as I can tell, it's very relaxed. Everyone goes about their work and we chat to each other from time to time. I have to get used to the open-plan office, but nobody really minds if you have headphones in or just go out and sit in the sun with your computer for three hours or so. The workstation is electronically height-adjustable, which is super convenient. What more could you want? The person sitting next to me is Tim, an older gentleman who has been around the world quite a bit and has a great sense of humor. I only understand half of what he says, but what I do understand makes me burst out laughing. He has already found me a house in his neighborhood, unfortunately in Ipswith, about 40 km inland and, as everyone tells me, about 5 °C warmer than in Brisbane, but the price (rent) would have been reasonable. The other person sitting next to me is important, that much I know about him, otherwise he keeps a low profile when he's there. What else is different? At least no one is ill! If you compare that with Germany. So a little anecdote from my short life as a laboratory manager in the pharmaceutical industry, up to 70% sick leave. It was so common to be sick there, I could even predict exactly who would be sick the next day after a few months. It was so predictable and tiring. And to be honest, it sucked, for everything, for work, for colleagues and certainly for the sick people themselves. That's one of the real problems in Germany, every single person is the fu=?ing problem.

Apart from that, a lot of things here are state-of-the-art: the labs, the facilities, the infrastructure, the building, the work culture. It goes without saying that there is fruit and coffee and parking spaces and nobody writes it in the job advertisement. Home office? Sure, stay at home if you want to, no problem, you don't have to ask, just do it. If you have an apartment viewing, you just go, okay? Don't ask me that. I'll have to get used to it, including the fact that no one keeps a tally when you get a coffee. Enough with the comparisons.

What about the weather? The temperature? The humidity? It was actually quite pleasant over the week, it rained from time to time, briefly and heavily, so the cooler weather is quite good. I spend most of my time in the air-conditioned room anyway. In the evening or in the morning when I'm on my way to work, it's super pleasant T-shirt weather, even at night. And at the weekend? Yes, it's warm, yesterday I was out and about by bike, bus, train and ferry and never once thought I was getting too warm. First I was on my way to Brisbane, stood at the railroad track and realized that there would probably be no train, roadworks somewhere, but actually well signposted rail replacement service. And off to the city by bus, no problem, it took me a while to get there, I really wanted to find a dry cleaner to wash and iron my suit, but they don't do that often and the one I'd chosen had a sign on the door saying we're on summer vacation overseas and won't be back until next week. That's just the way it is, so off we went on the train to Clevland on the coast to finally see the Pacific. The slow train also took an hour, is dirt cheap (a ticket for the whole local transport system and such a ride costs me 50 cents) but it doesn't matter, there is so much for me to see. As soon as I arrived at the terminus, I decided to walk to the ferry instead of taking the bus and walked around the little town. Yes, it's warm in the sun, but I'm covered in sun cream. Another coffee here, a photo there and I was already at the pier. 21 dollars there and back and the boat had already left and I was standing up on deck, in the strong wind, headphones with my favorite music on (DT has released a new album, I'll just say Bend the clock), eyes closed and enjoying life. Someone tapped me and I looked into the eyes of a tattooed sailor who wanted to see my ticket. There was something like recognition in his expression: “U`r in your bloody element, brother!”. I must have looked amused and indeed, yes, I am in my element. Everything new, lots to discover and nothing familiar. Yes, I'm enjoying it, I really am! Even if you have to forgive yourself for many mistakes, I don't live to be perfect, I live to experience something. It's as simple as that. As soon as I landed on North Stradbroke Island, I started thinking about what I actually wanted to do here. I got the tip from Valeska, but she didn't tell me specifically what was supposed to be so great here, she just said that it was great. Okay, what did most of the people who came off the ferry with me do? They stood at the bus stop, which is what I did. I thought driving into the little town next to the harbor instead of walking was an option. And then the bus came, 1 dollar and I was on it. It went in a completely different direction than I had intended and instead of going around the corner, it went to the other side of the island, to Point Lookout. And me? I got increasingly bad-tempered and wanted to get back as quickly as possible, all that way. The bus drove through the forest, up and down, left and right and suddenly I caught a glimpse of the sea, the Pacific. And what a view, to kneel down for. Get out and explore the area. What can I say? The nascent bad mood was gone, not a trace left. I was immediately blown away. Coast, sea, beach, mountains, rocks, what more could I want? Kangaroos! Just like on the signs at the side of the road. Well, they hopped up, crossed the road 5 meters in front of me, stopped at a fence until I pulled out my camera and disappeared after the photo session. I only noticed another one sitting in the grass because a small cluster of people had formed around it. The kangaroo was sitting there, well camouflaged, eating grass and was not disturbed by the people taking photos. Completely natural. After 3 hours or so, I was on the crowded bus back to the harbor, where I waited another hour until sunset (as usual, the photos can be found on Insta) and then made my way back. The ferry at night, really beautiful. 2 hours later I was at home and fell asleep tired but happy.

Today on Sunday I didn't have a specific plan, I wanted to see a few places I could move to, so I slept in, looked at the jungle (which isn't really far from North Stradbroke, at least their hotel is almost on South Stradbroke, admittedly the islands are huge. I briefly considered getting a room at the Imperia for the night, well maybe next year), did some laundry, cleaned the room and then I was off on my bike towards the city, checking out the different neighborhoods. To be honest, it's not flat here, it goes up and down quite a bit if you want to (and I want to) and yes, you do notice the heat but I think it's wonderful. There are also one or two districts here that I can imagine living in 10 km from work and 10 km from the city center, with connections to the rail network, within an affordable range for me. I think I'll find what I'm looking for, I'll probably choose which of these suburbs I think sounds the nicest. But more of that later, I'm tired now and want to take a long nap, on that note.