It’s funny how you learn things about home by living somewhere so far from it. Being in Australia has reminded me what a sterilized culture modern day American is. There are far fewer attempts in Sydney to separate oneself from the outdoors. We were surprised in our first month or so here how cold Sydney felt. The houses aren’t insulated the way homes in the US are and they don’t typically have central heat (electric radiators seem to be what most people use). There are big gaps at the bases of two out of the three doors that lead to the outside. And in one bathroom and one bedroom there are small windows that just have screens–there’s no glass.
Glass-less window. Other visible 'features' are the hole in the ceiling and the orange linoleum floor.
Granted that Sydney doesn’t usually get freezing weather, but considering how it felt in late spring, I would not want to hang out in that room in the dead of winter. My first Australian purchases were a scarf, heavy sweatshirt, and a wool quilt, and I was very thankful for all of them on more than one occasion.
Houses in Sydney often don’t have A/C either. Now that the weather has warmed up, we’re opening the windows frequently. Unfortunately the two small windows that don’t have any glass are the only two windows in the house that have screens. I think you could argue that in the US we are overly worried about separating ourselves from nature, but I’m still having a hard time understanding why, in a country that has some of the world’s deadliest insects, you wouldn’t put screens on your windows. The lack of sealing has introduced us to some of the native fauna. We’ve had quite a number of wild beasts wander into our house: flies, mosquitos, ants, regular cockroachs, flying cockroachs, spiders, beetles, caterpillars, a cat, lizards, slugs, mice, and rats in our house…and that’s in just 9 weeks and only the ones we’ve actually seen.
The ones that have mystified me the most and which prompted me to write this blog are the slugs. I’m used to seeing slugs only in really wet places…usually outside after a big rain. One morning here I went to fill the kettle with water for my morning tea and nearly leapt out of my skin when I looked down and saw a gigantic slug on the sink basin. I think it was the biggest slug I’ve ever seen. The day before it had rained and Mike had been cleaning our oven shelves outside. The rag he had been using was also on the sink basin, so I figured the slug must have been on the rag. How else could this giant slug make it into the house and up onto my sink? Well, I don’t know but a couple nights ago as I was getting ready for bed I went into my office. It looked like there was a twig on the ground but when I got closer, I realized it was actually slug. The office is the middle of 3 rooms downstairs, and it and the room next to it that goes to the outside are carpeted. I was amazed the thing had made it across that much carpet. I can’t say I know what slugs eat, but surely it wasn’t in my office, so I thought it would dry out overnight and die. As I lay in bed contemplating what on earth had prompted the slug to come inside and where it had come in, I thought that I ought to take a picture of the thing for the blog. I went back downstairs and I’ll be damned if in the elapsed 20 or 30 minutes, the thing had disappeared. These Australian wildlife are impressive!
As my new friend the exterminator said, “You can’t worry too much about it. That’s Australia.”
Sodas and coffees may be smaller here, but the slugs aren't!!
