There is Life on This Planet!

Today is my one month anniversary in Australia. I've been here a calendar month. Can you all believe that? I know I can't. I just have to keep saying to myself "You've come a long way, baby!"

Anywho--

One of my favorite things about wine is the way that it brings people together and opens up the lines of communication. As I've said before, if you like wine or hate wine, you have an opinion about it and you're likely to share it if given the opportunity. Wine is social and has remained social, hence holding it's place as a cornerstone of societies, modern and pre-historical. Things fade from history and people's minds; wine is NOT one of those eliminated items.

So, tonight was the most anticipated first meeting of the CSU wine tasting club. (I know, triple tier tastings every fortnight of different wines from different regions...be very jealous.) Tonight was Semillon from the Hunter Valley (N of Sydney), and I will say, Semillon is a good wine general, it's cheaper versions (that I tasted) are relatively food friendly. The more expensive tiers were excellent stand alone wines, as most expensive wines are. It's not Riesling, my love love love!, but, it will do over a Chardonnay.

So, anyway, I discovered tonight just how much I loved talking wine with people. I should say, RE-discovered. I've noticed that whenever I'm in a Wine Science Lecture, I really don't think about anything else. For those 4 hours every week, I think about nothing but wine and grapevines and pests and flavors and senses and fruit. I'll emerge from the lecture hall and realize that time has passed and that my pages are filled with notes and handwriting. All the while, I'm not worrying, I'm not missing anyone, I'm not having evil jealous thoughts come into my head, and I'm not remembering that I'm in a foreign country a BAZILLION miles from home with no friends. It's a welcome change and relief.

But, tonight at wine club, I got to talk to some of the people in my program, relax with them, find out about them, and I discovered that there was life on this planet! I know Aussies are nice and polite and helpful, but, they can be friends. Maybe I'm not so foreign after all. Mel put it well this fall, she said: "In Australia, you're friend until proven otherwise." I countered with, "In the States, you're otherwise until proven friend." I think I'll put Mel's theory to the test.

Well, this is a little bit of babble because I'm a bit "boozed", as Meghan (the South African-turned-Kiwi-room mate) puts it. Ha.

Cheers!

PS- Pick stolen from University of Adelaide Oenology program website! :-D