The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It's been almost 3 months in Australia and I'm trying hard to love Perth. Some days I do, some days I don't.

Things I love here:

• No chump change - they don't have pennies here so everything is rounded to the nearest 5 cents. Singapore was the same way and I loved it there, too. Change is actually useful!
• Arnott's biscuits (cookies and crackers). Tim Tams have to be the world's best cookies but I'm discovering more and more wonderful things they make.
• Back in the world of online shopping! It's limited compared to the US but tons better than Singapore.
• Beautiful beaches EVERYWHERE. And because there are so many, we haven't seen any really crowded yet. Plus, we can walk or make a quick drive to some really nice ones.
  
• We can buy gum again! But after two years of going without, I haven't even finished the first pack I bought.
  
• Aussies are active, outdoor people which is great for families. They have a much better work/life balance than most other countries (although sometimes I wonder when people do work after I see dozens of guys surfing at 2pm on a Wednesday)
• The humidity is surprisingly low here, considering we're on the coast, so it's great to open windows and get a nice breeze in the house. Haven't lived many places where that's a pleasant experience.
• The expat women I've met here are generally very nice, down-to-earth ladies and they've been terrific. On the flipside, the expat community is much smaller so it's harder to meet people but I haven't run into the competitive and catty women I'd sometimes meet in Singapore.
  

Things I could live without:

• The money is huge here. Fifty cent pieces are more than twice the size of a US quarter and with just a little change in my wallet it's still about to explode. Oddly enough, the $2 coin is almost the smallest.
• Our recycling bin is more than twice as big as our trash can. We could easily fill the trash can (called a rubbish bin, as I learned when calling the city council and they had no idea what the crazy lady talking about tiny trash cans wanted) in a few days but it's only emptied weekly. We can get a second can for $280. No thanks! Just extra incentive to get Ben out of diapers.
• No dryer sheets here. Didn't think those would be so exotic we wouldn't be able to find them.
• Pacifiers are called "dummies". I don't really want my kids to use that word already, no matter what the context.
• The end of spring means the beginning of fly season. We haven't seen it at its worst yet but it's already really annoying.
• They are loyal to Australian products, and Western Australian particularly, so if it's not in season, we're not eating it. We haven't seen grapes in months. Just got our first mangoes in for the season but they're not the good honey mangoes we're used to eating, so I really wish they'd import some tropical fruit.
• Things are really expensive. I was shocked at the prices of toys and some groceries because they're no better than Singapore. Real estate is outrageous.
  
• Everything is FAR. To give you an idea of how far we're removed from the rest of the world, Starbucks has never made it out here.

Things that drive me insane:

• Turn lanes haven't been invented yet. Many of the divided highways here, which are the major thoroughfares most places, don't have protected lanes to wait to turn across traffic. It's dangerous and makes traffic a nightmare.
• Daylight savings time was voted down. Right now official sunrise is at 5:26am but daylight is already peeking in our windows at 5am. In December sunrise will begin at 5am at daylight at 4:30 in the am. Ouch.
• Virtually nothing is open past 5:30pm. Many stores close early on Saturday. Almost everything is closed on Sundays. And still a lot of things aren't open on Monday. Still trying to figure out when people work.