At the end of Rue de Paris

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  Brisbane, Australia
Thursday, December 29, 2005

Things here in Brisbane are starting to wind down for me, as the rest of the country is prime party mode having just gotten over Christmas and Boxing Day and looking forward to New Years Eve. For me, ringing in the New Year will be more than just a new date to write down, but it will also mark the end of my time in Brisbane and the beginning of a new phase in my trip. Already I have left my job at Rue de Paris, which really became my second home for the past couple months. It was there that I was given not one, but TWO nicknames - Team America and Ranger Lacey (I'm told Ranger Stacey is the female equivalent to Steve Irwin, but in a good way). It was there that I learned how to carry three coffees, with saucers and spoons, at once. I learned that you can't just order a coffee, but it has to be a flat white, long back, cafe latte, long machiatto, short machiatto, or cappaccino. And when you get these coffees, you can get them weak, strong, skinny, soy, decaf, in a mug, or even a mega

Brendo - the crazy chef that lights things on fire

. It really shows how much I've grown that I don't even blink when a lady tells me she wants a strong skinny decaf caramel mugachino. I know my coffees! But, of course, even more memorable than my newly acquired coffee knowledge, were the people I met both as customers and as fellow employees. First of all, I made some great friends at Rue, bonding over the 6:45am shifts, sneaking coffees when we needed that extra pick me up, and sitting back with a couple drinks after particularly trying days. Kyle was the chef who always got the "Rue Crew" out together, who kept us all very well fed, and always knew everything that was going on with everyone. Sheree was one of the first people I worked with, always a lot of fun, and a huge fan of the big breakfast and nachos. Chris (the Seth Cohen lookalike), Marina, and Katie were the three muskateers of the night shift, always good for some witty banter. Eden, a night shift guy who moved to the morning, was always laughing and joking, even when it was crazy busy. And then there were Yaz, Nicki, and Alex, my morning shift girls, the people I worked with the most. Together we survived through eggs benedict poached soft and berry pancakes with the ice cream that always seemed to melt before we could get it to the table. Whether it was a slow day or a full on day, we always seemed to keep each other together and smiling - Alex with her sweetness, Nicki with her coolness, and Yaz with her fun sense of humor. All of them were just such great people, despite some of the drama, and I am so glad that I got to work with each and every one of them. Afterall, they were my first real group of friends that I had in Brisbane.

But let me also mention some of the clientel of Rue de Paris. First of all, Rue is located on Park Rd, one of the poshest strips of cafes and restaurants in Brisbane, where you can see at least three feraris parked at any one time

Me and Alex

. And the people who eat there match their cars. Rue de Paris was a place to be seen. So we had our regulars - the older man who always ordered Russian caravan tea and sat at 40, the couple who ordered a skinny flat white and a skinny cap with honey and sat at 16 doing their crossword and smoking, the guy who sat at 33 and always had his long black in a big cup, and the guy who would sit for hours drinking flat whites while he had all his friends come by for visits. These were the people who were great, that I loved to see everyday, and greeted as friends. The rest of my customers were divided into two groups. First there were those who didn't see me as a person, the ferari owners. They would sit for hours out in the front smoking, ordering skinny caps, and demanding water and maybe a salad if they actually ate anything. They all dressed impeccably, the younger women complete with their huge sunglasses and Luis Vitton bags, the older women with their face lifts and cleavage-bearing tops, and the men all sleek and oily. This is the group that made me start to hate people. But, humanity was partially redeemed by those tables who were fascinated by my accent. There were always the same questions about where I was from, how long I'd been in Brisbane, did I like it, and where else I was traveling. These got very annoying sometimes, but at least they were interested and saw me as a person...and even tipped sometimes! There was one guy, however, who beat all odds and fell inbetween the two categories. He asked if I was from Canada, a mistake people made all the time, and I said that I was actually from the US, Washington, DC. He was shocked and told me that I had a Canadian accent. Well I was slightly taken aback by this and told him that I had never even been to Canada before and that I don't live anywhere near Canada. He then huffily told me that he had lived in Canada for four years and the States for two and that I had a Canadian accent. And since I knew that I would be getting no tip from this guy, I equally huffily told him that I had lived in the states for 22 years and that I am most definitely American and that my accent is most definitely American, not Canadian, and walked away. I ignored him for the rest of the day and didn't see him back...oh well.

So there, a taste of being an American waitress in Australia. And even though I'm ready to move on to my next adventures, working at Rue de Paris was an adventure in itself really. And I will miss it.

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Me and Nickie and a flat white	Nicki, Cheree, Me, and Alex - The Gang minus Yaz	Rue de Paris	Sharon - head chef
The cafe

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