The Beginning

I expected the Southern Cross to stand straight, dominating the night sky. After all, that’s how it looks on the Australian flag and the emblem of the Australian national cricket team. Instead, it tilts at an angle I suppose is about forty-five degrees, five stars among a band liberally peppered with stars. Not being blessed with especially good vision, I can’t even see the dimmest star.

And yet, in its leaning, not-entirely-obvious way, the Southern Cross transfixed me. When it was first pointed out to me, I admit to a bit of disappointment. “That’s it?” I thought. Still, I kept looking back up at it. Those four points do make an admirably neat cross. To tell the whole truth, I spent so much time looking at the sky while walking that I very nearly tripped and fell flat on my face. A week later, the magic hasn’t completely faded from the Southern Cross. It wasn’t what I expected, but it is captivating.

This, I realized, is a bit of a metaphor for my experience so far. Expectations are tricky things, and many things have not been what I pictured when I was home in Maine. Most things, however, have been positive in the final analysis.

For another example, let me tell you about cricket. Or, as Australians call it, “the cricket.” This is not a small chirping bug, but rather a sport. The closest sport I can equate it to is baseball, but aside from swinging a bat at a ball, cricket has little in common with baseball. Originally cricket games lasted five days, but shorter matches lasting one day are now more prevalent. Considering that, it’s no surprise that cricket is known for boring Americans into a stupor.

It came as quite a shock to me, then, when I realized I quite like cricket. Cricket players have a unique way of being tough. Their endurance is something to watch – good batsmen may be up for over an hour! Even the rules, which are too complex for me to attempt to outline, started to make sense to me. The skilled players are, I found, really enjoyable to watch. I felt a bit let down when I learned that cricket season is almost over.

This great adventure of mine has started so wonderfully. I’ve had shrimp on pizza, although shrimp are called prawns here. Once I got over my astonishment about the combination, it proved delicious. I’ve seen a whole flock of white cockatoos flitting from tree to tree, making a terrific racket in the fading twilight as they do acrobatics on tree limbs. I’ve seen a wallaby fairly close to me, the black tips on its nose, tail, and front paws making it look as though it recently played in ink.

I can’t wait to experience what happens next!