Balloons over Brisbane

Balloons over Brisbane,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

I'm back in Brisbane...and have been for about a week. It's been an extremely busy several weeks. I spent ten days in Singapore teaching a class. In Singapore, I typically woke up at 3AM, worked on class materials or tried to catch up on emails, had an early breakfast, took a nap, headed in to class, taught all day, then had dinner at a local food stall and promptly fell asleep. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Once I returned to Brisbane, I was faced with the problem of finding a place to live. Followed by finding a way to transfer money from my US bank account into Australia. Oh, I can use my ATM card here, no problem. But, to actually secure an apartment, I needed a large chunk of cash or cash equivalent in US dollars -- fast. Fortunately, a friend sent me some money via Western Union. I've also been opening bank accounts, looking into long-range money transfer strategies, paying my bills, and all that kind of stuff.

The apartment I chose is on the 38th floor of a 68 story high-rise. Quite a change from my 2 floor wood frame house in San Francisco. But, the view is great and it is a manageable size for what I need. I signed the paperwork after getting my cash infusion. Only problem with the apartment is that I can't move in until 23-APR-2007 at the earliest.

My problem at that point was to find and secure some short-term housing that was not a hotel for the month of April. It's an interesting challenge, because there are two national holidays in Australia in the month of April. Good Friday and the Monday after Easter (the 6th through the 9th) are public holidays. And the 25th is a public holiday: ANZAC day, roughly the equivalent of Memorial Day in the US. So, lots of people out and about and on holiday. Schools are off for Easter week. So, finding a place available for a month that didn't cost a fortune took some persistence, searching, phone calls, and flexibility.

I have only one more financial problem to deal with and that is filing about a month's worth of expense reports. Yesterday, I paid all my bills, including my hotel bills, which I had put on credit cards. Now, I need to recoup all that money.

This morning, I woke up early, stepped outside to catch some fresh air, and saw this lovely sight. Three balloons floating over the city. It lifted my spirits.

I was so busy in Singapore, I really only got to take a few photos. But, it was an amazing place, and I will be posting a "Memories of ..." entry in the next few days. Keep an eye out. Now that I'm more settled in Brisbane, I expect I'll be back on a more regular posting schedule.