My belly is full of noodles

People have been asking me about how things are shaping up in Australia, so I'll break my rule to not have a "what's going on in my boring life" blog with this post.

I got notification that I received my work visa two Tuesdays ago. My boss booked me a flight for Sunday from LA to Hobart (via Melbourne, but we stopped at Sydney as well to refuel), and I booked a flight from Pittsburgh to LA. Total travel time was 39 hours, with a 12 hour (11am to 11pm) layover in LA. On the LA->Melbourne flight, I took off on the 26th and landed on the 28th. That was neat.

Amazingly, I slept well enough on the trip, and am already fully recovered of jet lag.

Well, so far Hobart is beautiful. But damn, these people don't use heaters! I've been cold the past two days. Earlier today the temperature was exactly the same in both Pittsburgh and Hobart (well, Pittsburgh was having pretty bad weather today, but Hobart was just kinda cloudy. Now, at 6am Pittsburgh 8pm Hobart, Pittsburgh is warmer), but I think Hobart has less heating and is generally less well-insulated than Pittsburgh. My expectations that winter in Hobart would be easy-shmeasy are crushed. These people obviously have a fairly good cold resistance; I was in my sweatshirt all day rubbing my shoulders while Tim had his sleeves rolled up and his socks off! Of course, I doubt I'd feel so cold if I had gradually made it into winter -- the abrupt climate change was probably a shock to my body.

After work today, my friends were busy so I walked around town a bit to learn the lay of the land. There's about five zillion restaurants (including a noodle place!!) and pubs within 10 minutes walking distance from my temporary living quarters. I _so_ need to get an apartment in this area. I'd be able to walk to work, grocery stores, and restaurants all within half an hour. This is quite a big difference from living in little Clinton, Pennsylvania where I had to *drive* at least 10 minutes in order to get anywhere interesting. So little Sandy Bay in Tasmania is as good as the biggest city, in my world :-)

I'm going out this weekend to look at apartments and mobile phones. I hope I get settled down soon so I can get back into a routine.

HOBART HERE I COME

From a document I just received from gracious Mr. Foulkes at the Immigration department in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia::

I am pleased to advise that you have been granted a visa to work for the above

business in the occupation specified above. Any family members (dependant

applicants) listed above have also been granted a subclass 457 visa. The

subclass 457 visa provides for multiple entries to Australia and is valid until the

date specified above.

Your visa has been recorded electronically and provided that you travel to

Australia using your passport number XXXXXXXXX it is not necessary that your

visa grant be physically recorded in your passport prior to embarkation for

Australia.

Mom's Butter Cake

It's labor day in the US, and I had a cookout with my family. I made a butter cake while I had the chance to learn the recipe from my mom, and here it is. Beware, dieters! This recipe has 2.5 sticks of butter and 3 cups sugar!

Sift:

* 3 cups flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix:

* 1.5 sticks butter

* 2 cups sugar

* 4 eggs

Then mix the dry into the wet.

Add:

* 1 cup buttermilk OR sour cream

* 2 tsp vanilla

Bake: in greased bundt pan at 325deg F. Leave it in the bundt pan, and immediately make and add the "drench":

Mix:

* 1 cup sugar

* 1 stick butter

* 1/4 cup water

Heat, but don't *totally* melt the sugar. Pour over the cake after pricking a *lot* of holes into the cake with a fork. Serve after the drench soaks in and congeals a bit, optionally refrigerated. Note that you can't take this out of the bundt pan; you'll want to make sure you use a serving instrument that won't scratch your pan.