Couchsurfing in Brisbane

As reported in the last post we are couchsurfing at our second place in Brisbane. When we tell people about couchsurfing a common question is, "Are the places you stay nice?" and we usually say the accommodations vary, which is true. Sometimes they're super nice, and sometimes they are just okay. Tonight's stay definitely ranges toward the later. I was wondering how I'd describe the house, and sorry to use a reference not everyone will get, but it's kind of like staying at the original TEET house in the U-District of Seattle (the TEET boys are our most regular readers so I know at least half our blog readers will understand it). We're sleeping on a pull-out couch with no sheets using our sleeping bag-liners since it's pretty warm out and our sleeping bags would be too warm. There is a box of rat poison in the corner of the kitchen. There is stuff everywhere (I once went to TEET house when there was a keg in the bathtub which would fit right in here except that alcohol is too expensive...)

The people who live here fixed dinner for everyone (after buying groceries with money contributed by everyone, including us) and it was pretty interesting being the only Americans at the table. There were two Irish girls, two French guys, and a German guy. Well, there was another American but she was not really representing American very well so I'd like to say she doesn't count (she's a student from U-Mass-Amherst although she's originally from New Jersey). She brought up the topic of both the Death Penalty and Abortion during dinner. She thought that a good way to solve the problem of having too many people in American prisons would be to execute more of them. Of course the others wanted to know if this was a position most Americans have and I tried to politely sidestep the issue.

Here's a picture of us after dinner, drinking tea and Tim Tams. They're a good group of people and it was definitely a case where we were going with the flow...